Chapter Twenty-Three: The Center of the Universe

The battle between Groudon and Kyogre had left a deep impression on Cheng Cheng; scenes from the fight kept replaying in his mind. Now, he and his companions had arrived at their destination—Verdanturf City. The gym leader here specialized in Psychic-type Pokémon, which was precisely why Cheng Cheng had come.

Originally, Cheng Cheng wanted to visit the Pokémon Center first to check on his Pokémon, but Ash was eager to challenge the gym without delay. Cheng Cheng had no choice but to accompany him.

“We’ve finally reached the seventh gym. I’m about to get my seventh badge,” Ash exclaimed.

“That’s right. Good luck, Ash!” his friends encouraged.

“Yeah, this time I will definitely get the seventh badge,” Ash declared with determination.

They soon arrived at the Verdanturf Gym. Just as they were about to enter, a young woman came running out.

“Hello, are you the gym leader?” Ash asked.

“Gym leader? No, I’m not. The gym leader should be at the Cosmos Center right now.”

“The Cosmos Center?” Max’s eyes lit up.

“Sorry, I’m running late. I have to hurry over—it’s rocket launch day! You should come watch too,” she said before rushing off.

“Cosmos Center… I think Verdanturf City has a Cosmos Center,” Brock mused, consulting his guidebook. “It’s a place dedicated to space research, and many rockets have been launched from here.”

“The weather satellite ‘Sunflora’ and the manned rocket ‘Ho-Oh III’ both launched from this site. Sometimes they even launch special space rockets for exploring Pokémon in outer space.”

“Like the Lunatone we encountered before?” Max asked.

Everyone knew about Cheng Cheng’s Lunatone, and he simply explained how it had come to travel with him—he’d communicated sincerely with Lunatone, expressing his desire to journey together, and Lunatone agreed. Though the story sounded dubious, it depended on the audience.

“We have to witness this rocket launch,” Max suggested.

“No, even if we go to the Cosmos Center, we should find the gym leader first,” Ash countered.

“That’s true,” Max quickly agreed, though his true thoughts remained unknown.

Not far from them, at the Cosmos Center, technicians were calibrating rocket data to ensure a smooth launch. Across from them, in a tree, two people and a Pokémon were spying through binoculars.

There was no need to guess—the trio was Jessie, James, and Meowth.

“That’s a real rocket!” Jessie exclaimed.

“Yes, it’s about to launch,” James replied.

“We must steal that rocket, meow!” Meowth declared.

“Why?”

“Only a team with a real rocket can call themselves Team Rocket, meow. If we snatch this rocket and give it to the boss, he’ll be overjoyed, and we’ll get promoted, meow.”

“Exactly. Let’s make our move,” Jessie agreed.

Ash and his friends arrived at the Cosmos Center, which had many floors. Ash led the way to the second floor, where numerous machines were on display.

“These machines look so interesting,” Max said.

“They’re probably used for astronaut training,” Brock guessed.

“Really? I want to try!” Ash said, climbing onto a circular machine. He strapped himself in, pressed a button, and the device began spinning rapidly.

It spun so fast that Ash soon became dizzy. Fortunately, Pikachu was with him and quickly pressed the stop button with its tail, bringing the machine to a halt.

Ash’s eyes were spiraling as he collapsed to the floor.

“Ash, are you okay? You’re always so reckless,” Brock scolded.

“But it was really fun,” Ash replied.

Lying on the ground, Ash suddenly noticed flashes of light outside the window. Crawling over, he peered out to see another building, where two people were battling—one using Lunatone, the other Solrock.

Cheng Cheng saw them too. They must be the Verdanturf gym leaders; both Solrock and Lunatone possessed Psychic attributes. Cheng Cheng had thought Lunatone was rare, but apparently not.

The battle quickly ended with Lunatone victorious.

As Cheng Cheng turned away, Ash was already running downstairs, and Cheng Cheng followed.

The group gathered at the door to the room below, preparing to enter.

“Excuse me?” Ash said, opening the door. Suddenly, everyone began to float.

“Be careful!”

“What’s going on?”

“Why are we floating?”

“It’s because we used telekinesis to create a space-like environment for better Pokémon battles and training,” one of the trainers explained.

Cheng Cheng had noticed the Baltoy floating in the corners before. While telekinesis could make people float, it wasn’t true zero gravity, and space had no air and much lower temperatures. Brock doubted this method’s authenticity.

“By the way, I’m Maple, and this is my brother, South. Why are you here?” Maple asked.

“We came to Verdanturf to challenge the gym, but someone at the gym said the leaders were here, so we came to find you,” Brock explained.

“Actually, we’re the gym leaders of Verdanturf,” Maple revealed.

“Two of you?” Ash asked.

“Yes, the gym here always has two leaders, and we use doubles battles,” Maple explained.

“Let’s get started then!” Ash urged.

“No, we have to wait until after the rocket launch for the gym challenge. Why don’t you come watch with us?” Maple suggested.

“Alright!” Max agreed immediately, and Ash followed suit.

“I’m not interested in the rocket launch. You all go ahead—I want to explore here,” Cheng Cheng declined.

“By the way, are there any restricted areas in the Cosmos Center?” Cheng Cheng inquired.

“The first, second, and third floors are open for visitors. Other floors are accessible, but contain confidential items—it’s best not to go in,” Maple advised.

“Thanks for the warning,” Cheng Cheng replied.

So Ash and the others went with Maple and South to watch the rocket launch, while Cheng Cheng wandered the third floor.

He wasn’t uninterested in the launch; he simply had other priorities. Since this was a center for researching space Pokémon, there might be meteorites here. Judging by Maple and South’s Pokémon, Solrock and Lunatone were probably discovered in meteorites. Cheng Cheng wanted to see if there were other meteorites, especially those connected to Deoxys.

In Hoenn, Deoxys had appeared twice—once in the far north, where it battled Rayquaza, and another time when it came with a meteorite crash, later restored with Ash and his friends’ help. Cheng Cheng wanted to see if the meteorite connected to Deoxys was here.

He started his search on the first floor, which appeared to be an exhibition hall filled with displays.

In one room, he found models of airplanes and rockets, which didn’t interest him. Another room featured photographs—likely of rocket launches.

After exploring the first floor and finding nothing of value, he moved to the second floor, which was filled with training machines. He went straight to the third floor, where he finally found something intriguing.

Here were the meteorites Cheng Cheng most wanted to see. Some had been found on the ground, others collected from space. Using his system, Cheng Cheng carefully examined them.

He discovered a few meteorites contained special energy, though he couldn’t identify it—nor did it seem to be related to Pokémon.

Cheng Cheng browsed all the meteorites but found no trace of life—only some with unusual energy.

He knew he wouldn’t find what he sought; he was merely hoping to learn something new. He doubted the staff would leave precious items out in the open. Whether or not Deoxys’s meteorite was here, he certainly wouldn't see it.

Since there was nothing more to see, Cheng Cheng headed to the rocket launch viewing platform.

He arrived quickly, only to find Ash and the others embroiled in another incident. The rocket, which had been upright, was now lying sideways—proof that something had happened.

Then Cheng Cheng heard the familiar catchphrase, “Such a bothersome feeling.”

He knew the situation was nearly resolved and ran over to join Ash and the others.

“Ash, Pikachu, are you alright?”

“We’re fine. There was a little accident, but it’s all sorted out. How about you?”

“Oh, I saw the rocket models and meteorite displays—they were really interesting, especially the meteorites. I’m quite fascinated by them.”

“That’s good,” Ash replied.

“By the way, Ash, now that this is over, it’s time for our battle,” Cheng Cheng reminded him.

“Right. I’m ready.”

“But it’ll be dark soon. Let’s wait until tomorrow for the battle,” Maple interjected.

“And remember, tomorrow it’ll be two against one. South and I have excellent teamwork. Are you ready to take us on?”

“Of course.”

“Wait,” Cheng Cheng spoke suddenly.

“I think it’s pretty tough to fight two-on-one. Controlling two Pokémon alone is challenging, so could we add another person? I’d like to join the challenge.”

“You want to battle too?”

“Yes. Let me and Ash team up against you two, to make it fairer.”

“That’s fine. But South and I have been partners for a long time—your teamwork might not match ours.”

“No problem. We’ll coordinate perfectly tomorrow, right, Ash?”

“That’s right. I’d love to battle together with Cheng Cheng. Isn’t that true, Pikachu?”

“Pika!”

“Alright then, tomorrow we’ll have a two-on-two gym match.”

The arrangement was settled, and Cheng Cheng was delighted. He’d suggested this not only to battle more Psychic-type Pokémon and improve himself, but also because fighting alongside Pikachu sounded wonderful.

“Then let’s meet tomorrow.”

“See you then.”

Cheng Cheng and Ash returned to the Pokémon Center to prepare for tomorrow’s battle, though there was still much to get ready before then.