Reshiram vanished, and even the Blue Flare disappeared with it, as if neither had ever been there.
Dark Kyurem's gaze swept across the cavern as it tried to sense where Reshiram had gone.
But no matter how it searched, Reshiram felt as though it had been recalled straight into a Poké Ball. There was no trace of its location at all.
"That's strange. Why can't I sense it?"
Normally, since Reshiram and it came from the same original source, it should have been able to feel where Reshiram was even if it had been recalled.
"Mew~"
(That's because I helped~)
Mew reverted from its Vanilluxe disguise and shot out of the blizzard. A huge ball of fire swirled around its pink arm.
Cross Flame, the signature move of Reshiram and White Kyurem.
As the Pokémon that carried the genes of all Pokémon, Mew could learn almost any move.
Naturally, that included Cross Flame.
Dark Kyurem instantly raised both arms. Endless lightning gathered between its palms, condensing into a massive sphere of energy.
Fusion Bolt.
The two moves affected each other. Cross Flame wound itself with arcs of electricity, while Fusion Bolt crackled with sparks of fire.
Its opponent had somehow changed from Reshiram to Mew in the middle of the fight, and Dark Kyurem only had one thought.
What the hell?
Grey was way too ridiculous.
Switching fighters around like this and all kinds of other nonsense, why didn't he just jump it already?
Dark Kyurem was thinking exactly that.
And then it realized something was wrong.
A flash of blue light had suddenly appeared right in front of it.
Reshiram emerged from the storm, and Blue Flare roared straight toward Dark Kyurem, engulfing it in an instant.
"You... have no shame!"
For the first time, Dark Kyurem felt like it had been the honest one.
Grey was just too crafty.
Was this how humans in the outside world actually fought Pokémon battles?
Dark Kyurem very badly wanted to ask him that.
"Kyurem, you started it, so don't complain now."
Grey made it clear that it had originally been a one-on-one fight, but Kyurem had suddenly used Zekrom's power and turned into Dark Kyurem. Since that was the case, bringing Mew in to join the battle was perfectly reasonable.
"Tch. Fine, I lost. I wasn't good enough, happy now?"
Dark Kyurem shifted back into its normal form, the gray-blue dragon body dropping to the ground.
Even though it had come up a bit short after getting ganged up on, Kyurem still felt that if it fought Grey in a true battle, it would definitely be the one to win.
Of course, that assumed Grey did not bring Mew out.
"All right, now I've got a serious question for you."
As Kyurem landed, Grey started thinking about something that actually mattered.
"What is it? Go ahead."
Kyurem raised a brow, curious why Grey sounded so solemn.
"Kyurem, which Poké Ball do you want to go in?"
Grey cared a lot about whether the color of a Poké Ball suited a legendary Pokémon when he caught one.
At the moment, Reshiram was in a Cherish Ball, Articuno was in a Great Ball, and Zapdos was in an Ultra Ball.
All of them matched perfectly.
As for Kyurem, the only colors that really seemed to fit were a Timer Ball or a Heavy Ball.
"Huh? That's it?"
Kyurem had thought Grey was about to ask something important, and instead he was asking which Poké Ball it liked?
Seriously?
"Hey, one thing at a time. A Poké Ball is for life. If you're not happy with it, I'll have to swap it out later."
Grey really did not want to waste extra money on that.
Kyurem: "..."
"Then that one. The Timer Ball. It kind of suits me."
Kyurem looked at Grey's phone, which was showing pictures of a Heavy Ball and a Timer Ball.
After a quick look, it found the Timer Ball more to its liking.
In the end, it was just changing places to sleep. The Poké Ball itself did not really matter that much.
"Okay, Timer Ball it is."
Grey made a show of reaching into his bag, though in reality he was taking the Timer Ball out of his system space.
The Timer Ball enlarged in his hand, and Grey threw it toward Kyurem.
Thunk.
The Timer Ball hit the ground, and Kyurem gave it one symbolic struggle.
Then the capture succeeded.
"Whew, I caught Kyurem!"
Grey picked up the Timer Ball. This was the second top-tier Legendary he had caught.
At this point, all three of Unova's top-tier Legendary Pokémon had been captured.
And two of them were in his hands.
If Alder found out, he would probably want to keep Grey in Unova permanently.
Then again, that was not really a problem.
Grey did not have any interest in becoming Champion anyway.
Even if someone tried to force him to stay, he could just leave.
Besides, he knew Alder would never do that.
With that thought, Grey called Alder.
"Mr. Alder, Ghetsis has been dealt with. Is there anything else you need from me on your end? I'll be leaving Unova in a few days. I'll come back again when I get the chance."
Grey did the math.
He had already spent half a month in Unova.
In another half month, the real Gym Leader showdown would begin.
Sixteen Gym Leaders would take part in that tournament, including several whose strength had already reached Champion level.
By now, Grey's plans had changed.
At first, he had thought he might barely be able to reach third place.
But things were different now.
With two top-tier Legendary Pokémon in hand, making the top three was no longer a question.
In fact, there was a very high chance he could charge all the way to first with overwhelming force.
Not tie for first with Giovanni.
Actually take first.
There was a big difference between those two outcomes, and Grey felt that if first place was within reach, then he absolutely had to go for it.
But there was still one major issue.
Both Pryce and Giovanni had hidden cards.
The former had a terrifyingly strong Delibird and Swinub, while the latter had not only a Beedrill, but also the title of a master of the earth and the status of the Gym Leader most likely to become Champion.
And the hidden-ace Pokémon those two trainers had were already in the realm of battle legends.
On Grey's side, if he counted everything, he only really had Reshiram, Kyurem, and Mew available. More importantly, those were all trump cards too, and unless absolutely necessary, it was better not to use them.
So the one he could really rely on in normal battle was only Annihilape.
Hmm...
Thinking of that, Grey rubbed his chin and sent Kyurem back out.
"Hey, Kyurem, let me ask you something."
Grey nudged Kyurem with his elbow a couple times. "Where are the three masters of my Keldeo?"
He had not forgotten about the Swords of Justice.
As Keldeo's masters, all three were Fighting-type legendaries, exactly the kind of Pokémon that matched his specialty perfectly.
If he could bring them along too, then Grey felt like his list of trump cards would get a lot longer.
"Come with me. Your Keldeo's masters are deeper inside."
Kyurem breathed out a stream of cold air and slowly led Grey deeper into the cavern.
Three blocks of ice stood there.
From left to right, they held a blue ram, a brown bull, and a green deer.
Grey recognized them at a glance.
Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion.
Keldeo's masters, all of them at minimum Elite Four level.
Pokémon: Cobalion
Type: Steel / Fighting
Level: 65
Ability: Justified
Moves: Sacred Sword, others omitted.
...
Pokémon: Terrakion
Type: Rock / Fighting
Level: 65
Ability: Justified
Moves: Sacred Sword, others omitted.
...
Pokémon: Virizion
Type: Grass / Fighting
Level: 65
Ability: Justified
Moves: Sacred Sword, others omitted.
All three were level 65.
Solid Elite Four main-team level.
Grey let out a low whistle and looked at Kyurem.
"Let them go."
"Mm."
Kyurem nodded. It did not roar or make any big show of it. It simply stepped forward once.
Crack...
With the sound of ice breaking, all three frozen blocks in front of Grey shattered apart.
Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion, the whole "-ion" crew, were finally free.
But...
According to what Keldeo had imagined, it was supposed to fight Kyurem for three hundred rounds, awaken some ultimate finishing move, and only then would its three masters be released.
Instead, because of Grey, Kyurem had just let all three of them go.
So what was there to say about that?
The outcome was good, sure, but the process made it feel like Keldeo had done absolutely nothing.
Keldeo stepped out of its Poké Ball, eyes shimmering with tears.
"Masters!"
"W... weren't we frozen by Kyurem? Why did Kyurem let us go? Hm? And why is there a human here too?"
Cobalion was the first to come back to its senses. It clearly remembered being trapped in ice half a month ago.
It was still in the same place, but the whole situation felt completely different now.
There was actually a human standing between Kyurem and its own student Keldeo.
How strange.
Why were they together?
Any one of those things on its own would not have seemed odd.
But all three standing together?
That looked wrong no matter how you sliced it.
Hmm...
Then again, kids had their own lives to live.
As Keldeo's master, Cobalion was practically half its father already.
Maybe it was time to let the kid enjoy its own good fortune.
"Keldeo! Why are you standing with a human and Kyurem? Get over here!"
Terrakion had a bad temper. Over the years, it had walked the earth and seen more than enough devious humans.
Of the three Swords of Justice, it was the one that disliked humans the most.
So the moment it saw Grey, its anger actually flared even harder than when it saw Kyurem.
"Master, it's not like that. Grey is a good person!"
Keldeo immediately spoke up for Grey. Over this stretch of time, Grey had truly treated it well.
He was nothing like the bad humans it had known before.
And the people around Grey were all pretty decent too, at least nothing like the hateful humans Keldeo used to meet.
Over the past few days, Keldeo's mindset had changed a lot.
At the very least, it no longer hated humans the way it once had.
"What?! Did he brainwash you? He must've brainwashed you if you turned out like this!"
Terrakion was furious. The moment it saw Keldeo's reaction, it wanted to charge over and knock some sense back into its student.
"No, that's not it! Master, you're too quick to judge! Why can't you calm down and listen to the explanation first?"
Keldeo's temperament had changed too.
At the very least, it no longer swung a club at all humanity the way Terrakion did.
"That's right. I also think everyone ought to calm down instead of shouting like this. Really, what a mess."
Virizion, the one who sounded the most feminine, spoke bluntly.
Terrakion: "..."
So now it was the only bad guy here, was that it?
One by one, they all got to sound noble and reasonable while it got painted as the villain.
Heh. Figures. It was always easier to push around the one who was too straightforward.
"So, Keldeo, why is Kyurem staying with all of you?"
Virizion still maintained a neutral attitude toward humans. Someone who could stand here with Kyurem and not get attacked by it was probably a... normal person, at least.
And really, even though Kyurem had frozen them before, they all knew the true reason.
Keldeo had gone charging in to challenge Kyurem.
To be honest, Kyurem had just been sleeping peacefully when someone barged in and interrupted it. Anyone would have been angry.
If anything, the whole thing had helped take the edge off Keldeo's arrogance.
Overall, it had not even been such a bad thing. After all, none of them had been seriously hurt.
"It's like this. For certain reasons, I ended up catching your student, Keldeo. And now Kyurem and I are planning to move to the Kanto region. So I wanted to ask, would the three of you have any interest in coming to Kanto with me too?"
Grey briefly explained everything that had happened over the past few days, then extended an invitation to the three Pokémon in front of him.
"This..."
Cobalion began pacing back and forth.
Leaving Unova and going to Kanto.
That was still a pretty unbelievable idea to it.
"Human, what makes you think we would definitely go with you?"
Terrakion stamped forward heavily and released a towering aura.
"But if you want to take me with you, then fine. First, you have to earn my approval with your strength!"
Grey: (⊙_◎)
That sounded awfully familiar.
He felt like he had heard those exact words somewhere before.
Oh, right.
Kyurem had said almost the same thing to him just a little earlier.
Only now it was coming out of Terrakion's mouth instead.
Honestly, it almost made Grey laugh.
"Human, what, are you scared?"
Terrakion was just about to throw down another threat.
And then...
Reshiram descended with a spread of its wings, Blue Flare flowing over its body.
Terrakion: (_)?
Huh?
Reshiram?!
What the hell, even the Dragon of Truth was here?!
Wait a second...
Reshiram, Kyurem, and... why did it smell Victini too?!
Only then did Terrakion notice the little head peeking out from behind Grey.
It was Victini.
Well, great.
At this rate, Grey had probably collected half of Unova's legendary and Mythical Pokémon already.
"So, Terrakion... what was it you were saying just now?"
Grey scratched his head and gave Terrakion a meaningful look.
"The three of us are one body, one soul... hey, hey, Cobalion, Virizion, what are you two doing?"
Terrakion wanted to call its two brothers over so they could stand together on the same side.
Instead, Cobalion and Virizion had already walked right over to Grey's side.
"Terrakion, your hostility toward humans is still too strong. To be honest, over the years I've seen quite a few humans out in the world who were decent people."
Cobalion looked at Terrakion's nearly green face and spoke earnestly.
"That's right. Terrakion, it's been so many years. I think it's time for you to make a few changes too."
Virizion chimed in as well.
Together, the two of them tried to persuade Terrakion not to do something as exhausting and pointless as picking a fight here.
Grey's strength was just too absurd. Better to befriend him if they could.
Terrakion: "..."
That left it completely speechless.
Still, when it thought about the two enormous figures standing behind Grey, Kyurem and Reshiram...
He really did not look like a bad person.
"Maybe I really do need to change a little."
Terrakion nodded lightly, then immediately changed the subject. "But I still want to battle you! Of course, you're not allowed to use legendary or Mythical Pokémon!"
Terrakion added that part quickly.
"That works."
Grey glanced at the Poké Balls at his waist.
Among the Pokémon he had with him, aside from Keldeo, the weakest one was still at least Elite Four level.
Sparring with Terrakion would not be a problem at all.
"All right then. I won't bully a bull too much. I'll use this one against you, how about that?"
Grey sent out Blaziken.
Compared to the inexperienced Torchic from two and a half months ago, Blaziken's aura now felt polished and restrained, all its strength kept under control.
"Good!"
Terrakion let out a relieved breath, then roared.
"Human, come fight!"
The instant the words fell, Terrakion released Rock-type energy. Broken stones and chunks of earth across the battlefield shook violently, then rose into the air under an invisible force, forming huge boulders.
In Grey's eyes, hundreds of enormous rocks gathered above Blaziken's head into a storm dark enough to blot out the sky, then came crashing down with shrill screams through the air.
Blaziken was instantly swallowed by the shadow of the falling rocks.
"Detect."
The moment the battle began, Grey recognized the move as Rock Slide and gave the order immediately.
Blaziken clenched its fists, its eyes sharp.
In an instant, its agile body flashed and twisted through the rain of stone, slipping past one threat after another from Rock Slide.
When the barrage ended, a red glow rose from Blaziken's body, and its speed increased.
"That's it, Blaziken. Now let's try that."
Grey produced a Key Stone, while Blaziken's Mega Stone had already been equipped beforehand.
Today, he would use Mega Evolution to take on a legendary Pokémon.
"Blaziken, Mega Evolve!"
There was no long flashy buildup. Grey simply reached out and touched the Key Stone, and dazzling light burst forth at once.
Threads of seven-colored energy streamed from the Key Stone, and matching threads rose from Blaziken's body as well.
The two sets of threads met in midair, wrapping Blaziken inside a huge cocoon of light.
Crack!
The sound of a shell breaking echoed throughout the cavern, and Blaziken changed.
The drooping feathers behind its head all stood upright. The flames bursting from its wrists transformed into two long ribbons of fire.
And its red-and-yellow legs darkened into red and black.
Mega Blaziken had entered the field.
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