Chapter 1258: The Terastal Turtle

"The source of Terastallization..."

Yaci's face showed no emotion whatsoever.

She said to Bailiya, "You mean the Terapagos exist as a species?"

"I can't be certain, but I believe the possibility is extremely high!"

Bailiya spoke fluently, "Perhaps millions or even hundreds of millions of years ago, Terapagos were active across the world at that time.

"They moved through the depths underground, and under some influence ultimately chose to settle in Paldea. For instance, tectonic activity — our planet once had a period of extremely frequent tectonic activity."

She believed the entire Area Zero was a nest forged by the Terapagos, solely to survive that difficult period.

As for why only the Terapagos before them remained...

This still requires further research.

Yaci listened seriously to Bailiya's exposition, her gaze fixed on the rhombus-shaped crystalline Terapagos on the table.

Based on current discoveries, it seems to have become a "unique specimen."

After Paldea developed Terastal energy, the crystals seen everywhere in Area Zero would become important mining targets.

If one wants to possess Terastallization for the long term, a stable source is very important.

Yaci rested her hands under her nose, pondered for a long while, then said, "Are there no more passages in the Great Crater of Paldea?"

"We proceeded along the existing tunnels and indeed found no additional passages."

Bailiya continued her explanation.

Yaci remarked with feeling, "It seems we must continue exploring. You've all worked hard! Please rest well tonight! Once we leave Area Zero tomorrow, I'll personally host a welcome banquet for you!"

The meeting concluded here.

Yaci had been watching the Terapagos the whole time, yet never mentioned its ownership.

Clearly she tacitly accepted Baimu's intention to take it away.

This wasn't because Yaci was particularly magnanimous; it was purely the Pokemon world's simple ideological concepts —

Wild Pokemon belong to no one and no organization.

Trainers catching Pokemon through battle and Poke Balls — these two methods — are the current public order and morals of society as a whole.

Unless Yaci had transmigrated from another world or also held the role of a final boss, she could not possibly object to Baimu taking the Terapagos.

Therefore, ownership was determined from the very start.

There was naturally some regret — if only Baimu were a Paldean, or if Nemo brought the Terapagos back, how good would that be?

Yaci didn't mean to blame Nemo; she simply envied Orea for being able to have Baimu.

But how could she have imagined that at this moment the Terapagos actually hadn't been caught yet; it was just that Bailiya and the others' report hadn't been detailed enough to that extent.

Of course, even if she knew, she might not necessarily dwell on it.

Yaci and Loze are different in the end; it's hard for them to do something contrary to common sense for Paldea centuries later.

After dinner.

Those who should rest went to rest, those doing research researched slowly, those working...

Hm?

"Yaci arranged work for you?"

Baimu saw Mudan's busy fingers and the many lines of code on the screen, and wondered if Yaci had no humanity.

One Qiao Mu as a League corporate slave is enough!

Mudan shook her head and said, "No, I'm constructing a 3D view of the Great Crater of Paldea."

She adjusted a window, and suddenly a funnel-shaped map model could be seen.

The Rotom Phone flew out and said, "My provided data!"

You're quite proud!

Baimu glared at it, "Mudan, some things aren't urgent; rest when you should rest."

"I know." Mudan revealed a faint smile.

This thing's function is undoubtedly to guide the next exploration; today's operation went too smoothly, to the point of being considered easily reproducible.

— As long as you can beat the Terastallized Pokemon, it's indeed not difficult.

After all, there were no other dangers inside anyway.

Inside the dormitory.

Paipa had already lain down, snoring loudly while her sleeping posture was quite bold.

Baimu fiddled with the Terapagos for a while, noticed vague shadows flashing past the bottom of the door crack from time to time, and helplessly got up to open the door.

"Gwo!?"

Gouging Fire was startled into jumping back; seeing it was Baimu, it immediately ran up again, lowered its body playfully, and stuck out its tongue expectantly.

It still couldn't understand its own mistake, but hoped to turn the page through play.

My lord is magnanimous, spare it this once!

Baimu looked at this box-art legendary that resembled a big dog with considerable admiration.

"... You win."

He found it very hard to generate negative emotions toward an enthusiastic Pokemon, especially since the other party hadn't done anything seriously wrong.

Gouging Fire got to eat the sandwich it had been longing for.

"I'm leaving tomorrow, so tonight eat your fill." Baimu gently stroked its big head.

"Gu?"

Gouging Fire's cheeks bulged as it looked up at him blankly.

Clearly it didn't understand what he was saying again.

Baimu clapped lightly twice. "Eat up."

That sentence he understood.

Guleton happily chomped away in big mouthfuls, following close on Baimu's heels until they reached the outside of the observation station.

The hazy glow of the crystals illuminated the vast natural cavern; in the quiet deep night, an occasional strange humming sound drifted through.

The Primordial Great Lizard and the Cyber Great Lizard ate their fill.

Why is there one more?

Naturally, because Milleton was unwilling to let Guleton enjoy it alone.

It could tolerate any Pokemon, but simply could not tolerate its nemesis Guleton.

While feeding the lizards, Baimu habitually took Turobagos out to examine it, but the crystal, which had shown no reaction before, now inexplicably flashed bright.

Hum—!

It left Baimu's palm, visibly growing larger and sprouting four limbs.

"Bah~ Ga~"

Cursing right upon meeting — absolutely shameless!

The little turtle landed nimbly, tilted its head up to look at Guleton and Milleton at extremely close range, and moved toward them quite lively.

"A ga si!"

Milleton retreated slowly.

It had seen what a Trainer looks like when alert; although it could not discern where Turobagos was dangerous, out of trust in Baimu, it prepared to keep its distance.

Compared to it, Guleton could be called recklessly bold.

This Primordial Great Lizard neither dodged nor evaded, but advanced straight ahead and pressed it down with one paw.

"Bah~ Ga~! Bah~ Ga~!"

Turobagos shrieked continuously, struggling with all its might.

Guleton looked down contemptuously, chewing its sandwich while letting out a low growl, "Gu o~"

Just a little brat!

Who said you could come near!

On the whole street of Sublevel Zero, ask around who's the boss!

"Food guarding..."

Baimu quietly withdrew, his movement nearly in sync with Milleton's, with absolutely no intention of rescuing Guleton.

His mouth, however, did shout a line: "Don't fight! Let it go!"

"A gu si!"

Guleton naturally paid it no heed.

The Primordial Great Lizard has a rebellious bone at the back of its head — the more you forbid it from doing something, the more it wants to do it; don't be fooled by its slightly clingy appearance just now, the moment the sandwich entered its mouth, it instantly knew no heaven or earth.

Good words cannot persuade a damned ghost!

Baimu frowned and retreated behind Milleton.

Although judging from the previous crossing's situation, no matter how far apart they were, it could not block Turobagos's ability, but what if?

Furthermore, if the little turtle wanted to beat Guleton, staying farther away would also avoid blood splashing on him.

Sure enough.

Ruthlessly pinned down, never able to break free, Turobagos got angry.

"Bah— Ga—"

It let out a loud cry, its whole body erupting with even brighter light!

In an instant, the entire cavern was bright as day; Guleton seemed to have taken a flashbang at point-blank range, howling as it loosened its claws and retreated.

Baimu put on his sunglasses in time, and saw the jade-like rings on Turobagos's neck and feet turn into wildly growing hair, the crystals on its back expanding in resonance until they covered its slender neck and four limbs.

In no time, a great turtle appeared, its back bearing the radiant colors of eighteen types, its four limbs clad in shining iridescent hair!

It's the second form!

"Gu o—"

Guleton cried out, its vision rapidly recovering as the intense light faded, and it saw Turobagos suspended in midair.

A trace of wariness surfaced in its eyes.

The opponent's appearance was certainly not terribly fiendish, but this phenomenon combined with the high-energy fluctuations inexplicably alarmed it.

The changes outside stirred a commotion inside the observation station.

Bailaiya ran out wearing a white lab coat, caught sight of Turobagos's new form, and without hesitation pulled out her phone to film it, comparing it against the Book of Zhu.

"As expected! This is what Turobagos should look like!"

From the bottom of her heart, she did not believe that previous cute thing was the complete form; she thought the round ball recorded in the Book of Zhu might be Turobagos's true complete form.

This one before us should be the intermediate stage!

"Baimu! What happened?"

She asked loudly.

Baimu replied: "Guleton was just bullying Turobagos."

Bailaiya waited a while, and seeing no further words forthcoming, felt quite surprised.

And then?

You just watched?

Even the Champion can be pretty unreliable sometimes!

Guleton discovered it was being watched; its pride couldn't quite take it, and the Ancient Species' wild nature suddenly surged.

"Guwo!"

It let out a loud cry and lunged forward fiercely!

And as Guleton moved, Terapagos also began to move.

"Take this! La!"

The Crystal Giant Turtle cried out sharply, and the hexagonal crystals protruding from its back surged forth, sending pillars of light soaring into the sky.

Hum!

Amidst the deafening hum, countless light bullets flew toward Guleton in rapid succession!

Guleton: "!!!"

Boom boom boom boom—

The light bullets carried out a saturation strike on the area where Guleton was, a continuous series of explosions reverberating within the secluded cave, shockwaves trembling continuously, causing the surroundings to distort as if the earth were shaking and mountains swaying.

Choking smoke spread out, covering the bodies of the two Pokémon.

"What powerful strength!"

Bailiya exclaimed in amazement.

Baimu gazed at the shining area within the smoke and dust, agreeing with Bailiya's words.

Judging solely from the residual energy shock and affected range, the power was indeed not small, covering nearly hundreds of meters with quite high density.

A few seconds later, the gunpowder smoke slowly dissipated.

Guleton, still shaken, stood on a patch of intact ground, surrounded by large and small craters as if bombarded by meteorites.

"Take this! La!"

Terapagos cried out loudly again, the crystals on its back continuing to flash, and this also ignited Guleton's ferocity.

You're the one who made the first move—

"Guwo!!"

It abruptly shifted into a battle stance, the Ability named 【Crimson Pulse】 triggering, a brilliant great sun gathering within the cave.

However, before Terapagos could unleash a second attack, its figure suddenly swayed, and immediately after, as if drained of strength, it fell from mid-air, canceling its current form.

"Miraidon!"

Baimu spoke immediately.

Clang!

Electric light flashed, and Miraidon completed its form change in an instant, appearing before Terapagos, blocking Guleton's attack.

Baimu, a step slower, picked up the weakened Terapagos.

"Gao!"

Miraidon signaled sternly for Guleton to stop.

The enraged Primordial Giant Lizard naturally refused to let it rest; Miraidon promptly dragged it away, distancing it from the Fourth Observation Station.

The who-knows-how-many-th battle kicked off its curtain in due course.

Bailiya stepped forward nervously to ask, "How is Terapagos? Is it injured?"

"Should be exhaustion."

Baimu carefully observed Terapagos, its face full of fatigue and limbs limp, confirming it was just tired.

"Ba~ Ga~"

Terapagos struggled to lift its head, cried out once, then released light again, transforming back into a palm-sized crystal.

Bailiya made a judgment, "Even weaker than expected... is it because of the Tera Orb?"

Baimu: "What?"

"I studied your Tera Orb a bit."

She handed back the Tera Orb she had borrowed earlier, "According to my detection, for a short time, you shouldn't need to recharge it."

"How long is a short time?"

"If nothing unexpected happens, even if you use it once a day, it can last thirty to forty years."

"... Okay then."

Baimu figured out why Terapagos could only fire one shot.

Wait.

This isn't right either.

As the source of Terastallization, it can't handle charging just a few Tera Orbs?

Could it be I can't count on it to provide a steady stream of Tera energy for the school...

Forget it, I'll just keep it as a freeloading mascot.

Platinum Silver Mountain has many similar mascots; Baimu basically doesn't expect them to do anything useful, just stay put and live peacefully.

Nemo and the others came over shortly after, learning that Terapagos had exchanged a move with Guleton, feeling extremely regretful.

"I really want to see it with my own eyes!"

"I have a recorded video, let me satisfy your curiosity."

Duobian sent the footage just taken to the group chat; after watching, everyone found Terapagos even more wondrous.

Mudan said, "This is the second form, could it have a third form?"

"It's possible!"

Nemo agreed.

Pippa had a sudden idea, "I feel like after it Terastallizes, it might have a new form. Look at Baimu's Eekeek—after it Terastallized, isn't it different from a normal Terastallization?"

"Actually, it's more likely a Stellar Tera Type." Danyu added.

Bai Leiya smiled in agreement, "Danyu's right, I just studied the Star Crystal and made a significant discovery!"

【Star Crystal】, unlike Terastallization which changes a Pokemon's type, it seemingly doesn't affect a Pokemon's type.

But its main effect is — providing a boost to attacking moves of every type.

In the games a Pokemon can carry at most four moves, so the Star Crystal is somewhat redundant.

The anime doesn't have this setting, but...

Baimu was pondering the pros and cons of the Star Crystal when Bai Leiya added, "However, the move power boost seems to have a usage limit."

Hm?

"It seems each type can only provide one boost."

Redundant system, appraisal complete.

Baimu completely gave up on the Star Crystal, unless after Stellar Terastallization the move power increase can exceed Z-Moves and Max Moves.

Otherwise this special system really has no value to him.

Even if his Pokemon universally possess all eighteen types, proficient in everything and capable of everything.

"The specifics still need in-depth research."

Bai Leiya said fanatically, "Ah! The Zero's Secret Treasure is truly too miraculous!"