Seeing the knights and the archers getting tense, Aven immediately introduced himself to prevent a situation.
"I am Aven, lord of the Pokémon Domain of Aspiration City. I've come to investigate the situation in Heartglade City!" Aven shouted back urgently, while the Pokémon at his side all released powerful auras.
In particular, the Ultra Beasts Aura radiating from Naganadel caused all the mounts present to panic and whinny in fear. Not a single one of them could muster even the slightest intent to fight—they only wanted to flee from the terrifying presence before them.
"A lord of Aspiration City?" The knights exchanged glances, then quickly sent someone to report the matter to the city lord.
It was Aven's first time meeting the lord of Heartglade City. Compared to Mira and Eva, this city lord appeared far more mature, dressed in a long red gown.
However, her complexion was extremely poor. The anxiety on her face was completely undisguised, and the dark circles under her eyes suggested she hadn't had a proper night's sleep in a long time.
"Princess Rona, what happened here?" Seeing the city lord before him, Aven immediately stepped forward to ask.
Both of them had been acknowledged by the Lake Guardians, and there was a faint connection between them, making it easy for each to confirm the other's identity.
"Prince Aven, please, let's speak inside the castle," Rona forced a weak smile.
Although this was their first meeting, she had already learned of Aven's situation from Mesprit and was aware of what had happened in the Pokémon Domain.
Under normal circumstances, she would have warmly welcomed this legendary lord. But now, she truly had no such mood—Heartglade City was facing an unprecedented life-and-death crisis.
Inside the castle's study, Aven's gaze was immediately drawn to the mountain of documents piled atop the desk. His expression grew heavy as he asked, "Did something happen to Mesprit?"
At his words, Rona nodded gravely. "The incident occurred two weeks ago. At that time, an intense aura of death suddenly appeared in the Heartglade Forest for reasons unknown."
"This deathly energy continuously eroded the life within the forest and rapidly spread into Heartglade City's territory. I sent knights to investigate several times, but none of them ever returned."
"To deal with the looming threat, Heartglade City was forced to begin evacuating its citizens, with knights escorting them northeast to take refuge. Meanwhile, we stayed behind to try to stop the spread of the deathly energy."
"But at that moment, the Sorcerer Organization suddenly appeared and launched an attack on the already weakened Heartglade City. I was forced to fight alongside Mesprit."
At this point, Lady Rona let out another sigh. Even without her continuing, Aven already knew what had happened next. Facing the full might of the Sorcerer Organization, Mesprit must have been defeated—and then captured.
"Mesprit was taken away?" Aven's expression darkened.
He was far too familiar with this tactic. Back in Aspiration City, if he hadn't carried the will of countless citizens and Pokémon to awaken Azelf, the outcome would likely have been the same as Heartglade City's.
In that case, the sudden appearance of the deathly aura in Heartglade Forest was very likely the Sorcerer Organization's doing. He just didn't know what method they had used this time.
That deathly energy had no clear source and was far more troublesome than the visible gray mist. It might even be connected to another powerful guardian deity!
Moreover, he had no idea what was happening in Wisdomhall City and Aspiration City. After losing Mesprit, Heartglade City had effectively lost contact with both Wisdomhall City and Aspiration City.
"I must return to Aspiration City as soon as possible!" He took a deep breath. Having already lost his connection with Azelf, it was very possible that something had happened there as well.
"Princess Rona, please rest assured. I will definitely rescue Mesprit!" His expression was solemn.
If the three Lake Guardians truly met with disaster, the Sinnoh Region would lose the protection of its guardian deities. At that point, everything would depend on the power he held in his hands.
This time, his journey to the Almia Region had allowed him to successfully awaken Darkrai using the Crystal of Light and gain the protection of Lucario.
Coupled with Poipole's successful evolution into Naganadel and the acquisition of the Prince of the Sea's Pokémon Egg, his strength had already grown immensely. Now, the only force capable of standing against the Sorcerer Organization was the one under his command!
"Let's hope the situation isn't as bad as I fear."
"With Heatran guarding the Pokémon Domain, and with those Trainers there, they should be able to hold out for a while!"
After making his promise, he wasted no time and immediately left Heartglade City with his Pokémon, rushing toward Aspiration City at full speed.
With Mesprit gone, the Sorcerer Organization would likely not return to Heartglade City. In comparison, Wisdomhall City and Aspiration City were almost certainly their next targets.
From all the clues so far, he could infer that the Sorcerer Organization's true goal was very likely the three Lake Guardians. Everything else had merely been preparation for capturing them—and now, their final plan had finally begun!
…
At this moment, Aspiration City looked just as battered and devastated.
The massive gate outside the city was riddled with destruction, the earth completely overturned, and scorched land could be seen everywhere.
Not long ago, the Sorcerer Organization had launched an assault on Aspiration City, bringing with them the three Forces of Nature, Landuros, Thunduros, and Tornadus.
Although Mira led the knights and fought the Sorcerer Organization all the way to the very end, they were still no match for the combined power of the Three Forces of Nature. In the end, they could only watch helplessly as Azelf was taken away.
"Aven… where are you now?" She gazed up at the sky with pain in her eyes.
Clearly, if Azelf were to be rescued, they could only rely on Aven's strength. Yet even after the battle had ended, he still had not appeared.
"Your Highness Mira, what should we do next?"
Knight Kevin stepped forward. Fortunately, the Sorcerer Organization left as soon as the battle ended, otherwise the knights' losses would have been even greater.
But precisely because of this, Mira and Kevin felt even more uneasy. They could vaguely sense that the Sorcerers' hurried retreat meant there was a far greater conspiracy at play.
"We're heading to the Pokémon Domain now. The Sorcerer Organization's next target is very likely there!" Mira clenched her teeth.
After such a long period of confrontation with the Sorcerer Organization, she understood all too well that their goal was to capture as many guardian gods as possible.
Now that Azelf had already fallen into their hands, their next target would very likely be Heatran. After all, Heatran had once been one of the Sorcerer Organization's objectives.
"I understand, Your Highness," Knight Kevin took a deep breath.
The strength the Sorcerer Organization had revealed filled him with despair, but it had not yet reached the point where he would give up completely. The only thing they could do now was place all their hope on the Pokémon Domain.
Once the decision was made, the knights of Aspiration City began to gather and move toward the Pokémon Domain.
When they finally arrived, they saw that outside Fairhaven Town, trainers had already gathered in massive numbers. Every trainer was accompanied by several Pokémon, packed so densely that the end of the crowd could not even be seen.
At present, the Pokémon Domain had almost reached the point where everyone owned Pokémon. Even though many Pokémon were not raised specifically for battle, the combat power inherent to Pokémon themselves was something that simply could not be ignored.
Moreover, as the most numerous Pokémon species in the territory, the numerous Oddish only needed to proficiently use the three powders to form an extremely powerful counterattack.
"Princess Mira!" Seeing the lord of Aspiration City arrive in person, Fessen and Sutter hurried forward to greet her.
The moment the battle at Aspiration City broke out, they had already begun preparing for war. Originally, they had intended to rush to Aspiration City as reinforcements, but the battle ended far too quickly. By the time they had just finished assembling their forces, the fighting there was already over.
"Mm, you've worked hard," Mira nodded.
"This situation is extremely urgent. We must protect Heatran at all costs and hold out until Aven returns."
(End of Chapter)