After dawn, Steven and the others learned of Aoki's arrival.
None of them knew what Aoki had been doing during this time.
They only knew that in the past few days, the people of the Divine Cult had almost vanished, and they hadn't encountered a single cult member in their immediate vicinity or for a considerable distance outwards.
According to the information Aoki left when he last departed, their location in Wave Valley should be in Area 3, and they hadn't encountered any cult members in the adjacent Area 2 and Area 4 either. This had already surprised them, making them wonder if Aoki had secretly dealt with them.
Now that Aoki was back, he directly told them that their activity range could be expanded further. However, if they were to go to more distant areas, it would be best to choose two or three people to go together, because the cult members would no longer dare to call for their companions.
As for why these cult members were acting this way, Aoki did not explain the reason or the process, but everyone still trusted his words.
Furthermore, in the letter, Aoki informed them that his Pokémon's strength had reached a critical moment, so he might seclude himself for a long time. He hoped that unless absolutely necessary, they would not disturb him and not worry about his safety.
If they had any requests for items, they could leave a list of what they needed at the cave entrance every night before going to bed. Of course, materials and compensation were indispensable.
To this, Steven and the others had no objections.
Aoki had only been gone for a few days, and they already felt very unaccustomed, lacking everything they wanted. This was very difficult for them, and their Pokémon did not dare to use their full strength in battles, as there would be no logistical support if they got injured.
Now that Aoki was back, it was as if everything had a backbone again, and everyone's desire to improve their strength surged once more.
Unconsciously, Aoki's existence had become the final protective lock in everyone's hearts, the implicit backbone. This was a change brought about by his subtle influence in helping everyone repeatedly.
Steven and the others went out to train with full confidence. Since Aoki said they could go further, they were prepared to explore a greater distance this time.
...
A week later, Aoki finally emerged from the cave in Wave Valley. At this moment, he felt completely refreshed, and all the pressure and melancholy in his heart had vanished without a trace.
The pressure exerted by the Divine Cult also disappeared at this moment.
Of course, part of it was because Wallace and Everard, the two strongest individuals, had their strongest Pokémon fall under Dialga and Palkia's unreasonable attacks. But more importantly, it was due to his own sudden surge in strength.
Every one of Aoki's Pokémon had received a considerable boost. Although this improvement had some impact on the stability of the power they could unleash, he believed that with a period of training, everything would return to normal.
It must be said that the existence of the Divine Cult indeed had its rationality. At least their endless strange and unconventional methods were something that organizations like the Alliance and Team Rocket did not possess.
This time, in enhancing the strength of his Pokémon, the Divine Cult's peculiar methods played a significant role.
However, what made Aoki feel that all pressure had vanished was not just the improvement of all his Pokémon and his overall strength, but primarily the existence of Darkrai.
The effect of the recovery potion this time was still quite outstanding. The increase in strength was beyond Aoki's expectation, but upon closer thought, it was also within reason.
Pokémon: Darkrai (Light Purple) — Corroded State
Gender: Male
Level: 89
Attribute: Dark-type
Ability: Bad Dreams
Held Item: None
Inherited Skills: None
Basic Skills: Ominous Wind, Disable, Quick Attack, Hypnosis, Sucker Punch, Nightmare, Double Team, Haze, Dark Void, Nasty Plot, Dream Eater, Dark Pulse
Taught Skills: Foul Play, Snatch, Grudge, Wonder Room, Knock Off, Snore, Drain Punch, Trick, Payback, Focus Punch, Throat Chop, Shock Wave, Icy Wind
TMs/TRs: None
Darkrai's state was still corroded, but the level and aptitude it displayed at this moment had undergone significant changes.
Originally, a legendary Pokémon like Darkrai, especially one beyond the level of the three legendary birds, should not have an aptitude lower than the purple tier, except for some special existences.
However, in the chip's scan, Aoki's Darkrai had always been at the blue tier.
Aoki knew this was because there was conflicting energy within its body, which led to the chip's analysis of Darkrai's potential being underestimated.
But after using the recovery potion this time, a portion of the Ghost-type energy in its body was once again cleared, and Darkrai's aptitude and potential finally returned to the purple tier.
More importantly, Darkrai's current level was 89! The peak of the first hurdle of the Champion level, just one step away from the second hurdle of the Champion level!
Such strength, under the condition that Dialga and Palkia do not allow Pokémon to break through the second hurdle of the Champion level in the Space-Time Continent, can be said to have reached the pinnacle of the Space-Time Continent!
At this moment, Darkrai's existence truly surpassed the entire Space-Time Continent, especially with Wallace and Everard's strength being significantly weaker than before.
Don't let it seem like just a three-level increase, but to achieve such an improvement, Darkrai was severely tormented for three days and three nights, then slept soundly for three days and three nights, and with Aoki spending one day adjusting, he finally emerged from the cave.
The strength he now possessed allowed him to do what he wanted on the Space-Time Continent, and to fully unleash the desire he had been suppressing for the things within the Space-Time Mountain Peak barrier.
Aoki now possessed the strength to directly challenge and contend with those cult members head-on.
Not just one or two scattered individuals, but the strength to challenge all the cult members currently within the Space-Time Continent!
Of course, the premise was that they could unite again.
When Aoki emerged from the cave, there was still no one in the entire valley. It had to be said that Steven and the others were very unlucky, as they hadn't seen Aoki for a long time.
But it was good that they weren't there, lest Aoki had to explain what he had experienced during this time and what he was going to do next.
Because he couldn't tell them everything, he would inevitably have to tell some lies.
Although Aoki didn't rule out lying and was quite good at it, in his heart, this wasn't intentional lying, but rather a benevolent lie.
Sometimes, telling one benevolent lie requires a dozen or twenty more equally "benevolent" lies to smooth it over, which is too tiring. So, it's naturally better not to lie if possible.
Together with Slowking, he used Teleport to disappear from Wave Valley.
Aoki's control over psychic powers was now sufficient to allow him to use Teleport freely. If he was with Slowking, the range they could Teleport to would become even larger.
After several consecutive Teleports, Aoki appeared at the entrance of a cave in another location.
"Sir!" As soon as Aoki appeared, two people respectfully called out.
It was Brad and Catherine, the two subordinates he had recruited on the Space-Time Continent.
At this moment, both of them held Aoki in genuine admiration, even reverence.
They had witnessed Aoki's plan from beginning to end, and both of them had even participated in it. Many things that Aoki found inconvenient to handle himself were entrusted to them.
The outcome of this mission also exceeded their expectations. No one knew the terror of the Divine Cult better than these two who had lived here fearfully for twenty-five years.
They had only encountered the few people who originally lived here, not counting the cult members who entered after the space barrier broke.
They originally thought that with the progress of these people, the Space-Time Continent would basically be theirs, and Brad and Catherine's hope of returning to the Pokémon World would ultimately be a pipe dream.
Who knew that Aoki would directly infiltrate the Divine Cult, and through various means and strategic maneuvers that they didn't quite understand, the outcome greatly exceeded their expectations.
The disintegration of the Divine Cult members within the Space-Time Continent was now a reality. Aoki, by his own strength, instantly dismantled the largest force on the Space-Time Continent.
Although there weren't too many casualties among the cult members at this time, they were now each fending for themselves, and being able to protect themselves was a remarkable achievement. The feeling of being constrained and unable to act freely had disappeared.
Such an Aoki, who possessed both strength and strategic ability, gave Brad and Catherine hope that they might be able to leave.
"How have those few Pokémon been captured during this time?" Aoki asked indifferently.
Upon hearing this, Brad immediately took out several Poké Balls from his pocket. "Sir, these are the remaining Pokémon. Catherine and I each chose two, and after more than a week of training, they are already able to display a certain level of strength in actual combat."
These Poké Balls were actually what Aoki had asked Brad and Catherine to retrieve from the place where Number Four had hidden them. Besides the three Poké Balls intentionally left in Number Four's residence, Aoki had entrusted the rest of the Pokémon to them for safekeeping, and allowed them to each choose the Pokémon most suitable for them.
Each person chose two, which meant that their current number of Pokémon had returned to six, and they were six Pokémon that could display a certain level of strength.
The reason not all were captured was because sometimes having too many Pokémon was not necessarily a good thing, especially when these Pokémon originally belonged to others.
Six Pokémon was already the limit they could currently control.
In fact, these two had lived here for twenty-five years, enduring twenty-five years of hardships, far more than the cult members who had lived a comfortable life here for twenty-five years. Their growth and gains were also much greater, but they suffered from a lack of sufficient resources and no Poké Balls to capture wild Pokémon.
This led to a constant shortage of Pokémon on their person. Even if the strength of a single Pokémon was not inferior to that of a cult member, their overall strength was still vastly different.
Moreover, they could not truly trust each other, making their lives much harder than those of the united cult members.
However, adversity breeds success, while comfort leads to complacency. Those cult members, due to their excessively comfortable lives, had no sense of urgency, and even with abundant resources, their growth might not necessarily be higher than that of Brad and Catherine.
Now that they had once again completed their team of six Pokémon, their strength surged. Dealing with some mid-level cult members was basically not much of a problem. Even if they could use divine power infusion, resisting and not losing was certainly possible.
Two people with "ordinary" member strength, plus Aoki as the top combat power, in the current situation where the Divine Cult was fragmented and distrustful of each other, Aoki and his three companions were already a very powerful force.
After all, due to the invisible influence of the psychic seed, the three of them could truly trust each other, which was something the cult members did not possess.
Aoki took the Poké Balls that Brad handed over. Although Aoki didn't care for these Pokémon, their value was still very high. Otherwise, Number Four wouldn't have been so smug about taking so many Pokémon and then been severely tricked by Aoki.
"This time, we are going to solve the problem of you two returning to the Pokémon World," Aoki said.
Hearing Aoki's words, Brad and Catherine's eyes gleamed with hope.
They had waited for so long. Wasn't a large part of the reason they were willing to follow Aoki from the beginning because they wanted to leave the Space-Time Continent and return to the Pokémon World?
But whether Aoki could truly take them back, they were still somewhat uncertain. However, hearing Aoki say this now, they let out a long sigh of relief.
In fact, after Aoki planted the psychic seed in them, even if he didn't take them back, they couldn't do anything to Aoki and could only accept their fate. So, when Catherine agreed to Aoki, she knew it was a gamble, a huge gamble betting everything she had!
"But before we do that, there's one more thing we need to take care of first," Aoki said with a hint of mystery.
Just as Brad and Catherine showed confused expressions, a smile flickered in Aoki's eyes. He didn't expect that he would also be able to do this.
He channeled the psychic power within his body, making it flow into his palm, and then, before Brad and Catherine could react, his hand, imbued with psychic power, directly struck Catherine's forehead.
Thud—
Catherine's eyes rolled back, and she fell down immediately.
"Sir!!!" Brad's eyes widened, unable to believe what he had just witnessed.
Aoki had dealt with Catherine with one strike?
Why?
Just as Brad was still in shock and at a loss, Aoki extended his left hand and gently patted his shoulder.
Brad shivered all over, immediately knelt on the ground, and cried out, "Sir! Your subordinate has not done anything to displease you, please spare my life!"
A psychic seed was planted in their minds, so Aoki could take their lives almost at any time, with just a thought. Moreover, they couldn't even muster any thought of resistance.
It was like if Aoki now ordered Brad to commit suicide, he would have no choice but to do so.
So, since Aoki could deal with Catherine so easily, why did he have to do it himself?
Therefore, Brad hadn't clearly seen what Aoki had done.
Looking at Brad kneeling on the ground begging for mercy, Aoki smiled and shook his head, pulling him up from the ground.
"Look closely at Catherine's condition." There was a hint of helplessness in the words.
Only then did Brad see Catherine's rising and falling chest and steady breathing, all indicating that she was perfectly fine at the moment.
Shaking his head again, "If I wanted to kill her, would I need to do it myself?"
An awkward expression appeared on Brad's face. He knew he had jumped to conclusions this time. Since Aoki had given her the Pokemon and allowed her to replenish her fighting strength, it meant that Aoki still valued her quite a bit.
"Look down." Aoki gestured with his chin, signaling Brad to look down.
The two waited silently in place for a few minutes, a duration that was somewhat longer than Aoki had imagined.
Just as he was about to check, Catherine's tightly closed eyelids twitched, and she slowly opened them. However, as she opened her eyes, a strange light, filled with a hint of spirit, flashed within them.
"This is…" Brad's eyes widened, somewhat disbelieving what he was seeing.
Aoki's gradually furrowed brow now relaxed, revealing a satisfied smile. This time, he had also acted as an enlightener!
The so-called enlightener is a special term among psychics. For example, when Sabrina accidentally helped Aoki awaken his psychic abilities, she could be considered the enlightener of Aoki's psychic abilities. And at this moment, Aoki had become Catherine's enlightener!
That's right, from this moment on, Catherine became a glorious psychic, though at the lowest level, not even a low-level psychic. However, compared to Aoki psychic talent, Catherine's talent was many, many times stronger.
At least reaching the level of a beginner psychic would not take seventy-odd years; it was achievable within her lifetime.
"Psy… psychic abilities…" Brad murmured, never expecting Catherine to possess the talent for psychic abilities.
"Psychic abilities?!" Catherine, who had just woken up, also heard Brad's words.
Although she didn't know why Aoki had knocked her out just now, she felt no discomfort at all at this moment; in fact, she felt better than ever.
Could it be that she had become an psychic?
Catherine looked at her hands, feeling a bit lost for a moment.
Aoki directly said, "That's right, from now on, you are a psychic. However, right now you don't even count as a low-level psychic. If you want to use it in actual combat, you at least need to reach the beginner psychic level to be useful.
So, now that you've awakened psychic abilities, besides making your mind a bit sharper, the usual help won't be very significant.
But, it's still a little bit of help, isn't it?"
Catherine at least has a chance of becoming a beginner psychic, unlike Aoki back then.
"This is the basic manual for psychic. It was given to me by the person who helped me awaken my abilities. It's of no use to me now, but I hope it can be of some help to you.
At the same time, I also hope that if you can help other people awaken their psychic abilities in the future, you can also provide them with some assistance. Consider this a special kind of legacy," Aoki said.
"A legacy…?" Catherine dazedly took the manual from Aoki's hand.
In fact, when Aoki first planted the psychic seed in Catherine's mind, he discovered her uniqueness and knew that she possessed the talent to become an psychic. It was just that at the time, there wasn't much time to do it, and Aoki's mental focus was entirely on his plan, leaving him with little time for this.
However, today, the pressure on him finally disappeared. Aoki also hoped to see his subordinates grow stronger and stronger. Since she had the talent for psychic abilities, helping her awaken them was not too difficult.
Aoki's method was much gentler than Sabrina's way of helping him awaken, so Catherine felt very comfortable now, without any discomfort.
Compared to Aoki's agonizing pain at the time, this was much more comfortable.
"Thank you, my lord!!" Visible excitement appeared on Catherine's face.
Both she and Brad, although they disliked the people of the Holy Church and their methods, truly envied the psychic abilities of the Church members from the bottom of their hearts, hoping that one day they too could become psychics.
She never expected it to actually come true today!
Clutching the Psychic Manual tightly in her hand, Catherine felt that ever since she started following Aoki, she had continuously gained incredible things.
Now, she had even become the psychic she had always dreamed of, which was simply too amazing.
Catherine's secret delight and Brad's hidden envy were both noticed by Aoki, but he didn't show much reaction.
"Let's go. Now we're truly going to help you solve the most crucial matter, and at the same time, help me see what the true secret hidden within this Space-Time Continent actually is." Aoki's face returned to calm, but his eyes gleamed with intense curiosity and an uncontainable desire.
With a casual wave of his hand, the three, along with Slowking, disappeared from their spot.
...
Three days later, Aoki and the other two appeared in a landscape filled with broken rocks.
At this moment, Aoki had changed back into the attire of a Church member, and Brad and Catherine were dressed similarly. Although the two were clearly not Church members, this attire could somewhat conceal their identities.
In these three days, the trio had successfully transformed from being the hunted to the hunters.
In just three days, with the help of Aoki, the "insider," they successfully dealt with two more Church members and acquired all their belongings.
It was then that Aoki realized that the biggest source of resources and income on the Space-Time Continent was no longer the inherent resources of the continent, but rather the members of the Holy Church.
The Church members, having lost their cohesion, were at a good time to be defeated one by one.
However, after Aoki dealt with two individuals, the remaining Church members seemed to sense some threat, knowing that their safety was not guaranteed at this time, so they all holed up.
However, Aoki's target from the beginning was not them; it was just that on his way forward, he happened to encounter a few of these people, and if it wasn't too much trouble, he certainly didn't mind increasing his income in this way.
Now, they had arrived at this place filled with broken rocks because the person he wanted to see was currently inside.
Looking at the scene before him, a smile appeared on Aoki's face, and he led Brad and Catherine directly inside.
And at this very moment, in the deepest part of the Shattered Stone Ridge, there were four people. If anyone from the Holy Church were present, they would surely recognize them. These four were the original Holy Church members who lived here.
To call them members of the Holy Church, in truth, they weren't entirely so. At least they didn't get along with Wallace and his group. It was only due to the deterrent power of the Holy Church outside, and the subtle influence over such a long period, that they didn't dare to do anything out of line.
But now, the Holy Church within the Space-Time Continent had fallen apart. Forget about cooperation; it was fortunate if they didn't attack each other.
However, they were different. Although two of them were dealt with by Aoki, they had lived together for twenty-five years. And before the later arrivals entered, there were already two elders here. With them in charge, the relationship among the six was quite good.
While others were mutually suspicious and hostile, these four were the first to unite.
At this moment, the combined strength of these four could be said to be among the top in the entire Space-Time Continent.
When people gain power, their desires inevitably increase. And they weren't fools; they had all witnessed the Holy Church's disintegration at the time.
It was inevitable that they would feel a bit moved in their hearts.
The four people here currently use Fire-type, Water-type, Dark-type, and Psychic-type Pokémon respectively, corresponding to Flareon, Vaporeon, Umbreon, and Espeon.
Adding the two who previously used Leafeon and Jolteon, there are a total of six Eeveelution Pokémon, which can be combined to break through the barrier on Space-Time Mountain.
To be honest, living here, they truly didn't know that the combination of six Eeveelution Pokémon could break through that barrier. There must have been some special items needed in between, but Wallace had never told them about these items.
"Huokui, do you think this Number Three is reliable? Can we trust him?" The younger man, with Umbreon by his side, asked the elder with Flareon.
Although the two using Flareon and Vaporeon were the strongest here, they were different from Wallace and Everard. They were very clear that the main person in charge of all matters was the elder named Huokui, who used Flareon. This was a habit they had cultivated over many years.
Huokui, who uses Fire-type Pokémon; Shuimiao, who uses Water-type Pokémon; Esong, who uses Dark-type Pokémon; and Nianjing, who uses Psychic-type Pokémon, who is also the only woman among the four.
Their former names were abandoned after they entered the Space-Time Continent. Jokeli, whom Aoki once met, and the person who used Jolteon, actually also had such names, but with their deaths, these things are no longer important.
Although the elder named Huokui used Fire-type Pokémon, his personality was completely contrary to the volatile nature of fire. He looked like a kind-faced old man next door.
He gently stroked the one-finger-long beard on his chin, a beard he had carefully kept as a small habit of his. "This Number Three is unusual. When the incident happened that day, you didn't notice him, but I had been inadvertently keeping an eye on him.
This person seems quite ordinary, but he acts decisively. He answered Wallace's questions very straightforwardly, and when he finally chose to leave, he didn't hesitate at all.
Most importantly… when Wallace and Everard were about to fight, it was his Pokémon that first launched an attack, which forced Wallace and Everard to fight."
Hearing Huokui say this, the other three showed surprised expressions in their eyes. They really hadn't noticed this, and never expected that Huokui had seen all of it.
"So… this Number Three is really not simple. To be able to pull off subtle moves right under Wallace's nose, he's quite bold," Esong murmured, seemingly re-evaluating the Number Three he spoke of.
"Hmph, and that's not all. When he left, he dared to send me a telepathic message, saying he had a way to break the barrier on Space-Time Mountain and asked us to wait for him here.
Do you think someone who dared to send me a telepathic message at that time would be a simple person?" Huokui's face also showed a hint of surprise. He didn't know what method Number Three had, but from his perspective as an observer, the more he thought about Number Three, the less simple he seemed.
"The only force that can possibly gather now is the four of us. Number Three must know that we will gather together, and yet he still dares to arrange to meet us here ten days later. This shows that he is confident, with the strength and courage to confront us," Shuimiao also said from the side.
After Huokui's pointers, everyone no longer dared to underestimate Aoki, this Number Three.
In fact, thinking about it carefully, Aoki's actions on the top of Space-Time Mountain at that time were inherently hard to conceal and couldn't withstand scrutiny. Anyone with a bit of observational skill would have thought of him.
And don't forget, the ones who died were Numbers Two, Four, and Six. From a distance perspective, as long as Number Three was willing, he could have reached them.
Who said the killer of Number Two must be Number Four? Or that the killer of Number Six must be Number Five?
What role did Aoki, as Number Three, play in all of this?
Moreover, he chose to contact the four of them at the end, clearly showing he was either fearless or foolish, or simply confident enough in his own strength.
In Huokui's eyes, would Number Three, who played an unknown role, be a fool?
Clearly impossible.
So, for safety's sake, the four of them had arrived here three days ago, to check the surrounding situation and avoid falling into Number Three's trap.
If Number Three hadn't set a trap here, they wouldn't mind setting one themselves, to lure him in.
At that time, they might be able to find out the true strength and depth of this Number Three.
A person who can hide their strength in an organization like the Holy Church, where wolves and tigers gather, must have an ulterior motive.
In the eyes of Huokui and the other three, Aoki, this Number Three, must have had a plan in mind even before entering the Space-Time Continent. They would never have thought that Number Three had actually been swapped out—such an absurd situation.
Just as they were discussing, Aoki finally entered their psychic scanning range.