Meeting Cynthia again: Spiritomb's Trainer

"Gi?"

Upon hearing that voice, Spiritomb froze for a moment, its movements and the energy it was gathering briefly faltering.

But a moment later, the savage aura around Spiritomb surged again, completely overwhelming its reason as it unleashed another blast of dense Ghost-type energy.

Qingliu naturally heard the sudden female voice as well, but he had no time to pay attention to it. Nor could he entrust his safety to someone else.

So he did not stop what he was doing, reaching out to select "Evolution."

But just as he moved, a shadow interrupted him.

A Pokémon roughly his height, resembling both a shark and a dragon, rushed out from behind him. Vast amounts of green energy poured from the sharp claws at the tips of its wings as it met Spiritomb's attack head-on.

Shhk!

Like scissors slicing effortlessly through cloth, its claws tore straight through the Ghost-type energy. Its body passed through the opening, gliding low over the ground at incredible speed until it reached Spiritomb.

Then it leaped, taking a position directly overhead before stamping one foot hard onto the Odd Keystone beneath Spiritomb's body.

Thud!

A dull impact rang out as the hovering Spiritomb was knocked out of the air and driven into the ground.

When the smoke cleared, Spiritomb showed none of the signs one would expect from such a heavy blow. Instead, its aura surged, becoming even more ferocious.

"Gigigi... kekekekeke!!"

Amid its furious roars, Spiritomb's Odd Keystone trembled incessantly as it tried to rise again.

The next second, a foot wrapped in powerful Ground-type energy stamped down on its Odd Keystone again, suppressing every movement. No matter how Spiritomb struggled, there was not the slightest sign that it could escape.

Even so, strands of savage, chilling energy continued to pour from Spiritomb, making it seem as though it possessed an inexhaustible supply of strength as it battered relentlessly against its "seal."

Qingliu quietly watched the scene.

Fast, powerful, and...

Seeing the Gabite standing on Spiritomb's head, he immediately identified the person who had spoken.

A woman who owned a Gabite, a Dragon-type pseudo-legendary Pokémon rare in the Sinnoh Region, and had raised it well enough to possess such formidable fighting strength...

"I'm sorry Spiritomb bothered you."

Dressed in a long black coat, with long blonde hair, Cynthia bowed slightly. "I'm very sorry. I don't know whether it caused you any trouble, but if you don't mind, I'd like to offer you a little compensation."

Her manner was sincere and her voice gentle, without a trace of condescension. Coupled with her striking looks and figure, it was difficult to form a bad impression of her. Though she did not yet have the endearingly mature, older-sister air he remembered from later on, the Cynthia before him possessed the slightly youthful charm suited to her current age.

Besides, Spiritomb had not caused him any harm. On the contrary, it had done him a huge favor.

"There's no need for compensation. As for trouble, Gabite stopped it before it could cause any."

After gesturing toward Gabite, Qingliu said, "If anything, I'm very surprised to meet you here, Miss Cynthia."

Cynthia was slightly surprised to hear Qingliu address her by name. But although she had never challenged the Gyms or the League, plenty of people had always known who she was, so she quickly regained her composure.

"There was something I needed to take care of here, so I spent a little time on the Fifth Floor. I didn't expect Spiritomb to sneak out while I was taking an afternoon nap. I'm very sorry," Cynthia apologized again.

A little time...

An afternoon nap...

Hearing that, Qingliu suddenly gained an entirely new understanding of the person before him.

What kind of place was the Lost Tower?

A graveyard...

Taking an afternoon nap in a graveyard wasn't something anyone with a normal way of thinking would do.

At that moment, Qingliu suddenly felt that this future Champion had something in common with Agumon-a remarkably laid-back disposition.

Perhaps that very trait was why she so often appeared and disappeared without warning, leaving reporters unable to track her down.

"So this Spiritomb is your Pokémon too, Miss Cynthia?"

Remembering that Cynthia's team did indeed include a rather unusual Spiritomb, Qingliu asked.

"Yes."

"Then may I ask what's wrong with it? It doesn't seem to be in very good condition."

Cynthia hesitated at Qingliu's question.

But then she considered that Spiritomb really had affected someone else. Although he had not taken issue with it, it was only reasonable for him to want to know what had happened.

Besides, reaching the Fourth Floor meant he was already far ahead of many Trainers who had started around the same time. His abilities certainly could not be poor, and perhaps she could get some useful information from him.

"I encountered this Spiritomb a while ago in a rarely visited Ruined Village. It struck me as rather unusual at the time, so I caught it.

"But later, I realized that it seemed to have accumulated far too much energy from being sealed away for so long. After it was freed, its emotions became extremely unstable. To avoid any more serious problems, I wanted to guide it into releasing that energy.

"So I came to the Lost Tower, hoping to use the strength of the Ghost-type Pokémon here to make that happen, while also minimizing the effects of the energy it released. But..."

Cynthia stopped there.

Qingliu had more or less understood what she meant. "But it looks like that failed."

"Yes. Even after battling every Pokémon on the Fourth Floor and the Fifth Floor, and even with Gabite stepping in, it still shows no sign of settling down."

With that, Cynthia walked over to Gabite and instructed it to hold Spiritomb down more firmly, preparing to forcibly recall it into its Poké Ball.

Standing nearby, Qingliu fell silent as he watched Spiritomb continue to struggle beneath Gabite's foot, then looked at Cynthia's shapely back and her long, beautiful blonde hair.

If I leave this alone, Cynthia will eventually solve the problem herself. It'll just cost her a great deal of time and effort. And besides...

One of them accidentally helped me obtain a Digivice that could assist Agumon in evolving to Champion.

The other is a beautiful future Champion. More importantly... besides being a Champion, Cynthia is also a Mythology Scholar.

She was someone who traveled whenever she had free time, searching for and exploring myths and legends. Though that arguably made her somewhat less than dutiful as a Champion, to him personally, that side of Cynthia was an almost perfect fit for his own needs.

After all, anything from myths and legends that still existed today would surely meet the "long history" requirement for activating the panel's summoning function.

Not to mention that Cynthia's grandmother was the director of the largest History Museum in the Sinnoh Region. Her family surely had plenty of valuable things.

At that moment, Qingliu suddenly felt that Cynthia radiated an irresistible allure even more compelling than her looks, figure, and potential.

Whether out of gratitude, simple reason, or consideration for her background, I should help her and earn a favor.

So Qingliu opened the panel and carefully examined Spiritomb's detailed information and the specifics of its status field. Just as Cynthia was about to recall Spiritomb, he spoke.

"Miss Cynthia, have you tried having those Ghost-type Pokémon use abilities that absorb things from Spiritomb?"

Cynthia replied, "I've already tried that. Even attacks like 'Absorb' have no effect. Right now, Spiritomb seems to be in a state where it never gets tired."

Qingliu shook his head. "I don't mean draining Spiritomb's stamina."

Cynthia's brows drew together slightly. Turning to look at Qingliu, she asked in confusion, "If not stamina, what else could they absorb?"

"Pokémon and humans alike have both positive and negative emotions. That's perfectly normal. Generally speaking, most Ghost-type Pokémon have abilities or interests connected to negative emotions. Those are also... a source of their power."

Qingliu left it at that.

He believed that, with her extensive knowledge of Pokémon, Cynthia would certainly understand now that he had said this much.

Something quickly seemed to occur to Cynthia, and she said at once, "Are you saying Spiritomb became like this because its negative emotions are too strong?"