At the Dragon Shrine, the elder coughed softly as she searched for medicinal herbs that could wake the sleepers.
Thanks to the special properties of her successor's cloak, she remained completely alert despite inhaling plenty of sleeping gas. But she could not stop coughing; the tiny particles in her lungs were not going anywhere.
From where she stood, she could see Mega Altaria and Mega Steelix battling, but she could not leave the Dragon Shrine.
The Pokémon guarding it had all been put to sleep. Once she woke them, though, the enemy would have a hard time breaking in, and she could spare some strength to help outside.
"Found it."
The elder gripped the Full Heal she had found and was about to run to the unconscious Dragon Pokémon when a wave of energy shot toward her and exploded right in front of her.
Boom!
The blast hurled the elder backward. The Full Heal fell from her hand and was crushed beneath an oddly shaped claw.
The newcomers were a group of three led by Basho.
The elder struggled to look up. She saw the Pokémon that had attacked her—Skarmory—and the one that had crushed the Full Heal—Toxicroak.
A Crobat hovered nearby, eyeing her hungrily.
"Team Rocket..."
"That's right! Team Rocket!" Buson looked down at the elder with a smug grin. "I don't like picking on old people. Hand over the Mega Stone and Key Stone, and we'll turn around and leave. Otherwise, don't blame me when I tear this shabby place down!"
Before he finished speaking, a stream of fire surged toward them.
Skarmory dodged it with lightning-fast reflexes, leaving the Crobat beside it to take the hit. Charred black, Crobat dropped from the sky.
"Elder!"
A middle-aged man with gray at his temples burst from the bushes, a