Chapter 30: Fini, You Don't Want Poni Island to Sink, Do You?

Gardelia felt she had truly seen the world today.

Although legendary Pokémon trainers did exist in this world, such as Siebold of the Hoenn region, who was said to have captured the legendary giant Regirock.

Then there was Raihan, the former former Champion of the Galar region, the most famous legendary trainer of the era before last, who, alongside his partner Urshifu, created an unbeaten streak of eighteen consecutive years that no one has ever broken.

These two were the world's most renowned trainers who had captured legendary Pokémon; as for others, Gardelia had never heard of them before.

But today she was about to meet a third.

Although...

"Forty-ninth."

Gardelia silently watched Mamon throw a Great Ball; this was the forty-ninth time.

That's right, the previous forty-eight Great Balls had all been broken free from by Tapu Fini.

Gardelia knew capturing legendary Pokémon was not easy, but she truly never expected the Poké Ball phase to be this difficult.

Although certain wild Pokémon that are proud and unruly might break free a few times, that is not strange.

But at most it would be three or four times, yet Tapu Fini had already nearly reached fifty!

This was simply too outrageous.

Mamon, however, was not too surprised; legendary Pokémon possess particularly strong willpower, and their subconscious resistance is also quite heavy.

The Great Ball traced a perfect parabola and struck Tapu Fini, who transformed into a beam of red light and was absorbed into the Great Ball.

Beep~

Beep~

The Great Ball landed on the ground and slowly shook twice.

Could it succeed?

Gardelia watched the Great Ball with some nervousness; only one final shake remained.

Beep~

The Great Ball shook a third time, and the red light on the indicator continued to flash.

Ding~!

Accompanied by the final crisp ding, the Great Ball froze.

It succeeded!

Gardelia's pretty face could not help but break into a smile; she was happy for Mamon, as the capture had finally succeeded.

"Not bad, Tapu Fini, captured."

Mamon slowly walked forward, picked up the Great Ball, and fiddled with it twice, quite satisfied.

"Jie jie jie~"

A shiny Gengar floated over, circling Mamon and clapping, happy to have gained another companion.

"Congratulations, Mamon." Gardelia also walked over.

"Thank you. Now, come out, Tapu Fini." Mamon opened the Great Ball.

Bai Guang fell to the ground; Tapu Fini sat inside its shell, wearing a dazed and dispirited expression, staring blankly at the ground.

It had actually been captured by a human; ah, this...

"Don't look so dejected, Tapu Fini; following me won't be bad."

Mamon comforted Tapu Fini.

"Qi?" Tapu Fini glanced at Mamon and asked hopefully.

"Release you? Impossible. Don't even think about it; absolutely not." Mamon refused without hesitation.

It had been so difficult to capture Tapu Fini; release it? He was thinking far too much.

"Qi! Qi qi!!"

Tapu Fini became somewhat agitated; guarding Poni Island was its responsibility all along.

"Fini, what era is this now? Why are you still so pure?" Mamon tilted his head upon hearing this.

He possessed the Power of the Evergreen, so he could clearly understand what Tapu Fini meant to express.

"?" Tapu Fini stared at Mamon; it felt Mamon was insulting it!

"No one is indispensable to another; whether it is you or Poni Island, are you each other's necessities? Must you be bound together?"

Mamon asked Tapu Fini.

"..." Tapu Fini was stunned.

"The fact is otherwise. Could it be that Poni Island cannot survive without you? You must give Poni Island a chance; perhaps without you, they could live even better."

Mamon guided them with gentle persuasion.

"Qi... qi..."

Tapu Fini fell silent for a moment but still let out two unwilling chirps.

"Rest assured, Fini, you do not lack a future." Mamon revealed a gentle smile.

"Although you have lost Poni Island, you still have me! You can completely regard me as your 'Poni Island'."

Mamon spoke with righteous confidence, his voice extremely upright.

Hearing these words, Gardelia was stunned and looked at Mamon with a strange expression.

Why Tapu Fini had 'lost' Poni Island, you didn't mention a single word about it!

Tapu Fini stared at Mamon with wide, shocked eyes; was this human speaking human language?

Who taught you to speak like that?

"Regardless, you are my Pokémon now; from now on, we will cooperate well, and I will lead you to the peak."

Mamon smiled and spoke to Tapu Fini; he felt he had already shown great sincerity.

"Qiqi…"

Kapu-Finnekin answered helplessly; even if it didn't agree, there was nothing it could do—this human wasn't going to let it go.

Kapu-Finnekin was deeply troubled. Why did it have to be this charming? Darn it!!

Being born beautiful was a trait that sometimes made Kapu-Finnekin quite distressed too—it was just that lovable.

"Not bad, not bad." Mamen was very satisfied.

"Then starting today, we're companions. Duoduozhi Sect, Kapu-Finnekin."

"Qiqi~"

Kapu-Finnekin was listless. Its condition was already mediocre to begin with, and now it had been forcibly 'kidnapped'—it would be strange if it had any energy.

"Come back and rest for now. I'll take you for treatment later."

Mamen recalled Kapu-Finnekin into the Poké Ball.

"Looks like Kapu-Finnekin isn't very willing."

Katarina's delicate brows furrowed slightly, a little worried about whether she herself would run into the same situation when she tried to catch Kapu-Butterfree later.

"After all, it's always been serving as the island's guardian deity. It's perfectly normal to feel a bit lost after suddenly being caught," Mamen replied matter-of-factly.

"In this kind of situation, it all depends on us Trainers. Just slowly win them over."

"But what if they still won't cooperate?"

Katarina asked curiously. Although she herself had never encountered it, she had heard of such cases.

Some Pokémon with untamable wildness or especially proud dispositions—even after being caught—still wouldn't obey their Trainer's commands. There were even cases of them slacking off in battle.

"Then we can only use some special methods to make them cooperate first," Mamen said unhurriedly, his tone perfectly composed.

Katarina was curious.

"Let me use my Kapu-Finnekin as an example."

Mamen and Katarina walked side by side along the beach, leaving a row of matching footprints in the sand.

"Katarina, what do you think Kapu-Finnekin cares about most?"

Katarina thought for a moment.

"Boni Island, right?"

"Exactly. For the Kapu, what they care about most is the island they guard. After all, they're Land God Pokémon."

Mamen smiled and nodded. All four Kapu are classified in the Pokédex as Land God Pokémon, without exception.

"Then it's simple. If Kapu-Finnekin still refuses to cooperate with me later, I just need to say one line like this."

A slow grin spread across Mamen's mouth, and a thick malice surfaced.

"Kapu-Finnekin, you don't want Boni Island to sink, do you?"

Kapu-Finnekin: (°︵°)

Katarina suddenly understood—she got it.

(End of chapter)