Chapter 246
"... It seems like I drew it?"
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"Phew, at least it's not Sabrina..."
Upon hearing Cynthia's words, Qiao Ran's first thought was a surge of relief. If there was anyone here who was the most difficult to deal with, it would definitely be the alert and Psychic Sabrina. However—just as Qiao Ran felt a moment of relief, he seemed to realize that something was amiss.
"Wait, this time we drew..."
Qiao Ran's lips twitched slightly.
"It seems like it was me."
Not far away, Cynthia shook the note in her hand again, a faint smile on her face, as calmly as if stating a fact.
Bamboo... Orchid...?
The one who drew the slip of paper was actually Cynthia?!
Qiao Ran: "..."
What... what happened?
We have Lillie, Mei, and Mei on our side, but why is it always the people other than those three who get lucky and get lucky?!
Has this probability been secretly changed? It must have been secretly changed, right?
However, looking at Cynthia's gentle smile, Qiao Ran wasn't as nervous as before. At least... she'd be much better than Sabrina?
If it's an older sister like Cynthia, there shouldn't be any major problems, right?
"Now that the outcome is decided, let's arrange things this way for tonight."
Sabrina paused for a moment, then glanced at Cynthia and added a sentence.
"Cynthia, tonight is the last day. Tomorrow we won't have to squeeze in like this anymore. If you don't want to, I can take you to rent a place outside..."
"Isn't that a bit much? I can handle special circumstances too."
I understand.
Cynthia waved her hand, indicating that Sabrina didn't need to worry about it. She wasn't some pampered young lady, and she had more experience camping in the wild than anyone else present.
In order to excavate Ruins, she has slept in all sorts of strange and unusual places. Over the years, this ability has long been honed.
"Everyone, please get some rest today."
Cynthia smiled gently.
"It's finally my turn."
With so many people, scheduling showers every night was a big problem. As for Qiao Ran... as the only boy, he was naturally scheduled for last.
When he finally finished showering and returned to his room to rest, he found Cynthia sitting on the edge of the bed wearing a black nightgown, holding a book he had never seen before.
Her long, slightly Golden hair covered half of her face, exuding a fresh fragrance. Her eyes and brows were full of maturity and intellect, attracting Qiao Ran's gaze.
Even he had to admit that the Cynthia was truly beautiful.
Whether it's her appearance, her figure, or her unique charisma.
Even compared to Sabrina, this Champion is probably not inferior, but unfortunately, she has no interest in these things; she prefers something completely different.
Do you read before you Rest?
Qiao Ran couldn't help but ask. Ever since he met this Champion from the Sinnoh Region, he had never seen her have any time to relax or have fun. Usually, besides reading and studying, she was also training her Pokémon. She never had any free time.
Even now—while others are probably resting in bed or playing on their phones—she's studying.
"... I guess I've gotten used to it."
Upon discovering that Qiao Ran had returned after taking a shower, Cynthia turned her gaze from her book to Qiao Ran.
"Caitlin also mentioned it to me, but I actually find reading quite interesting. This world has many things that are different from the Pokémon World. If my grandma were here, she'd probably be incredibly happy."
"Although the two worlds are very different, the feeling of loving Pokémon is the same."
"Just as Arceus was betrayed by humans, but others still stepped forward to save it from crisis, the love for Pokémon can always overcome everything."
When the topic turned to these things, Cynthia suddenly became much more talkative. Moreover, Qiao Ran seemed to have noticed that she really loved Pokémon, mentioning these things almost every few sentences.
"I know, wasn't it because a human failed to return the Life Orb to Arceus? But it turned out that this person was actually manipulated by other villains, which is why he betrayed Arceus."
Hearing Cynthia mention these things, Qiao Ran couldn't help but add a bit more. Before he encountered these Pokémon, he also enjoyed talking about them, but since coming here, he hasn't had that opportunity anymore.
"... Yes, and the person being controlled is the progenitor of the 'Power of Overcoming' in the Sinnoh Region." After listening to Qiao Ran's description, Cynthia nodded blankly and added a sentence.
After a while, she slowly came to her senses and Frisk something was amiss. "Wait, how do you know all this?"
Records of myths do exist in some ancient books in the Sinnoh Region, but most of those records are very obscure and difficult to understand, unlike what Qiao Ran described as concise and clear.
It sounds like a movie or TV series synopsis.
However—what he said was largely correct, and it didn't differ much from the conclusions reached by most mythologists in the Sinnoh Region some time ago. It's just that... summarizing such a long history into a few sentences—that's not something that can be done simply by knowing a little bit.
How could he know so much about the legends of the Sinnoh Region?
"Maybe... I was just lucky, so I learned about something similar."
Qiao Ran didn't explain further, he just scratched his head.
"Don't let my appearance fool you, I actually know quite a bit about Pokémon."
"Learn?"
Seeing Qiao Ran like this, Cynthia raised her eyebrows, her expression gradually becoming strange.
She picked up the book, clipped it to the pages with a bookmark, and finally placed it on the bedside table.
"Then I'll test you now."
Qiao Ran did indeed surprise her somewhat, but hearing him say that, Cynthia also had a slight idea to give him a try.
Just how much does he know about the mythology and legends of the Pokémon World?
Cynthia leaned closer to Qiao Ran.
"Hoopa, the Legendary Pokémon of the Kalos Region, do you know any legends about this Pokémon?"
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Cynthia's question came to her suddenly. However, such a broad question does indeed have a high degree of freedom. In the Pokémon World, most ordinary people only know about the legends of their own region. Most of the time, they only know about the legends of other regions. Moreover, in the process of hearing these stories, there will inevitably be errors and omissions, which is understandable.
However, for some more specialized individuals, those two words alone are enough to inspire a paper.
Therefore, Cynthia wanted to hear Qiao Ran's answer on this matter—to what extent did he understand these things?
"Hoopa?"
Qiao Ran blinked, her expression gradually turning strange.
A stream of thoughts gradually flooded his mind. Besides various information about Hoopa, his impression of Hoopa was still based on the crisis that had occurred before.
That Hoopa, shrouded in black mist... almost wiped them out in the Unova Region.
Would you like to hear something more theoretical or something more casual?
"Is... is there such a difference?" Cynthia exclaimed in surprise, completely baffled as to what Qiao Ran meant.
"Then... how about a slightly more theoretical approach?"
"That works too."
Qiao Ran nodded, and then cleared his throat.
"Hoopa, in its Hoopa Unbound... that is, its Normal Form, is a dual-type Pokémon of Psychic and Ghost-type, while in its Unleashed Form it is a dual-type Pokémon of Psychic and Dark type. This Pokémon very high Attack and Special Defense, but its weaknesses are Physical Defense and Speed. Therefore, the best way to deal with Unleashed Hoopa is to use Bug-type physical move that is 4x super effective against it, or Fairy Type move that is 2x super effective against it..."
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait."
Listening to Qiao Ran's eloquent explanation, Cynthia felt increasingly uneasy. How did this guy know so much about Hoopa's attributes and weaknesses? And... this wasn't what I wanted to hear!
"I'm talking about legends! Not how to fight Hoopa! What are you talking about?"
Cynthia couldn't help but roll her eyes at Qiao Ran, and even subconsciously pushed his chest. Was this guy pretending to be stupid?
"This..."
Qiao Ran was in the middle of a pleasant conversation, was suddenly interrupted. Seeing Cynthia's expression, he could only stop his long-winded speech with a wry smile.
Although he received a disdainful look from Cynthia, Qiao Ran found her unusually cute.
... Perhaps, she only shows this expression when these things are being discussed.
She's completely different when she's fighting.
"... The legend of Hoopa is actually also related to Arceus in the Sinnoh Region."
"Arceus..."
Qiao Ran's first words immediately caught Cynthia's attention.
He wasn't wrong; in fact, he very directly pointed to the most important point.
"Long ago, there existed a gigantic, evil Pokémon in the Kalos Region that could traverse space. No one could control it, and it was allowed to wreak havoc. It wasn't until a hundred years ago, when this Pokémon a city called 'Dahara City,' that a traveler created an item to seal it away."
"And this item was created using the power of Arceus."
"The power of Arceus? Are you sure about that?"