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Chapter 118: Crisis at Every Turn
🕑 Added 2025-09-14 13:30:46 +0000 UTCAt these words, Cynthia was stunned.
There was no need to elaborate on just how powerful Caitlin's psychic abilities were, yet even her power was being suppressed?
This was truly an unprecedented situation...
Which meant that the circumstances within this ruin were indeed far from simple.
She and Caitlin exchanged glances, nodding slightly as she responded mentally.
[How much has your power been suppressed?]
The response quickly echoed in Cynthia's mind.
[It's not particularly severe, but this situation... makes me feel uneasy.]
[Let's proceed with caution. This really isn't simple.]
[Understood.]
[Leave the traps ahead to me.]
...
After their brief exchange, Cynthia directly threw out a deep white Poké Ball, releasing another Pokémon.
This Pokémon's body was composed of jade-like leaves, its hands resembling two blooming crimson roses. Its beautiful, artwork-like form was densely covered with countless sharp thorns.
It was one of Cynthia's ace Pokémon—Roserade.
"I'm counting on you. Use Magical Leaf to clear the path."
Cynthia softly commanded. Roserade stepped forward, gently raising both hands. In the next instant, green light brimming with life energy blazed from her body, instantly transforming into countless sharp energy leaves that swept across the path ahead like a torrential downpour.
Wherever the leaves passed, countless mechanisms hidden within the cave were triggered—high-speed rotating steel sawblades, sharp stone pillars falling from above... Each trap was extremely dangerous, as if determined to claim the lives of any intruders.
However, within that sky full of dancing green leaves, whatever they touched was instantly dissolved and shattered into nothingness upon contact with the green light.
In less than a few seconds, when the green radiance faded from this section of cave, silence had returned to the path ahead, with all mechanisms and obstacles completely destroyed.
"Alright, stay close to me, remain alert, and don't make any unnecessary movements."
She took the lead, walking forward into the darkness ahead alongside Caitlin.
The members of the archaeological research team finally snapped out of their daze and hurried to follow.
Even though this wasn't the first time many of them had witnessed Cynthia's Pokémon in action, seeing that scene still left them somewhat bewildered.
The power of Champion-level Pokémon... was truly overwhelming...
As for the Gym Leader-level trainers following at the rear of the group, their eyes filled with envy and reverence.
Originally, this security work was supposed to be their responsibility... but now, it had become Cynthia single-handedly protecting all of them, leaving no room for any of them to be useful...
...
Just as Cynthia and Caitlin had anticipated, the exploration ahead was far from smooth.
As they continued deeper into the passage, the mechanisms appearing around them became increasingly dense.
Garchomp and Roserade worked in perfect coordination to disable various traps—falling rocks, pitfalls, poison darts...
In the most serious incident, Roserade's Magical Leaf while scouting ahead actually triggered a mechanism that caused an entire section of corridor to instantly collapse!
Fortunately, Cynthia reacted quickly enough, releasing another of her Pokémon—Gastrodon—which spat out large amounts of sticky fluid to reinforce and stabilize the entire tunnel, preventing the collapse.
This scene caused Cynthia to stop in her tracks.
In all her previous explorations of ancient ruins, the frequency of these mechanisms and traps had never been this high...
Normally, these traps were meant to defend against intruders.
But this density of having a mechanism every few steps was truly unprecedented.
Cynthia suddenly noticed something and stepped forward, crouching before a stone tablet carved with strange symbols to examine its contents carefully.
It was a golden triangular symbol that also seemed to belong to this ancient civilization's writing system.
But what it specifically meant, none of the people present knew—the content they had deciphered didn't include this particular symbol.
At that moment, Caitlin beside Cynthia suddenly pressed her temples, her expression showing some complexity.
She could feel that the deeper they went into this ancient ruin, the stronger the suppression of her psychic powers became.
Now she couldn't even use Teleport to transport herself and the people around her out of here.
This feeling of being unable to control her abilities... made her very uncomfortable.
She closed her eyes to sense for a moment before speaking:
"Up ahead... there's a huge space. Though my abilities are suppressed, I can still sense a little."
She paused at this point.
"There are... no life signs there."
Upon hearing this, everyone's spirits immediately lifted.
No life signs ahead meant they wouldn't encounter attacks from wild Pokémon next.
Though all the mechanisms along the way had been neutralized by Cynthia, even just following behind her, they had all been watching with their hearts in their throats. It was hard to imagine how devastating their casualties would have been without Cynthia's help...
...
When everyone reached the end of the tunnel and passed through a massive stone door, they were all shocked by the scene before them.
This was a circular hall the size of a football field, with glowing crystals embedded in the domed ceiling that illuminated the entire space like daylight.
The hall was filled with numerous metal chests containing golden vessels, gem sculptures, and various ancient scrolls, while seven stone statues stood in the center.
"This... this is the discovery of the century for archaeology!"
Team leader Maxim was trembling with excitement, while the team members had already begun eagerly taking photos and recording.
Though all these artifacts belonging to that ancient civilization held deadly temptation for them, their basic professionalism as archaeological researchers prevented them from running around carelessly or rashly touching anything. Instead, they unanimously looked toward Cynthia, awaiting her further instructions.
But no one noticed that at this very moment, Cynthia's entire body had tensed, her heart pounding with shock!
Unlike the others, the moment she entered this hall, she had felt a sense of déjà vu. When her gaze fell upon those massive stone statues, she finally understood where this feeling came from.
She was all too familiar with the shape of those statues—sturdy rocky bodies, dot-matrix arranged eyes...
It was exactly what she had seen with her own eyes in the game—the Rock Titan, Regirock.
What made her even more uneasy was that among these stone statues, one in the center had a clearly different posture from the others, as if it had been moved...
That statue was faintly emanating a familiar aura and sense of oppression. Though weak, it was still keenly detected by Cynthia.
How could this be? Could this really be Regirock's dwelling?
There was no time for further thought.
"Nobody move!"
Cynthia sternly commanded, raising one hand high.
However, it was already too late.
The archaeological team members were experienced and battle-tested, knowing not to act rashly in such situations.
But those trainers who had joined temporarily didn't understand such protocols.
Not far away, a man had already excitedly picked up a golden pottery jar at his feet!
The moment his fingers touched the vessel's surface, the entire hall erupted with piercing alarm sounds!!
"What's happening??"
Amid the alarm, someone in the crowd cried out.
In the next instant, the ground began shaking violently without warning. The abnormal statue in the center of the plaza instantly developed spider-web cracks across its surface!
Countless fragments began separating from the statue's surface and falling, while two points of crimson light immediately shone through the cracks, followed by an earth-shattering roar!
"REGI—ROCK!"
The stone shell exploded apart, revealing the red crystal core within, along with those orange eyes arranged in a ladder pattern and the brown-speckled armor composed of five hard rocks.
An immensely powerful oppressive force accompanied by terrifying air waves instantly swept through the entire cave. For a moment, under this intense pressure, every person present found their bodies rigid, expressions dazed, as if their souls had left their bodies.
Even Caitlin stared blankly at that massive brown figure, momentarily without any reaction.
Such a powerful being—even just looking directly at its form could instantly freeze one's thoughts!
Even Garchomp and Roserade had fallen into a daze under this terrifying pressure!
At that moment, the legendary titan Pokémon fully awakened. It raised its right arm and without warning swung down toward the crowd!!
At this critical moment, a voice exploded like thunder in everyone's ears!
"Watch out!!"
It was none other than Cynthia!
At this voice, Caitlin suddenly snapped back to awareness, immediately grabbing the three nearest people and activating Teleport, disappearing from their original position in a flash of pink light along with them.
Garchomp beside Cynthia did likewise, grabbing her and Maxim as they leaped backward!
Under the looming shadow, with a tremendous crash!
Where they had originally stood, only a bottomless crater remained!
"Good God... what... what is that thing?!"
Feeling the terrifying aura emanating from that massive rocky figure, Maxim collapsed to the ground, his glasses askew, his breathing becoming rapid and difficult.
"Regirock, the legendary Rock Titan," Cynthia said gravely, her expression extremely grim.
Before departing, what she had feared most... had indeed come to pass!
They had actually encountered the legendary Rock Titan Regirock, and unlike in the game... this was Regirock in its awakened state!
The aura and oppressive force emanating from this Rock Titan was incomparably stronger than when it was in its slumbering state!
If she hadn't previously experienced even greater pressure in the game's cutscenes, she would have been just like Caitlin in that instant—completely unable to react and directly crushed to ash by Regirock!
Not far away, within pink fluctuations, Caitlin reappeared with team members, her face even paler:
"My psychic powers have weakened by at least half. This monster is absorbing surrounding energy... it's what's been suppressing me!"
"What the hell is this thing??"
As soon as she finished speaking, Regirock's head suddenly turned toward the sound source, its chest core beginning to emit dangerous red light! Countless deep red points of light began gathering upon it, forming into a massive energy sphere charged with destructive intent!!
Cynthia and Caitlin exchanged glances and simultaneously threw out all their Poké Balls.
"Garchomp, Dragon Claw! Roserade, Energy Ball! Spiritomb, Shadow Ball!"
"Metagross, Meteor Mash! Reuniclus, Psychic!"
There wasn't even time to command each of their Pokémon individually, but every Pokémon clearly understood how critical the situation was, each using their strongest moves to attack Regirock.
Twelve Champion-level Pokémon attacking with full force together—the powerful energy made the very air tremble and shake. When those multicolored attacks simultaneously struck Regirock, explosive smoke instantly engulfed the entire hall!!!
However, when the smoke cleared...
The rock giant revealed its form again—standing there completely unharmed.
A thick sense of despair instantly swept over the crowd.
Even the combined full-force attack of two Champions couldn't harm this thing in the slightest??
But before anyone could react, Regirock suddenly moved again!
It crossed its arms, and its mountain-like massive body suddenly began spinning at high speed, completely at odds with its cumbersome appearance!
"Get out of the way!"
Cynthia's pupils contracted as she could only manage to shout this warning before Regirock unleashed Ancient Power!
Countless boulders separated from the ground and walls, raining down on everyone like a meteor shower. Meganium beside Caitlin quickly erected a water barrier at full strength to protect the people behind them, but only blocked a small portion of the meteors. Caitlin's Sigilyph and Alakazam also combined their efforts to create a psychic shield, but it shattered under the impact of the third wave of debris!!
Amid the violent impacts, dust filled the air.
"What kind of monster is this?!" Caitlin transported herself and Cynthia away in a flash of pink light, gritting her teeth as she recalled the now battle-incapable Sigilyph. "Our attacks are completely ineffective!"
Even she had completely lost the composure she usually displayed before others when facing this Pokémon.
As for the people not far away in the aftermath of the falling debris, though they were temporarily unharmed under Meganium's barrier, several had already rolled their eyes back and fainted!
As for those League trainers, at this moment they couldn't even release their own Pokémon!
Under Regirock's powerful pressure, their Pokémon didn't even dare leave their Poké Balls!
