On the ninety-sixth day after leaving the Orange Islands, night.
On the third day after leaving the Prehistoric Ruins, Yu Hai and A Long hurried tirelessly toward Pewter City.
With Viridian City serving as Team Rocket's main base, Yu Hai naturally would not foolishly barge in. They chose to travel through the wilderness instead, planning to bypass Viridian City, cross Viridian Forest to reach Pewter City, then head from Pewter City to the League headquarters on Indigo Plateau.
By his reckoning, he had been away from the Orange Islands for over two months. Lance's figure inevitably surfaced in his mind, and he wondered whether Lance had returned to League headquarters. But perhaps he no longer needed Lance's help now.
When he entered the League treasury, he could simply invoke Champion Kikuko's name. Surely no one would dare stop him.
For now, he set aside the matter of League headquarters. The reason they had stopped to rest tonight was that Gengar had keenly sensed Lucario was about to break through and reminded him to halt.
It had been over two months since Lucario absorbed the Fighting-type energy from the horn, one month since it consumed Elite-class Steel-type materials, and it had also eaten Horn Powder. Today was the sixth day after consuming the Horn Powder, and Lucario had finally reached the critical moment of breaking through to the Elite Four.
Unlike the Poison-type and Fighting-type Toxicroak, Lucario's breakthrough caused little commotion, merely stirring a silent ripple.
That ripple was extremely concealed, like an undercurrent beneath a still lake. As humans, Yu Hai and A Long could not sense it at all. They merely watched quietly, completely unaffected.
However, the Wild Pokémon were different, especially those with danger-sensing abilities. At this moment, they all gazed solemnly at Lucario as it broke through.