It had been just over two minutes since the two groups had been flying the balloons. During those minutes, none of them uttered a word.
It was at that moment that James spoke up.
"So these three guys who tried to ruin the Wobbuffet festival are really back..." He said.
"Also, they are stronger than they were at that occasion." Ash said.
"I still don't understand why they chose the Kanto region." pondered Misty.
"That region must contain some Pokémon that are valuable to them." Jessie replied.
"Since they were carrying more than one Pokémon Control Equipment, it might not be just one but multiple Pokémon they are looking for." Brock said.
"But they probably wouldn't bother traveling from one region to another just to catch some random Pokémon!" Said Meowth.
"Gathering the information we have, we can say, in a way, that these guys are on the hunt for several legendary Pokémon that must be in the Kanto region." Ash said. "Does anyone have any idea what these Pokémon are?"
After a few seconds of reflection, Jessie found an answer:
"What if, in fact, they weren't going directly to the Kanto region? What if they have taken some other direction, such as the south?"
"The Orange Archipelago?! What would they look for there?" She questioned Misty.
Jessie's last line provoked an enthusiastic reaction from James, who said:
"Don't you remember?! It's in that region where that crazy collector tried to capture the three legendary birds Zapdos, Articuno and Moltres!"
His speech took the group by surprise.
"But how do we know if they really went there? What if the bad guys have taken another direction?" asked Meowth.
"Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing." Brock said.
Suddenly, they spotted an unusual storm forming just above them.
"What's happening?" Ash asked, pointing to the storm.
"How strange... There shouldn't be a storm of this magnitude here at this time of year." Brock said.
"We need to get out of here before the storm comes down on us!" said James, distressed.
He had barely finished speaking when it started to rain and lightning.
"Careful, guys!" Ash said.
In addition to the rain and lightning, the wind was so strong that it was pushing the balloons away from each other.
"Oh no! What will we do?" Questioned Meowth, distressed.
"We need help from our Pokémon." Said James, picking up one of his Poké Balls. "Victreebel, grab your vine whip on the other balloon!"
Upon exiting her Poké Ball, Victreebel immediately grabbed the other balloon with its vine whip.
"Good idea!" Ash said. "Chikorita and Bulbasaur, we need your help too!"
As they emerged from their PokéBalls, both Pokémon grabbed their vine whips on the other balloon.
Suddenly, the storm had stopped, apart from the gale, which soon passed into a gentle breeze.
Both groups were surprised by the sudden change in weather.
"But how is it possible for an intense storm like this to last for such a short time?" pondered Jessie.
"Maybe there's some connection between this storm and those guys from Team Strengtheners." Ash said.
"I remember a similar storm that occurred while traveling through the Orange Islands." Brock stated. "At that time, we found out that such a storm had been caused by an imbalance between the three legendary birds."
"That means they really should be after legendary Pokemon." Said James.
"Also, at this very moment, they must have already encountered at least one of the Pokémon." stated Misty, in a repulsive tone.
"We need to stop them from completing their plan as soon as possible!" Ash said.
"So come on, guys!" said Jessie, in an enthusiastic tone.
"Pikachu!" Said Pikachu.
Both balloons were headed for the Orange Archipelago region.
•••••••••••
Tsuyoshi had already found Articuno's hiding place. His hiding place was a cave near a frozen mountain.
"Finally found you." He said.
He began to prepare his helicopter's missile launchers.
After a few seconds, these were ready to be launched.
At that moment, he started to launch the missiles towards the mountain.
Upon impacting the mountain, the missiles exploded, resulting in a loud bang, as well as a moderate-intensity cave-in.
"Come on, show up!" Said Tsuyoshi.
After a few seconds, Articuno came out of the cave, looking for the source of the chaos.
"Oh, there you are!" Said Tsuyoshi, picking up his Pokémon control equipment.
At that moment, Articuno had already identified the enemy. The legendary bird flew towards the helicopter, preparing its ice attack.
However, at that moment, he saw a beam of bluish white light heading towards him.
Before he could react, the beam of light hit him, causing him to begin to squirm in despair.
Moments later, a storm formed. Then, a strong wind came along with a heavy rain, causing Tsuyoshi's helicopter to start vibrating.
"Give up already! You have no chance of winning!" He said.
For many seconds there was resistance.
Until, finally, the legendary Pokémon gave in to the power of the machine.
The storm soon stopped and the breeze softened.
"Perfect! Now that you are under my control, no one will stop me from taking over the world!" Said Tsuyoshi.
That said, he directed his helicopter towards the location Hisaishi would be heading to, followed by the bird that was being controlled by him.
•••••••••••
In his search for Moltres, the legendary firebird, Hisaishi experienced a very intense storm, which came abruptly, which caused his helicopter to start rocking.
"What's going on out there?" He questioned, distressed.
After several seconds, the storm had also abruptly passed.
"But how is this… Could this storm be caused by one of the legendary birds?" he pondered. "I hope my companions be lucky to capture them."
At that moment, Hisaishi was approaching a volcano that probably would house the legendary Pokémon.
He was already preparing his helicopter's missile launchers.
After a few seconds, the missiles were ready to be fired.
"Come to me, legendary bird!" He said, while shooting the missiles towards the volcano with his missiles.
As they collided with the volcano, the missiles caused a bang, as well as an earthquake in the cave, which began to collapse.
A few seconds later, Moltres was seen coming out of the cave, followed by a stream of lava that, after leaving the cave, descended until it reached sea level, where it started to freeze.
"Now that you've shown up, just stand there to make things easier!" Said Hisaishi, picking up his Pokémon control equipment.
Meanwhile, Moltres was analyzing the helicopter that had fired the missiles that had wreaked havoc on the island.
He noted that its occupant was carrying some sort of weapon. This caused Moltres to start running away.
The moment Hisaishi fired the weapon, the legendary bird noticed a beam of light coming out of it and dodged it, continuing to flee.
"Cease the flight right now!" Hisaishi said. "Don't make it harder for you!"
Even so, Moltres kept running while dodging the beams of light coming from the Pokémon Control Weapon.
•••••••••••
Tetsuya was still looking for the island where Zapdos' hideout was. He had already searched several places, but he had not found any clue of where the legendary thunderbird was.
However, at that moment, he observed a very strong storm forming near the place where the helicopter was.
"What is happening out there?" questioned Tetsuya, in a desperate tone.
The storm was accompanied with an intense wind which caused the helicopter to start balancing.
After several seconds, that storm had disappeared, leaving him confused.
Meanwhile, he continued looking for Zapdos' hideout.