Day 20 back in the Orange Archipelago. Clear.
The weather was good when they got off the ship. Bright sun, clear sky, not a cloud in sight.
Shamouti Island.
Reiji had seen this place on TV before. A mad collector had once wanted to add Lugia, the god of the sea, to his collection, so he went after the three Legendary birds and tried to lure Lugia out.
The local legend said something like this: the god of the sea would only appear when the world needed saving, but even then, it could not stop the world's destruction.
Reiji looked at the stone tablet and felt enlightened.
So even this place had pointless literary nonsense carved into stone.
The town's performance troupe was preparing for the festival. They had a traditional dance here. Plenty of people were also walking around in strange outfits. If Reiji had to describe them in one phrase, well... primitive grass skirts.
As a tourist, he was not complaining. The festival would be held tonight, so he planned to stay for the day, enjoy the island's old-style atmosphere, and look for the talking Slowking later.
At least the weather was normal. That meant the collector had not made his move yet, which was good.
Reiji was still far too weak to get involved with walking disasters like Lugia and the three birds. The last thing he wanted was to come here as a tourist and get caught in a legendary Pokémon incident.
He had no interest in being a savior either. He was an outsider. He only wanted to solve Zapdos's problem, evolve Magneton on Lightning Island, and then return to Mikan Island.
After walking around until he got tired, Reiji picked a random restaurant and tried the local food. While eating, he heard the other customers talking about the island choosing an outstanding "conductor," which basically meant a Trainer.
It came from another part of Shamouti's legend.
When the sky and earth raged, and the world stood on the edge of ruin, the god of the sea would appear and calm the anger of the gods together with the Chosen One.
Reiji had seen the movie, so he knew what that meant. "The sky and earth raging" was just the three birds losing their minds and fighting. Lugia came out to mediate, and then that idiot Ash somehow stopped the birds, saved Lugia, and beat the collector.
Reiji had no interest in that kind of trouble. He might be a Trainer, but he had no desire to face the three birds right now. Not while they were likely Champion tier.
Once he became a Champion-tier Trainer himself, the three birds would be a different story. If they acted up then, he could beat them down.
Still, if there was a Trainer battle, he might as well take a look. Maybe he would even spot Ash.
Trainer battles were basically Ash bait. If that idiot was on the island, the battlefield was the first place to check.
When Reiji reached the battlefield, they were running a challenge-style event. Apparently this was how they chose the Chosen One.
Old-fashioned and rough.
In a format like this, the last Trainer to challenge usually had the advantage. Unless the defending Trainer was truly strong, nobody could survive the whole lineup.
Reiji did not see Ash there.
Good. That probably meant the three birds were not going to go berserk.
He watched for a while, but the battles were dull, and he had no intention of joining. After a few matches, he left to look for Slowking and get Zapdos's problem handled as soon as possible.
The easiest way would be to ask the locals where Slowking lived, but that had its own problem. The locals were probably wary of outsiders, especially anyone trying to visit the islands where the three birds lived. Those were the gods they protected, and each island had a shrine.
Annoying.
If he did not ask, he would have to search the islands one by one. He remembered Slowking living on one of the bird islands.
He decided to start with Fire Island. It was the closest to Shamouti. After that came Ice Island, then Lightning Island. Each island had a local shrine, and he had no idea which shrine Slowking would be near.
Reiji went to the shore, released Pelipper, and flew toward Fire Island.
He had barely approached the island when an arrow almost hit him.
He looked down and saw a group of locals in grass-skirt outfits.
Reiji landed. A large group of them surrounded him at once, spears raised.
"I'm a Trainer traveling through the area," Reiji said. "I'm looking for a Slowking."
These people were clearly hostile to outsiders. Better to state his purpose before they tried to throw him back into the sea.
"Young man, there is no Slowking here," said a middle-aged man wearing a bird-beak mask. "The shrine is forbidden ground. Outsiders are not allowed. Please leave."
Yeah, of course.
Reiji clicked his tongue silently. Talking nicely never worked.
He stood there and let them keep him surrounded while he sent Gengar to look for Slowking. If Slowking was on the island, Gengar would bring it here.
Reiji was not going to pick a fight with the locals. His Gym Trainer identity made that a bad idea, and they were in the middle of a festival. He could respect local customs.
"Young man, if you won't leave, I'll have to call Officer Jenny." The masked man took out his phone. He could tell Reiji was a Trainer, and ordinary people were not going to beat a Trainer in a fight.
"Wait a little." Reiji raised both hands. "Just a little."
Whether Slowking was here or not, Gengar's mental reach would be enough to sweep the island quickly.
"Gar, gar."
Gengar returned soon, its voice echoing in Reiji's mind. Slowking was on the island and already on the way over. Gengar had spoken to it politely enough.
"Young man, please leave. Outsiders are not welcome here."
"Calm down. Look who's coming."
Reiji looked toward Slowking, who was running over on foot. It clearly knew Psychic. Why it was running instead of floating was beyond him.
"Move, move. Let him through," Slowking called as it arrived.
Gengar had swept the island and found it right away. Slowking had sensed Gengar too, especially the dark aura around it, and followed it here. That was how it found Reiji surrounded on the beach, with Gengar hiding in his shadow and letting its presence leak just enough to be noticed.
Slowking hurried over before the locals could make the mistake of their lives.
This human was dangerous. The shrine guardians had no idea how close they were to dying, and they were still pointing spears at him.
"Lord Slowking, outsiders aren't allowed here..."
"It's fine. Leave him to me."
Slowking waved them back. Better to send them away before they pushed their luck any further.
"Lord Slowking?"
Slowking's eyes glowed blue, and it looked straight at the man.
"Do I need to repeat myself?"
The man dropped his gaze at once and said nothing else.
Slowking sounded slow and polite, but that did not mean it was harmless. It simply knew when to be polite.
If Reiji had been an ordinary visitor, Slowking might not have bothered with him. Gengar was the reason he was worth hearing out.
Once the locals were gone, only Reiji and Slowking remained.
"What do you need from me?" Slowking asked.
Reiji took the sleeping Zapdos out of his hat and set it down in front of Slowking.
"Take a look at it. It fell asleep and won't wake up."
"A Spearow? A gray Spearow? No..."
Slowking leaned closer. The little bird was so quiet that its breathing was almost impossible to notice. Only after Slowking focused did it sense the faint current still running through its body.
Reiji felt familiar too.
There was something on him, like a trace left by one of Slowking's own kind.
Reiji did not notice. If Slowking was sensing anything familiar, it was probably the Slowking that belonged to Cissy's grandfather.
He waited while Slowking examined Zapdos.
"Any idea what's wrong?"
Reiji sighed inwardly. There really was no hiding things from Pokémon that had lived this long. A special Pokémon that could talk had usually learned far more than just human speech.
"This is a Zapdos chick, isn't it?" Slowking reached out and touched the bird gently.
Zapdos was sleeping peacefully, but Slowking had never seen a case like this. The three Legendary birds it watched over were adults, and each one held a position tied to these islands.
That position did not belong to the strongest bird. It belonged to whichever bird stayed on Fire Island, Ice Island, and Lightning Island.
In other words, the "divine role" sounded grand, but it really meant staying at a post and never leaving. It was less a blessing and more a prison.
No wonder the three birds had such terrible tempers. Lock anything in one place for decades, centuries, maybe its entire life, and of course it would go mad.
Professor Oak had once explained the system scientifically. Articuno froze the seawater. Moltres melted the ice and created warm ocean currents. Zapdos's electricity helped form the basic building blocks of life, including proteins.
Together, the three birds kept the deep ocean currents moving in balance. That balance helped life in the Pokémon world take shape.
It sounded like a sacred duty, but Reiji would rather pass. Being chained to one ecosystem forever did not sound like power. It sounded like punishment.
It was different from Lugia as the god of the sea, Darkrai as the nightmare god, or Arceus as the creator god. Those roles strengthened the Pokémon. The three birds' role only tied them down.
"Can you help it?" Reiji asked. "And if you can't, could the Zapdos here help?"
He needed both answers. If Slowking did not know why the chick was asleep, maybe the adult Zapdos would.
"I don't know why it's asleep, so I can't help," Slowking said with a sigh. "And I wouldn't recommend going to Zapdos. Those three have awful tempers. They don't take anyone weaker than them seriously."
"If you anger Zapdos, you may die. I won't stop you if you insist, but that's my warning."
"You won't stop me?" Reiji found that odd. Wasn't Slowking supposed to guard this place and keep the birds balanced?
"I can't stop you," Slowking said, spreading its hands. "I warned you. If you still want to throw your life away, what else am I supposed to do?"
So it really was that relaxed about it.
Then again, Slowking would not be the one causing the disaster. If things truly went wrong, Lugia would probably be the one cleaning up the mess.
"I want to evolve Magneton too. Any advice?"
Reiji put Zapdos back into his backpack. If Slowking could not wake it, there was no point pressing the issue.
"Magneton? Lightning Island is the best place," Slowking said. Then it sighed again. "But the one on Lightning Island is the most violent of the three. Be careful."
"Got it. Then I'm not going."
Reiji dropped the idea immediately. Slowking had said it was dangerous, and Reiji was very willing to listen when his life was involved. He had no interest in walking up to a Champion-tier Zapdos and asking for trouble.
From what the anime showed, the three birds were basically Champion tier. If they were not, the three of them would never have managed to injure Lugia. They probably would not even have broken through its defenses.
Reiji shouldered his backpack and prepared to leave Shamouti Island. Since this place could not solve Zapdos's problem, he would look somewhere else.
Johto had that crystal lake, the one that could heal Zapdos. The problem was the distance. A round trip would take who knew how long, and the ship ride alone might eat up a month. Poliwrath and the others would have to keep pushing toward Elite Four tier on the road.
"You really do listen," Slowking called after him.
It sounded tired, like a Pokémon with too many responsibilities and no enthusiasm left for any of them.
"I don't know why that bird is asleep, but maybe this will help."
Reiji had already turned to go. Before he could look back, a feather drifted toward him, shining gold in the sunlight.
"A Zapdos feather?"
Reiji already had one, but this feather was in a completely different condition.
The old one looked worn, dry, and scratched up. This one looked fresh enough to have just fallen from Zapdos itself.
"Thanks."
Reiji caught the Golden Feather as Slowking guided it over with Psychic. The panel appeared right away. It really was a Golden Feather, marked as Zapdos.
That made 2 Golden Feathers.
He did not know whether they could help the sleeping Zapdos, but for now, he still planned to head to Johto.
The locals guarding the outer area relaxed when they saw him leave Fire Island on Pelipper. Once he was gone, they hurried back to Slowking.
"Lord Slowking..."
"It's over. Go rest."
Slowking left them there and floated away with Psychic.
The guardians had been far too reckless. That human carried a heavy dark presence. If Slowking had not stopped him and he had gotten close to the places where the three birds lived, things could have gone very badly.
At least he listened.
Slowking had not lied, either. It really did not know how to wake the sleeping Zapdos.
What a headache.
A Trainer who had taken in a Zapdos.
A Trainer who felt strangely familiar.
A Trainer who actually backed off when warned.
Whether he was the Chosen One from the legend...
Slowking would leave that for Lugia to decide.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/BellAshelia]
[Thanks for your support!]