As the elderly man departed, Maxie's smile gradually twisted into a smirk.
"Hmph, I should thank you for your ignorance—it made obtaining this fragment so much easier."
Through a series of fortunate coincidences, Maxie had learned of a mysterious tablet fragment hidden in the Kanto region. However, given his status, personally traveling to Kanto was out of the question.
If Team Rocket or the Pokémon League caught wind of his presence, the consequences would likely be dire. He couldn't predict what kind of "hospitality" they would extend to him. Thus, he entrusted the Hunters' Guild with the task of retrieving the fragment on his behalf.
Of course, he never disclosed the true nature of the fragment to them. If the guild knew what it was, there was no guarantee it would ever end up in his hands.
Even Maxie himself had only stumbled upon the existence of the tablet by chance while poring over ancient texts from the Sinnoh region.
At first, he dismissed it as nothing more than exaggerated folklore. After all, Sinnoh's records depicted Arceus as an unfathomable deity, vastly superior even to the likes of Groudon and Kyogre. Maxie found it difficult to take such claims seriously.
That was until one fateful day when a volcanic eruption in Hoenn released an immense surge of Fire-type energy.
Maxie and Team Magma had assumed it was related to Groudon and immediately rushed to investigate.
In the end, after an arduous excavation—and even a heated battle with Archie and Team Aqua, who had arrived to interfere—the object they unearthed had absolutely nothing to do with Groudon.
Archie had mocked him relentlessly for it.
Still, since they had gone through all that trouble, Maxie decided to take the fragment with him.
Archie had suspected it might be some sort of treasure, but since it had no relation to Kyogre or their rivalry, he lost interest and left it alone.
The excavation had cost Team Magma dearly, and Maxie wasn't about to let the effort go to waste.
After extensive research, he arrived at a shocking conclusion—this fragment was highly likely to be a piece of the legendary tablets of Arceus!
And the fragment he first obtained in Hoenn was even smaller than the one he had just acquired today—yet even that tiny piece had granted him immense benefits.
"Hah! Archie, this time, you've already lost!"
Clutching the box that held the tablet fragment, Maxie's face twisted into a manic grin. He could already envision a future where the world was completely engulfed by land.
...
It had been over ten days since Maki had obtained the Flame Plate fragment, and he had now successfully arrived in Celadon City.
Celadon City—the second-largest metropolis in Kanto, just behind Saffron City. It was home to the grand Celadon Department Store, the largest shopping complex in Kanto, as well as the famous Celadon Game Corner.
Of course, the Game Corner was actually a front for Team Rocket, generating an enormous amount of funds for them each year.
"Maybe I should buy a gift for Sabrina?"
Aside from the major landmarks, Celadon City was also famous for its perfumes. The fragrances produced here were renowned even in far-off regions like Johto and Sinnoh, constantly selling out due to high demand from nobles and celebrities.
By all logic, Sabrina, being a young woman, should like something like this, right?
"Cotton?"
"Master, are you finally learning how to be romantic?"
Maki had only muttered to himself, but his Cottonee floated up in front of him, speaking in a tone that was hard to ignore.
Maki considering buying a gift was quite unexpected—even to his own Pokémon.
"...I get the feeling you're looking down on me."
Maki shot Cottonee a glance. While he couldn't fully understand its speech, he could pick up the general idea. The mocking tone was practically radiating off of the little fluff ball.
Cottonee shook its head. No need to 'feel' it. I am looking down on you.
"...I'll deal with this later. I'll think about the gift when I leave Celadon. Who knows when I'll head back to Saffron City again?"
Hearing this, Cottonee casually floated over to Charmeleon and whispered:
"Cotton?"
"Do you think Master will actually remember this later?"
"Char..."
Charmeleon immediately shook its head. This wasn't even a question worth considering.
"You two… Are you talking behind my back again?"
"Cotton~"
"Char~"
Both Pokémon shook their heads in perfect synchronization.
Maki rolled his eyes at them but didn't push the matter further.
After the usual routine of dropping off his belongings at the Pokémon Center and giving his partners a short rest, he began making his way toward the Celadon Gym for his challenge.
"This time, it's your turn to battle first."
Walking toward a nearby restaurant, Maki turned to Cottonee with a smile.
Yes, for this Gym battle, he planned to let Cottonee take the lead.
It would be a great way to test how much progress their recent training in the forest had yielded.
It would also help Cottonee understand the vast difference between battles in the wild and structured Gym battles.
For the past few days, while traveling, Cottonee had mostly trained against wild Pokémon, which wasn't exactly the same as a proper match.
Tactically, Cottonee had a significant disadvantage. Its dual Grass/Fairy typing made it four times weak to Poison-type attacks.
However, as a challenger without any Gym Badges, Maki was confident that the Gym Leader would go easy on him—how easy, though, was another matter.
If the Gym didn't hold back at all, Maki wouldn't stand a chance.
Since he was sending out a Cottonee, the Gym Leader likely wouldn't pick a Poison-type Pokémon like Gloom or Weepinbell, as that would be a bit unfair.
Instead, he expected to face Pokémon like Exeggcute or Tangela—Grass-types without the Poison subtype—since the Gym was still supposed to give challengers a fair shot.
Not every Gym Leader was as ruthless as Sabrina, after all.
"What do you guys want to eat?"
Maki handed the menu to his Pokémon first. Charmeleon, unsurprisingly, pointed at a large selection of grilled meats.
A true carnivore, huh?
Meanwhile, Cottonee, seemingly full from all the sunlight it had absorbed throughout the day, only ordered some ice cream.
Maki had a feeling that if he ever took Cottonee to Floaroma Town in Sinnoh, it would absolutely love it there.
Just then, a commotion broke out in one corner of the restaurant.
"W-Wait a moment! I swear, I'll find my wallet soon!"
"Miss, you're not trying to dine and dash, are you?"
Curious, Maki turned to look—only to be immediately distracted by the mountain of empty plates stacked on the table.
That… That's a ridiculous amount of food.
His mouth twitched slightly as he shifted his gaze toward the girl arguing with the waiter.
"S-Sorry… Just give me a little more time. My friend is on their way!"
The girl clearly wasn't good at handling social confrontations. The awkward tension in the air was making her words even more jumbled.
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