Pluton did not deceive Ash. As he said, it would be meaningless to deceive. Even if he lied to Ash that Cynthia and the others were wiped out, once Cynthia appeared, the lie would collapse on its own.
If he thought he could use false news to make Ash lose his focus and seize the opportunity to take back the other two Divine Birds, that would be a fool's dream.
Although he looked down on Mars, no matter how incompetent Mars was, he still had two Divine Domain-level Pokemon as a base to battle Ash. If Mars still lost under such circumstances, it meant Ash definitely had power comparable to his.
Otherwise, no matter how poor Mars's tactics were, in the case of unequal battle strength, he could still crush Ash.
Currently, he only had Articuno, a controlled Divine Domain-level Pokemon. If two Divine Birds couldn't handle Ash, what could a single one do? Therefore, trying to create a flaw in Ash through language was useless.
Moreover, his real goal was——to stall for time!
"Ash, have you already restored Moltres and Zapdos to normal?" Cynthia asked with a slightly surprised and amazed expression when she arrived on the scene, leaping off Garchomp and landing beside Ash. She glanced at Moltres and Zapdos, who were unconscious with closed eyes around Ash.
Now the two Divine Birds no longer looked like they did in the Galar Region, meaning Ash had freed them from control!
"Yeah, I told you, with the bond between me and Mewtwo, handling them was a piece of cake... By the way, are you guys alright?" Ash wiped the tip of his nose with pride, his face full of smugness.
The situation was becoming clearer, with the two Divine Birds subdued and a method found to release them from control, leaving only one Divine Bird that had just been controlled. Even a two-on-one couldn't defeat him and Mewtwo, so the remaining one couldn't be a match for Mewtwo.
Although there was still a shadow with unknown combat power nearby, they still had the advantage.
In this situation, the boyish pride within Ash was unconsciously unleashed. Indeed, he inadvertently saved the world again.
"You're amazing, Ash. The position of future Pokemon Master is yours... But let's wrap up the final details first." Cynthia gave Ash a thumbs up, her face filled with unabashed praise, then immediately shifted her gaze to Mars and Pluton, her smile turning into a serious and solemn expression.
"Pluton, your plan ends here. Although you used Yveltal's power to control Articuno, Moltres and Zapdos have been restored to normal, and Lugia will not appear because of it."
"Ash and the others have the power to defeat Moltres and Zapdos, so defeating your Yveltal's shadow with no follow-up strength, along with Articuno, is no big deal. Surrender peacefully, and I'll apply for leniency for you from the Alliance!"
Cynthia's powerful voice echoed across the land. At that moment, Lorelei, Misty, and Serena also dismounted from their respective Pokemon and stood beside Ash, making Ash's side appear imposing, which could increase the pressure on the adversary.
But Pluton wasn't intimidated by pressure: "I never expected the great Cynthia to crack jokes. Leaving aside for now, if I wanted to leave now, could you stop me? Articuno may not be a match for your Mewtwo, but as a Divine Domain-level, if I want to leave, who on your side could stop me?"
Ash and the others: ...
Pluton was right; if Psychic Type Articuno wanted to take them away, it would be quite easy, unless Mewtwo now had an Intermediate Divine Realm level to forcibly stop them.
Furthermore, Pluton had a mysterious shadow, which according to Cynthia's hints, was similar to what Ash sensed and belonged to Yveltal's power. She referred to it as Yveltal's shadow.
It's due to the presence of that shadow that Cynthia and the others were caught by Pluton.
Yveltal's shadow was a monster in an energy form created through Yveltal's Power of Death. Such a thing couldn't even be called a Pokemon because it lacked any life force, only containing the purest Power of Death.
This thing was a combination of Team Galactic's highest technology. Though they didn't create a Legendary Beast that could advance to the Divine Domain like Team Rocket did, they did create a monster energy body naturally possessing Divine Domain-level power.
This energy body was under the control of Team Galactic, but each battle depleted its Power of Death. To replenish it, the same Power of Death was needed.
But Team Galactic had already used all their Power of Death to create this shadow, leaving none to replenish. As for how they originally obtained their Power of Death...
It might be hard to believe for outsiders, but they collected all this Power of Death in the Kalos Region as 'junk.'
The so-called collecting junk meant searching all over the Kalos Region for residual Power of Death left by Yveltal and gathering all of it to finally create this monster.