Chapter 839: Arriving at the Alola League
Half a year passed.
The Alola region, its easternmost island, Ula'ula Island.
"The Alola region, once a world-renowned resort destination, now looks just like four ghost islands."
Stepping onto the beach in the southeastern part of Ula'ula Island, Kazuya sighed with deep emotion.
This place was not unfamiliar to him.
During his fourth and fifth lives, he often came to the Alola region with his family.
That is, Lorelei's family and Cynthia's family.
He came more often with Lorelei's family.
After all, Lorelei's whole family loved these warm coastal places, and the Alola region was quite close to the Sevii Islands region.
Although the Pokémon League in the Alola region was established relatively late.
That didn't mean the Alola region was any less famous.
Among the many regions without a Pokémon League, Alola was undeniably No. 1.
After all, Alola's real-world equivalent is Hawaii.
A globally renowned resort.
It used to consist of four large islands and one artificial island with warm climates and abundant resources.
Every island possessed rich tribal and totem cultures waiting for Trainers to explore, as well as a massive number of scenic spots.
You must know.
In the Alola region, there was such a guidebook...
"Ula'ula Beach, ranked 74th among the [Alola Top 100 Scenic Spots]. Its specialty is surfing. It seems there is a Mantine nest nearby; people can surf together with the Mantine here."
Mewtwo, holding a guidebook pulled from who-knows-where, was explaining.
Alola Top 100 Scenic Spots.
This wasn't something every region could compile.
After all, the vast majority of regions couldn't scrape together even fifty scenic spots, even if they tried hard.
Yet, in Alola, they could easily gather over a hundred.
However.
That was then.
Today, the green coverage rate of the Alola region had dropped to single digits; where would there still be so many scenic spots?
Just like the beach beneath their feet.
It was lifeless and gloomy.
Not even a single magical beast could be seen.
Where was the beauty in this?
"Can we really find intelligence about Shadow here? Even if there were records of such things, wouldn't they have long been refreshed during the world's reversal?"
Lucario twitched his ears, perceiving the surroundings.
"Perhaps some survivors in the know managed to stay alive."
Kazuya raised his head and looked at the high mountain in the distance.
The high mountain right in the center of the island was called Mount Lanakila.
It was a snow peak towering into the clouds. To be able to maintain year-round snow and ice in a tropical region, with occasional hail and ice crystals at the summit, was quite something.
And that place.
Was also the location of the Alola League.
They would be heading there next to find the cause of the Great Darkness.
"The guardian deity of Ula'ula Island is Tapu Bulu, right? That lazy bull? Will we run into It?"
Dragonite raised a hand and scratched her head.
Although she hadn't traveled much to remote regions, she had still been to a place as close as Alola.
The regions closest to Alola were Kanto, Galar, and Orre.
Moreover.
The four guardian deities of the Alola region were different from other Legendary Pokémon.
These four had a very high appearance rate, frequently appearing before humans and often being on television. Even those who had never been to the Alola region should know of their existence.
"It might not be lazy, just having a calmer personality. This point has always been controversial in the Pokémon world, but it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if It comes or not."
Kazuya took a step forward.
His companions hurriedly followed.
The four guardian deities of Alola are very weak, belonging to an existence even slightly weaker than the Legendary Beasts and Legendary Titans.
They were simply the absolute bottom of the second-tier gods, acting like gatekeepers.
If They came, They would basically be one-shot material.
"Aren't you going to devour Its power?"
Dragonite turned to look at Kazuya.
Ever since the latter devoured Victini's power, he hadn't devoured the power of any other Legendary Pokémon.
Of course.
Part of the reason was that they had been moving underwater and hadn't encountered other Legendary Pokémon.
However.
Since they were on land now.
Shouldn't they actively hunt other Demon Gods and devour Their power to strengthen themselves?
"It's useless."
Kazuya shrugged and shook his head, saying, "The abilities of Alola's four guardian deities are all very weak. If we encounter Them, I'll devour Them; if we don't, there's no need to specifically look for Them. The boost to my combat power would be almost zero."
The four 'wooden doors' of Alola are gods born from the nature of Alola.
Their powers are essentially all related to nature.
Tapu Koko can summon thunderclouds and control lightning, but the cast time is long and the lightning power isn't strong. Its strength lies in Its ability to store this lightning in Its body until it's strong enough to release. But Kazuya's body cannot store lightning.
Tapu Lele can control scales to heal injuries and diseases, but overusing these scales might cause abnormal status conditions, and the healing effect isn't as good as directly using Heal Pulse.
Tapu Bulu can manipulate and control the growth of vegetation, but in today's world, there isn't much vegetation left to hasten the growth of. This ability might not even compare to Yamato's Wood Release from Naruto next door.
Tapu Fini can manipulate water currents and generate fog, which is the most useless of all for Kazuya, who possesses the Sea Crown.
Therefore.
Kazuya absolutely wouldn't waste time searching for these four guardian deities.
If they encountered Them, he would devour Them; if not, forget it.
They had a lot to do in this Alola region and no time to waste on these four.
"If it were Solgaleo or Lunala, we could consider it. If it's Necrozma, we should just hurry up and run for our lives."
Kazuya added.
The Legendary Cosmic Pokémon is the collective name for these first-tier gods in the Alola region.
A group of Pokémon from Ultra Space.
Not native gods of this world.
The beast that devours the sun and the beast that calls the moon can be considered the native first-tier gods of the Alola region, with strength roughly comparable to Kanto's Gold and Silver birds (Ho-Oh and Lugia).
As for Necrozma...
Necrozma alone is very weak, comparable to 50% Forme Zygarde.
But Necrozma fused with Solgaleo or Lunala is known as an existence whose "strength surpasses all Legendary Pokémon."
Whether that's true or not is debatable.
But it's definitely not something they could mess with right now.
If they encountered It, the probability of dying in battle might be even greater than the difficulty of escaping from Kyurem.
While chatting about the intelligence of these few Demon Gods in the Alola region.
The group headed all the way towards Mount Lanakila.
Before nightfall.
They had already reached the summit.
The Alola League is a magical place.
It's composed of a massive igloo, wrapped in a thick layer of ice on the outside, with a circle of insulating material on the inside. It looks as if it's a naturally formed structure.
Stepping inside.
The cold completely receded, and warmth rushed at them.
Established in League Calendar Year 229, the Alola League hadn't been around for long. After all, although the scenery here was beautiful and its reputation wasn't low, the fatal flaw was its sparse population.
However.
Precisely because it hadn't been established for long.
All the facilities and equipment inside the League were high-tech products at the forefront of technology at the time. Even a public computer looked incredibly luxurious.
"Because of the organization Aether Foundation, the technology in the Alola region can be said to be very developed. Only the Paldea region can compare to it."
"Coincidentally, I basically know how to use these machines. Lucario, go turn on the backup generator inside the League. The rest of you, follow me."
"I'll see if I can help heal some of the stubborn hidden injuries you've accumulated over the years, and also check everyone's physical condition while we're at it."
Kazuya led everyone deep into the League.
Generally, League laboratories are located at the deepest part of the lowest or highest floors.
Basically, wherever there are the most security measures.
The entire interior of the Alola League was empty.
He knew this the moment he stepped inside.
Which meant.
It was impossible for there to be intelligence regarding the Great Darkness here.
So there was no need to waste time searching for anything.
"As expected of Master! You even know how to use these complex human machines!"
Scizor, beside him, seized the opportunity to quickly offer praise.
"..."
Kazuya glanced at him, ignoring him.
Although he was a Pokémon.
The underlying code of his thinking ultimately belonged to a human.
So he didn't find it strange to use these human devices.
Having seen a lot.
Even if he didn't understand the underlying principles.
He could somewhat operate them.
Like during his seventh life, when XY was creating Magearna. Although Kazuya didn't understand mysterious sciences, because he had seen AZ and XY conducting research quite often, he could occasionally lend a hand and operate some things.
"Where are we going next?"
Skitty, with her paws tucked under her, lay in Kazuya's arms, looked up, and asked.
Her foxtail-grass-like tail swayed back and forth behind her. When it swayed in front of her face, she couldn't control herself and reached out to bat at it.
"'Aether Paradise', the artificial island located in the center of the four islands. There are definitely quite a few secrets in that place."
Kazuya reached out and rubbed the kitten's head, his eyes narrowing.
Aether Foundation.
An organization dedicated to protecting wild Pokémon and researching Ultra Beasts, considered a righteous organization.
Before the birth of the Alola League, the Aether Foundation was always responsible for protecting the Pokémon of the Alola region.
And Aether Paradise.
Was the artificial island built by the Aether Foundation.
At the same time.
It was also a massive research base and Pokémon shelter.
Colress, one of the bosses and scientists of Team Plasma, ran to Aether Paradise to conduct research after Team Plasma disbanded.
Kazuya didn't doubt it at all.
Inside Aether Paradise right now.
There must be black tech that could help them, and perhaps even survivors hiding who knew some secrets.
They had to go to that place.
"Hmm?"
Just then, Kazuya paused his steps and turned his head to look behind him.
"What is it?"
Skitty asked in confusion.
The other Pokémon also turned their heads to look back simultaneously.
Outside the gates of the Alola League.
Stood a pitch-black, gaunt figure. The figure simply stood there quietly amidst the ice and snow, staring at them.
Kazuya's eyes narrowed slightly.
That thing was so close.
Yet Kazuya hadn't sensed its presence.
This meant.
That thing wasn't alive.
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