Chapter 775: Don't Casually Trample on the Precious Memories of Others
The Hoenn region is a wondrous place.
Due to its unique terrain, the Hoenn region is quite famous globally.
If regions were ranked by fame, Hoenn would definitely secure a spot in the top three.
With up to fifty percent of its area being water, numerous isolated islands large and small, and globally renowned Legendary Pokémon...
There were quite a lot of influencing factors.
There were up to five human settlements that could be classified as large cities, and seven globally renowned towns.
This meant that almost half of the cities shown on the League map of the Hoenn region were tourist destinations.
Ever Grande City.
Was one of them.
Ever Grande City's ability to join this rank was due to its immense "geographical advantage."
After all.
Ever Grande City lay right at the foot of the Hoenn League.
To put it more directly, Ever Grande City was essentially the "capital" of the Hoenn region, and it benefited greatly from this.
Otherwise, for a city like Ever Grande City with no particularly standout features, becoming globally renowned would have been quite difficult.
"Because the Hoenn League has many island towns, it's said that this area also has the most survivors. Everyone lives on those isolated islands, cut off from the rest of the world, and the threat of magical beasts they have to face has grown smaller and smaller as time goes on."
Lucario stood at the bow of the boat, speaking as he looked at the coastal city that had already appeared at the edge of his vision.
"So we might be able to see quite a few humans and Pokémon on the surface?"
A hint of interest appeared in Dragonite's eyes.
"Mm, the probability isn't low."
Lucario nodded.
"I don't think so."
Scizor, leaning against the bow, expressed a different opinion.
"Hm?"
Lucario tilted his head in confusion.
"If humans come to the surface, they would definitely run towards the towns, right?"
"That's right, after all, this is the only place they can get food."
"Every winter, the number of magical beasts in the wild drops sharply. Do you know where they go?"
Scizor glanced at the ever-nearing Ever Grande City. Looking at the snow-covered city, his expression grew somewhat serious.
"Into the towns? Why? I've lived in towns year-round and haven't noticed any change in the number of magical beasts between summer and winter."
Lucario frowned deeply, pinching his chin, actually somewhat unable to figure it out.
"The lack of change is the biggest suspicious point in itself."
Scizor slowly stood up, parting the freezing air on either side of his body.
He narrowed his eyes towards Ever Grande City.
As if he saw something.
"Hibernation."
Mewtwo muttered. He let out a yawn, swished His tail, and slowly floated up from the lounge chair on the deck. "You saw it on the way here too. Even as magical beasts, the habit of hibernation is retained. If Lucario says the number of magical beasts in towns doesn't decrease in winter, that means some magical beasts that don't need to hibernate have entered the towns."
Having stayed with everyone for half a year.
Mewtwo already had a conceptual grasp of many common sense facts in this world.
Coupled with these concepts and a brilliant mind.
He could often arrive at the crucial answer a step ahead of everyone else.
"!"
Lucario's eyes widened as he realized the crux of the problem.
That's right.
If the number of magical beasts in a town truly hadn't changed.
Then come winter, the number of active magical beasts in the town should have dropped sharply, since many magical beasts had the habit of hibernating.
So for Lucario to say he saw no change in the number of magical beasts during winter, it meant that a considerable number of Pokémon that should be living in the wild had actually flooded into the town.
"For warmth and food, right? Even during the League era, surviving the wild environment in winter took a lot of effort, let alone now."
Kazuya looked up at the dim sky.
Winter in this era.
Was truly terrifyingly gloomy.
It was as if the whole world had lost its sense of reality.
"Yes. Therefore, I don't think humans would run into towns in this kind of season. That would be courting death. Gathering a large amount of food early on and hiding underground to weather the harsh winter is the safe choice."
Scizor nodded gently, then raised his pincers. "Prepare for battle. Those few lingering at the port look like they've been waiting for us."
As his voice fell.
Everyone's gaze swept towards the port of Ever Grande City.
Several figures fell into their line of sight.
It was seven Feraligatr.
"Are these guys forming a team?"
Kazuya raised an eyebrow.
Some magical beasts possessed intelligence and would form gangs to increase their chances of survival.
Scizor had already told Kazuya about this long ago.
But this was the first time he was truly seeing it.
"Mm."
Scizor nodded.
He opened and closed his pincers, a solemn expression on his face.
Among this group of Feraligatr, only the leader possessed a rather fearsome aura, suspected to have reached the Champion level. A tattered Mega Bracelet hung on its arm; judging by the Mega Stone on the bracelet, it seemed to have been the ace of a formidable Water-type Trainer when it was alive.
As for the other Feraligatr, the gap in strength seemed quite large, likely barely even reaching the Elite Four level.
"A Pokémon like Feraligatr becomes very troublesome once it turns into a magical beast. Whether it's their teeth or claws, they can easily cause injuries..."
Kazuya examined the fangs and sharp claws of those Feraligatr.
The black aura entwined around them was enough to make one's scalp tingle just looking at it.
"Shall I handle this?"
Mewtwo raised His hand.
Among the five Pokémon present, He was the only one accustomed to long-range combat.
His fighting style almost never involved physical contact with the opponent, so there was no need to worry about being corrupted by shadow energy.
While they were talking.
The Feraligatr seemed to have grown impatient.
They plunged headfirst beneath the surface of the sea, exposing the red fins on their backs, and swam rapidly towards the yacht.
"Although I really want to use this opportunity to practice my Aura, I have a place I urgently need to check out right now, so I'll leave this to you guys."
Kazuya cast an unconcerned glance.
He waved his hand, then directly took flight, heading towards Ever Grande City ahead.
As for those Feraligatr.
He confidently left them to Mewtwo and the others.
"Hum~ hum~"
He hummed a cheerful tune the whole way.
Anyone could tell Kazuya was in a good mood.
Even though the owner of the Peace Daycare had changed hands three hundred years ago.
The appearance of that daycare had never changed.
Kazuya had personally verified this fact during his travels around the world in his fourth life.
So returning to that familiar place was something worth looking forward to for Kazuya, even if there was no one waiting for him there anymore.
Gliding over the sky of Ever Grande City.
The figures of magical beasts shuttling through the city below were indeed not few.
He could even see quite a few magical beasts engaged in battle, having already destroyed a large area of streets and buildings.
The previously quiet and content island town seemed somewhat noisy and dilapidated at this moment.
Kazuya's good mood also began to sour from this moment on.
He continued heading towards the northern part of Ever Grande City.
However, upon arriving at that familiar place, he didn't see the familiar small house.
Only a pile of ruins remained here, along with a glaring figure.
It was an Aggron.
This guy seemed to have just walked out of the mountains to the north today, entering Ever Grande City to endure this long winter.
And the ring of buildings at the northernmost edge of Ever Grande City.
Had all been targeted by this guy, viewed as its rations.
At this moment, Aggron hadn't noticed the Pokémon behind him that seemed to melt into the darkness. He picked up a rock from the ruins beneath his feet and tossed it into his mouth: "Crunch, crunch."
The crisp sound of chewing rang out.
Each crunch struck heavily against Kazuya's heart.
Even though he knew everything would revert to its original state tomorrow, seeing his former little home destroyed into this state still filled Kazuya with uncontrollable rage.
"I say..."
A faint, haunting voice rang out, attracting Aggron's attention.
He slowly turned around, fixing a pair of blood-red eyes on Kazuya.
This second.
Aggron had just caught sight of Kazuya's figure.
The next second.
That dark silhouette vanished from his sight.
Screeech—!
The ear-piercing sound of bending steel rang out.
The steel horn on Aggron's forehead was gripped by a black claw. Under that immense grip strength, the steel horn, tempered through years of countless battles, actually began to bend bit by bit.
The massive force caused the monster, akin to a steel Godzilla, to uncontrollably start kneeling down.
The immense oppressive feeling radiating from the single blue eye in front of him caused points of fear to uncontrollably breed in the depths of Aggron's blood-red pupils.
I'm going to die.
Such a thought was born from the depths of this magical beast's mind.
The meager amount of consciousness it had was awakened.
Its instinctive will to survive drove it to want to run away.
But beneath that pitch-black palm, it couldn't even manage to stand up.
"This is the place where we grew up. Didn't your past Trainer ever teach you not to casually trample on the precious memories of others?"
Kazuya understood now.
Why, during his fifth life.
Toxicroak didn't leave with them.
Born loving to seek fun, he chose to stay behind at Wolf Mountain, prepared to spend his life protecting it.
Kazuya couldn't understand it at the time.
But now he could probably empathize with Toxicroak's feelings.
His pupils were like a pool of still water at this moment, betraying no joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness.
Under the gaze of such eyes.
Aggron's body actually began to tremble uncontrollably.
The next second.
An Aura Sphere flashing with dazzling golden light slammed into his head.
A massive amount of black gas spilled out from Aggron's body.
When the black energy was completely purged.
Aggron's life also met its end.
Casually tossing the corpse aside.
Kazuya extended two pitch-black legs from his lower body. He stepped onto the land before him, staring blankly at the ruins in front of him.
After a long time.
He went to the backyard.
The flowers, plants, and vegetation of the past had all disappeared.
Only some slides and toys meant for young Pokémon to play with were left scattered on the ground.
Kazuya looked at the tattered little rubber ball in the corner, a look of nostalgia appearing in his eyes.
He then quietly walked towards a lounge chair nearby.
Lay down.
Took a deep breath.
Kazuya closed his eyes.
"Granny, I'm home."
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