Chapter 655

“It’s Nimo and the others!”

On the back of the Red Gyarados, the three still reeling from their narrow escape waved frantically toward Nimo and the others.

The three were none other than Brock, May, and Max, who had been swept into yet another incident shortly after departing from Lavaridge Town.

After confirming their identities, Shinsuke frowned slightly, his attitude toward them far warmer than his usual demeanor toward Ash: “How did you find us? We were right on the back of Whiscash.”

The size difference alone should’ve made it impossible for three people floating atop a Gyarados to spot them.

Especially since they’d gone out of their way to cover themselves with a blue cloth matching Whiscash’s skin tone, for camouflage.

When asked this question, May and Max fell silent.

Their eyes darted nervously left and right—before they could think of an excuse, Brock’s figure had already vanished from the back of the Red Gyarados.

Don’t misunderstand—Brock hadn’t fallen overboard.

He’d simply used a jaw-dropping display of physical agility to leap directly from the Red Gyarados onto Whiscash’s back, then knelt on one knee before a visibly exasperated Joy, flashing a bright, charming (in his own estimation) smile.

“Miss Joy, I have fallen hopelessly in love with you once again.”

Everyone: “...”

Alright, we’re fools for overthinking this.

Watching the self-absorbed Joy, who possessed a unique charm absent from Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn, Brock.

They understood.

With Brock’s sister radar, it wasn’t just about finding people—he could detect subtle differences even between Joy and Officer Jenny who looked identical.

He was simply a supernatural being.

Moments later.

The group exchanged information.

Originally, Nimo and the others had only wanted to ask where Ash had gone and whether the Red Gyarados was a new Pokémon captured by one of them.

But after Brock’s dramatic revival following a few seconds of gloom, they learned something even more outrageous.

For instance, not only was Team Aqua active, but Team Magma was too—both secretly operating.

Both were scheming to control the power of the ancient Pokémon, each having sent spies.

But Team Aqua’s spy, Lieutenant Aqua, had been anonymously reported, captured before she could free Kyogre, who was under Team Magma’s control.

As a result, tensions between Team Magma and Team Aqua escalated; their mutual attacks forced them apart from Ash and Pikachu by accident.

Ash and Pikachu remained aboard Team Magma’s submarine, while the others, after falling into the sea, were rescued by the sudden appearance of the Red Gyarados.

Brock spoke firmly: “This Gyarados is Captain Du’s Gyarados—Captain Du must be aboard Team Magma’s submarine too!”

Forget whether a wild Gyarados would ever rescue someone—Brock knew only Captain Du possessed a Gyarados of such an unusual color.

He repeated to Nimo and the others the story he’d told May and Max about the Gyarados’s origins.

The Lake of Rage, ordinary Magikarp, Team Rocket’s forced evolution experiments, the coloration distinct from a Shiny Pokémon.

Listening to Brock’s account of the Red Gyarados’s tragic past, Nimo and the others, who lived in the relatively safe Sinnoh region, fell silent.

Their gaze toward the Red Gyarados now carried an indescribable weight.

The Red Gyarados stared straight ahead, utterly unfazed—neither offended nor feeling pitied.

During the time since its capture, it had long since overcome its rage and hatred under Captain Du’s meticulous care.

All this talk meant nothing to the Red Gyarados—it was as if it concerned another dragon entirely.

It knew only one thing now.

—To fulfill the instruction Captain Du had given it before releasing it from its Poké Ball.

Save these children, then find him and reunite.

Captain Du had taken only himself and Dragonite—so it had to hurry to protect him.

“Gyarados!”

Thinking of this, the Gyarados let out a urging roar.

Are you still chatting? What if they’ve already started fighting over there while you’re dawdling on the sea?

“...”

Brock and the others remembered Ash and Pikachu, left behind, and their faces tightened with urgency.

“Even if Captain Du is there, we still have to find Ash!”

“Then I’m coming with you—more hands, more strength!”

Understanding the current situation, Nimo immediately decided to join them in landing on the island.

Shinsuke and Joy wanted to stop them, but reasoned that since the famed Pokémon Inspector, Captain Du, was on the island, the police must already be aware of the situation—or at the very least, Captain Du represented the League’s security forces.

In the end, they abandoned the plan to leave the signal-blocking zone and notify Officer Jenny of Greenfield City. Instead, they entrusted Whiscash to carry them alongside the Red Gyarados and Brock’s group to land and rescue them!

On the other side, at the center of the uninhabited volcanic island named Mose Island.

At the center of the temple altar, two factions stood in opposition.

The air was thick with “gunpowder.”

For the two sides, who had been arguing for so long, a full-scale brawl could erupt at any moment.

The leaders of each side were a middle-aged man with red-tipped hair and black-rimmed glasses, and a burly, bearded middle-aged man clad in a tight-fitting wetsuit and a blue headband.

The former was Flame Matsui, leader of Team Magma.

The latter was Water Kiri, leader of Team Aqua.

At this moment, each held a gemstone whose color clashed entirely with their overall appearance, their words equally unyielding.

Water Kiri held a crimson gemstone and gestured for his subordinate to bring forward a petite female in Team Magma’s uniform.

“Hmph. You proposed the deal, yet sent a spy—how can I see even a shred of sincerity from you?”

Water Kiri, usually so generous in displaying his bold, generous side, now wore a cold, sinister expression.

It was too close!

If not for a new recruit who had just joined Team Aqua and discovered their movements, Groudon would have been freed.

And it forced them to risk exposure by the Hoenn League, temporarily surfacing to inspect their submarine and the location where Groudon was imprisoned.

“Fire Yan!?”

Seeing the woman brought forward, Flame Matsui, normally calm and composed, instinctively gasped in disbelief.

His gaze locked onto the girl, her delicate face hidden beneath her hood, head bowed—and the Team Aqua lieutenant, AChao, a bulky, muscular man with a wrestler’s build and a bare, sun-darkened torso, holding her.

Veins bulged on Flame Matsui’s forehead.

He could not fathom how Fire Yan, with her skills, could have failed her mission, been exposed, and captured.

But soon, Flame Matsui regained his composure, giving a silent glance to his subordinate, Fire Muramura.

The man nodded slightly, then stepped back to drag forward a mature woman with long, curvaceous hair.

“And what do you have to say about this woman, Water Kiri?”

Flame Matsui asked, hands clasped behind his back.

“AQuan!?”

This time, it was Water Kiri who lost his composure.

The woman held by Fire Muramura, the fat bastard, was none other than AQuan, his own Team Aqua lieutenant!

How could AQuan, with his abilities, have been exposed and captured?

Water Kiri’s mind echoed the exact same thought as Flame Matsui’s.

But unlike the quiet Fire Yan, AQuan suddenly jerked her head up, gritting her teeth and shouting at Water Kiri: “There’s a traitor in Team Aqua, Water Kiri!”

“My movements were completely leaked—I hadn’t even moved yet when Team Magma captured me... mmmph!”

Before she could finish, Fire Muramura hastily clamped his hand over her mouth.

She could only glare furiously at the man she’d always looked down upon.

“...Traitor?”

Water Kiri frowned—he knew only a few people were aware of AQuan’s mission. Had someone been swayed by Flame Matsui?

His mind raced with thoughts, yet that didn’t stop him from launching a furious verbal assault at Flame Matsui.

“You four-eyes! I knew you were a scheming bastard—you tried to turn my men!”

“...Maybe they just had long-standing grievances, and since you’re so unpopular, they made the right choice?”

Even though a flicker of confusion passed beneath Flame Matsui’s glasses, it didn’t stop him from blustering and deflecting here.

He too was puzzled about who had leaked AQuan’s location—but the identity didn’t matter.

What mattered was that they’d captured AQuan before she could secretly release Kyogre—that alone was enough.

As for who the traitor was... let Water Kiri keep guessing!

Hostages. Gems. The legendary Pokémon they both desired.

Due to unforeseen factors, the anime’s usual imbalance had transformed into a perfect stalemate—neither side yielding, conflict ready to erupt at any moment.

Among Team Magma’s ranks, Captain Du, his expression sharp and upright, lowered his eyes.

He had been undercover within Team Magma for nearly half a month.

During that time, he had witnessed Team Magma discover an underwater cave in Hoenn, capture Kyogre while it slept, and bind it.

He hadn’t acted immediately—because that alone wouldn’t fully stop their ambition.

This morning, first his favored Kanto protégé had accidentally stumbled into Team Magma’s submarine, then the spy’s exposure—both events made his quiet, half-month-long infiltration, carefully designed to earn Flame Matsui’s trust, feel frustratingly chaotic.

Honestly, he was surprised—where had Flame Matsui gotten the information? Had he truly deployed a deeper spy?

Or was there another undercover agent within Team Aqua, just like him?

The International Police? Or had the Hoenn Pokémon Inspector Headquarters, after assigning him, sent another inspector?

Now both sides had entered a tense, sword-drawn atmosphere; to be honest, immediately releasing Groudon and Kyogre would be the optimal choice under normal circumstances.

But Aggron could not do that.

The Champion who had commissioned him, a professional, to infiltrate Team Rocket and monitor their movements, had personally said it was best not to let Groudon and Kyogre meet.

Because that would trigger an even more terrifying disaster.

From the very beginning, the best choice had been to suppress both factions, then calmly return the two ancient Pokémon—still bound and in hibernation—to their original resting places.

——But even as an Elite Four member, Aggron had no confidence he could instantly suppress all Team Rocket and Aqua Team members present, or scattered across the island.

If even one was overlooked, and they happened to possess the means to release Groudon or Kyogre, and chose to unleash them regardless, the situation would become far more complex and chaotic.

Ash and Pikachu should be safe; though the leader of an evil organization, Cyan was surprisingly easy to talk to—or rather, quite gentlemanly?

When Team Rocket grunts had captured Ash and his party, Aggron had been watching nearby.

Cyan not only hosted the four of them but also promised that as long as they waited patiently until Team Rocket achieved its goal, they would not be harmed, and might even be allowed to leave afterward.

This stood in stark contrast to Team Rocket from the Kanto and Johto regions.

But thoughts were thoughts; when the moment came to act, Aggron would show no mercy.

In his view, these people were criminals, undermining the peace and stability of a region; their fate was to be captured and reformed.

Silently listening to the pointless bickering between the two sides, Aggron waited for the right moment.

Fortunately, it did not take long before that moment seemed to arrive.

The stalemate between Team Rocket and Aqua Team—each unwilling to hand over the “cargo” first—finally erupted into conflict.

On Water’s side, his Aqua Team grunts released their Pokémon one after another.

Aside from Gyarados and Sharpedo, which struggled to move on land, Crustle, Pelipper, and Walrein crowded densely over half the temple altar.

Team Rocket did not back down; Houndoom, Camerupt, and Golbat also claimed the other end of the altar.

The battle was about to ignite.

Aggron, drawing on his vast experience, sensed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

——While both sides were locked in fierce combat, he would strike directly to seize the Crimson Pearl and the Indigo Pearl from Cyan and Water.

With neither side able to control Groudon or Kyogre through the pearls, they would abandon releasing the ancient Pokémon and focus all attention on him.

The only problem: his success rate alone would be low.

Due to his undercover status, he had not brought his full Dragon Legion.

His Wangpai , Dragonite, and his newly captured, highly promising Red Gyarados, were the entirety of his hidden forces.

But to rescue Brock and the others who had fallen into the water, he had sent Gyarados away—this lack of combat power was also one reason his success rate was low.

As leaders of an evil organization that had wreaked havoc across Hoenn for so long, Cyan and Water were no ordinary foes; the difficulty of seizing both pearls simultaneously was obvious.

Yet amid the chaos, Aggron suddenly distinguished, from among the noise, the roar of his own Gyarados coming from afar.

“It’s back!?”

Aggron’s eyes gleamed beneath the hood of his Team Rocket uniform as he quickly calculated.

Once Gyarados arrived, he could attempt to attack both Water and Cyan simultaneously!

(End of Chapter)