Bonus Chapter :)
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The current situation made Cynthia think carefully. She first encountered this ancient script when she was working with an archaeological research team in some ruins in the Sinnoh region.
However, those ruins seemed to be in complete disrepair. Many of the internal structures were unrecognizable, and the murals and inscriptions on the walls had deteriorated severely. The only thing left behind was the parchment scroll now in the archaeological team's possession. Other than that, they hadn't made any other discoveries in those ruins.
Naturally, deciphering that parchment scroll became the work they had been striving to accomplish during this period. But given their extremely limited understanding of this ancient script, they naturally hadn't made any progress.
It was the appearance of the game Pokémon Emerald that opened up a breakthrough for Cynthia, allowing her to obtain information about this script and helping the archaeological team locate the existence of that larger ruins in the Hoenn region.
From this, she could deduce that the civilization to which the script seen in the game belonged should be consistent with the civilization of these two ruins she had seen in the real world.
Perhaps the birthplace of this civilization was in the Hoenn region.
And maybe this civilization had some close relationship with the three legendary titans?
She just hoped she wouldn't end up diving headfirst into Regirock's lair.
That said, Cynthia couldn't shake a bad feeling for some reason.
Whenever she had this feeling, the things she worried about always seemed to happen.
She just hoped this time would be an exception.
While Cynthia was thinking, the girl's voice on the other end of the phone spoke up again.
"It's wonderful that you can come. With you there, we'll have so much more confidence. In the end, we really have to thank you for your support. You were such a huge help in deciphering the ancient script this time."
"But may I ask out of curiosity: where exactly did you get the information about these characters? We searched all over the world for so long without a breakthrough, and you were able to produce so many reference charts at once."
The girl's voice was full of curiosity and admiration. It was clear that the ancient script reference sheet Cynthia had sent really impressed her.
On this point, Cynthia was thinking about other things and didn't want to hide it from her, so she spoke directly.
"It was a game, a game called Pokémon Emerald. There were clues about deciphering this ancient script in there."
After a brief silence on the other end of the phone, the girl's voice came again.
"Oh, so it was a game. No wonder..."
"Wait, what did you say??"
"A game??"
After the call ended, Cynthia opened her phone and quickly received the specific materials for the deciphered text sent by the archaeological research team.
Just as the girl had said, the text on the parchment precisely marked an address and used many obscure and difficult-to-understand phrases to describe that place.
To put it in simple terms, that place was hiding many treasures and things related to that ancient civilization.
No wonder the archaeological research team was ready to organize an expedition the very day they deciphered this text. The description was indeed quite tempting for them.
Under normal circumstances, exploring ruins like this wouldn't be particularly difficult. After all, they had existed for thousands of years and were generally hidden extremely well, located in rather desolate places with few resources around, so there wouldn't be many wild Pokémon appearing.
The League also valued these archaeological research talents quite highly, so they equipped the research team with quite a few Trainers as their security guarantee. At any given time, they had at least six Gym Leader-level Trainers they could deploy.
Under normal circumstances, this would definitely be sufficient, but this ruin exploration was of great importance, which is why they specifically invited Cynthia to join.
According to Cynthia's thinking, she felt this premonition was somewhat strange, as if there was some danger waiting for her ahead.
After brief consideration, she decided... why not call someone to come along?
As a Champion, she knew quite a few people, including fellow Champion-level Trainers.
If she was going to the Hoenn region, logically the person she should contact most would be Steven, but Steven seemed to have gone out looking for stones again during this period and was completely unreachable. Cynthia was already used to this.
If she excluded most options, the Hoenn region did indeed have another Champion she could invite: Wallace.
However, she hadn't spent much time with him, and their relationship wasn't particularly deep. It seemed inappropriate to suddenly invite him to come along.
In that case, why not just ask Lance instead?
Recalling her conversation with Lance two days ago, she now felt... it might be better to have Lance come over.
She could also exchange thoughts with him about her new discoveries in Pokémon Emerald over the past two days and her views on the game, and ask if he had found any other unusual game content.
But just as Cynthia picked up her phone to contact Lance, her phone suddenly rang again.
This time, the contact name that appeared on the screen made Cynthia pause once more.
It clearly read: Caitlin.
To be honest, for Cynthia, this was actually a very special person.
Like herself, she was also a Trainer from the Sinnoh region, and although she didn't have the title of Champion, she possessed Champion-level strength.
Moreover, Caitlin was the youngest Champion in the entire world.
However, the reason she could possess such strength at such a young age wasn't because of her exceptional achievements and talent as a Trainer, but rather because she herself was a powerful psychic.
Her Pokémon were basically all Psychic-types. Relying on the vast psychic power within her body, her strength progressed at breakneck speed, quickly reaching Champion level.
Speaking of their relationship, Cynthia had accidentally met this girl two years ago during a League-assigned mission. The two got along well and quickly became good friends.
Even the villa she currently lived in was rented to her by Caitlin.
Honestly, looking at it now, inviting Caitlin seemed like a good choice.
However, a bitter smile appeared on Cynthia's face.
Because the reality wasn't entirely like that.
Caitlin was indeed an extremely powerful force, but this force was also quite unstable.
When she was three years old, her parents discovered she possessed an incredibly amazing psychic talent. She could even make an entire house levitate with a wave of her hand. At the time, this caused quite a sensation across a significant area of the Hoenn region. Everyone called her a genius in psychic abilities, and the news even reached the League.
But then one day, while Caitlin was crying, she nearly completely overturned the manor house.
From then on, her parents realized that this extraordinary talent was completely a double-edged sword for her.
Before she could fully control this powerful force, once she entered an uncontrolled state, this strong psychic power would cause indiscriminate destruction to everything around her.
From that day forward, her parents subjected her to extremely strict control, working with the League to find ways to suppress the psychic power within her body, avoiding contact with other people as much as possible.
After living like this for over ten years, Caitlin was finally able to see the light of day again and barely gained control over her psychic abilities.
However, under normal circumstances, she still had to avoid major emotional fluctuations. Otherwise, if the psychic power within her went out of control again, the consequences would probably be even more severe than her childhood rampage.
Her Pokémon were basically all Psychic-types. They hadn't undergone particularly rigorous training in their daily lives, but had gained tremendous strength entirely due to the powerful psychic energy that Caitlin passively radiated.
But if it really came to a fight, that would be six genuine Champion-level Pokémon plus one humanoid, self-mobile Champion-level Psychic-type... definitely not to be underestimated.
But correspondingly, if Caitlin entered a rampage state, her six Champion-level Psychic-type Pokémon combined might not be able to hold her back.
Feeling somewhat troubled and faced with the continuously ringing phone, Cynthia had no choice but to answer the call.
On the other end of the phone, a clear and distinctive girl's voice immediately rang out, full of vitality.
"Cynthia, it's been so long! What have you been up to lately? I haven't seen you at the Battle Frontier in ages."
The voice was even somewhat sweet. If others heard it, they probably wouldn't be able to connect it with this powerful Psychic-type Champion at all.
After hearing Caitlin's words, Cynthia couldn't help but be stunned.
"You don't know?"
"Huh? Know what?"
Caitlin was also somewhat surprised and immediately asked back.
Only then did Cynthia suddenly realize.
Having experienced an unusual upbringing, Caitlin's personality and habits in dealing with people were naturally different from others.
From childhood, she had possessed powerful strength, and she tried to avoid excessive contact with others as much as possible. Over time, this made her personality become arrogant and aloof.
To put it bluntly: people who weren't "geniuses"... simply couldn't catch her eye. Even some Elite Four members and even Champions, she looked down upon.
She would only associate with those she considered top-tier geniuses. The reason she could have any connection with Cynthia was precisely because Cynthia was recognized as a genius throughout the Sinnoh region.
So even as a Champion-level Trainer, Caitlin hadn't even joined that group chat, so naturally she didn't know about Pokémon Emerald.
After brief consideration, Cynthia decided not to mention the game first, but instead explained the situation she was currently facing: the matter of the ancient ruins.
"Wow? That sounds really interesting! Sister Cynthia, aren't you short-handed? Why don't I come with you?"
Sure enough, just as Cynthia expected, after hearing this, Caitlin immediately and unhesitatingly offered to go together.
"Have your psychic powers been stable lately?"
Cynthia thought for a moment and asked.
"Oh come on, Cynthia, what kind of question is that? The last time my psychic powers went out of control was ages and ages ago. Besides, if we really run into danger, wouldn't that be the perfect chance for me to let loose? I love exciting places like that the most."
Caitlin's voice carried curiosity and excitement, making Cynthia unconsciously rub her forehead.
She had a feeling that bringing this girl along to the ruins might be somewhat dangerous.
But what she said seemed right too. If the psychic power within her went berserk, even if her six Pokémon and all the Pokémon in her own team joined forces, they would probably only barely be able to suppress her.
If they really encountered some extremely dangerous situation, bringing Caitlin along might actually be a good thing.
Seeing that Cynthia didn't reply immediately, Caitlin's voice cheerfully rang out again on the other end of the phone.
"Since Cynthia isn't saying anything, I'll take that as agreement! You're in that villa I rented to you right now, right?"
"Wait a minute—"
As soon as the words fell, the call was hung up directly, and phantom fluctuations appeared before Cynthia's eyes. In the shining purple radiance, a figure slowly appeared before her.
When the radiance faded, the figure revealed her form.
It was a little girl who looked like she wasn't even an adult yet, wearing an exquisitely tailored white dress with a skirt adorned with intricate lace trim and a brilliant golden brooch at the collar. Her every movement exuded aristocratic elegance, like a beautifully dressed doll.
Her skin was snow-white, and her pale golden hair fell like silk to her waist with slightly curled ends. She wore a small, elegant black hat tilted on her head, adding even more grace.
In her violet-like eyes, her gaze was clear and bright, as if she could see through everything. Occasionally, faint pink halos could be seen flashing through them: this was her uncontrollable psychic power overflowing.
Even her skirt hem and sleeves moved without wind under the pressure of this overflowing psychic power.
This was Caitlin: the youngest Elite Four member in history and the most powerful psychic in Sinnoh.
At this moment, she looked at Cynthia with slightly upturned eyes, stretched lazily, and showed a harmless yet somewhat excited smile.
"Huh? Cynthia, why aren't you in the study today? And why is there such a big hole in the study floor?"
"Don't tell me some Team Magma people broke into your house?! Tell me all about it!"
Cynthia: ...
Honestly, she really disliked psychics with no sense of boundaries.