Chapter 490: Can't Fly: Fear

Miss Xijiana ultimately couldn't hold back in the end.

After a full half-hour of being out of contact, she sent a message saying she planned to head to Kanaaz City to find out why the Hoenn Rayquaza was chasing the Mega Stone.

Along the way, she decided to keep an eye on the Mega Stone's future ownership and how it would be used.

In truth, the Mega Stone's whereabouts had been unknown for so many years that, in principle, it had long since had nothing to do with the People of the Meteorite. But the innate sense of justice bestowed by the base anime world, combined with a certain someone's veiled nudging between the lines, led her to choose to "meddle."

And that was exactly what All Baimu wanted to see.

Destroying an evil organization is nowhere near as simple as in the game. Charging into their base solo to take on the executives and boss one-on-one may be a Pokémon tradition, but it also makes it easy for the boss and most of the members to escape and even carry over into the next version.

Ramping up the number of allies as much as possible, then drowning the Lionhead and his band of red-suited weirdos in a sea of do-gooders—that was his vision for perfectly flipping the Flare Team.

For now, it was still just a vision.

"Too bad I don't have a single piece of evidence…"

All Baimu couldn't help but marvel at how airtight the Flare Team's operations were—so airtight that it wasn't until the very end that Champion Dawu realized something was off about the organization, and the International Police were none the wiser from start to finish, never even showing their faces.

The handsome guy had clearly been involved in the game, and had even appeared in the previous generation's Super Wish in the anime, yet not so much as a ghost of him showed up.

One could only say Fladily's genteel veneer was too perfect a disguise.

So much so that when the time finally came to act, plenty of people still couldn't believe he would do something so insane.

There was another key point.

Fladily had a "mole" inside the Kalos League—

one of the Kalos Elite Four, the news anchor Pachiara.

God only knew how much vital intelligence that executive embedded in the Kalos League would feed Fladily. With her around, All Baimu didn't dare tip off the relevant League forces too early either.

Troublesome.

But there was nothing for it.

After all, having experienced it firsthand, turning a blind eye to a known regional disaster would make it seem as though he hadn't learned a damn thing from the organization that liberated Ohure.

It would also be a betrayal of the tireless, wholehearted assistance Champion Dawu and the others had once given him.

All Baimu took stock of his connections and found that those capable of getting involved in something like this were few and far between… Commission Team Aqua and Team Magma?

A former villain organization taking on a current villain organization—sounds pretty cool.

But those two organizations couldn't be persuaded by a sense of justice the way Champion Dawu and Miss Xijiana could. Might as well go find Shannelle instead.

Speaking of which.

In the end, he realized the only people he could rely on were those he'd met back in the Ohure region. Everyone was staying in Iron Town getting on with practical, down-to-earth construction work; travelers like him were few and far between.

Of course.

On one hand, many Iron Town folk couldn't adapt to the outside world; on the other, unlike the outside world, they didn't have that wildly exaggerated passion for Pokémon battles.

Don't be fooled by the seemingly large crowds at the Iron Colosseum back then—most of them were gang members; regular civilians had nothing to do with it.

Traveling is hardly a traditional custom in the Ohure region.

As his Milotic practice session wrapped up.

All Baimu sought out Shannelle.

"Looks like our future Ohure Champion has another directive?" The latter's voice was rather flippant. Ever since All Baimu had dragged him out of bed a few days ago, the guy had been in a perpetually snarky state.

It wasn't that he minded being put out—he just wanted to needle him.

"Well, I've got something I want to consult our future Ohure League President about." All Baimu quietly sucked up, pretending he hadn't heard what the other had said, looking for all the world like a fawning sycophant.

Shannelle was silent for a long moment after hearing it, then sighed: "Little Baimu… your flattery game needs work! Alright! Out with it, what's up!"

"It's about my recent situation…"

All Baimu recounted everything that had happened over the past few days in exhaustive detail.

The other end of the line fell silent once more.

After a long while.

Shannelle said slowly: "It's been barely a week since you made that pact with Lugia, right? I knew I was underestimating you, Baimu."

All Baimu: "The point isn't the shiny Rayquaza!"

"Then what is the point?"

"Fladily's research institute! An evil organization hiding underwater!"

"Do you have evidence? Just because you think that guy who looks like a Pyroar isn't a good person, you're labeling his research institute an evil organization? I looked into his background, you know—a famous philanthropist! Don't be ridiculous, bro!"

"…So you don't believe me?"

"I believe you."

"Huh? Then why did you—"

"I just purely wanted to take a couple of potshots at you. I feel much better now." Shannelle rarely lost his temper, so when he needed to vent, he wouldn't pass up any chance to string All Baimu up and tear into him.

Returning to business, he said seriously: "I just looked through his charity records. At first, his gaze was very sincere and passionate—clearly someone who treated helping others as a calling. But in these past two years' charity photos… heh, you know what that reminded me of?"

All Baimu responded without thinking: "What?"

"Elder Ejin."

Shannelle took a deep breath. "That guy pulled his share of so-called charity too. The look in their eyes is identical… hmph. The outside world thinks very highly of him. Too bad he's just another devil in a nice suit."

"Don't put it so scary, will you?"

"It's just the truth. I'm planning to send people to Kalos to gather relevant evidence—don't worry, absolute professionals." Shannelle's smile came through almost perfectly in his voice. "And they'll all be old acquaintances of yours."

Old acquaintances? Professionals?

All Baimu paused, and the first thing that came to mind was that wine-red-haired man with narrow, Psyduck-like eyes—his former boss Master Liu Ge—and that buzz-cut, green-skinned thug who looked every inch a hoodlum but was actually an International Police undercover agent, Frobo.

If it really was them.

He felt he could probably look forward to it. Those two were absolutely dependable.

——

It was nearly twelve o'clock.

The Shiny Rayquaza still hadn't returned.

All Baimu, who had just finished his lunch, looked at the bucket of glowing food he'd set aside for it, thinking there was no way the Shiny Rayquaza had been beaten unconscious by the Dragon God Rayquaza and was therefore still absent.

Or perhaps it had grown tired of him?

Even more impossible!

Before coming here, it was still savoring the telepathic link with the Heart of God, and when it came time to snatch the Legendary Titan, it specifically chose to protect him first, giving up the fight for the stone.

Or maybe it had simply chased after it to Kanaz City?

…He felt this was somewhat possible — this guy and the Hoenn Rayquaza had fought one after another, then chased toward where the Legendary Titan's energy was fluctuating; once it grabbed the stone, coming back to find him wouldn't be a problem.

To find out whether that was the case, All Baimu called Champion Dawu, got the current intelligence, and asked if he could help search.

His memory of visiting the Mossdeep Space Center earlier told him that the Hoenn region had launched plenty of satellites into outer space, and very few had ever been shot down by the Hoenn Rayquaza.

It seemed that things flying off from the surface, it didn't really bother with.

And with satellites, finding many things became very convenient.

The trouble was, although Champion Dawu had agreed, none of the Devon Corporation's satellites could locate those two Rayquaza — as if they had vanished into thin air.

But both of them knew very well that Rayquaza wouldn't just disappear.

There had to be a problem with the satellites.

"Speaking of which, you've been searching for the Titan's reaction for so long — still haven't found it?" All Baimu was curious: in the show, from the moment the Titan vanished to when it resurfaced off the coast of Kanaz City and drew the two ancient Pokémon, exactly how much time had passed?

He had assumed the Legendary Titan would appear right away, and that Primal Groudon would soon rise to the ocean's surface and begin using magma to forge a new continent, moving with it.

Who would have thought that after all these hours, Primal Groudon still hadn't shown up, let alone Primal Kyogre in the ocean's depths.

"I… I'll come to Kanaz City first."

All Baimu couldn't wait any longer.

He had once thought the Shiny Rayquaza would fight for the Legendary Titan and then come back to find him — that would also better fit the Shiny Rayquaza's combative and unusually active personality.

"Hu Pa!"

He made today's third phone call.

——

Kanaz City.

The rooftop of the Devon Corporation's top floor.

The sweeping view let one easily take in the entire city's appearance at a glance.

"Here again."

All Baimu was deeply moved, recalling that his first Contest Ribbon had been earned right here — back then, both he and Mawile were still very green.

Relying on extraordinary talent plus plenty of effort, and with the guidance of little teacher Miss Liuqi, he had successfully passed the first round of judging, and through an unexpectedly stunning performance had accumulated a certain amount of popularity.

It made him feel a touch nostalgic.

"Thanks for your help, here you go." All Baimu placed his bargaining chip — 【homemade donuts】 — into the solemn Hu Pa's hands.

Hu Pa nodded rapidly, "Mm-mm!"

Then it closed its rings, preparing to sneak off and enjoy them.

Mei Mei Yali had been watching very strictly lately, firmly refusing to let Hu Pa eat too many donuts — private little bribes like All Baimu's were also within her key crackdown zone.

Hu Pa was miserable about it, fearing that sooner or later it would have to rise up and revolt against Mei Mei Yali's tyranny.

And then have Balza, caught between both sides, step in to mediate.

"Hm? Mr. Baimu?"

Manon's voice came from not far behind him.

All Baimu turned his head and was startled to see Alan and Manon walking together, though the helicopter that had delivered them in the show was nowhere to be seen beside them.

What was going on?

"You've come to Kanaz City too?"

Manon and Chespin came over to him cheerfully, while Alan gave a slight bow with one hand in his pocket.

All Baimu returned their nods, thinking that the human side had all completely arrived, so why was there no sign of the ancient Pokémon side?

Where was Primal Groudon?

Where was that giant Primal Groudon?!

He realized that perhaps his and the Shiny Rayquaza's interference had caused some kind of peculiar change in the plot, and that this problem might not be resolved before this afternoon.

The three of them arrived at the floor where Champion Dawu was; the handsome young man with silver-blue hair gazed silently up at the many small windows on the giant screen.

"Dawu-san!"

All Baimu offered a greeting.

Champion Dawu turned his head belatedly and said, "You're here? Unfortunately, so far the Titan's energy wavelength is still very elusive — we don't even know where exactly it is…"

"Besides the wavelength, are there any other anomalies?" He wanted to know whether Primal Groudon had appeared.

The answer disappointed him.

Nothing had happened at all.

"……"

All Baimu somehow felt it was because Primal Groudon sensed the presence of two Rayquaza and didn't dare come out.

The gap in strength between the Hoenn region's third god and the first two was huge — the original plot had already shown this. If Rayquaza didn't show up, fine; but once it did, Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon would instantly reverse the situation into a two-on-one.

On the surface they suppressed Mega Rayquaza for a while, knocking it from the sky, but in the blink of an eye it blasted them apart with a combo of Hyper Beam and Dragon Ascent.

Their Primal forms were completely shattered!

Enough to show that a certain suppressive relationship existed between the two sides.

One Rayquaza was already more than he could handle, so sensing two hiding was perfectly normal.

Hmm…

Then wouldn't that mean we won't get to see the Four Gods' wild dance?

All Baimu felt a trace of inexplicable regret, while Alan beside him seemed to have made up his mind and suddenly said, "Mr. Baimu! If it's possible, please have a Mega Evolution battle with me and my Charizard!"

The moment the words left his mouth, everyone present looked at him.

All Baimu raised an eyebrow and said, "If I remember correctly, your Charizard was injured? When dodging the meteor swarm?"

"It's already fully healed!"

Without special reason, Alan naturally wouldn't send his Charizard onto the field wounded; besides, his Charizard had no other special trait—being exceptionally tough and able to take a beating was the key.

"... Alright then."

All Baimu's gaze met Champion Dawu's; the latter wore an expression of someone settling in to watch a good show. "As long as you stop before it affects our next move, I agree."

Alan nodded heavily. "Of course!"

"A Pokémon battle? Is it starting again?"

Manon got excited.

She certainly didn't want Alan braving wind and rain, repeatedly testing the edge of disaster, but as for Pokémon battles, she didn't排斥 them at all—she actually liked them very much.

At first, her following Alan was absolutely not love at first sight, but rather the same desire to obtain the power of Mega Evolution.

The group arrived at an indoor arena within the Devon Corporation.

Champion Dawu said this place was normally used to test Mega-Evolved Pokémon, so going all out was perfectly fine—absolutely nothing would be damaged.

Hearing this, Alan's spirits predictably soared.

All Baimu, meanwhile, clicked his tongue softly.

This Champion Dawu-san, honestly.

But in reality, the current Alan still had a certain gap in strength compared to the Alan who faced Ash in that League Conference; that guy's strength would mainly surge later on, as Fladri's in-depth training and the crazy increase in Mega Evolution battles he experienced caused it to skyrocket.

Right now he could only be considered an elite trainer who bullied ordinary Mega Evolutions.

He couldn't even beat Wallace.

And if it were All Baimu fighting Wallace instead—

It was hard to say; battles between Pokémon of similar strength had enormous variables, and Wallace, who possessed Mega Evolution, was no run-of-the-mill Champion among the League's many—not so easy to defeat.

"... Since you're so tanky you can take a Golden Water Shuriken, I'll get a bit tankier too."

He took out a Poké Ball, looked at Alan standing ready in the distance, and decided to send out the "disadvantaged" Aggron.

Mawile admittedly had the type advantage and possessed extraordinary strange strength, but battles were like Ultraman—there was a time limit, and once the time ran out, you lost without fighting.

All Baimu had no desire for his Pokémon to lose in a place like this.