Pokemon Paldea [380-381] (Patreon)

Chapter 380 – The Emperor of the Crystal Tower

Looking at Glastrier, who still seemed a little stiff and awkward, but whose nose was practically pointing at the sky thanks to Vulpix’s innocent “praise, praise, praise,” Calyrex suddenly understood a truth.

Sincerity really is the ultimate finishing move.
Nothing moves hearts more than genuine emotion laid bare.

Calyrex knew very well that whenever it tried to soften its words out of consideration for Glastrier’s feelings, Glastrier could actually hear the subtext. Spectrier was the same.

But they both always pretended not to notice, and quietly accepted its attempts to comfort them.

So when it met someone like Vulpix, whose compliments were completely unfiltered and genuine, Glastrier could change this much?

Calyrex silently picked the dropped ice carrot up off the ground and watched as Vulpix and Glastrier happily shared it together. It firmed up its resolve once more.

It was definitely going to help its antisocial beloved steed make lots of friends!

Off to the side, Lucas’s eyes fell on Glastrier and Vulpix, and he somewhat regretted not carrying a camera with him so he could capture this precious moment.

Fortunately, as long as the relationship between Vulpix and Glastrier kept improving, he’d have plenty of chances later to take pictures like this.

Afterward, Lucas went to visit the Sandslash couple again, and under their lead finally saw the Pokémon Egg they had carefully hidden away.

The egg was primarily white, patterned with icy blue wave-like lines, a very standard oval shape, and looked beautiful.

This egg was probably the first direct offspring of any Pokémon on the farm, and thus very commemorative.

Calyrex also infused a thread of extremely pure life energy into the egg. That would greatly enhance the vitality of the unborn Pokémon inside, making it healthier and more gifted.

Afterward, the way the Sandslash couple looked at Calyrex was as if they were looking at a great benefactor. Even Glastrier, thanks to its relationship with Calyrex, received much kinder expressions from the Sandslash pair, easing the tension between them considerably.

Compared to those overwhelmingly powerful legendary Pokémon focused on battle, Calyrex was clearly much more suited to farm life. And besides, if they did truly need to fight, the horse-and-rider Calyrex would definitely not be much weaker than them.

…

August 14.

Today was the weekend; there was no work scheduled. Still, Lucas asked Nurse Joy in Los Platos Town for leave, deciding to temporarily pause his medical studies for a couple of days and take a trip.

Previously, Lucas had already asked Geeta to inform the Indigo League that he would be heading to Kanto sometime in these few days to pick up the Gold–Silver series of Berries.

Right before departure, Lucas happened to receive a photo via the Poke Ball’s teleport function, sent by Delibird.

It was an aerial shot of the entirety of Goldenrod City, taken from the sky. That meant Delibird had already arrived in Goldenrod.

Lucas’s current plan was to ride Dragonite to Goldenrod, meet up with Delibird, then take the city’s maglev train to Saffron City, and from Saffron fly to the Indigo Plateau where the League’s HQ was located.

Judging from this schedule, two days might be cutting it a bit too close.

If needed, Lucas was ready to reschedule Monday’s classes to Tuesday, opening up three whole days so he’d have enough time to travel back and forth instead of rushing there and rushing back.

Because this trip to Kanto wasn’t for fighting, Lucas was a bit conflicted about which Pokémon to take along.

Since he was going to Johto, Lucas thought: maybe I should bring Raging Bolt. Who knows, maybe just like when I met Suicune, I’ll run into Raikou on the way?

If Raikou saw Raging Bolt, a Pokémon somewhat similar to itself but with a weirdly giraffe-like long neck, what kind of expression would it make?

Lucas felt that would definitely be amusing.

His indecision was just in time to be witnessed by Calyrex, who happened to be coming back from a walk with Cosmog.

Placing Cosmog into a little nest Oranguru had floated over with telekinesis, Calyrex asked curiously, “What are you doing here?”

Lucas and Oranguru exchanged a look, then briefly explained the situation.

After listening carefully, Calyrex looked enlightened. “So, you’re agonizing over who to bring with you?”

Lucas nodded lightly. “I was planning to bring Serperior, but it said it’s been doing nighttime special training with you these few days and doesn’t want to leave for now. Luxray is the same.”

“Right now I plan on bringing Dragonite, Victini, and Raging Bolt. I haven’t decided on the rest yet.”

Considering that Kanto was the active area and headquarters of that evil organization, Lucas felt he couldn’t afford to be careless.

Calyrex remained silent under Lucas’s gaze and slowly closed its eyes. Roughly a minute later, it opened them again and gave its suggestion.

“I think you might as well bring Moltres and Arcanine too. They haven’t gone out in a long time, have they?”

Bring Moltres and Arcanine?

Lucas was taken aback, unsure whether Calyrex was giving a random suggestion, or if it had seen something through its future sight and was hinting to him because of that.

However, what Calyrex said was indeed reasonable.

It had been quite a long time since he’d taken Moltres and Arcanine out.

Last time in the Crown Tundra, because of the environment, Arcanine had spent nearly the whole time in its Poké Ball and had been awfully stifled.

This time, in their home turf, they could afford to loosen up a bit.

Thinking of this, Lucas stood up with a “whoosh,” thanked Calyrex, and left the house. He found Moltres and the Arcanine that had just comfortably burned off its energy, then called over Raging Bolt, who was sunbathing on a hillside near the farm, and finally had Dragonite drag Victini out of bed.

That made exactly a five-Pokémon team. With Dragonite as the main force, and Raging Bolt plus Moltres as the mid-line pillars, their fighting strength should be more than sufficient.

If things went smoothly, Lucas didn’t mind swinging by Pallet Town to finally accept Professor Oak’s multiple overdue invitations.

When Lucas, Victini perched on his shoulder, was back in the house packing what he needed for the trip, he suddenly felt his pant leg being tugged.

“Mimikyu?”

Looking down, Lucas saw it was Mimikyu pulling at his pants.

“Ti-ni?”

Victini followed Lucas’s gaze and looked down as well. When it spotted Mimikyu, who had somehow appeared there without them noticing, Victini shuddered slightly, as if recalling something unpleasant.

Even now, it still wasn’t used to Mimikyu’s sudden-appearing, ghostlike ways, and it would get scared if it wasn’t careful.

“Kyu~!”

Staring with its tiny eyes, Mimikyu was working very hard to convey its wish to go out with him as well.

Lucas bent down and scooped up Mimikyu’s body—light enough to not feel heavy, but definitely not weightless either—met the little eyes on the belly of the rag it inhabited, and smiled softly. “Then let’s go together!”

…

9 a.m.

Fully prepared, Lucas, under the watchful send-off of Luxray and the others, mounted Dragonite and flew in the direction of Kanto.

As the saying goes, “The second time is always easier.” This time Dragonite no longer needed to rely on navigation the whole way to find the route. They would likely see the outline of Johto, connected to Kanto, by dusk.

This time Dragonite was flying faster; clearly, it was rapidly digesting the gift from Lugia. As its control over air currents improved, its flight speed had made a qualitative leap as well.

By dusk, Goldenrod’s dazzling neon lights were already shining brightly; the largest and most prosperous city in Johto was showcasing its depth and heritage.

Lucas didn’t have Dragonite land in the city. Instead, he took out the Black Ball from his spatial backpack and, using its sensing function, traveled to the coordinates where Delibird was.

While searching for Delibird, Lucas chatted with Dragonite about Dragonite Island.

“They say that in the seas near Kanto, there’s an island that belongs solely to the Dragonite species. It’s a sacred place for them, where many Dragonite, Dragonair, and Dratini have lived for generations.”

Dragonite flapped its wings slowly, tilting its head slightly and listening carefully.

Dragonite Island—this was its first time hearing of such a thing.

Lucas patted Dragonite’s back with a smile and teased, “Maybe your mother used to be one of the Dragonite there. She might have met her Trainer when she was young and been taken away from the island~”

“Bwooo…”

Dragonite bit its chubby hand, looking somewhat conflicted.

Although it almost had no impression of its mother, and therefore no real feelings, that throb of bloodline when they met had made Dragonite clearly understand that the Dragonite leader was its blood-related mother.

Their time together afterward had also proven that the leader was an excellent mother—kind, very experienced, and extremely “knowledgeable.”

If its mother really did come from Dragonite Island, then if the chance arose, maybe it could take her there to have a look?

Maybe it would help her state improve, even if just a little.

At that moment, the Black Ball in Lucas’s hand suddenly vibrated. His attention snapped back, and based on the reaction from the Black Ball, he knew Delibird was already nearby.

Dragonite landed. Lucas looked around, searching for Delibird’s figure.

He was currently in a small forest on the outskirts of Goldenrod. Judging from the chosen resting spot, Delibird had done well.

There was plenty of cover and trees to roost in, and humans rarely passed by, minimizing the chance of being disturbed. As a temporary resting place, it was perfect.

Lucas looked left and right. Seeing no sign of Delibird’s conspicuous red-and-white body, he thought for a moment. Just as he was about to raise his head to check the trees and call out, Dragonite suddenly cried out.

“Bwooo!”

The next instant, the branches above Lucas’s head shook, and a figure dropped straight down onto him!

Dragonite was the first to notice the change in air currents. Once it saw the figure pouncing at Lucas—and sensed that familiar aura—it withdrew its claws and instead looked at the newcomer in delight.

“Deli~!”

With a cheerful cry, Lucas’s vision went black—his entire face had been engulfed by Delibird, who’d noticed their arrival and pounced on him like a Facehugger.

While hugging Lucas, Delibird’s tail was still vibrating; clearly, the Black Ball inside it was still moving.

“Deli-bird, lon time no see…”

After finally prying the Facehugger-like Delibird off his face, Lucas didn’t even have time to catch his breath before Dragonite rushed over and hugged him too.

For a while, the scene was pure chaos.

Once everyone calmed down, Lucas held Delibird and, smiling, explained to the puzzled Pokémon why he was there. “I had some business to take care of over here. I used the Black Ball and found out you were in Goldenrod, so I figured I’d swing by and say hi.”

“Deli” (I see)

Delibird nodded happily.

It was obviously thrilled to see Lucas again.

At that moment, a Level Ball on Lucas’s belt popped open, and his shadow wriggled. Victini and Mimikyu appeared one after the other, excitedly greeting Delibird.

After the Pokémon had played around for quite a while, Lucas looked up at the sky, which was gradually sinking into darkness, and made a suggestion. “Want to come along with us for a few days? I’ll bring you back afterward.”

Based on his estimate, if they went to the station now and took the 24hour maglev, they should arrive in Saffron by tomorrow morning.

Faced with the chance to spend a few days with Lucas, Delibird had no reason to refuse. It patted its chest with its little wing and agreed at once.

Traveling could happen anytime, but time spent together with Lucas had to be treasured.

…

Goldenrod City.

Lucas walked down the street with Delibird at his side, Victini invisible and lounging on his head.

In Johto, Delibird wasn’t particularly rare. Walking beside a Trainer, it didn’t attract much attention.

However, Delibird was fairly popular among certain groups of people. Even Pryce, the Mahogany Gym Leader, had a strong Delibird.

Delibird had seen that Delibird before, back when Mewtwo took it along to challenge the eight Johto Gyms; they’d even battled.

The outcome, of course, was that this Delibird won.

To reach the maglev station, they had to pass through Goldenrod’s busiest shopping street. If Lucas compared it to famous shopping districts from his memories, it was like Shibuya or Akihabara.

As they were walking past a large electronics store, Lucas, Delibird, and Victini had their attention drawn by the crowd gathered out front.

A huge group of people were clustered around the storefront, and it was unclear whether the electronics store was running an event or if someone was causing trouble.

Originally, Lucas had little interest in such things; his attention was caught only for a moment.

But suddenly, a wave of exclamations burst from the crowd. As Lucas was about to walk past, he glanced through the gaps between people and saw what they were so shocked by.

On the wall of TVs in front of the electronics store, a previous live broadcast was being replayed.

In the video, a massive orange bulldozer was in operation, mercilessly clearing away some strangely shaped crystal formations.

But soon, the bulldozer was counterattacked by some force. It was swallowed whole by a gigantic crystal and sealed inside.

That was the reason for the earlier gasps from the crowd.

The screen then froze for a moment before switching back to the live feed. A female reporter’s slightly trembling voice sounded from the TV.

[“Just now, above the Hale Mansion, we discovered a flame-like object in the sky. We’re unable to confirm what that is at this time.”]

[“It seems the rescue team won’t be able to arrive until tomorrow morning—eh, that’s a Pokémon!?”]

With the reporter’s surprised shout, the cameraman zoomed in. The screen clearly showed a boy with a Pikachu and his companions, entering the crystallized Hale Mansion—with the help of a Shiny Noctowl, Bulbasaur, and Chikorita.

Seeing that, not just the reporter, but also the people crowding around the electronics store outside in Goldenrod all let out cries of surprise.

“Oh my God, that’s so dangerous!”

“What is that thing? I’ve never seen anything like it…”

“When is the League going to take action?”

“That place… Isn’t that the ‘number one place girls most want to visit in Johto,’ the Greenfield?”

“Seriously? Isn’t that just nearby?”

“Will this spread all the way here?!”

The more they discussed it, the more panicked the crowd became. Many people immediately gave up on shopping, turned around, and hurried away from the electronics store, clearly planning to go home and hide.

“Deli…”

Delibird tugged on Lucas’s clothes, who hadn’t reacted for a while, and asked what he planned to do.

Delibird was somewhat speechless. It was that boy with the Pikachu again. It didn’t know if it was just its imagination, but Delibird felt like it could see that boy getting pulled into bizarre incidents at literally any time.

Lucas fell into a suspicious silence that looked like he was weighing his options.

But his heart was anything but calm.

Of all times to arrive, it had to be now—right at the events of “Spell of the Unown”.

Judging from the rebroadcast footage, it looked like Ash and company had already entered the Crystal Tower, huh?
Next there’d be a gauntlet of battles, then they’d find Delia. At the last second, Charizard would fly in from the Charicific Valley and duke it out with the fake Entei for a solid three hundred rounds. Then Molly would be moved, Entei would lose its hostility, and in order to break the barrier trapping everyone, the false Entei would go all out, disappear, and dungeon clear.

From the looks of it, whether he went or not, no one would die. The missing Professor Hale would return. Everything would end happily ever after.

Except for that Entei the Unown created from Molly’s dreams.

Lucas suddenly recalled his own emotions when he’d watched this movie.

There was no real villain in this film. And when that Entei, false in origin but absolutely genuine in emotion and conviction, vanished, Lucas had felt a deep regret in his heart.

“…Forget it.”

With a sigh, Lucas gripped the Silver Wing hanging at his chest and pulled out his phone to glance at the contact Oranguru.

Whether he summoned Lugia, or called Oranguru and had it shake Calyrex over so Calyrex could teleport like Mewtwo from afar—even if something unexpected happened, they’d have more than enough insurance.

Even without counting them as regular combat power, he had the strength needed to intervene.

Since that was the case, why not just follow his heart?

Entei—he’d decided.

He was going to save it.

…

Chapter 381 – Heroes Always Show Up at the Critical Moment

East of Goldenrod, west of Route 32, lay a beautiful green meadow voted “The number one place girls most want to go in Johto.”

Right now, however, it was shrouded in fear.

Even though night had already fallen, the flow of people and cars leaving the nearby town still packed the roads to overflowing.

Most of the residents of Greenfield and the tourists who had come here were terrified by the towering Crystal Tower at the edge of the field—along with the ever-expanding crystalline domain surrounding it—and had begun to flee.

Even with Officer Jenny and the police trying to calm everyone down, the evacuation was still frantic and desperate.

Greenfield wasn’t far from Goldenrod. Although the Ruins of Alph nearby were also worrisome, Lucas still rode Arcanine and rushed to Greenfield as quickly as he could.

“Awwwoo…”

By the crowded roadside, Arcanine came to a halt and stared in surprise at the enormous crystal tower in the distance.

Things had blown up this big?

Lucas’s eyesight was nowhere as sharp as Arcanine’s, so he could only just barely make out the outline of the crystal tower in the night.

But even the outline was shocking enough.

“So this is the power of the Unown… truly shrouded in mystery, truly unknown…”

Murmuring to himself, Lucas worked his brain, recalling what he knew about Unown.

Unown looked like Latin letters, with 26 letter-shaped forms, plus forms for a question mark and an exclamation point.

Normally Unown only lived in space–time rifts, and almost nobody ever came into contact with them.

As a result, though there were 28 different types, and each form likely had different abilities, no one knew what those abilities were. Unown resembled the writing found on ancient stone tablets and might be related to them.

A single Unown could hardly do anything. Once there were two or more, however, some kind of mysterious power would arise between them.

Inside that Crystal Tower, there were probably hundreds, even thousands, of Unown.

With such a huge number of Unown generating that power, even Lucas couldn’t afford to be careless.

Right now, he needed to find Professor Oak and learn the current situation inside the Crystal Tower.

From what he remembered of the movie’s side characters, Professor Oak should, by now, have a communicator capable of contacting people inside the tower. Finding him would be the fastest way to learn what was going on.

Maybe his luck was good today. Just as Lucas was trying to recall where Oak would be, someone came looking for him.

A young male officer in a police cap fought his way past the congested road and approached Lucas and Arcanine, who were standing on a small slope.

While glancing curiously at Arcanine, the officer spoke politely to Lucas. “Trainer, the area ahead is dangerous. Please don’t go any further.”

“Officer, I’m looking for Professor Oak. Do you know where he is?”

Instead of turning back as the officer expected, Lucas asked very seriously.

The officer froze and withdrew his gaze from Arcanine, giving Lucas a proper look. For some reason, he felt Lucas looked familiar.

But to uphold his duty and obey orders from his superiors, the officer still replied by the book. “For your safety and your partner’s safety, please don’t proceed any—”

Before he could finish, a firm yet heroic female voice cut in.

“Let him through. I’ll take him to Professor Oak myself.”

Hearing that voice, the officer blinked and looked back.

He saw his superior, Officer Jenny, standing there at some point, staring straight at Lucas.

“Officer Jenny…”

“Go help with crowd control.”

Jenny patted the male officer’s shoulder, indicating he should step back and let her speak with Lucas.

It was an order from his superior, so he could only obey and retreat.

But before he fully turned around, he saw something astonishing.

Officer Jenny’s legs were together, posture upright and formal, her face filled with seriousness and respect as she saluted Lucas. “Thank you for coming to our aid, Mr. Lucas!”

Lucas slid down off Arcanine’s back and gave her a somewhat surprised look. “You know who I am?”

Jenny nodded seriously. “The Jenny in Goldenrod is my older sister. After the Team Rocket robbery incident, we were ordered to make sure we could recognize you, so we wouldn’t be discourteous.”

Powerful Trainers were already worthy of respect, and Lucas was the kind of powerful Trainer who had stepped up and stopped a major anomaly in the Orange Archipelago.

Before, Jenny had only heard of that case and thought whoever pulled that off was extraordinary.

Now, with all four of Johto’s Elite Four and the Champion on missions elsewhere, and the nearest high-level help at least one night away from Greenfield, Lucas was like rain falling on parched land. To Jenny, who was watching him appear like welcome relief, he was a strong ally she respected from the bottom of her heart.

“You’ve stolen my lines entirely,” Lucas said, scratching his head and a little embarrassed to meet her reverent gaze.

After all, he hadn’t planned to come here initially. And even now, he was only here because he wanted to indulge himself a little.

“I’ll offer you a proper apology later,” Jenny said. “Please come with me. Professor Oak and Professor Hale’s assistant are at the Pokémon Center.”

“There’s no need to—”

Patting Arcanine to get it moving, Lucas followed Jenny.

Behind them, the male officer finally snapped out of it, shocked as he watched Lucas’s disappearing back.

He now understood why Lucas had looked so familiar.

He was the rumored hero who had stopped the rampage of the three legendary birds in the Orange Archipelago.

With him here, everything would definitely work out… right?

…

“Ash! Ash!”

In a room in the Pokémon Center housing several computers, Professor Oak was shouting anxiously into a communicator shaped like a small kid’s watch.

There was no response from the other side—only the occasional majestic roar of a beast, and the sounds of intense battle.

When Jenny brought Lucas here, this was what he walked in on.

Hearing the beastly roars echoing in the room, Lucas frowned slightly.

So Ash was already fighting Entei?

Was it Pikachu? Or Charizard?

Only after Hale’s assistant reminded him did Oak notice Jenny and Lucas had arrived.

When he saw Lucas, a flicker of surprise flashed in Oak’s eyes. His gaze lingered on the Arcanine at Lucas’s side for a long moment before he forced himself—through sheer willpower—to look away.

Worthy of his reputation as a world-famous Pokémon Professor, Oak got straight to the point, as if he already knew why Lucas had come. He gave a brief summary of the current situation.

Inside the Crystal Tower, an Entei that seemed to have been created by Unown’s power was blocking Ash and his party, and had launched an attack on them.

“Ash and Pikachu seem to have been stopped by Entei—the one born from Molly’s dreams using the power of the Unown. After I heard Ash shout ‘Charizard!’ there’s been no more response.”

“Could his Charizard have flown over from the Charicific Valley? Or in the dream world inside the Crystal Tower, can Ash and the others manipulate the dream freely as well?”

Oak frowned, connecting a few fragments of information he’d heard through the communicator and offering a guess.

Stripping out Oak’s incorrect speculation, Lucas locked onto the key word—“Charizard”—and understood the current situation.

The Charizard from the valley had arrived and was currently one-on-one against the phantom Entei.

And the timing… was perfect.

Worried he might have arrived late and missed the best window, Lucas relaxed a little and said to Oak, “Leave the rest to me.”

“Sorry to trouble you again, Mr. Lucas,” Oak replied, nodding. With Lucas here, he finally felt he could breathe.

He hadn’t brought his old partner on this trip, and the Pokémon Center’s PC transfer system was down. Even if he had Kid call his partner and have it fly over, the distance from Pallet to Greenfield meant it would probably be dawn by the time it arrived.

Lucas’s sudden appearance, like timely rain, soothed Oak’s anxious heart somewhat.

Under the trusting gaze of everyone in the Pokémon Center, Lucas remounted Arcanine, released Delibird, and rushed straight toward the Crystal Tower—still expanding its crystalline domain outward.

Very soon, despite the darkness, as the distance shrank, even Lucas could clearly make out the terrain around the tower.

The soil, the grass, the trees, the vivid flowerbeds, human houses and vehicles—everything had been crystallized by a mysterious force, and that crystallization was still spreading.

At the source of it all, the Hale Mansion at the center was wrapped in petal-like crystal structures.

From within came the faint sounds of intense battling.

Given Charizard’s current strength, it wouldn’t be able to hold out too long against Entei—a legendary Pokémon used as a template and then created by the power of many Unown.

Lucas decided he needed to make things a little… louder.

“Stop sleeping. Time to work.”

He poked Victini, which was still invisible and fast asleep on his shoulder—so deeply that even Jenny and Professor Oak hadn’t noticed it at all.

He remembered clearly how dangerous these crystals were. Once touched, who knew what unexpected consequences might occur?

In the movie, Ash’s group had snuck into the Crystal Tower through an uncrystallized stream, but that required going the long way around. He preferred something simpler, more straightforward—

Using brute force, and smashing straight through.

“Viiini~”

Roused by Lucas, Victini blinked sleepily, yawned, then floated drowsily onto Arcanine’s head. A golden aura began to ripple around it.

In almost no time, Arcanine felt its body overflowing with power, so much so that it was on the verge of bursting, along with a sense that it could do literally anything.

At the same time, Lucas called out in his mind, “System, time to work.”

【System at your service. Please set a destination!】

“Where Charizard and Entei are fighting.”

【Routing in progress… Route calculated!】

In Lucas’s field of vision, a clear marker appeared.

It was changing in real time, too, showing how intense the battle between Charizard and Entei already was.

Lucas narrowed his eyes, confirmed the direction, and patted the already eager Arcanine beneath him, then pointed toward a spot and said solemnly, “Burn it all—Overheat!”

“Awooooo——!”

Ecstatic, Arcanine threw back its head and howled. Light burst from its mouth, no weaker than the light from a typical Pokémon using a Z-Move.

The air around them instantly grew scorching hot, the crimson glow nearly bright enough to illuminate half the sky.

A terrifying ball of flame swelled in front of Arcanine, condensing and compressing. At this level, Arcanine still couldn’t both unleash its full power and protect Lucas at the same time.

That was where Delibird in his arms came in.

Delibird began manipulating ice-type energy. Using itself, Lucas, and Victini as the center, it drew water from the air, freezing it into layers of melting and refreezing ice shields to block the heat.

Fortunately, it had just rained in Greenfield not long ago; there was plenty of moisture in the air for Delibird to use. Arcanine also did its best to keep the fireball from impacting its rear.

Only with Delibird putting everything into the ice shields could they withstand even the aftershocks of that crimson heatwave.

The next instant—

As the fire was compressed to its absolute limit, with Victini’s infinite energy pouring in, the now gold-streaked crimson fireball exploded forward under Arcanine’s control, turning into a terrifying tidal wave of flames. Carrying the power of a volcanic eruption pushed to the extreme, it annihilated everything in its path—including those crystal structures.

BOOM——KABOOM!!!

A torrent of smoke was hurled into the sky by the blast of flame. The destructive “Overheat” lived up to its name, more like an “Inferno Overdrive” pushed beyond its limits, burning away everything before it.

Fire raged wild as a dragon, the shattered crystals revealing scorched, bare earth. The ground glowed red like a furnace, blackened wasteland stretching into the distance, and even the night sky itself looked eerily lit.

On the distant Crystal Tower, even those giant crystal petals had been punctured by a massive, jagged hole.

Seeing the devastation in front of him—and having already confirmed there were no humans or Pokémon along the path—Lucas gently patted Arcanine, telling it to sprint at full speed down the newly carved tunnel.

After releasing such an overwhelming move, Arcanine felt utterly refreshed. It barked excitedly and surged forward like a living fireball.

Only Lucas’s muttered words were left behind, slowly scattering into the air.

“Good thing I’m a professional in agriculture. Once this is over, I should be able to restore this place. That way I won’t get arrested for destroying a tourist spot…”

The commotion Lucas caused was so great it was impossible to hide from anyone in Greenfield.

...

Pokémon Center.

Professor Oak and Officer Jenny rushed outside and stared at the column of flame lighting up the sky, clicking their tongues.

“This is… outrageous…”

…

Inside the Crystal Tower, shortly before this—

Ash was commanding his Charizard, already exhausted from prolonged fighting, as it tangled with Entei.

This Entei’s stamina seemed endless; it was the strongest opponent Ash had faced since becoming a Trainer.

Even though Charizard had the advantage in the air, crystal pillars kept protruding from the tower walls at just the right times, appearing beneath Entei’s feet. They even helped the flightless Entei completely overpower Charizard in mobility.

Worse, whenever the tired Charizard drew close to the tower, crystal spikes would suddenly shoot up, stabbing at Charizard’s most vulnerable and least-protected spot: its belly.

Even the stubborn Ash knew the longer this dragged on, the slimmer their chances of victory became.

Misty’s and Brock’s Pokémon had already been defeated by the crystallized Pokémon of adult Molly and child Molly. Pikachu was also gravely injured. The only thing left able to fight was Charizard, who had rushed here to help.

“Damn it… Charizard!”

Just as Ash was about to gamble everything, perhaps due to sheer accumulated fatigue from the prolonged battle, Charizard let its focus slip for a split second.

Or maybe Ash’s shout drew its attention.

Charizard failed to notice a crystal pillar lancing toward its back and took a direct hit, roaring in pain as it crashed down onto the spike.

Though it quickly realized the danger and struggled to move despite the pain, Entei was already in front of it, flames gathering at its mouth as it prepared a blazing “Flamethrower” in the shape of a massive, fiery kanji. It clearly intended to take out Ash riding on Charizard’s back along with it!

At that very moment—

A violent tremor shook the entire Crystal Tower. A terrifying blast struck the outer crystalline petals guarding it, and countless crystal spikes jutting from the tower snapped from the shockwave.

The broken spikes included the one Ash and Charizard and Entei were standing on.

As the sensation of free-fall hit, Entei immediately canceled its “Fire Blast.”

Created by Molly’s dreams and the power of the Unown, it paid no mind to recoil at all.

It turned its burning gaze toward the source of the explosion, and its roar carried its towering fury.

“ROAR!”

Taking advantage of the brief distraction, Charizard recovered enough to move, flapped its wings, and landed in front of the equally stunned Brock, Misty, Pikachu, Delia, Molly, and the Team Rocket trio.

“Ash! Are you okay?!”

Hearing the anxious voices behind him—especially his mom Delia’s—Ash only nodded to indicate that he and Charizard were fine. His eyes stayed fixed on the gigantic hole blown open by the explosion. Something told him that someone was coming.

If Ash relied on instinct, Entei relied on clear perception. It could feel several unfamiliar auras charging toward them at incredible speed.

Enraged, it once again condensed scorching flames and fired them in that direction.

Anyone who threatened Molly, its daughter, was an enemy.

“Extreme Speed!”

Facing down Entei’s looming, volcanic blast, a calm male voice rang out.

The next instant—

Everyone—Ash and the others—saw a brilliant green streak explode from the smoke. A massive figure, no smaller than Entei, tore through the air at unimaginable speed, dodged the “Fire Blast,” and slammed into Entei, sending it flying!