Hong Meiling Sleepwalks Through the Heavens

A few days ago, J received intel about a wild Heatran residing in Stark Mountain. However, when she went to investigate, she found nothing.

If anything, the one who subdued it back in the mountain must be the same person in Veilstone City.

This might be a trap, but a trap set by Officer Jenny and Petal is nothing to worry about. Besides, how could she give up on the chance of capturing Heatran for herself? J believed that she could handle even the Trainer who captured Heatran.

Immediately, she rallied her men to her and led them towards Veilstone City.

Meanwhile, Hong Meiling was still fighting against other Trainers.

During this time, the Veilstone City police force and Veilstone Gym sent out people to monitor her from a distance.

Officer Jenny had other menial tasks to attend to, while Petal had to attend to his gym. Hence, they sent other people out to be their scout.

Officer Jenny sent out a male police officer named Aoki, and he had a Manetric with him; Petal, on the other hand, sent out Tetsuo, the student who accompanied Maylene, and alongside him was a Crawdaunt.

Both of them were about 20 meters away from Meiling. Once they discover a suspicious person, they would notify Officer Jenny or Petal.

It was nearing seven o’ clock in the evening, and the lights next to the battle arena had been turned on.

Meiling fought 29 trainers today. Although most of them weren’t powerful, some of them were. Meiling took a break in the afternoon to send Heatran to heal at the Pokémon Center, and now, it is drained again.

Meiling planned to wait for the 30th opponent before taking Heatran back to the Pokémon Center to heal while she has dinner on her own.

She wanted to look for the 30th opponent by herself, but soon, a familiar figure stepped onto the arena.

Cyrus? Team Galactic’s leader?

Team Galactic had yet to do anything bad, and the entirety of Sinnoh probably has no idea they exist.

However, Cyrus is popular even before the emergence of Team Galactic, since he holds the identity of a successful entrepreneur. He invested in the construction of high-rise buildings throughout Sinnoh and aided it in its economic development. Because of this, he was interviewed many times and is a prominent figure in Sinnoh.

Meiling did not expect him to step into the arena, and neither did Tetsuo and Aoki.

“Oh, if it isn’t Cyrus, the shining entrepreneur. I can’t believe somebody of your status would want to fight somebody like me,” Meiling praised.

No matter the identity of her opponent, she knew what they were after. After all, Veilstone City is the headquarters of Team Galactic, so it was no surprise that Cyrus was here to gauge the situation.

If it was just a regular, yet strong Trainer, he would simply go about his business; with Heatran around, however, everything changes.

Cyrus is calm, and some might even say he is nihilistic. He believes that nobody’s heart is perfect, and the world itself is flawed. Hence, he plans on harnessing the power of Dialga and Palkia to annihilate the current world to form a new, perfect one.

He needs power, however. Although he is no Pokémon Hunter, he would like to claim Heatran for himself, or recruit Meiling to join Team Galactic.

“I am a Trainer too, am I not?” Cyrus replied, calm. “Is it wrong to be interested in that Legendary Pokémon in your possession?”

“Well, let’s start fighting! Go, Heatran!”

As Heatran plopped out of the Poké Ball, it couldn’t help but huff, as if it was saying, I just fought somebody and barely rested, and you want me to fight again? What kind of Trainer are you?! I am a Legendary Pokémon! Not your donkey!

However, it reminded itself of how powerful Meiling is, and stood strong. Moreover, Meiling promised that it would have a hearty meal as a reward, and it looked forward to her promise.

Cyrus tossed out his Poké Ball, revealing a Honchkrow.

Honchkrow is a Dark/Flying-type Pokémon, and it resembles a cerulean crow with a hat perched on its head.

And simultaneously, both Trainers shouted.

“Heatran, use Flamethrower!”

“Honchkrow, Dark Pulse!”

The two Pokémon opened their maws – Heatran spat out a growing torrent of flames, while a black-purple shockwave shot itself out of Honchkrow’s mouth.

Immediately, the two collided, refusing to relent.

Heatran huffed and puffed – if it was at its full power, it would easily be able to overwhelm Dark Pulse. However, it was slightly exhausted, and Cyrus is strong as a Trainer, which means his Honchkrow is strong too. This fight was turning out to be neck-and-neck.

As the two beams died down, Cyrus yelled out immediately, “Air Cutter!”

Honchkrow flew high up into the sky as it flapped its wings, sending forth blades of wind that bombarded atop of Heatran.

Air Cutter by itself is not very strong, and Flying-type skills only deal half-damage to Heatran. However, Honchkrow could simply stay in the air and continue sending wind blades, and eventually, the damage will accumulate.

“Heatran, knock that crow down!”

Heatran opened its mouth and shot out a wave of fire that Honchkrow easily dodged – it was very well trained, and it can be seen by how agile it was.

Meiling frowned, thinking of a way to win. Both Cyrus and Honchkrow are strong, but she didn’t want to admit defeat.

However, at this moment, a beam of light shot out from a distance, hitting the Honchkrow in the head.

Never did the crow expect something else to hit it, and it could smell the faint scent of burnt flesh coming from its body.

It began to fall unconscious as it fell from the air, and Cyrus hurriedly collected his Honchkrow back into the Poké Ball with his gaze darting into the air.

The two Trainers saw a Salamence flying over, and there J was, standing in her full glory.

That beam must be Salamence’s Hyper Beam, enough to cause Honchkrow to faint immediately.

Meiling could sense several footsteps approaching too. Those must be her men.

Meiling glared at J, who stood proud on top of her Salamence. She has short, silver hair, with strange-looking goggles on her face as she donned a black outfit.

J is slightly older than Cynthia, and she seemed about 18 to 20 years old.

Becoming a Pokémon Hunter at such a young age, commanding over many men. Was she born evil?

J’s gaze was affixed onto Heatran, with a hint of joy on her face, “What a waste, having a trainer like you command such a beautiful Pokémon. Why don’t you hand it over to-”

“Flamethrower!”

Immediately, Heatran shot out a torrent of flames towards Salamence. Seeing this, J was understandably angry, and ordered, “Hyper Beam, again!”

A ray of destruction shot out from Salamence’s maw, colliding with the flames. Meiling’s eyes widened, seeing Heatran’s flames becoming dull as the beam drew closer and closer to Heatran…

This is such bad timing…! My Heatran is weak, but J is here…!

Damn it! If only I went back to the Pokémon Center earlier, no, if only she was a little late…!

Aoki and Tetsuo recognized J, and immediately contacted Officer Jenny and Petal over, only for them to be overpowered by J’s men.

They weren’t strong, but they had strength in numbers, and they quickly subdued both Aoki and Tetsuo.

Now, Meiling was left alone.

However, J has no concept of ethics in terms of Pokémon fighting. Immediately, she sent out two more Poké Balls to fight Heatran…