Let you make a game, what the hell is Pokemon?.

Chapter 117 The Joining of Cattleya, Ancient Ruins!

"So, Nana, does this mean you've agreed to let me go with you this time?"

"Shi Lan... probably doesn't know about this, right?"

In response to Cynthia's question, Gadriya put her finger in front of her face to make a "shh" gesture.

"Of course I don't know. If he knew, would I still be able to come out? Oh dear, Sister Zhulan, you wouldn't tell on me, would you?"

Faced with the girl's coquettish behavior towards Cattleya, Cynthia could only nod helplessly in the end: "Alright, then I'll leave it to you this time."

At this point, her tone became somewhat serious: "Cattleya, my intuition tells me that something might go wrong this time, so we must be careful when we get to the ruins."

Cattleya, however, stretched lazily without a care in the world.

"Hey, it's rare to see you like this, Sister Zhulan. We're both champions, surely we can't possibly encounter something we can't handle?"

"By the way, do you have the coordinates? If it's not too far, I can just teleport you there, so you don't have to travel any further."

Upon hearing this, Cynthia shook her head, as if recalling some unpleasant memory.

Once, when she had to go on an emergency mission, she begged Gadriya to use her superpowers to teleport her to the target location. But for a non-superpowered person, even with Cynthia's physical condition, which is quite good among ordinary people, it took her a full half hour to recover from the nausea and headache after landing.

Since then, she has understood that not everyone can endure the kind of thing that involves teleportation using superpowers. Only those with superpowers can easily accept such a massive burst of psychic power.

For ordinary people, it's best to stick to using Pokémon or other modes of transportation to get around.

Thinking of this, Cynthia shook her head and refused:
"No, I'll go by myself. Garchomp's flight speed isn't slow either. I also have some things to pack. See you at our Hoenn research base in a bit."

"Alright, alright, I'll head out first then. See you later, Sister Zhulan."

Cattleya looked somewhat disappointed and blinked.

As soon as she finished speaking, a powerful pink glow erupted from her body once more, and she vanished from Cynthia's sight in the next instant.

As Cynthia looked at the remaining pink particles in the air and the lingering superpower, she couldn't help but ponder.

People with superpowers always enjoy many conveniences in every aspect of life. I wonder if I will one day be able to gain a special ability like Cattleya...

Also... if I remember correctly, there haven't been any characters with special abilities in Pokémon Emerald yet...

If such a character existed, wouldn't that mean players could also possess and master such abilities in the game?

Although it was just an experience, it must have been quite novel.

Thinking of this, Cynthia couldn't help but shake her head.

Forget it, let's pack our things first and prepare for the upcoming archaeological expedition.

Exploring ruins is no small matter; it requires a great deal of preparation.

In addition, she needs to mobilize her Pokémon team and inform them of the upcoming mission and goals, all of which will take time.

With this thought in mind, she got up and walked towards the outside of the room.

……

Twenty minutes later, in the villa's back garden.

Cynthia had already packed her expedition gear. She tied her long golden hair into her signature ponytail and lightly stroked the map spread out on the table—a preliminary exploration report of the newly discovered ancient ruins in the Hoenn region, which she had just printed out. This report was based on data from the archaeological research base, which used drones and electronic signals.

As expected, these ancient ruins, like the previous ones, possess extremely strong energy magnetic field signals inside. We can only scan their surface and cannot explore their interior. Based on this map, we can only barely determine that this ruin is at least over a thousand square kilometers in size.

This size is already among the largest of all the ruins she explored during her lifetime...

Cynthia ran her hand over the blueprint in front of her. The commotion beside her caught her attention. She turned her head and saw a huge figure that had appeared beside her at some point.

"Garuda, what do you think... we'll discover this time?"

Garchomp let out a low growl, its sharp eyes seemingly gleaming with anticipation.

"Powerful Pokémon... that might exist, but not many."

Cynthia smiled, her gaze returning to the blueprint, which she examined carefully.

This is extremely important intelligence. I need to use these images to determine some basic information about the ruins, such as their overall orientation and height, in order to facilitate my next actions.

"Roar, roar."

Garchomp didn't continue with the question. Instead, it took out a small box from somewhere and pulled out a silver necklace from it.

The pendant at the top of the necklace is a golden sphere with unique patterns on its surface.

"Where did you find this?" Cynthia took the necklace. The stone sphere felt slightly hot in her palm and then quickly cooled down, as if it were just an illusion.

She had no recollection of ever buying such a decoration.

"Roar."

Garchomp growled again and gently nudged her hand with the tip of its nose.

"The study... alright."

Cynthia smiled and casually put the necklace around her neck.

"It's quite pretty... I'll just use it as a talisman."

After saying that, she patted Garchomp's dorsal fin.

"Cattleya should have arrived by now, let's go."

……

Half an hour later, when Garchomp landed at a temporary camp on the northwestern outskirts of the Hoenn region, Cattleya was floating in the air, holding a book in her hands.

Upon sensing Cynthia's presence, she immediately raised her head, and the book that had been floating in front of her automatically closed and flew back into her hand.

"You're seven minutes late, Sister Zhulan."

Cattleya landed slowly, her long pink hair moving without wind. She wore a black adventure suit that allowed for easy movement, yet she still maintained an elegant, aristocratic demeanor.

Unlike her behavior when she met Cynthia alone, this is how she usually appears to outsiders.

Cynthia, of course, was already used to this.

“Sorry, I prepared some extra things.” Cynthia pointed to the bulging backpack behind her. “Where’s the archaeological team?”

“Everyone’s been waiting for you, the expert,” Cattleya shrugged.

No sooner had she finished speaking than a surprised female voice rang out behind her. "Lady Cynthia! You've finally arrived!"

The visitor was none other than Zixuan, the one who had contacted Cynthia on the phone earlier.

Her gaze fell on Cynthia, sparkling with admiration and respect.

"The ruins are just three kilometers ahead of us, and we have already begun further signal exploration on them."

"Okay, take us inside."

Just then, Zixuan's gaze suddenly fell on the person next to Cynthia. After a brief moment of surprise, he immediately bowed respectfully to her.

"Lady Cattleya... what brings you here?"

"What? You don't welcome me?"

Cattleya glanced at her, and the girl waved her hands and shook her head repeatedly: "No, no, no, I'm just a little surprised."

Cynthia stepped in at this moment to smooth things over.

“Miss Cattleya is someone I invited to help. Her superpowers might be quite effective in exploring the ruins. Alright, let’s go.”

The three walked side by side toward the tent in the center of the camp, with Garchomp following behind, cautiously observing their surroundings.

Inside the tent, a middle-aged man with a gray beard and a full beard was operating an instrument on the table. Countless models composed of light and icons appeared directly and were freely rotated and adjusted in his hands.

This is Maxim, the scientific and archaeological team leader for this operation, showing a 3D model of the entrance to the ruins.

The model was incredibly detailed and clear; you could even see a small pebble in a particular spot.

Upon seeing Cynthia's arrival, he immediately greeted her with a smile, pointing to the model behind him.

“Miss Zhulan, you’ve come at the right time. Our initial contact probe has now concluded.”

He was clearly taken aback when he noticed Cattleya next to Cynthia, and his expression instantly became somewhat awkward, but he quickly returned to normal.

"Lady Cattleya...you've come too, welcome, welcome."

This captain is, after all, an older man, and his ability to adapt to changing circumstances is naturally much better than that of Zixuan just now.

Cattleya glanced at him, nodded, and said nothing.

The man then walked up to the model and pointed to the visible area.

"For safety reasons, we have only sent drones to explore the outer area so far. The internal passage is blocked by some kind of energy field, and it may require a more powerful force to break through."

Cattleya snorted: "Why beat around the bush? Just say you need my help."

“That’s right.” Maxim gave a stiff smile. “I’ll have to trouble you with exploring the terrain of the ruins later.”

To be honest, he really didn't expect that Cynthia would actually invite Miss Cattleya along this time.

As the world's youngest champion and a superpowered individual, the opponent is known for his eccentric temperament and is considered one of the most difficult types to deal with.

However, it must be acknowledged that when exploring such vast and expansive ruins, her powerful psychic abilities are an irreplaceable weapon, capable of helping them solve many problems and difficulties.

However, being so close to this person did make him feel a lot of pressure.

He reached up and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, then continued to Cynthia:

“Miss Zhulan, according to preliminary exploration, there may be a lot of clues about ancient civilizations deep in the ruins, and even... artifacts from that era may be found.”

"As for the treasures mentioned in the deciphered contents of the parchment, I have reservations. After thousands of years, it's questionable whether they even exist. But even so, what I just mentioned is enough to make this adventure worthwhile."

Cynthia stood in the camp and nodded slightly.

How many people have we prepared this time?

"The higher-ups attached great importance to this operation and arranged 20 Gym Leader-level Trainers as escorts. At the same time, 10 research experts who are well-known in the field of archaeological research also went with us. We also prepared a large number of instruments such as sonar scanners and high-definition trace recorders to go into the ruins together."

At this point, the man rubbed his hands together.

"But the most important thing, of course, is your participation, Miss Cynthia. If you don't mind, you can have full authority to command this time."

This time, Cynthia didn't speak, but simply nodded slightly, indicating her stance.

The next moment she stepped out of the tent, looking in the direction of the ruins not far away, her fingers unconsciously touching the necklace pendant on her chest.

For some reason... that inexplicable premonition seems to be getting stronger and stronger...

……

Two hours later, the group stood before the steep rock face. The seemingly ordinary rock face was covered with weathered runes, with a circular groove about two meters in diameter in the center.

"This is it." Maxim gestured to the technicians to start the equipment. "We need to open it using acoustic resonance first..."

Cattleya raised her hand to interrupt him: "No need for all that trouble." She snapped her fingers, and the entire space suddenly distorted. Cynthia felt dizzy, and when her vision returned, they were standing in a deep, dark passageway.

“The location is a bit off-center.” Cattleya frowned as she looked around. “It should lead directly to the main passage.”

The archaeologists were pale-faced, and two of them were already retching while leaning against the wall.

This is why Cynthia refused Gadriya's teleportation earlier. When she first experienced teleportation, her condition wasn't much better; Gadriya even helped her with that mission first.

But at this moment, Cynthia looked at Gadria thoughtfully—if danger were to be encountered, putting aside the side effects, this ability to jump through space would indeed be the best way to escape.

However, just as she was pondering this, Garchomp suddenly appeared in front of Cynthia, letting out a warning growl. The sound of a mechanism turning came from deep within the passageway, followed by a row of stone spikes suddenly erupting from the ground, heading straight for them.

Clearly, the traps set within the ruins sensed their arrival and activated immediately!
"Garuda, Rock Slide!"

Cynthia reacted swiftly and immediately gave the order.

With a swing of its claws, Garchomp unleashed a barrage of even larger rocks that rained down from the sky, shattering the rock spikes and reducing them to dust.

"It's unbelievable that these mechanisms can still function normally even after thousands of years."

"Everyone be careful from now on, I'll lead the way."

Amidst the flying debris, Cynthia stepped forward, waved to the crowd, and gestured for them to stand behind her.

However, at that moment, she noticed a subtle change in the expression on Cattleya's face.

The next moment, a voice that only she could hear suddenly rang in Cynthia's ear—it was a telepathic message from Gadriya.

“My superpowers… are being suppressed.” Gadria’s voice carried a rare hint of unease. “There’s some kind of force interfering with me in this ruin…”

(End of this chapter)