Cynthia's True Identity

After Xu Mu and Mega Charizard X defeated Venerable Dongfeng, trainer and Pokémon crouched on the ground, panting.

The battle had drained nearly all of Xu Mu's mental and physical strength.

Across from them, Venerable Dongfeng's face was ashen.

His two lackeys pretended not to see him. They moved to the other Venerables' sides and resumed sucking up.

"You lost. I'm taking Entei with me now. Does anyone object?"

Xu Mu hadn't forgotten how Venerable Dongfeng had disrespected him earlier.

Normally, someone as vindictive as Xu Mu would never let Venerable Dongfeng off so easily.

He didn't seize this chance to humiliate the old bastard because he had no trump cards left.

Both his Pokémon were at their limits. If another powerful opponent stepped in, Xu Mu might not hold out.

So he would keep Venerable Dongfeng's behavior in mind for now.

There was plenty of time to make him pay.

For the moment, getting Entei out of here mattered more.

Speaking of Entei, Xu Mu felt somewhat guilty.

If Greninja hadn't forced Entei to reveal its strength, no one might have discovered it.

When it came down to it, Xu Mu felt responsible.

So he wasn't protecting Entei just for Cynthia. He wanted to do it himself.

No one present wanted to let Xu Mu take Entei away.

But they cared too much about their reputations to bully a novice trainer the way Venerable Dongfeng had.

Venerable Dongfeng had wanted to act shamelessly while preserving his spotless image.

The others weren't like him!

They had surrounded Entei to wear it down. Some had even wanted only to see how they measured up against it.

They hadn't gone too far, really...

They were simply on opposite sides.

But letting Xu Mu take Entei away? Absolutely not!

Forget Venerable Dongfeng. Not one person here would allow it!

They were happy to watch Xu Mu mouth off and humiliate Dongfeng.

But taking Entei away threatened everyone's interests!

"Kid, your name's Xu Mu, right?"

An aged voice suddenly sounded in Xu Mu's mind.

It sounded weak.

"Who's there?"

Someone had spoken directly into his mind. Xu Mu instinctively thought it was his damned system and opened his mouth to curse.

Fortunately, he stopped to think.

The damned system knew his name. It wouldn't have asked.

"I'm Entei. The one behind you."

The weak voice came again. Xu Mu finally realized Entei was speaking to him through Telepathy.

"So you can talk? Why didn't you—"

Entei cut him off mid-sentence.

"I don't have much time. I came down to this world to complete a task."

As Entei spoke, it handed Xu Mu a Pokémon Egg.

"You must be the person I was looking for. I'm entrusting this little one to you."

"It's important. Incredibly important. Ho-Oh told me to place it directly in the hands of the boy who embodies this era's destiny."

"I think I can trust you with it..."

Entei's voice grew weaker.

Xu Mu stared blankly at the Pokémon Egg in his hands, his mind full of questions.

So Ho-Oh sent you? This wasn't arranged by that damned system?

Ahem. Sorry I blamed you, damned system...

Wait. That's not the point!

"Entei, hold on. If this Egg is so important, don't give it to me."

"I'm no saint, and I don't want to shoulder the destiny of an era. I just want to live an ordinary life."

"And travel the world with the person I love!"

"So keep the Pokémon Egg!"

Xu Mu came to his senses and hurriedly refused.

Entei's mere appearance had already caused this much trouble.

Now it had handed Xu Mu the Pokémon Egg in front of everyone.

How was he supposed to deal with that?

Xu Mu didn't want every troublemaker under the sun coming after him for the rest of his life.

"There's no time. Ho-Oh didn't leave me much energy. I have to go."

As Entei spoke, its body slowly vanished within the Secret Realm!

It disappeared as though it had never been there!

Xu Mu was stunned.

Come on! This is how you repay me?

I tried to save you, and you dumped a huge problem on me.

Give me a break. I've got it hard enough already!

The assembled powerhouses were baffled by Entei's disappearance, but they knew an opportunity when they saw one.

The Pokémon Egg Entei had given Xu Mu was undoubtedly a priceless treasure!

"Kid, hand over the Pokémon Egg. You have no right to keep it."

A powerhouse from Western Europe spoke first. It was Leona, and she looked ready to snatch it at any moment.

"Get lost! You Western Europeans think you can make demands in the Eastern Lands?"

"We'd sooner let that Pokémon Egg rot here than let you lay a finger on it!"

"Yeah! Let's drive these two Western Europeans out first. Then we can discuss the Pokémon Egg."

The powerhouses of the Eastern Lands pushed back, rallying to drive the two Western Europeans out.

Leona's expression changed instantly.

Ordinarily, there was no prejudice between the Eastern Lands and Western Europe.

The two sides maintained friendly relations and stayed out of each other's affairs.

But now that treasure was at stake, the powerhouses of the Eastern Lands had turned on them in an instant.

"Leona, you should go back."

Cynthia, who had stayed hidden until now, suddenly stepped forward.

"Stay out of this."

Leona had intended to take a chance: snatch Xu Mu's Pokémon Egg and return to Western Europe before anyone could stop her.

She hadn't expected Cynthia to be here, much less to see that she was on Xu Mu's side.

"Really? All right..."

Cynthia's status was so exalted that even Leona, a Venerable, could only obey her. She didn't dare defy her in the slightest.

Seeing the blond girl send the Western European powerhouses away with a single sentence, the powerhouses of the Eastern Lands began to speculate.

Who was this girl?

"Please be careful, my lady. These people probably won't dare hurt you, but there's no way this boy can keep that Egg."

Leona understood the situation. The powerhouses of the Eastern Lands were wolves—a pack of starving wolves!

Xu Mu's Pokémon Egg was already meat on their chopping block.

The only reason they hadn't attacked Xu Mu was that the pack couldn't agree on how to divide the spoils.

Once they settled that, Xu Mu would be...

"She is the Saintess of Western Europe. If anything happens to her in the Eastern Lands, you know what the consequences will be!"