Cyrus instinctively sensed that things weren't that simple.
Given what he knew of the Sinnoh League, even if Cynthia herself was leading the charge, it shouldn't have been possible for her to take down the forces he stationed at Galactic's Veilstone HQ in such a short amount of time.
That was their home turf, after all. Even if Saturn wasn't particularly skilled in combat and was far weaker than Cynthia, there was no reason he wouldn't have sent any sort of message before being overwhelmed.
Which meant… the League might not be the only ones involved.
Over the years, Team Galactic had made plenty of enemies while collecting meteorites from all over. Anyone could have taken a shot at them—Team Rocket just happened to be the one they'd antagonized most severely. So while Cyrus hadn't immediately suspected Team Rocket, he couldn't rule them out either.
Under normal circumstances, he would've gone himself to find out who dared stir up trouble for Team Galactic in Sinnoh. But now...
Cyrus turned his gaze forward.
Right in front of him, within three glass containment columns, the Lake Guardians of Sinnoh—Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf—were each held in place.
After Jupiter and Mars had failed and their targets ended up in Team Rocket's hands, he had personally begun the hunt for the final guardian, Azelf. In the end, his efforts paid off. All three were now in his possession.
Once the Galactic scientists below had finished calibrating the equipment, one of them stepped forward and reported: "Commander Cyrus, everything is ready. Awaiting your command!"
At those words, a rare look of satisfaction flickered across Cyrus's always-composed face.
Saturn's role had always been to divert the League's attention. If he was captured, so be it. As long as the next phase went smoothly, it would all be worth it.
"Begin."
With a press of his hand against the scanner, Cyrus authorized the system. Instantly, the lab below sprang into motion.
The hum of machinery filled the air as Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf simultaneously emitted a radiant light. Agony twisted across their faces as their powers were extracted and channeled into the central device, where the energies gradually condensed into a deep red crystal.
As the crystal began to take shape, Cyrus's calm expression gave way to a rare trace of exhilaration.
This was the excitement of a long-awaited dream finally taking form.
All around, the Galactic grunts watched in awe as the crystal was steadily refined beneath the glass dome—first dissolving, then restructuring into a lattice of glowing crimson chains.
"So this is the Red Chain… the key to controlling Dialga and Palkia…"
---
While Cyrus oversaw the creation of the Red Chain—
—aboard the Team Rocket airship, Luo Yuan was briefing Malva and Cynthia on the situation.
"Cyrus's goal is to control Dialga and Palkia and create a new world. But to do that, he needs the legendary Red Chain—said to be capable of linking time and space."
"And to forge the Red Chain, he needs the power of the Lake Guardians."
"According to intel I've received, Cyrus captured two of the three Lake Guardians half a month ago. Given that, and what happened at Veilstone HQ, it's reasonable to assume he has all three by now."
Everything Luo Yuan said matched up with what they'd observed—and not all of it came from Team Rocket intelligence. Some of it was knowledge from the original timeline, which Luo Yuan simply presented as "intel."
And as Rocket's second-in-command, no one questioned his sources.
Hearing all this, Malva realized the situation was even worse than she'd feared.
Cynthia, meanwhile, was in even worse spirits. The League had received no such intel, and the situation had already spiraled far beyond what she'd anticipated.
Even so...
A part of Cynthia—though she knew she shouldn't—felt a flicker of gratitude.
Gratitude that Team Rocket had shown up in Sinnoh and taken over the fight against Galactic from the League.
From this angle… maybe their arrival isn't entirely a bad thing?
The thought startled her, and she shook her head, quickly banishing it from her mind.
No. This is absurd.
But one troubling question remained: if Cyrus really did manage to control Palkia and Dialga… could Team Rocket actually stop him?
Time and space—just saying the words conjured a sense of power beyond human comprehension.
With that thought, Cynthia finally spoke. "If needed, the Sinnoh League can mobilize the rest of the Elite Four and the Gym Leaders to help take down Galactic."
Malva blinked in surprise.
Cynthia's offer sounded nothing like someone who was being coerced by Luo Yuan.
Noticing her puzzled look, Cynthia explained calmly, "I just don't want to see Sinnoh destroyed because of Team Galactic."
More like you want to take out Team Rocket and Galactic at the same time… Malva finished the sentence silently in her head.
As an Elite herself, it wasn't hard for her to guess Cynthia's intentions.
Just like how Luo Yuan didn't believe for a second that Cynthia would actually honor their deal and accept Team Rocket's presence in Sinnoh, Cynthia didn't trust that Luo Yuan would so easily release the captured League trainers once this was over.
That's why she offered reinforcements—to give herself more leverage.
Even if she couldn't pose any real threat to Luo Yuan, who had three legendaries at his side, at the very least, she might cause some complications for Team Rocket.
Cynthia turned to look at Luo Yuan. Despite everything, she had no doubt about his intellect—after all, the memory of how he had pulled her into this situation in the first place was still fresh.
Luo Yuan just smiled.
He didn't mind how much trouble Cynthia thought she could cause him. After all, back at Veilstone HQ, they were holding nearly a third of Sinnoh's entire active forces as captives.
"Not a bad idea… but you're forgetting something."
"…What?"
Cynthia had expected a flat-out rejection. She hadn't expected this response.
"Cyrus won't give us the time to rally reinforcements."
As Luo Yuan finished speaking, the airship finally broke through the heavy cloud cover, revealing the vast stretch of the Sinnoh mountain range—
—and the towering, snow-covered peak of Mt. Coronet, piercing the sky.
Thanks to coordinates sent by Shinbird, Luo Yuan had already pinpointed the location of Galactic's base.
Without hesitation, he made his way straight to the upper deck of the airship.
Using psychic power to shield himself from the howling winds, Luo Yuan tossed out the Master Ball in his hand.
Bang!
ROOOOOAAR—!
A flash of white light exploded outward, followed by a thunderous draconic roar.
The ruler of the Hoenn skies—Rayquaza—had arrived in Sinnoh.