"Here is the Heat Badge you've rightfully earned."
Flannery handed over the badge, which shimmered with the intensity of a roaring flame. "Congratulations! You're an outstanding Trainer!"
"Thank you."
Kashiwagi accepted it with both hands, nodding respectfully.
As one of Hoenn's rising stars among the younger generation of Trainers, Flannery's strength was undeniably impressive. However, because she had held the position of Gym Leader for so long, most of her Pokémon's data had already leaked online.
Combined with the fact that Gym battles are primarily educational—preventing her from freely swapping her roster—she wasn't always able to showcase her full potential.
Once the Pokémon World Coronation Series kicks off, or some Elite Four member decides to hang up the cape, we'll see what she's truly capable of, Kashiwagi thought.
...
To the side, Mr. Moore watched Kashiwagi, the admiration in his eyes impossible to hide.
He rarely encountered a young Trainer who resonated so well with his own philosophy. It was a shame he was getting on in years; between his age and his recent obsession with Pokémon Senryu poetry, he felt he lacked the energy he had during his prime as Gym Leader.
Otherwise, he would have insisted on taking Kashiwagi as his apprentice.
It felt a bit harsh to say, but Moore couldn't help but feel this kid's future achievements might soar far beyond those of his own granddaughter—especially after learning Kashiwagi had only been training for six months.
"Mt. Chimney is home to many powerful Fire-types," Moore interjected, unable to resist a bit of "Fire-type propaganda."
"If they pique your interest, take a stroll up there, or perhaps visit the Fiery Path."
"I will, thank you sir," Kashiwagi replied, carefully stowing his badge.
He turned to Flannery and lowered his voice, inquiring about the Team Rocket base. "Could you tell me... why exactly is Team Rocket in Hoenn? Are they just trying to set up a new branch?"
"To be honest, I'm not really sure," Flannery said, scratching her head.
She gave him a curious look. "You seem really worried about Team Rocket, huh?"
"Of course. I'm worried I'll run into them again," he reasoned perfectly.
"They're famous for scams, thefts, and worse. If I know their motive, I can stay on guard. Who knows if they're after something I'm carrying?"
Flannery nodded enthusiastically. "That makes sense! Tell you what—I'll walk with you to the Police Station and we can ask together."
"That would be great! Thanks!"
...
After saying goodbye to Moore, the duo stopped by the Pokémon Center to heal up their teams before heading to the station. As luck would have it, Officer Jenny was just about to look for Flannery.
"Are there such a thing as 'Mega Crystals' on Mt. Chimney? Does old Mr. Moore know anything about them?" She handed over a report the moment she saw Flannery.
Flannery stared at the document, looking completely lost. "No idea. I'll ask Gramps later. But Officer Jenny, why did Team Rocket set up a secret base on the mountain anyway?"
"For this 'Mega Crystal' thing. Apparently, it's related to Mega Evolution," Jenny pointed to the report. "And that base wasn't even theirs originally. They just moved into an abandoned Team Magma hideout."
"Ahhh, I see!" Flannery turned to Kashiwagi with a look of feigned enlightenment.
"Did you catch all that?"
Kashiwagi nodded slowly. "Mostly..."
Team Rocket is after Mega Evolution? The thought hadn't been his first guess, but it made perfect sense.
With Giovanni's strategic vision, there was no way he'd ignore such a massive power source.
The origins of Mega Stones were complex—some said life energy, others said natural energy.
Hoenn, as one of the birthplaces of Mega Evolution, was depicted in the anime as tracing the source back to an ancient Giant Multicolored Stone containing vast primordial energy.
Combining this with game lore,
Kashiwagi tentatively assumed this thing was the Giant Meteorite that fell from the sky thousands of years ago.
At that time, Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre were tearing the world apart for natural energy, of the Hoenn region, but as the multicolored meteorite fell on Meteor Falls, Rayquaza arrived and ended their battle.
This is most likely it.
It was likely that very stone. In the anime, it was later stolen by Lysandre to create a fake Zygarde that nearly destroyed Kalos, and its appearance triggered a scramble between the trio of weather gods.
As for whether this "Mega Crystal Mine" Team Rocket was looking for actually existed...
Kashiwagi felt it was hard to say.
What if it was a large fragment that broke off the meteorite during its descent? Most Mega Stones scattered across Hoenn were likely such fragments.
Of course, he was the only one who knew this so far. The annoying part was that he didn't know where the legendary Giant Stone was currently hidden. The anime never showed the search process; the scene just jumped straight to a certain ruin.
However, considering a Team Rocket grunt in the Sun & Moon era was already capable of Mega Evolving an Aggron, Team Rocket must have eventually found something...
Was Raikou's arrival in Hoenn intended to stop Team Rocket from mastering Mega Evolution?
Pity the Three Legendary Beasts of Ho-Oh's guard couldn't Mega Evolve.
Having cleared up the general motive, Kashiwagi sent a message to Tabitha on his phone.
...
Kashiwagi: You guys have a secret base near the Jagged Pass on Mt. Chimney?
Buzz-buzz -- The reply came in seconds.
Tabitha: How do you know that? Did you find it? It should have been cleared out ages ago!
Kashiwagi: Unfortunately, Team Rocket has pulled a hermit crab move and moved into your old shell. They're looking for a "Mrga Crystal" related to Mega Evolution. Know anything?
Tabitha: Mega Crystal? Ha! That's a project we scrapped years ago!
Kashiwagi:Care to share?
Tabitha: Sure, why not. Back then, to help Groudon undergo Primal Reversion, we looked everywhere for Mega Stones and Key Stones. We figured since they were stones, there had to be an entire ore vein somewhere to provide enough power... as you can guess, we found nothing.
Tabitha: Well, not nothing. We lucked out and found a few. That's where Boss Maxie and Courtney got theirs.
Kashiwagi: I see. Thanks for the intel!
Tabitha: No problem. Thanks for the heads-up. Hoenn isn't a place where Team Rocket can just waltz in. We'll make sure they crawl back to Kanto and Johto.
Kashiwagi: Uh... you guys aren't starting a war, are you?
Tabitha: Depends. We're a "legal enterprise" now, remember? Anyway, you should tell Team Aqua, too. They hate Team Rocket as much as we do.
Kashiwagi: ...Fine.
...
It was strange how much Team Magma and Team Aqua despised Team Rocket, but hey—if they were willing to do the dirty work, Kashiwagi wasn't complaining.
Perhaps it was true what they said: there's no hatred quite like the hatred between rivals in the same trade.
Even if the Red and Blue teams had gone "legit" now.
...
Back at the hotel, things were... surprisingly quiet.
Returning to his room, Kashiwagi intended to check in with Raikou.
As it turned out, the "big cat" seemed to have slipped out, leaving nothing behind but a towel floating lonely in the pool.
"Don't tell me this guy thought he was healed and just snuck off?" He surveyed the surroundings skeptically, thinking Raikou couldn't possibly be that heartless, right?
Running away without even a "Meow"?
If it really did just bolt without saying anything, Kashiwagi decided he'd be throwing "sportsmanship" out the window next time they met—he'd catch it first and ask questions later. Even if he eventually returned Raikou's freedom, he'd at least give it a good scare.
He had to make it clear just how deep his grudge went. He hadn't even gotten to rub its belly or head yet!
"Forget it."
Kashiwagi shook his head and raised his hand to release his team of Pokémon.
"Hydrei!"
Hydreigon appeared and immediately lunged toward his Trainer—
Only to completely miss and slam face-first into the bed.
This wasn't Kashiwagi dodging on purpose; rather, since gaining its sight, Hydreigon had spent its life with a dual-perspective from two heads. It was used to adjusting its position based on that double-vision.
Now that its vision had shifted from dual to a single central perspective, it was completely disoriented. Its sense of spatial awareness needed a total factory reset.
Hydreigon was getting anxious.
"Hydrei—Hydrei—"
"Alright, alright! Quiet down, you rusty-gate voice!" Kashiwagi helplessly stuck his right hand into its massive maw.
Hydreigon closed its mouth, feeling that its Trainer's hand seemed much smaller than before.
But the familiar scent was still there.
The frantic emotions from a moment ago settled down instantly.
Compared to his time as Zweilous, Hydreigon's size had surged significantly. He had grown from the Pokédex average of 180 cm to roughly 210 cm, becoming a massive beast on par with Aggron.
Even for a double bed, his presence was a serious structural test.
Fortunately, thanks to its Levitate ability, he could control his descent or remain suspended in mid-air unconsciously. He didn't even need to touch the mattress while sleeping.
Still, it wasn't great for Kashiwagi's heart rate. Waking up in the middle of the night or morning, the first thing he'd likely see was that fierce, giant main head staring him down.
"You look a lot more intimidating than you used to."
Kashiwagi pulled Hydreigon over to the full-length mirror, letting him get a good look at his new self to help adapt.
"Hydrei..gon.?"
Hydreigon stared at the total stranger in the mirror. First came a flicker of panic, followed by the delayed realization that his "arms" had turned into two extra mouths. Yet, his field of vision remained singular, not triple.
Why?
"Hydrei?"
Hydreigon turned its head, waving its two side-mouths to ask its Trainer for an explanation.
"It's because those two heads don't have brains, unlike your previous two heads. Only this one you're using now is the real head; the other two are 'fake' heads. That's why they don't even have eyes. Get it?"
Kashiwagi patted the large head and the two smaller ones in sequence.
Hydreigon didn't get it at all.
Fake head? Real head? A head was a head, wasn't it?
It lifted its left and right heads, and on a sudden whim, reached out to gently bite Kashiwagi's left and right hands.
Hmm~ Seems like they have a sense of taste?
It then raised its main head, stared closely at its Trainer's puzzled face, opened its massive jaws, and—Awooo!—clamped down, engulfing his entire head.
Perfect!
So this is how you use three heads! Complete set!
I'm a genius!
"Hy-wuooo..."
With Kashiwagi's head and jaw firmly in its mouth, Hydreigon began rhythmically licking his face with its tongue, letting out proud, muffled "awooo" sounds.
The surrounding Pokémon watched in stunned silence before quickly rushing over, desperately trying to pry its jaws open to rescue the man before he suffocated.
Oh Arceus! Hydreigon's lost it! He's eating the Trainer!