Pecharunt was pinned down by salt and could no longer move. The treasure it had stolen, the beautiful stones, came tumbling out of its shell with a clattering cascade.
The monkey and the pheasant had both lost consciousness. Only Okidogi still retained a faint thread of awareness, but even it was powerless. It could only stare at the ending before it in despair.
So this was how it ended after all.
"At first, Pecharunt brought all of you here from a distant place because it wanted the love of those two old people."
"Granting every wish was the secret to being adored. However, the reason it embarked on this journey of destruction was also because it had grown tired of its unchanging life."
"But now, an unchanging time of pain will continue. It will continue for a very, very long thousand years."
"The three of you will not escape either. As I said, once you take a life, you can no longer turn back."
"Recite your haiku."
Pinned beneath the rubble, Okidogi looked in terror at the Trainer carrying the greatsword.
If I had known... this horrible ending was waiting.
If I had known I would meet this terrifying human!
Is this guy... really human?
All of the great dog's spirit drained away. Its head drooped, and it passed out. Whatever happened afterward had nothing to do with it anymore. In fact, the same relief Fezandipiti had felt welled up in its heart too.
In this situation, if it got beaten to death, it would not have to worry about what happened after death. Ah, so this is completion.
Kieran said, "They're all... They're all down! Ogerpon! Ogerpon beat them!"
The siblings hiding behind the cowardly lizard stared at Loyalty Plaza, which had been completely destroyed. The earth had split open, the mountainside had collapsed, buildings and great trees had snapped apart, and the whole place had nearly been flattened.
This was the source of the terror felt by the three poisons and the evil ogre.
"An evil ogre... So such a thing truly exists."
An old man's voice came from nearby. The siblings immediately turned back, and the person who appeared a short distance behind them was none other than their grandfather, Yukito.
"Are you two all right? I wanted to come straight here, but the battle ahead was far too intense. Thank goodness a powerful Pokémon was protecting you!"
"No, this battle was one-sided, actually. The Loyal Three, carrying toxins and malice, never held the initiative for even a moment. Just like the legend says, Ogerpon defeated them all!"
"However, what we saw now differs from the legend. At least in the stories passed down by our ancestors, no one ever said Ogerpon possessed such tremendous power, or that the number of masks reached as many as nine... Perhaps the true legend our ancestors passed down really was missing one person."
"Hmm. Since even the evil ogre was hidden within history, I suppose it is normal for the true master of ogres to be missing too."
"Grandpa! You're really okay!" Carmine was deeply stirred. "Earlier, we saw everyone in Mossui Town turn into... into that. They were all cursed! Grandma became like that too! It was terrifying!"
Yukito sighed. "I know. I saw it. I originally planned to go to Kitakami Hall to buy you fried noodles, but on the way there I ran into a crowd of horrifying people. When I went back to town, I was chased and surrounded by a group of them. I couldn't find either of you, so I could only find somewhere to hide."
"Then I saw the explosion over here and rushed over immediately. I didn't expect you two would be here as well. Thank goodness."
"I heard everything that Trainer said just now."
Kieran noticed the strange part in his grandfather's words and hurriedly pressed him. "What? Grandpa, you said a legend passed down by our ancestors?"
"Does that mean you also know that the ogre was actually on the side of justice, and that the Loyal Three were the evil ones?"
Yukito nodded. "You're a sensitive child. I sensed long ago that you might have noticed something, and that was why you worshiped the ogre. Carmine usually put too much pressure on you as well, so perhaps you identified with the ogre because of that. But I never corrected you, because the ogre was never in the wrong."
"This is the story passed down through the generations by our family of mask artisans. In the past, our ancestors once tried very hard to tell the people of the village the truth, but they were not believed. Instead, they were ostracized and brutally persecuted."
"In the end, our ancestors could only hide the truth away and secretly tell their descendants, asking them to pass the story down."
Hikaru walked over.
"Even after being persecuted so cruelly, your ancestors never thought of leaving this place because Kitakami was still their homeland in the end, and it is hard to leave one's native soil. Besides, in ancient times, moving elsewhere was extremely difficult. One person alone could not accomplish it. If they had Pokémon following them, though, then it became possible."
Yukito nodded. "Ogerpon and that legendary man also crossed the sea, and they supposedly came here from a very distant place. Poké Balls did not exist in ancient times. Kitakami was only a small village, and even now, we do not have much modern equipment. My family's old television still uses an antenna."
"In ancient times, news here was even more isolated. People knew almost nothing about the outside world."
Hikaru said, "Yet the fact that the man possessed precious, glittering masks spread outward from this tiny village, even reaching certain distant places. That was what drew covetous eyes here."
"Why could a place that knew nothing about the outside world spread news so far away? The answer is that the festivals here have always been lively. Perhaps traveling merchants carried those stories to the outside world."
Yukito said, "That, I don't know... Mm, you really are powerful. So, mighty Trainer, are you truly a legendary ogre too?"
"Whatever the case, you certainly do not seem to be the man from the story."
"If that man had strength like yours, there is no way those three Pokémon could have stolen the masks from him. So does that mean you really are what Carmine said? An ancient ghost who remained until the present day for revenge?"
"They say Kitakami's Crystal Pool has the power to call the departed. If you gaze into its waters, you can see the dead... Perhaps that is not a made-up story, nor a baseless legend."
Old Yukito was highly sensitive to legends because his family held fragments of the true history. When it came to Terastallization, no one in this place understood more than Yukito, a mask artisan.
Hikaru said, "That legend is real, of course. It only requires specific, extremely demanding conditions to occur. And besides, it is night right now. Ghosts, evil ogres, and spirits are the sort of things that appear at night, aren't they?"
"But where exactly did the legend of the Crystal Pool come from? The conditions for that legend to be fulfilled should not exist here."
Yukito froze for a moment. He had no idea about that either.
That was true. Where had the story originated?
Even he, a descendant of artisans, did not understand it.
However, that was not important.
Yukito let out a sigh, his expression relaxing with a hint of release.
Looking at the villagers lying around the shattered plaza, Yukito's expression was deeply complicated.
"It is time to correct history. People in the past did not believe our family's oral accounts, but now they have experienced this terrifying incident for themselves. Can they still refuse to believe?"
"This time, the ogre struck down the true evil ogre and protected the land of Kitakami, just as she did in the past. If this evil ogre had not been defeated back then, this village would likely have perished long ago."
"People can only live in this world by holding gratitude in their hearts. The people of the past also understood gratitude, but they judged the ogre from a foreign land to be evil based only on their own narrow views, while feeling grateful toward the Loyal Three, who appeared from who knows where. It is truly incomprehensible."
Carmine clenched her fists. "Grandpa! You never told us any of this before. Those people were awful!"
Yukito said, "Because if we said it aloud, we would likewise be persecuted and ostracized. For me, I am already old, so it would not matter. But for you, you can still go to other distant places and leave this land."
"Wasn't Kieran bullied and gossiped about by the other children because he admired the ogre? Carmine, you were the same before."
Carmine said, "Ugh, I... That was because I didn't know the truth about Kitakami's history. I'm sorry, Kieran. I was wrong to say you admired the evil side."
His strong-willed older sister suddenly apologized to him, making Kieran look utterly shocked.
"No... That's fine?"
For a moment, Kieran did not know how to answer. Still, hearing his sister admit fault for the first time did not feel bad.
Though perhaps he would never have another chance like this.
"Grandpa, when you were young, did you also tell people these stories and get ostracized for it?"
Kieran suddenly asked that, and Yukito fell silent.
Although his grandfather did not answer, it seemed that something like that had indeed happened.
Hikaru nodded slightly.
After all, his grandfather had the same hairstyle as Kieran.
You could tell just by looking at the hair.
"Now I am going to seal these four away."
Hikaru warned Yukito and the siblings, "Especially the evil ogre that controlled them, the Pokémon named Pecharunt. I will seal it here on the spot."
"Seal it in Loyalty Plaza?"
Carmine paused slightly. "No, since this place is destroyed anyway, I guess sealing them here is fine... Huh?! But you said seal it! As an ogre, do you really have some kind of curse art?!"
She was still thinking about the fake curse from earlier, and her expression changed violently. "Ahh! So you really do have curse art! Saying the curse was fake before was a lie too!"
"This is not curse art. It is a true sealing technique." Hikaru laughed. "Do not confuse curses with seals. Even in Pokémon battles, those are moves of two different types!"
"The foreign gem brought here by the ogre's dear friend, that dead man from the story, came from the distant Paldea region. Long ago, a Pokémon tamer was invited by the king of Paldea to suppress the Pokémon that had brought ruin to an ancient kingdom."
"That tamer, who possessed miraculous arts, used thirty-two sacred stakes to seal away the four Pokémon that had destroyed the empire, and he suppressed them with lids that countered their types."
"In the legends of various regions around the world, there are sealers, even Pokémon, who can use different magical arts."
"In the Kanto region, the Hero of the Aura possessed magic that could seal Pokémon with a staff. In the Sinnoh region, there is an art that can seal evil souls into an Odd Keystone. In the Kalos region, someone once sealed a demon that brought disaster to the world inside a jar."
"In Mt. Moon, in northern Kanto, someone once attempted to control a Legendary Pokémon, only to be sealed in return by that Pokémon named Ho-Oh."
Kieran said, "If it's sealed, then we won't have to worry anymore? Could... Could the seal be broken?"
Hikaru said, "Boy, you are sharp."
"Seals are not unbreakable, but the conditions for unsealing them are extremely strict."
"Only a person with a pure heart, no distractions, and no evil thoughts whatsoever can undo this seal. But do not worry. I will drive the stakes into places ordinary people cannot find or enter."
The four poisons happened to number four.
The Treasures of Ruin also numbered four.
However, inside their Poké Balls, the four Treasures of Ruin were currently discussing the matter of sealing.
Regarding these four, the Treasures of Ruin's opinion was:
Yes, yes, yes. Seal them away just like that!
Truly ingenious. Truly ingenious!
Ha! The suffering we endured finally has someone else to taste it too! Feel the pain! We have served our sentence and been released, while your sentence has only just begun!
Sayonara!
Hikaru said, "Sealing the evil ogre in an obvious place like Loyalty Plaza is to make these people remember history."
"When Pecharunt attacked Mossui Town earlier, I imagine someone must have seen Pecharunt moving around."
"That terrifying memory will accompany them for the rest of their lives. They will never forget it."
"At the same time, if the people of Mossui Town do not want to be controlled by Pecharunt again and become puppets of the evil ogre, they will have to guard this seal carefully of their own accord."
"They will continue this way until the end of the next thousand years."
"If someone with malicious intent comes here and tries to open the seal, then the people of Mossui Town must risk their lives to atone for their sins and stop them."
"As for what happens afterward, whether they harbor malice, hatred, fear, or think I should have taken it away instead of leaving it here, whatever they think has nothing to do with me."
"Because this is the history they created and set into motion themselves. Do you remember what I told you? If there is an ogre in your heart, you will always fear ogres."
"And now, the evil ogre has truly come."
At the center of the explosion, Hikaru had Garganacl smash out a deep pit, then took out a sacred stake.
The stake was not as large as the stakes used to seal the Treasures of Ruin, but Pecharunt itself was not a large Pokémon. For a small Mythical Pokémon, a stake of this size was already enough.
Aegislash, meanwhile, played with three Strange Balls. It controlled them with spiritual power and threw them out, catching the Loyal Three.
Of course, this was not to bring them along.
It was to seal their power with Strange Balls, isolate them from outside influences, and later find suitable locations to seal them away.
However, perhaps that thing they had discussed before could be tested on these three.
That is, using Alola's unique Mirage Berry to cleanse their toxins.
Wasn't that said to be an offering to the island guardians? It seemed it could even cleanse the poison of Ultra Beasts. A Trainer had said before that if the poison beasts were fed Mirage Berries continuously, perhaps the power of the island guardians could be used to wash away the Poison type on their bodies.
"The Loyal Three's secondary types, Fighting, Psychic, and Fairy, are very typical attributes of justice. But if they lose the power of poison, they will probably truly die."
"After all, they have lived in symbiosis with the toxins for too long. Their original personalities no longer exist."
"Still, before detoxifying Pecharunt, it is indeed reasonable to experiment on the Loyal Three first."
Hikaru approved of Aegislash's idea. This was an optimization of his previous thoughts.
"I think Fezandipiti would be the best test subject for detoxification. Hmm, why? Probably because his Special Defense is the highest, so he would be better able to withstand any nonphysical damage if something happens."
If Pecharunt could restore the detoxifying nature of the Pecha Berry, then perhaps its Ability, Poison Puppeteer, might be washed clean directly into something like Healer.
For Pecharunt, however, that might be a fate worse than death.
"However, if it obtained Healer, perhaps it might truly earn everyone's heartfelt affection."
Sacred salt was also left inside the pit. The types that countered Pecharunt happened to be Ghost, Psychic, Dark, and... Ground.
Hikaru looked around and found Pokémon of the corresponding type. The Capture Styler flicked sharply.
"You came to Kitakami... Now savor the taste of its soil."
Capture, start!
White light enveloped that group of Pokémon, and after those little ones understood Hikaru's request, they pattered over.
Sandshrew.
The most common army of little mice in Kitakami, visible throughout all its areas. Sandshrew were Ground-type Pokémon, and Ground-type Pokémon had a little trick.
Spikes. One of the three commonly known entry hazards.
A Ground-type move that scatters Spikes under the opponent's feet, damaging the opponent's Pokémon when they switch in.
Spikes can stack up to three layers, dealing up to one-quarter of a Pokémon's maximum HP when it enters battle.
And in the Hisui era of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, Spikes actually dealt damage. It had 40 power and inflicted the splinters condition on the target for three turns.
A Pokémon afflicted by splinters takes damage with 25 power at the end of each action.
"The first stake will stand here like a gravestone."
After Hikaru placed the Ground-type lid down, he drove in the first sacred stake.
"The remaining stakes and the three poison beasts will be sealed separately in the Paradise Barrens, deep within the lake of Wisteria Pond, and the Timeless Woods."
"Waaah! An ogre! An evil ogre!"
"Wh-What's going on? Was it only a nightmare?"
The villagers around Loyalty Plaza, who had been blasted unconscious by Explosion, finally woke up. The moment they regained consciousness, their minds still lingered on a certain moment of terror. But once they realized they were all right, they began to think it had only been a nightmare or illusion.
However, the piercing pain was not false. Wails rose one after another. Still, for the humans of this world, these injuries were not fatal.
The impact of Explosion had been largely absorbed by their Pokémon. For the people themselves, Pecharunt's toxins had instead strengthened their physical abilities, so they had basically avoided any serious injuries.
"The toxins strengthened their bodies, so their injuries are light. Is that a blessing in disguise? But after the toxins disappear, their physical functions will gradually return to normal."
Yukito pushed awake the villagers still unconscious around him, especially one bald man.
"Caretaker, wake up."
The caretaker still seemed badly shaken. "Ah, Yu-Yukito! You're not an evil ogre, are you? You haven't turned into an evil ogre, right?"
Yukito shook his head. "Of course I am human."
"Did any of you see something? Something very frightening happened just now."
"It was that... It wasn't a nightmare! Why did everyone gather here? Right, I remember now..." The caretaker spoke with lingering fear. "Mossui Town! At first, a large number of people poured out from Kitakami Hall. They were dancing strangely, shouting bizarre words like mochi, mochi, and attacking us!"
Yukito said, "An attack? You were not controlled yourselves?"
The caretaker nodded. "It was the Kitakami Ogre Clan! They should originally have been at Kitakami Hall, handling work for the Festival of Masks and the festival celebration. The boss of the Kitakami Ogre Clan, Muramasa! And also Raikiri! Those two led people to attack Mossui Town! And there was also a terrifying evil ogre floating in the sky like a peach and laughing!"
"No, thinking about it carefully, was that thing an evil ogre or a Pokémon? Or maybe something like a ghost! It had to be an evil ogre that ran out of Kitakami's legend!"
Yukito shook his head. "Calm down. It was not that sort of thing. The one controlling all of you was not the ogre from the village legend, but the true evil ogre hidden within history."
"After you were knocked down, you should have faintly sensed something. That person told me so. He left certain memories in your consciousness. I do not quite understand what kind of power that is, but I believe it is called psychic power?"
"Psychic power? Ahh! You mean those people from outside rumors who supposedly have supernatural powers?" The caretaker's expression changed, but he quickly found something in his memory.
"Y-Yes! Now that you mention it, I remember! Vaguely, when I was controlled by the evil ogre, I think I saw a childlike figure wearing a glowing mask. She swung a club and defeated..."
"A dog, a pheasant, and a monkey? Huh? Aren't those the Loyal Three?"
"The Loyal Three are the evil ogre's followers!" a girl's voice came from the side. Yukito turned to look and found two young people wearing ogre masks.
The caretaker's face changed drastically. "Waaah! Don't come over here! The Kitakami Ogre Clan! Raikiri! Why did you attack the villagers?"
"Are you kidding? I was controlled by the evil ogre at the time!" The two young girls who came here were Kotetsu, who had been knocked unconscious by Hakamo-o during the battle and then dragged away before waking up, and Raikiri, who had been defeated in Mossui Town and regained consciousness afterward.
Kotetsu said, "We saw the masked ogre from Oni Mountain, the ogre wearing shining masks, strike down the true evil ogre hidden within history, the one controlling us!"
"That evil ogre was shaped like a peach. It could throw poisonous mochi and manipulate our minds... We resisted, but we failed."
"Muramasa and Kunitsuna were probably controlled by that thing too. They should have been training in different places!"
The members of the Kitakami Ogre Clan were experts, equivalent to elite Trainers. If Pecharunt only threw mochi, the mochi could not get into their mouths because they wore masks.
So they had been forcibly bound by Pecharunt's Malignant Chain, then force-fed.
"A whole crowd of controlled people took off my mask and stuffed that purple mochi into my mouth... It tasted very sweet, but the aftertaste was honestly way too rich."
Kotetsu held her head. "It was like eating some kind of performance enhancer... My head hurts so badly right now."
Yukito said nothing.
He had seen this little girl get knocked flat by Hakamo-o's punch, so the old man very much wanted to comment.
Your head hurts not because of the evil ogre's poison, but because Hakamo-o punched you right in the skull.
Still, it did not matter. That Pokémon had acted out of good intentions anyway, and there was no harm in throwing all the blame onto the evil ogre.
Through the explanations of the Kitakami Ogre Clan, plus the scene the caretaker had seen earlier and his own personal experience, he understood everything.
"An evil ogre, an evil ogre hidden within history! History was inverted!"
"Yu-Yukito, those things you used to tell us... They were true!"
Yukito said, "The swordsman and the man from foreign lands, as well as the childlike Pokémon who must be respectfully called Ogerpon. She can use all kinds of masks to change her appearance and alter her own power."
"The ancient people of the village feared them, and that was why they called them ogres. The Loyal Three also came from another land, drawn here by the precious masks they intended to steal. But perhaps, just as the true evil ogre hid in the corners of history, the legend of the foreign swordsman also vanished."
"Even now, I still do not know whether he is human or a ghost. But one thing is beyond doubt: our village was saved by Ogerpon and the swordsman from a foreign land."
"To defeat the evil ogre, they waited all the way until today, until that thing finally could no longer restrain itself and appeared here. The evil ogre could control the desires of people's hearts. It supposedly came here because it had grown tired of the unchanging life in its homeland."
"If that evil ogre had not been defeated by Ogerpon back then, our village likely would have become a village of puppets and perished long ago. Wherever it went, in order to be adored, it would turn the people and Pokémon there into puppets."
"According to the true legend told by the foreign swordsman, before it came to Kitakami, it had even manipulated Pokémon we have never heard of, such as Lapras and Basculegion."
"As long as the evil ogre exists, we cannot live in peace."
The caretaker's face turned deathly pale, then instantly livid.
Yukito shook his head. "I know the truth of history is not actually important to you. The community center was only recently built, and you were trying to develop tourism. But even if profit is your top priority, for the sake of the village, I think we can no longer worship Pokémon like the Loyal Three."
"They are far too dangerous. Our land seems to contain the same energy called Terastallization as that distant foreign land. Although I do not understand it, based on what I learned from the foreign swordsman, this energy can trigger incredible phenomena. The legend of the dead at Crystal Pool and the resurrection of the Loyal Three this time were both caused by Terastallization."
"Back then, perhaps the reason that man brought Ogerpon and the foreign swordsman here was precisely because we had something called Terastallization. We locals simply had no idea what it was."
"And I also learned about the Loyal Three. No, you should have seen it faintly too."
"Okidogi. The village says worshiping it will make people gentle at heart and improve relationships. In truth, it abused its strength and became ferocious, a violent creature that easily loses its calm."
"Munkidori. Worshiping it is said to make people feel that their talents and wealth have increased. In truth, it abused its intelligence and loved sneak attacks, schemes, and dirty tricks."
"Fezandipiti. Worshiping it supposedly improves your luck and makes all things go smoothly. In truth, it abused its charm and became bewitching, making people and Pokémon lose themselves over it. And that one is male."
"Not one of them has anything to do with the good fortune we hoped for. Supposedly, the Never-Rotting Peach can make people happy, but the result was an evil ogre and a toxin capable of controlling hearts. That is indeed happiness, but do you not find it terrifying?"
"Are we still going to worship Pokémon like that?"
Yukito had poured out decades of pent-up frustration in one breath, and the young women of the Kitakami Ogre Clan had personally been controlled by the evil ogre. Therefore, they were also in a state of absolute fury and strongly agreed with him.
"Exactly! Ever since before, we always thought something was strange. Those three's masks were way too ridiculous, weren't they?"
"We liked them when we were children, but after growing up, we preferred the ogre masks. That was why the Kitakami Ogre Clan was founded. I never expected we would end up becoming servants of the evil ogre."
The caretaker opened his mouth. In truth, history did not matter much to him. He had simply devoted himself wholeheartedly to developing the countryside. As for so-called historical legends, they only existed to make outsiders more willing to come here as tourists.
After all, places with legends had something worth seeing. For that reason, he had set up signboards and markers in every area, created Kitakami's Six Wonders, built the community center, and improved the village's image, believing it would not lose to a big city.
But now...
The caretaker said, "The legend... was inverted. The Loyal Three Monument is destroyed too, and the plaza is completely blown open. Doesn't that mean all our past promotions were wasted? Even if the Loyal Three did bad things, aren't the cute statues innocent?"
"Without the statues, tourists won't come here to take photos anymore, right? Our village's attractions..."
"That was basically an evil ogre statue! It's better that it broke! You were controlled too, weren't you?" Raikiri was the greatest victim, and when she heard the caretaker say that, she immediately snapped back in anger. "It's because the village had legends like that in the first place that things turned into this disaster! This is all the fault our ancestors left behind!"
Then she looked at old Yukito.
"Speaking of which, Grandpa Yukito, where is that evil ogre?"
"That is exactly what I was about to say." Yukito closed his eyes slightly and told them, "The swordsman from a foreign land and Ogerpon of Oni Mountain sealed away the true evil ogre named Pecharunt. It is sealed in this plaza... locked here with eight sacred stakes. Supposedly, this powerful seal will last for a full thousand years."
"Those supernatural powers are not fake either. In other regions, it seems there truly are humans, and even ghosts, who can use wondrous magic. There are quite a few of them, apparently. I learned many interesting stories from the foreign swordsman. Raikiri, Kotetsu, if you feel your strength is lacking or that your world is too narrow, then leave the village and broaden your horizons in the outside world!"
"I think the reason the village passed down a mistaken legend was precisely because people knew nothing about the outside world. Now the caretaker is actively trying to change that, and at least on that point, he is correct. You should not blame him too much."
"However, about the statues, could we consider changing the story? I will record this incident in full. If we can erect statues of Ogerpon in other places, perhaps the adorable Ogerpon can also attract more visitors."
"The righteous ogre who uses nine masks. It seems the term for that was Kamen Rider, something like that."
"Sealed? Sealed in Loyalty Plaza?!" The caretaker's face went ashen. But when he thought of everything he had personally experienced in Mossui Town earlier, he was briefly speechless and did not know what to say.
Perhaps they truly could no longer use the Loyal Three to make money. But if he thought about it carefully, Ogerpon had nine masks, which meant they could make nine statues. Then...
Put them in nine different places?
Huh. Wouldn't that increase the number of tourist photo spots?
(End of Chapter)
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