Not to mention the man in black standing nearby. His face had gone through a whirlwind of emotions — first joy, then disappointment, then shock at David's sudden appearance, and finally the bitter realization that the target he had worked so hard to track down was slipping right into someone else's hands.
Anger, frustration, regret, and the dread of failing his mission all clashed together on his face at once, like a wild display of changing expressions.
David walked straight toward the statue. He calmly reached into his bag, pulled out the storage container he had just acquired, and gently placed the Breath of the Sea God inside with a composed, unhurried motion — as if he were at a fine dining table, savoring every moment.
Then he slowly turned around, crouched down to eye level, and spoke to the man in black, who was still flat on the ground.
"Got you at last. If you hadn't been so cautious, I think we would have run into each other back at the Temple of Thunder. So — feel like talking?"
Now that the Breath of the Sea God was safely in his hands, David felt no rush to leave. The man in black had nowhere to run, and David was perfectly happy to have a chat.
"What — does that mean —"
"You were the one who took the Feather of the Thunder God! You were hiding inside the temple, eavesdropping on our conversation the whole time."
"Then that means... the others — they're already in your hands, aren't they..."
The man in black hadn't climbed to his position within the Supreme Organization by being slow. The moment he heard David's words, the pieces snapped together. He jerked his head up and stared at the young man — at the pink-and-white Zorua perched on his shoulder.
Carried away by emotion, he scrambled to his feet. The sudden movement brought him uncomfortably close to David.
"No, wait — I'm not —"
He opened his mouth to explain himself, but Dragapult was already there.
The Dragon and Ghost-type Pokémon glided forward in an instant, stopping just beside him. Dragapult's cold, unblinking gaze radiated pure, undisguised hostility. Feeling that icy aura pressing in from barely a step away, the man in black immediately stumbled back two steps and dropped to the ground again, covering his head with both hands.
But before he covered his head, he had the presence of mind to place two items directly in front of him: the Feather of the Fire God, which he had kept hidden on his person, and his bag. The meaning behind the gesture was clear enough.
"Ha — whatever you want to know, just ask. I'll tell you everything I know, every last bit of it. If I hold anything back, you can drown me right here and now."
Faced with Dragapult's silent threat, the man in black made the most rational decision he could. He had always known how to read a situation.
What was dignity worth? Nothing, if it meant losing his life.
And loyalty? In a criminal organization, that word was a joke. Yes, the Supreme Organization had given him his current standing — but that hadn't been charity. He had bled for every bit of it. At best, it was a fair exchange.
He had no family ties to the organization, no deep roots, no ideological devotion that had been drilled into him from childhood. In a situation like this, he was nothing if not practical.
This young man clearly had an unusual background. He might not be willing to dirty his own hands — but Dragapult was another matter entirely. Ghost-type Pokémon were indifferent to anyone who wasn't their Trainer, and this one looked like it had drawn blood before. He had no desire to find out what it felt like to have his life force slowly drained away by a Ghost-type move.
"Tell me about your mission. Just the key points — I trust you know what matters and what doesn't."
"And those Sea People from earlier — what was that about? Why did they call them sinners who defiled the gods?"
David was well aware that the sealed space around them wouldn't hold for much longer, so he cut straight to the questions that had been on his mind.
"Right... this mission was planned by the Sea Pillar..."
"As for the Sea People — that's a story that goes back about two hundred years..."
The man in black wasted no time. He took a breath and began to lay out everything he knew.
Around fifteen minutes later, David had heard the full account. Piecing it together with what he already knew, the complete picture of what had happened here finally came into focus.
The Supreme Organization members had come to this place with one goal: to seize the Sea God's divine power crystal. The operation had been organized by the Sea Pillar, who was still en route aboard her Pokémon.
That said, it seemed the Sea Pillar was not someone who acted on impulse. She had refused to enter the Eastern Horizon's territory until she had a clearer picture of the situation — and until someone else had secured the divine power crystal for her first.
As for the Sea People themselves, that was a far older story. Like so many things, it had to begin several hundred years in the past.
Among the Sea People — generations of faithful, deeply devoted followers — one man had emerged who was unlike the rest. A madman consumed by greed for the gods' power.
This man had concealed his true nature with frightening skill. He rose through the ranks to become the High Priest of the Sea People, earning the reverence of all the coastal communities who worshipped Lugia. He kept up that mask until the day his ambitions were finally exposed.
The Sea God, betrayed by her own devoted followers, was seized by boundless fury. Her wrath brought torrential rain crashing down across the entire coast of the East Sea in moments. But her nature was not cruel — she had no wish to punish those who were innocent.
So the Sea God severed her connection to the Sea People's bloodline entirely. From that day forward, no divine miracle was bestowed upon them. The very first Sea God Temple ever built was sealed away into the deep sea, cut off from the world. And the Breath of the Sea God — the sacred sign of the bond between the deity and her worshippers — was hidden along with it.
From that point on, the Sea People — once a powerful and widely respected presence along the entire eastern coast — began a long, slow decline.
In time, they split into two factions. One chose to remain hidden within the Eastern Horizon, quietly watching over ancient ruins, clinging to the hope that they might one day earn the Sea God's forgiveness.
The other faction refused to accept that fate. They left their homeland, ventured into distant lands, and eventually found their way into the ranks of the Supreme Organization.
The Sea Pillar, who had masterminded this entire operation, was a descendant of that second group.
Within the Supreme Organization, this history was an open secret. Any member of even modest standing knew it. And the Sea Pillar's faction had never bothered to hide it.