Steven, Lance, and Cynthia were experiencing and familiarizing themselves with Mega Evolution.
Aoki, on the other hand, was helping Phoebe, Wallace, and Diantha research how to more effectively improve their Pokemons strength.
Compared to their strength before entering this place, the three had improved quite a bit. For example, Phoebe's ace Pokemon, her Dusknoir, after a period of training, had finally reached Champion-level strength. Although it was just an initial entry, it was still a qualitative transformation.
As for her other Pokemon, such as Gengar and Sableye, they were just one step away. If luck was on their side, they might even break through directly.
Wallace and Diantha were also similar, but compared to Phoebe, their own strength was slightly stronger. Diantha's Goodra and Gardevoir were not inferior to Cynthia's Garchomp. However, Goodra, like Dragonite, lacked Mega Evolution, so its upper limit was somewhat lacking.
Gardevoir, however, could make up for these shortcomings.
Just as Aoki and the others were actively preparing for battle, the people of the Divine Cult had also stopped their invasion of this continent. All the people they had planned for had entered, and the spatial fluctuations had significantly decreased.
However, they did not, as Aoki had expected, go around searching for and targeting young members of the Alliance like Aoki. Instead, they gathered together and rapidly advanced towards a certain part of the continent.
It seemed that there was something more important and more concerning to the Divine Cult than eliminating young Alliance members like Aoki.
Of course, if they encountered Alliance members during their advance, they wouldn't mind eliminating them there, which would mean fewer annoying and powerful obstacles in the future.
Because the Divine Cult members didn't cause trouble everywhere, the entire continent didn't experience too much turmoil after they broke through the spatial blockade and entered on the first day. The entire continent fell into a strange calm.
Under such calm, Aoki and his group stayed in the underground cave for a full three days. During these three days, except for Aoki occasionally going out to check the situation, Steven and the others resisted the urge to go outside.
Aoki was somewhat confused about the situation within the continent at this time.
He could vaguely sense a group of people with extremely powerful psychic abilities gathered together, and this group showed no intention of separating, as if they were plotting something.
Although their psychic abilities were very strong, and each of them could hide themselves very well, for some reason, Aoki could vaguely sense them, as if… something was subtly guiding his direction and perception.
Aoki's heart stirred slightly, and he looked at his right wrist. At this moment, more than a dozen dark letters were already engraved on his wrist. These letters formed a string, appearing as if they were meant to encircle his wrist, but currently, due to the limited number, they only encircled the inner side of his wrist.
Regarding the existence of these Unown, from initial surprise to gradual familiarity, and then to their increasing numbers, Aoki had already grown accustomed to their presence.
He had grown accustomed to the fact that, due to their presence, his extremely poor psychic talent could now possess the abilities of a high-level psychic.
He had grown accustomed to being able to summon the secret power of the Unown with a casual wave of his hand when training in the wild, freely creating and destroying a different dimension, and also being able to control the initiative of the different dimension with the Unown's abilities when fighting against the Divine Cult members.
He was accustomed to the Unown providing Aoki with unexpected hints or help in certain special situations.
Although the Unown on Aoki's wrist showed no changes and gave him no hints at this moment, Aoki vaguely felt that all of this had a great connection with them.
Aoki could also vaguely sense the location of the Divine Cult members.
Although he couldn't figure out why yet, this gave Aoki a great deal of initiative.
He was afraid of the Divine Cult ambushing them, and he was afraid of them gathering and conducting a carpet search little by little. Now, although he didn't understand what they wanted to do, for Aoki, it was a good thing.
At least for a short period, his own safety was not a concern. If possible, he might even be able to successfully gather the remaining people. After ensuring his own safety, he would then go to see what the Divine Cult was planning. If he could cause destruction, that would be best. If he couldn't, Aoki would not be impulsive enough to try to eliminate the hidden danger for the Alliance.
Anyway, even if the sky fell, there would be taller people to hold it up. The Alliance had developed for so many years; if it were truly defeated so easily by a Divine Cult that had been hidden for so long, it would not only be an insult to the Alliance but also a slap in the face to Sakaki, the leader who had diligently developed Team Rocket.
And based on Aoki's understanding of Sakaki, after the Divine Cult appeared, Sakaki still didn't make many moves. He only did some work to prevent infiltration by the Divine Cult members. For most of the rest of the time, he just let things be, as if he was sitting on the mountain watching the tigers fight, seeing who, the Alliance or the Divine Cult, would gain the upper hand faster.
If anyone understood the Alliance's true strength best, it would likely be Sakaki, who had been fighting against the Alliance for so many years. Another possibility for his apparent inaction was that Sakaki knew some of the Alliance's trump cards and knew that no matter what the Divine Cult did, they couldn't defeat the Alliance's ultimate power.
Regardless of the reason, Aoki had a blind trust in Sakaki.
In this world, if anyone truly had the chance to overthrow the Alliance's rule, in Aoki's opinion, it could only be Sakaki.
Currently, Sakaki was still pursuing Mewtwo. Once he realized that this path was a dead end, he would truly explode with his potential.
Aoki was slightly expectant.
After understanding the situation, Aoki immediately returned to the cave and informed everyone. After a brief discussion, everyone decided to take advantage of this time to go out and search for companions. They would find as many as they could, and gather as much strength as possible. Perhaps when they became stronger, they could even turn the tables on the Divine Cult.
Aoki didn't know what others were thinking, he only knew that the Unown on his body, though not explicitly stating anything, were constantly giving him strong hints, wanting him to compete with the Divine Cult for something, as if that item was not only extremely important to the Divine Cult but also very important to the Unown.
The main point is!
Aoki didn't even know what they were supposed to snatch! How could he snatch something he didn't know about?
The person who tracked his psychic abilities that day was someone Aoki couldn't deal with, and now that the Divine Cult members were gathered together, their psychic aggregate was practically a mobile nuclear bomb.
Aoki was somewhat puzzled as to how the ancient psychic nation, once so powerful, was defeated. With so many psychics at that time, they were actually defeated by a group of ordinary people.
However, Aoki suddenly thought of something else: the secret that Cynthia's ancient clan had guarded in the Sinnoh region, regarding the legends of the God of Time and the God of Space, Dialga and Palkia.
Aoki had once seen legends about this continent on the walls of the ancient temple hidden behind the mountain.
It was just that the writings on the wall at that time were quite special, and ordinary people couldn't understand them at all. Even an ancient clan like Cynthia's hadn't passed down any text that could decipher the content described on the walls.
But at that time, Aoki, with the help of the Unown, had understood a part of the content.
It was a very vague feeling; he hadn't understood the specific words, but he had grasped some of the meaning. However, that feeling was very blurry, as if there was a layer of film, and some of the most secret things within it were not understood.
Perhaps the Unown chose not to let Aoki know, or perhaps Aoki was not yet qualified to know at that time.
But just now, as he recalled the content on the wall at that time, the string of Unown characters on his wrist lit up. The originally somewhat blurry characters in Aoki's mind gradually became clear.
Aoki looked at the scene in his mind in surprise. The text on that wall, without his knowledge, had been deeply imprinted in the deepest part of his subconscious. Now that he thought of this, with the deliberate push of the Unown, these characters seemed to come alive one by one, transforming into text that Aoki could understand.
A large part of it did not differ much from what he had seen before.
In the boundless space, Arceus, wandering, discovered three Pokemon Eggs floating in space. With his help, the Pokemon Eggs successfully hatched, giving birth to three Pokemon.
Dialga and Palkia, naturally possessing the ability to control time and space, and another egg hatched into Giratina, the Renegade Pokemon, who could control antimatter.
The three Pokemon naturally had a strained relationship with each other, but Arceus was willing to be the peacemaker, wanting to bring the three Pokemon together.
However, the one who resented Arceus's help the most was Giratina. Naturally possessing the ability to control antimatter, it turned and disappeared into the boundless space.
Dialga and Palkia, on the other hand, tentatively cooperated to some extent, spending a long time creating the continent of time and space where Aoki and his group currently were. Dialga and Palkia also spent a peaceful honeymoon period.
Moreover, the two Pokemon lived on this continent, right on the tallest mountain in the middle of the continent at this very moment!
Because of the prolonged stay of these two Pokemon, some special changes occurred in their dwelling place.
After Arceus was ambushed and severely wounded while creating the Pokemon world and chose to temporarily retreat, the relationship between Dialga and Palkia, no longer deliberately suppressed, gradually became less harmonious again.
Both Pokemon left this continent and never returned, but because of their residence, the special nature of this dwelling place was preserved.
"So… the Divine Cult's objective is very likely related to the things left behind by Dialga and Palkia?!" Aoki looked up, vaguely seeing the massive mountain peak standing in the middle, and at this moment, the direction he could sense the Divine Cult members in was also that location!
Although all of this was a feeling induced by the Unown's influence on Aoki, there was always a sense of being a puppet, which made Aoki very uncomfortable.
"Who cares what the Divine Cult's objective is? With my current small stature, going there would just be suicide. I still have to stay here for more than four months. If that thing were really that easy to obtain, the Divine Cult wouldn't have chosen to enter at this time." Aoki shook his head, shaking off the thought that the Unown had instilled in him.
The Unown clearly wanted Aoki to go there, and he didn't know what benefits it would bring to the Unown.
If it was something within his power, even if it was difficult, he wouldn't mind taking a slight risk, considering how long the Unown had diligently helped him.
But now, it was clear that the Divine Cult members were all gathered there. With Aoki's current strength, approaching them would only lead to death.
Understanding Aoki's thoughts and knowing his firm resolve, the Unown also stopped flashing and ceased to incite Aoki.
After Aoki had made up his mind, Steven and the others, who had finished organizing their things, also emerged from the cave.
Seeing Aoki in a daze, Steven stepped forward, smiled, and patted Aoki's shoulder, asking, "What are you thinking about?"
Aoki was brought back to his senses by Steven's pat. He temporarily put his thoughts deep within his heart. For now, self-preservation was paramount. It was best not to let impractical ideas appear in his mind.
He slowly shook his head. "Nothing, just thinking about how we can find and gather everyone faster."
Hearing Aoki's words, everyone else didn't have any particularly good ideas either.
The scope of this continent was simply too vast, and the wild Pokemon were too strong, further increasing the difficulty of searching. The only thing worth celebrating now was probably that the Divine Cult members were gathered on the mountain, making their movements much safer.
Although people from various regions had left symbols that could be understood, the area was simply too vast, and whether they would be seen was unknown. Aoki and his group were just lucky; their initial strategy was quite clear: wait in one place until Aoki gathered them.
"How about this, I suggest we first find a safe and suitable place for camping, establish our base, and then, while ensuring our own safety, each of us goes out to leave marks and search for companions. I think with our abilities, we should be able to cover a relatively long distance in a day. Over time, as the range of our movement expands, someone will eventually see what we leave behind.
Although this takes time, it is safer.
However, the prerequisite for this is a relatively safe environment." Lance offered his suggestion.
Everyone listened to Lance's words and nodded repeatedly. Although this progress was slow, it was indeed safer.
Actually, there was another key point that Lance didn't mention.
Among the seven of them, only Aoki was a high-level breeder. As long as he was present, relying on the extremely abundant resources on this continent, during their training period, it was almost equivalent to unlimited resources.
Although there was a threat from the Divine Cult now, the original training still had to continue. More than four months was very important for them, as they were currently in a period of rapid strength improvement.
If possible, Lance truly wanted to keep Aoki by his side at all times, so he wouldn't have to worry about getting injured in battle.
It has been proven how much better it is to have a breeder during training. The League is now promoting that when new trainers start their journey, it's best to find a new breeder to go with them. This is a complementary improvement for both of them.
"I have no objections. I happen to know a suitable place. Although it's a bit far, we can leave markers along the way, and maybe even meet a few people," Aoki said.
He had no objections; not just him, but Steven, Phoebe, and Wallace also had no strong opinions.
The four young elites of their Hoenn region had already gathered. Although they wouldn't abandon people from other regions, at least they no longer felt the pressure from Cynthia and Diantha.
"But here, we have people from the Kanto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Kalos regions, but we're missing the Unova region. If they're unlucky, it could be very dangerous. As for the Johto region, I don't trust the four people from that region very much right now," Aoki said again.
Indeed, since they hadn't encountered anyone from the Unova region, their plan was very disadvantageous for them.
"There's nothing we can do. We can only hope they get lucky, or that we encounter them on our way back," Lance said, sounding a bit helpless.
This was like a clever housewife trying to cook without rice; even if he wanted to help, he couldn't find a way.
So, the group set off in the direction Aoki indicated. Because they didn't dare to be too arrogant, they chose to walk.
However, this meant they would encounter many wild Pokémon, which would also serve as a good opportunity for their Pokémon to train.
Aoki's primary training focus was still on those few Pokémon: Lucario, Venusaur, and Gardevoir. As for Salamence, since it had broken through to the pseudo-Champion level, he could slightly ease up on its training.
Aoki's goal now was simple: to train his weaker Pokémon to the pseudo-Champion level first. Although this strength was still not as good as Champion-level, it could play a certain role in specific tactics or lineups, achieving a tactical targeting effect.
Many times, a trainer won't train too many Pokémon because their understanding of Pokémon's characteristics is limited.
Simply put, their knowledge is limited, which is why so many people like to train Pokémon of a single type, as these Pokémon share many commonalities.
For example, people Aoki had met before, like Maxie and Archie, and also people like Ghetsis whom he met here, even though they trained many Pokémon, they actually only focused on a few types.
Because they were most familiar with these Pokémon, had the most experience in training them, and knew what to do at each stage.
But Aoki was different from others; his greatest advantage was his breadth of knowledge.
From the League's database and Team Rocket's database, the chip had collected a massive amount of data, including a lot of experience and methods for Pokémon training. Plus, Aoki himself had a certain self-understanding of Pokémon training, accurately knowing the positioning of a Pokémon in his team.
Furthermore, he himself was a high-level breeder, capable of training his Pokémon according to his own ideas. Therefore, Aoki could train a large number and variety of Pokémon, and his tactical versatility was also greater.
Of course, this was assuming he had sufficient resources. Originally, Aoki was still a bit tight on resources for training Pokémon, but as his status grew higher and his power expanded, whether it was the League, the Sky Team, or the various resource exchange channels he consciously built, Aoki now genuinely had ample resources.
On this vast continent, there were also massive amounts of unclaimed resources and materials that Aoki could use to train his Pokémon.
Brad's twenty-five years of survival, Ghetsis, and the unnamed middle-aged man in yellow, all provided Aoki with a large amount of materials, enough for him to squander for a long time.
At the same time, he also knew that the suggestion Lance made had a lot to do with him.
Aoki didn't make Energy Cubes or special potions for others for free. If more people could gather, they would definitely go out to train and collect more materials. If they wanted to use them most efficiently, they would definitely seek out Aoki. At that time, even if he charged a fee, Aoki would still make a fortune.
For other high-level breeders, customizing an Energy Cube for a Pokémon is a time-consuming and mentally draining task, which is why the fees are very high. Customizing high-level Energy Cubes like this is simply unaffordable for ordinary people.
But even so, any high-level breeder who publicly accepts orders will have their doors trampled down, with a constant stream of customers.
These are primarily focused on making money.
There are also some, like Aoki's teacher, Gen Yagyu, who are seasoned breeders whose customization opportunities are truly hard to come by.
However, for someone like Gen Yagyu, either they don't open for business, or when they do, it's enough to sustain them for three years.
But Aoki is different from all other high-level breeders; he is known for his efficiency. Whether it's customizing Energy Cubes, potions, or other items, his speed is incredibly fast, and compared to other high-level breeders, his fees are also much lower, at most 70 to 80 percent of theirs.
However, Aoki's main profession is a trainer, so he doesn't publicly accept orders. But as his friends, Steven, Lance, and Cynthia can enjoy this privilege.
It is precisely because of their promotion that Aoki's reputation has grown louder and louder.
Now, he is not only the youngest high-level breeder in the history of the League's Breeder Guild but also the fastest in the Breeder Guild!
People call him "Aoki the Fast!"
Of course, not fast in that regard, just fast enough at making custom items.
There were even some intentional people who specifically obtained one or two customized high-level Energy Cubes from Steven and others, giving them to so-called "experts" to test whether they were truly high-level Energy Cubes and if long-term consumption could meet training requirements.
As a result, later on, these "experts," as soon as they heard that something was made by Aoki, directly chose to close their doors and refuse to see anyone.
They had never seen anything so irritating, bringing an Energy Cube beyond their capabilities for them to test.
It might take Aoki less than three or four hours to research and develop the formula for this kind of Energy Cube, but it would take them three or four days of continuous, sleepless work just to decompose and analyze it. And even then, there were some combinations and proportions that they couldn't analyze, no matter how much they racked their brains.
At this point, Aoki's reputation soared once again.
In fact, this was also intentionally done by Steven and others to build momentum for Aoki, because at that time, Aoki had just become a Hoenn Elite Four.
But then he suddenly disappeared for half a year, so Steven and the others could only use this method to help Aoki maintain his popularity.
Aoki only learned about this later from Phoebe.
However, no matter what, Aoki's title as the fastest in the Breeder Guild, "Aoki the Fast," was something he could never shake off.
With fast production speed, often exceeding standard item effects, and affordable prices, Aoki believed he could probably acquire all the gains these people had made during their time here.
At that point, it would be like a large group of people collecting resources for him alone, giving him the feeling that everyone was working for him.
Thinking about it like that, it was slightly exhilarating.
He wasn't afraid of them all wanting custom items; he was afraid they wouldn't be able to offer items of equal value.
But it doesn't matter, they are all prominent figures. Aoki doesn't mind accepting their IOUs, especially from big spenders like Lance and Steven. Writing a few hundred IOUs wouldn't make them poor.
If Lance owes a lot, Aoki might take a trip to their Dragon's Den. If Steven owes a lot, Aoki might even get a Metagross to play with, not a shiny one, as that's too valuable, and Aoki estimates Steven wouldn't owe that much, but a regular pseudo-legendary should be a sure thing.
As for those with some capital but far from the level of Lance and Steven, like Cynthia and Diantha, Aoki wouldn't mind "paying with their bodies."
Of course, this "payment with their bodies" is truly literal. He just happens to be short of two good enforcers, and having an Elite Four from another region as an enforcer would be a very prestigious thing.
However, Aoki felt that the two regional Leagues would probably help them repay their debts to avoid losing face.
Although this wasn't exactly what Aoki had in mind, it was still acceptable.
Thus, each with their own secret calculations, the group, apart from encountering some powerful wild Pokémon along the way, reached the place Aoki had mentioned without much obstruction.
They walked for five days, leaving markers along the way, hoping someone would see them.
However, their luck wasn't very good this time, and they didn't encounter anyone.
Standing before the somewhat familiar small valley, Aoki felt a bit emotional, not expecting to be back here again.
The Aura Valley, where he had recently abducted an entire family of Togepi and Clawitzer.
Here, there are mountains and water, and because of the deterrence left by Togekiss, there aren't too many powerful wild Pokémon, making it very suitable for them to use as a base.
The most important point is that, due to the subtle influence of Togekiss and Clawitzer's Aura power, this place can, to a certain extent, evade psychic scans.
Unless it's a psychic scan specifically targeting this area, it will hardly attract attention. Aoki had tried this before.
Although he didn't know the exact principle, he guessed it might have a lot to do with Aura power.
Perhaps the long-term presence of Aura power has created a special magnetic field here.
Aoki was, of course, the most skilled at setting up camps in the wild.
With him around, Steven and the others not only didn't have to worry about their Pokémon getting injured in battles, but they also didn't have to worry about their daily meals. So, it's really hard to say who benefited more.
The seven people summoned their respective Pokémon, and suddenly, the previously somewhat silent small valley became lively again.
And the Pokémon Aoki summoned once again caught everyone's attention.
Among them, the most eye-catching, of course, was the handsome and self-aware Darkrai!
Phoebe had seen Darkrai before, but later, she forgot about it due to the influence of Mega Evolution until Darkrai reappeared, which made her remember again.
The others, like Steven and Lance, were more surprised by the strength of this Darkrai.
As a legendary Pokémon, Darkrai certainly gives many ordinary people a bad impression, but when their strength reaches their level, they understand that everything is just hearsay. The nature of a Pokémon like Darkrai is not bad; it's just not very good at communicating, so it's misunderstood by people.
And Aoki's Darkrai, ignoring Steven and the others' gazes, simply floated silently on the lake, looking as if it were daydreaming. In fact, this was a form of its daily training: whether it could flexibly use its abilities while its body was interfered with by Ghost-type energy was very important.
Whether it was Darkrai's legendary status as a mythical Pokémon or its current strength, having broken through the first hurdle of the Champion level, Steven and Lance couldn't help but look sideways.
It was the first time they knew that Aoki actually had such a powerful trump card. This was very likely Aoki's strongest trump card, wasn't it?
Everyone had this thought in their minds.
However, among the crowd, there was one person whose expression was different, and that was Phoebe.
At this moment, she was frowning tightly, staring intently at Darkrai, looking as if she wanted to speak but didn't know how to begin.
Aoki knew that Darkrai's appearance would definitely attract everyone's attention, but he never intended to hide Darkrai. Any powerful Pokémon here was a force, and this force could play a crucial role, especially an existence like Darkrai, with a strength level of 85.
Coupled with its own combat experience and awareness, as well as special methods and skill release techniques, it was definitely more than just a little stronger than an ordinary level 85 Pokémon.
However, Aoki also noticed the change in Phoebe's expression. Seeing her looking like she wanted to speak but didn't know how, Aoki asked with a smile, "Phoebe, what's wrong? Haven't you seen Darkrai before?"
Hearing Aoki's question, Phoebe, who had been a bit dazed, reacted and pointed at Darkrai in the middle of the lake, asking, "Before, when it was with Gengar, I thought I was mistaken, but now I find that in Darkrai's body... is there a very, very strong Ghost-type energy in its body?"
"!"