Watching Steven Stone leave, Ace let out a sigh, then turned to Zinnia and said, "Let's go. Business here is finished."
Zinnia nodded at Ace and released her Salamence.
The two swiftly departed Slateport City and flew towards their next destination.
However, as they flew past Mt. Chimney, Zinnia paused for a moment and asked Ace, "Lord Ace, are we heading back to the Draconid Village?"
"No, we're going to find something."
Ace replied calmly. Now that he had located the specific meteorite and acquired it, all his preceding arrangements would be complete.
As for the remaining trivial matters, Ace didn't need to worry. Zinnia had been positioning pieces within Team Magma and Team Aqua for so long; it was time for them to start their operation.
The two soon landed on the outskirts of Meteor Falls. Zinnia looked around at the familiar surroundings, momentarily confused, unsure what Ace was looking for.
"Garchomp, Tyranitar."
Ace threw out two Poké Balls. Garchomp and Tyranitar landed beside him.
Ace then described the appearance of the meteorite to them. Garchomp and Tyranitar nodded and quickly burrowed underground to help Ace search for its trace.
"A meteorite?"
Watching Ace find a rock and sit down, Zinnia was stunned. She then said to Ace, "Lord Ace, if you're looking for a meteorite, we have a large one in the Draconid Village."
"No need, I'm just looking for a specific, special one."
Ace shook his head. He knew about the massive meteorite in the Draconid Village. After all, Meteor Falls was formed into its current terrain after being struck by that gigantic meteorite.
It was precisely because of this that the number of residual meteorites in the area of Meteor Falls was so numerous.
Garchomp and Tyranitar didn't make Ace wait long. After a while, the two Pokémon emerged from underground, clutching a large stack of stones similar to the meteorite Ace had described.
Ace walked over and casually sifted through them, quickly finding the special, spike-ball-like meteorite.
Snap.
Ace directly broke off a piece, held it up to his eyes, and examined it for a moment.
"Garchomp, Tyranitar, cross-fire Hyper Beam."
Ace instructed the two Pokémon. Garchomp and Tyranitar looked confused but opened their mouths anyway, instantly firing two Hyper Beams.
Just as the two Hyper Beams were about to intersect, Ace tossed the piece of meteorite he was holding into the air, precisely hitting the intersection point of the two beams.
In that instant, the Hyper Beams from Garchomp and Tyranitar swallowed the meteorite, but at the same time, the beams were suddenly amplified by a surge of energy, intensifying by a full twofold before striking the distant ground.
"Boom! Boom!"
Two explosions sounded, and two deep craters were instantly blasted into the distant earth, scattering a large amount of soil and rock. The destructive power satisfied Ace.
"This meteorite... it can amplify the power of a Pokémon's moves?!"
Zinnia exclaimed in astonishment, her eyes wide with shock.
"It's not bad, and it's not a one-time use item."
Ace walked to where the meteorite had fallen and picked up the now-scalding hot stone.
"There is wear and tear, but it's not too significant. Conservatively estimated, it can handle that level of power consumption at least a dozen or twenty times."
After observing it, Ace tossed the now-cooled meteorite to Zinnia.
Zinnia caught it and immediately slipped it down the front of her shirt, keeping it close to her body.
An item capable of boosting move power could save a life if used well. Naturally, Zinnia wouldn't refuse it.
Ace then broke off over a dozen meteorite fragments from the spike-ball-like rock before putting the remaining, intact meteorite into his pouch.
As for the other meteorites Garchomp and Tyranitar found, Ace had no interest in them. However, remembering that Rayquaza eats meteorites, Ace found a bag, packed them up, and planned to give them to Rayquaza as snacks.
"Everything is ready. Next, I need to give you special training to ensure you can withstand the backlash of the Blue Orb."
Tucking the items into his pouch, Ace said seriously to Zinnia, "Are you ready?"
"I am ready," Zinnia nodded. "So, where are we going to train? The Draconid Village?"
"No, we're going to the Mirage Island."
Ace shook his head, stating a name that made Zinnia's eyes widen.
"Mirage Island? Isn't that a legendary island? Does it really exist?"
Zinnia was puzzled. She had heard rumors about Mirage Island, but she always thought it was a myth.
"Just follow me."
Ace was completely unconcerned. Mirage Island was a legend in this world because people found it extremely difficult to locate the peculiar small island, which had an abnormal flow of time.
More importantly, the time flow on this small island was highly chaotic.
Sometimes, time would slow down, so seven days on the island was only one day outside.
Other times, time would accelerate, so one day on the island meant seven days had already passed outside.
The method to determine the time flow was simple: just bring an hourglass.
By observing the speed at which the sand flowed, one could determine whether time on Mirage Island was speeding up or slowing down.
Ace wanted to take Zinnia to Mirage Island for special training, intending to exploit the time-slowing "bug" to buy more time to train Zinnia and enhance her strength as much as possible.
For most people, entering and exiting Mirage Island was very troublesome. They had to wait for a specific time when the island and the outside world would open a passage for normal entry.
Furthermore, once the passage disappeared, anyone inside would be at the mercy of the time flow, whether it accelerated or slowed, because without the passage, they couldn't get out.
However, Ace was unaffected by this.
The reason was simple.
He still had the Silver Wing and Rainbow Wing—the two feathers—tucked into his pouch. Protected by them, Ace could even barge through a time tunnel, let alone this minor time turbulence.
The only thing that gave Ace a headache was figuring out how to locate Mirage Island.
After all, this place was barely mentioned in the storyline, and there were no clues on how to enter it. In the storyline, Ruby and Sapphire were knocked unconscious and woke up already on Mirage Island.
Of course, Ace did have a target now: an old man in Mossdeep City who was constantly observing Mirage Island.
If he could get directions from this old man, Ace's chances of finding Mirage Island would be greatly increased.
Clearing his thoughts, Ace and Zinnia soared into the sky, swiftly flying towards Mossdeep City with the help of their Pokémon...
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