Charon did not deceive Ash. As he said, deception was meaningless. Even if he lied to Ash saying Cynthia and the others had been wiped out, the lie would be exposed once Cynthia appeared.
If he wanted to use fake news to distract Ash and take the opportunity to reclaim the other two Legendary Birds, that was even more of a pipe dream.
Although he looked down on Jupiter, she still fought Ash with two Divine Realm Level Pokémon as her foundation. If Jupiter lost under those circumstances, then besides her own poor command, Ash must have had power comparable to hers.
Otherwise, no matter how bad Jupiter's skills were, she could have crushed Ash if their combat power was unequal.
Currently, he only had Articuno, a controlled Divine Realm Level Pokémon. If two Legendary Birds couldn't handle Ash, what could one do? So, using words to create an opening in Ash's defense was useless.
Furthermore, his true purpose was to stall for time!
"Ash, have you already restored Moltres and Zapdos to normal?" After arriving at the scene, Cynthia leaped off Garchomp's back and came to Ash's side. She glanced at the unconscious Moltres and Zapdos lying nearby with their eyes closed and asked with a look of surprise and joy.
The two Legendary Birds no longer looked like their Galar region forms, which meant Ash had freed them from control!
"Yeah, I told you, with the bond between me and Mewtwo, handling them is a piece of cake—"
"Are you guys okay, though?" Ash rubbed the tip of his nose proudly, his face full of self-satisfaction.
The situation was gradually becoming clear. Two Legendary Birds were subdued, and the method to break the control had been found. The opponent only had one controlled bird left. Since they couldn't even beat him and Mewtwo two-on-one, how could the remaining one be a match for Mewtwo?
Although there was still a dark shadow of unknown strength nearby, they still held the advantage.
In this situation, Ash's youthful pride couldn't help but surface. As expected of him, he had unknowingly saved the world once again.
"You're amazing, Ash. The title of future Pokémon Master is definitely yours—but for now, let's finish things up." Cynthia gave Ash a thumbs-up with her fair hand, her face showing unshielded praise. Then she turned her gaze toward Jupiter and Charon, her smile instantly turning into a solemn and serious expression.
"Charon, your plan ends here. Although you used Yveltal's power to control Articuno, Moltres and Zapdos have returned to normal, so Lugia won't appear because of this."
"Ash and the others have the power to defeat Moltres and Zapdos, so defeating your Yveltals Shadow, which has no source of replenishment, and Articuno won't be difficult. Surrender quietly, and I will apply to the League for leniency!"
Cynthia's powerful voice rang out across the area. At this time, Lorelei, Misty, and Serena also dismounted from their respective Pokémon and stood beside Ash. It looked like Ash's side had a massive momentum, a sight intended to put more pressure on the opponent.
But Charon wasn't pressured at all: "I didn't expect the great Cynthia to tell jokes. If I want to leave now, can you stop me? Articuno might not be a match for that Pokémon called Mewtwo, but it is a Divine Realm Level. If I want to leave, who among you can stop me?"
Ash and the others: —
Charon was right. If Articuno, which had the Psychic type, wanted to take them away, it would be very easy. Unless Mewtwo was at the Mid-Divine Realm Level, there was no way to forcibly stop them.
Moreover, there was that mysterious dark shadow on Charon's side. From Cynthia's brief words, it could be inferred that the shadow was exactly what Ash had sensed—it belonged to Yveltal's power and was called the Yveltals Shadow by Cynthia.
It was precisely because of that shadow's existence that Cynthia and the others had been overtaken by Charon.
The Yveltals Shadow was a monster in pure energy form created using Yveltal's Power of Death. This thing couldn't even be called a Pokémon because it had no life force in its body, only the purest Power of Death.
This thing was a combination of Team Galactic's highest technology. Although they hadn't created a mythical beast that could ascend to the Divine Realm Level from scratch like Team Rocket, they had created a monster energy body that naturally possessed Divine Realm Level power.
This energy body could be controlled by Team Galactic, but every battle would consume the Power of Death within it. To replenish it, they would need the same Power of Death.
But Team Galactic had used all their Power of Death to create this shadow, and they had no extra to replenish it. As for how Team Galactic got the Power of Death in the first place—
The outside world might not believe it, but all this Power of Death was "scavenged" from all over the Kalos region.
The so-called scavenging involved searching everywhere in the Kalos region for residual Power of Death left by Yveltal, integrating all that power together, and finally creating this monster.
As for why they didn't go directly to Yveltal—hehe, He is the god of death. Going to Him for Power of Death? That's not just seeking death, that's asking for it!
In short, by scavenging, Team Galactic had actually managed to create a terrifying existence with temporary Divine Realm Level combat power. While Yveltal's power was important, Team Galactic's machines that could collect Power of Death and integrate it into an energy body were also crucial.
To put it bluntly, among all the villainous organizations, perhaps only Team Galactic and Team Rocket could achieve this. Any other organization, even if they found Yveltal's power, would have no way to integrate it and create such a temporary Divine Realm Level energy body.
All of the above were top secrets within Team Galactic. No one knew except Charon and the leader, Cyrus. This was why Jupiter was completely bewildered when she heard about some hidden trump card.
She truly was completely in the dark.
Since even Jupiter didn't know, how did Cynthia know? She actually didn't know the origin of the Yveltals Shadow either, but she heard the name from Charon's mouth. As for the fact that the energy was consumed and couldn't be replenished, that was Cynthia's guess.
Every attack from that dark shadow consumed a portion of its power, and it never seemed to recover. The consumption rate was simply too fast, which is why Cynthia made that judgment.
However, if Charon wanted to use this power to escape, they really couldn't stop him.
"And why would I run away? My goal has been achieved. Lugia—isn't it here?" A smirk of a successful conspiracy curled on Charon's lips.
"What?!"
Amidst everyone's exclamations, a water column dozens of meters long rose from the vast sea, and a snow-white figure burst out from the water!
The water flowed down slowly as the figure ascended, revealing its true form. It had the posture of a great bird with snow-white feathers, wings like two giant hands, and an aura of holy majesty.
God of the Sea—Lugia!
[Species: Lugia]
[Gender: Male]
[Type: Psychic, Flying]
[Level: Divine Realm Peak]
[ability: Multiscale]
[divine position: Ocean Current Control]
[Skills: Aeroblast, Hurricane— (a hundred skills omitted here)]
[six-dimensional stats: attack S (S), special attack S (S), defense S (S), special defense S (S), HP S (S), speed S]
Lugia's data entered Ash's mind. This was the second time Ash had seen a Divine Realm Peak level Pokémon; the first was Ho-Oh.
When he saw Ho-Oh back then, the power of his Eye of Insight, or rather his knowledge, was not complete. At that time, he couldn't even see through Ho-Oh's skills, let alone its divine position.
Now, however, he could see through Lugia's divine position and all the skills it possessed.
Lugia's luxurious stats made Ash marvel from the bottom of his heart, but what he understood even less was why Lugia had appeared.
Cynthia had just said she had prevented the necessary conditions for Lugia's appearance, yet Lugia appeared shortly after. What exactly were the conditions for Lugia to appear?
"How is this possible—'When the world is in chaos, the God of the Sea shall appear to calm all fury'—this phrase should mean Lugia only appears to calm the world's chaos when all three divine positions are out of control. Why would Lugia come out when only Articuno is controlled?" A look of clear bewilderment appeared on Cynthia's pretty face.
She murmured softly, unable to understand it despite much thought.
According to the legends of the God of the Sea on Shamouti Island that she had investigated, the condition for the God of the Sea's appearance should be when all three Legendary Birds are out of control. Then the merciful Sea God would appear to calm the chaos of the three birds and return peace to the world.
That's why Charon focused on the Legendary Birds when he couldn't find the God of the Sea. Compared to the elusive God of the Sea whose whereabouts were unknown, the Legendary Birds were much easier to find; they lived on the three islands surrounding Shamouti Island.
As long as the three Legendary Birds were controlled and their divine positions disrupted or sealed, the God of the Sea would appear—that was the prerequisite for the God of the Sea's appearance.
Therefore, Cynthia had done her best to stop the opponent from controlling the last Legendary Bird. Although she failed in the end, Ash had successfully restored two birds to normal, so theoretically, the God of the Sea still shouldn't have appeared.
"Hehe, although that brat took back Moltres and Zapdos, it's too late. When I controlled Articuno, he hadn't yet defeated the two birds and restored them. And even if they are restored, the recovery of a divine position doesn't happen in an instant. Right now, heaven and earth are in their most chaotic stage, so Lugia will naturally appear."
Perhaps because he was in a good mood, Charon actually took the initiative to explain the reason for Lugia's appearance. He now wore a look of extreme pleasure as he watched Lugia soaring in the sky, as if he already considered it his own.
"So what if Lugia appears? It could wipe you all out with one breath. You're overestimating yourselves by daring to target a true deity," Lorelei mocked with a cold expression.
From the moment Lugia appeared, she could feel that Lugia was fundamentally different from the Legendary Birds. Even if the three birds were tied together, they probably couldn't beat Lugia. How did Team Galactic dare to target Lugia?
"Is that so? Then let's wait and see." A mocking smile curled on Charon's lips, and then he waved his hand, causing the dark shadow behind him to surge forward.
Lugia in the sky also saw the shadow charging toward it. It frowned slightly, and a deep blue light lit up in its eyes—Psychic!
The terrifying Psychic power released by a Divine Realm Peak was enough to make the entire world tremble!
Time seemed to stand still at this moment. The terrifying pressure made everyone, including Mewtwo, feel a bit breathless.
"Is this the power of the Divine Realm Peak? In the MEGA Evolution state, I don't even have the strength to lift my hand." Mewtwo's voice sounded slightly surprised. She currently had Psychic power far beyond her normal state, and her strength was a level higher than usual, almost rivaling the Mid-Divine Realm Level.
But in this situation, facing the afterwaves emitted by the Divine Realm Peak, she didn't even have the strength to lift her hand. The strength gap between Divine Realm Levels was truly terrifying!
Jupiter's face also became quite ugly. With such terrifying power, how could Team Galactic possibly control it? Or rather, was this truly power that humans could master?
On the other side, although Charon also felt immense pressure, the sinister smile on his face didn't change at all.
In the air, the Psychic move acted on the flying dark shadow, but that Psychic power, which was enough to freeze space, failed to stop the opponent in the slightest!
Even Lugia was dazed for a split second. In that very instant, the Yveltals Shadow had reached Lugia.
Before Lugia could retreat, that massive evil intent began to pour entirely into Lugia's body!!
"Skreeee!!!" The influx of evil intent caused Lugia to let out a tragic cry. Ash's pupils constricted, and without thinking, he shouted to Pikachu nearby: "Pikachu, Thunderbolt! Mewtwo, Thunderbolt! Don't let that shadow enter Lugia's body!!"
As Ash's voice fell, two golden bolts of electricity erupted from the two Pokémon, lighting up the dark sky like broad daylight!