Chapter 754: Then Master Will Have to Rely on You a Lot
Walking through the once globally renowned Viridian Forest.
Kazuya scanned the surroundings, suddenly feeling a profound sense of lament: "It's so desolate..."
The once lush and vibrant forest, brimming with enough vitality to give birth to a Mythical Pokémon like Celebi, now hardly had any trees with green leaves in sight.
Let alone ordinary trees.
Even Iron Thorn Trees were scarce.
The gaps between the trees were wide enough for five Snorlax to sleep in.
"This is already considered pretty good. The vast majority of forests in this world have now turned into plains where you can only see wild grass."
The Scizor beside him didn't feel anything special.
He was already used to it.
"…Do you think this world can still be saved?"
Kazuya remained silent for a long time before asking.
"..."
Scizor didn't respond, merely stealing two glances at Kazuya before lowering his head.
If you are willing to take action...
Perhaps there is.
He didn't say these words out loud.
The difficulty of saving this world was beyond his imagination, but it wasn't hard to imagine that it must be considered an "impossible" task.
Before Kazuya appeared, Scizor had firmly believed this in his heart.
It was just that...
Originating from his blind trust and reverence for his master, such a thought sprouted in his mind.
To Scizor's silence.
Kazuya didn't have much of a reaction.
Some answers didn't need to be sought from others; when asked, one already knew the answer in their heart.
At least in Kazuya's eyes...
This world could still be saved.
As long as he could rescue those corrupted Mythical and Legendary Beasts and gather this powerful force, then it wouldn't be a problem.
This was also one of the reasons Kazuya set his first target as the Tree of Beginning.
There should be corrupted Mew and the three Regis nearby.
With Scizor's strength, he could absolutely defeat them. Moreover, by the time they got there, Kazuya would have recovered some of his combat power and wouldn't let Scizor fight alone.
After defeating Them, perhaps they could obtain their first powerful force.
Things would become increasingly easier after that.
So.
In Kazuya's mind, the difficulty of saving the world wasn't that immense.
At least that was what he thought at present.
They continued onward.
Along the way, they didn't encounter many magical beasts.
The ones they did encounter were mostly trash that could be one-shot, not worth elaborating on.
Two days later.
Kazuya and Scizor arrived at Rota City, located near the Tree of Beginning.
Completely different from the natural terrain outside.
Rota City looked completely intact, almost exactly the same as when Kazuya passed by here in his fourth life.
But precisely because of this.
The complete absence of people in the city created a huge sense of contrast.
Making the current Rota City look incredibly eerie.
It was as if this was still that prosperous city, only they couldn't see the people living here.
"This city was very lively later on, especially around League Calendar Year 220. During events, you could even see the fireworks from the Mt. Silver mountain range."
Scizor introduced this city to Kazuya with a smile.
He didn't know about Kazuya's fourth life and thought Kazuya was completely ignorant of the events in the mid-to-late League Calendar era.
But on the contrary.
Rota City was located within the Kanto region.
And Lorelei at the time was an Elite Four member of the Indigo League, often wandering within the Kanto region.
So they were not at all unfamiliar with Rota City.
"Compared to that, why does this city look so... normal?"
"Huh? Did Master forget what I said before? The time in this world is flowing backward. What we're seeing this year is the Rota City of League Calendar Year 250. Next year, it will look like League Calendar Year 249..."
"Oh, right. Then why are Mt. Silver and Viridian Forest in that state?"
Kazuya voiced his biggest doubt.
When passing through Viridian Forest.
He had completely forgotten about the world's time flowing backward.
"Plants are also living creatures; they are not affected by the world's reverse flow."
Scizor's single sentence immediately made Kazuya realize the crux of the problem.
He had previously subconsciously treated the vegetation as part of the "terrain."
But that wasn't the case.
Vegetation.
Shared the same nature as humans and Pokémon.
They were all part of the living things in this world, possessing life.
Therefore.
The part of the world experiencing the reverse flow did not include them.
Thinking back carefully, he could realize what was wrong.
There were so many Pokémon living in the Viridian Forest. During the outbreak of the Great Darkness event, countless battles must have taken place, inevitably causing immense devastation to the terrain.
Yet when they passed through the Viridian Forest two days ago.
Aside from a drastic reduction in vegetation, the terrain itself didn't seem to have any problems.
"I see... that's actually pretty good."
Kazuya nodded, then pursed his lips into a smile.
"Good?"
Scizor tilted his head in confusion.
"Yeah. If this world returns to normal in the future, then we won't have to go through the trouble of rebuilding the cities."
"Master, are you planning to save this world?"
"Hm... I want to try. After all, this used to be our home."
Kazuya lowered his eyes, then raised his head again to look at the gray sky.
[Our].
This included far too many people and Pokémon.
If one day in the future.
He could find them and bring them back...
He couldn't just leave them such a dilapidated world to live in.
"I will assist you."
Scizor clasped his pincers tightly, his gaze determined.
"Oh~ Then Master will have to rely on you a lot; I'm quite weak right now."
Kazuya broke into a grin.
He raised a hand and gently patted Scizor's head, his tone akin to coaxing a child.
Scizor scratched his head sheepishly.
Being treated as a child after living for over three hundred years was quite a novel experience.
Although it felt a bit awkward, he wasn't repulsed by it.
Compared to the lonely and gloomy life of the past fifty years, this kind of life now felt much warmer.
"Master, follow me."
Scizor waved at Kazuya.
He then led Kazuya into a nearby supermarket.
A scene that shocked Kazuya appeared.
The shelves in the supermarket were actually filled with a dazzling array of goods!
And these goods were arranged incredibly neatly, looking as if they had just been put there this morning!
"This?!"
Kazuya hurriedly reached out and grabbed a piece of bread from a nearby shelf.
Tore open the packaging.
A faint, sweet scent wafted out, entering Kazuya's nose.
His eyes gradually widened as a result.
He turned his head to look around.
Not just food, but there were also flashlights, batteries, Poké Balls, and other common tools.
"While the world's reverse flow squeezes the underground living space of normal creatures, it also brings us an inexhaustible supply of survival resources."
Scizor skillfully grabbed a few sausages and tossed them into his mouth, then grabbed a few more and stuffed them into Kazuya's arms, "Eat up, Master. Even if you don't eat them, these things will disappear after today, and that would be a real waste. Only by eating them and converting them into energy within our bodies are they truly preserved."
"..."
Kazuya looked at him.
Then lowered his head, staring blankly at the bread and sausages in his hands.
Unbelievable.
This scene ruthlessly shattered Kazuya's scientific worldview.
This didn't seem to conform to the law of conservation of energy.
However...
Looking for a scientific worldview in the Pokémon world was fundamentally wrong to begin with.
And exploring science in a Pokémon world where time flows backward was even more absurd.
Completely incomprehensible!
But acceptable.
Since things have come to this, might as well eat first.
Kazuya picked out some food he liked, then sat on the supermarket's checkout counter and ate quietly, his mind still reliving the shock from earlier.
After casually finishing lunch.
Kazuya turned to look at Scizor, only to find the latter standing at the supermarket entrance, staring intently at a shop diagonally opposite.
He turned to look.
He found it was a barbecue restaurant.
He wondered if there was anything as shocking as "freshly roasted meat from this morning" inside.
"Scizor, based on what you just meant, do humans living underground come to the surface to gather food?"
"Yeah. Every underground shelter has human resource-gathering teams, composed of a portion of physically fit humans and mobile Pokémon. They regularly come to the surface to gather resources."
Scizor didn't turn back, continuing to stare at the barbecue restaurant, even narrowing his eyes.
"I see..."
Kazuya nodded lightly.
According to this explanation.
There should be quite a few survivors gathered around human cities.
Perhaps there was more than one underground shelter beneath Rota City.
However...
How long could these shelters last?
Kazuya remembered that Team Rocket in this world began massively excavating secret underground bases and research institutes in the Kanto and Johto regions around League Calendar Year 200.
The current time was equivalent to League Calendar Year 250.
That is to say.
These shelters would last for at most another 50 years before being "refreshed."
By then, humans and Pokémon would be forced to return to the surface to find a place to live.
A post-apocalyptic survival scenario, huh...
"Forget it... Why think so much..."
Kazuya shook his head, tossing aside the messy thoughts in his mind.
Who knew what the world would turn into 50 years later?
Maybe by then, the magical beasts would have long gone extinct from slaughtering each other.
Then humans and Pokémon wouldn't have to face these dangerous and terrifying magical beasts anymore.
As long as they hid from those "Demon Gods," they'd be fine.
He didn't know if those Demon Gods would hunt and attack each other, but it was safe to assume they wouldn't get along peacefully.
"Scizor, what are you looking at over there?"
Kazuya turned to look at his disciple, who was still standing at the door, peeking out.
He guessed the other party must have discovered something.
Nothing more than a magical beast or something similar.
He didn't care much.
"Hm, there's a Lucario over there. It's not a magical beast... He spotted me. He's very strong, and feels a bit familiar..."
"Oh?! A Lucario?!"
Kazuya's eyes lit up at first, but then his gaze dimmed again, "Oh... a Lucario... truly a nostalgic Pokémon. Makes sense, since this is the city of Aura after all."
Hearing Kazuya's melancholy tone, Scizor turned his head and glanced at him.
He wondered who his master was recalling now.
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