"Cyrus came in person?" May picked up her chopsticks and lowered her voice. "Are we going to see him?"
Lin Hao finished his last mouthful of tofu pudding and pushed the bowl aside. "No."
"Why?"
"Cyrus came to Johto for the Legendary Pokémon." Lin Hao stood and brushed off his clothes. "Our business in Ecruteak City is finished. There's no reason to walk straight into our own deaths."
May wanted to say something, but Lin Hao had already tossed down the money and headed for the bus stop. "Wait." She grabbed her backpack and hurried after him. "What about Bell Tower?"
"Morty's guarding it. He's better suited to handling that than I am." Lin Hao didn't look back. "We'll take a detour to Azalea Town."
May tugged at his sleeve. "Are you avoiding Cyrus?"
"I'm protecting us." For once, Lin Hao was serious. "Cyrus isn't like Team Rocket, someone we can casually brush aside. Even the League can't deal with him. We're in no position to get involved."
May fell silent for a moment. "All right. We'll do it your way."
The bus wound around two mountains and stopped on the outskirts of a quiet little town. Azalea Town had only two streets. Tall oak trees grew between wooden houses, and dried herbs hung beneath the eaves. The breeze carried the fresh scent of plants and trees.
Lin Hao had barely stepped onto the stone paving when a deafening metallic crash came from up ahead.
Boom! The entire street shook, sending oak leaves cascading down. An enormous iron-gray body swung around the corner and smashed a stone wall to pieces.
Steelix was a full twenty meters long, its scales gleaming with a black metallic sheen. Yet patches of unnatural dark red marred that sheen, like burn marks.
The residents had