Chapter 685: Nebel Plateau and the Azoth Kingdom
Ignoring the Pancham and other Pokémon behind him. Kazuya walked out of the circle to observe the surrounding environment.
This Kalos region wasn't unfamiliar to him at all. He had been here in his third life when traveling the world with the big cat; in his fourth life when on a mission with Elite Four Lorelei; and in his fifth life when traveling with a young Cynthia.
Even in his previous life. This Kalos region was nothing more than one of his territories.
So by observing the environment. Kazuya could basically determine his specific location. Just like right now. When Kazuya saw the rushing waterfall in the distance and the bizarre giant tree behind him, his eyes gradually widened.
This place. Isn't this the Nebel Plateau?!
Kazuya blinked, confirming he wasn't mistaken. Although the environment in many places had slightly changed, this was the Magical Beast Era after all. It would be weird if there was no difference after thousands of years.
Since this is the case... "I don't know what time period it is right now. If I can find Magearna and Volcanion, that would be great." Kazuya muttered, a smile inevitably appearing on his face.
Surviving alone was always quite taxing on the mind. If he could find his friends in this era, the path ahead would be much easier, and he wouldn't feel too lonely either.
Several Pokémon nearby walked over. Seeing Kazuya's smile, Pancham felt as if his heart had been shot by an arrow, and lay down on the ground directly, losing the ability to battle.
"Ga-o." The Luxray walked over and gently rubbed Kazuya with its head, welcoming his arrival.
"Ra-lu." Kazuya nodded in thanks.
He observed this Luxray. Nearly three meters tall. The sense of oppression in its eyes was strong, likely having the 'Intimidate' Ability. The aura it exuded was also quite imposing. Its strength should be not weak. At least it must be above Lv.50. It was the strongest Pokémon among the group surrounding him. In this Nebel Plateau, it should be a boss-type figure.
The other Pokémon came over to express their welcome one after another, presenting their small gifts.
A Pansage brought a bouquet of flowers, consisting of various colored small flowers, fragrant and clearly freshly picked. A Bidoof brought a beautiful cobblestone, likely washed by running water often, looking particularly smooth and moist. A Munchlax brought a Nanab Berry. This fruit is similar to a banana; the pink skin is bitter and edible, but most Pokémon only eat the yellow flesh inside, which is very sweet but lacks moisture.
Slightly more interesting was a Machop. His way of welcoming Kazuya was to ask for a PK.
Luxray frowned, but before he could scold this kid, the Pancham lying on the ground couldn't sit still anymore. "Wan?!" Pancham cursed at Machop and patted his chest. He spat out the leaf in his mouth and made a gesture of rolling up his sleeves. The meaning was clearly "I'll duel you!"
"Wa-ri!" Machop naturally welcomed any challenger. He was one of the few warmongers on this grassland. Of course. He only liked friendly sparring.
Before long. These two energetic Fighting-type little fellows were brawling, and the other Pokémon ran over to break up the fight or watch.
Kazuya gave a helpless glance at that Pancham. He had already said he was male. Did it still not give up?
Logically speaking. Being liked by a Pokémon was something to be happy about, even something to show off. Kazuya had always thought so too. However. That kind of mindset of 'being a human'. Didn't apply to Pancham's kind of liking right now. It was the same nature as Milotic from his previous life. Maybe even more exaggerated.
At least with Milotic, it was an attraction between opposite sexes, which was completely normal. This Pancham...
"Sigh." Kazuya sighed, not wanting to look anymore, called Amaura, and turned to leave.
He figured it would be fine once he evolved into Gallade. But this Dawn Stone. Might not be easy to get. Either he had to find one as quickly as possible before Lv.30, or he could only suppress his level.
"Di-lu-xi?" Amaura walked beside Kazuya, looking at him in confusion. It felt this newly acquainted little friend was a bit aloof, not interacting much with the other friends.
"Take me for a walk around here?" "Di-lu-xi."
The two little ones started strolling around.
Accompanied by Amaura. Kazuya discovered many differences from the League Era. Finding these differences was also a kind of fun.
Walking on the vast grass. "By the way, are all the guys living here present?" Kazuya glanced at the Pokémon breaking up the fight in the distance. There were only about twenty of them in total. This number didn't seem right.
It wasn't an issue of a massive difference in biological population compared to the League Era. But... This Nebel Plateau was backed by mountains and faced water, with a plateau in the middle and a forest on the periphery. Even the Pokémon living here maintained a theme of peace. For the vast majority of Pokémon. This was an excellent, blessed land, completely lacking no resources for survival.
The number of Pokémon living in such a place. Shouldn't be so small.
"Di-lu-xi."
"Huh? Driven away by who?" Kazuya was stunned for a moment, his eyes gradually widening.
"Di-lu-xi."
"Humans?! You've seen humans? Humans drove away the Pokémon that originally lived on the Nebel Plateau?" Kazuya's expression instantly became unsettled.
Logically speaking. In the Magical Beast Era, it was very difficult for humans and Pokémon to meet; neither side wanted to see the other. But based on Amaura's age and attitude, combined with what it said. This clearly meant humans frequently came to this Nebel Plateau.
What was the attitude of humans towards Pokémon in the Magical Beast Era? Just hearing the name of this era would tell you. What good attitude could humans have towards dangerous 'magical beasts'? Seeing one usually meant three things: Hunt. Capture and take back to act as a Pal. Run.
Therefore. Kazuya didn't think it was a good thing that humans frequently visited this place.
But he soon gradually calmed down. After all. Everyone here didn't seem to be affected; instead, they were able to survive maintaining a peace-loving mindset. This in itself was a special manifestation.
That, or those humans who frequently visited the Nebel Plateau, were likely not malicious individuals. Maybe they were among the rare few in the Magical Beast Era who were friendly to magical beasts.
"Di-lu-xi." Amaura nodded. It said that very bad Pokémon used to live here. But later, a group of humans came and drove those Pokémon away. And this plateau seemed to be specially protected by that group of humans. Figures of humans wandering around the periphery could often be seen. Only those magical beasts without much aggressiveness could enter here and live together with other magical beasts.
"Is that so... how often do they come?" Kazuya's red eyes hidden under his green hair lit up.
To be able to enclose the massive Nebel Plateau, this scale could no longer be described by 'a group'. Barring any surprises. This Nebel Plateau must have been enclosed as a back garden by some human king. No wonder there were so few Pokémon living here.
Regarding this human king. Kazuya couldn't make an accurate judgment. Unless he could confirm the current specific point in time.
But he had a rough idea about the kingdom this king belonged to. The Azoth Kingdom.
That's right. The very kingdom from three thousand years before the League Era that used the Ultimate Weapon to destroy more than half of Kalos.
Whether considered from a geographical perspective or a chronological perspective. There was only one human kingdom Kazuya could associate with.
Considered geographically. The Nebel Plateau is surrounded by the Allearth Forest, and the Allearth Forest is right next to the Azoth Kingdom's capital. Therefore. The only kingdom nearby with the power to enclose the Nebel Plateau and even the Allearth Forest was the Azoth Kingdom.
Considered chronologically. The Magical Beast Era in the Kalos region is very special. Thanks to AZ's heavens-defying actions. From 1000 to 3000 years before the League Era, there were simply no human kingdoms on this land. Kalos was in a prolonged period of severe weakness. The number of both humans and Pokémon was very small compared to other regions. They were still in the recovery phase and completely insufficient to form a kingdom.
Pushing the time further back. The Azoth Kingdom era was the first batch of human kingdoms in the Kalos region.
Therefore. Kazuya could be certain. The group of humans appearing on the Nebel Plateau were people from the Azoth Kingdom.
Of course. The Kazuya of the fifth life didn't know much about the history of the Kalos region. They had traveled there for half a year then, and on subsequent visits, they basically only stayed for a few days before leaving. Most of what he knew about Kalos history came from Cynthia.
Right now, he was analyzing by combining memories from his past lives and even older memories from when he was human.
It could be. That due to his actions in his previous life. Kalos in this world had been immensely affected, and the actual situation might be vastly different from what he imagined. But Kazuya trusted his own judgment more. After all. In his memories of the fifth life, he could find the event of the Ultimate Weapon being activated. This indicated that the historical changes shouldn't be too significant.
"Di-lu-xi." Amaura turned to look at the sky. It said that roughly every two or three days, that group of humans would come over.
"I see." Kazuya nodded quietly. This frequency could be considered quite high.
It was necessary to observe the purpose of those humans, and see if he could form a connection and enter the Azoth Kingdom. Inside the Azoth Kingdom's treasury. There would definitely be Dawn Stones.
Moreover. If possible. Kazuya still hoped to try and stop the Ultimate Weapon from being activated, or even better, stop that thing from being built altogether. To save the Kalos region from a catastrophic loss of life.
Just as Kazuya was deep in thought. Suddenly. "Di-lu-xi!" Amaura let out a cry looking at the distant forest, a look of joy appearing on its face.
Kazuya turned to look. A group of armored soldiers riding Rapidash walked out of the forest. He stared at the emblem on the horse armor and muttered: "As expected, it's the Azoth Kingdom... Three thousand years ago, huh..."
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