Zoroark was in excellent spirits—her worldview had just taken a major step forward.
But no sooner had that thought settled than another, far more pressing question crept in.
Now that I've figured out what I want to strive toward... where am I supposed to find a giant catastrophe?
The forr High Sovereign of Sinnoh had earned respect by stopping a teor.
But there was no second teor conveniently waiting for her to block.
And honestly... Zoroark suspected she might not even survive a direct hit from one.
She pushed that concern aside for now. Her decision was clear: First focus on getting stronger.
The rest could co later.
Besides, with this crisis wrapped up, there probably wouldn't be anyone bothering her or Elias again for a while.
Content with that, Zoroark narrowed her eyes and rested her head on Elias's shoulder, a blissful expression playing on her face.
Seeing this, Elias chuckled and reached up to gently ruffle her fur. He didn't stop her.
Lucario, however, watched the scene unfold from the side and scoffed, looking distinctly unimpressed.
His instincts told him that Zoroark hadn't absorbed a word of what Elias had just said.
Or rather... she'd completely missed the point.
Lucario made a ntal note to talk to Elias at so point—just in case that fox ever did sothing incredibly stupid down the line.
Elias returned to the tent with Zoroark and Lucario in tow, joking and roughhousing as they went. Inside, he found Cynthia and Cogita already waiting.
"Pokémon,"
Cogita said, lifting her hand as soon as she saw him arrive. She'd been in the middle of so conversation with Cynthia.
Elias understood right away and handed over the Poké Balls containing Enamorus and Tornadus.
"Thanks. You really helped us out this ti," he said sincerely.
Then he turned to return Garchomp's Poké Ball to Cynthia.
"Well, I'll leave you two to talk. I'm heading back to sleep."
"Oh—and if you need , co find tonight."
Surprisingly, Cogita didn't mind leaving him alone with soone else for once.
And that last part? She'd said it to Cynthia.
Although… it could've been ant for both of us, Elias thought.
After she left, he turned to Cynthia, curious.
"When did you two get so friendly?"
From what he rembered, Cogita hadn't liked Cynthia any more than she liked Irida.
If given the choice, she would've avoided contact with either of them entirely.
Cynthia gave a helpless shrug.
"She says I look too much like Volo. Figured we had to be from the sa bloodline."
Elias nodded. That wasn't a stretch. It made sense that Cogita would suspect.
And, well... technically, Cynthia was related to Volo.
She'd chosen duty over sentint this ti.
"But... that alone?" he asked, puzzled.
Recognizing the blood connection with Volo didn't seem like it would improve her opinion of Cynthia—if anything, it should've made things worse.
"There's another reason," Cynthia said with a sigh. "She figured out Volo is a descendant of the ancient Sinnoh people."
That surprised Elias.
He was sure Cogita and Volo had never t.
He'd lived with Cogita for years—he'd know.
Yet sohow, she knew that detail.
Could it be that she's also connected to the ancient Sinnoh people...?
He rembered how, ever since he was little, Cogita had told him story after story about legendary Pokémon.
She even knew things about the High Sovereign that no one else seed to.
Not to ntion... she bore the weight of an ancestral mission herself.
Seen in that light, her having so lineage from the ancient Sinnoh wasn't that far-fetched at all.
Noticing Elias drifting into thought, Cynthia didn't press him.
Instead, she continued, "She was really interested in what I knew about ancient history—and in so of the future perspectives I shared."
"And the things she told ... were things archaeology could never uncover on its own."
"That's why she invited to see her again tonight."
There was a flicker of intrigue in Cynthia's expression.
Compared to Volo, Cogita had an aura of true mystery.
If Volo was just an ambitious heir to ancestral knowledge...
Then Cogita felt more like soone who'd lived that history.
What she spoke of wasn't just theory—it couldn't be found in books.
No wonder she'd raised soone like Elias—a boy who didn't resemble any Hisuian native.
"Sounds like a conversation tailor-made for you two," Elias replied with a smile.
Then he rembered why he'd asked Cynthia to co in the first place.
"About Volo—how do you think we should handle him?"
Things had been too rushed earlier to discuss it properly.
Now that they had ti, Elias figured it was worth deciding together.
Cynthia rested her chin in one hand and thought for a mont.
Then she suddenly looked up, eyes glinting.
"What if... we let Zoroark decide?"
Elias: ...Huh?
...
That night, at the center of the campgrounds.
Volo stirred, groaning as he ca to.
His head ached—probably from the second ti he'd passed out—and the chill of the night wind crept under the thin Ginkgo Guild uniform he wore.
He shivered.
Looking at the crude cage that held him, Volo clenched his teeth.
When in my life have I ever suffered such humiliation?
"Damn it," he muttered under his breath.
He dragged himself to lean against the bars.
His disastrous choices had not only cost him the last of the Plates—but left him a prisoner besides.
And now? He had no idea what fate awaited him.
Giratina... I could really use a little divine wrath right about now.
For the first ti, Volo found himself genuinely missing that short-tempered Pokémon.
Just then, he heard a rustle nearby.
He turned sharply—only to see a Garchomp approaching.
His heart lifted.
Right! I still have my Pokémon!
They hadn't been able to defeat Elias, sure—but they could've escaped if things had gone differently.
And now, here they were—co to rescue him.
Excitent surged through him.
Until he noticed sothing... wrong.
—Why are Garchomp's eyes red?
The thought had barely ford when the Pokémon halted just a few paces from the cage.
Those crimson eyes locked onto him—piercing, magnetic.
Volo's vision spun violently.
By the ti it stabilized again...
He was staring at a crowd of powerfully built Machoke.
Gulp.
Volo swallowed hard.
---
T/N: hey... can i uhhh test out the punishnmt first? just to make sure yknow haha...ha...
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