No matter what kind of woman they are, most have only one most sensitive spot: their age!
Whether righteous or villainous, they find it heart-wrenchingly unacceptable when their age is intentionally twisted and inflated. This was especially true for Mars; although she was one of the four commanders of Team Galactic, she definitely wasn't that old.
Among Team Galactic's four commanders, she was the relatively young one, barely over twenty-five—about the same age as Lorelei. Being called 'Auntie' by a fifteen-year-old boy made her feel like her age had been jacked up by who knows how many years. How could Mars possibly accept that?
In a fit of rage, she even revealed the fact that she was one of Team Galactic's four commanders, which was exactly Ash's goal.
"So you're one of the four great commanders of Team Galactic. It seems I've hooked a big fish this time. As long as I can catch you, I should be able to find out Miss Cynthia's whereabouts." Ash rotated his wrists and twisted his neck, the sound of cracking bones echoing from his body.
Although he didn't know the internal structure of Team Galactic, being called one of the 'four great commanders' likely meant they were similar to Team Rockets' four commanders—the highest-ranking officials under the leader.
Unless the leader of Team Galactic had also come to the Orange Islands, this person named Mars should be the commander of the Team Galactic branch in the Orange Islands.
As long as he defeated and captured her, he could interrogate her for news about Cynthia.
"Big fish? As I thought, releasing Shadow Lugia was intentional on your part. Even if a youngster like you released Shadow Lugia just to show off, that woman Lorelei would never have let you do it if she knew the risks. The reason she agreed is because she knew you had another purpose for releasing Shadow Lugia, right?"
"So what if I did? On the other hand, even though you knew it was a trap, you still chose to walk right into it. It seems Little Lugia is quite important to you!" Ash said noncommittally.
The other party's words clearly showed they knew he had proactively brought out Little Lugia as a scheme, but they still chose to 'walk into the tiger's den' because Little Lugia was an incredibly important Pokémon to them.
Even knowing it was a trap, they had to come and take Little Lugia back, just like Cynthia—
Cynthia might have also known that Team Galactic had set some kind of trap, but the intelligence they leaked forced her to go to their base. If she had ignored what was happening just because she knew there was a trap, she would be unworthy of the title of Champion.
"Quite important? It's more accurate to say that fellow is an indispensable tool for us to lure out the God of the Sea!
Although we've found other ways to lure out the God of the Sea now, that fellow has the power of the god of death, Yveltal, fused within its body, giving it the equivalent of the power of two gods."
"Compared to the God of the Sea, it's an even rarer existence now. So—can you give it back to us? Our Team Galactic will give you a very generous reward. Rare Pokémon, rare items, money, beautiful women—you can take your pick," Mars said, attempting to entice Ash.
As one of Team Galactic's four commanders, if she could use force, she would never resort to soft tactics. Anyone who thought her heart was as fragile as her outward appearance would be gravely mistaken.
To become a commander of Team Galactic, one had to be ruthless. The reason she chose to try and manipulate Ash was naturally because she felt his strength exceeded her expectations.
When ambushed by six Elite Four Level Pokémon, he had actually blocked all the attacks using just one hand. This sheer physical power made her feel that something was very wrong.
Even though she knew Ash was a Psychic, surely there had to be a limit to how powerful a Psychic could be?
There's a limit to how much power a human can grow. Even the world's recognized strongest Psychic, Caitlin, only rivals Elite Four Level Pokémon.
Facing an ambush from six Elite Four Level Pokémon, even if she blocked with all her might, Caitlin wouldn't be able to escape unscathed, let alone using just one hand.
In contrast, the Ash before her had blocked the ambush of six Elite Four Level Pokémon, yet his face remained completely unfazed.
It was hard to imagine this was something a human could do.
That's why Mars changed her initial strategy from force to persuasion, trying other methods to get Ash to hand over Shadow Lugia.
For Team Galactic, no matter the price, it would be worth it as long as they could get Shadow Lugia back.
After injecting Yveltal's power into Little Lugia and successfully making it its own, Little Lugia's significance had even surpassed that of the God of the Sea, Lugia, itself.
Even without a divine position, Little Lugia might grow to a level comparable to a Tier 1 God with a divine position in the future.
But in reality, Team Galactic hadn't initially held much hope for Little Lugia to fuse with Yveltal's power. After all, that was the power of another deity; it wasn't easy to fuse it into another Pokémon, even if that Pokémon was the offspring of the God of the Sea.
And indeed, when Little Lugia first fused with Yveltal's power, although its appearance turned black, the energies within its body were in constant conflict. If left alone, the final result would have been Yveltal's power devouring Little Lugia's original source power.
Little Lugia wouldn't have inherited Yveltal's power; it would have only perished because its own power was consumed.
Team Galactic's plan was to release the dying Little Lugia to lure out the God of the Sea. If it were the God of the Sea, he would surely have a way to save Little Lugia's condition.
That way, their goal would be achieved. Who could have expected a 'roadblock' to appear halfway through, not only destroying one of their branches but even snatching Little Lugia away? That roadblock was the sinnoh champion—Cynthia!
With Cynthia's interference, their initial plan failed. So, they set a trap to lure her in and successfully trapped her. Although they couldn't do much to Cynthia for now, that was only temporary.
Whether it was Cynthia's own stamina or the stamina of her Pokémon, it was limited. As long as they dragged it out, they would eventually exhaust Cynthia and her Pokémon. At that time, even the sinnoh champion would be at their mercy.
They also knew the League had sent many people to find them, but with their methods of hiding, as long as they didn't appear voluntarily, the League wouldn't necessarily find them even if they turned the Orange Islands upside down.
It was at this moment that Ash and Lorelei appeared and held an exhibition match.
In this seemingly ordinary exhibition match, their experimental subject, Shadow Lugia, actually appeared!
That Little Lugia, which theoretically should have been consumed and dissipated by the Power of Death, was actually still alive. Furthermore, it had taken Yveltal's Power of Death for its own use, becoming a Mythical Pokémon with dual divine powers!
Its future potential was virtually immeasurable. Possessing the power of two Mythical Pokémon meant it had a chance to inherit the power of dual divine positions!
A Mythical Pokémon carrying dual divine positions was something unheard of, let alone seen. Even the leader of Team Galactic, who had seen countless grand spectacles, had never imagined such a thing could happen.
Therefore, reclaiming Shadow Lugia had become Team Galactic's top priority.
Why were they plotting against Lugia, God of the Sea? Besides the God of the Sea's combat power and symbolic significance, it was also because they needed the God of the Sea's power to deal with other deities.
But now they had a second choice: to capture Shadow Lugia. For Team Galactic, capturing Shadow Lugia was many times less difficult than capturing and controlling the God of the Sea—at least, that's how it seemed to them.
By completely controlling Shadow Lugia while it was still weak, even when it grew up, it would still be unable to escape their grasp. Thus, compared to the uncertain God of the Sea, turning back to find Shadow Lugia was a better choice.
Shadow Lugia's current Trainer was just a green boy. Even if this kid had defeated a Trainer with Champion-level strength in an exhibition match, Lorelei hadn't actually used her full strength.
If Lorelei had gone all out, the power Ash had displayed wouldn't have been a match for her at all.
To Team Galactic, there was no way Ash could be more troublesome than Cynthia, right?
So, upon seeing Shadow Lugia appear and control its power, while that power was only at the Champion-level, Team Galactic immediately began plotting. They arrived on Little Orange Island that very day and came knocking on the door.
They knew Ash and Lorelei must have intentionally revealed Shadow Lugia to lure them out, but Lorelei and the others would never have expected Team Galactic to come knocking on the same day.
And it was Mars, the leader of the Orange Islands branch in disguise, who came. With the advantage of a surprise attack and Mars's formidable strength, against a novice youth like Ash, wouldn't it be easy? It wasn't like Lorelei would still be at Ash's residence in the middle of the night, right?
However, the final result left Mars extremely surprised. Ash's handling of the situation wasn't as naive as he appeared on the surface. Facing her ambush, it was as if Ash had expected it all along.
But the most important point was—Ash could actually block a strike from six Elite Four Level Pokémon with his bare hands, and he looked completely relaxed, his body entirely unharmed!
This terrifying gap in strength was the reason Mars took the initiative to lower her stance and negotiate with Ash.
Hearing this, a disdainful smile appeared on Ash's lips: "Are you joking? How could I possibly give up Little Lugia for those things? On the contrary, if you tell me Miss Cynthia's whereabouts now, I might let you go. Otherwise, once I catch you and let Miss Lorelei interrogate you, I can't guarantee what kind of treatment you'll receive."
"Cynthia, huh—Since you're not interested in the conditions I just offered, let's switch to something you are interested in. We'll release Cynthia, and in exchange, you return Lugia to us. How about that?" Mars actually changed the conditions directly upon hearing his words.
Since Ash wasn't interested in those things, she would find a condition he was interested in—the whereabouts of Cynthia, which Ash had just mentioned.
For them, the bargaining chip of the sinnoh champion could be exchanged for countless things from the League. Of course, the best choice would be to eliminate Cynthia directly. If they let her go, it would undoubtedly be like 'releasing a tiger back to the mountain'; they didn't know how much trouble she would cause Team Galactic in the future.
But if they could exchange Cynthia for Lugia, it would be well worth it. Then, they would only need to hide and lie low for a while to raise Shadow Lugia. Once they emerged, they would be invincible in the world!
Hearing this, Ash's expression darkened even further: "First of all, you don't have the option to negotiate with me. Right now—I'm the stronger one!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Ash instantly appeared behind Mars. His hands immediately seized her arms, twisting them behind her back and forcibly pinning her down. In the blink of an eye, Mars was forced into a position kneeling on both knees with her hands pinned behind her back.
Mars had intentionally increased the distance between them just now, leaving a gap of at least thirty meters. Yet, in the blink of an eye, Ash had closed in on her; she hadn't even seen a shadow of him.
What kind of monster is this guy—
By the time the six Pokémon Mars had released reacted, they saw their Trainer had already been captured by the opponent. Never mind that they had no way to deal with Ash; even if they could defeat him, now that Mars was in his hands, they couldn't pose any threat to him.
Just as Ash said, right now, he was the stronger one!
Reasoning with villains doesn't work; you have to use overwhelming force to make them face reality. This was also something Ash had learned from the group.
Although he had only been traveling for a short seven months or so, Ash was no longer that kind of righteous blockhead. When he needed to be flexible, he would be. Like now, he ignored Mars's six Pokémon and aimed directly for Mars herself.
"Secondly, whether it's Miss Cynthia or Little Lugia, they are living beings, not emotionless bargaining chips. Furthermore, since when did Little Lugia become something belonging to your Team Galactic? A thief actually has the nerve to say such things. Don't you have any shame?"
"Now, can you tell me Miss Cynthia's whereabouts?"
As Ash's words fell, Mars felt the pain in her arms twisted behind her back. This was Ash's warning: right now, I am the butcher and you are the meat on the block; you should know what choice to make.