Deep within the World Tree, emerald light patterns surged like a beating heart.
Marshtomp was enveloped in a brilliant evolutionary glow. As the light peeled away layer by layer, its silhouette rapidly elongated, expanded, and solidified.
Evolution complete.
Its once-rounded body became thick and powerful, its main color shifting to deep blue. Broad black fins resembled armor, while its abdomen remained pure white. Its muscular arms ended in fists that seemed like natural heavy weapons.
Swampert, revealed.
It stomped heavily, causing the entire root-covered ground to tremble violently.
Its orange eyes fixed fiercely on Shiroishi ahead, bursting with rage.
With a furious roar, Swampert's fists became encased in piercing cold.
The ice crystals forming around its Freeze Punch instantly expanded as it struck toward Shiroishi's chest!
The frigid air tore through the atmosphere. Before the punch even landed, the space before Shiroishi froze and cracked.
Shiroishi merely raised a hand slightly.
Bam!
His metallic-hued palm firmly caught Swampert's Freeze Punch.
Frost immediately spread along his arm, attempting to freeze his flesh and Chakra.
But the next moment, an invisible wave of heat rose around Shiroishi.
The unseen thermal energy exploded like a scorching wind, shattering the frost into countless tiny ice fragments that vaporized into steam.
He spoke calmly, his tone as if scolding a disobedient pet: "Is this all you've got?"
As the words fell, Shiroishi pressed down with his hand.
Swampert's fist, capable of shattering boulders, was forcibly suppressed. The joints of its massive body creaked in resistance, yet it couldn't move.
Simultaneously, rustle rustle rustle!
Vines from all directions of the World Tree trembled silently as if receiving a command.
Countless dark green seeds shot out like rain, tracing eerie trajectories as they accurately targeted Swampert.
Leech Seed!
One after another, they embedded themselves into Swampert's thick skin and muscles,
like invisible shackles buried within its body.
Swampert grunted, its massive frame trembling slightly as its vitality was instantly drained and greedily absorbed by the World Tree's roots.
It let out a low, furious roar, gathering strength in both fists to strike at Shiroishi's chest again.
Shiroishi tilted his head slightly, a trace of mockery flashing in his eyes: "Is this how you treat your creator...?"
With effortless grace, he shifted his footing, sliding away as if swallowed by the World Tree's shadow.
Swampert's heavy punch struck the ground, exploding soil and roots and creating a deep crater.
"Wide Guard!"
Countless crystalline barriers unfolded layer upon layer in the air,
encasing Shiroishi's location like overlapping lenses.
Jiraiya had already appeared behind him, forehead wrinkles taut with intense concentration, his pupils reflecting Shiroishi's form.
Clenching his teeth, Sage Art Chakra surged within him, each breath carrying the flow of Natural Energy.
"This ends here!"
Jiraiya pressed his palms together, the crystalline barriers tightening continuously, attempting to trap Shiroishi completely within the confined space.
The World Tree trembled slightly, the space emitting a oppressive hum.
Yet Shiroishi simply extended a hand.
His fingertip lightly traced through the air,
and all the crystalline barriers enveloping him twisted and fractured as if being wrenched apart, revealing distorted cracks.
"Jiraiya-sensei."
Shiroishi murmured softly, his tone devoid of respect, instead carrying a lament for something old and worn.
"Stay here."
"Become a founding elder of the Pokémon League, and witness the end and rebirth of this world."
A cold wind seeped through the gaps in the tree roots, causing Jiraiya's white hair to tremble slightly.
Yet he merely shook his head.
The frivolity on his face vanished, replaced by an uncharacteristic solemnity and silence.
He closed his eyes briefly, and when they reopened, fine lines appeared at their corners.
Faint red patterns, resembling toad markings, emerged on the bridge of his nose and cheeks.
Sage Mode.
Behind him, Swampert let out a low growl,
the Natural Energy within its body resonating with Jiraiya's,
a light akin to that of Mount Myōboku flickering deep within its pupils.
In that moment, human and Pokémon together stepped into a wondrous natural state.
The earth began to churn.
Sage Art: Mudslide Gun!
Jiraiya slammed his palms against the ground, while Swampert raised its arms and drove its fists into the soil.
The entire area housing the World Tree Roots was swept up in a tsunami of mud and rock.
Countless mudflows roared like dragons toward Shiroishi, mingled with high-density rocks and Chakra shockwaves.
Roots were torn asunder, chunks of bark crumbled away, and even the poisonous bubbles suspended in the air were scattered into disarray.
Shiroishi leaped upward, landing on a root materializing mid-air, a bizarre light coalescing in his palm.
That radiance seemed to fuse life, toxicity, and control into an aberrant energy.
Simultaneously,
the Leech Seed that had earlier embedded itself within Swampert's body
was now activated by him.
The seed erupted into frenzied growth inside Swampert, tiny vines sprouting from its muscles and blood vessels, threatening to bind its organs and skeleton into a tangled mass.
Swampert roared in agony, its knees buckling as it collapsed chaotically into the mudflow.
"Swampert!!!"
Jiraiya's expression shifted sharply.
The Leech Seed's roots crept along Swampert's spine, racing toward its brain.
In an instant, Swampert's gaze turned murky,
its once-resolute pupils overlaid with an eerie green glow.
Its body convulsed, then slowly rose.
But this time, it did not roar at Shiroishi.
Instead, it turned.
Toward Jiraiya.
Jiraiya froze for half a second.
In the next moment, Swampert raised its right fist, sheathed in frigid air.
With a sound that cracked the atmosphere, the iron-hard fist, carrying a chill capable of shattering bone, slammed viciously into Jiraiya's chest!
Jiraiya hastily raised his arms to block,
three layers of crystalline barriers abruptly stacking before him.
CRACK!!—
The first layer shattered instantly.
The second layer fissured.
The third held for barely a breath before being obliterated by the combined force of extreme cold and brute strength.
Ice shards exploded outward, and Jiraiya was sent flying by the residual impact,
his body crashing against a tree root before tumbling heavily to the ground.
A sharp pain shot through his chest; looking down, he saw frost flowers spreading across his robes.
"Sw… Swampert…"
When he lifted his gaze, he was met with Swampert's unfocused eyes.
Shiroishi emerged slowly from the tree shadows,
his eyes holding no joy, only a cold inevitability.
"See, Jiraiya-sensei."
"In this domain of the World Tree, the bonds and partners you speak of can all be redefined."
Shiroishi controlled Swampert, who at this moment had a face full of agony, yet his body moved involuntarily under Shiroishi's command, step by step toward Jiraiya.
The swirling Mudslide around them and the gradually disintegrating crystalline defenses indicated that Jiraiya's Sage Art power had also reached its limit.
"It's over, Master Jiraiya."
As Shiroishi's words fell, Swampert remained stuck in place, unmoving.
Struggling against Shiroishi's control with his own will.
--Enjoying the story? Want more chapters? Check out my Patreon and support me for 40+ advance chapters.
Just search for "LegendaryTL" on Patreon!"
Thanks!