"Cogita, Diancie—are you two hurt at all?"
The door was pushed open, and Diancie and Cogita, following behind, naturally entered Elias's view.
Seeing Diancie's face full of shock and grievance, Elias knew she'd definitely been bullied by Dianna.
That was hardly surprising. Just looking at how fierce Dianna had seemed earlier, she hadn't exactly looked like she was going out to greet them nicely.
At Elias's voice, Diancie finally realized this wasn't her imagination.
Elias and Delphox were—without a doubt—right in front of her.
So that meant…
From the very beginning, Elias had already been rescued by Dianna and settled safely in here.
Then everything Dianna had just said to her—and all the promises she'd coaxed out of her—had been deliberate?!
Even though Diancie could be slow, at this moment she'd already realized she'd been tricked.
She'd been wondering how Dianna, who normally cared so much about Elias, could suddenly seem to do a complete personality flip and act indifferent.
But earlier, her mind had been in complete chaos, and she hadn't questioned it much.
All she'd wanted was for Dianna to agree quickly and send the Carbink out to find Elias.
Now that she thought back, even Diancie felt like an idiot for blurting out promise after promise.
"Figured it out now?"
Seeing Diancie standing there like she'd short-circuited, Cogita curled her lips and chuckled.
Diancie: …
Of course. Even Cogita had seen through it—no wonder she'd stayed so calm.
In an instant, a wave of grievance welled up inside Diancie.
"Elias!"
Diancie bounced forward and threw herself into Elias's arms, tears shimmering in her eyes as if she might start crying any second.
"It's fine, it's fine."
Elias gently stroked Diancie's head as he soothed her.
Delphox had already been in his arms, and Diancie still dove in anyway.
On top of that, Elias had only just woken up and was still weak—he nearly got knocked over.
While comforting Diancie, Elias didn't forget to look toward Cogita.
"I'm sorry. I made you worry."
He apologized.
For Cogita and Diancie to come all the way underground… it said everything about how frantic they'd been.
"Then tell me—what exactly happened?"
As she walked over and sat down beside Elias, Cogita asked.
Elias couldn't help but hesitate.
Cogita usually looked more languid than anything, like she didn't care about the world at all—like a fairy strolling through it.
But right now, her face was icy, as if a thin layer of frost had settled over it.
That meant she really was angry this time.
If he didn't explain properly, Elias had a feeling he'd be scolded badly.
...
[Under Cogita's questioning, you eventually told the whole story of encountering Yveltal from start to finish.]
[Diancie listened so tensely she shrank into your arms, while Cogita's smile gradually faded away.]
...
"Elias—once I get stronger, I'm going to knock that big bird out of the sky and stew it into berry soup!"
Diancie clenched her tiny fists and huffed at Elias.
For a Pokémon that had attacked them so many times, her goodwill had long since hit rock bottom.
If she got the chance, she'd even want to seal Yveltal inside a diamond.
At the side, Cogita tapped her red lips lightly with long, slender fingers.
Those crystal-white fingers brushed across her full lips, making the flush of color look even more striking.
She was thinking about whether she should make a deal and call over those two idiots—Dialga and Palkia.
No matter how strong Yveltal was, that strength was only relative.
Against the dragons of time and space, it would have no choice but to take the beating—basic resistance wouldn't even be possible.
In the end, though, Cogita rejected the idea.
Calling in the time-and-space dragons might solve the Yveltal problem, but it could easily turn into something even messier.
One wrong move, and it might even draw Giratina in as well.
"It's fine. For now, I'm planning to stay here with Dianna, so I won't run into Yveltal again."
"As for after that… we'll see if Diancie and Delphox can help me get revenge."
Seeing the atmosphere growing heavier, Elias spoke up.
Without meaning to, the plan he'd been turning over—provoking Yveltal—rose in his mind again.
In both encounters, Yveltal had shown hostility toward him. It had gotten angry.
But clearly, it wasn't angry enough—nowhere near enough to lure Xerneas out.
Only if Yveltal completely lost control… would Xerneas, the other side of the balance, be willing to show itself.
But Elias still hadn't figured out exactly how he'd do it.
And besides, he still had about two years before his life force ran out—there was no need to rush.
Slap—
Suddenly, Diancie gently took hold of his hand.
"Elias… are you feeling unwell anywhere?"
After hearing how dangerous it had been, Diancie finally remembered to ask about his condition.
She was worried—terrified that Yveltal's attack had done something to Elias.
At her words, Cogita also looked over, waiting for his answer.
Under those two gazes, Elias paused for two seconds, then shook his head.
"I'm fine. Delphox blocked most of the attacks."
He didn't plan to tell Diancie about the plans he'd been thinking through.
Not only would she be unable to do anything about it, she might even do something foolish because of it.
"That's good."
Hearing Elias was fine, Diancie let out a breath of relief and smiled again.
...
[For a while afterward, just as agreed, you, Cogita, and Diancie all stayed underground for the time being.]
[Since Cogita's cottage was also deep in the forest, the difference in convenience between the two wasn't very large.]
[And after a few days, you got back in contact with Lysandre.]
[He was extremely guilty. In a short conversation, apologies alone took up a full third of it.]
[You also learned he planned to reform Team Flare internally, and to expand Team Flare's influence.]
[It wasn't hard to tell this incident had dealt Lysandre a heavy blow.]
...
"You can try infiltrating backward through the Elite Four and Gym Leader positions. It'll help expand Team Flare's reach."
Elias offered his suggestion.
For some reason, he had a keen instinct for organizational management.
Almost as if he'd once held a high-ranking post in a major criminal organization—these things came naturally to him.
Many of Team Flare's systems had been set up by him personally, modeled on that template.