"So according to what you're saying… this secret realm has already been infiltrated by Team Magma and Team Aqua?"
Lance's expression turned serious. He hadn't expected that what was supposed to be a simple trial would draw out the full mobilization of Hoenn's two major dark organizations.
As the League's youngest investigator, he had dealt with these groups many times before.
He knew exactly what kind of people they were—ruthless, desperate criminals.
Meanwhile, the so-called "geniuses" participating in this trial…
were nothing more than flowers raised in greenhouses.
If they were forced to face those people—
no one knew what would happen.
Phoebe nodded.
"That's right. We even captured two Team Magma members earlier. And Caitlin also ran into people from Team Aqua."
"…This is going to be troublesome." Lance muttered, then looked at Chen Shi.
"You made such a big commotion to draw us here. You must have some kind of plan, right?"
Chen Shi glanced at him, his tone calm.
"What plan would I have?"
"I only did that to find Cynthia and Steven."
"Not for you guys—don't flatter yourself."
Lance: "...…."
"Wait… even you don't have a solution?"
Chen Shi waved his hand.
"What do you mean even me? I'm just an ordinary breeder. Don't make me sound so impressive."
Lance's mouth twitched.
An ordinary breeder?
Who are you kidding?
What kind of "ordinary breeder" crushes geniuses from all regions and wins the World Championships?
What kind of "ordinary breeder" is already qualified to compete for a professor position at this age?
If you are ordinary—
then what are we supposed to be?
Not even qualified as regular trainers?
Chen Shi sighed.
"You can just press your emergency button. Drake should come when he sees it."
"Then you can tell him to cancel the trial and take everyone out. Problem solved."
Lance frowned.
That was a viable solution.
Since the situation had become this dangerous—
leaving first and dealing with Team Magma and Team Aqua afterward made perfect sense.
He was just about to act—
when he suddenly realized something was off.
"Wait… what do you mean I can press the emergency button?"
"Why aren't you pressing it?"
"Don't you want to leave?"
Chen Shi spread his hands as if it were obvious.
"Of course not. I haven't even found my friends yet—why would I leave?"
He had come here specifically for this matter.
Leaving was never an option.
Lance narrowed his eyes, carefully studying Chen Shi's expression.
Years of experience as an investigator told him—
Chen Shi wasn't telling the whole truth.
There had to be another motive.
But what he couldn't understand was—
with both dark organizations already inside…
what else could Chen Shi possibly be after?
No matter how much he thought about it, Lance couldn't figure it out.
So—
he made a decision.
He wouldn't leave.
He would stick with Chen Shi and see what he was planning.
His instincts told him—
this was going to be interesting.
With that, Lance stopped what he was doing, recalled Dragonite, and enthusiastically moved closer to Chen Shi, trying to start a conversation.
Chen Shi was quickly annoyed and tossed him a watch.
"Here. Aren't you an investigator?"
"This is Team Magma's tracking watch. The red dot marks their gathering point."
"There's definitely a large force there."
"Isn't it your job to deal with organizations like this?"
"Go on, kid."
Lance's face darkened, but he still pocketed the watch.
He had no intention of leaving.
Go to Team Magma's gathering point?
That sounded dangerous as hell.
Sure, he wanted to make achievements and capture criminals—
but he wasn't an idiot.
Charging in knowing he couldn't win?
That would just be suicide.
Seeing that he refused to go, Chen Shi sighed helplessly.
"Fine, stay if you want. But can you stop talking so much?"
"Let's just sit quietly, okay?"
Lance shrugged. "Alright."
He found a spot and sat down, waiting alongside them.
…
Soon—
another Charizard flew in from the sky.
When it spotted them, it stopped.
"Haha! So you're all here!"
Leon looked down at them with a grin.
Compared to Lance, Chen Shi was much more polite with Leon and stepped forward to greet him.
From Leon, Chen Shi learned that his luck hadn't been great either.
Right from the start, he had been teleported deep into a volcanic cave—
territory belonging to a group of Torkoal, all quite powerful.
Fortunately, Torkoal were naturally lazy, and Leon had been cautious enough to gain some minor benefits over the past few days.
But today—
a group of people suddenly barged into the volcano and clashed with the Torkoal.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Leon escaped the cave.
After that, he noticed the massive signal Chen Shi created—
and came over.
Chen Shi then explained the current situation to him.
But—
Leon didn't seem worried at all.
Instead, he still intended to continue exploring elsewhere.
Lance couldn't help asking,
"Aren't you worried about running into those dark organizations?"
Leon smiled faintly.
"Don't worry. I have my own means."
"You don't need to worry about me."
Hearing this, Chen Shi fell into thought.
Does Leon also have some kind of trump card?
Otherwise, it was hard to explain his confidence.
But—
whatever Leon was relying on might work against Team Magma and Team Aqua—
yet it would be useless against Groudon and Kyogre.
So Chen Shi spoke up:
"I suggest you don't wander around."
"This situation isn't as simple as it looks."
The moment he said that—
not just Leon—
but also Lance and Caitlin froze, looking at him in confusion.
Not as simple as it looks?
Did Team Magma and Team Aqua have some other hidden objective?
A realization struck them.
These two organizations had been lying low for so long—
and now they suddenly mobilized everything.
Was it really just to seize control of a secret realm?
A realm under the League's supervision?
That didn't make sense.
After all—
once they entered, it was like walking into a trap.
As long as the League guarded the exit—
they wouldn't be able to escape.
And their leaders weren't fools.
They had to know this.
Yet they still came—
risking total annihilation.
Which could only mean—
there was something here…
something important enough—
to justify everything.
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