Chapter 583: Zygarde Core

Beneath the cascading green light, the Gluttonous King that had just poked its head out was blasted straight back to its homeland before it could even continue emitting its foul stench of a cry, utterly powerless to resist.

A single strike, instantly accomplishing a one-hit kill!

Although the specific strength of the second Gluttonous King remained unclear, achieving such a feat was already shocking enough.

Having done all this, the green figure did not stop but turned and leaped before the Gluttonous King that Luo Mu and the others had incapacitated.

Only now did the few of them clearly see the newcomer's appearance.

It was a Pokémon resembling a Doberman Pinscher.

Most of its fur was white, adorned with gem-green hexagonal patterns; the green strip around its neck looked like a collar-scarf inlaid with gems, appearing entirely as part of the Pokémon's own body.

The Pokémon's hexagonal eyes, glowing with white light, lowered their gaze, staring at the Gluttonous King for a moment, before gently pressing its front left paw—the only one bearing half-green markings—onto the ground.

Accompanied by the blooming of mysterious hexagonal green radiance, the entire ground seemed to come alive, rolling up like a tidal wave and directly sweeping the Gluttonous King's massive, heavy body into the Ultra Wormhole that had not yet fully closed.

Such clean and decisive methods inevitably aroused confusion.

Exactly how many times have you handled matters like this, to be so skilled?

After accomplishing all this, the Pokémon did not depart immediately.

Its gaze first fell upon Luo Mu and his Luxray, then upon Lillie, and finally upon Seeing Seeing Kapu.

It narrowed its eyes slightly, unknown what thoughts were running through its mind.

Overawed by this shocking scene, Brother Brother Qingmu sought answers from Luo Mu.

"This Pokémon is again—"

Looker and Lillie were also very puzzled; based on their knowledge, they actually knew nothing about the Pokémon before them.

As an International Police officer constantly traveling across various regions, Looker's knowledge was comparable to a living Pokémon Encyclopedia.

And although Lillie had lost much of her memory, her understanding of Pokémon had been inherited completely; otherwise, she could not have constructed a team no weaker than her counterpart in this world in such a short time.

Yet, no matter how hard the two racked their brains, they could not recall a single piece of information about it.

But something even more shocking occurred.

Only then did the red hexagonal gem on the creature's neck glow faintly, and within the shield constructed of countless connected hexagons, countless streams of green light scattered in all directions.

A tiny portion of these landed on some stone pillars in the cave that the Gluttonous King had not destroyed; before vanishing from sight, Looker and the others could clearly see the form of those green Zygarde Cells.

A moment later.

Having separated its cells, a Pokémon in the small form of a Zygarde Cell appeared within the vision of the few people.

"Zygarde Core."

Luo Mu's murmuring voice rang out in this empty space where even a falling needle could be heard.

Before Brother Brother Qingmu, Looker, and Lillie could comprehend the meaning, the Zygarde Cell, called such by Luo Mu, turned its single eye—the only one possessing a pupil—toward him, and a sharp yet dignified voice sounded.

"I did not expect that there are still humans in this present world who recognize Me."

"Telepathy!?"

Lillie exclaimed in a small voice.

"Making a fuss over nothing; I am the Guardian of Order, and exercising mere telepathy is naturally effortless."

The Zygarde Core glanced at Lillie; it was evident that it held a strong sense of identity regarding its status and was quite proud.

Immediately after, its gaze fell once again upon Seeing Seeing Kapu.

"Interesting; if I have guessed correctly, your aura is not that of this island's Guardian Deity."

"Puka-lei."

Suddenly addressed, Seeing Seeing Kapu was not surprised that the other party had directly perceived its identity.

As a Pokémon tasked with guarding order and maintaining ecological balance, the other party could naturally discern its origins with ease.

After communicating briefly with the Zygarde Core alone, Seeing Seeing Kapu breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the other party did not believe it should be sent back to its original world based on its origins.

On the contrary, it encouraged it to seek another ocean to maintain the clarity and purity there.

After completing its exchange with Seeing Seeing Kapu, this intruding Zygarde Core looked again at Luo Mu and praised the three people beside him: "You have done well, not allowing the situation to expand further; by the time I rushed back, this much is worthy of praise."

"Thank you..."

Brother Brother Qingmu and the others nodded dazedly in response, while simultaneously pondering information about the Guardian of Order and Zygarde in their minds.

Yet they still gained nothing.

Luo Mu was shocked that the Zygarde before him was completely different from the one he knew; to summarize simply, it was a shiny existence, so he asked in a low voice: "Rushing back, does that mean you went out to other regions? Like Kalos?"

The Zygarde Core looked strangely again at this human who inexplicably knew so much, and shook its head, "I have always been in Alola; I only went out briefly, yet I did not expect that it nearly caused a great disaster."

"Kalos does not belong to my jurisdiction; there are two other Cores present there."

Luo Mu: "!!!!"

Now Luo Mu could confirm it completely.

The Zygarde Core before him, whose color was inexplicably somewhat deep, and which had previously taken the form of a white-green Doberman.

Was indeed an individual Zygarde Core different from Z1 and Z2 of Kalos, and it was shiny!

Seemingly having achieved the purpose of communication, the Zygarde Core suddenly spoke: "Very well, the time for friendly exchange ends here; your activities, I have clearly reflected in my heart through those pairs of eyes."

"But to prevent accidents from occurring, I must offend you."

The Zygarde Core narrowed its eyes, and under the surprised expressions of Looker, Lillie, and Brother Brother Qingmu, strange green radiance bloomed again, rapidly surging toward the few people and the Pokémon beside them.

Seeing Seeing Kapu, however, was an exception.

Realizing what the Zygarde Core intended to do, Seeing Seeing Kapu, who had kept the Ruins of Life quiet all along, directly blocked in front of Luo Mu and his Luxray.

Seeing its reaction, the Zygarde Core paused slightly, then raised its head a little.

"So be it; since you have acknowledged that human and his partner, it seems they are not reckless individuals; I shall make an exception just this once."

Leaving these words behind, the Zygarde Core gradually concealed its traces like a cell, disappearing completely.

Under the glow of the green light, Brother Brother Qingmu, Lillie, and Looker paused briefly, then spoke in unison: "Where are we?"

At this moment, Luo Mu finally realized why, despite the name "Terminus Cave," there had never been any news related to the Zygarde Core here.

Most people simply could not see the Zygarde Core, which deliberately hid itself.

And if someone truly did see it, the Zygarde Core would specifically use the green light from just now to erase the relevant memories.

It seemed that compared to Z1 and Z2, this Zygarde Core had a rather cautious personality and showed no obvious bias.

"Eh, what is this?"

Beside Luo Mu, Brother Brother Qingmu opened his palm, looking puzzled at the sky-blue diamond-shaped crystal resting there.

That was a Flying-type Z-Crystal.

Lillie and Looker also discovered objects of the same shape in their own palms.

One was a Normal-type Z-Crystal, and the other was a Poison-type Z-Crystal.

If that was the case...

Luo Mu tried opening his right palm, which felt as though it held something foreign, and saw a cyan-blue diamond-shaped crystal.

If he remembered correctly, this was—a Dragon-type Z-Crystal.

Could it have been gifted by the Zygarde Core along with that green glow?

Luo Mu cast a deep glance toward the deeper parts of Terminus Cave, going along with the trio's self-justification to evenly distribute the credit for defeating the Gumshoos.

Looker still felt some regret; if the situation hadn't been so urgent, he would have wanted to take the Gumshoos back to headquarters to study their characteristics before releasing them.

The group did not stay long in Terminus Cave; with the help of the Oricorio, Luo Mu finally found traces of golden flowers at a fork in the road.

It was hard to imagine that fresh flowers could bloom in this dim cave lacking any light; perhaps this was related to that Alolan Zygarde Core.

As usual, Luo Mu collected several flowers intending to process them into seeds later, gathered a jar of golden nectar, and then set off to return home.

Along the way, upon learning that the crystal in his hand was actually a Flying-type Z-Crystal, Brother Brother Qingmu was considering whether to use his precious vacation time to try obtaining a Z-Ring.

He just didn't know if the Island Challenge welcomed tourists from other regions to participate in the experience.

Seeing that the others harbored no suspicions regarding their missing memories, Luo Mu also kept silent about the matter of the Zygarde Core.

After all, not contacting humans was perhaps exactly what these silent observers expected.

Seeing that there was still plenty of time, Luo Mu simply dragged Brother Brother Qingmu to run two more trips to other islands, collecting vermilion nectar, peach-pink nectar, and flowers that could yield seeds, one of each.

After making an appointment with Brother Brother Qingmu, who seemed inexplicably reluctant yet somewhat eager, to visit Kiawe's ranch the next day to taste Akala's famous ice cream and various dairy products.

Luo Mu returned to the villa.

After checking on Gladion's special training progress and dealing with Tapu Koko, who had come running just for the thrill of battle, by revealing the Ghost-type Z-Crystal the latter had somehow acquired as spoils of war.

Luo Mu returned to his room to pack up his equipment, planning to go night fishing with Luxray later to relax his body and mind.

But—

Looking at the Poliwag that had jumped onto his desk in his room at some unknown point, he fell into deep confusion.

Luo Mu couldn't help but sincerely ask: "Is the Guardian of Order really that idle?"

He felt the Zygarde Core was quite bizarre; clearly, its own home had nearly been invaded that afternoon, yet now it had somehow followed him all the way to Akala Island without anyone noticing.

"No need to worry; My eyes are everywhere in Alola. If there are any problems, I will return immediately."

Having just sent away Tapu Fini, who had finally arrived, the Zygarde Core, which had followed its own informants here, curiously surveyed the surrounding environment.

"You know how to enjoy life; this is quite a nice place for a residence."

The Zygarde Core offered a word of praise, while casually waving the structure that was either its tail or its foot.

Luo Mu: "."

He suddenly felt that if other Zygarde Cores were as familiar and forward as this one, Team Flare probably wouldn't need to collect any Mega Evolution energy; they could just seize the opportunity to catch them all in one net.

But he couldn't say the Zygarde Core was imprudent; after all, the fact that it appeared before him so boldly suggested not only confidence in its own strength but also likely related to what Tapu Fini had said while communicating with it.

Luo Mu subconsciously glanced outside the door; right now, Tapu Fini should be taking Popplio and the Eevee sisters to play with the pile of educational toys brought by Oranguru.

Seeming to perceive Luo Mu's thoughts, the Zygarde Core jumped directly onto Luo Mu's soft bed, emitting a suspicious "Wurururu" sound as if enjoying itself, and then spoke to explain its purpose.

"You need not panic, nor need you let your thoughts run wild; My purpose is very simple."

"I am merely very curious about the place where that Tapu Fini, who came from the Ping Xing Shi Jie and has suffered a tortuous fate, intends to settle down and live, so I plan to follow and take a look, and additionally—"

The Zygarde Core's voice paused slightly, then it spoke again:

"To expand my operations beyond Alola."

The next day, approaching lunchtime.

After night fishing all night with Luxray, obtaining nothing but some nice coral dropped by Corsola, maintaining his stable performance of catching nothing, Luo Mu, who had been sleeping soundly, was dragged out of bed by Brother Brother Qingmu, who had arrived early, waited for half a day, and finally lost all patience.

After Luo Mu tidied himself up, the two went together to the address Lillie had previously left for him, the location of Kiawe's family ranch.

Here, both the dairy products and the Akala specialty ice cream, renowned as a local treasure, possessed a deliciousness far exceeding the expectations of the two.

With eyes shining, Luo Mu exchanged quite a bit of ranch management experience with Kiawe's father, the president of this ranch, and invited the other party to visit his own farm if the opportunity arose, before waving goodbye and leaving.

Along the way, he also accepted Kiawe's challenge, sending out Milotic and achieving victory without much effort.

As one of Ash's rivals in the Alola region, Kiawe indeed still had some real skill.

It was just that his potential had not yet been realized.

After leaving Kiawe's family ranch, Brother Brother Qingmu, without waiting for Luo Mu to detain him, ran off and vanished within moments, as if trying to avoid him.

Helplessly, Luo Mu could only continue his vacation life, which had finally become leisurely.

Of course, he also did not forget his main profession; in the simple and honest Alola region, he prepared quite a few seeds of Alolan specialty crops, such as the Poni Daikon, planning to return and try cultivating them.

Since he had already met the three Island Guardians, Luo Mu simply went to the Ruins of Abundance, intending to thank Tapu Tapu Moumou, the angel investor of his farm.

However, the usually lazy Tapu Tapu Moumou seemed to have gone out, so Luo Mu could only put down the gift he had brought.

Unable to resist, he secretly scooped up several sacks of the black earth soil where Tapu Tapu Moumou usually slept and lay, then quietly fled back to Akala Island.

(End of Chapter)