The Poké Ball shook three times, and that loafing, wandering Garganacl was successfully caught!

Proof that you really shouldn’t be roaming around for no reason—run into a dangerous human, and they’ll catch you and drag you into battles!

“This Garganacl is such a sneaky Pokémon. What a waste if it doesn’t battle!”

Even though Arven claimed he wasn’t good at battling, Hikaru felt that good hobbies should be cultivated early, so he explained to Arven about the Herba Mystica the Titans guarded.

Without real battling strength, you couldn’t get the Herba Mystica from a Titan—same as ever.

Even if the Titans had turned into roadside “stall owners,” if you wanted to “buy stock” from them, you still needed to have the chops!

Hikaru waved a hand. “No strength, no qualification. That’s why—you’re not qualified, you’re not qualified!”

Arven: “S-So strict… So the Titan Pokémon are really that strong, huh? But, bro, you said they all make weird food now, and if you eat it, it helps your body and growth… My dream is to become a Herba Mystica chef, so I have to eat those dishes!”

A Chuka Ichiban! set?

A Food Wars set?

No.

This is a Toriko set!

Hikaru: “Arven, while you’re training Pokémon, don’t forget to train your body too. Your athletic talent is seriously strong—if you train properly, you could be a martial artist, an athlete, a pilot, a Pokémon Ranger…”

“Of course, being a Herba Mystica chef isn’t bad either. It’s just that some high-end ingredients can only be obtained through battle.”

“You need to understand: sure, you can ask powerful friends to help you out, but sometimes—when you have to clear the final gate—you have to rely on your own strength. That’s something a friend once told me.”

That was something Caitlin had said. It carried her own experience with controlling psychic power—one of her lines from Pokémon Masters, even.

And there was a follow-up to it, too:

Unless it’s an achievement you fought for yourself, the goal you get in hand will quickly lose its shine.

Hikaru: “I think you’d be perfect as a gourmet hunter—a gourmet seeker—someone who dives into deadly places and risks their life to capture rare delicacies in this world full of strange, precious ingredients!”

That’s how it is in “food anime that are secretly battle anime”!

And the Pokémon world really does have tons of edible ingredients. Just berries alone include many that could be called “legendary berries”—typically tucked down at the bottom of berry lists, or limited to places around Hoenn, plus treasure-berries that only appear in specific locations, like the Lihua Berry, the Melody Berry, and the Phantom Berry.

In the TCG, over in the faraway Holon region, there are even berries known as Memory Berries.

That region is especially strange: the massive local research tower resonated with the region’s magnetic field, triggering genetic mutations in local Pokémon—almost all of them gained the Steel type!

“I know! I’ll work hard on training. Even if I’m still not very good at Pokémon battles… I’ll at least try—”

Whenever Arven said things like that, Hikaru would always shake his head a little.

Too humble, kid. Back in the game, when you pulled out a whole squad of level 50+ and 60+ Pokémon and beat Florian/Juliana into a pulp, I really wonder what their mental state looked like afterward.

Even Nemona got lumped in with you—”airhead” Nemona and “grumpy” Arven.

And Mabosstiff’s level when it finally recovered was 63. For a “normal” Pokémon, that’s terrifyingly strong.

As for this newly caught Garganacl—sure, it was an “Upper Area” giant, but its level wasn’t actually that much higher than what you’d see in the Lower Area.

“A level 56 Garganacl… you can use it right away. It’s basically battle-ready out of the ball.”

Hikaru gauged its strength a bit. You could already see the signs from the earlier fight.

And it wasn’t just Garganacl.

In Area Zero, even the regular Pokémon were level 50+, and that included pre-evolutions like Nacli and Naclstack—their levels were almost no different from the fully evolved “rock man.”

“Level’s that high and it’s still holding back evolution—mashing the B button to cancel. If there really were a B button, it’d be smoking by now.”

Of course, high-level wild Pokémon often disobey right after being caught.

That isn’t just a “game thing,” either.

Some Pokémon don’t acknowledge their Trainer’s strength—depending on personality and temperament. Others don’t have much of a personality, and they’ll follow orders more easily.

And then you’ve got cases like Ash’s Charizard—evolved early into a white-eyed traitor and went full “I’m doing nothing” for ages.

They’ll ignore commands, use a different move than what you ordered, wander around and do nothing, straight-up nap on the spot, or even—like they’re confused—attack themselves.

Arven sent out Garganacl. The rock man’s blocky eyes flickered as it studied the one who had captured it.

Garganacl wasn’t highly aggressive, but that didn’t mean it had no aggression at all.

Still, Area Zero Pokémon had barely seen humans—Garganacl included. The last time it had seen a human was a long time ago.

Right now, it wore a “special expression,” even if you couldn’t read it from its face.

“It feels like it’s judging me,” Arven said. He could vaguely sense its mood.

“It’s sizing you up,” Hikaru said, rubbing his chin. “Last time it saw a human was probably five or six years ago… yeah, that’d be around when your mom went into the crater.”

“Garga.” Garganacl finally realized—slowly—that Hikaru could actually talk with it.

That discovery felt novel. Then it glanced at Arven and decided the kid was less interesting than this young man.

“You’re bored staying here, aren’t you?”

Hikaru took the initiative. “I can tell. Here, it’s always daylight. For a Pokémon like you that doesn’t like fighting, Area Zero’s combat intensity is too high—so you can only pretend to be a rock and sleep.”

“Long ago, you were born in Area Zero’s salt-mineral layer. Back when you were a Nacli, you and your companions followed other Garganacl and spent a long, interesting stretch of time together.”

“As time passed, you gradually started feeling bored. The fighting kept escalating. At some point, more and more violent creatures began to appear here.”

“So how about it—just as a way to pass the time—work with this kid. He’ll put your salt to good use. You’ll get out of this crater you find so boring and head into a truly colorful, brand-new world.”

Garganacl’s eyes blinked rapidly. It stared at Hikaru in shock.

Arven was the same.

“Bro… what you just said—it’s like you were watching Garganacl’s past.”

“I was talking about its past.” Hikaru laughed. “Most Area Zero Pokémon are like that, aren’t they? At first, they think this place is fascinating and beautiful… but gradually they get bored—and to survive, they have to become more aggressive.”

“And for Garganacl, a Pokémon like this doesn’t really migrate. It’s born in one place, grows in the same place, and finally grows old in the same place and becomes mineral. That process could last thousands of years.”

“Rock-type Pokémon aren’t necessarily immortal. Through Garganacl’s memories, I learned that some of its own kind once fell in battle, became natural mineral, and fused with Tera crystals.”

“Pokémon dying is actually very rare. Sometimes when they pass on, they don’t leave a visible body—they vanish like wind and fallen leaves. But Rock-types aren’t like that.”

“The ability I used just now is a special kind of psychic power: Memory Power.”

Arven’s mouth fell open.

“Psychic power? Isn’t that something only Pokémon can do?”

“Psychic power is a special human ability too.” Hikaru explained patiently to the bewildered Arven. “In other regions, there are all kinds of energies. Some special people can gain abilities through talent—or through training—and become almost like Pokémon.”

“Condense your mind to gain psychic power. Train your body to become a martial arts master. Undergo ascetic ‘shugyō’ to gain spiritual power. Sense the waves that exist everywhere and gain aura…”

“Paldea has a special power too: Tera energy. It’s just that Tera might be too domineering, so there’s no room for other energies to grow.”

“Didn’t I tell you? You’re really suited to martial arts. Some fighting masters, after years and years of training, can release their energy outward—that’s the kind of aura-style move Pokémon can use too.”

“Aura is the life-spirit of living things, shared by a certain Legendary Pokémon. A life that loses its life-spirit will be petrified.”

Come to think of it, the “lose life and become stone” setting existed long before Yveltal.

All the way back to Ash’s “death” in the first Mewtwo movie—when he lost all life and turned to stone.

Later generations’ settings—and things like Dynamax, regional forms, Terastallization and other battle/ecology systems—took plenty of inspiration from the original series.

Under Hikaru’s negotiation, Garganacl thought carefully.

From a survival standpoint, it had lost—so logically, it should leave the area. That was how Area Zero worked.

Territory rules were simple: if you can’t win, you leave!

But being caught in a Poké Ball… it had never experienced that.

“Lose and obey” wasn’t necessarily guaranteed, but Hikaru’s proposal did spark a bit of interest.

It was a rock man. It didn’t care about time passing. It looked at Arven.

Humans…

It had met very few, but one thing was certain: humans didn’t live as long as it did.

To it, this little runt was just a bit of seasoning in its endless stone-life.

“Garga.”

Fine. I’ll go with you for a while. For me, this is nothing more than a brief interlude in endless time.

Hikaru: “Negotiation success. Garganacl will now follow your commands completely—but you need to command it well, too. Don’t let it lose too many times, okay?”

Arven lit up and patted his chest. “Thank you for listening to me, Garganacl! I won’t let you down! I’ll raise you big and strong—come with me, and you definitely won’t regret it!”

“I’m going to become a gourmet hunter! Salt is an essential seasoning!”

It was just a casual suggestion from Hikaru.

But for Arven—who’d set his sights on becoming a Herba Mystica chef—it became a brand-new goal.

“All the fear and worry got swept away. Becoming friends with strong Pokémon and moving forward together—then you can keep surpassing yourself.”

Hikaru watched Arven’s excitement and knew the road ahead wouldn’t scare him anymore. Of course, a big reason was that Hikaru was still here—and Victini’s protection.

“Garga!” Garganacl reached out toward Arven. While Arven looked confused, Garganacl lifted him up and placed him atop the pyramid-like stone structure on its body.

“Whoa! Riding—I’m riding on Garganacl!”

“Garga!” Garganacl looked down the road and started swaying forward toward the lower depths. Mabosstiff trotted after them, tail wagging, barking happily.

Hikaru, meanwhile, headed deeper as well—bringing along Armarouge, Palafin (resting in its ball to recover strength), Falinks (walking with that one-step-six-wobbles swagger), and the battle-shy lizard Miraidon.

But they hadn’t gone very far when a roar suddenly burst from the Dream Ball!

Walking Wake popped its Poké Ball open with a bang and ran out on its own!

“Area Zero has Tera crystals everywhere, so you can pick up a lot of Tera Shards—but ordinary items are pretty rare down here, huh… Oh, and some uncommon berries. That’s nice.”

“You want to pick stuff up again? If you’ve got time, go forage!”

Facing the Trainer’s teasing, Walking Wake scratched at the mane around its neck. It looked around furtively first, then pawed up some Tera Shards and berries from the ground and stuffed them into its mane—making Hikaru want to complain again.

That mane… is it some kind of subspace? What can’t it stuff in there?

“Rrrr… ROAR!”

Walking Wake growled low, its eyes rolling around. It glanced at Arven—who was perched on Garganacl, craning his neck in curiosity—but it had zero interest in a tiny human.

Walking Wake only cared about things on the ground. So kid, you should know what to do!

But the reason it had come out of the ball was because Walking Wake had sensed something familiar with its sharp instincts—

“Huh? You’re saying there’s a familiar aura—could it be your own kind?”

“Paradox Pokémon have kind of gotten out of hand down here anyway. A second or third Walking Wake wouldn’t be weird.”

In the games, Walking Wake is an event Pokémon, caught via a fixed location: a crystal cavern for Tera Raid Battles. And in its background artwork, it appears near a waterfall.

They’d already passed the waterfall before Research Station 1, and they hadn’t seen any “Walking Wake relatives.”

There were more waterfalls further down, but those were other “dragons'” territory.

“A familiar aura could also mean another Paradox Pokémon… You mean Raging Bolt?”

Hikaru remembered that Walking Wake only “knew” Flutter Mane and Raging Bolt. But the female gremlin boss Flutter Mane he’d encountered—who knew whether she had any connection to Walking Wake, since the two hadn’t actually met.

Compared to Walking Wake’s ancient grudges, the Aerodactyl and the gremlin Flutter Mane’s grudges were deeper.

“You say that, and I feel it too. Don’t tell me it’s Gouging Fire.”

“And the ones in Area Zero might not be the exact two we know… uh, it can’t be that coincidental, right? If we run into that Flutter Mane again, it’s basically a full-blown ‘acquaintances’ brawl.”

Hikaru and Arven, together with their Pokémon, soon arrived at Research Station 2. As usual, they unlocked the station, listened to the broadcast warning again, read the notes inside—and then continued down toward Research Station 3.

Arven looked puzzled. “Bro, why are we heading for these stations?”

Hikaru: “If we don’t unlock the stations’ locks, we can’t get into the Zero Lab. This feels like a failsafe left behind by some Professor. I don’t think your mom set these locks.”

“It might be something your dad developed.”

“My dad? I think he died around the time I was born.” Arven’s mood dipped a little, but since he’d never met his father, the sadness wasn’t overwhelming.

“Logically, the research on the Tera Orb should’ve been completed by your parents together in the crater. But because of some accident, your father died.”

“Your father and mother may have disagreed on some aspect of a project, and these station locks might be something he developed. This is a system built for Area Zero’s defensive works—at least part of it.”

“At the stations… after that accident, the program might’ve started up on its own.”

“And the signal interference down here—I think that’s also part of the defensive works. When we enter the lab, it might trigger a Poké Ball lock program, so before we go through the gate, we should release all our Pokémon.”

“Of course, some special ball types aren’t affected.”

High-tech balls always get jammed by strange signals. Typically villains love doing that, and then the International Police have anti-lock tech—magic meets stronger magic.

And this was exactly where Kurt’s handcrafted Apricorn Balls shined.

Ha. Too obsolete to lock. I don’t even have that mechanical module. Good luck trying to lock it.

That’s craftsmanship!

“Come to think of it, Kurt told me I can visit him anytime to learn how to make balls.”

“Apricorn Balls have a ridiculous floor and ceiling. Even in Gen 8, high-tech couldn’t replicate them. Celebi even gave me the Apricorn Ball crafting manual from the Pokémon Adventures world. Honestly, I could self-study and be fine—but I’ll still go visit.”

After leaving Research Station 2, Paradox Pokémon started showing up on the roadside. The first to come charging in was a Scream Tail!

Near Research Station 2, a Scream Tail is guaranteed to show up for a battle. You could say it’s because, like Slither Wing, it’s a Paradox Pokémon active in Area Zero’s upper layers—so you’re likely to run into it!

Scream Tail started screaming like a maniac, incredibly ferocious. “Eee! Ahh!”

“Stop yelling. Hunting starts now!”

Hikaru had no intention of letting this devil Jigglypuff get a real scream off. He snapped his Capture Styler cursor onto it, and with Rotom’s “AI drawing” assist, he quickly completed the circles!

“Catch this!” Hikaru tossed a Lihua Berry. Scream Tail had just been captured by the cursor—blinking with its mouth open, not sure what to say—when the berry smacked right into its mouth!

Chomp chomp.

Huh! So tasty!

“Eat my food, follow my rules!”

Hikaru told Scream Tail, “Lihua Berry has a unique effect for throat-soothing and vocal performance! It can boost sound-based moves—use Sing on your companions!”

Seeing more and more round pink balls charging in behind it, Hikaru decisively used Sing to avoid the fight!

A normal battle would’ve been fine, but if a whole crowd of Scream Tail started using Hyper Voice together, there was no way to fight properly!

Sing: The user sings a pleasant, relaxing song, putting the target to sleep. This move ignores the target’s Substitute!

A graceful lullaby that can send anyone—or any Pokémon—that hears it into deep slumber!

“Eee-ee-ah!”

Scream Tail smacked its lips. Under the Capture Styler’s influence—and with the “can’t refuse after taking someone’s food” logic—it instantly spun around!

It took a deep breath!

Hikaru suddenly realized something was very wrong and hurried to stop it. “Wait, Scream Tail! I meant Sing—not—”

That opening stance is wrong!

I can’t turn around for you!

“AAAAAAAHHHHH!!”

Scream Tail let out a monstrous scream!

This was the song of ancient times!

Ancient Paldea singing!

Scream Tail used Boomburst!

It attacked all Pokémon around it with destructive power generated by an ear-splitting explosive sound!

(End of Chapter)

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep