Chapter 757: You Activate Slowly?

The showers were gradually stopping.

Absol shook the water droplets from its body; its pure-white fur showed no trace of being wet.

"Souu!"

It had been sheltering from the rain in a certain tree hollow, and the moment it heard movement over here, it came running at once.

The result was that at a single glance it spotted a heavyweight presence—

A giant Onix.

Absol had never seen a normally-sized Onix, but it could recognize whose Pokémon this was.

"Seeing you this healthy puts my mind at ease."

Baimu smiled and cast a glance at its hind leg, which had already recovered.

Absol's paw-licking motion suddenly stiffened — the Chansey that had forcibly healed it and forbidden it from moving about freely was, to this day, still its psychological shadow.

Is Chansey here?

It craned its neck and cautiously scanned Baimu's surroundings; after confirming that fellow wasn't present, it quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Souu~"

Absol leapt down from the high ground and affectionately rubbed against him back and forth.

Such an enthusiastic attitude genuinely delighted Baimu; he couldn't help reaching out to stroke the fur along its back and neck, and on a whim scratched under its chin as well.

The fellow instantly turned into something like a large feline, contentedly starting up a purr and actively nuzzling its head against his palm.

"So cute."

Baimu murmured softly, and the thought of running off with it rose of its own accord.

This wasn't the first time he had thought so.

But Absol, compared to going out with him into the facing world to make its way, preferred to serve as the mountain deity averting misfortune on Route 120, and the fellow couldn't set its mind at ease about the wild Pokémon living nearby.

Recalling the scene of it risking its life to save a Spinarak during the landslide, Baimu had no choice but to feel regret along with everything else.

"I'll play with you again in a bit — I still have something urgent to handle." He patted Absol's head, casually pulled out a Pokéblock, and popped it into its mouth.

The big cat's attention was successfully diverted.

Rumble!

The muffled sound of trembling continued to ring out; Onix withdrew its conical tail, which had stopped spinning like a drill bit, and large quantities of mud and gravel peeled off like an avalanche, slowly exposing the door of the ancient tomb.

"Roar!"

Onix lowered its head.

Baimu forcefully patted its mud-covered metallic body and laughed: "Good work, top-tier excavator of the new era!"

The thing Onix was best at was digging holes and scraping earth — even more so than battling. Calling it a 'chosen Pokémon for masonry work' couldn't have been more fitting.

"Rest well."

He recalled Onix into its Poké Ball, turned on the chest camera, and contacted Professor Suigao by phone: "Professor! I found it!"

Professor Suigao, who had suddenly received the message, was very surprised; he quickly connected to the camera and looked at the door of the ancient tomb.

He praised: "Amazing, Baimu! Of the three of you, you're the fastest!"

"Really? Then I'd better hold tight to first place — just wait for my good news."

Baimu replied with a smile.

Professor Suigao then said: "Stay safe, and may martial fortune be with you."

"Copy that."

He put away his phone and released Aggron ahead of time.

The door of the ancient tomb was inscribed with ancient Braille that had been untranslatable the previous time; now that he had the alphabet, Baimu very easily understood its meaning.

'Our will.'

'O inheritor.'

'Shine with brilliance.'

If he wasn't mistaken, "shine with brilliance" referred to the move 【Flash】; in the game, after the seal was lifted, there was indeed one final step that required the player's input.

Namely, using a certain move via the Braille.

Porygon2 took the stage.

Baimu and Aggron silently closed their eyes; beside them, Absol curiously opened its eyes wide.

In an instant.

Fwoosh!

The sudden intense flash nearly blinded its eyes; Absol panicked and shook its head, and only after several seconds did its vision return to normal.

It squinted and saw the stone wall — which by its reckoning was very strange — slowly retreating to the right, accompanied by continuous rumbling.

The door of the ancient tomb opened completely.

"Fall back!"

Baimu called Porygon2 and Absol over, pulled out the Keystone, and quickly retreated behind Aggron, giving it and Registeel enough room to fight.

However, even after Aggron finished Mega Evolving and they waited on the spot for quite a while, Registeel still didn't come out from inside.

A cave within a cave?

He frowned; if possible, he wanted to avoid fighting inside the cavern — after all, if Aggron went all out, the rock layer overhead would easily collapse.

"Send a clone in to scout the way."

Baimu didn't rush to a conclusion — what if Registeel had just been sealed for too long and hadn't woken up yet?

"Pory!"

Porygon2 responded; a data stream composed of countless 0s and 1s flew out from its body, forming a brand-new Porygon2 clone on the ground.

It used its eyes as headlights and charged straight into the interior of the ancient tomb.

Who would have thought that not long after the substitute went in, the ground outside suddenly trembled, and the dull thud of something heavy hitting the ground came from within the ancient tomb.

Immediately after.

The Porygon-II substitute burst out as if fleeing for its life, while Mega Aggron lowered its body and let out a low growl.

"Grrrroar—"

Thud!

In the pitch-black tunnel of the ancient tomb, seven orange-red points of light arranged in a hexagon lit up one after another like a rotating wheel.

"Beep beep beep—"

Its voice sounded like a robot on the verge of breaking down.

Here it comes!

All Baimu warned Mega Aggron in his mind, while pulling Absol and Porygon-II back step by step himself.

Until they had retreated about four or five meters.

Registeel could not hold back and charged out from the ancient tomb, crashing head-on into the Mega Aggron that had deliberately positioned itself to block its path!

Bang!

The crisp clang of metal on metal thundered in their ears.

In appearance, this fellow looked like a metal ball with its filling exposed in the middle, mounted on a base, with two pillar-like legs stuck underneath the base, and a pair of slender arms glued to either side.

Without a doubt.

This was one of the legendary giants — the dark-gold Pokémon Registeel.

It seemed to have tried to fly off just now, but failed to adjust its direction properly and slammed hard into Mega Aggron.

Its own top got dented in a small patch, while the latter was completely unharmed.

So.

Registeel stopped trying to fly and began to wrestle with Mega Aggron.

"Beep beep beep!"

It swung its pitch-black arms, a metallic sheen surfacing over its three fingers and forming a claw-like membrane of light.

【Metal Claw】!

The air let out a tearing hum.

"Grrrroar!"

Mega Aggron growled low, didn't even bother looking, and directly grabbed both of Registeel's swinging hands.

Sizzle—boom!

After the teeth-grinding screech of metal on metal, a cloud of silver-gray smoke exploded outward.

However.

When the smoke cleared.

Mega Aggron's claws were completely unscathed — it had even pinned Registeel down with its body.

"Beep beep beep!"

Red light flickered across Registeel's face. If one move wouldn't do, then another — the red dot at the very center lit up with a dazzling brilliance, and astonishing energy rapidly gathered!

It's Hyper Beam!

Mega Aggron, expression unaltered, stomped forward.

【Low Kick】.

Crack!

Registeel toppled backward uncontrollably, and the fully charged Hyper Beam transformed into a black-purple pillar of dazzling light that shot straight up into the sky!

Rumble rumble rumble—

Not bad in terms of power!

All Baimu squinted his eyes, but compared to the power of Hyper Beam, what he actually cared more about was Registeel's height.

If he hadn't seen wrong just now, Registeel should be a bit taller than Mega Aggron.

Standing behind it, he could see the top of its "head."

And Mega Aggron, horns included, was a towering three meters tall — a terrifying presence that would make even Yao Ming look up!

A Registeel over three meters?

How tall is a normal Registeel?

He couldn't quite remember, but in any case it should hover around two meters, not at all befitting the so-called title of giant.

The Registeel before them, however, did live up to it.

A special large individual?

Or had it expanded for some reason?

It wasn't impossible.

Registeel's metallic body was said to possess extreme ductility — able to stretch and shrink, and harder than any metal — and was believed to be a substance not found on this planet.

Whichever it was, it had to be taken down quickly.

"Body Slam!"

All Baimu shouted the order, once again retreating a distance with the dumbfounded Absol, unwilling to give Registeel any room to counterattack.

"Grrrroar."

Mega Aggron's gaze locked firmly on Registeel. It stepped back to open up distance, then suddenly leaped straight up on the spot.

Boom!

The ground trembled, mud and water flying!

It leaped into the air dozens of meters high with utterly unscientific jumping power, the brownish-red energy waves on its surface surging wildly, forming a meteor-like shell, then crashed down with a thunderous roar!

"Beep beep beep—"

Lei Ji Si Qi Lu's facial light points flickered, as if thinking.

Finally.

It chose to spread its hands and use an iron wall to block the Super Boscodora's 【Tackle】, the bright silver light resembling a shield.

The next moment.

Boom—!!!

The earth shook!

A visible shockwave swept up countless mud, branches, weeds, and gravel, spreading out in all directions!

More of it shot skyward, the spectacular sight resembling a volcanic eruption!

The ground rose like a rolling wave then quickly settled, making one's hair stand on end, wishing one could sprout wings and fly away!

No.

They had already flown away.

Countless bird Pokémon in the surrounding forest scrambled into the sky, a great swath of them rustling like dark clouds.

The terrifying explosion attracted quite a few wild Pokémon.

Baimu stood on the transformed Porygon2's back, holding the utterly shocked Absol, facing the spherical light-shield form of Protect ahead.

Can it take it down?

It had already used Low Kick once before, plus this Tackle—even Lei Ji Si Qi Lu's physical defense must be taking a beating, right?

Level ninety had brought Super Boscodora improvements so massive it never dared imagine before; he believed even if it ran into Champion Dan Di's Charizard right now, it could hold its own.

All that was lacking was the direct growth of various stats that came with time.

So what if Lei Ji Si Qi Lu was over three meters tall?

Show it just how amazing a level-ninety Pokémon is!

Baimu watched expectantly toward the front of the smoke-billowing ancient tomb.

Not long after.

A pitch-black deep pit appeared before his eyes; at the bottom, as expected, was Super Boscodora wreathed in smoke, along with Lei Ji Si Qi Lu still struggling but with weaker reactions.

It hadn't lost the ability to fight, right?

So tough.

Worthy of being called the hardest metal.

He didn't hesitate, released Absol, took out the Heavy Ball he'd prepared long ago, and hurled it downward with all his might!

Whoosh!

The Heavy Ball fell in a parabolic arc; Super Boscodora dodged as if it had eyes on the back of its head, causing the ball to smash into Lei Ji Si Qi Lu's facial light points.

Smack!

The Heavy Ball activated and emitted a red light.

The struggling Lei Ji Si Qi Lu was instantly sucked inside.

Baimu pulled out a second Heavy Ball, ready to quickly follow up with a second one should the first explode.

The reason for choosing it was simply that its silver body matched the Steel Titan rather well, and besides, the opponent's size was enough to maximize the Heavy Ball's effect.

At the bottom of the pit.

The Heavy Ball rocked back and forth, the indicator light at the switch flickering on and off.

Super Boscodora spewed smoke, prepared to pin Lei Ji Si Qi Lu down a second time so its trainer could catch it.

Hoo~ hoo~ hoo~

Ding!

A light sound, accompanied by little golden stars popping out.

Lei Ji Si Qi Lu was very smoothly caught by Baimu, without any incident, with nearly overwhelming force!

The level rewards really weren't spent for nothing!

Baimu jumped into the deep pit and picked up the Heavy Ball containing Lei Ji Si Qi Lu from the ground.

This one's reactions were actually a beat slow, making one feel it was like its leader—a slow-starter ability.

The Pokédex detection result, however, was the 【Clear Body】 ability.

Standard special attack, nothing worth mentioning.

"The first legendary Pokémon." Baimu showed a smile; though his interest in Lei Ji Si Qi Lu wasn't great, being able to catch it still made him quite happy.

Back when he played games, didn't he always have to catch all the legendaries before considering it cleared?

More importantly, having Lei Ji Si Qi Lu was equivalent to having one of the tickets to find Lei Ji Ai Le Qi and Lei Ji Duo La Ge.

He did quite fancy the Electric Pillar and the Dragon Pillar.

The former was an Electric-type Pokémon he didn't have on his team, and extremely, extremely fast; the latter was Dragon-type.

Mm.

For a dragon tamer, such a prerequisite was already enough.

Moreover, neither was weak; their strength was the fundamental reason Baimu favored them among the series of Titan pillars.

"Mission complete."

He lowered his head to glance at the camera on his chest, felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, immediately took it out and answered the video call.

Professor Suigao's face appeared on the screen.

"Congratulations, Baimu! That was truly a stunning Pokémon capture battle — a Metagross with power rarely seen in this world."

A level ninety Metagross was of course rarely seen in this world.

Baimu grumbled inwardly, then asked, "Do you need me to teleport Registeel to you right now, Professor?"

The objective of this operation was to gather intelligence on the legendary giants — if capture was possible, capture them; if not, collect as much related information as possible.

Metagross and Registeel had fought too quickly; the intelligence gathered was probably not much.

Fortunately, the Steel Pillar had already been pocketed, so it could just be teleported directly to Professor Suigao for research, sparing the trouble of running around here and there.

"No rush — Ar Jian and Asahi haven't found their target location yet, so you'll need to wait a while longer. Coming back to wait is fine, or playing around somewhere else is fine too — it's up to you."

Professor Suigao replied.

Baimu nodded: "Alright then."

The video call ended.

He looked at Metagross, which had returned to its normal form, reached out to stroke the lowered head, and said, "Thanks for today! How did it feel battling a legendary Pokémon?"

"Guujou~"

Metagross raised its head, a little proud.

In its eyes, Registeel was nothing special and had never posed any critical threat.

"I'll release it and take a look — maybe this guy just wasn't fully awake. It's over three meters tall, so it should be stronger than a regular Registeel."

Baimu tossed the heavy ball in his hand.

Bang!

"Beep beep beep—"

The familiar mechanical sound rang out, and the Steel Pillar made its second appearance.