Chapter 308 – Asahi: Cyrus, are you even trying?
Sird hadn't left. She had been there all along…
Of course, she knew this was the moment she was supposed to step in.
But as she observed the so-called "Pokémon Hunters" fighting Team Galactic…
A red-haired boy, calm and composed, commanding his Feraligatr to push Saturn back step by step.
A spiky-haired trainer standing behind his Nidoking, using Ground-type moves with a skill reminiscent of Giovanni himself.
A female Psychic-type user floating in the air, effortlessly controlling a Team Galactic grunt with telekinesis.
A brown-haired girl, smiling cheerfully, yet mercilessly commanding her Blastoise to take down one Team Galactic Pokémon after another.
With each person she recognized, Saturn's eye twitched slightly.
Giovanni's son, Silver.
Indigo League Champion, Gary Oak.
Former Rocket Executive, Sabrina.
Asahi's secretary, Green.
And that was just the ones she could identify.
What the hell—these are Hunter J's subordinates?!
This is just Asahi's Kanto branch coming out for a company retreat!
And that wasn't even mentioning the two women in the back, accompanied by Garchomp and Jynx.
If she wasn't mistaken, they were Sinnoh's Champion Cynthia and Elite Four Lorelei.
Especially Lorelei. Sird had fought her so many times that even across different worlds, she could recognize her immediately.
"Heh~"
At that moment, Sird was infinitely grateful for her habit of always having a backup plan. Using Darkrai's power, she had hidden herself in the Distortion World.
Otherwise, her fate wouldn't have been any better than Saturn and the others, who were now being utterly destroyed.
But then, she thought of something else…
"If these 'Pokémon Hunters' are Asahi's people… then the Hunter J who made a deal with Leader Cyrus must be…"
A strange glint flashed in Sird's eyes.
She commanded Darkrai to carry her toward the Distortion World's counterpart of the Spear Pillar.
...
Spear Pillar
Asahi was facing off against Cyrus.
To be more precise, Asahi was standing on the machine restraining Mesprit and Azelf, taunting Cyrus. Cyrus, unwilling to risk damaging the machine, was hesitating to order another Magnet Bomb strike.
Asahi: "Come over here if you dare!"
Cyrus: "Get down from there!"
"Scared now?"
"Step down!"
Asahi smirked mockingly. "And you call this creating a new world?"
Hearing his dream ridiculed, Cyrus finally lost his patience.
"Take him out!"
Magnezone unleashed an Electromagnetic Wave, attempting to paralyze Asahi and his Pokémon. Meanwhile, Flygon and Probopass fired energy beams toward him.
Asahi noticed that, even now, Cyrus was carefully avoiding hitting the device beneath his feet.
Man, Cyrus was so persistent that Asahi almost felt touched.
But sentiment wouldn't affect his battle strategy.
He knew that, even with his genius-level command skills, his Salamence couldn't counter Cyrus's type advantage.
So…
"Let's see how much you've improved!"
Asahi tossed out another Poké Ball.
Bang!
A flash of white light revealed a pink, shell-covered Pokémon.
Slowbro stared blankly at the incoming attacks.
Slowbro: "?"
You made me train all this time just to use me as a meat shield?!
Slowbro had no time to play dumb. It immediately scrambled to dodge.
Thanks to its recent running training, Slowbro barely managed to avoid the Power Gem at the last second.
The beam struck a pillar behind it, splitting it in two.
Wiping imaginary sweat off its forehead, Slowbro waved its paw to express its protest against Asahi's inhumane treatment.
"What are you afraid of? You've got thick skin. At most, it'll just hurt for a while."
Slowbro was dumbfounded.
Did he just hear that right?
Salamence nodded in agreement with Slowbto—Asahi really did lack a conscience.
"Hmm?" Asahi glanced at Salamence.
"Roar!"
Salamence, who had been nodding just a moment ago, instantly changed its expression and roared at Slowbro in disapproval.
How dare you speak ill of Boss Asahi?
Cyrus, watching this scene unfold, clenched his fists in frustration.
They were just fooling around with their Pokémon right in front of him—completely ignoring his existence.
There was no time to wonder why Hunter J had taken out a Slowbro he had never seen before. He immediately commanded Probopass to use Gravity.
Magnezone charged up again, releasing a bolt of electricity toward Slowbro.
At the same time, Cyrus, without any sense of fairness, sent out two more Pokémon.
"Honchkrow, Night Slash!"
"Gyarados, Dragon Dance!"
The naturally sinister and ruthless Honchkrow shot forward like an assassin, turning into a black blur as it rushed toward Asahi, aiming to take him down first.
Meanwhile, Gyarados began its dance, its aura rising with each movement.
"My Gyarados is way cooler than yours... I just didn't bring it today..."
Muttering under his breath, Asahi tossed out a Poké Ball, and Gardevoir appeared in front of him.
Gardevoir locked eyes with the incoming Honchkrow. Almost simultaneously with Asahi's command, it raised its hand.
"Moonblast!"
A phantom-like full moon rose behind Gardevoir, and the pure white moonlight transformed into pink Fairy-type energy, striking one of Honchkrow's wings.
Honchkrow lost its balance, spiraling out of control and crashing into a pillar, shattering it.
Meanwhile, Probopass and Magnezone launched a sneak attack on the slow-moving Slowbro. Cyrus thought the success was guaranteed, but Slowbro, seemingly unaffected by Gravity, rolled aside to evade the Charge Beam.
Even Slowbeo itself was momentarily stunned.
So Asahi's training actually worked!
Feeling ignored, Salamence let out a furious roar and joined the battle.
A Dragon Pulse shot straight at Probopass, who was still using Gravity, causing it to stumble.
But it was just a stumble.
Dragon Pulse wasn't very effective against the Steel-type Probopass.
At that moment, Slowbro grew more confident.
Its previously blank, foolish eyes sharpened as it unleashed Surf!
Whoosh!
A massive wave surged toward Probopass.
Seeing the incoming Surf, Probopass instinctively tried to use Magnet Rise to escape into the air.
But in the next second, it remembered—it had just used Gravity to pin both itself and Slowbro to the ground...
There was no way to take off now.
In desperation, Probopass could only use Earth Power to form a barrier in front of itself.
Whoosh!
The crashing wave smashed against the Earth Power barrier, breaking through it and engulfing Probopass.
At this moment, Honchkrow climbed out of the rubble. Realizing that Gardevoir was too difficult to deal with, it chose to pick an easier target instead.
And that "easy target" was…
"Revenge!"
This move would return the damage it last received with even greater force!
Burning with vengeance, Honchkrow dove straight at Slowbro.
Just a second ago, Slowbro had been feeling smug for hitting Probopass, but as it was sent flying, it was utterly confused.
Gardevoir was the one who hit you—why are you taking revenge on me?!
Even as it was knocked unconscious, Slowbro was still pondering this question.
Slowbro tumbled through the air, slamming into a pillar before being buried beneath the falling debris.
Using his Aura ability, Asahi quickly checked Slowbro's condition. Seeing that it had only fainted and wasn't seriously hurt, he decided to leave it be for now.
Meanwhile, after seeing Honchkrow attack Slowbro, Gardevoir acted once again.
"Dazzling Gleam!"
Brilliant light illuminated the battlefield, striking all enemy Pokémon.
Honchkrow, already heavily injured, had no chance to resist and immediately fainted.
Magnezone, still locked in battle with Salamence, was also caught in the attack. Its body stiffened for a moment—just long enough for Salamence to seize the opportunity.
A burst of Flamethrower hit Magnezone directly, sending it flying.
However, Probopass and Gyarados, having been knocked farther away earlier, were affected less.
At this moment, Cyrus finally spoke.
"Gyarados, Giga Impact!"
With an unknown number of Dragon Dances stacked, Gyarados let out a deafening roar. With a sonic boom, it charged at Asahi, moving so fast that the surrounding air distorted.
Boom!
From dozens of meters away, Gyarados crashed into Asahi's location. The sheer force of Giga Impact shattered the ground, making the entire Spear Pillar tremble.
However…
Cyrus narrowed his eyes as dust filled the air.
For some reason, he had a bad feeling that Asahi wasn't defeated.
Just as that thought crossed his mind, Cyrus ignored Gyarados, who was still in the dust cloud, and quickly issued another command.
"Probopass, Stone—"
Before he could finish, a spoon suddenly extended from the smoke, pushing the immobilized Gyarados out of the dust cloud.
The massive serpent was sent flying, crashing heavily into a pillar.
A… spoon?
Cyrus was stunned at the sight of the object emerging from the smoke.
At the same time, Sird, who had just arrived at Spear Pillar, saw the familiar spoon. Her eyelid twitched, and for a moment, he considered running away.
But remembering that they were in the Distortion World, she calmed herself and continued observing from the shadows.
As the spoon sent Gyarados flying, a gust of wind swept through, clearing the dust.
Standing there was "Hunter J," looking down at his torn sleeve.
Beside him stood a humanoid Pokémon that Cyrus had never seen before, slowly retracting its elongated spoon.
Cyrus didn't speak, but from this Pokémon, he could feel an overwhelming sense of danger.
A few moments later…
"You're not Hunter J," Cyrus said slowly.
Hunter J could never be this strong!
Asahi raised an eyebrow.
"...You're only realizing that now?"
Was Cyrus always this slow on the uptake?
With that, Asahi reached up and wiped his face, revealing a different yet somewhat familiar appearance.
It seemed like he had seen this face before… in one of Sird's reports after returning from Kanto.
Asahi smirked.
"Allow me to introduce myself—Asahi, Chief of the Kanto Branch of the International Police."
"Cyrus, you are currently under suspicion for illegal organization, assault and detainment of League officials, and acts of violent terrorism. Please come with me."
Before Cyrus could even scoff—
Crack.
A metallic sound echoed from the machine imprisoning Mesprit and Azelf.
Uxie waved at Asahi from beside the machine, while Mesprit and Azelf, now free, beamed with joy.
While Cyrus had been entirely focused on Asahi, Uxie had taken the opportunity to rescue the others.
Seeing this, Cyrus' expression darkened.
Not only had he failed to capture Uxie, but he had also lost the other two Lake Guardians.
His plan to use Uxie to create the Red Chain had completely fallen apart.
And now, the battle was turning against him.
It seemed he had no choice but to activate the backup plan...
Lowering his head, Cyrus remained silent.
When he looked up again, madness burned in his eyes.
"Magnezone, Explosion!"
Magnezone, enveloped in electric light, shot toward Asahi with the same madness in its eyes as its trainer.
Then—
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted from Magnezone's core. A small mushroom cloud rose into the sky, and the shockwave swept across the Spear Pillar, shattering the remaining ruins.
True Magnezone Self-Destruct!
He swiftly opened the suitcase that never left his side and waved his hand, throwing out two crimson chains.
These were near-perfect replicas of the Red Chain, crafted using the meteorite from Veilstone City, the energy of the Lake Guardians, and Team Galactic's technology. They were his backup plan.
Since he couldn't get the real ones, he had no choice but to resort to these incomplete, imperfect versions.
Damn those International Police!
Fuming with frustration, Cyrus cursed once again before shouting toward the two chains swirling in the sky, "Open the interdimensional gate—awaken!"
The moment his words fell, the two crimson chains seemed to activate some kind of power. They began spinning rapidly in midair, and a rift over ten meters tall split open in the center of space, as if a grand door was about to be unlocked.
Seeing this, Cyrus's face twisted with fanatic excitement.
Hiding in the Distortion World, Sird's eyes flickered.
Asahi had been blocked by the explosion of the Magnezone's Self-Destruct, and the two Red Chains seemed to be resonating with some kind of force. Could it be that the boss would actually succeed in summoning Dialga and Palkia?
If he truly managed to summon them, then perhaps—just perhaps—Cyrus might actually defeat Asahi?
Sird entertained the thought.
However...
The Red Chains kept spinning for a long time, but the rift remained just that—a rift. It trembled as if struggling to open, yet it never did.
What was going on?
Cyrus stood frozen in disbelief.
At that moment, a voice sounded from the side:
"Are you even trying?"
Cyrus instinctively turned his head, only to see Asahi standing there, completely unharmed despite the Magnezone's explosion. He wore an expression of utter disappointment, like someone watching a terrible movie.
"You've been messing around for so long—I thought you had some real trump card. I waited all this time, and this is it?"