Although the entire room fell silent, this time Blue, Daisy, and the others were also among those who remained silent. After all, while Rope's plan was indeed radical, it did have a realistic chance of being implemented.
The subsequent matters could be addressed later, but the final showdown Rope had mentioned was likely not far off. So were they going to continue hesitating until then?
Would delaying this matter have an impact on the final outcome? No one knew, and no one could be certain. In the end, it was not worth the risk. Who would dare to gamble with the future of the world?
Even Professor Oak hesitated when considering this matter. He had to admit that it conflicted with his own aspirations. But what if his stubbornness led to an irreversible situation? What then?
What should Rope do? Risk his life to plug the hole? It might not even work.
Rope's method was radical, but there was no doubt it was the safest option. History had shown that, often, the most extreme measures were actually the safest.
But Cynthia spoke up.
"Rope, perhaps you should learn to trust us more."
Everyone's gaze turned to Cynthia.
They weren't fools; they understood what Cynthia was saying.
Rope looked at Cynthia with a questioning expression.
Cynthia met Rope's gaze calmly and said seriously, "We discussed this during our meeting earlier. We're well aware that they'll target us first."
At this point, Cynthia couldn't help but let out a wry smile: "We were well aware that they would target the weakest link at the start of the battle."
"But we're not pushovers!"
Cynthia's eyes flashed with icy anger as she spoke.
"We've seen your battle with that guy named Katsuhisa. If he's their second-strongest fighter, then he's not that strong either."
"Red, Blue, and Steven together would be enough to handle him."
Blue, who was unexpectedly mentioned, twitched his lips. To be honest, he had also watched the video. That said, even at their level, a three-on-one fight did feel a bit beneath them.
Then he was given a sideways glance by Cynthia.
Blue immediately sat up straight, his face filled with determination, eager to take Red and Steven to confront Katsuhisa right away.
Cynthia nodded satisfactorily, then looked at Rope and continued, "And you even eliminated the opponent's Pokémon. That way, we don't even need a third person."
Rope nodded in agreement; he didn't deny that. Fighting Katsuhisa wasn't exactly a hassle, but one-on-one, others definitely couldn't handle it. However, two-on-one was absolutely no problem. After all, commanding six Pokémon alone is difficult, and commanding twelve with two people isn't necessarily easy either. But the tactics would be absurdly numerous.
If two champions acted together, dealing with one Katsuhisa would pose no problem at all.
In the end, Katsuhisa is still far from the ceiling of this world! Rope himself hasn't reached the limit of this world's power either.
Of all the people Rope had met so far, only Al had reached the upper limit of the world's power. That was why he had to disperse and seal all his power.
Only then can they remain in this world rather than being expelled.
"Moreover, these three individuals are highly capable, but they do not inherently belong to the regional defense system. In other words, reassigning them would not impact the defense levels of the various regions."
This is indeed true; these three are formidable, but they are former and former-former champions. They were not originally included in the defense plan.
Blue's lips twitched again. The way she put it made it sound like they were unnecessary.
"As for Ms. Psychic and Red, whose stance is still uncertain, we will also deploy sufficient personnel to handle the situation. Moreover, this matter cannot be handled by our side alone; the Legendary Pokémon will also be involved."
"So Rope, there's no need to worry about those things. If there's a Pokémon surge, we have enough experience and capability to handle it. Plus, with the Legendary Pokémon holding them back, there's no need to worry about the situation getting out of control."
Cynthia cupped Rope's face and said seriously, "Your task is to prepare yourself. You should naturally take on the strongest opponent, and leave the others to us."
"This is our world, and ultimately, it is up to us to protect it."
Rope looked into Cynthia's eyes, remained silent for a moment, then nodded.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
"Trust me. I'll take care of everything!"
Cynthia looked confident.
Professor Oak watched the two of them and smiled again.
"Don't worry. We'll do everything we can to support Cynthia."
Professor Oak also made a promise to Rope. Such matters must be clearly stated. With Professor Oak watching over things, no one would dare to cause trouble for a little power.
To put it bluntly, even if Rope were to step forward now and claim leadership, there would inevitably be those who would try to sabotage him.
Unless Rope could directly take action to subdue those individuals.
Because whenever anyone takes on a leadership role, conflicts of interest inevitably arise, and some people are willing to sacrifice everything for those interests.
Such individuals will never disappear unless that ideal is truly realized.
If Rope wants to take power, it's like this. How much more so for Cynthia?
If Rope can make all the regional champions submit to him, then Cynthia and they are on equal footing. Listening to you is giving you face; not listening to you doesn't break the rules.
"Don't worry, I'll assist Cynthia from the side."
Daisy smiled at Rope.
Rope nodded in agreement.
If Daisy was once an obscure figure known only as Professor Oak's granddaughter, then after resolving the entire Kanto region, no one dared to underestimate this cheerful young woman.
Her political talent was extraordinary.
Cynthia, of course, was well aware of this. She looked at Daisy with gratitude in her eyes. One must know one's own worth. Cynthia knew she could handle routine government affairs without issue, and in terms of combat strength, she could take on six or seven of Daisy's. Even in research, her achievements surpassed Daisy's.
However, Daisy's political talent truly outshone her by a wide margin.
With Daisy's help, to be honest, she could feel more at ease.
"Then I'll leave this matter to you two to handle. If there's anything you need from me, just let me know, and I'll do my best to help."
Rope said seriously.
Since the work he had originally planned to oversee had been taken over by Cynthia, he could now focus on his other plans with peace of mind.
As for whether Cynthia and her team will ultimately be able to complete this task...
Firstly, on paper, Cynthia and her team are indeed superior to their opponents. There's nothing to worry about.
Secondly... we can always call on that bastard Al... not to mention that Rope has his own trump card.
With Rope as a safety net, there's no need to fear any major incidents. Now it's just a matter of bringing forward the anticipated timing of revealing the trump card as much as possible.
For example, originally, they planned to call for help only if an unsolvable problem arose, but now, they would simply reveal their trump card whenever their own people faced danger.
However, this approach could indeed minimize everyone's dissatisfaction while allowing the world to save itself.
It could be seen as Rope being lazy, or as Rope compromising. After all, this approach also increased the number of unstable factors.
"Alright! Let's eat first! I'm starving after a long day!"
Cynthia clapped her hands, picked up another piece of food with her chopsticks, and began eating. Since everyone was family, and her seat had already been added to the table during mealtime, there was no need for formalities.
Rope served Cynthia some food and said, "Take your time, no rush."
Everyone began eating. She hadn't been very tired before, but after the earlier argument, she was indeed a bit hungry now.
The entire hall was filled with the joyful atmosphere of a meal.
The next morning.
Rope got up and stretched. After a night of hard work, he felt mentally exhausted. Physically, he wasn't tired, but mental fatigue was inevitable.
It was like how, during your downtime, you always felt a bit queasy about that matter and couldn't help but want to delete the resources.
Then, once that urge passed, when you went looking for resources everywhere, you wished you could kill your past self.
But the blonde beauty was no longer by his side.
Rope looked at the empty bed and shook his head with a wry smile.
There was still some helplessness. Cynthia's tasks weren't any easier than his, and she had more work to do. If this continued, they really wouldn't have time to think about being together.
"It seems we'll just have to hurry up and get things done, huh?"
Rope got up to get dressed, shaking his head and sighing.
"What do you mean, hurry up and get things done?"
Cynthia's voice suddenly came from the doorway.
Rope looked up in surprise, and saw Cynthia holding a breakfast tray, smiling at him from the doorway.
"You're not leaving? No work today?"
Rope stepped forward and took the breakfast tray.
One arm wrapped around Cynthia's waist.
Cynthia smiled and said, "Not leaving yet. There's always time for breakfast. If nothing else, Lucian can cover for me for a bit."
Rope's lips twitched slightly.
"Thank you, Lucian."
Lucian, who was working in the office, sneezed and looked out the window in confusion.
"It's not cold... Maybe you should drink some more hot water?"
Breakfast was eaten quickly, and the two talked about wanting to spend some time together, but in the end, there wasn't much time left. After all, everything was urgent, and Rope knew very well that not every moment could be spent on romance.
"We'll have plenty of time in the future."
Rope said seriously to Cynthia in front of him.
"I know," Cynthia smiled softly, wiping the bread crumbs from Rope's lips.
"We'll have a wonderful future."
Cynthia said the same thing.
Sharing their feelings was certainly touching, but the upcoming separation was even more heartbreaking. However, as mentioned earlier, time was their greatest enemy.
With every tick of the clock, their preparation time decreased by one second.
After finishing breakfast, Cynthia asked Hoopa to take her back to Suzuran Island.
Lucian had already completed part of her work.
Although everyone's responsibilities were equally important, there were always priorities. Without a doubt, the most urgent matters were those delivered directly to the champion.
"You're back already?"
Lucian looked at Cynthia as she walked in and asked with some confusion, "Aren't you staying a little longer?" There weren't many documents delivered today, and I can handle them. The plan you listed earlier was supplemented by A-Liu, and then Kikuno-baa-san did a second proofread, so it's almost complete."
"Thank you for your hard work."
Cynthia said gratefully.
"There's no need to thank us. Why didn't you stay there a little longer? Both of you have been under a lot of pressure lately, so taking a day off wouldn't hurt."
Lucian wasn't joking. After all, everyone knew the responsibilities Rope and Cynthia carried, and there was nothing that could alleviate the pressure on them.
But at least letting the two of them spend some time together wasn't a problem.
Cynthia just shook her head.
"Our future is still long, so we're not in a hurry about such things."
Cynthia sat back down at her seat and said seriously. Her tone was filled with confidence.
Seeing that Cynthia had already returned to work mode, Lucian remained silent. He stepped out the door and left.
On the other side, after Hoopa had escorted Whitley to the front lines of the Sinnoh region and handed her over to Flint, he returned to Rope's side.
"Rope, what should we do next?"
Hoopa guessed that Rope had further plans. The entire alliance was already operating smoothly, but the matters here were not yet concluded. Rope himself had not yet resolved everything and still had subsequent tasks to handle.
However, Hoopa did not know what Rope's next plans were.
Rope shrugged, removed the Azure Flute from his waist, and said, "What do you think our next mission could be?"
"Since this guy is the strongest Pokémon in this world, I have to capture this strongest Pokémon to further enhance my own strength, right?"
Hoopa's lips twitched slightly.
He knew exactly who Rope was referring to. When Rope obtained the Azure Flute, he had already sensed trouble.
In the end, this individual made such a decision. He wondered why this world had granted Rope such a compensatory mechanism.
Always slightly stronger than one's own Pokémon.
Arceus! Run!