Chen Kai had a splitting headache at this moment.
He had already spotted the pink plant, and from its appearance, it was very likely the sweet ingredient he had been searching for.
He had planned to sneak in and pluck a few leaves, just like he did to get the spicy ingredient last time, as long as it could help Miraidon recover.
Who would have thought his luck would be so terrible this time!
He didn't know who was fighting above, causing the mine to shake violently, directly waking up the Mythical Pokemon Diancie who was sound asleep inside.
Diancie, as expected of a legendary Pokemon, immediately detected Chen Kai, who was wearing an invisibility cloak.
"Speaking of which, why is there rippling water near the spicy ingredient, while the sweet ingredient is in Diancie's territory? Shouldn't the guardian Pokemon just be a bit larger in size?"
"Why are all the guards here as powerful as Legendary Pokemon!"
"The difficulty has increased by more than just a little! Hey!"
Since he had been discovered, a battle was inevitable.
Fortunately, Chen Kai had Pokemon like Iron Bundle to assist him, so he had a countermeasure and wouldn't die at the hands of those two terrifying Carbink.
Chen Kai also learned from previous battles and only played a supporting role, not giving commands.
However, the battle developed far beyond his expectations; Iron Thorns actually suppressed Diancie against the rock wall with a fierce assault, leaving Diancie with no power to resist.
"Why is this generation's Diancie so weak?" Chen Kai muttered to himself, "Or is Iron Thorns's power too overwhelming?"
He secretly glanced at the disheveled Diancie floating in mid-air.
He saw that her pink diamond crown was already cracked, and Diancie was glaring at him with a murderous look.
Sensing Chen Kai's gaze, Diancie responded with another Diamond Storm she conjured.
As a "bodyguard," Iron Thorns naturally wouldn't stand by; it immediately unleashed another Earthquake, causing the entire mine to shake violently.
The Diamond Storm, which Diancie had constructed with all her might, instantly fell apart amidst the destructive tremors, and she herself was violently thrown back by the shockwave, crashing heavily against the rock wall.
Her pink diamond crown made a "crack" sound, and a shocking fissure appeared.
Seeing this, Chen Kai couldn't help but shrink his neck, worrying: "This won't cause the town outside to collapse, will it?"
Just as he was contemplating whether to have a proper talk with Diancie again, a rustling sound suddenly came from the mine tunnel.
— A large group of Carbink had returned!
Hundreds of Carbink aggressively surrounded Chen Kai and his Pokemon, with the Carbink in the front row even carrying rock pillars, dismantled from who knows where, like spears.
However, Iron Thorns merely glared sharply, and all the Carbink uniformly retreated three steps.
Diancie slowly got up with the support of a Carbink, taking the opportunity to catch her breath.
The scene instantly fell into a stalemate.
"Ahem, how about this..." Chen Kai was about to suggest that both sides take a step back when he suddenly noticed Diancie's gaze fixed on Xiao Mei.
To be precise, it was the Ampharos mega evolution stone Xiao Mei was carrying.
"You..." Diancie's voice suddenly trembled, "Where did that stone come from?"
Chen Kai was slightly stunned, then remembered that Diancie also has her own mega evolution stone, and the Diancie before him was brutally beaten by Iron Thorns but had not Mega Evolved.
Chen Kai rubbed his chin, pondering: "This is getting interesting."
"Our kingdom's inherited ite is lost!" Diancie suddenly roared, startling Chen Kai into an involuntary jump, "It was during the fourth-generation queen's reign! Did you humans steal it?"
Chen Kai looked speechless and retorted, "Which generation queen are you? And how long ago was the fourth-generation queen's time?"
Diancie blurted out without thinking, "I am the seventh generation, and the fourth-generation queen ruled the kingdom thousands of years ago!"
Chen Kai nearly choked on his own saliva, saying in disbelief, "No way, you're blaming me for something that happened thousands of years ago?
Besides, this isn't Diancie's mega evolution stone at all, okay?"
Diancie, who had just been beaten dizzy, realized the short lifespan of humans after Chen Kai's words, and that something from thousands of years ago indeed couldn't be blamed on the person in front of her.
However, she still acted tough, letting out a cold snort (╯^╰):
"Hmph! That's still your human problem! The fourth-generation queen helped you drive away the big black bird, and when she came back, her gem was gone. It must be your human problem!"
"Bullshit!" Chen Kai was also angered by this statement and roared, "Thousands of years ago, you weren't even born yet! How can you be sure it was humans who did it?"
Diancie's pink diamond crown instantly glowed dazzlingly, and she retorted loudly, "How dare you! It clearly was, it was you humans—"
"Where's the evidence?" Chen Kai stood with his hands on his hips, looking exactly like an old woman arguing in a market, "Did you see it with your own eyes? Who can testify? Or where's the physical evidence?"
"Th-thousands of years ago, where would there be any evidence!"
"Exactly!" Chen Kai spread his hands, "Maybe your former queen was as muddle-headed as you, and she lost the ite herself?"
In an instant, the mine became eerily quiet.
All the Carbink looked at their queen in horror, after all, since their queen ascended the throne a few years ago, she had never been called muddle-headed to her face by any creature like this.
Diancie's skirt billowed without wind, and her diamond body made "crack crack" sounds, clearly indicating she was enraged to the extreme.
But when she caught sight of the menacing Iron Thorns, she forcefully suppressed her anger.
"Ah ah ah ah!!!... You are shameless." Diancie was already furious.
"I'm just speaking the truth." Chen Kai picked at his ear, "In my opinion, you've really been spoiled by these Carbink!"
"Ah ah ah!!!" Diancie roared with anger.
For the next half an hour, the mine transformed into a fierce debate arena.
Diancie was so angry she became incoherent, yelling that all humans were thieves, while Chen Kai brought out a pile of seemingly twisted but somewhat logical arguments to refute Diancie, occasionally and subtly pointing out Diancie's minor flaws.
During this time, Diancie's already injured body seemed about to crack from anger, but seeing Iron Thorns ready to unleash another Earthquake at any moment, she deflated like a punctured balloon, her body sinking slightly.
"...In conclusion," Chen Kai wiped some sweat; it was quite stuffy in the mine, and he was getting a bit tired from talking. Since invisibility was pointless now, he simply took off his mask and sat cross-legged on the ground, still arguing incessantly with Diancie:
"This is clearly a classic case of responsibility shifting. I suggest you retake 'General Principles of Pokemon Civil Law.'"
At this moment, Diancie was parched and exhausted, truly not wanting to argue with Chen Kai any longer.
She weakly waved her hand and said, "Don't you just want that plant? I can give you a few leaves, if you let me see that gem, okay?"
Chen Kai's eyes immediately lit up: "A few leaves? How many exactly?"
"I'll give you two leaves, that should be enough!" Diancie said through gritted teeth.
Chen Kai wiggled his finger: "Five leaves, and if I get the chance, I'll help you inquire about the whereabouts of your lost ite."
"Fine..." Diancie truly had no more energy to haggle with Chen Kai.
Thus, Chen Kai happily walked into Diancie's sleeping quarters.
Fortunately, Iron Thorns had controlled the affected area of its Earthquake move earlier, so the sweet ingredient hadn't been too affected and was still growing well in the rock crevices.
Chen Kai successfully took the five largest leaves of the sweet ingredient. When he came out, he casually took a Garchomp mega evolution stone from an orange gem and handed it to Diancie.
He had obtained several such beads from the Bai family, so showing it to Diancie was no problem at all.
Moreover, Chen Kai wasn't worried about Diancie making any other moves, as she couldn't defeat Iron Thorns, and besides, the Garchomp's ite had no practical use for Chen Kai anyway.