Chapter 215: The City of Clouds and the Echoes of the Heart

Castelia City is a busy, large-scale metropolis where every inch of limited land is used to build new facilities. In the center of this massive city lies a large, circular park, and the ends of all streets and alleyways lead here.

In the central plaza, members of Team Plasma, dressed in a hodgepodge of classical knightly attire mixed with modern elements, are handing out promotional flyers everywhere.

Unlike their speeches in Accumula Town in the games, Team Plasma has come to deeply realize the importance of the stage while speaking in a metropolis. In fact, they have always placed great importance on superficial appearances; they only stood by the roadside in rural areas to bridge the gap with the masses.

"Gii-eh!"

Watching those smiling men and women in knight uniforms, a sense of discomfort flows from the single eye of Aegislash.

Aegislash can manipulate human hearts; its powerful spiritual energy is closely linked to the mind. Going a step further, it is not impossible for it to see directly into someone's inner heart, and at this moment, it senses that these humans before it are different from any it has seen before.

Their brains seem... broken.

The aura radiating from them, while seemingly benevolent, contains a kind of extreme and hidden darkness.

Aegislash conveys this situation to Xiang Guangtai and provides its own assessment.

Although they are well-disguised on the surface, the distortion within their hearts already indicates that their minds are not quite right—paranoid and extreme. This can be felt from the very essence of their aura; this is likely the "Aura of an Evil Heart" that Entei once spoke of.

The legend of Ho-Oh in the Johto region says it can sense the aura of happiness. People with the aura of happiness cause Ho-Oh's power to rise, while those with the aura of an evil heart cause Ho-Oh's power to wane.

"Dear friends! I am very happy that you could all come to listen to our speech..."

One side of the central plaza has already gathered many people. Aside from the working salarymen, the slightly more idle Trainers and residents have all gathered around. One can even hear some strange remarks among the residents:

"Oh my, you actually still keep your Pokémon in Poké Balls! That is wrong; hurry up and release your partners!"

Because Team Plasma's speeches have happened more than once, many residents have long since identified with their ideals and are conducting "multi-level marketing" toward passing Trainers. Naturally, those Trainers will not abandon their partners, so under the residents' obsessive proselytizing, it directly evolves into: "What are you saying, you jerk? Want to fight?!"

Ah, as expected of Unova... it's like an extreme animal protection organization; it would be perfect if you added vegans, attack helicopters, and R9 department store shopping bags.

During the conflicts between Trainers and local residents, Team Plasma members naturally come over to "mediate," just like the behavior they exhibited in the special manga. They apologize for their philosophy with great regret, then begin to slightly guide the Trainers. Once the Trainers calm down and stay behind with the thought that listening wouldn't hurt, the Team Plasma members reveal heartfelt smiles.

Hmm, it looks like those residents are more like classic "shills."

A faint spiritual energy radiates from Xiang Guangtai's side; spiritual ability can make people feel ominous, even causing them to subconsciously stay away.

Therefore, those ignorant and fanatical residents do not approach Xiang Guangtai's side. Although Aegislash's massive body and its posture, which has never appeared in Unova, indeed attract a lot of attention, their focus is quickly drawn away.

The person giving the speech on stage is not Ghetsis, and people around are also confused: "Where is Mr. Ghetsis? He used to be the one giving the speeches, and every speech was very deep and touched people's hearts."

"Lord Ghetsis is conducting more important activities to liberate Pokémon, so this speech is the responsibility of Lord Zinzolin of the Seven Sages. Don't worry, Sage Zinzolin is also highly respected in other regions and is deeply loved by the locals. The seven sages have gathered for the same great ideal, and they all have hearts that love Pokémon."

"Sage Zinzolin is dedicated to understanding the relationship between humans and Pokémon; he is an expert in this area, and this speech is also to explain this point."

Team Plasma members explain kindly to passersby, and the old man with a white beard, wearing a deep red robe and a small cap, has already stood in the center of the stage.

"The theme of this speech is 'Liberation and Redemption: The Declaration of Pokémon Freedom'."

The white-bearded old man in the deep red coat begins his lecture to the people below with a kind, compassionate posture:

The stage lights brighten, and the background projects images of Pokémon bound by chains.

"Dear compatriots... have you ever heard a faint sigh coming from a Poké Ball in the quiet of the deep night? That sigh does not stem from pain, but from the Pokémon's thirst for true love..."

"Today we gather here to face a truth that has been whitewashed by lies for a thousand years. Human love for Pokémon is nothing but sugar-coating wrapped around selfish desires."

"Look at the partners beside you... friends, please answer me one question first: do you treat Pokémon as family... or as more convenient tools?"

"When the flames of Fire-type Pokémon are domesticated into campfires for warmth, when the torrents of Water-type Pokémon are reduced to hoses for irrigating farmland, when the children of the sky are imprisoned in narrow spheres..."

"With what kind of expression does your Pokémon accept orders and act? Everyone should recall carefully. Pokémon might be unfortunate in human hands; we call them partners, yet we stuff their wildness, dignity, and freedom into a cage called taming..."

"What exactly is the relationship between humans and Pokémon?"

"As the saying goes, 'A bosom friend afar brings a distant land near.' If there is someone in this world who can understand me, then even if they are at the ends of the earth, it is as if they are right before my eyes. Understanding between humans is already difficult, so what about the Pokémon that live with us day and night?"

"We think we understand the needs of Pokémon, but Pokémon are merely controlled by Poké Balls, forced to obey our orders and cater to our preferences. This interdependent relationship is fragile and wrong. When have we ever truly listened to their hearts and understood their needs?"

"We are the awakened ones, the resonators chosen by fate. This is the reason for the founding of Team Plasma; we want to be the bridge connecting two worlds! To be the messengers of fate who communicate between humans and Pokémon."

"True understanding is letting go and allowing them to soar in the skies, lands, and oceans where they belong... But there are always fools who misinterpret freedom as abandonment; they cannot hear the cries of Pokémon. That is not it! Holding a heart of justice and letting Pokémon return to where they should go—this is true liberation and freedom!"

Zinzolin's speech possesses powerful incitement. The people around listen in a daze. Although there are occasional dismissive responses like "He's really stupid" or "Forget it, some people would think that way," more people's hearts are strongly shaken.

"To this day, many people have understood the true relationship between humans and Pokémon, and have therefore joined our Team Plasma." Sage Zinzolin points to a Team Plasma member. That person stands out with a firm expression, their emotions full of excitement and indignation:

"I used to be an elite Trainer, dreaming of becoming the Champion of the Unova League. For this, I constantly honed the Pokémon on hand, training and fighting with them. I once thought that was our shared dream."

"But later, after hearing Team Plasma's speech, I clearly realized that I had been enslaving my Pokémon all along. I was not true friends with them; they were only enduring those painful trainings to help me realize my dream, yet I ignored this point and forced my fanaticism and dreams onto them!"

"It was I who made them endure so much pain. When I realized this, I was breaking out in a cold sweat all over. What a detestable person I was! I clearly loved Pokémon so much, yet I treated them as tools for me to seize victory!"

"Catching, raising, evolving, trading—everything was just to become stronger. Now, my unrealistic nightmare has shattered. I clearly realize what kind of world I am in. Everyone, put down the Pokémon in your hands and return their freedom to them!"

"Gii-eh..." Aegislash's gaze becomes increasingly solemn, because it feels the hearts around it are becoming alienated, and a large amount of disheartened and gloomy aura begins to dissipate.

And... wait, there is a psychic power dissipating!

A halo of spiritual energy appears in Aegislash's eyes. Within the crowd, the bean-eyes of a Beheeyem are spreading strange psychic power outward.

Beheeyem, whose appearance looks like the classic image of an alien; in fact, they are indeed Pokémon from outer space, and their design looks like a sci-fi product of the atom-punk era.

Bang!

A black shadow slides along people's shadows from the ground, directly turning into the image of a blade under Beheeyem's feet!

Shadow Sneak! This is the knight's way of saying hello!

That Beheeyem is knocked down in one hit. A person in a cloak whose face cannot be seen nearby is startled and wants to find the source of the shadow sword's attack, locking their gaze on the tall Aegislash...

However, there is no evidence.

The cloaked person does not see the traces of Aegislash making a move, but instead makes eye contact with Xiang Guangtai.

The cloaked person is suddenly dazed, hurriedly lowers their head, and instantly disappears from Xiang Guangtai's sight!

"Beheeyem... Teleport!" Aegislash secretly gave that Pokémon a heavy blow; Xiang Guangtai naturally saw it clearly. Although that Beheeyem was hiding deep in the crowd, spiritual energy can detect it.

This kind of Pokémon is said to be able to use mental power to manipulate an opponent's brain and rewrite the memory images in their brain. Ash once suffered from this, but he also found a way to break it—this method of rewriting memories is useless against idiots.

"Ran away. The speed at which Psychic-type Pokémon grease their feet is really fast!"

But in the few minutes of being interrupted by this Beheeyem, the Team Plasma sage on stage has begun to call on everyone to "act with their own bodies," and many people are in tears, while others are dejected and thoughtful, but they have all opened their Poké Balls one after another.

An old man is dejected: "Ah, what should I do? I have lived with dozens of Pokémon in my life, but thinking that I forced it on them..."

The dejected citizen opens the Poké Ball and releases a Ferroseed: "Hey, go on, live a good life from now on."

The elite white-collar worker repeatedly strokes the battle medal on Espeon's collar, then suddenly snaps the lock: "Be good, go bask in the real sun..."

The backpacker uncle sighs: "Twenty years of adventure, turns out I was their shackle." Afterward, he releases a Growlithe and an Unfezant that had accompanied him for a long time on the spot.

And these Pokémon released on the spot are still in a daze, not understanding for a moment what kind of madness their Trainer is having, hurriedly chasing to try to stop their behavior, but these humans are running further away while crying and being moved by themselves.

"Releasing them directly in the city... If you really care about Pokémon, you should at least take them back to their corresponding habitats. How are they supposed to live while wandering in the city?"

Xiang Guangtai frowns, looking at this scene. Team Plasma's speech possesses incitement and bewitchment, and perhaps that Beheeyem just now also played a role in it.

"Not confident in getting along well with Pokémon; what psychic power affects is such a batch of people."

There are more and more people releasing Pokémon around, and some local fanatical residents are also actively urging those people to carry out release activities. However, there are also Trainers who think this speech is simply stupid; they angrily push away those who came to dissuade them and then leave directly.

It's just that this behavior angers some obsessive residents. They chase and shout, demanding that those Trainers abandon their Pokémon, and Team Plasma members only "slightly stop" them in this process. In the end, some people are forced to abandon some Pokémon due to pressure and accusations.

A large number of Pokémon are walking around in panic in the city. They are confused, not knowing where to go, while those Team Plasma members "kindly" surround them, releasing their own kindness, indicating that they will send the Pokémon to where they should go!

The confused and helpless Pokémon do not know how to act, but they feel that these people in knight uniforms are not bad people, so they intend to follow their guidance and enter the space behind the stage...

【Don't go! These humans are deceiving you! Great malice is hidden within their aura!】

Aegislash's mental call rings in the heart of every Pokémon, forcing them to stop their steps. Those Pokémon turn their heads in confusion, and for a moment, the eyes of all Pokémon fall squarely on the massive Aegislash!

Incredible—such a thought appears in the hearts of all Pokémon simultaneously.

Even though Aegislash is also a strange Pokémon, they feel a natural closeness, as if this strange sword-shaped Pokémon was born to be their leader.

It is the... King of Pokémon!

And this strange Pokémon also re-attracts Team Plasma's attention... Because the "effect" of spiritual energy is actively removed by Aegislash, the people who were previously confused realize again that this Pokémon is "too conspicuous"!

"Psychic power, spiritual energy—they are both very useful powers when concealing oneself."

Xiang Guangtai, who is with Aegislash, is naturally also noticed.

"Look, what is that Pokémon?!"

"That person is its Trainer! You... you should also release your Pokémon!"

"Don't use Pokémon anymore; returning their freedom is what you should do."

Those residents chasing passing Trainers are all attracted by Aegislash, abandoning those passing Trainers. At this moment, Xiang Guangtai and Aegislash suddenly become the target of public criticism.

"He is carrying Poké Balls!"

"Sure enough, he is also a person who uses Poké Balls to control Pokémon!"

"Let's just grab them! For the freedom of Pokémon!"

"Did you hear? That is the laughter of Pokémon freedom..."

What is truly echoing in the twilight is only the hollow sound of hundreds of empty Poké Balls rolling in the wind.

Watching some people wanting to use force to rob the Poké Balls, Xiang Guangtai cannot help but sigh again that it is indeed the Unova region.

Doesn't robbery violate the law? If so, Team Rocket would be considered a legal organization here.

Xiang Guangtai raises his palm toward the few people who are aggressively trying to approach, his five fingers spread. In just an instant, a massive mental power slams directly into their consciousness!

Crack... snap!

Another use of mental amplification: "Purification"!

Hmm, this move feels quite similar to a certain Pharaoh's "Mind Shock"! Coupled with the spiritual energy impact, it directly affects the souls of these ordinary people!

Really, in the Pokémon world, a worldview where psychics run rampant, you still dare to engage in robbery? Even if a three-meter-tall homeless man is in front of you, you can't rob him; after all, how do you know if he is King AZ?

"Wuaah!"

The world spins for those residents, and they fall to the ground like dumplings. This large-scale "lying corpse" event makes the Team Plasma people around nervous, and Sage Zinzolin, who was watching the changes on the podium and preparing to come down to brush up on favorability and brainwash people after the "conflict ended," also frowns.

Ah... this won't do!

Although the speech session is over, the release activity session is not over yet. Why did someone suddenly run out to get in the way?

Speaking of which, the Trainers who were squeezed by the residents around are also full of anger and resentment. It seems today's release activity ends here...

Zinzolin doesn't have many business opportunities and is not very skilled yet. Just as he plans to end this speech activity in his mind, the Team Plasma members take action first!

Hey! Why did you take action first? Shouldn't you listen to my, the Sage's, orders?!

Zinzolin frowns, but thinking that if he can solve this troublesome person in front of him, maybe he can make Team Plasma's persuasiveness better. Anyway, "street battles" are not included in the public security management clauses. Which city in this world isn't like this?

"Go, Liepard!"

The leading female knight of Team Plasma is aggressive. Under her call, several Team Plasma members release Pokémon to fight simultaneously. It is clearly a small leader-level figure.

Covered in purple fur with yellow triangular hollow patterns on its back, the leopard-cat-like Pokémon lands lightly. A hint of ferocity is hidden in its crescent-like eyes; this is the hunting nature of felines. Just as its Pokédex description says, although people are easily deceived by its beautiful fur and posture, it is actually a fickle and ferocious Pokémon.

"Assurance!"

The female knight directly launches an attack. A sharp purple light shines on Liepard's front claws, and it rushes toward Aegislash at an extremely fast speed, and then—

Sacred Sword!

Super effective against Dark-type Pokémon!

Aegislash swings a Sacred Sword, slashing this Liepard away at a faster speed. The gale stirred up by the sword energy directly blows away several hostile Pokémon nearby, and that Liepard hits the female knight hard, making her let out a scream. She and the cat fall out several meters, turning into swirl-eyes.

The Pokémon and the Trainer lose their ability to fight simultaneously!

"Miss Angie!"

"One, one hit?"

The expressions of the Team Plasma members around change instantly, from nervous to fearful! Regardless, Aegislash's body, which exceeds ordinary Pokémon, like a door-sized giant sword, brings great pressure to others!

Pressure Aegislash?

"No, don't be afraid! This guy is an enemy who prevents Pokémon freedom!"

"That's right, fellow companions, concentrate our power; we are fighting for a righteous cause!"

"For the happiness of Pokémon, we must not lose!"

Team Plasma members say empty words. Of course, there is indeed a group of people who truly believe they are serving a righteous cause. This group will likely become "fundamentalist White Team Plasma" in the future.

But now, whether black or white, they are mixed together, indistinguishable from each other, hypocrisy and sincerity intertwined, striving toward that unrealistic, absurd dream.

"Go, Scolipede!"

"Gurdurr!"

"Oh, Foongus! Paralyze it!"

King's Shield. Xiang Guangtai orders in his heart.

Although these Pokémon wouldn't hurt the current Aegislash even if they attacked.

The tough King's Shield is raised. The attacks of the three Pokémon not only have no effect at all, but their own abilities are also lowered!

Fury Cutter!

Aegislash turns its body horizontally. The huge sword body has extraordinary flexibility. The three Pokémon haven't seen what happened in front of them yet, but the impact of the blade attack has already penetrated their bodies, directly hitting them back onto the Team Plasma members!

"It's really pitiful... these defeated Pokémon, the pain they have suffered! Open your eyes and look! How much pain will Pokémon battles and Pokémon Trainers cause them! I don't want to see Pokémon become like this anymore!"

The elite Trainer who was invited to the stage by the Sage to give a speech earlier shows a compassionate expression, while glaring fiercely at Xiang Guangtai!

"Pokémon battles are an item that must be banned!"

Xiang Guangtai ponders, preparing to launch a mental shock at this person to let him wake up properly.

However, Xiang Guangtai still feels that the behavior of Team Plasma is too disconnected from what they say.

"... Saying not to let Pokémon fight, but aren't you the ones who released Pokémon to attack others at the first moment? What's wrong? Not confident in your own philosophy, need to repeat and act first to convince yourself?"

"Once someone has a different idea from yours, you will try your best to exclude them?"

"The fangs are exposed too quickly; at least pretend for a while."

"That's not it!" The elite Trainer is extremely annoyed: "Team Plasma's Pokémon are 'partners.' They voluntarily joined our Poké Balls to liberate more Pokémon, so this is different from coercion! Abandoning cruel training and slavery, the power I and my partners have now is the greatest 'love' and 'understanding'!"

"Let me show you the power of me and my new partners!"

This elite Trainer throws out six Poké Balls at once, and Xiang Guangtai vaguely feels that these words are somewhat familiar.

Oh, right, isn't this the "Rocket Gacha Machine" within Team Rocket, where you can rent Pokémon?

It's just that Team Plasma's cleverness lies in putting a "moral coat" on the process of seizing Pokémon. I have to say this is very useful; most people fall for this.

If joining Team Rocket is purely for money, then joining Team Plasma is for spiritual pursuit. For some people who think they are strong, it is indeed easier to identify with Team Plasma's goals.

The Poké Balls on both sides of Xiang Guangtai's backpack open automatically, and Lilligant and Grotle land on the ground.

Three against six.

The advantage is with me.

"Let me see the bond... I wanted to say that."

Xiang Guangtai stares at those Pokémon, and those Pokémon were full of fighting spirit at first, but when they see Xiang Guangtai, these Pokémon become confused.

The person in front of them gives them a different feeling; it is a feeling that cannot be described in detail.

And those three Pokémon are the same.

Aegislash's mental call echoes in their hearts:

【Don't be deceived by those people; they are just doing things against your hearts under the guise of idealism!】

In the surrounding crowd, a green-haired man with a lowered hat brim quietly watches Aegislash with hollow eyes.

(End of chapter)