"What happened!?"
Abruptly, Elite Four Drake's roar exploded in Bavi's ear. When the blue light appeared, it immediately drew Drake's attention. Initially, he thought the blue crystal might truly possess some unique function, perhaps even summoning Kyogre.
To his shock, the blue pillar of light caused Gu Yuan to vanish from the spot. Compared to Gu Yuan's disappearance, Drake felt that attracting Kyogre might have actually been easier to handle.
"I... I don't know either."
"Gu Yuan was just about to hand the blue crystal to me, but before I could take it, that sudden pillar of blue light enveloped him."
"At that moment, it felt like a strange power locked me down, making me unable to move. I could only watch helplessly as the pillar of light and Gu Yuan vanished together."
As Bavi spoke, he began to look somewhat aggrieved. This situation brought back some very unpleasant memories. Back when he had forcefully used Dar as bait, the Hoenn League had suffered massive losses.
Now, he had lost Gu Yuan—the treasure of the Kanto League. With Gu Yuan's life or death unknown, who knew what kind of retaliation they would face? Especially since the Kanto League had recently resolved its internal conflicts and was growing increasingly powerful. If a war truly broke out between the two Leagues, the Hoenn League would be at a disadvantage in both strength and justification.
At this moment, Bavi even considered sacrificing himself to maintain peace between the two Leagues.
"Why!? Why wasn't it me!?"
While Bavi was lost in thought, Archie, still on the sea, began to mutter to himself. He looked completely despondent, as if he had witnessed the death of his ideals with his own eyes.
"Immediately notify League Headquarters about this. Have them dispatch people to search the archives; I need to find out as soon as possible what power caused Gu Yuan to disappear."
"Secondly, send people to interrogate Archie to see if we can get any useful information from him."
"Lastly, pull yourself together!"
Drake delivered a heavy blow to Bavi's shoulder, then turned back to deal with Team Aqua. He wanted to resolve the Team Aqua matter quickly so he could dedicate more energy to uncovering the truth behind Gu Yuan's disappearance. Most importantly, he needed to know if Gu Yuan was still alive.
The pain in his shoulder snapped Bavi back to reality. His gaze became firm once more, and he immediately took action. Facing Elite Four Drake, who was now fighting at full power in a fit of rage, the demoralized Team Aqua could not resist at all. Crimson blood sprayed, staining a layer of the sea red.
By the time the battle ended, most of Team Aqua's elite forces had been annihilated, and the survivors were taken prisoner. The most significant captives were Team Aqua's leader, Archie, as well as Peak Executives Shelly and Matt. As for the remaining remnants of Team Aqua, they were no longer a threat. Even if the Hoenn League didn't act, Team Magma would not allow them to continue existing.
On the forest battlefield, the Hunter's Guild also suffered heavy losses. Their members were either killed or captured. The Hoenn League even used information obtained from their interrogation to destroy several Hunter's Guild strongholds.
As for Team Magma, the Hoenn League followed the clues and located Tabitha, one of their Peak Executives. However, the League was in no rush to move; instead, they wanted to use Tabitha to find Maxie's location.
Beyond all that, the most critical task was finding Gu Yuan!
"According to historical records, the legendary Arceus once used a bit of Kyogre's power to seal a melting alternate dimension so that it could continue to exist and allow life to be born."
"To ensure this alternate dimension was not disturbed before it became stable again, Arceus sealed it away."
"To enter, one must rely on that blue crystal."
"However, what we didn't expect was that entering requires Kyogre's power as a catalyst. This was an unforeseen circumstance."
In the video call, Drake's voice rang out slowly, explaining to Agatha the reason for Gu Yuan's disappearance. After speaking, Drake looked at Agatha on the screen with a hint of trepidation. The Hoenn League had paid a significant price for this information.
Yet, this was merely a guess; whether it was true remained to be seen. Most importantly, even if the legend was true, was Gu Yuan currently alive or dead? If he was alive, how would he return?
"Oh?"
"So you're saying it's my disciple's fault?"
"Is it his fault for proposing this plan to draw out Archie? Is it his fault for putting himself in danger to stop Archie and prevent him from completing his goal?"
"And most of all, is it his fault for touching that blue crystal? So all of this is his own doing, is that it?"
Hearing Agatha's teeth-gritting voice, Elite Four Drake couldn't help but lower his head.
"That's not what we meant. Regarding this matter, our Hoenn League is willing to provide compensation and guarantees we will exert every effort to find Gu Yuan. To that end, we have formulated several plans, I promise—"
"Enough!"
"One month. If I don't see Gu Yuan return alive after one month, I will personally head to the Hoenn region."
"When that time comes, you had better protect every Trainer other than the Elite Four, or else they might all become my targets!"
Before Drake could finish, Agatha interrupted him. After slowly stating an inevitable fact, Agatha directly hung up the video call. Drake didn't feel angry about being interrupted; instead, he felt a growing sense of dread.
As the most senior Elite Four member of the Hoenn League, Drake knew very well that Agatha wasn't making a threat—she was stating a fact. If they couldn't find Gu Yuan in a month, the Hoenn League would have to prepare for assassinations from arguably the world's strongest Ghost-type Trainer. With Agatha's strength, Drake truly couldn't think of many people in the Hoenn League who could defend against her. After all, she was among the top tier in the world in both strength and experience!
"Elite Four Agatha's opinion is our opinion."
"If Gu Yuan cannot return after one month, we will directly declare war on the Hoenn League!"
After saying this, Lance and the other two also hung up their phones in unison. Their stance was due to Gu Yuan's own excellence and their responsibility as the League's Elite Four. If a genius from the Kanto League vanished while helping others, and the League dropped the matter for some compensation, it would cause their own geniuses to lose faith in the League and make the League appear weak.
Though it felt somewhat unreasonable, sometimes people preferred this kind of protective, hardline stance.