"I wonder how things are going on Wallace's side."
A silver-white Metagross floated beside Steven. Steven was still a little worried about his best friend.
Wallace was actually very reliable most of the time. After all, he was a Champion-level Trainer.
But to be honest, when it came to facing Team Rocket, Wallace had failed way too many times in the past!
There were so many that even Steven could barely keep a straight face.
Steven was really afraid that Wallace would mess up again. This was a serious final battle against Team Rocket, so Steven really hoped Wallace could stay focused.
Otherwise, he would embarrass himself in front of every region.
"Steven, you have way too little confidence in Wallace. After all, he is the former Hoenn Champion."
May blinked. She did not take Steven's worries seriously at all.
"No, May, you don't understand Wallace... forget it. More importantly..."
Steven sighed softly. It was not strange for May to think this way, but Steven still felt that this was because May did not know Wallace well enough.
However, it was not the right time to talk about that now, because...
"Wow A Shiny Metagross! That's so cool!"
A girl wearing a straw hat and two braided pigtails looked at the shiny Metagross beside Steven with obvious excitement.
It was Selene.
"I kind of want Damian to find one for me too," Selene said with a giggle.
"If I am not mistaken, you are the new Alola Champion, Selene, right?"
"Oh I was recognized! Hey you are Champion Steven, right? I know you. Mr. Stone's son, the Hoenn Champion."
Selene's smile became even brighter as she tilted her head slightly to look at Steven.
"But I need to correct one thing. The person standing in front of you is not the Alola Champion Selene. Right now, I am Team Rocket High Executive Selene."
"This is very important. After all, once this battle is over, I still need to continue being the Alola Champion."
Then, Selene's smile faded slightly. She corrected Steven on this point very seriously.
Although she was participating in the battle as a Team Rocket High Executive this time, she had no intention of giving up her title as the Alola Champion.
This was an achievement she had worked so hard to get, wasn't it?
The League couldn't possibly strip her of her Alola Champion status just because of this incident, right?
If that happened, Selene wouldn't really be able to do anything about it, but the League wouldn't be that petty... right?
"And~ next, I have to capture you, Champion Steven. As the Hoenn Champion, you are worth 30,000 merit points."
Selene tilted her head, and a big smile spread across her face once again.
"You are really worth a lot of money, Champion Steven~"
"I see." Steven's brow furrowed slightly. He also knew a bit about Team Rocket's merit points.
It was said to be another form of currency used inside Team Rocket. If you had enough merit points, you could even exchange them for Legendary Pokémon!
"Wow~ Steven, 30,000 merit points! It looks like you are really valuable," May teased, winking playfully at Steven.
Steven looked at May helplessly. This junior truly had a carefree heart.
"I heard Professor Kukui mention that you, Selene, are Damian's girlfriend, right? No matter what, it is impossible for you to betray Team Rocket."
Steven paused for a moment before speaking to Selene in a low voice.
Professor Kukui had already provided some basic information about Selene, so Steven knew a little.
And Professor Kukui had specifically emphasized that Selene was extremely strong!
Of course, Steven did not fully agree or disagree with this. This year, basically every region had produced some incredible new talent, and some regions even had more than one.
For example, places like Kanto and Unova.
Wasn't May just like that too?
But Steven was still confident. Furthermore, he truly did not believe that someone could catch up to him in less than a year.
Genius... who wasn't a genius?
A prodigy like May was already rare, but hadn't she still been suppressed by him? Could this Selene be even more of a freak than May?
Of course, this was not completely impossible.
However, Steven did not plan to look down on Selene in the first place. Besides, he was not fighting alone.
"Ah~ That's right."
Selene's eyes curved with her smile, making her look especially cute.
"After all, in a way, I am the boss's wife of Team Rocket. Champion Steven, have you ever seen a boss's wife give up her own family business?"
"You are right. Therefore..."
Steven nodded in agreement and slowly raised his hand. A bright gemstone on his ring began to shine.
"Metagross! Mega Evolve!"
Steven called out.
The shiny Metagross by his side gave a low growl, and the Mega Stone on its body glowed at the same time.
In the blink of an eye, a shiny Mega Metagross appeared with an imposing presence, raising its four arms.
"Wow Amazing! A Shiny Mega Metagross! It's super cool!"
Selene did not hold back her praise at all, speaking while clapping her hands.
But these were indeed her true thoughts. This silver-white Mega Metagross really was powerful and cool.
"But I heard that your ace Metagross, Champion Steven, is not shiny, right?"
"That is correct. This is a Metagross I raised recently."
Although Steven's face was still serious and stern, he still smiled a little.
He couldn't help it. He liked this shiny Metagross very much. Otherwise, since he already had an ace Metagross, why would he bother raising another one?
He wasn't Lance, that ruthless guy who could stuff several Dragonites into his team.
It was mainly because a shiny Metagross was just too cool!
It was precisely because of this that he had spent a lot of time and care raising this shiny Metagross. Fortunately, Metagross was different from Dragonite and did not have such serious weaknesses.
Therefore, having two Metagross on the team would not affect the team's balance too much.
"Selene, just as you said, our positions are different at this moment, so please forgive us for being rude. Rest assured, we will not seriously hurt you."
Steven said in a low voice.
Selene wanted to capture him to exchange for merit points, but didn't he also want to capture Selene?
"Ha~ Champion Steven seems really confident," Selene let out a soft laugh and grinned.
"Don't get so confident yet, Champion Steven."
Two Poké Balls opened.
Tapu Koko and Incineroar appeared in front of Selene.
"I am not targeting you, Champion Steven. With all due respect, just the two of you trying to take me down? I am afraid that might not be enough."
The straw-hat girl tilted her head up. Her body was not tall, but at this moment, she looked incredibly confident.
She was bold.
"An Incineroar from Alola, and the Legendary island guardian deity, Tapu Koko."
May immediately recognized these two Pokémon.
"Yes, and..." Steven looked at the two Pokémon with a serious gaze.
They were very strong!
"May, go all out."
Steven spoke to May. This Selene probably was not lying. She really was strong.
This was not a fair competition inside an arena. This was a battle that could change the balance of the entire world.
Therefore, Steven would not stubbornly stick to a 1-on-1 fight.
With May's help, the two of them fighting one person would lower the risk as much as possible.
"Swampert!" May decisively threw out her own Poké Ball as well.
A strong, heavily built Swampert landed heavily in front of May. Then, May raised her left hand, and the Key Stone on her wrist bracelet lit up.
Mega Evolution!
The Key Stone resonated with the Mega Stone on Swampert's body. The light of evolution flashed and vanished, revealing an even stronger Mega Swampert.
"Interesting~ This is really interesting. Two Mega Evolutions."
Selene's smile grew even wider, her expression filled with the joy of meeting strong opponents. Yes, exactly this kind of opponent!
"Now~ let me see your power!"
Although it was one against two, Selene became even more excited instead.
The Hoenn Champion, and the newly rising prodigy of Hoenn!
No matter which one it was, they were both highly valuable opponents. Weren't opponents like this very interesting?
"I feel like she gives off a bad-guy vibe..."
Looking at Selene's unusually excited expression and hearing her tone, May could not help but mutter in a low voice, feeling a bit creeped out.
Was this what she should expect from Team Rocket?
May even felt that it wouldn't be surprising if this new Alola Champion started making weird, exaggerated faces in the next second...
"May, you deal with that Incineroar. I will handle Tapu Koko."
Steven said to May in a low voice. After all, Incineroar countered Mega Metagross and was immune to the Psychic type.
"OK!" May nodded.
But right at this moment, Steven's phone rang, with several "beep beep beep" message notifications.
Steven frowned, but he still took it out to glance at it, and then...
Steven stood there completely expressionless, his face twitching slightly.
'Steven! Come save me right now!!'
'Steven, come save me quickly! This woman is going to capture me and hang me up!'
'Steven!! If you don't come right now, the rest of my life is going to be ruined!!'
Damn it!!
Looking at the three messages sent one after another with no pause, Steven felt his scalp go numb.
They were just preparing to start fighting on their side, and Wallace was already crying for help?!
Steven was so angry he almost laughed. He knew it. He freaking knew it. That guy Wallace!
He had told him to walk with them from the start, but Wallace refused to listen and insisted on wandering around by himself. Now look at what happened. How was he supposed to save him in this situation?
"Steven, what's wrong?"
May noticed Steven's constantly changing expression and could not help but feel stunned.
"It's nothing. Let's deal with Selene first."
Steven took a deep breath, muted his phone, put it back into his pocket, and said it decisively.
Selene was watching them closely right in front of them. How could he possibly go over to save Wallace?
There was no way to save him. Wallace would have to hold on by himself.
If Steven really wanted to save him, they would have to wait until they finished defeating Selene first. Otherwise, leaving May here alone to deal with Selene was also unrealistic.
Still, Steven said in a serious voice:
"May, let's finish this quickly!"
"Alright!"
Defeat Selene as fast as possible, and then rush over to take a look. That was what best friends were for.
Silph Co. Building
"Tsk~ There isn't a single person here."
Blue swaggered into the Silph Co. building and looked around.
The first floor was very empty. There was no sign of life at all, and it was almost unnaturally quiet.
Of course, occasional sounds of battle still drifted in from outside, showing how fierce the fighting was at this moment.
"A location as important as the first floor doesn't even have anyone guarding it. Team Rocket sure is arrogant."
Blue put one hand in his pocket, but then he seemed to notice something and looked toward the stairs.
He heard footsteps, and whoever was coming made no effort to stay quiet.
"Huh? You are Uncle Blue... Brother Blue."
Walking down the stairs was a blue-haired girl wearing a white headscarf. She was also quite surprised upon seeing Blue.
Blue looked at this girl with a strange expression. Although she changed her words quite quickly, he had still heard it clearly.
This girl wanted to call him "Uncle Blue" just now, didn't she? There was no doubt about it, right?
The corner of Blue's mouth twitched. Although he had always considered himself handsome, elegant, and extremely cool, he was only freaking sixteen years old. How had he reached the age where people called him uncle?
And it was even a girl who looked around the same age as him.
This girl was way too impolite!
Blue was extremely displeased.
"Oh~ It seems so. You are on the League's side right now." After thinking for a moment, the blue-haired girl confirmed this point.
"You are also with Team Rocket, right? If I remember correctly, you are a Team Rocket High Executive named Platinum, correct?"
Blue looked this girl over and immediately recognized her.
After all, Platinum's appearance made her highly recognizable.
Furthermore, the "Platinum" in front of him was even wearing a black coat engraved with the Team Rocket "R" logo, so there was no mistaking it.
"It looks like my luck is pretty good. I knew it. Once I entered this building, why would I have to worry about not finding a High Executive?"
Blue's handsome face showed a wild, arrogant smile.
That guy Red, today I am going to let you know that I, Blue, am definitely stronger than you!
The Indigo Plateau Conference? It was just that I didn't perform well that day.
In this battle between Team Rocket and the League, I will use outstanding results to make everyone understand.
I, Blue Oak, am the strongest Trainer of the new generation!
"It seems Brother Blue is here for me, huh?"
"Platinum" tilted her head slightly. She glanced at the Arcanine next to Blue, blinked, and opened a Poké Ball.
A powerful-looking Hisuian Arcanine appeared beside "Platinum."
"Huh? Don't think I'll let you off just because you call me brother. We aren't close, and I don't buy into that kind of thing."
Blue curled his lip. Although being called brother by the girl opposite him in that clear voice did make him feel quite pleased.
However, Blue's willpower was extremely tough!
Women? Heh, they would only interfere with the speed at which he threw Poké Balls.
He, Blue Oak, a man who aimed to become the number one Trainer in the world, how could he let beauty drag him down?
"Pfft~ Brother Blue really is as interesting as expected. Perfect. Father also said I could do as I liked, and that it would be best if I could catch a few more Champion-level Trainers."
The blue-haired girl's eyes curved with her smile, and her expression remained sweet and lovely.
"But before the battle, I should still introduce myself. Otherwise, it would be rude."
"I am not the Platinum you spoke of."
Hearing this, Blue was taken aback. Not Platinum? That wasn't right. Didn't this woman look exactly like Platinum?
Could it be that Platinum had a sister? He hadn't heard Champion Cynthia mention it either.
Noticing Blue's confused gaze, the blue-haired girl's smile deepened even more.
"Akari. My name is Akari, the 'Akari' that means sunlight shining everywhere."