[Alamos Town]
Cynthia's golden hair was a mess, her eyes bloodshot, and exhaustion was visible to the naked eye.
She caught the porcelain bowl that slipped from the little girl's hands and gently set it back down on the table.
"Damn it… it's happening again."
Ever since arriving in Alamos Town, Cynthia had lost count of how many times she'd experienced the cycle of reincarnation.
At first, her Garchomp could still use Dragon Dance to grind the gods of time and space into the dirt.
But now… she was starting to feel powerless.
Garchomp's condition was terrible.
If Spiritomb hadn't released several crucial control moves just in time, Cynthia felt like the entire town would have been wiped out.
"So sick... They're not even that strong, but the power of divinity is freakishly terrifying."
Just thinking about those two fighting above the town and seeing the terrified faces of the townspeople filled Cynthia's heart with helplessness.
"If Axel hadn't trained Garchomp to learn Dragon Dance, I'd probably have died with this town already, huh?"
"I just don't know… where he is right now..."
Cynthia glanced at her communicator, the string of exclamation marks in the messages made her lips curl into a bitter smile.
Ever since she'd last spoken with Maylene, maybe Dialga and Palkia had discovered something, she couldn't even reach anyone else in Sinnoh anymore.
"Big sister, you look so tired. Do you want something to eat?"
"Thank you."
Cynthia forced a smile at the little girl and sat down on the stool beside her.
After fighting for so long, even if she had no appetite, she still had to make sure Garchomp and the others replenished their strength.
She picked up her chopsticks and was about to pop a soup dumpling into her mouth when suddenly, she felt someone's gaze.
She looked up at the window, surprised to see a hazy silhouette with blue hair staring in, her instincts immediately went on alert.
"Who's there?"
James's eyes lit up, 'Finally, she can see me!'
He raised the sign he'd prepared earlier. Written on it were a few big words, [Axel is looking for a way to bind the gods of time and space. He'll arrive here tomorrow. He also told me to tell you, stay safe!]
Seeing those words, half of the exhaustion in Cynthia's eyes vanished instantly. A faint smile tugged at her lips.
She knew it. Axel would definitely find a way.
"Garchomp, Lucario, bring the food. We're heading to the place where the gods of time and space are about to appear."
"Just hold on one more day. Axel will be here soon!"
As Cynthia stood up, the little girl eating nearby blinked in surprise.
"Big sister, you're leaving already? You only rested for such a short while."
Cynthia nodded gently and patted the girl's hair.
"There's someone very important to me coming soon. Before that, I still have to work a little harder."
"I wish you all... peace."
Watching Cynthia's back fade into the distance, the little girl suddenly cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted like a megaphone, ["Big sister, you stay safe too!"]
Cynthia paused mid-step and waved a hand behind her.
"I will!"
———
When Axel woke up, there were still two hours left before the time he'd arranged with Cyrus. He hurriedly ran downstairs.
Inside the Team Galactic headquarters, perhaps because all the higher-ups had been captured, it took him quite a while before he ran into anyone.
Even the entrances to the key research labs were completely unguarded.
Axel grabbed one of the passing grunts by the shoulder and ordered him to lead the way to the lab where they were forging the Red Chain.
From afar, he could already hear Cyrus and Saturn's voices.
"Lord Cyrus, our current power's too weak. Once the Red Chain is forged, what if Axel snatches it and takes control instead?"
"It should be fine," Cyrus's tone was weary, "Plant Bronzong above the main gate and see if you can use its psychic power to control him when he's off guard."
"My Honchkrow has recovered a bit too, it's summoned a lot of Murkrow overnight."
"They might not be able to beat Axel, but distracting him for a moment should be enough."
"Once the Red Chain's done, you and I will stand on this red floor. We'll use the teleportation device to warp straight to Alamos Town and lose him."
"Once we've captured the gods of time and space... heheh."
"My lord, brilliant as always!"
Hearing their little scheme inside, Axel grinned.
'These clowns think they can ditch me?'
'Keep dreaming.'
He knocked out the grunt who led him there and tossed him into a storage room, then deliberately stomped loudly toward the lab.
The moment he pushed open the door, Cyrus and Saturn froze.
'Wait, what?'
'Dude, we didn't even finish setting up the ambush yet, why'd you come early?'
"Brother Cyrus, is the device for making the Red Chain ready yet?"
"I couldn't sleep all night, kept imagining what it'd be like after I get Dialga."
"You think I can become the ruler of Johto, take down that Masked Guy, and make everyone who doubts me crawl at my feet?"
Cyrus: "..."
He honestly couldn't understand how the Masked Guy managed to train such a perfect army of maniacs.
'For God's sake, go home and dream there.'
"Lord Axel, it's not ready yet. How about I have someone bring you something nice to eat first? You can rest in your room a bit?"
"Then send Saturn downstairs to buy two stuffed crepes."
Saturn: "???"
'Bro, this is Sinnoh! Where the hell am I supposed to find stuffed crepes?'
"What, you don't have any?", Axel frowned, "Then forget it. I'll just stay here and wait for you to finish adjusting the equipment."
"But let me warn you, I've got a bad temper, especially when I'm hungry. Don't make me wait too long."
Cyrus's lips twitched, "Brother, listen, calibration takes time. You wouldn't want the Red Chain to malfunction and fail to catch Dialga, right?"
Axel gave a mysterious smile, "Actually, that doesn't matter anymore. I thought it through last night."
"Right now, the gods of time and space are busy fighting each other. I've got Glastrier and the Lake Trio with me."
"In other words, I'm already invincible here."
"If Dialga and Palkia keep brawling, I can just take over Sinnoh directly, right?"
"Why bother going back to challenge that Masked Guy?"
Cyrus opened his mouth for a long while but couldn't say a word. He stood there frozen like he'd been struck by a Thunderbolt, then finally sighed in defeat.
At this point, he was certain: the Masked Guy's people are all dogs.
There was no point playing mind games with this lunatic. Better to hurry and finish forging the Red Chain.
Even if Axel stole it, that was still better than having him hanging around here.
'This is my turf, damn it!'
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