Chapter 276: Sacred Sword—Majestic Calyrex!

Banette, its entire body covered in a plated green shell, with spikes of varying sizes protruding from its head, neck, and rear shoulders, and a ring of smaller spikes at the tail’s end, resembled a legendary giant monster!

Banette’s large size indeed exudes an aura of oppression; though its whole body is vulnerable, its excellent endurance and traits have kept it active in battles for a long time!

This monster-like Banette was blasting destruction rays everywhere; although this Pokémon doesn’t exist in the Unova region, there is a mechanical Banette movie in the Pokémon Hollywood of Castelia City.

Wait, isn’t this just Mechanical Godzilla?

Later generations did indeed introduce two Mechanical Godzilla Pokémon: Alomomola and Iron Thorns.

Banette was merely the vanguard; behind it came more Pokémon from Sinnoh, Hoenn, and Johto, leaving Shirley utterly stunned.

“These Pokémon clearly aren’t from the same region.”

“Who knows?” The nearby male ranger rubbed his forehead: “Clearly, this experiment went way too far.”

Guang Tai, who had just arrived behind them, said nothing.

This might have something to do with the Rotoms’ dancing, Guang Tai thought, staring blankly at the three Rotoms on his forehead—they were still performing their twitching, comical dance. Fortunately, Jieyi’s gentle Rotom had already been recalled, so unless all four are gathered, the combo move won’t activate, right?

The rangers were busy capturing the runaway Pokémon, but Guang Tai noticed many of them didn’t have Capture Markers.

“Capture Markers? Those aren’t things ordinary rangers get.”

“We’re rangers under the Unova League. Though we answer to the Ranger Union, we’re merely ‘forest wardens.’ The Union’s Chief Ranger can summon us, but we don’t normally take missions from the Almia region.”

Shirley explained: this was the difference between Pokémon Rangers (Trainer-type) and Pokémon Rangers (professional role).

“Suppress Banette, Togekiss! Use Dragon Breath!”

Shirley’s partner was Togekiss—though it looked like a bird, it was actually a Dragon-type Pokémon!

But Banette was Rock-type; upon seeing Togekiss, sharp rocks immediately surrounded it!

Stone Edge!

Rock-type has a strong advantage against Flying-types. Togekiss unleashed Dragon Breath, but it was shattered by Banette’s Stone Edge. Togekiss quickly ascended to evade Banette’s attack, but Banette immediately turned its gaze toward Shirley, who was directing the battle.

What the hell? Can’t hit it when it’s flying, but there’s still a Trainer here!

“Whoa, attacking the Trainer directly—this guy was just caught, right?”

Only wild Pokémon think to attack Trainers. Pokémon that have spent long time with their Trainers rarely target them directly, even when enraged.

A barrage of rocks shot toward Shirley and Guang Tai. As a ranger, Shirley reacted swiftly, yanking Guang Tai aside. Above, Togekiss unleashed Dragon Breath again—this time striking Banette’s back. The giant Pokémon grew visibly annoyed but didn’t shift its target.

Keep targeting the Trainer!

“Hmm, stubborn Banette,” Guang Tai analyzed.

This Pokémon fixates on a goal and pursues it relentlessly, rarely changing targets. Stubbornness boosts physical attack damage.

My Skirt Lady has a stubborn nature too.

“Togekiss, use Dragon Dance! Then Dragon Breath!”

Constant Dragon Breath was meant to paralyze Banette, but Banette grinned, and directly used Protect against the incoming Dragon Breath!

After Protect came Stone Edge!

Togekiss took the Stone Edge hit and was badly injured. Old Ban, having dealt with the traitorous Dragon-type, turned again toward the Trainer and rangers!

A massive golden shield appeared, blocking the next Stone Edge. Behind Guang Tai, a Poké Ball had automatically opened—Gallade’s huge form emerged, its single eye rotating forward to lock eyes with Banette.

“Huh?”

The instant Banette saw Gallade, it felt a crushing suppression—as if the giant sword were the natural ruler of all Pokémon. This stirred Banette’s rebellious spirit, and its battle lust surged!

Pokémon are warlike creatures. Though it had begun attacking randomly out of annoyance, now it had a clear target!

But Gallade had no intention of giving Old Ban much room to shine. Its blade glowed, and a spectral-colored, yet actually Fighting-type, Sacred Sword coalesced.

Come to think of it, I’ve just thought of something useful, Gallade mused.

Iron Tail is powerful, but each use drains HP. I have to carry a Quick Root and suck it down while using it. Is there a weaker version that doesn’t drain HP?

Yes—Cannon Blast!

But Cannon Blast doesn’t meet Gallade’s standards. If I could apply the technique of Iron Tail to the Sacred Sword, could I unleash an ultra-powerful Steel-type Sword Slash?

Wait—isn’t this just Gigavolt Havoc!

Gallade had always wanted to learn this technique, but was told it was exclusive to Cangxiang —unusable until becoming the Hero Sword or King. But now I’m a King blessed by Arceus—could I practice it a little?

Gallade began channeling—intense Steel-type radiance enveloped it!

Guang Tai: “Hmm, isn’t that a Sacred Sword? What are you—wait! Majestic Calyrex!”

Gallade transformed its blade into a massive Steel-type sword, rapidly charging twice in place, then slashed violently toward Banette!

Sacred Sword—Majestic Calyrex!

Banette was stunned, trying to use Protect to block it. The giant sword slammed down onto the Protect shield, then Steel-type radiance erupted violently—the Protect shield began cracking!

Protect won’t hold!

When the levels differ greatly, even the so-called invincible Protect can fail!

“Gaaah!”

Banette was terrified—the pale green Protect barrier burst with a pop, and it took a direct hit from the devastating Steel Sacred Sword!

Piercing! This Sacred Sword carried both Steel and Fighting types!

Among Pokémon moves, only one move had ever been recognized as having dual types: Anger Shell’s signature move, “Sky Drop”—a dive from the air that dealt both Fighting and Flying-type damage!

“Guh—”

Gallade checked its HP.

Perfect! As long as I concentrate the Steel power of Iron Tail into the Sacred Sword and compress it further, I won’t lose HP. For me, as long as my steel doesn’t get fired out, I’m fine!

Learned a new move—I’m a genius!

Gallade’s ribbon arms twisted into a “thumbs up” gesture!

Banette—taken care of!

Old Ban lay on the ground, eyes swirling into spirals. Guang Tai thought: if this truly dealt both Fighting and Steel damage, then against Rock+Dark Banette, isn’t that a 6x weakness?

Now it’s got ten thousand lives and can’t recover—Rock-types everywhere will scream, “Oh my god, that scared me to death!”

“Now comes the calming part—leave it to me.”

Shirley stared in shock as Guang Tai pulled out the Complete Branch from the Illusion Forest.

The Illusion Branch enhances one’s Psychic and Sunlight powers. Though its proper use is… magic.

Sunlight gathered in his palm. Guang Tai traced an arc in the air with the curved Illusion Branch—his motion resembled a Capture Marker’s circle, but it was merely a spontaneous gesture.

To bestow sunlight, actively gather light, purify dark things, soothe the hearts of life, and dispel hostility.

Brilliant sunlight gathered from the dawn sky—like magic—rained down as radiant dew upon the restless Pokémon!

Instantly, all Pokémon that had escaped from the teleportation factory stopped fighting and running. They tilted their heads, feeling the sunlight, their anxiety and fear gradually calming.

The surrounding rangers reached out in astonishment, gazing upward as the sudden light rain fell. Sunlight touched their palms—even through gloves, it seeped into their bodies, warming their hearts and easing their fatigue.

This was the power of the Sun King—binding humans and Pokémon together, soothing the hearts of all life!

At the same moment, the Blue Crystal also glowed brightly—cold, yet gentle.

“This—what kind of light is this…?”

Shirley unconsciously reached out to catch the light rain, gazing at Guang Tai with utter disbelief.

The world always holds strange people. So this traveler… is one of them!

“Now, it’s time for music.”

Guang Tai hung his ukulele against his chest, lifted it, and began to play.

Bloop-bloop~

As the strange melody sounded, Pokémon perked up their ears.

The music from the Pokémon performance captured their hearts. Knowledge gained from musical theater infused the music with irresistible charm. The vocals rose, bright and joyful. The Rotoms on Guang Tai’s head grew ecstatic, twitching and sparking electricity, looking like musical angels.

Though these angels always seemed a bit ridiculous.

Guided and soothed by the ukulele’s sound, Pokémon gathered from all directions—even the unconscious Banette, after being fed a Vitality Shard by Gallade, slowly woke up. The music seeped into its heart, calming even the notoriously irritable Banette.

Hmm… suddenly lost the urge to fight. So comfortable.

Banette tried scratching its face with its hands, but found them too short. It strained to lower its neck, looking like a child admitting fault.

“Unbelievable… the Pokémon have connected with him. Without Capture Markers, he did all this!”

“This guy is more of a Ranger than we are—like the Chief Ranger of Almia!”

Guang Tai played a cheerful tune. Pokémon from every region swayed and listened. When the music reached its peak and then faded into quiet, the Pokémon leapt joyfully—clapping, hopping, flapping wings, or singing loudly, expressing their delight in their own ways!

“Alright, everyone—back inside the factory! I’ll send you home.”

At Guang Tai’s request, the Pokémon lingered, savoring the strange music. Their hearts were filled with joy and happiness, free of any negative emotion or fear. They now accepted everything calmly, and the surroundings no longer seemed strange or terrifying.

“They just… went back like that? You’re incredible!” Shirley exclaimed, looking at Guang Tai with new admiration. The surrounding rangers gathered curiously—even though they’d seen psychics before, none had ever communicated so naturally with Pokémon!

“Come to think of it, I heard something similar happened in the Virell Forest… wait, that person wasn’t you, was it?”

One ranger suddenly remembered something, his expression changed, then brightened. He whispered to others, who murmured among themselves.

Guang Tai walked into the teleportation factory, escorting the Pokémon to the broken machines, where Dr. Andrew Parker struggled to rise from the wreckage.

“Ah! The Pokémon are back! That’s wonderful!”

Inside the factory, Dr. Parker’s glasses were shattered. He sat dazed on the floor. The Pokémon teleported in had burst from their special blue Poké Balls and immediately used moves to blast his face.

The experiment failed again. Powerful Pokémon filled the factory inside and out. Everything was fine during teleportation—why did the results differ so drastically?

The first one out was Banette… What the hell? I didn’t teleport this giant!

Banette spotted Dr. Parker and shoved its massive face close, blowing a gust of breath at him. Dr. Parker jumped back in fright.

“Sorry, sorry! Your arrival was an accident! I promise it won’t happen again!”

Hmph! Banette was furious—it had been sleeping peacefully in its ball, and no one even notified it before being teleported!

Who are you?!

"Thank you so much! Oh my, are you a Ranger? You don’t look like one, but all the Pokémon are obeying your commands!"

Dr. Park wobbled as he walked, swaying so badly it seemed he might collapse at any moment, which made Guang Tai reflect that not everyone had the durability of Professor Oak—Professor Oak had even survived being squeezed by the Toilet King in the short film; no wonder he was the Superman of Pallet Town.

Among the other professors, only Professor Kukui could even be compared to Professor Oak.

Dr. Park clearly didn’t have Spider-Man’s physique; if anything, he was extremely fragile. He checked the surrounding equipment and found it all damaged.

"The devices are broken! Hey, this anomaly came out of nowhere!"

"Cough—let me take a look; I have some knowledge of machinery." Guang Tai suspected the machine’s damage was connected to him, since all those Rotoms were Pokémon he had caught, and their random jumping must have triggered some anomaly.

"Hmm, are you a mechanic?" Dr. Park pushed his broken glasses up with effort: "If you want to help, I’m incredibly grateful! Anyway, the other broken machines don’t matter—only this one does! Just fix this one!"

Dr. Park pointed to a machine in the center, upon which rested a strange bow and a blue Poké Ball.

The blue Poké Ball—a special variant unique to the Transmission Factory—can capture and teleport Pokémon across space and time. In the game, this Poké Ball was placed on a special instrument bow; all one needed to do was play a mini-game of archery to capture and teleport a Pokémon.

"No problem, I’ll take a look—the software side..."

"I’ll reset the software; the main damage is hardware-related."

【Quest Connected: Assist in Repairing the Century Transmission Machine.】

【Description: A unique transmission machine developed by the Transmission Factory, seemingly capable of temporarily transcending space and time. If this research is completed, Pokémon can be delivered across vast distances of time and space, and even instantly teleported via the Pokédex or Poké Gear!】

【Reward: Release Stone ×5, Unknown Stat Boost ×?, Unova Link ×1!】

【Note: The Connect Tree senses an anomaly in the local time. Your special pendant, the Miracle Diamond, appears to have reacted! The Miracle Diamond is absorbing nearby temporal anomaly energy—Connect Tree and the Miracle Diamond are now linked!】

【Knowledge Granted: The Cry of Time—Effect: ?】

【Note: The Connect Tree heard... an unbelievable roar?】

【Craftable Special Item: Operation Pocket Watch—Temporarily extend battle time by harnessing temporal anomaly energy, increasing the number of actions in your next battle by 5! Requires the Miracle Diamond to be activated to use.】

【Craftable Special Item: Blue Poké Ball—A specially crafted Poké Ball for transcendent-space capture of Pokémon, highly stable and usable in environments with space-time fluctuations. Throwing it at certain entities may produce unexpected effects.】

(End of Chapter)