"There's something else down below." Lin Hao pressed his palm against the rock wall, and the scale's heat traveled from his chest all the way to his fingertips.
The silvery-blue glow seeping through the mural's cracks brightened at his touch, then dimmed again.
Mewtwo's voice sounded in his mind. "Residual temporal energy from Dialga, sealed beneath the mural. Team Galactic's drilling only breached the first layer of the seal. The core remains intact."
"Can we get it out?"
"I wouldn't recommend it. Forcing it out could trigger temporal backlash. The seal itself is a protective device."
Lin Hao withdrew his hand. "Then we'll leave it."
May was about to speak when engines roared outside the mine tunnel. It sounded like four or five had started at once.
"They haven't gone far." Lin Hao turned toward the exit.
Mewtwo confirmed, "Master, six of the eight life-forms are retreating, but two have stopped three hundred meters outside the tunnel. They just released their Pokémon."
"Did Pluto change his mind?"
"It's not Pluto. This is another group. They landed on the island's southern side, and their communications frequency differs from the retreating group's."
Lin Hao frowned. "Team Galactic isn't all on the same side?"
"Their uniforms are identical, but their orders come from different sources. One group answers to Pluto. The other receives its orders from Sinnoh."
"Cyrus's personal guard."
A crash came from deep within the tunnel. The drilling rigs Team Galactic had left behind restarted automatically. All four machines ran at once, their drill bits aimed beneath the mural as they bored furiously into the rock.
"Remote activation!" May reacted instantly. "They programmed them in advance!"
Silvery-blue light erupted from the drill holes. The entire mine shook, and loose stones clattered down from the ceiling.
"Greninja, dismantle the equipment." Greninja sprang