Chapter 563: Greed and Arrogance

The cause of all things often begins from something insignificant.

Ten years ago.

In the Alola region, not long after Melemele Island was occupied by a sudden monster, the Ultra Beast codenamed "UB05: Glutton" known as Guzzlord.

Because the Island Guardians had lost faith in humanity, the attack against Guzzlord was carried out without the ability to use Z-Moves.

The result was obvious; facing a Guzzlord that could even swallow moves, the resistance of the Ultra Guardians was meaningless.

People fled Melemele Island where Guzzlord resided, and with no other choice, migrated to live on the other islands.

But perhaps this event was only the beginning; humanity did not learn a lesson from this matter, but instead, having lost the resources of the entire Melemele Island, began to choose to develop the remaining three islands even more aggressively.

Poni Island was no exception.

The Island Guardians felt disappointment toward humans who developed the land without end, and one after another, they vanished from sight.

Z-Moves also became unusable at that moment.

The qualification to develop Poni Island was taken by the 【Rainbow Happy Development and Construction Company】, which rose suddenly after the fall of Melemele Island to become one of the top companies in the Alola region, even squeezing out the Aether Foundation.

President Brugen had a violent temper and immense ambition, and his style of doing things was like that of a hooligan.

For the sake of his own interests, he would stop at nothing, even if it meant breaking promises.

Rather, it was precisely by relying on this style of conduct that the Rainbow Happy Development and Construction Company was able to develop to this extent.

During the development of Poni Island, President Brugen saw the prospects in "energy development," and while continuously building a large number of power plants.

He utilized some techniques left behind by the dissolved Aether Foundation to successfully open an Ultra Wormhole and summon a large number of Ultra Beasts named Xurkitree.

He also used developed technology to control these Ultra Beasts; with the support of his power plants, these Xurkitree, having absorbed their fill of electricity, possessed extraordinary strength.

It did not take long before Brugen used Wu Li to purge all opposing voices, completely brought Poni Island under his control, and developed it recklessly.

Pollution became increasingly severe.

When Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini, who had planned to avoid the world for a while due to disappointment in humanity, sensed something wrong upon waking from its periodic slumber.

It was already too late for everything.

The speed of human development exceeded the expectations of these "long-lived species."

Seeing the sea polluted black, the black clouds that blocked out sunlight, and the pockmarked land of Poni Island, the angry Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini went to the power plant.

What awaited it was Xurkitree covering the mountains and plains.

Every single one had absorbed its fill of electricity and could release electrical power comparable to the might of its own serious attacks.

Even if only temporary, under the siege of the Xurkitree that rushed forward one after another before being controlled, and because the ocean currents serving as the source of energy were polluted, it was naturally in a sorry state.

Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini, which already avoided battle and was not as skilled in fighting as Seeing Seeing Kapu Koko, naturally lost.

After this, there was truly no one who could stop Brugen, or stop the development of the "Rainbow Happy Development and Construction Company."

In the blink of an eye, Poni Island had become exactly as Luo Mu had seen it upon arrival.

And Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini, because its injuries would not heal for a long time and the source of its power had disappeared, could only lie low.

Until two years ago, on a hidden beach of Poni Island, it picked up a Pokémon Egg washed ashore by pitch-black waves, which miraculously still retained a breath of life.

Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini, which had already accepted that apart from those Xurkitree, there was no life left on the entire Poni Island for itself, was so excited it nearly shed tears; without hesitation, it embraced the Pokémon Egg, closed its shell, hoping that with its body heat and the shell's function of isolating pollution, the Pokémon Egg would hatch.

Until not long ago, the Pokémon Egg finally hatched into a Popplio, but due to the scarcity of resources and the harsh environment, the Popplio was in imminent danger.

At this time, Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini miraculously re-established contact with itself from another world, but regarding the other side's proposal to let humans help, the current Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini, which truly could not trust strange humans, chose to refuse.

But the Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini over there did not care about any of this and directly threw Luo Mu over.

What happened afterwards, is simply the present.

Sofu recounted the cause and result of the matter to Luo Mu from the perspective of countless bystanders.

Just as if he had witnessed it with his own eyes.

After hearing the entire story, Luo Mu fell into a brief silence.

That Brugen, he seemed to have some impression of him.

He remembered that was a minor villain who appeared in several episodes of Sun and Moon.

Making his first appearance coveting Kiawe's ranch, attempting to buy it with money, and when that failed, starting to use some underhanded methods, which finally inexplicably evolved into a Pokémon battle where his Electivire lost to Kiawe's Alolan Marowak.

Afterwards, still not willing to let it go, he called a bunch of construction machinery to attempt a forced demolition, only to be stopped by Miss Miss Junsha who rushed over.

Later, in the Royal Battle, he had his prepared "Avenger Team" use dirty tricks, attempting to defeat Professor Kukui anonymously disguised as the Royal Mask and the assisting Ash.

In short, he was a standard template for a minor villain with inferior methods but whose schemes were repeatedly shattered.

He did not expect that in this Ping Xing Shi Jie, he would actually manage to do such things. Sofu obviously had its own consciousness and considerations; glancing worriedly at the equally silent Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini, it spoke again: "The mist of the Island Guardian Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini can allow us departed ones to briefly return to the world above."

"And the words I just spoke are also composed of summaries from countless departed souls of Poni Island over the past ten years, combined with the part recounted by Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini itself."

Hearing Sofu mention "departed souls," Luo Mu noticed Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini's body tremble slightly; clearly, the other party felt quite a high degree of self-blame regarding this matter.

As an Island Guardian, yet in the end, it had protected nothing.

During these ten years, guilt and self-blame must have constantly lingered in Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini's heart.

Luo Mu's gaze fell upon Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini nearby, but rather than discussing who bore more responsibility for this matter, it was better to focus on the present.

Clearing his throat, Luo Mu spoke: "I understand the general situation."

"That is to say, currently standing in our way are an unknown number of large groups of the Ultra Beast Xurkitree, and the culprit behind everything, President Brugen of the Rainbow Happy Development and Construction Company, correct?"

"That's right." Sofu nodded lightly, and added a reminder as a supplement, "Those Xurkitree, if looked at as individual units, might not be too strong, but they excel in having sufficient energy and vast numbers."

Indeed, this point Sofu mentioned was the greatest difficulty.

Just now, Luo Mu had also encountered one of them.

The electrical power unleashed in that instant was so immense that even a Dragonite could not rashly confront it head-on; in a certain sense, seeing Tapu Fini lose before was truly not unjustified.

It was type disadvantage, facing a numerical advantage, plus energy support.

If this were a game, it would absolutely be a difficulty level of a terrible game.

For Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini to not have given itself away in vain was already something to be proud of.

The only combat forces on our side that could prove useful are probably Luxray, Swampert, and Dragonite.

Facing possibly over a thousand Xurkitree with just three Pokémon, even Luo Mu couldn't confidently claim the advantage was ours. Moreover, the oxygen issue remained the most critical problem.

Unwilling to give up, Luo Mu tentatively asked Xiang Seeing Kapu, "Do you still possess the power to temporarily purify the environment within a certain range?"

If so, with fewer constraints on our side, we might be able to accomplish something extraordinary.

If not, our combat strength would never reach its full potential; merely swapping out rapidly depleted portable oxygen tanks during fierce battles would be enough to give Luo Mu a headache.

At the very least, he wouldn't recklessly charge forward when he knew there was an extremely high probability of failure.

In response to Luo Mu's question, Xiang Seeing Kapu shook its head awkwardly, twisting its hands together in embarrassment.

It no longer even had the power to purify the contamination for Popplio, so how could it possibly maintain large-scale environmental purification? Having mentally prepared himself, Luo Mu wasn't surprised; after some thought, he concluded they still had to start with Brugen.

To catch the bandits, first catch their leader; once Brugen was executed, those Xurkitree would cease to be a threat.

Slowly sending them back to the Ultra Wormholes one by one would pose no problem.

However, before that—

Luo Mu looked at Xiang Seeing Kapu, a smile spreading across his face as he said, "May I examine your body?"

Read the unedited version first!

Relying on his mediocre medical skills, Luo Mu proceeded to give the strangely shy Xiang Seeing Kapu a full-body examination.

Let's state the conclusion first.

Compared to Popplio, Xiang Seeing Kapu's condition was actually much better; thanks to its constitution as a Legendary Pokémon, it had barely been eroded by the contamination at all.

However, its main problems differed from Popplio's.

First, as Sofu mentioned, the injuries sustained from its defeat after battling a group of Xurkitree had never properly healed.

Second, there was an overwhelming lack of energy; with the ocean currents and nature that served as its power source destroyed, its condition simply couldn't compare to the shiny Xiang Ka on the other Melemele Island, which had remained almost unaffected.

Luo Mu had considered going to other islands to seek help from the other Island Guardians.

However, upon his inquiry, the Hint System mentioned that the other three Island Deities were no longer within the Alola region.

Only the stubborn Xiang Seeing Kapu remained guarding this place.

"Hmm, as expected, treating the injuries should come first."

Like a certain blue robotic cat, Luo Mu pulled out another bottle of "Life No. 1."

However, this was the last bottle in his inventory; he truly couldn't produce any more. Preparing two bottles just for a vacation had already pushed the limits of his caution.

But a medicinal liquid mixed with Secret Herbs should have a significant effect on Xiang Seeing Kapu's injuries.

Looking at the strangely colored liquid before it, Xiang Seeing Kapu fell silent for two seconds, then, to Luo Mu's surprise, swallowed the entire contents in one gulp.

He didn't even have time to use the provocation tactic: "You wouldn't want Popplio to lack a comfortable home in the future, would you?"

Generally, "Life No. 1" took anywhere from ten minutes to half an hour to take effect.

A weak constitution like Popplio's required even more time.

But for Xiang Seeing Kapu, barely a minute after drinking it, its slightly pale complexion immediately became rosy.

Of course, since its skin was black, one couldn't tell unless looking very closely.

"Lei-xi..."

Sensing the changes in its body, Xiang Seeing Kapu looked at Luo Mu in astonishment.

This recovery effect was nearly comparable to Xiang Ka's scales, and in certain aspects, it was even more effective! The injuries that had plagued it for so long were rapidly healing under the medicine's influence.

"Oh oh—"

Beside them, the phantom-like Sofu stroked its beard, its expression full of praise.

This person named Luo Mu was truly quite reliable.

With him here, perhaps Xiang Seeing Kapu could truly be liberated from ten years of suffering.

It took Xiang Seeing Kapu nearly five minutes to absorb most of the medicinal effects.

Accompanying this change was a sensation it hadn't felt in ten years: its body felt light, so light that it felt as though it could swim around Poni Island several times over.

Sadly, there was no longer such a beautiful ocean for it to swim in.

Although it no longer possessed the power to create vast mist covering mountains with a wave of its hand as it once did, at least now it could use some of its former abilities.

It was just that both the power and effectiveness were greatly diminished.

After all, most of its power came from nature and the ocean currents.

Eagerly, Xiang Seeing Kapu asked Luo Mu to release Popplio; it intended to use its remaining ability to condense "clear water that purifies all filth" to drive away Popplio's contamination first.

That way, even if things ultimately failed, it could still entrust its other self to take care of Popplio and Luo Mu—

Meanwhile, at the Other Shore Ruins.

Accompanied by the high-speed whirring of propellers, Brugen arrived at this location with his sycophantic subordinates.

"The Other Shore Ruins? Is this where Subject 1146 disappeared?"

Even while wearing a protective suit, Brugen, who still wore a gaudy thick gold chain like a nouveau riche, scanned the surroundings; his large gold tooth was faintly visible as he spoke.

After inspecting the interior, a subordinate beside him reported, "President, my lord, there are signs of a battle here; the opponent appears to have left by digging underground."

"I don't need you to tell me that; I can see it myself."

Brugen replied impatiently, but internally he began to ponder.

Although they had finally found the location of the "Other Shore Ruins" that those people had stubbornly refused to reveal, the environment here, which was only slightly better than outside, really failed to spark his interest.

The famed "Other Shore Ruins" were nothing special after all.

On the contrary, Xiang Seeing Kapu and the intruder assisting it seemed quite interesting to him.

Daring to invade Great Master Brugen's territory; he would make that person understand the meaning of regret.

Not intending to waste time at the Other Shore Ruins, Brugen, who usually stayed behind the scenes and relied solely on the power of his Xurkitree to crush everything, decided to personally take action today.

"Go to the power plant and dispatch eight hundred Xurkitree simultaneously; even if we have to flip Poni Island upside down, find them and bring them before me."

Brugen revealed a sinister and ferocious smile, and under the protection of the surrounding Vikavolt, he boarded the helicopter parked outside.

In any case, this island was nearing its end; its collapse and submersion were only a matter of time, and at worst, he could simply find another location.

(End of Chapter)