*Bang!*
Just as Bannai was thinking intently, a weight landed on his shoulder.
He turned his head to see Lie Yan.
Bannai had always been indifferent to this burly man.
Lie Yan looked at Bannai excitedly and said,
"Good brother! Since Huo Ying and Huo Yan have betrayed us, from today onwards, you are one of the new Three Flames of our Fire Rock team!!!"
"Mmm."
Bannai nodded silently, but thought to himself:
"I am indeed one of the new Three Flames. But I am the Three Flames who will replace your position."
He had already decided that when he encountered Huo Ying and Huo Yan, he would directly betray them.
There was no future in following the loser Archie.
After all, the plan to capture and control Groudon had failed.
Not only had it failed, but they had also paved the way for others.
What a joke.
Such a person shouldn't be given a second chance to fail.
...
Archie of Team Magma was consolidating his forces.
Courtney of Team Aqua was doing the same.
He never imagined that his temporary disbandment of Team Aqua would lead to him potentially losing Team Aqua.
"Izumi, and Shelly, you traitors!"
Courtney cursed them inwardly.
He had completely forgotten how, when he controlled Kyogre, he had paid no regard to the lives of his subordinates.
"Lord Courtney, you summoned me for what?"
At this moment, in a secret location.
A thin man stood before Courtney.
The man was none other than Drake, one of Team Aqua's most mysterious three S-Ranks.
This man was extremely mysterious. Not only had few people in Team Aqua seen him,
but even Izumi and Shelly had not met him more than a few times.
He had always only taken direct orders from Courtney.
"It's nothing, it's just that Izumi and Shelly have betrayed us."
"They betrayed us?!"
Drake was somewhat incredulous.
Shelly was an ambitious person, so if she were to betray him one day, it would be understandable.
But Izumi was very loyal to Courtney!
"Yes, they both betrayed me."
Courtney explained the situation to Drake.
Drake nodded. He had been moving between various factions, so he had already known that Groudon and Kyogre had fallen into others' hands.
To be honest, he was quite disappointed.
After all, he had been working hard on this matter.
In the end, not only did he not benefit from his efforts, but they were also snatched away by others.
It was impossible for him not to be angry.
At this moment, Courtney patted Drake's shoulder and said,
"Drake, this is a matter of life and death for our Team Aqua. You should contact the other members of Team Aqua now. If I'm not mistaken, when Izumi and Shelly leave that island, they will definitely try to gather the other Team Aqua members. So we need to speed things up."
"Spe... speed things up..."
Drake was speechless.
He wanted him to contact the other members of Team Aqua?
Was he sure he wasn't joking?
One had to understand the three S-Ranks of Team Aqua.
Izumi was the main force responsible for the team members, with very high popularity, even higher than the leader.
Shelly was second, and also had her own trusted subordinates.
But he...
He had been constantly gathering information and acting as a spy.
In Team Aqua, he hardly had any contacts or confidants...
The only ones he had were the spy squad he was in charge of...
Just those dozen or so people...
And this spy role was assigned to him by Courtney himself.
Therefore, asking him, a person who was almost a stranger, to gather the other Team Aqua members.
Who would listen to him...
Drake wiped his forehead, feeling that it was time for him to consider his own future...
...
Kanto Region, Silph Co.
In the secret research laboratory.
Groudon, with its eyes tightly closed, was having its blood drawn and genes extracted from its surface by a large group of white-coated researchers.
Silph Sr., with his hands behind his back, stood outside the laboratory, watching it all.
Everyone said that Team Rocket researched Pokémon in a cruel and abusive manner.
But who knew that these seemingly upright major corporations were no different when it came to research?
If Groudon were not an ancient Pokémon, a Legendary Pokémon,
it would not have been subjected to mere blood draws and surface gene extractions.
At this moment, a kind-looking old man stood beside Silph Sr.
It was Silph Sr.'s father, Mr. Silph.
He wore a sharp suit and always had a genial smile on his face.
Despite his white hair, he looked very energetic.
Silph Sr. looked at the research below and said,
"Father, it's a shame we only managed to capture Groudon this time. The Devon Corporation obtained Kyogre, and we didn't catch Rayquaza either."
Mr. Silph smiled and said slowly, "It's alright, catching Groudon is already very good."
"At least we now possess one of the world's ultimate fighting forces."
"And we also tested the Master Ball we developed."
Silph Sr.: "Yes, even so, after this, the Master Ball still needs continuous improvement."
Mr. Silph: "Indeed, the Master Ball needs continuous improvement to reach our true expectations. By the way, you are not young anymore. Your marriage with that girl from the esteemed family last time fell through. Have you taken a liking to any other young ladies?"
Silph Sr.: "Father, I don't mind. Whichever family you think is suitable for me is fine."
Mr. Silph: "No, you should decide for yourself. I'm afraid if I choose, some poor boy might ruin it again."
This "poor boy" referred to Ye Feng.
Mr. Silph: "Originally, I thought of a marriage alliance between strong families, finding a woman of similar status to mine. But now that I have captured Groudon, it means I can go after other Legendary Pokémon.
"Therefore, I think my future wife should ideally be a Pokémon trainer."
"And preferably of Elite Four level."
"Elite Four level? We do have one in Kanto, Lorelei. What do you think?"
"Lorelei?"
Silph Sr. thought of the beautiful and curvaceous Lorelei.
He said, "That's acceptable. You can help me contact her."
...
Hoenn.
Devon Corporation.
Super Training Ground.
"Kyogre, use Hyper Beam!"
At this moment, Steven was training Kyogre.
Kyogre was situated in a vast lake, resembling a small sea.
It unleashed its Hyper Beam towards a white electronic wall in front of it.
This was a reaction wall set up by Devon Corporation to reflect Pokémon moves,
specifically for training Pokémon.
When an attack hit it, it would bounce back, and then Kyogre would have to deal with the reflected move.
This reaction wall was good, but because Kyogre's power was too immense, the wall would be rendered unusable after only a few uses.
Approximately an hour later.
Steven, drenched in sweat from training, simply took off his clothes, put on his swim trunks, and jumped directly into the large lake.
To clean himself.
On the shore of the lake, a white-haired man in a striped suit, appearing to be around fifty years old, suddenly appeared.
Wallace.
President of Devon Corporation.