Pokémon: Reborn as Lucario

Chapter 125: After the Great Battle

Not only had the strange Articuno disappeared, but even the main culprit, the Poacher General Captain, had also slipped away at some unknown point.

He didn't even care about his subordinates who were lying all over the place, injured by friendly fire.

Without Articuno, the dark clouds that had been continuously dropping hailstones also dispersed, once again revealing a clear sky.

However, Verdant Leaf City, at this moment, was not looking particularly good.

There were collapsed buildings everywhere, cracked ground, and a floor of broken branches and fallen leaves.

Rio, due to the disappearance of the Dynamax energy, also slowly returned to his original size.

"It seems giving you that stone was the right choice."

Steven also walked over and said with a smile.

"Mr. Steven, did you know from the beginning that this stone could help Rio Dy-Dy... Dynamax?"

The girl whispered the last half of the sentence to Rio.

"Dynamax."

"Oh, right. So this phenomenon of becoming super huge is called Dynamax, is it?"

Facing Míng Rìzhào's question, Steven nodded, then shook his head.

"No, I actually don't know what this Dynamax phenomenon really is."

Steven finally rested his gaze on Rio.

"I only saw such a mural inside a certain ruin."

Taking out his phone, Steven tapped it a few times and showed a photo to Míng Rìzhào and Rio:

In the photo was a mural carved with a pattern. The mural depicted a bipedal humanoid creature standing, its hands raised high. Behind this creature's head seemed to be several long, strip-like objects. And around the creature, some patterns could be vaguely identified as houses and other buildings, but their size, compared to this creature, seemed exceptionally small. And in the creature's hands, a large circle was drawn, and inside the circle was an irregular object with four protrusions.

"The stone I gave you was picked up in this very cave. Although I have consulted many books and studied it privately for a long time, I still haven't discovered what this stone really is. But on that day, this Pokémon of yours inexplicably resonated with this stone, so I decided to give this stone to you to see if any special phenomenon would occur. As a result, you've all seen it."

Steven added an explanation as to why he had gifted this stone to Míng Rìzhào that day.

Míng Rìzhào picked up this strange stone and found that the traces on the stone where red light had once seemed to flow were now dull and without luster.

"Here, Rio, you hold on to this stone first."

Míng Rìzhào handed the strange stone to Rio.

Rio recalled the vague memories in his mind and only then faintly remembered information related to Dynamaxing—this stone was a "Wishing Star," an important energy source for Pokémon Dynamaxing. It's just that in his previous life, it required a Professor from the games to make the "Wishing Star" into a Dynamax Band for a trainer to wear, in order to Dynamax a Pokémon in battle. But this time, for some reason, he could Dynamax with just the "Wishing Star."

"Could it be that the Dynamax Band is just a tool to bind the 'Wishing Star'? Is Dynamaxing actually realized because of the effect of the 'Wishing Star'?"

But no matter what, Rio, having successfully defeated Registeel, also breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he didn't defeat it head-on by himself, at the very least, he had truly faced a legendary-level Pokémon with his own strength. After all, after Dynamaxing, he was still using his own power, unlike before when he needed to borrow that unknown Aura power to fight Mewtwo.

"Although the Steel God Pillar, Registeel, isn't particularly strong among legendary Pokémon, still, I did defeat a 'god'!"

Rio thought of his dream of standing shoulder to shoulder with the world's top legendary Pokémon and felt that he had already taken a solid step.

However, looking at Verdant Leaf City, which had transformed from a city lush with green vegetation into a ruin filled with the smoke of gunpowder, Rio couldn't bring himself to smile.

…

On the outskirts of Verdant Leaf City, on a small path.

A disheveled figure ran, stumbling.

"Damn champion, damn Pokémon, damn..."

It was the Poacher General Captain, who had taken the opportunity to escape when the situation turned bad. He was fleeing in a sorry state, a trace of ruthlessness still remaining in his eyes.

In this battle, he was a complete loser. Not only had he failed to grasp the power of the legendary Pokémon he had just obtained, but even his own subordinates, whom he had painstakingly cultivated, were caught in the crossfire of the two giant Pokémon's battle—don't misunderstand, he wasn't mourning the loss of his subordinates' lives, but lamenting the effort and resources spent to win over and cultivate these underlings.

However, when the General Captain looked at the two Dark Poké Balls he still held firmly in his hand, he finally felt a little better.

He stared intently at the Poké Ball covered in frost.

"Even without the power of the Steel God Pillar, I still have this, the power of Articuno, one of the three legendary sacred birds."

Although this black Poké Ball was given to him by a member of that mysterious organization back then, with the style of the poacher gang, how could there be any reason to return something that had fallen into their hands?

As for being afraid that the organization would come looking for him to settle scores afterward?

The world is vast; how easy is it to search for one person? What's more, as a member of the dark underworld, the General Captain knew many of the methods for searching for people in the dark world. With his experience, coupled with the fact that the mysterious organization definitely couldn't carry out a search operation with great fanfare, the possibility of them catching him was extremely slim.

And.

The General Captain couldn't help but reveal a triumphant smile.

"I still have this. With Articuno's cooperation, plus the magical Pokémon-capturing effect of this Poké Ball, when the time comes, as long as I forcibly capture those powerful Pokémon, even those lofty divine beasts, when I alone possess the power of two divine beasts, what can that organization do to me?"

Yes, besides the Dark Poké Ball that had captured Dark Articuno, the Dark Poké Ball that had originally captured the Steel God Pillar, Registeel, was also in the General Captain's hands.

After Rio and Mega Metagross defeated Registeel, the Poké Ball that had captured It, after emitting a puff of black mist, had released Registeel from its captured state, reverting to an empty Poké Ball. That meant the General Captain could use this Dark Poké Ball again to capture a new Pokémon.

"Moreover, this Poké Ball seems to be able to make a Pokémon gigantic? Although I don't know the principle, this is definitely a powerful force."

"I don't believe there will be another Pokémon that can grow large like that one..."

The thought of being defeated by that unknown Pokémon made the General Captain grit his teeth.

In a state of myriad thoughts and self-satisfaction, he had already traveled quite a distance from Verdant Leaf City.

At this moment, the General Captain finally let out a sigh of relief.

However.

"You've taken someone else's things. Shouldn't you return them?"

A faint voice sounded from behind him.

The General Captain's body stiffened. He immediately lunged forward, then quickly turned around to look at the source of the voice.

In the shadow of the trees by the road, a tall and straight man walked out.

His face carried an inexplicable majesty. In his left hand, he was rolling two spherical objects as if they were walnuts.

"Who are you?"

The General Captain asked in a gloomy tone.

The man did not speak, but pointed at the two Dark Poké Balls in the General Captain's hand with his right index finger.

The General Captain knew immediately that the man before him must be a member of that mysterious organization.

"Are you from that organization?"

Facing the General Captain's question, the man still did not speak.

The General Captain sighed and shrugged.

"Alright, your things should indeed be returned to you." He held the two Dark Poké Balls, slowly walked forward, and then extended his hand as if to hand them over. "...As if!"

"Come out, Articuno! Mightyena! Shiftry! Exploud!"

The extended hand quickly retracted, and then instantly threw out four Poké Balls, including the Dark Poké Ball.

"Pop," "Pop," "Pop," "Pop."

The black-furred Mightyena, the Shiftry that looked like it was wearing a white straw raincoat, the Exploud with air holes all over its body—three Pokémon bared their teeth and claws, guarding the General Captain. And behind him, the ice-blue sacred bird, covered in black spots, hovered in mid-air with a pair of blood-red eyes.

"Once it's in my hands, it's my property."

A ferocious grin spread across the General Captain's face.

Facing the three ferocious Pokémon, as well as the strange but still majestic Articuno, the man seemed not to see them at all. Instead, his eyes were scanning the General Captain, until he saw that empty Dark Poké Ball, only then did a slight fluctuation appear in his eyes.

"Fool."

The man suddenly spat out such a word.

"…"

The General Captain also closed his mouth. He decided to make this insolent man pay the price.

"However, at least you did one useful thing." The man's left hand, which had been rolling the two spherical objects, stopped. "So, I will be merciful and let you know why you are a fool."

The two spherical objects instantly grew larger; they were, surprisingly, also two black Poké Balls.

"Moltres, Zapdos."

He simply recited the names of the two Pokémon.

"Whoosh—" Two figures shot out of the Poké Balls at extreme speed. Instantly, unbearable scorching flames and explosive, roaring thunder filled this deserted path.

"How could you still possess these two divine beasts..."

Looking at the two sacred birds, covered in black spots just like Articuno, the General Captain's eyes were full of disbelief.

The man gently wagged his finger.

"You're wrong..." Black mist emanated from the man's body, and his eyes instantly shone with a black light. "Not two, but three!"

"Caw!"

Articuno, which had been quietly hovering behind the General Captain, suddenly, with a whoosh, flew directly in front of the man, staring covetously at the General Captain along with the other two sacred birds.

"Come back, Articuno!"

The General Captain was extremely horrified in his heart. He quickly raised the Dark Poké Ball, seemingly trying to recall Articuno.

Unfortunately, things went against his wishes. Articuno, true to its name, had a bone-chilling coldness in its red eyes, staring at the General Captain without moving. And the Dark Poké Ball that had originally captured It, amidst the General Captain's shouts, did not shoot out a beam of light to recall Articuno like a normal Poké Ball.

The man said no more. He turned around and waved his hand gently.

"Caw—" The three sacred birds swarmed forward.

…

On this deserted path in Verdant Leaf City, apart from a Taillow hiding in a nearby tree, too scared to show itself, no other human or Pokémon saw this cruel scene.

Step, step, step. The man calmly strode past the corpses of the several Pokémon lying on the ground and came before the person who was slumped on the ground, continuously backing away.

"You see, if you had returned my things to me earlier, you wouldn't have had to suffer like this."

The man bent down and picked up the two Dark Poké Balls that had been abandoned by the General Captain.

"Fortunately, although I didn't recapture It, the remaining energy fluctuations are still sufficient. It wasn't a waste for me to drag this out for so long."

"The three major elements of fire, lightning, and frost; the master of the sky, the master of the land, the master of the ocean currents; ocean, land, time, space, life, death... this... is the world."

"Soon, the time is almost here..."

The man muttered in a low voice. As if thinking of something, he couldn't help but smile.

"Who... on earth... are you?"

Different from his previous question, this time the General Captain was genuinely terrified of the man before him and the mysterious organization behind him.

"Rebel against the light, serve the darkness."

The man looked at the General Captain, revealing an inexplicable expression.

"Seeing as you sacrificed yourself as bait, I'll let you feel..."

Under the General Captain's utterly terrified gaze, the black mist on the man's hand instantly expanded. He could only watch helplessly as an index finger gently tapped on his forehead.

"...what true dark power is."

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