An Unreliable Guess

"Professor Carolina, what are you looking at?"

James watched Professor Carolina constantly flipping through books and asked curiously. Ever since they had returned from the hospital, Professor Carolina had been frantically searching through books. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed strange.

"Dr. James, have you ever considered why those three children encountered a problem?"

Professor Carolina's hands did not stop as she spoke.

"I've thought about it, but I have no leads."

James shook his head.

"Then let me tell you a story. In the legends, the battle between the God of Time and the God of Space created the world, while the battle involving the God of the Reverse Space stabilized the balance. Based on deductions and various eyewitness accounts, these three gods likely possessed Dragon, Steel, Water, and Ghost attributes."

Professor Carolina set down the ancient book in her hands and looked up at James.

"Wait, you mean... their battle happened to meet certain conditions, like the legendary Battle of the Three Gods?"

Anyone else would surely have dismissed such a fantastical claim. But James, as an heir of the Ghost-Taming Clan, had seen far too many strange things. Whether it was the books and records left behind by his family or the bizarre incidents he had encountered over the years during archaeological expeditions, they had made him fully understand one thing: this world was far more wondrous than they imagined.

Professor Carolina's theory sounded outrageous at first. How could a battle between three underage youths compare to the Battle of the Three Gods from back then? Yet James knew that sometimes such matters had little to do with strength. As long as certain intangible conditions were met, they could produce tremendous effects. Besides, these three youths were exceptional. James was not merely boasting when he said his own son was a genius, and the other two were even more so. It was not impossible that they had truly triggered something akin to the Battle of the Three Gods.

"That's right, you understand what I mean. Jubilife City may be a major metropolis, but frankly speaking, where in the entire Sinnoh Region is there no trace of ancient ruins? Jubilife City was originally built atop an ancient city. I checked, and the location of the hotel where we are staying was close to where the temple of ancient Jubilife City once stood. It does not perfectly overlap, but it is close enough. That may also be why this incident was triggered."

As Professor Carolina spoke, she took out an old yellowed map and handed it to James. A map of present-day Jubilife City was also hanging on the wall, and when the two were compared, the correspondence between their locations was easy to see.

"That is indeed the case. Professor Carolina, you truly deserve to be a leading figure in mythological history. To find the answer from such an angle... I am genuinely impressed."

James spoke sincerely.

"I'm only making blind guesses, but this matter cannot help but make me suspicious. This is not like other incidents; no one can say what problems might arise. And with the ruins you will be visiting this time, I am even more worried. I only hope nothing happens."

Professor Carolina spoke with concern. This was Sinnoh, after all. In ancient ruins, aside from Arceus, the creator god, the God of Time, the God of Space, and the God of the Reverse Space were almost impossible to avoid. Even that giant capable of dragging continents paled in comparison by an unknown margin.

"Don't worry. I know a bit about the legends of the Sinnoh Region too. I discovered that the defining feature of Sinnoh's mythological history is conflict—constant conflict. Their problem appeared during a conflict today as well. So long as they exercise restraint, nothing should happen. Besides, according to your theory, their Pokémon did not conveniently gather every required attribute. They only happened to brush against a few of them."

James was not too worried about it. Being suddenly affected like that was something that could only be encountered by chance, not sought after. How could it happen again so easily? Besides, he was still strong enough to keep those three children in check. He only needed to pay a little more attention.

"Yes, I hope so. But your son's strength truly cannot be underestimated. For a Haunter to contend with a pseudo-legendary Pokémon is not something an ordinary person could accomplish."

Professor Carolina relaxed considerably. She had been overly concerned just now. Indeed, the odds of such a thing happening were far too low. The earlier incident had most likely occurred only because the time, place, and other factors had all aligned perfectly. There were so many battle venues near this hotel, and similar battles must have happened before, yet nothing like this had occurred. Clearly, such an event was not easily triggered.

"So please rest easy. Nothing will happen. It is also a good chance for the children to get to know one another better. My son has never had many friends since he was little. Apart from Lulina, he could never really get along with others. But he seems to get along well with Steven and Cynthia. That is a good thing."

James said with a smile.

"Hahaha, Cynthia is much the same. She has very few friends and is always cooped up in her room playing games or reading books. Sometimes I really worry about her. Even when she is with a few friends, they only stay indoors. Sigh, I truly fear that child might become withdrawn."

Professor Carolina spoke helplessly. Cynthia seemed poised and graceful in front of outsiders, but in private, she was a shut-in who only liked playing games and reading. Who could have imagined that?

"Hahahahaha, every family has its own troubles. But children and grandchildren will have their own fortunes. Let the children handle their own futures. Are they in the game room right now?"

James suddenly recalled passing the game room on this floor when he arrived. It had seemed rather noisy inside.

"Hahaha, let them play. Being able to play with friends is quite nice in my view."

"That's true. Playing with friends really is nice."

"Hahahahaha!"

For a time, the serious atmosphere in the room vanished completely, leaving only relaxed laughter.

"Hm? Is someone laughing?"

Blake put down his controller and listened carefully.

"Don't make excuses. You're about to lose! Don't even think about running away!"

Cynthia gripped her controller and stared intently at the screen.

"Who said I was going to lose? You've been losing all night. Don't even think about beating me. My Hypnosis-Perish Song Gengar is the strongest!"

Blake stopped worrying about that and tightened his grip on the controller, controlling the character on the television screen.

"Nonsense! My Garchomp is the strongest!"

Cynthia controlled the Garchomp on-screen as it charged at Gengar, but every attack was dodged. Gengar once again used a combination of Hypnosis and Perish Song to forcefully drain its health.

This was Pokkén Tournament, developed by a game company under Stone Company. They had been battling ever since dinner.

"Stop arguing. Neither of you can beat me anyway."

Steven sat to the side, leisurely sipping juice.

"That's only because Metagross's stats are too high!"

"That's right! A game developed by your own family does not care about balance at all!"

"Exactly! Metagross is banned from all ranked matches now because of that!"

"Using Metagross is shameless! It has super armor the whole time—who can beat that?!"

It would have been fine if Steven had not brought it up, but the moment he did, Blake and Cynthia immediately turned on him together. There was no helping it. In a fighting game, if someone's every skill came with super armor, even mashing the keyboard could give them a win rate above eighty percent!

"Nothing I can do about it. Who told you not to pick it?" Steven spread his hands.

"Tch, you just don't understand what makes games fun."

"That's right, that's right. You do not know how to play games at all. Ah! You sneak-attacked me! No! I demand a rematch!"

"Request denied!"