After a few moments, Cynthia finally reorganized her thoughts.
It seemed the sword she'd obtained, called the Rusted Sword, had deep connections with that blue Pokémon she'd just seen... Otherwise, this sword wouldn't have shown her such visions.
So... could it be that what's sealed inside this sword is that blue Pokémon?
Or perhaps... that purple entity?
Cynthia couldn't help but frown slightly.
Undoubtedly, the difference between these two possibilities could be described as night and day.
At this moment, the light emanating from the rusted blade had dissipated, slowly settling back into Cynthia's hands and returning to stillness, as if it had never moved at all.
Speaking of which, according to Bill's explanation, to release whatever was inside this sword, she'd need to break the contract seal on it - simply repairing it wouldn't work.
But the item description for this sword told her that as long as she could repair it, she'd be able to unleash its original power.
From this perspective, couldn't she first try repairing the sword, then decide whether to break the seal based on the situation?
Besides...
This was a game after all, not reality - she didn't need to be overly cautious.
If you're going to be timid playing a game, then it's not really playing anymore.
Moreover, the shock those two Pokémon had given her was simply too great. Taking such a "risk" to obtain more intelligence about those two Pokémon was clearly worth it.
With this thought, Cynthia finally made her decision and turned to address Bill nearby.
"Did you see what just happened?"
Bill paused, shook his head, and rubbed his head with a grimace: "See what? Of course, I saw it - that broken sword just whacked me hard on the head! There's a bump now!"
It seemed Bill hadn't received the visions the sword had provided to Cynthia - that was exclusive to her character.
After brief consideration, Cynthia asked:
"You mentioned earlier that this sword's material... is called Galar Particles? If I wanted to repair this sword, do you have any ideas?"
Bill paused at this, then immediately shook his head: "Sorry, I only happen to know about this mineral and its crafting techniques, but what specific technology would be needed to restore it... I really don't know."
Hearing this, Cynthia felt somewhat disappointed - she'd hoped to get some information from Bill.
However, there seemed to be a glimmer of hope - at this moment, Bill pointed at the sword and spoke again:
"Hey, you're not planning to repair this sword and release whatever's inside, are you? I'd suggest you don't - look at how it acted just now, whatever's locked in there is clearly no good!"
But the moment he finished speaking, the sword in Cynthia's hands suddenly flew up again, emitting what sounded like an indignant hum as it shot straight toward Bill!
This time, Bill learned his lesson, shouting as he bolted without hesitation, rushing right out of the room.
The Rusted Sword spun a circle in the air, returning somewhat sullenly to hover before Cynthia. A light emanated from its blade, forming an arrow symbol pointing in a certain direction.
Seeing this, Cynthia paused and looked down at the Rusted Sword: "Are you guiding me to repair you?"
The Rusted Sword seemed to understand her words, bobbing up and down as if nodding.
Cynthia thought for a moment, pressed the interact button, and spoke gently in explanation:
"I do plan to repair you, but I have more important things to do right now. I'm sorry."
The sword's light immediately dimmed.
Cynthia quickly added:
"But if possible, I'll definitely find a way to fix you - please give me some time!"
The Rusted Sword fell silent for a moment, then bobbed up and down as if nodding.
It seemed to reluctantly accept Cynthia's proposal, flying back to her hands and becoming still once more.
Watching this scene, Cynthia appeared thoughtful. With this sword's guidance, there would surely be corresponding repair methods waiting for her to discover.
Since that was the case, she needn't worry about this matter anymore - she'd take it one step at a time.
She carefully stored the Rusted Sword in her inventory and turned her gaze to the machine in Bill's lab.
In a few hours, this fossil would successfully revive into an ancient Pokémon!
To be honest, this should have been quite shocking for her, but compared to the visions the Rusted Sword had just provided, Cynthia suddenly felt this didn't seem like much.
She couldn't help but sigh slightly - this game really kept refreshing and challenging her worldview...
Come to think of it, she'd originally thought this game's creator only knew about Rayquaza and other legendary Pokémon from the Hoenn region.
But now it seemed...
Their knowledge of legendary Pokémon probably far exceeded her own as a mythology expert...
With this thought, Cynthia shook her head slightly and left Bill's research lab.
Bill was currently shivering outside, and upon seeing Cynthia emerge, he backed away several steps, looking afraid of getting hit by the sword again.
Only after confirming the sword in her arms had disappeared did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"It even hits people - that thing's way too petty! I only told a few truths..."
"...Hmm, but speaking of which, if you want to repair that sword, you could try going to the Galar region to see if you can find that mineral to patch it up."
"The Galar region?"
This term's reappearance immediately caught Cynthia's attention.
Bill nodded: "Yes, that's right. This region is located northwest of our Hoenn region, extremely far away. There aren't many shipping routes open currently, but you could try taking a ship from Lilycove City to look around. Remember, this stone is only found in the snowy mountain ranges of northern Galar - nowhere else has it."
"Well, good luck, and remember to come back later to see your fossil Pokémon!"
After speaking, Bill fled back into his house without looking back.
Cynthia silently noted this region's name.
The Galar region...
She guessed this must be a special area the creator had invented for the game...
Surely there couldn't really be a continent called the Galar region in the real world that hadn't been discovered yet?
That seemed quite impossible...
After bidding farewell to Bill, she continued toward Meteor Falls.
According to Cynthia's original expectations, since Meteor Falls was mandatory story content that specifically mentioned Team Magma being there, she figured there'd definitely be a difficult battle ahead.
To prepare, she'd already leveled her entire team to the current level cap.
However, what happened after entering Meteor Falls was unexpected.
When she hadn't walked far toward the left side of the cave, she saw a researcher in a white lab coat surrounded by a group of men in Team Magma uniforms, who roughly and forcefully snatched a box from him.
Then these Team Magma members just left without looking back...
Cynthia immediately approached and talked with the dejected staff member to learn the specifics.
"Those Team Magma thugs tricked me into coming here and stole my most important possession - a meteorite from outer space! Damn it, what do they want it for?"
"I need to report this to the League right away..."
A meteorite?
Cynthia immediately caught this keyword, frowning slightly. Just then, seven or eight people in dark blue uniforms ran over from the other side of the cave, surveying the situation and addressing the researcher.
"We heard Team Magma's thugs came here for their evil scheme - where are they?"
The researcher paused at this.
He pointed toward another direction in Meteor Falls.
"They stole my meteorite and said they were going to Mt. Chimney."
The Team Aqua leader slapped his thigh, showing regret.
"Damn, looks like we're too late?"
"Brothers, let's pursue them!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Team Aqua members disappeared en masse into Meteor Falls, and watching this scene, Cynthia fell into thought again.
From the current situation, though she didn't know what they wanted that meteorite for, Team Magma apparently had their own plans and schemes.
Now there was good news and bad news.
The good news was that Team Aqua at least seemed to be opposing them rather than working together.
But the bad news was that Team Aqua also had their own agenda - neither side was really the good guys, they were just enemies of each other...
So next, she should go to Mt. Chimney to see... what exactly Team Magma was planning.
Cynthia's eyes sharpened as she turned and left Meteor Falls.
When Cynthia returned to the cable car entrance outside Fiery Path, sure enough, just as she'd expected, the two Team Magma characters who'd previously blocked the way were gone.
She successfully boarded the cable car and quickly reached the summit of Mt. Chimney.
Mt. Chimney was quite a tall volcano in the Hoenn region, with large amounts of flowing lava ready to erupt at its peak. The volcanic ash Cynthia had seen in those grass patches came from this great volcano's past eruptions.
At this moment, the chat in her stream was quite active with discussion.
[What's Team Magma doing taking a meteorite up a volcano? They're not planning to blow up this volcano, are they?]
[I don't know, and besides, what's the connection between blowing up volcanoes and meteorites?]
[These dark organizations always do incomprehensible things - we'll see soon enough, right?]
Cynthia was also pondering.
The previous game content had revealed the tip of Team Aqua's plans, and Team Magma's objectives would probably soon be revealed too.
Just after exiting the cable car, Cynthia heard chaotic battle sounds nearby.
She moved her character forward to look and discovered Team Magma and Team Aqua members were actually fighting with their Pokémon!
Such scenes extended continuously from the mountain base up toward the summit - dozens of people in red and blue uniforms were brawling.
Not only were their Pokémon battling each other, but these members were engaging in close-quarters combat themselves - the scene was quite chaotic.
This chaotic situation undoubtedly provided Cynthia with a convenient opportunity as she carefully maneuvered her character to quietly climb up the mountain.
After walking a while, Team Aqua members became fewer and fewer...
Finally, when she'd climbed halfway up, a Team Magma member stationed there noticed her arrival and charged forward to challenge her.
"Boss said this is the most critical moment - no one's allowed near!"
This NPC's Pokémon weren't particularly strong, and Cynthia easily defeated them in under a minute.
However, as she continued upward, more Team Magma NPCs kept challenging her.
Each NPC seemed slightly stronger than the last, but fortunately, Cynthia's current team configuration included two Water-type Pokémon, while most of these Team Magma NPCs used Fire-type Pokémon, so she handled them quite easily.
Most importantly, the newly added Pelipper would further weaken these Fire-type Pokémon's strength when Rain Dance was active.
Cynthia didn't even need Ludicolo to battle - she fought her way through and successfully reached the mountain's peak.
What met her eyes was a huge lava pool with deep red molten rock violently churning within, white steam continuously rising with intense heat.
In front of this lava pool stood a burly figure in a red Team Magma uniform.
His eyes were incredibly calm, with an aura of strength, arrogance, and confidence showing in his expression.
But upon closer observation, one could detect traces of deeply hidden ruthlessness.
Intuition told Cynthia this guy was no ordinary person - he probably held an extremely high position within Team Magma!
But just as she was thinking, that man seemed to notice her presence. He stepped forward, his deep voice reaching her ears.
"Little one, how did you get here? This isn't a place for you."
"Wait, if you're standing here, that means you've gotten past my subordinates. However you managed it, that's something worth appreciating - seems you're a talented youngster."
"In that case, I'll make an exception and give you a privilege. Let me introduce myself - I'm the leader of Team Magma - Maxie."
Cynthia's eyes immediately sharpened. The League had definite information about who led Team Magma - it was indeed this Maxie!
But she hadn't expected to encounter him here!
The next moment, Maxie's voice rang out.
"Listen well, I formally invite you to join our organization - Team Magma."
"Our plan is to let flames and lava spread across the entire earth, swallowing the oceans, ultimately creating a brand new civilization in the fires."
"How about it? Interested?"
As he spoke, he extended a hand toward Cynthia.
Cynthia's expression became somewhat complicated at this moment.
- As the Champion of the Sinnoh League, she'd been invited by Team Aqua's boss while playing this game, and now, after just meeting Team Magma's boss, she was being invited to join again...
At this rate, if she encountered Team Rocket's boss next, would she get an invitation too?
Faced with Maxie's proposal, two options suddenly appeared before Cynthia in the game.
- Accept/Decline.
Her eyes immediately sharpened.
What did this accept button mean?
Could she actually join Team Magma if she chose it?
She was genuinely surprised.
She hadn't expected the game's creator... to even include such side content!
Honestly, Cynthia was quite tempted at this moment.
If she joined Team Magma in the game, wouldn't that mean she could obtain more materials and information about Team Magma?
Though the real-world Team Magma was high-profile and committed every evil act.
But recently, for some reason, their activities had been getting quieter, even starting to fade from view.
The League's information on Team Magma was actually quite limited - hardly comprehensive.
With such a good opportunity before her, how could she refuse?
So after brief consideration, she chose Accept!
Maxie, getting this answer, applauded.
"Very smart choice. Joining us... You'll never regret it. Together we'll forge a new nation in the flames!"
But soon, his tone shifted.
"However, to verify your loyalty, I need you to do something now."
Maxie gestured toward the churning lava pool beside him.
"Take out all the Pokémon you have and throw them in along with their Poké Balls."
"After joining us, you won't need these weak creatures anymore. An excellent trainer like you deserves much stronger partners."
Two buttons appeared before Cynthia again.
[Yes/No]
But this time she...
She didn't hesitate for a moment and chose No.
Even in a game, she couldn't accept throwing her Pokémon into lava!
This was a trainer's fundamental principle that absolutely could not be crossed!
Even though this action naturally meant losing the opportunity to join Team Magma in the game and rejecting Maxie's invitation.
Seeing this, Maxie's voice instantly turned cold.
"I thought... You were supposed to be smart."
"But now it seems you're no different from those fools in the League."
"In that case, let me show you the cruelty of reality!"
Stirring music rang in Cynthia's ears as countless Poké Ball icons slid across the screen - battle erupted in that instant!