"Can Teleport still not be used?"
"Nai…"
Gardevoir could only shake her head helplessly. Within the coverage of the Dark-type energy barrier, any attempt to use Teleport was immediately disrupted by the Dark-type energy coursing through the barrier. There was simply no way to use it.
"No choice then. Looks like we'll have to find an opening and charge through."
Soren Li turned his gaze back to the seemingly wide-open Mystery Zone exit — but he knew it was a trap.
Both sides were gambling. One side was betting that he couldn't get in. The other was betting that he could rush through before anyone could stop him.
The outcome would come down to who won that gamble.
There were only three exits from the Mystery Zone. Two were heavily guarded. The third was completely empty.
Choosing the first two left zero chance of success. Choosing the third at least offered a slim possibility.
"I need a way to cause some chaos."
Soren Li's eyes darted around. He wasn't the type to simply wait for death.
"Gardevoir, any ideas?"
After some thought, Soren Li's eyes lit up. He turned to Gardevoir. "What about this?"
"Nai～"
Gardevoir spread her hands helplessly, puffed her cheeks slightly, and shook her head?
"Then what do we do?"
With that, Soren Li fell back into thought. It was hard doing everything alone.
And on top of that, his current face was already widely recognized by the public.
While Soren Li was racking his brains over here, Auron Vale's group was having their own discussion over yonder.
"Should we help him?"
"How?"
"We could help." You You Liu nodded. "But what's the reason?"
You You Liu gazed at Auron Vale. Jace Rowan and Su Tingxi also looked up at him.
Auron Vale rested his chin in his hand, mumbling, "Not necessarily, but... he's a classmate, after all."
Jace Rowan shot Auron Vale a strange look. "Let's wait and see. It's not easy to help, either."
Auron Vale nodded. "Fair enough."
Honestly, he had his eye on the Silver Feather.
Lugia wasn't the most conspicuous Legendary, but it was strong.
Both in the movies and in Pokémon battles, Lugia was extraordinarily powerful.
As a tank, it also had decent speed and passable attack — a refreshing change among Legendaries.
And Lugia being the only Tier-1 Legendary with a race (population) meant it could potentially be befriended.
The Silver Feather wasn't guaranteed to summon any particular Lugia. What if it was a freshly born baby Lugia like in the anime?
Though unlikely, what if?
And the fact that the Silver Feather could summon Lugia alone was enough for countless people to fight over it.
Items like this, even if you didn't use them yourself, could be sold for a fortune.
Just like the Lunar Wing in Auron Vale's possession — if he wanted to sell, the buyers would be the various nations.
These kinds of Legendary-summoning items had always been something every nation scrambled to acquire.
Because only by meeting a Legendary face-to-face was there any chance of forming a pact with it.
If you couldn't even see a Legendary, what grounds did you have to sign a contract?
At this point, neither Auron Vale nor anyone inside the Black Mystery Zone knew the buyer was from the island nation. Otherwise, there was no way they'd let those island dogs take the Silver Feather out.
"If only we could find Soren Li right now."
Auron Vale sighed softly. Finding Soren Li would solve everything.
If he carried the Silver Feather on Deoxys, Deoxys could carry it out.
Deoxys, being a Legendary itself, could bend light around itself to stay hidden. With that level of concealment, no one inside the Black Mystery Zone would be able to see it.
As long as the Silver Feather got out, everything else about Soren Li inside could be managed.
No matter what, he could deny everything — insist the Silver Feather wasn't on him, that it was a frame-up — and submit to a full body search.
After a series of moves like that, and throwing the blame right back at whoever spread the rumors, the matter would be resolved.
But the problem was, Auron Vale had no idea where Soren Li was. His Aura couldn't locate him either.
"If only I had Dad's Aura trait, that'd be great."
It was at this moment that Auron Vale caught himself envying Ashen Vale's Aura trait. Large-scale Aura detection made finding people effortless.
"Say, when is my Aura trait going to awaken? Grandpa has it, Dad has it — there's no way I'm the only one without it, right?"
Just as Auron Vale was grumbling to himself, a squad of people had quietly crept up behind him.
"Lycanroc, Crunch!"
The middle-aged man in the purple robe pointed at Auron Vale, his voice barely a whisper as he directed his Lycanroc.
Without hesitation, Lycanroc charged at Auron Vale on all fours, its sharp fangs aimed directly at Auron Vale's neck.
Danger!
The hairs on the back of Auron Vale's neck stood on end. He sensed the danger — his brain registered it instantly, but his body couldn't respond in time.
"Pyuu!"
Before Auron Vale could dodge, Dratini thrust itself into Lycanroc's path, blocking the charge.
"Hrng!"
Just as Lycanroc's teeth were about to make contact with Dratini's body, Lycanroc was suddenly lifted off the ground against its will.
"Whssh!"
Then Lycanroc was flung backward, even faster than it had come.
Only then did Auron Vale finally feel control of his own body return. He spun around, on guard against whatever attack might come next.
After Lycanroc was flung into a rocky pillar on Crab Island, a thunderous boom drew everyone's attention on the spot.
"Perfect!"
Soren Li's eyes lit up. He was immediately carried by Greninja and charged toward the Mystery Zone exit at top speed.
Meanwhile, Auron Vale's Charizard and Crobat had flown to his side, their expressions dark as they scanned the surroundings for whoever had launched the attack.
In that instant between Lycanroc being flung away and hitting the pillar, the entire situation on the field had shifted dramatically.
Charizard and Crobat had just taken position in front of Auron Vale when a massive wave of attacks materialized in the air.
A sky full of moves came raining down on where Auron Vale had been standing — Ice, Fire, Grass, Electric, Dark, Ghost — every type you could name was represented in that volley.
"What kind of grudge is this?!"
Auron Vale only had time to mentally curse as his body hurled itself into a rough roll, dodging the barrage.
Both Pokémon reacted instantly. The moment Auron Vale cleared the blast zone, they took to the air.
They intercepted every move aimed in Auron Vale's direction, while also dodging incoming attacks with their own nimbleness.
But there were too many moves. Even with Crobat's maxed-out evasion, some were impossible to dodge — and Charizard had even less chance.
Though some moves were unavoidable, Deoxys was still present.
Deoxys didn't need to act directly, since the situation was still manageable for Auron Vale at this point.
———
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