Cynthia, the former Champion of the Sinnoh region, faced Riku's hand and hesitated. But when she saw Riku's puzzled expression, she gritted her teeth and extended her hand.
Riku was not old, yet he could act so generously. She couldn't be dragging her feet, acting like a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl. That way, Riku might think she was a pretentious woman.
"Be careful."
Suddenly, Riku exerted force and easily pulled Cynthia onto the wall. Cynthia immediately looked down. When she saw no one there, she was stunned.
"Where are they? Did those Team Galactic guys all run away?"
"When I climbed up just now, I happened to see the backs of a few Team Galactic members. They seemed to be running towards that tower." Riku pointed to the landmark building of Eterna City.
"The Spear Pillar!" Cynthia frowned. "Team Galactic is indeed after that tower. Let's go, we need to hurry."
"Cyrus was defeated by us. Who knows if he'll resort to desperate measures."
Soon, Riku and Cynthia jumped down from the high wall and quickly headed toward the Spear Pillar.
"Whoa! They're back again!"
Several Team Galactic members were left guarding the entrance of the Spear Pillar. When they saw Riku and Cynthia running back so quickly, their legs went weak.
Even their Team Galactic boss had been defeated and forced to flee by the pair of them in just a few moves. For these underlings to attack now would simply be offering themselves up as food.
While they stood stunned in fear, Cynthia immediately threw out a Poké Ball.
"Lucario, come out!"
Seeing Cynthia summon her Elite Four-level Lucario, Riku slowly retracted his hand, which was about to throw out a Poké Ball. He had only brought three Pokémon on this mission to Sinnoh, unlike Cynthia, so he had to be more conservative with his resources. Besides, Lucario was more than enough to deal with these small fries.
"Lucario, Quick Attack. I'm in a hurry, don't dawdle with them!"
"Awoo!"
Responding with a cry, Lucario instantly appeared in front of the astonished Team Galactic members at a speed invisible to the naked eye. Before they could react, their bodies went limp and collapsed to the ground.
The physical difference between Pokémon and humans was too great. If it were an elite-level Pokémon, Lucario's Quick Attack might not be enough to knock it out instantly. But humans were different. If Cynthia hadn't been anxious, Lucario wouldn't have even needed to use a move with its strength.
"Let's go, hurry into the Spear Pillar."
"For some reason, I have a faint sense of unease."
Cynthia and Lucario took the lead and ran into the Spear Pillar, with Riku immediately following behind.
When they entered, both frowned.
"This place is too big."
"If Cyrus insists on hiding and playing hide-and-seek with us, we'll probably be searching until the next day."
"Should I summon my Pokémon? We can split up," Riku suggested.
"Not yet." Cynthia pondered for two seconds. "If Team Galactic gathers and defeats us one by one, it'll be troublesome. Besides, they've been in Eterna City for about a month. Who knows if the Spear Pillar has been set up with traps? We should be careful."
Riku had no objections to Cynthia's caution.
"Boom—"
Suddenly, Lucario, who was standing in front of them, was lifted off the ground without warning and slammed into the wall by a powerful force.
"Lucario!"
Cynthia exclaimed in surprise and quickly ran over. When she saw that Lucario had been knocked unconscious, she gritted her teeth.
"Psychic."
"Why are there Psychic-type Pokémon here?"
"To be able to use that move with such power, it must at least be a pseudo-legendary!"
"Clap clap clap—"
Sudden applause rang out clearly, and Riku and Cynthia turned to look.
They saw Cyrus, who had just been like a defeated dog, actually appear with a smile. Beside him was an old man in a white coat wearing pink glasses.
What shocked them both the most were the three Pokémon floating in front of Cyrus.
"How is this possible!" Cynthia exclaimed in surprise. "Given the strength of your Team Galactic, even capturing one of the Lake Guardians was a stretch. How could you catch all three a second time? This is completely unscientific!"
The Lake Guardians?
Riku was taken aback. Then he remembered some of the things Darkrai had mentioned to him in the early hours of last night.
"Miss Cynthia, they probably aren't the real Lake Guardians," Riku reminded her.
"How do you know? Have you seen the Lake Guardians before?" Cynthia frowned slightly.
"No, you haven't even seen them, how could I have seen them?" Riku shook his head, then pointed directly to the three Pokémon floating like puppets.
"Take a closer look. The eyes of these three Pokémon are all red."
"If what you said is true, and given that Team Galactic's strength is indeed ordinary, how could they control three legendary Pokémon?"
"In my opinion, there must be something fishy going on here."
"Young man, you're quite clever!" Cyrus looked at Riku with some surprise.
"Are you interested in joining our Team Galactic? If you nod now, you can immediately become our vice-leader, second only to me..."
"Don't give me that crap," Riku directly retorted.
"Second only to you? Do you even have ten thousand members in your Team Galactic?"
"Riku, there really are ten thousand," Cynthia immediately reminded him, fearing Cyrus would use a provocative tactic to make Riku bet.
"No way? Team Galactic, that trash organization, has ten thousand members?" Riku was incredibly shocked.
"Young man, watch your words." Being called a trash organization, Cyrus immediately couldn't help himself.
"Forget it, you're with Cynthia, so I doubt you'll accept my suggestion."
"In that case... you can just die!"
"Be careful!" Cynthia instructed and immediately threw out two Poké Balls.
"Come out, Spiritomb. Come out, Garchomp."
This time, Cynthia summoned two Pokémon. The appearance of the Lake Guardians had indeed made her nervous.
"Riku, don't be fooled by the different colors of the Lake Guardians. They are all Psychic-type Pokémon," Cynthia, fearing Riku didn't understand the situation, instructed again.
"It's a pity you didn't bring your Gengar this time, otherwise it would be its time to shine."
"I know the Pokémon you have. Do you have any that know Bug, Ghost, or Dark-type moves? If not, summon Metagross."
"At least it's also Psychic-type, so it won't be at a type disadvantage."
Riku shook his head. He had a Dark-type Pokémon, and it was the boss of Dark-type Pokémon. But unless facing a life-or-death situation, Riku would not let Darkrai appear in front of Cynthia.
"Metagross, come out."
"Lapras, you too!"
Cynthia summoned two Pokémon, and Riku also summoned two.
The difference was that Cynthia's Spiritomb was a Ghost and Dark-type Pokémon, dealing four times super-effective damage against Psychic-types, exactly the same situation as when Metagross was countered by Houndoom earlier.
As for Garchomp, although it was a Ground and Dragon-type pseudo-legendary, it had learned some Dark-type moves, so there was nothing wrong with summoning it now.
As for Riku, he had no choice. This was all the resources he had. He couldn't possibly summon Milotic as well, could he?
The opponents were copies of the Lake Guardians, and Darkrai had said their strength was similar, just without the divine authority. They were probably much stronger than pseudo-legendaries.
"Riku, cooperate with me later," Cynthia whispered.
"My Spiritomb is a Ghost and Dark-type Pokémon, and it's at a high enough level. As long as it hits the Lake Guardians, it will definitely inflict serious damage."
"I believe Cyrus understands this as well."
"I understand," Riku nodded, then stared intently at the Lake Guardians.
"Lapras, restrict those three Pokémon in front, Icy Wind!"
Seeing that Riku had really listened and used a speed-reducing move, Cynthia nodded and looked at the eager Garchomp.
"We won't be Mega Evolving this time."
"Because your Mega Evolved form will reduce your speed, and your most important task is to protect Spiritomb."
"Spiritomb..." Cynthia looked intently at her Ghost and Dark-type Pokémon.
"This time, I'm counting on you! Do your best."
"Everyone, go!"
Cynthia's instructions and encouragement immediately filled Garchomp and Spiritomb with power.
They hadn't faced a worthy opponent in a long time.
Garchomp was still okay; it had a head-on collision with Metagross some time ago.
Spiritomb was miserable; Cynthia hadn't let it out to battle for almost a year.
Now that it was released, it was about to fight three secondary legendary Pokémon. Although it felt that these Lake Guardians were a bit off, it didn't hinder Spiritomb's excitement.
Four times super-effective damage!
One move, and the feeling would be incredibly satisfying.
"Bang bang bang—"
At the same time, the Icy Wind that Riku had Lapras use actually failed.
The three Lake Guardians jointly released a barrier, and with Lapras's strength, its Icy Wind couldn't break through at all.
"Hahaha!" Cyrus laughed loudly.
"Even if you summon four Pokémon, two of which are pseudo-legendaries, they are all vulnerable before my Lake Guardians!"
"You got three knock-offs from somewhere, and you're this happy?" Riku said disdainfully.
"Knock-offs?" Cynthia was shocked.
"Could it be..."
"Cyrus, I didn't expect you, that bastard, to cooperate with Team Rocket."
"It's truly shameful. Your Team Galactic had its glory days after all."
"What do you know!" Cyrus roared.
"If it hadn't been for that accident back then, the Deoxys and Dialga would already belong to our Team Galactic."
"Just you, Cynthia, and this brat—our Team Galactic can crush you with a flick of the wrist!"
"A hero doesn't dwell on past glories. Whether it was before or now, your plan will never succeed!" Cynthia narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Isn't it just a Psychic-type barrier?"
"Spiritomb, break it for me. Shadow Ball!"
"Chaa—"
Spiritomb, who had long been itching for a fight, instantly released a Shadow Ball towards the Lake Guardians.
Shadow Ball was considered a powerful Ghost-type move, but for a high-level Elite Four Pokémon like Spiritomb, releasing it was just routine.
"Bang!"
"Not good!"
Seeing the Psychic-type barrier broken instantly, Cyrus immediately threw out a Poké Ball.
"Houndoom, come out. Keep a close eye on Spiritomb, absolutely don't let it attack again..."
"Too late!" Cynthia suddenly sneered, pointing at the Lake Guardians.
They saw Garchomp, who had been standing beside Spiritomb, approach the Lake Guardians at some unknown time.
"Garchomp, it's time to attack! Use your Dark-type move. Crunch!"
-----------More Bonus Chapters!!!!
Every 300 power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter