[Congratulations, you obtained a Supreme-tier tag: Reincarnation.]
[Congratulations, you obtained a Golden tag: Ultimate Leech.]
Two messages flashed across the system panel in succession, catching Axel's attention.
"Reincarnation?", Seeing that tag, Axel couldn't help but give a stifled, incredulous laugh.
The drop rate for Supreme entries had always been extremely low; it wasn't easy to get one to appear.
But... compared to the Supreme tag on Ho-Oh, this tag still felt a bit weak.
"Still, better than nothing, giving it to Pheromosa is pretty good."
In previous battles, Axel had almost never sent Pheromosa out to do wild fights, because Pheromosa's defensive stats were too low.
She was easily hit by large-area attacks, leading to situations Axel didn't want to happen.
With this tag, she could fight more recklessly in the future.
The Ultimate Leech tag was also given to Pheromosa by Axel, likewise to ensure survivability.
After Axel patted her head twice in a row, Pheromosa suddenly felt two very impressive powers appear inside her body.
She blinked gently, unconsciously bit her lip, and obediently took two steps closer to Axel.
["Master, I... I will definitely work even harder to repay you!"]
Axel took a reflexive half-step back, his gaze falling on Pheromosa's long legs, his expression full of horror.
'Are you not a girl, why repay kindness with ingratitude?'
'With a tag that leeches stamina, even a Supreme-level rookie would have a hard time fighting her, right?'
'I should've put that tag on myself from the start!'
"Pfft~", Gardevoir let out a laugh beside him and patted Axel on the shoulder.
["Don't be scared, Master. I'll try to learn a few more healing moves, okay~"]
Axel's mouth twitched; just as he was about to say something, he saw Gardevoir point toward a spot not far away.
["Looks like someone's come to look for you over there. I'll go back and study the Fairy Plate first!"]
Having said that, Gardevoir stuck out her tongue lightly, then vanished into her Poké Ball in an instant.
Soon white lights flickered around Axel one after another, leaving only Pheromosa and Ho-Oh to protect Axel's safety.
Axel's gaze landed on the newcomer. This person wore tattered clothes and sported a hedgehog-like shock of blue hair.
His right arm hung at his waist, unmoving.
A Gyarados trailed behind him, carrying a few Pokémon that looked like weathered stone on its back.
One human and one dragon looked utterly miserable...
"What's going on here?", Axel asked, looking at Cyrus with some pity and voicing the question in his heart.
In Axel's memory, Cyrus had once had the upper hand in a battle against Cynthia.
Although Cynthia at that time had just become champion and didn't fully master moves like Meteor Mash, that battle still demonstrated Cyrus's strength.
Axel even had the thought of secretly using the Galactic Bomb to blast him a bit while he was busy bombing the "three lake gods," to weaken him.
Someone that strong, how did a climb up Mt. Coronet leave him looking so pathetic?
"Me?", Seeing Axel's pitying look, Cyrus instinctively clenched his fists.
'Isn't it all because of you?'
'To climb the mountain to find you, I ran into Lysandre, who had a god Pokémon with him!'
Just thinking about that battle made Cyrus's teeth itch with hatred.
The legendary beast Lysandre brought wasn't even high-level, but it had a very peculiar power.
It could siphon the life force from his Pokémon.
At first, Cyrus easily suppressed Lysandre with numerical and level advantage.
But later, one of his Pokémon was accidentally turned to stone by Yveltal, and right after that the power of that legendary visibly rose.
Only then did Cyrus realize that, compared to Lysandre, his training level was like a raw recruit.
He even imagined that Lysandre must have suffered some blow, lay low for a long time, then after an epiphany rose to fame in one burst.
Otherwise, how could a villain leader have such a huge gap?
With fortunes reversed, Cyrus soon fell into the unfavorable position.
If the other side hadn't suddenly disappeared, he might have been kneeling today.
But when Axel pressed him for details, Cyrus still tried his best to keep a calm facade.
He crossed his arms behind his back, letting the cold wind blow through his tattered clothes, freezing his skin into patches of blue and purple.
"Nothing much, just fought a legendary Pokémon. Mt. Coronet does have some risks, so I came to pick you up."
Axel: "???"
'Fought a legendary?'
'Don't tell me you got beaten by that loser Lysandre?'
If Axel weren't afraid Cyrus wouldn't cooperate in forging the red chain, he'd lightly pat Cyrus on the shoulder and ask one simple thing, 'Bro, does your team know how trash you are?'
"Thanks for coming, Leader Cyrus. After we take Dialga away, I'll be sure to tell Pryce about your friendship," Axel patted Cyrus's shoulder and took a jacket from his bag, afraid the guy would keep posturing and freeze to death here.
Young people are polite, huh, Cyrus couldn't help feeling moved a little, comparing Axel and Lysandre in his mind and giving Axel a big thumbs-up score.
"Everything you needed to do should be finished by now, right? If there's no problem, how about we go and blow up Verity Lake? I've already sent people in batches to the three lakes, and each batch took a 'Galactic Bomb' with them. Only the one at Verity Lake is real, the other two are fakes. That way we can avoid the League's main force and stop them from preventing the detonation."
Axel spoke, "No, I'm going to blow up Lake Acuity."
Cyrus: "???"
"Why? Do you have some intel that blowing Wisdom Lake would go badly?", Cyrus's tone was flat.
"Because I want to blow up Lake Acuity. That's all," Axel's tone was calm.
Cyrus clenched his fists, 'Damn it!'
At first he thought this was some cute junior, but now he seemed even more unpleasant than Lysandre.
"No way, the plan absolutely can't be changed on a whim, otherwise we'll only increase the risk of exposure."
Axel fell silent briefly, then said something Cyrus could never have thought up in a lifetime.
"You've lost your Pokémon and you're still so stubborn? If you don't go to Lake Acuity I'll kill you and make that Saturn guy the boss."
Cyrus: "???"
'Are people from the Aurient really that hateful?'
'Kid, you're shamelessly taking advantage of someone in trouble!'
But seeing Pheromosa and Phoenix at Axel's side, and noticing his own remaining Gyarados and the half-broken Sneasel, Cyrus still obediently dialed the phone.
"My informants checked the news, Lake Acuity is the most suitable detonation point right now."
"In one hour, I want to see your airship at Lake Acuity!"
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