PS242

/ or Betrayed by the Leader (Japanese: VS バルビート VS  or 裏切りの総帥 Betrayed by the Leader) is the 242nd round of the Pokémon Adventures manga.

Plot
Inside the Seafloor Cavern, Archie asks why  has stalled its activity while  continues to move about. Despite the death of Mt. Chimney and the fact that Kyogre awoke earlier than Groudon, it's barely active, while Groudon continues to rampage. Furious, Archie realizes that Team Magma must have a hand in this, and sends Amber to find out what the problem is.

Elsewhere in the cavern, Maxie struggles while using the Red and Blue Orbs to control Kyogre and Groudon simultaneously. However, he suddenly falls back in exhaustion. When Tabitha helps Maxie up, Maxie explains that controlling two ancient Pokémon at the same time is extremely difficult; he didn't realize how much of a drain on his mental capacities it would be. Maxie asks Tabitha to take the Blue Orb a little distance away and control Kyogre himself so that Maxie can concentrate on harnessing Groudon's power.

As Tabitha carries the Blue Orb back towards the submarine, accompanied by his, Amber watches from a hiding place above. When Tabitha reaches the submarine, a sudden glow distracts and confuses him and his Pokémon. Tabitha recognizes it as the move, and has his Torkoal use to put the culprit, a , to sleep. Tabitha demands that Volbeat's owner show themselves, at which point Amber steps forward, noting casually that Team Aqua should have done more research in order to discover the existence of the two Orbs. Amber orders another two Volbeat to use, and Tabitha counters with , using the time bought by the blast to escape into the submarine. As soon as he jumps inside, however, Amber catches hold of him from behind, having left his Pokémon outside in the cavern so that he could follow Tabitha.

Tabitha demands that Amber let him go, since Torkoal is ready to attack again, but Amber swears to steal the Blue Orb under any circumstance. Torkoal is carrying the Orb on its back, and Amber, has one of his Volbeat outside blast a light over Torkoal. At first it seems as though nothing happened, until Tabitha realizes the Blue Orb has become a Figy Berry. Tabitha grabs the ladder to try to climb back out and retrieve the Orb. However, Amber, who is still clinging tight to Tabitha, explains that he had Volbeat use to switch the items the two Pokémon were carrying. Outside, Archie has been waiting, and receives the Blue Orb from Volbeat, mesmerized by its obvious power.

Having successfully retrieved the Orb, Amber calls for Archie to lend him a hand out of the submarine. Instead, Archie shuts and locks the escape hatch, and the submarine sinks on autopilot. As Amber and Tabitha gape in horror, Archie tells them through the intercom that he's removed the heart component of the submarine, so that it will break apart under the water pressure after reaching a critical depth. He thanks Amber for his hard work and tells them both to enjoy their tour of the ocean depths, then turns off the transmission and studies the Blue Orb. He is convinced that having it will finally put him and Maxie on even footing, and that nothing can stop him now.

Underwater, the Submarine Explorer 1 begins to buckle under the weight of the water as and  pass by it while making their way towards the Seafloor Cavern with.

Major events

 * Archie obtains the Blue Orb.
 * Archie betrays and leaves him and Tabitha to sink underwater.
 * and continue to dive underwater.

Humans

 * Archie
 * Maxie
 * Tabitha/
 * s
 * Tabitha/
 * s
 * s

Pokémon

 * (Relly/; 's)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s; ×3)
 * (Tabitha's)

Errors

 * In the Chuang Yi version, is erroneously referred to as.

In other languages
Kapitel 242 (Pocket Monsters SPECIAL) PMS242 PS242