Chapter 758: Harvesting the Steel Pillar

The three-meter-tall giant Lei Lei Jiqi stood motionless.

Its hand slowly lifted, then lowered again, like a patient recovering from years of paralysis.

"Dududu—"

A strange sound emerged from within it; if one strained to listen closely, faint syllables of "leji" could be discerned.

Baimu stood atop the height, barely level with the hexagonal red dot matrix that seemed to be its face.

"Hello."

He held up his phone, preparing to establish preliminary contact with the Steel Pillar via Polygarde II.

Lei Lei Jiqi did not "look" at him, but turned its facial dot matrix toward the Bonsly beside it, the red light flashing counterclockwise.

"Dudududu!"

"What is it muttering about?"

Baimu looked down at his phone; the Polygarde II on screen looked utterly confused.

"I… I didn't understand…"

"Guhhh…"

Bonsly also failed to comprehend; it glanced nervously at its trainer and cautiously growled again.

So Lei Lei Jiqi flashed its facial dots once more, emitting the "dududu" sound of a decaying robot.

"Still didn't understand."

Polygarde II was utterly baffled—it had never before encountered another Pokémon whose speech it couldn't grasp.

Bonsly had given up entirely.

It simply could not cope with a Pokémon without eyes; it felt less like facing a living being and more like confronting a streetlamp.

Was there emotion embedded in the dududu sounds?

He understood not a single word.

"This is going to be a problem for daily communication," Baimu murmured, slightly troubled.

Could such a thing even exist in this world?

He had only known that Ultra Beast language was incompatible with Pokémon language from the anime—but now even the Pillars couldn't communicate with ordinary Pokémon?

In the Diamond and Pearl anime, the Priestess of Snowpoint Temple clearly understood the words of Regi-King Regigigas…

Fine.

She was a temple priestess—different.

"Dududu—"

Lei Lei Jiqi continued its humming, its dot matrix flashing wildly.

Baimu's head throbbed; suddenly, he understood why ancient civilizations feared the Three Pillars.

Inability to communicate was likely the primary reason for their fear.

It was time for the next act!

Heart of the Gods!

Baimu slowly descended from Gao Po, wary that Lei Lei Jiqi—having been struck earlier—might launch a surprise attack.

"Swooo…"

Absol circled Lei Lei Jiqi twice with casual ease, then turned its gaze toward the pitch-black tunnel leading into the ancient tomb.

It had been born on Route 120 and had never suspected anything like this lay beneath the ground.

Suddenly.

Lei Lei Jiqi raised its hand and reached for Bonsly; both Baimu and Absol were startled—Baimu froze in place, Absol darted away.

"Dudududu—"

"Guhhh."

Bonsly looked distressed; though Lei Lei Jiqi showed no aggressive posture, the sudden approach of a creature emitting strange sounds left it uncertain how to react.

Fortunately, Lei Lei Jiqi did nothing—it retracted its hand without even touching the giant Pokémon.

Then it stood still.

Only the flashing red dots and occasional "dududu" sounds proved it was still conscious.

No wonder it was designed after a golem.

In non-combat state, it was indistinguishable from a pillar.

Pillar… Pillar…

Baimu waved his hands twice; seeing no response, he took a deep breath, adjusted his perception, and placed his palm against its abdomen.

Come on.

Let me hear your voice!

He closed his eyes; golden light spilled from his palm and flowed into Lei Lei Jiqi, causing its body to shudder violently—Bonsly instinctively stepped forward to protect its trainer.

But Lei Lei Jiqi made no further movement.

The golden mental space.

Baimu "saw" Lei Lei Jiqi's luminous mental form, and quietly exhaled in relief.

He had once theorized that the Pillars were ancient machines speaking a programming language invented by Regi-King.

Hence, his Pokémon couldn't understand them.

Now that he could see its mental form, he realized that even if it was a machine, it was a machine with self-awareness.

Let me see what you're thinking.

Baimu silently sensed fragments of Lei Lei Jiqi's memories—and was stunned by the flood of fleeting images that surged past him.

Lava, torrential rain, drought, flooding…

Scenes as if the world were ending flashed by, one of which showed many strangely dressed humans kneeling and prostrating themselves in prayer, bowing again and again.

Immediately after.

It was "him" and Lei Ji and Lei Jiaisi soaring into the sky, suddenly growing into giants over ten meters tall, unleashing power as if in colossal expansion.

Driving all cataclysmic natural disasters away.

"Doo-doo-doo—"

A louder, deeper mechanical voice rang out, unlike the earlier faint, mosquito-like cry—within the memory fragment, Lei Jiqilu clearly shouted out its own name.

"Le! Ji! Si! Qi! Lu!"

With each syllable it uttered, its power surged upward, as if these were its source of strength.

Under its protection, those strangely dressed humans gained peaceful lives.

Yet.

In the previous memory fragment, it lived harmoniously with humans; in the next, it stood inside a pitch-black cavern, while outside, a group of humans slowly closed a stone gate.

The expressions on their faces were extremely complex—like reluctance, yet also final, resolute farewell.

Boom—

The stone gate sealed shut completely, plunging it into eternal darkness.

"Woo!"

Baimu's consciousness suddenly returned from the Divine Heart state, without even having time to further communicate with Lei Jiqilu.

But one thing was certain—

Lei Jiqilu loved humans; in those memory fragments, it granted their every request without hesitation, using its power freely to protect them.

Even after being sealed away, it felt no resentment or disappointment.

The legendary giant.

The eternal Pokémon.

What an apt title.

Baimu looked up at Lei Jiqilu, which stood mere inches away, but did not lower its head—only its facial dot-matrix red lights flickered.

"Use Metal Claw on the ground!"

He tried giving the order.

Instantly.

Lei Jiqilu's facial dot-matrix blazed bright; its pitch-black arm extended violently, and under a silver glow, its three fingers became like three spears, slamming deep into the muddy earth.

Baimu's eyes lit up:

"So fast a response! So you understand what I'm saying?"

He had assumed Lei Jiqilu's earlier lack of reaction was because ancient language differed from today's, and Lei Jiqilu couldn't understand him.

After a heart-to-heart connection, it should be able to understand now?

Though he still couldn't understand Lei Jiqilu's "language."

"Step back one pace."

He glanced behind Lei Jiqilu.

Lei Jiqilu obediently stepped back, crushing a stone underfoot with ease—there came a crisp "Snap!"

Good words…

Any newly acquired Pokémon would never respond to his commands so quickly.

Truly excellent.

Thus, even if he didn't often use the Divine Heart, he wouldn't have to worry about how to get through the awkward initial period with it.

The memory of Du Long Ba Luoto, who had once refused to submit even unto death, was vivid—high-level Pokémon mostly had big tempers; surely legendary Pokémon, having lived so long, had even greater tempers.

To meet one without a temper…

Truly a stroke of luck.

Baimu felt he needed to retract his earlier claim that he had little interest in Lei Jiqilu.

What a fascinating legendary Pokémon!

He opened his Pokédex and viewed Lei Jiqilu's data.

【Pokémon: Lei Jiqilu】

【Type: Steel】

【Gender: None】

【Height: 333cm / 402kg】

【Ability: Pure Body】

【Level: 75】

【Moves: Arm Thrust / Iron Head / Electromagnetic Cannon / Lock-On / Explosion / Iron Defense】

【Ancient Power / Stomp / Metal Claw / Charge Beam / Heavy Slam / Curse】

【Amnesia / Cannon Shot / Strength / Hyper Beam / Awakening Power】

"Seventy-five level."

Not as high as he'd imagined, but seventy-five was certainly not low—wild Pokémon rarely grew beyond level sixty.

To go higher, one needed the lifespan to survive that long.

Baimu had suspected the Social Dinosaur was an elder precisely because of its level—he hadn't felt anything unusual before, thinking seventy level was normal.

But after expanding his knowledge, seventy level suddenly seemed abnormal.

Its weight remains as much of a punchline as ever.

A metal creature over three meters tall weighs less than half a ton? That's about right for an iron giant.

Moves…

Nothing to say—its physical attack is worse than Beedrill's, and its special attack is worse than Butterfree's.

It's doomed to never be viable on a brute-force path.

But in the memory fragments, Registeel's performance was quite impressive—specifically in special attack, excelling in both destruction and protection.

Its physical attack is truly terrible; Regirock is far stronger, and Regice is about even.

Maybe we can hope for its special attack?

Baimu turned to Bastiodon and said: "What do you think about sending it to guard Mount Platinum? Even though it's highly unlikely any foolish poachers or vicious Pokémon will ever come up here."

Remember in the movie "The Legend of the Guardian," the World Tree was guarded by the three Steel, Rock, and Ice Legendary Pillars.

This proves Registeel can become an excellent guardian pillar.

Once he captures Regieleki and Regidrago in the future, he can complete the trio of Legendary Pillars and assign them to guard Mount Platinum.

That scene would be absolutely beautiful.

Crucially, Registeel doesn't seem to like a nomadic lifestyle—its most common action in the memory fragments was gazing down from above at human city-states.

"Grrrr…"

Bastiodon gave no reply; it feared that if it agreed, the Trainer would start dumping all kinds of things onto the mountain.

There's already too much on Mount Platinum!

After confirming through a series of basic commands that Registeel wouldn't go berserk, Baimu decisively climbed onto its head.

"Mmm! Satisfied!"

He looked down and recalled the scene from the Special Episodes where Champion Dawu and the Four Guardians operated the three Legendary Pillars to contain the residual shockwaves of Groudon and Kyogre's clash.

He then went further, imagining the scene of Champion Dawu collapsing and dying after the battle.

—Sorry, Champion Dawu.

Baimu silently apologized in his heart.

Though it was hard to sit steadily, prone to sliding forward or backward, the overall feeling was decent.

He ordered Registeel to move to a flatter terrain; once it took its first step, he noticed another feature of riding a Steel Legendary Pillar—

Butt-shaking.

With no shock absorption design, each step Registeel took sent a jolt from its feet straight up to Baimu's crown.

How the hell do you ride this?

Baimu felt that riding Steelix was infinitely better than this thing, and silently slid off from behind.

On level ground.

He released his Pokémon and said: "Everyone, meet our new member—a Steel Legendary Pillar who can't speak at all and has nearly zero interaction ability!"

"Dududu—"

Registeel hummed as if protesting, or perhaps just making a casual noise.

Anyway.

Dragonite, Psyduck, and the rest of the Pokémon all realized they now had a strange new companion.

Just as the Trainer said: it couldn't speak, and its interaction ability was essentially zero.

Even Happiny, the most skilled at sensing emotions, couldn't tell what Registeel was thinking—this was unprecedented, leaving it utterly baffled.

Fortunately, Baimu stepped in to distract it.

Otherwise, Happiny probably wouldn't sleep tonight.

In the evening.

Rain fell again on Route 120.

Poliwhirl used its Secret Power to create a large enough cave for everyone to shelter from the rain and prepare dinner.

Absol naturally received an invitation and became one of today's guests.

Besides it, several wild Pokémon had been brought back by the Dragonite.

While others feared rain, these two didn't care—they ran out joyfully, like two hyperactive puppy Huskies, radiating an inexplicable stupidity from their very core.

"You can't eat anything at all," Baimu said, staring helplessly at the massive statue-like Registeel before him, its iron ingot untouched.

"Dududu."

The classic call was its reply.

Pokémon without mouths typically absorb necessary substances through their skin; Steel-type Pokémon can slowly absorb various metallic materials.

Registeel absorbs nothing.

Even when Bastiodon willingly shared its favorite alloy, and Steelix specially dug up raw iron ore mixed with sand and iron filings for it.

An internal perpetual motion engine?

Solar power?

Baimu truly wanted to grab Registeel's cauliflower-like head ornament and ask it—how the hell are you even made?

Fortunately, the other Pokémon were enjoying their meals.

But for Absol, the only downside was that Happiny kept coming over to ask if it had enough to eat, or if it wanted another bowl.

Happiny was enthusiastic, but Absol found it terrifying—its injured hind leg and rear end trembled uncontrollably, terrified it would be pinned down again.

This fearful attitude slightly hurt Happiny.

It had never been rejected so consistently before.

Baimu, watching it all, quickly signaled Psyduck and Shiny Milotic to lend a hand.

Comforted in turn by the friends' group and the trainers, Happiny's mood finally recovered.

What truly put it at ease, though, were the wild Pokémon brought by the Dodon siblings.

Compared to Registeel, whose words it couldn't understand, and Absol, who feared it—

those poor souls who had been abducted were startled at first by the giant Steelix and the Hydreigon, but with familiar Absol present, they gradually lowered their guard.

At mealtime they ate the most of anyone, which made Happiny especially gratified.

Night.

All Baimu rested his head on Absol's soft belly, and was in turn used as a pillow by the jealous Hydreigon, drifting off to sleep amid the many layers of piled-up Pokémon.

Once the other Pokémon fell asleep, Registeel too seemed to enter a dormant state, no longer continuously going "doo-doo," and the dot-matrix on its face dimmed.

Still, no one—human or Pokémon—could understand what it was saying, but everyone had gradually begun to get used to this strange new companion.

Especially the Galarian Sun Coral, who deeply envied Registeel's freedom from being bothered by anyone or any Pokémon, and bitterly regretted why it had never learned to pretend it couldn't understand speech.

Without a doubt.

It had already forgotten how its mouth had been pried open back then by glowing dishes.

Registeel can get by without eating, but can it?

If it could, back then it wouldn't have haggled with All Baimu to "clock in" for a few hours every day.

——

The next morning, early.

The moment All Baimu woke up, the first thing he did was turn his head to look at Registeel.

Seeing it standing like a statue deep in the cave, he set his mind at ease—relying solely on the Heart of God for communication was too one-dimensional.

He hoped that one day he could understand what its "doo-doo-doo" actually meant.

Perhaps he could go find the Pyramid King Brandon of the Battle Pyramid to seek advice? That man was a great senior who had even caught the three legendary titans.

Speaking of which, more than two years had now passed since Ash's Sinnoh journey—Brandon should have finished repairing the Snowpoint Temple by now, right?