After Archie and the three Executives of Team Aqua entered the underwater cave, Cain and Drake arrived shortly after.
Before leaving the Team Aqua battleship, they had sent a message to the League, informing them of the location and warning them to prepare for the worst.
Upon entering the cavern, Cain and Drake followed the path where Archie and his men had disappeared.
Meanwhile, Archie and his subordinates had already reached the depths of the marine tunnel.
The environment wasn't complex: compared to the maze of passages beneath Meteor Falls, this path was almost straight.
The deeper they went, the stranger Archie's condition became.
Shelly, walking at the back of the group, was also beginning to act differently.
Everything she was seeing confirmed the visions Cain had shown her.
Her heart was in turmoil. Kyogre had been her life's goal—her obsession—but if awakening it meant the extinction of all humanity, including herself, she could not accept that.
And the more she believed in Cain's "prophecy," the more her thoughts and attitude began to change.
Her devotion to Kyogre no longer felt fanatical.
Now she even began to wonder who Cain truly was: how could he foresee such things? How could he read her so precisely?
It felt as if that man had seen right through her—through even the last trace of kindness in her heart—and had made it bloom.
Before, a thousand human lives would have meant nothing to Shelly, as long as hers wasn't among them. But today, when Archie decided to self-destruct the Team Aqua base—taking thousands of their members with it—the feeling that welled up inside her was... compassion.
Compassion?
Since when had she ever felt something like that?
Hadn't she abandoned such emotions long ago, when she rose from the lowest ranks of Team Aqua to become an Executive?
Something inside her was changing.
It was the seed that Cain had planted in her heart... and now it had begun to sprout.
By believing his words, the process was triggered automatically.
Just as it once happened to Lysandre: when he accepted Cain's prophecy, he never noticed how his mind changed. He merely believed he was discovering his "true self."
Lost in thought, Shelly began to stray from the group, not realizing she had taken a side passage.
That tunnel was even wetter than the previous ones. The sound of her heels echoed as they splashed against the puddles covering the ground.
When she finally came to her senses, she found herself in a spacious—and very familiar—chamber.
Her eyes widened. In front of her was a small lake that emitted a faint blue glow.
It was exactly the same as what she had seen in her dream: the blue radiance filled the entire cave, tinting the walls and the air with an oceanic hue.
Shelly stood frozen, unsure of what to do.
But at that moment, she no longer had any doubt: that dream had been real. It was Cain's prophecy come true.
Plap, plap!
Footsteps broke the silence behind her.
She turned abruptly and saw Archie approaching, followed by Matt and Amber. The three of them wore expressions of overwhelming euphoria.
The blue light illuminated Archie's face, giving him an almost demonic look. It was as if the color of the ocean had completely claimed him.
He stepped forward, placed a hand on Shelly's stiff shoulder, and burst into laughter. "Well done, Shelly!"
Then he left her behind and walked to the lake's edge.
With great care, he took from his storage space a stone that emitted the same blue glow, engraved with the symbol "α."
The Blue Orb!
Shelly's heart jolted. Her last doubt, her final thread of humanity, drove her to ask, "Leader... for what purpose do you wish to awaken Kyogre?"
Archie turned slowly. His eyes were already glowing blue.
"Of course, to conquer the oceans!" he said exultantly. "We, who live upon the sea, who sail its waters as the true people of the ocean—our destiny is to rule the seas!"
But Shelly didn't look away. Her expression tightened, waiting for more.
Archie didn't make her wait. His face twisted grotesquely, almost maniacally, as he roared, "As the future rulers of the ocean, we alone are worthy of its resources! I will punish all humans and Pokémon who pollute or exploit the sea!"
"They do not deserve to live!"
"I will be the ocean's executor!"
"With the sinking of the land, the world will learn its lesson!"
"The ocean is the true sovereign of this world! Only those who submit to the sea have the right to survive!"
"And I... will be the judge who decrees their fate in the name of the ocean!"
Those words... Shelly had heard them before—exactly the same—in her dream.
In that dream, she had seen the lands vanish beneath the water, all of humanity wiped from existence.
And then, the same questions had echoed in her mind, one after another:
What if... I didn't awaken Kyogre?
What if... I never found it?
What if... the Blue Orb didn't exist?
What if... I had never joined Team Aqua?
At that instant, all of Shelly's confusion vanished. Everything became clear.
If I had never joined Team Aqua...!
Archie, lost in his delusion, was no longer paying attention to his subordinates.
He raised the Blue Orb high above his head and shouted, "Awaken... Kyogre!"
"Stop, Archie!" Shelly's voice rang out powerfully, cutting through his chant.
The orb trembled—the blue light that had begun to gather slowly dispersed.
"What did you say?" Archie growled, turning with eyes full of rage. If she didn't give him a convincing answer, that cave would become her grave.
"I said stop, Archie!" Shelly shot back, standing her ground. "Do you plan to wipe out all of humanity?"
Her voice echoed through the cavern.
Then she turned toward Matt and Amber. "You two are human as well. Do you really want a world with no land... no people?"
The two looked at each other, hesitating. They didn't know how to respond.
But Archie had already lost his reason. He hurled two Poké Balls—Crawdaunt and Sharpedo emerged, lunging toward Shelly.
"Salamence, Dragon Pulse!" a powerful voice echoed from the cave's entrance.
A burst of violet energy struck the two enemy Pokémon, sending them flying backward.
A figure appeared amidst the glow.
"Even if you're still an Executive of Team Aqua," he said calmly, "I must admit... that was an excellent question."
It was Drake—and beside him, Cain. They had arrived just in time.
(End of chapter)