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When Cynthia returned home, she turned her phone back on. As expected, dozens of missed call notifications popped up at once.
Mai, who was at home, also said that people from the Pokémon League had come looking for Cynthia earlier, but she sent them away.
Cynthia stared in surprise at one name in the message list, Aaron, one of Sinnoh's Elite Four. What was he contacting her for?
"Where are you? What's going on with this Day Care in the west district of Sun Heart City? Someone ran out and bumped into me, and when I asked what was happening, they ambushed me with their Pokémon. Scared me half to death."
A second message came ten minutes later.
"Pokémon League told me these people are members of the Hodgepodge organization. Is this the group you mentioned before? If so, then the guy I snatched should be useful?"
The most recent message was from half an hour ago.
"I'm at the Pokémon League branch office in Sun Heart City. I've handed the guy over to the Officer Jenny family and the International Police. I'm confused, are you home? I'm coming over now."
Luther and Cynthia stared at each other for a long moment before their chaotic thoughts finally settled.
'So… Aaron beat up Evergreen's people?'
The doorbell suddenly rang, causing Mai to jump. She quickly ran to check.
Cynthia and Luther followed.
Before they reached the door, Luther heard a male voice: "Huh? And who is this cute girl? Don't tell me Cynthia hired a nanny? Makes sense, her cooking really could use a good nanny."
Cynthia clicked her tongue in annoyance and stepped out. "Not knowing how to cook isn't some crime. It's not like I'm eating your food."
Seeing her appear, Aaron gestured for Mai to open the door.
"You were home! This afternoon the Pokémon League was losing their minds trying to reach you, nobody could find you. Even checking your house, they were told no one was home."
"Champions need personal time too. I went out to have fun and turned my phone off," Cynthia explained.
Only after stepping inside did Aaron notice the man beside her.
"You're Luther, the one Lucian mentioned?" he asked.
Luther nodded.
Aaron looked at Luther with approval. "Not bad at all. If Cynthia invited you to her home, you must really have potential."
Once everyone sat in the living room, Mai served tea. After thanking her, Aaron turned to Cynthia.
"Enough chatting. I need to discuss something with you. Luther, Mai, could you give us some space?"
Cynthia glanced at Mai. Without protest, Mai picked up her plate and slipped into Cynthia's room to continue gaming.
Noticing Aaron still watching Luther, Cynthia added, "I already told you about Luther's connection to the Hodgepodge organization. This involves him. There are no outsiders here."
Hearing that, Aaron relaxed.
To help Cynthia and Luther understand the situation, he briefly described what happened earlier that afternoon.
Originally, Aaron was only in the west district of Sun Heart City to handle some business. He planned to leave immediately afterward, until he ran into a member of the Hodgepodge organization, exactly as he had described in his message.
The organization member actually attacked him on sight. Aaron had been stunned, ambush attacks were strictly forbidden. And yet this person dared attack him.
This wasn't pulling an elite mob while grinding experience, this was accidentally provoking a raid boss with no aggro.
So Aaron released his Heracross and Scizor to counterattack.
He placed a ribbon on the table.
"If I'm not mistaken, this is the amplification device you mentioned. Every Pokémon that attacked me was wearing one."
Luther grabbed the ribbon and examined it under a lamp. Inside the gemstone that formed its core, he could see mechanical patterns.
It was almost identical to the one Mismagius had worn, though the design seemed updated.
"What about the battle?" Cynthia asked.
She knew Aaron had won, but she wanted to know exactly how much impact the amplification device had during the fight.
"The battle?" Aaron blinked. "Heracross and Scizor struggled a bit at the start, there were a lot of them, after all. More than ten against two."
"But once I sent out all six of my Pokémon, it was fine. Basically two moves to knock one out. My Ninjask even chased down one guy who couldn't run fast. That's all."
"Do you think wild Pokémon equipped with amplification devices could defeat a Pokémon Trainer with basic skills?" Luther asked.
"Not necessarily win outright," Aaron replied, "but they'd have the advantage."
"And what about Trainers who make it into the Lily of the Valley Conference?" Cynthia asked.
Aaron shook his head. "Let's at least respect the standard of the Lily of the Valley Conference. Anyone who qualifies is part of the League's next generation of elite Trainers."
Cynthia picked up the amplification device and scoffed. "This is it?"
Thinking she was speaking to him, Aaron echoed, "Yeah, this."
Professor Rowan had already explained to Cynthia that an amplification device couldn't infinitely boost a Pokémon's strength. The stronger the Pokémon's baseline strength, the more noticeable the enhancement.
Which meant the Hodgepodge organization likely wouldn't use the device on their own Pokémon, they would mainly control wild ones.
Cynthia had worried that amplifying their own Pokémon might create a qualitative leap in strength. But after hearing Aaron's description, she was more disappointed than anything.
So much scheming. Twenty years of secrecy. Recruiting only lower-level members while keeping the upper ranks fixed, all to ensure no research secrets leaked.
Luther had already inferred this: those who held the research data had to be the organization's upper echelon. The Hodgepodge organization would never allow lower-level operatives to participate in experiments.
The abilities shown in the Shiran incident had made Cynthia overestimate the organization's power again and again.
Yes, the Hodgepodge organization was formidable in the shadows, but once exposed to the light, they could not overcome a simple truth:
There was an overwhelming gap in direct strength.
In twenty years, the Pokémon League had produced a Cynthia. It had produced powerful Trainers like Aaron. And what had the Hodgepodge organization produced?
A single amplification device.
A machine to control Pokémon.
As villains, they were competent. But as a group preparing to step into the public eye, they fell far short of Cynthia's expectations.
"No wonder they resort to schemes… Evergreen must have a hard job playing strategist for this bunch."
Luther understood exactly what Cynthia meant.
In order to protect their research, the Hodgepodge organization kept their ideology sealed away, forming a tightly controlled structure. But in doing so, they abandoned their greatest weapon:
Ideology itself.
If they had spread their belief that humans and Pokémon were fundamentally opposed, if they had incited people, justified enslaving Pokémon, divided Trainers into opposing factions, public opinion might have shifted. And that shift could have legitimized their research, allowing them to come into the open.
But the League's strength intimidated them. They chose caution, fear. They abandoned the most dangerous, effective weapon… and instead relied on brute force that could easily be crushed.
This organization, one that had caused Luther so much trouble because of Evergreen and Shiran, had abandoned the most devastating path… and chosen the weakest one.
Twenty years. If the Hodgepodge organization had realized this even once, the entire world might have changed.
Holding the ribbon, Luther burst into laughter.
"Twenty years. This is their twenty years. Hodgepodge organization's twenty years."
Stubborn. Pitiful. Hateful, yet pathetic.
Aaron didn't understand why Luther and Cynthia were laughing, but he could feel the thick layer of mockery behind it.
(End of Chapter)'
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