Let's rewind time slightly to a day ago.
After the Michina incident, Cynthia first took Sheena to Celestic Town, the headquarters of the Sinnoh League.
As a talent that the Sinnoh League is currently focusing on cultivating, Cynthia didn't expend much effort to meet the current Sinnoh League Chairman.
She then informed him of what happened in Michina.
"Really... such a thing happened?"
The old Chairman looked at Sheena and the Jewel of Life in her arms in disbelief.
The "legacy" of Arceus, the Creation Pokémon, was explosive news.
But after the shock, confusion surged into his mind.
"According to your account, you were outside for a long time, and during that time, the Masked Woman was secretly monitoring you. During this time, Joker didn't take the Jewel of Life?"
The old Chairman also expressed the same doubts as Cynthia earlier.
Both women were victims of a feint, but the item wasn't stolen?
This, this doesn't make sense.
"Could it be that he didn't find it?"
Sheena offered her guess.
"Then he wouldn't have left even more."
The old Chairman shook his head.
According to Cynthia, if Joker and his companions had fought three against one, they could have easily taken down Cynthia.
They could have beaten Cynthia and then threatened Sheena to hand over the Jewel of Life, right?
There's no reason to run!
"Chairman, what do you think about this matter..."
Cynthia felt a faint sense of unease in her heart.
"...I'll report this matter to the Grand Chairman first, after all, they know Joker better than we do. Miss Sheena, please stay on Celestic Town for the time being. We will provide you with corresponding protection."
...
Soon, Damarack, who was far away in the Indigo Plateau, received a call from Sinnoh.
Joker appeared in Sinnoh?!
Upon learning this news, Damarack immediately arranged for Looker, who was the primary person in charge of Joker-related cases, to fly to Sinnoh.
"Why did he run to Sinnoh?"
Looker, who was discussing the case with Lance, was also secretly shocked upon learning of this matter.
Without saying much, he immediately got up and prepared to take a special plane to Celestic Town.
"Grand Chairman, can I go with him?"
Originally, Damarack had entrusted the Joker matter entirely to Looker, but hearing that Joker had started acting again, Lance couldn't resist the urge.
Through the connections of the Draconid family, he had purchased a large number of TMs from Alola.
Most of them were high-power moves targeting Ice-types, such as Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Rock Slide, and Stone Edge.
My Dragon-type army has been further strengthened!
If Lance's odds of winning against Lorelei were previously 70-30, now they are 90-10!
That kid who invented the TM, was his name "Su Sheng"?
If there's a chance to meet him, I, the Dragon Master, will express my gratitude to him.
Seeing Lance's eager expression, Damarack couldn't help but feel troubled.
"It wouldn't hurt to let him come, anyway, I haven't finished asking."
Looker interjected while Damarack was hesitating.
"...Alright, but Lance, you must listen to Looker's orders."
In terms of strength, it's difficult to determine who is superior between Looker and the current Lance, but in the future, Lance will most likely surpass Looker, but he can't guarantee a solid win right now.
But in terms of dealing with people and experience in handling cases, ten Lances wouldn't be a match for Looker.
"...Yes."
Lance agreed without hesitation, knowing very well that if he didn't agree to these conditions, Damarack would never let him go.
...
Several hours later, Looker and Lance successfully arrived at Celestic Town.
After getting off the plane, they quickly arrived at the Sinnoh League Building and learned about what happened in Michina yesterday from the Sinnoh Chairman and Cynthia.
"A treasure of the Creation Pokémon? Whoa~ That's amazing~"
Looker, with his lazy demeanor, widened his eyes upon learning of this.
Compared to the Jewel of Life, Lance focused more on Joker.
"It wasn't stolen by Joker?"
Lance also felt that this was simply impossible, not to mention that according to Cynthia, Sheena was out picking her up last night and was away from home for nearly half an hour.
In such a long time, Joker couldn't find the Jewel of Life hidden in Sheena's house?
Okay, let's say that the kid was blind and couldn't find it.
He could have just killed Cynthia and then threatened Sheena.
There's no need to run!
As a League Investigator, Lance felt that this matter was indeed extremely suspicious!
"This... well, is it nothing? Anyway, the Jewel of Life is still here..."
Although she possessed heaven-defying abilities, Sheena felt a little apprehensive when she suddenly saw so many important people.
She felt that since the Jewel of Life hadn't been stolen, there was no need to pay so much attention to it.
Lance pondered briefly and turned to Sheena and said:
"Can I... take a look at this Jewel?"
"This..."
Seeing Sheena hesitating, Cynthia quickly interjected: "Sister Sheena, don't worry, Champion Lance is trustworthy."
It's just that his mouth is a bit poisonous.
Cynthia added in her heart.
A dog-eating expression flashed across Lance's face for a moment as he took the "Jewel of Life" from Sheena's hand.
After holding it in his palm, Lance used his Aura to sense it.
Half a minute later, Lance squinted his eyes, his face full of disbelief, "This is just a broken rock!"
As soon as these words came out, the whole place was silent.
Sheena's eyes widened even more.
What is this person saying? How dare he be so disrespectful to the treasure left behind by Arceus.
Lance frowned and explained: "I can't feel any special power from it at all."
Since it's a product of the Creation Pokémon, it should contain powerful energy.
But just now, Lance used his Aura to sense it, and he didn't feel any special power contained within it at all.
It even felt inferior to evolution stones like Thunderstones and Firestones.
It's just a broken rock!
"Impossible!"
Sheena denied: "The Jewel of Life contains the five powers of Ground, Water, Grass, Lightning, and Dragon that Arceus differentiated from within itself!"
At this time, Looker, the ace detective of the International Police, speculated: "Could it be... fake?"
Good heavens, he guessed right.
"It must have been done by Joker!"
Lance shouted sternly:
"He stole the real Jewel of Life and then used a fake to deceive us!"
Cynthia's beautiful eyes under her bangs widened.
So that's how it is!
In this way, everything makes sense!
As expected of a League Investigator, his reasoning ability is strong.
If Su Sheng was here, he would definitely say strong my foot.
But also, thinking about it from another perspective, if he were standing in Lance's shoes, he would most likely think so too.
...
One day later, 《Sinnoh Jubilife TV》: "Two days ago, Joker, an S-class criminal from the Johto region, and his two accomplices sneaked into the Sinnoh Michina Town and stole a valuable local cultural relic. The entire Sinnoh region has now issued a wanted order for the three of them. In order to confuse the Sinnoh League, the cunning Joker even attempted to use a counterfeit to deceive the League. Fortunately, with the help of Indigo League's Champion Lance, we saw through Joker's trick."
In a villa in Opelucid City, Unova.
The trio, who were eating breakfast while watching the morning news, fell into a mysterious silence.
Today was considered a small burst of effort. Thank you for your support, I will continue to work hard.
