Team Rocket's surprise attack drew to a close in near-perfect fashion.
Apollo's forces swept through everything in their path, and Team Magma's resistance crumbled before their overwhelming strength. By the time the first rays of morning sunlight pierced the darkness, the base hidden deep within the abandoned volcano had changed hands completely.
Elated by the victory, Apollo directed his subordinates as they took stock of the spoils. They had seized large quantities of supplies and Pokémon, but the most valuable prizes were what they had found in the command room's safe.
A thick stack of research documents and a heavy stone tablet that exuded an ancient aura.
The documents detailed the results of Team Magma's years of research into the Hoenn Region's legends of the land and ancient ruins, all centered on one Legendary Pokémon-Groudon.
The stone tablet was even more mysterious. Roughly half a meter square, it was made of something that was neither metal nor stone, its surface densely engraved with ancient, wedge-like writing and intricate designs. At the center of the design were three enormous birds of differing forms, gathered around a strange emblem as though fighting over something.
Although Apollo could not decipher it, he could sense that the tablet held some extraordinary power. Not daring to delay, he immediately sent it and the documents back to Team Rocket headquarters as quickly as possible.
Inside Giovanni's office.
As he examined this unexpected haul from Team Magma, his eyes shone as never before. Groudon, the legendary creator of the land in the Hoenn Region-power on that level lay beyond the understanding of ordinary Trainers.
But what interested him even more was the mysterious stone tablet.
"Boss, even our experts can't decipher the writing on this," Apollo reported from beside him. "But judging by the design, it seems connected to the legends of the 'Legendary Birds' passed down here in the Kanto Region."
Giovanni's fingers brushed lightly over the tablet's cold grooves, and an indescribable excitement rose from deep within him.
"Form a new project team immediately." His voice was steady, yet carried a barely perceptible tremor. "Put the Strategic Development Department in charge and assemble every Researcher in the organization versed in ancient writing and history. Decipher this tablet for me, whatever the cost!"
"Yes, sir!"
Standing behind Giovanni, Ye Li looked at the tablet everyone was treating like a treasure, while towering waves surged within him.
The others might not recognize it, but he knew it all too well.
This tablet had nothing to do with Groudon. It concerned something older and more dangerous than Groudon.
Th-this... isn't this the ancient musical-score tablet that collector Lawrence III used to capture the Legendary Birds in the movie?
It records an ancient ritual for controlling Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno, three Legendary Pokémon, and even drawing out the god of the sea, Lugia!
Ye Li felt his scalp tingle.
Giovanni, you madman. Just how ambitious are you?! Building a shiny army wasn't enough, and now you're actually setting your sights on Legendary Pokémon?
Those are the Legendary Birds! They're incarnations of nature that maintain the Kanto Region's climatic balance! If they spiral out of control, the entire Kanto Region will plunge into an apocalyptic catastrophe of ice, thunderstorms, and raging fire! This isn't just courting death anymore. This is dragging the whole world into the grave with you!
Giovanni keenly picked up on the utterly terrified yet extraordinarily clear "intelligence" in Ye Li's mind.
Control the Legendary Birds? Draw out Lugia?
This information, unlike anything he had ever heard, was like a key that instantly unlocked the gates of his ambition.
He turned to look at Ye Li's somewhat pale face, and a dangerous smile curved his lips.
"Ye Li, you seem to have a different opinion about this tablet?"
"I... I don't." Ye Li shuddered in fright and hurriedly shook his head.
"You seem very worried?" Giovanni pressed relentlessly, his gaze seeming to pierce Ye Li's soul. "Worried we'll bring utter disaster upon ourselves?"
Ye Li did not dare speak and could only keep his head firmly bowed.
Looking at him, Giovanni not only refused to abandon this mad idea but instead let out a low laugh.
That laugh brimmed with unprecedented excitement and fervor.
"Utter disaster?"
"No."
"This is precisely the perfect opportunity to prove to the whole world that we, Team Rocket, possess the ultimate power-power that stands above nature and above legends!"
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