After reaching the location, Drake quickly spotted Birch slumped on the ground.
"Where's the orb?!"
Drake roared as he rushed forward and grabbed Birch by the shoulders. The professor slowly raised his head, his face filled with anger as well.
"Drake! You actually have the nerve to ask me?"
Drake paid no attention to his anger. He tightened his grip around Birch's shoulders and growled again, "The Red Orb! That's what I'm asking about. Where is it now? Is it still in the sea where you said it was?"
Feeling the pain, Birch struggled free from Drake's iron grip and barely managed to pull himself up from the grass. He could hardly believe that Drake was still standing there, repeatedly asking him where the Red Orb was.
If Team Magma were not Drake's subordinates, and if Drake had not leaked the information, could Team Magma have found this place?
"Drake, you actually dare to ask me that. Isn't Team Magma your organization?" Birch's face darkened as he spoke before suddenly shouting, "Drake! You were the one who took the Red Orb! And now you're pretending you don't know anything? Who the hell do you think you're fooling?"
Drake couldn't believe what he was hearing. He stood frozen in place as if turned to ice. Confusion and disbelief filled his eyes, along with a fury that was nearly ready to erupt.
He roared again, "Me? I'm an Elite Four member of Hoenn! What the hell do I have to do with Team Magma? You handed the Red Orb over to Team Magma yourself. You actually gave it to them and now you're accusing me of stealing it?"
"Who else could it be?" Birch looked disgusted by Drake's reaction. "I only told you the general location of the orb, and you're the only one who came to Littleroot Town not long ago. If Shiro hadn't happened to be here, Sapphire would probably have been kidnapped by you! Drake, stop pretending!"
"Why you..."
Drake raised his fist and was about to smash it into the fat bastard's face, but after seeing Birch's revolting expression, he merely shook his wrist and spat on the ground.
"Bah! You bastard! Birch, you're nothing but a bastard!"
"Didn't you say it yourself? You said the orb would be safer in your hands than in the League's. And now look what happened. It was stolen right under your nose!"
"Yeah, Sapphire... If I had been able to beat that guy Shiro back then, I would've taken the orb from your hands myself. Things wouldn't have ended up like this!"
Without sparing another glance at Birch's face as it twisted with anger, Drake turned around and leapt onto his Flygon.
At this point, there was no need to ask where the Red Orb was anymore. Team Magma had clearly gotten there first and escaped with it long ago.
Flygon beat its wings and carried Drake into the sky above the forest. Looking down from above, he coldly shouted, "When Groudon crushes Hoenn beneath its feet, you'll still have no idea who the real culprit was!"
Birch stared fiercely at Flygon's disappearing figure. For the first time, he clenched his fist and slammed it hard against the tree beside him.
If Drake was not the real culprit either...
The Red Orb of Groudon was already gone. Could Hoenn really be destroyed because of him?
For the first time, a trace of guilt rose in Birch's heart.
Yet he did not regret handing over the orb just now.
Even if he were given 1,000 more chances, Birch would still make the same choice.
* * *
"Boss, we've found the orb."
In Sootopolis City, Maxie showed no sign of joy after hearing those words. Instead, he calmly ordered, "Get back here first. Did the League pursue you?"
"We moved quickly. So far, we haven't noticed anyone following us."
"Good. Return to Sootopolis City as fast as possible. We'll confirm whether the orb is genuine once you get back."
"We're certain that—"
Before the sentence could be finished, Maxie directly ended the communication.
He quickly sent a message to the Team Magma members waiting in Sootopolis City, then put away the communicator.
At that moment, Aubert walked over with a smile. In his slightly hoarse voice, he slowly asked, "Well? Maxie, you got the item, didn't you?"
Maxie carefully scanned his surroundings. All he could see were ancient stone buildings, while the rooftop he was standing on was extremely worn down. There was nowhere that a human or Pokémon could hide.
Only then did he reveal an extremely gentle smile and softly say to the Lord of Sootopolitans, "Mr. Aubert, once the Red Orb is brought back, I'll need to examine it together with you to confirm whether it's genuine. Who knows how cunning that Birch from the League is? What if he made a fake orb and tricked Courtney into going after it?"
"Hehehe, Maxie, I'm afraid you don't really want to join me in the ceremony to awaken the god of the land." Aubert continued smiling. "The Red Orb can't be faked. Of course, it's definitely real."
Maxie placed a hand on the Poké Ball at his waist. When he heard footsteps coming from the nearby stairway, his expression immediately returned to its usual calmness.
"If that's the case, then I won't impose any longer."
Aubert's smile grew even wider. "I'm afraid that's not up to you, Maxie..."
As he spoke, several screams suddenly came from the stairway, where there was nothing but a flight of steps. A figure in a red robe stumbled around the corner and collapsed. There was no blood, but the figure fell completely silent in an instant.
Maxie had already expected this. He reacted immediately and pressed the button on his Poké Ball.
Unfortunately, a faint pink glow was many times faster than he was.
Several large hands formed from psychic energy grabbed Maxie's arms. Yet he showed no panic and simply shouted in a deep voice, "Alakazam!"
In an instant, two bright silver spoons appeared in midair. At the same time, the overwhelming psychic power of the Gym-level Alakazam erupted, severing those psychic hands almost in the blink of an eye.
As the leader of Team Magma, Maxie never looked down on Pokémon of other types. Aside from Fire and Ground types, his favorites were Psychic and Ghost types.
"Banette!"
A shadow shot forward at a speed that was almost impossible to see with the naked eye. Banette leapt high into the air and opened its chained mouth wide as the resentment formed from Ghost-type energy surged forward, seemingly capable of swallowing everything in front of it.
Yet just as it was about to reach the old man, Banette suddenly froze in midair, completely unable to move.
"Oh! How frightening!"
Aubert acted as if he had been scared and joked lightly while his aged body, which already had difficulty moving, shuffled backward with the support of his cane. He then turned his head and asked, "Indeedee, what do you think?"
The Indeedee beside him, which was only as tall as his shoulder, expressionlessly nodded. Both of its hands released psychic power at the same time, restraining Alakazam and Banette.
Aubert supported himself with both hands on his wooden cane and could not help sighing. "What a pity. My Indeedee is at the Champion-level. Your Alakazam and Banette are simply too weak!"
The two Gym-level Pokémon could not withstand even a single move from the Champion-level Indeedee.
Maxie's eyes widened in fury. He could barely hide the disbelief in them.
Weren't the Sootopolitans supposed to have fallen so far that even finding a single Elite-level Pokémon was difficult?
The League and Devon Corporation… They were all liars!
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