Chapter 187: Ch.187 “You’re Awake—The Surgery Was a Success”
"You're awake! The surgery went great—you're a girl now."
The unluckiest of the bunch, Raikou, with a measly 800-word spotlight, came to and heard this first thing. Its first sight? A matching pro team.
A lofty Serperior, gazing down with smug disdain.
A Pignite huffing Raikou's (electricity) like a total creep.
A Swablu with explosive wings, twirling a mini mic, voice of a devil.
A nightmare god cloaked in darkness, only abyss-deep eyes showing—Darkrai.
A psychic queen with eyes flashing eerie brilliance—Gardevoir.
And the human Trainer leading this squad, hands twitching like a mad scientist fresh off a taboo mod—Akira, the outlaw doc.
Pro team, full-on Team Skull vibes.
In that moment, Raikou flashed back to the terror of the Burned Tower collapsing and the shame of burning alive.
Amid wild thoughts, two familiar cries hit its ears.
"Roar~"
"Woo~"
Old pals, old buddies—Entei and Suicune.
A glance over—yep, tied up tight like Raikou, sprawled sideways on the ground. Misery welled up.
Us Sacred Beasts, busting our tails guarding the Sacred Mountain, reduced to this.
Luckily, cool-headed Suicune, with the lowest body temp, spotted the flaw:
"Woo woo woo? (We're genderless—how'd we turn into girls?)"
"Boring. You caught on too quick."
Akira's vibe deflated, hand dropping as the oppressive aura he'd built fizzled out.
"Same spiel—I've got no beef with you. I just want to know what's up here. You're the ones who picked a fight. Can we talk now?"
In Pokémon, tons of Legendaries are "face-first, talk-later" types—takes a beatdown or two to chill them out.
Akira's templates? Red, Green, Ash, Lance, Sabrina—name one who hasn't thrashed a Legendary (Ash aside, all manga versions).
Even Professor Oak—no direct fight scenes, but think about it: all those Pokédex Legendary entries. You think that data came without scraps?
Celebrate it—Akira, stacking protagonist templates, is the true "Beastmaster."
No Poké Balls, sure, but he's got a Hypnosis Squad.
Mic play, darkness drop, eye flash—all primed to move at a moment's notice.
The Sacred Beasts lined up like this? Hypnosis Squad's handiwork.
To crack this mystery, Akira didn't mind a "seven captures, seven releases" game with the trio—er, make that "seven ins, seven outs."
Via Sabrina's psychic link, he beamed his intent. The Beasts traded looks.
"Roar~ (What now?)"
"Woo~ (How about we agree? He's stronger, doesn't seem bad.)"
"Grr~ (Not bad? Look what he did to us!)"
"Woo~ (Just surface wounds and sleep moves—he held back.)"
"Roar~ (Give me time for Flame of Life—I'll heal quick.)"
"Grr~ (Then I'm cool.)"
"Roar~ (Me too.)"
"Woo~ (Who's talking?)"
"Roar~ (You're the smart one, most popular—duh, you.)"
"Grr~ (I… second that.)"
"…"
After their little chat, Suicune stretched its neck, inching forward.
But before it could negotiate, Serperior flashed her fangs, spooking Suicune back into retreat. Looks like, post-"net trap," Suicune picked up a new trauma—snake smooch.
Gotta say, Serperior and Suicune tangled up—two sleek beauties—made quite the visual.
It took a while for Suicune to recover, finally reaching out with Ho-Oh-gifted Psychic-type Extrasensory to link with Akira.
"Free me. I'll take you somewhere—everything you want to know is there."
"Deal." Akira nodded.
Mental chats like this were hard to fake, and he trusted Suicune's vibe.
He glanced at Serperior. She hissed menacingly before "grudgingly" retracting her vines, hands waving.
Side note: post-evolution, Serperior ditched her legs but kept her arms—leafy flaps around the seven-inch mark, like a collar or peeled banana skin.
Looks only—no peeling, OCD folks take note.
Suicune shook its limbs, standing tall. A gust from the mountain peak ruffled its cloud-like mane, restoring that elusive, love-hate grace Poké-fans adored.
It howled skyward twice, spun halfway, and nudged Akira with its snout.
"You want me to ride you?"
With Suicune's nod, Akira vaulted onto its back—spot-on landing.
True Beastmaster Achievement: Ride a Legendary—unlocked!
Gotta admit, the ride was smooth—way comfier than Darkrai's or Pangoro's backs. Gotta snag a proper mount someday. Wonder if Dratini fattens up nice to ride?
Back in Tokyo, basking in autumn sun, Dratini shivered out of nowhere, sneezing.
Someone's plotting against this dragon.
"Wani~ Wani~" Milotic and Feebas, ever the simps, swam over.
Dratini flicked its tail to shoo them, then froze. Its sleek body rose from the water, eyes sharpening.
Something's off—unclean vibes.
Like that trash it torched with Dragon Rage once.
"Mini! (Hide—don't come out!)"
Tossing that at Feebas, Dratini let out a low dragon growl.
Humans barely hear it, but Pokémon like Growlithe or Vulpix? They'd catch it.
Heads up, something's closing in.
…
Meanwhile, Akira hesitated, then signaled Gardevoir and Darkrai to free the other two Beasts.
Suicune's expression softened at the gesture. Without waiting for its pals to recover, it leapt, carrying Akira up the ravine in bounds.
His Pokémon trailed, Entei and Raikou lagging—half rear-guard, half subtle watchdogs.
No harm intended, but caution's a must.
Akira and the Beasts synced on that, keeping a comfy distance.
With each of Suicune's leaps, Akira returned to the familiar pool—the Bear Priestesses' Wishing Pool, where he first met the Unown.
"Woo woo…" Another skyward cry.
Under Suicune's water power, the pool rippled wildly. Then, the whole thing shot skyward, unveiling a secret in the abyss below.
An underwater cave.