Aaron pushed down the thoughts racing through his mind, and a bright smile returned to his face.
He looked at the still-angry Arceus-like figure and said, "Arceus, I was only joking earlier. You know, trying to lighten the mood."
Then he straightened his expression with impressive speed.
"This concerns every living thing in the Outer World. How could I possibly run from that?"
His face was solemn enough to look almost convincing.
"Please entrust this responsibility to me."
"I, Aaron, swear that within my lifetime, I will gather all eighteen Plates and summon your mother—pfft, I mean, revive your true form, Arceus."
He spoke with such conviction that anyone who had not known him better might have believed every word.
"I see."
The small figure's anger faded, and a relieved smile appeared on its face.
"So I misunderstood you. I thought you were truly willing to stand by and watch billions of lives perish just because you wanted to live as a slacker."
Its voice remained gentle.
"I was about to strike you dead with heavenly lightning. Fortunately, you corrected yourself in time."
"Otherwise, you might already be a charred corpse."
Aaron: "..."
His smile froze.
Holy shit.
Was that the closest I've ever come to dying?
A chill crawled up his back.
As expected of a fragment tied to the Zap Plate, its temper was terrifying. One wrong sentence, and it had almost smited him on the spot.
Aaron was screaming internally, but on the outside, his smile only became more polite.
"Arceus," he said carefully, "gathering all eighteen Plates sounds extremely dangerous. So, by any chance, do you have a Pokémon that can protect me?"
His eyes brightened.
"Something like Rayquaza would be perfect. Kyogre works too. I'm not picky. I can overlook the tiny detail that it doesn't fly."
The glowing figure stared at him.
"Rayquaza?"
"Kyogre?"
"What are you even talking about?"
Then its expression turned flat.
"If you think I am handing you a Legendary Pokémon on that level, you clearly still haven't woken up."
Aaron's hope cracked a little.
"However," the figure continued, "if you clear the ninth floor, I can give you an Egg belonging to my guardian Pokémon."
Aaron immediately perked up.
"Your guardian Pokémon?"
"What kind of Pokémon?"
A faint smile appeared on the figure's face.
"It is also your opponent on this floor."
Its clear voice echoed through the starlit space.
"Come out."
"Zeraora."
KRAKOOOM!
The moment it spoke, a bolt of yellow lightning struck the ground not far from Aaron.
Electricity surged across the floor as thunder rolled through the void. Within the flashing light, the silhouette of a Pokémon gradually appeared.
When the lightning faded, a feline Pokémon stood upright before him.
It was about 1.8 meters tall, covered in yellow fur, with sharp claws, gray feet, and a lightning-bolt-shaped tail extending from behind it. Its face resembled a cat's, with blue, lightning-shaped whiskers, and electric light flickered inside its eyes.
The Mythical Pokémon.
Zeraora.
Aaron's pupils contracted.
"The Thunderclap Pokémon... Zeraora?"
A status screen immediately appeared before him.
[Name: Zeraora]
[Gender: Male]
[Nature: Adamant]
[Type: Electric]
[Ability: Volt Absorb]
[Base Stats Total: 600]
[Level: Champion (Early Stage)]
[Potential: Master]
[Known Moves: Plasma Fists (Apotheosis), Wild Charge (Perfect), Close Combat (Perfect), Thunder Punch (Perfect), Quick Attack (Perfect), Bulk Up (Perfect), Aerial Ace (Perfect), Fire Punch (Perfect), Knock Off (Perfect), Drain Punch (Perfect), Double Team (Perfect), Outrage (Perfect)...]
[Description: Zeraora, the Thunderclap Pokémon. A Mythical Pokémon with immense electrical power and speed like a bolt of lightning.]
Aaron stared at the panel in shock.
Master-level potential was already ridiculous enough.
But this Zeraora was also Champion-level.
Once a Pokémon advanced from Champion-Class to true Champion, its strength rose by several times. It was not even the same kind of fight anymore.
On top of that, the tower's rules only allowed a challenger's strongest Pokémon to reach Gym-level.
Even if a Trainer brought six peak Gym-level Pokémon, how were they supposed to defeat a Champion-level Mythical Pokémon?
And every move Zeraora had was Perfect or above.
It even had an Apotheosis Plasma Fists.
This was excessive.
No wonder no Trainer had ever cleared the ninth floor.
Whether it was Champion Drake or Braveon, they had both fallen to this Zeraora.
In Hualis, this was considered an impossible stage.
Aaron swallowed hard.
Then he looked back at the Arceus-like figure in disbelief.
"Are you serious?"
His voice almost cracked.
"Do you want me to save the world or not? You brought out a Champion-level Pokémon, and a Mythical one at that?"
He gave the glowing figure a suspicious look.
"I'm starting to think Shadow Arceus sent you here to stop me from saving the Outer World."
The fragment looked away slightly, a rare trace of embarrassment appearing on its face.
"There is nothing I can do. These rules were established long ago."
"They cannot be changed now."
Then it added, almost as if offering compensation, "But you may send all of your Pokémon into battle together. You may even surround Zeraora and attack as a group."
"As long as you defeat it, the victory will count as yours."
...