"Indeed, Pryce's subordinates have made their move," Mewtwo reported, its eyes glowing with psychic feedback. "They used their Pokémon to unleash a Yawn wave, putting the entire control room staff to sleep. They've breached the main terminal and are currently uploading a virus into the Magnet Train's primary operating system."
"I also sensed an Elite-level Gengar lurking in the shadows of the control room. It's monitoring their every move—Agatha's counter-intelligence, no doubt," Mewtwo added.
"Agatha is letting them proceed," Feng Che mused. "She wants to see exactly how deep Pryce's influence goes before she wipes them out in one fell swoop. However, these grunts are just pawns. Pryce's true objective is to paralyze the Gym Leaders here so that no one can interfere with his ritual at the Ilex Forest."
"It's a pity," Feng Che whispered. "This match is going to be cut short."
The Battle Interrupted
"Hitmonlee, use High Jump Kick!" Chuck shouted, unaware of the shadow looming over the stadium.
Hitmonlee crossed its arms and spun its spring-like legs, launching a devastating knee strike toward Tropius.
"Tropius, Hurricane!"
Tropius beat its massive, leafy wings, creating a violent vortex of wind that knocked Hitmonlee off course. However, Hitmonlee proved why it was the "Master of Kicks." It contorted its flexible legs in mid-air, igniting them with friction to transition into a Blaze Kick.
"Impressive adaptation," Feng Che noted. "Tropius, Razor Leaf!"
Tropius unleashed a volley of meter-long, razor-sharp leaves. The Blaze Kick incinerated the foliage, but the impact was enough to halt Hitmonlee's momentum, allowing Tropius to retreat and maintain its aerial advantage.
"Now, Hitmonlee! Use Ice Kick (Triple Kick - Ice variant)!"
Just as Chuck issued the command, a massive tremor rocked the stadium. The central arena floor split open, and the Magnet Train roared out of its tunnel at an alarming speed, far exceeding its safety parameters.
"What is this? Is this part of the show?" "The Gym Leaders look terrified—this has to be an accident!" The crowd erupted in a panicked murmur.
Suddenly, Agatha's face appeared on the giant jumbotron. "EMERGENCY NOTICE: The Cross-Region Tournament has been compromised. The event is terminated immediately. All spectators must proceed to the emergency exits for immediate evacuation. I repeat: Evacuate now!"
The Magnet Train doors hissed open. Thousands of men in Team Rocket uniforms—their eyes glazed and vacant, wearing strange half-masks—poured onto the field alongside a tide of vicious Pokémon.
"Hostiles! It's a Team Rocket invasion!" the Gym Leaders shouted, releasing their teams to protect the exits.
The Advent of the Gods
"Do not panic! Move in an orderly fashion!" Agatha's voice boomed.
At that moment, the sky turned a bruised purple. A masked figure descended from the heavens, flanked by two colossal shadows that blotted out the sun.
"Look... it's Ho-Oh and Lugia! They've been captured!" "Impossible! How can a human control the Gods of the Sky and Sea?"
As the crowd descended into chaos, Agatha's Ghost Army struck. Hundreds of Ghost-type Pokémon emerged from the spectators' shadows, using Psychic to gently but swiftly levitate the civilians out of the danger zone.
"The civilians are clear," Agatha snarled, standing atop the podium. "Now, Masked Man... let me show you the power of a Ghost-type Champion! Go, Six Paths of the Underworld!"
Agatha snapped her fingers, and six Elite Pokémon manifested: Chandelure, Gengar, Banette, Dusclops, Cofagrigus, and Mismagius. Each represented a path of suffering—the Deva, Asura, Animal, Hungry Ghost, Naraka, and Human paths. Together, they formed a formation capable of contesting even a Legendary.
The Key to Time
"Agatha, I have no interest in your petty League titles," the Masked Man said, his voice cold and mechanical. His arms suddenly elongated with unnatural fluidity, reaching toward the elderly craftsman, Kurt.
"Kurt... I know you hold the ancestral scroll detailing the creation of the GS Ball." He snatched a weathered scroll from Kurt's belt.
"I have forged the frame of the Time Ball with the scales of Dialga," Pryce declared, raising a shimmering metallic sphere. "I have crafted its shell from the essence of Palkia, and its trigger from the scales of Giratina."
"All that remains is this secret art... and the feathers of the Gods."
Pryce's Delibird reached out and plucked the Rainbow Wing from the Ho-Oh avatar and the Silver Wing from Lugia, handing them to its master. Pryce placed the feathers into the GS Ball and began chanting the ancient litany.
The sphere erupted in a blinding, transcendent light. A pressure so immense it felt like the weight of the world descended upon the plateau.
"I have done it! The ultimate Time Ball is complete!" Pryce laughed, a sound of pure, chilling obsession.
By now, the Magnet Train had been forcefully loaded with the resisting Gym Leaders, the doors locking shut as it began to speed away toward Johto.
"My wish shall be granted this day!"
Pryce mounted Ho-Oh's back, banking toward the south. "Wait!" Gold and Silver shouted, leaping forward and grabbing Lugia's tail as the great beast took flight.
The Awakening of the Forest
At that exact moment, deep within the Ilex Forest, the shrine erupted in a brilliant emerald light. Celebi, the Forest Guardian, sensed the resonance of the Time Ball. It transformed into a streak of green light, surging toward the source of the temporal energy.
Pryce felt a sudden warmth as the tiny green sprite was pulled into the GS Ball. Vitality flooded his withered body; even his chronic, ice-damaged legs felt healed.
"Haha! I finally have you! Celebi, help me traverse time!"
Pryce had reached the skies above the Ilex Forest. He signaled Ho-Oh and Lugia to descend toward the shrine, the very fabric of space beginning to ripple around him.