Chapter 150: Heroes Need Vacations Too (Poll Extra - )
Asher walked over as well.
"Now that you have Beldum, it’s time to discuss the real reason you’re here."
Miori turned toward him.
"The real reason?"
Asher took a sip of black tea and leaned against one of the rocky walls of the habitat, speaking in an extremely casual tone.
"Mio, you want to know about Dragonspiral Tower, don’t you?"
Miori nodded.
She did indeed want to know.
Asher lowered his teacup.
"Two Legendary Dragons sleep within Dragonspiral Tower—Reshiram and Zekrom. Whenever the balance between truth and ideals is disrupted, the two dragons will awaken simultaneously, choose their respective heroes, and resume their battle."
He continued:
"Mio, you are the hero chosen by the Dragon of Ideals."
Miori blinked.
"The Dragon of Ideals... Then who was chosen by the Dragon of Truth?"
Asher didn’t answer her directly.
"The two dragons’ periods of slumber are becoming shorter. You need to grow stronger as quickly as possible."
Miori looked down at the Poké Balls attached to her waist, then raised her head.
"When can I go to Dragonspiral Tower?"
"The time hasn’t come yet."
Asher reached out and ruffled her hair.
"Of course, I’m not saying that you aren’t good enough. You’ve already done extremely well. You’ve managed the Gym even better than your mother did back then."
"Hey!"
Elesa protested from beside them.
Asher completely ignored her and looked directly into Miori’s eyes.
"So return the Gym to your mother and begin traveling from today onward. Catch more Pokémon and pursue what your true ideal really is."
"Once you understand what an ideal truly means, come back and find me."
Miori paused before looking toward Elesa.
Elesa nodded.
"Mio, Mommy will take over the Gym again. You can travel without worrying about it."
"Mom."
Miori looked at her with faint helplessness in her voice.
"Without me at the Gym, you’ll have to learn how to handle the accounts yourself."
"...I know how to do that. I’m the one who taught you in the first place."
"But a brain deteriorates when it isn’t used for too long."
Elesa immediately reached out and thoroughly messed up Miori’s hair.
"Cheeky little girl."
Asher stood and removed a black card from his wallet, placing it in Miori’s palm.
"Take this card with you."
Miori looked down at the unfamiliar black card before raising her head toward Asher.
"Dad, I’ve never seen this card before. What’s the spending limit?"
"You can’t spend it all."
"What does that mean?"
"It means you can buy whatever you want. The money will be deducted directly from Steven’s private fortune."
"Mine?!"
Steven’s smile instantly froze.
"Why is it being deducted from my money?!"
Asher patted him on the shoulder.
"Oh, come now. Why should brothers draw such clear boundaries between themselves? What’s yours is mine, isn’t it?"
"You’re right! What else is there to say between brothers?"
Steven waved his hand grandly.
"Spend it! Spend as much as you want!"
Miori looked at the black card with a supposedly inexhaustible spending limit, then spoke with complete seriousness.
"Uncle Steven, I’ll spend it carefully."
"What a good child!"
Elesa covered her mouth as she laughed, then wrapped an arm around Miori’s shoulders.
"Mio, let’s go. Mommy will take you back to Nimbasa City."
"Wait."
Miori’s smile froze.
"We’re going back right now? We aren’t visiting the beach? We aren’t going shopping? We aren’t having a huge feast? I haven’t even learned what Hoenn’s local specialties are, and I already have to leave?!"
Elesa tilted her head.
"Mio, you’re the hero chosen by the Dragon of Ideals. A hero’s mission waits for no one."
"Heroes need vacations too!"
Miori struggled while reaching desperately toward Asher.
"Daddy, save me! Your daughter is being deported! Aren’t you going to do anything?!"
Asher slowly turned his back on her.
"Steven, the weather is wonderful today."
Steven looked up at the artificial cavern ceiling lined with glowing minerals, then nodded.
"You’re absolutely right, Brother Asher."
"Daddy, you traitor!"
Miori cried out in despair.
Wallace stood nearby holding his teacup, having calmly watched the entire commotion. He turned toward Asher.
"Is everyday life in your family always this eventful?"
"Today has been relatively uneventful."
Asher dropped another sugar cube into his tea.
[VIP Chat Group]
[Skyla]: Once again, her parents are tormenting their daughter. Miori really is the most unfortunate child from all three episodes.
[Iris]: What happened to their deep father-daughter bond?! What happened to "Daddy will take you out for doughnuts"?! Where are the doughnuts?!
[Gary]: The doughnuts are in her dreams. In reality, he pretends not to see her.
[Mallow]: Miori may be suffering, but this trip to Hoenn wasn’t completely fruitless. She caught a Shiny Beldum and received a Metagrossite and a Key Stone.
[Lana]: More importantly, she learned that she was chosen by the Dragon of Ideals. From now on, her journey has a clear objective!
[Alder]: However, Asher still hasn’t mentioned who the other hero is. That person is quite mysterious too.
[Lance]: Based on what we currently know, that person probably won’t be much weaker than Miori.
[Alder]: That’s true.
The video continued playing.
Elesa walked ahead while pulling Miori’s suitcase. Miori followed behind with Emolga in her arms, her face filled with despair.
"Mom, can’t we stay for a few more days?"
Miori made one final attempt to resist.
"There’s a dessert shop in Rustboro City that sells an amazing fruit cake. I haven’t even tried it yet."
"Once you’ve saved the world, you can eat whatever cake you like. For now, we need to return home, pack your belongings, and send you on your journey."
"Besides..."
Elesa turned around and clasped her hands together, her eyes sparkling.
"When your father was pursuing me, we also set off on a spontaneous journey. It was incredibly romantic."
"Mom, that was your way of dating. It isn’t my life plan."
Miori stared at her expressionlessly.
"My original life plan was to retire and do absolutely nothing after finishing my time as Gym Leader. Now I’ve lost the Gym Leader position, and I’ve also lost my chance to do nothing."
"Young people shouldn’t constantly think about avoiding work."
Elesa reached out and poked Miori’s forehead.
"When your father was your age, he had already accomplished who knows how many incredible things."
"What was Dad doing when he was my age?"
Elesa thought about it.
"He was probably fighting a Legendary Pokémon inside some ancient ruin."
"...I think I’ll choose to do nothing after all."
Meanwhile, on the top floor of the Devon Corporation headquarters.
Steven sat behind the desk inside his private office, his hands clasped together on its surface. Asher and Wallace sat on the sofa opposite him.
"At present, we know of three Team Plasma experimental sites in Hoenn."
Steven adjusted the holographic display to show a map of the region. Three red dots flashed across the projection.
"One is an abandoned power plant outside Mauville City, another is near an undersea cave close to Mossdeep City, and the final one is located in the volcanic region surrounding Lavaridge Town."
"The distribution of these three sites is quite interesting."
Wallace tapped the red dots on the holographic map with one finger.
"The three locations encompass Hoenn’s primary forms of natural energy."
"Exactly."
Asher enlarged the red dot near Mauville City.
"Furthermore, no one ever took over the power plant after it was abandoned, and there are very few residential areas nearby. It might as well have been purpose-built as a Team Plasma experimental base."
Steven slapped the desk.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go destroy it right now."
"Why are you in such a hurry?"
Asher lifted his teacup and took another sip.
"Their experiments operate in cycles of approximately two weeks. If we go now, we’ll arrive just as they’re beginning their next round of energy tests. Alerting them prematurely would spoil everything."
"We’ll wait until the tests are complete but before they transmit the data back to their headquarters. Then we’ll move in and catch them red-handed with all the evidence."
Wallace closed the file in his hands.
"You seem remarkably familiar with Team Plasma’s operational patterns, Mr. Asher."
"I once blew up one of their laboratories."
Asher’s expression remained completely unchanged.
"Later, I also dismantled the power system for their entire research building. They probably still hold a grudge against me."
Steven and Wallace simultaneously gave him a thumbs-up.
"Impressive."
Asher looked toward Steven.
"In any case, keep these locations under surveillance for now. Their leader currently isn’t in Hoenn. Once these matters are settled, I’ll still need to return to Unova."
Steven thumped his chest confidently.
"Don’t worry, Brother Asher! This time, the Hoenn Iron Triangle will return to action and ensure that none of them escape!"
Wallace shrugged.
"Steven, didn’t we agree not to use that name?"
Steven remained perfectly composed.
"How could we possibly abandon it? To be honest, I even wrote a special introductory speech for our group. When we make our entrance, we’re guaranteed to look incredibly cool!"
Asher and Wallace exchanged a glance.
Both of them suddenly felt an ominous premonition.
...
TL: Since none of the paid members voted on which fanfic would get 10 extra Chapters, I’ll just post two for each of the fanfics I’m reading.