Cherreads

Chapter 359 - Chapter 359

The clash between Sacred Fire and Techno Blast, plus the Ancient Crown force-feeding Ghetsis a heap of power, seemed to have triggered some kind of anomaly…

Hikaru turned on his heel toward that world-troublemaking, moldering crown and demanded:

"You already guessed this would happen? So the Abyssal Ruins have had an Ultra Wormhole before?"

"Don't tell me, in another world right now, it's kicking off an RR incident?"

Unova's histories don't record Ultra Wormholes, but if you think about it—Unova, which links countless worlds and spaces—not having Ultra Wormholes feels like a missing piece.

And Ghetsis getting isekai'd by colliding move energies? Not that strange.

Which brings us to Alola and, on the game timeline, the RR Episode.

One of the origin points of the ever-handy "when in doubt, parallel worlds."

Sure, back in the ORAS era we already had the parallel-world idea—maybe even a character who'd slipped through an Ultra Wormhole—but that was Gen VI.

By Gen VII, it states plainly: many parallel worlds exist, and you can reach them through Ultra Wormholes.

In fact, Sun/Moon and Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon are four parallel-world stories.

Some legendaries literally live in different spacetime dens—their own worlds—not the same beings as the ones here.

That way, multiple legendaries can "coexist," neatly dodging player debates. Don't like it? Say hi to the Pokémon Masters multiverse.

Of course, if legendaries can duplicate across time and space, so can people.

Led by a certain Giovanni who defeated Red and conquered Kanto and Johto—

The legendary Pokémon Necrozma, god of light to some, leaked power that opens Ultra Wormholes and resonated with the enormous malice of many worlds.

Result: it yanked the old-version villain bosses to Alola and formed the notorious Team Rainbow Rocket—the RR incident's genesis.

Among them, the only one who can time–space hop on his own: Rainbow Giovanni.

People say that whole event was shameless fanservice—but it was a little fun.

[Originally, he would've been devoured by his own ambition and desire, going mad beyond repair.]

[But now, the vast evil intent has been exiled. This is not the end—he will return.]

The Ancient Crown sounded annoyed at not having "sealed the deal," with zero hint of familial feeling.

Sensing Hikaru's mental cross-examination, the Crown answered matter-of-factly:

[Let the unworthy vanish from the world. Only the qualified may wear the crown. Royal succession is, by nature, merciless.]

[Yet I also know of heirs who reached the throne by ambition.]

[Reshiram and Zekrom grew wrathful at that ambition and razed the world those kings built with flame and thunder. Upon the old world's ruins, a new one flourished—becoming what you see today.]

[In that light, a mutant stuffed with ambition yet unable to understand others is better off dead.]

[But now, it's too late to say any of this.]

"Yes. He will be back," Hikaru admitted, surprised.

He hadn't expected their Ghetsis to get a ticket into the RR Episode. His fate won't change, though.

If anything, without his team, he'll probably get smacked around and snubbed by that world's Giovanni.

And when he comes back next time, it'll be because Colress over there forcibly deported him.

Per the script, Colress appears in Alola—a "reformed" mad scientist who builds a dimension-hopping machine, ships Ghetsis back, and saves Lillie just in time.

"Welp, sounds like the enemies of the heroes are still on the board. I thought we'd fast-forward to BW2—catch Kyurem, Plasma Frigate freezing Unova, that whole thing."

"Rrraaoh!"

Ghetsis had vanished, but his Pokémon remained. Genesect had crashed, eaten a third Sacred Fire head-on, and face-planted, wreathed in flames and unable to move. The Drive on its back was sparking like it might fail at any moment—clearly, that Drive tech wasn't mature.

Cobalion's brow flared with a Sacred Sword and—bang—knocked the Drive clean off; it landed far away and exploded.

"Another Pokémon I've never seen—why are legendaries popping up one after another?" Terrakion kept griping. Virizion winced at Genesect's suffering:

"Let's put those flames out, shall we? For a Pokémon to be modified into this must be agonizing. It did nothing wrong; the one who used it did."

Genesect said nothing.

Virizion: "Still… it's pretty stoic."

Terrakion: "Hey, it fainted from the burns!"

Entei inhaled; the sacred fire coiling around Genesect ebbed away. The burn remained. Faced with Virizion's pity, Entei shook its head.

"A trifling burn. If this thing gets moving, it's trouble—handle it later."

That Techno Blast's punch left Entei wary. The Drive was gone, but Pokémon don't only know one move.

"These modified types are often emotionless—or pushed to extremes," Entei murmured to the Swords, eyeing Iron Valiant pinning a ninja with her light-blade. "I've seen this."

Its future-world experiences were wild. Back then Entei thought: "All Steel-type? I'll mop the floor." Later it learned—most "machine Pokémon" there weren't even Steel-type.

Seriously? Abandon the noble Steel typing—just that scared of fires?

"First, deal with the Plasma grunts."

The boss had been isekai'd to start his adventurer arc; nothing to be done. Hikaru walked to the fallen mooks and, one by one, used psychic power to put them under.

"The Seven Sages are gone… teleported?"

Smiral had suddenly defected and sent N away, while Gelo was missing—never showed the whole time.

Hikaru had felt psychic ripples. Once the Dark field faded, the Shadow Triad's ESP unsealed and they warped the sages out.

But one of the Triad remained.

Iron Valiant had him at blade-point; he didn't dare move. Seeing Hikaru approach, he closed his eyes in resignation.

Just then, a "grunt" strode over—and changed shape into Zoroark.

"So, he told you to hide among the crowd?"

"Zoro~."

Zoroark nodded. It was N-sensei's Pokémon; its bond with Hikaru was only those few battles. But it knew Hikaru could hear heart-voices, so it explained anyway.

As for Teacher N—he was on the shore; there was turmoil there too.

The Seven Sages had split—mid-schism. Ghetsis's man Zinzolin (Vio) was still over there, but Rood, Bronius (Asura), and Giallo/Gorm (Yogus) had driven him off.

Zoroark pointed at the Triad member here. He was the one who'd rescued people at the Dreamyard—and the one who'd tailed Hikaru several times since.

Now Hikaru understood why this man felt "off."

The crystal had influenced him, yet his loyalty hadn't wavered. Loyalty is a kind of virtue: Ghetsis saved the Triad's lives, and they swore to heed only his orders.

In fact, even when Ghetsis and Team Plasma were defeated in canon, the Shadow Triad were never arrested.

Honestly, catching three folks who can Teleport at will would be very, very hard.

"Why not just teleport away?"

Only then did it strike Hikaru as odd—this man had warped his comrades out, but stayed?

"Perhaps… I still believed Lord Ghetsis would win. So I kept fighting."

The shadowed man answered. "I didn't expect… this outcome."

"But Lord Ghetsis did not die. I can feel it faintly—I am also an esper."

"Now… ghk… my ESP is weaker than this Pokémon's. Kill me."

Classic chuuni "just kill me" routine. Hikaru wasn't interested—Shadow Triad are dudes.

No need to "spare" him either; one Psychic Shatter later, the man slipped into dreamless sleep.

In the future, he would still be loyal to Ghetsis—loyalty is a virtue.

"Even if we jail him, his comrades will bust him out—not my problem…"

Ripple Bay (Undella) definitely has Officer Jenny; a ruckus this big won't escape the police.

"Ask Officer Jenny-san to step up ESP containment later… though regular psychics won't match the Shadow Triad."

A headache—until Zoroark offered a fix.

It wanted to persuade this "ninja" to serve N. N-sensei planned new work in Unova and urgently needed staff.

Zoroark also handed Hikaru a neatly copied letter, explaining there were two; this one was to tell Hikaru where N intended to go. They were friends—no need to worry about him.

[Item: N's Letter.]

[Desc: Seems to bear N's new ideals, and it's tied to one of your vocations. Have a read.]

Hikaru skimmed—and blinked.

"A Ranger? He plans to drop his status and become a Pokémon Ranger? Marching in with a big entourage—the Ranger Union probably won't let him through the door."

"So he needs me to introduce him, and he wants to study the Ranger path… because I'm connected to them. I see."

In my impression, you don't just become a Ranger. I'm a specially invited "Ranger aide," sure—but N-sensei wants to go to Ranger Union HQ.

He hasn't abandoned his goal of beating the Champion; but before that, he wants to become a Ranger and contemplate the bond between people and nature.

"If you desire to help those in trouble, you have the qualifications to be a Pokémon Ranger."

"Live in harmony with Pokémon; protect nature as best you can; selflessly aid those in need; train your body to have a Ranger's physique."

"Tell N-sensei this for me—those are the requirements. I'll pass this letter to Top Ranger Sven. Then you two pick a rendezvous; he'll hand it to N himself."

That's from the opening of Ranger 1—the reply the protagonist gets from the Union, laying out what it takes to be a full Ranger.

Frankly, the most important part is physical training.

Ranger protagonists are all Pallet-Town-Superman-class, like Satoshi.

They swat aside moves bare-handed, fistfight legendaries, walk away from a ten-kilometer freefall without yelling "man," and in Ranger 3 even tank a laser without flinching.

Mission profiles include (but aren't limited to): sky and sea ops, mountain ultras, wildfire suppression, temple brawls, spinning-top smacks on syndicates, even spacetime excursions. At that intensity, Rangers have almost zero casualties—human history's miracle.

No wonder those three regions don't need Trainers—what's a mere Pokémon against my battle-hardened body?

N-sensei? Not there yet. In the anime he nearly gets blown away by a couple of moves; in Special he's bloodied by Ghetsis's cane. That physique won't cut Ranger duty.

Zoroark felt Hikaru was thinking weird things—but agreed N-sensei's conditioning needed work. It took the unconscious Triad ninja and left.

After that, Hikaru approached Genesect.

No need for words. Linking their minds, he found its interior a near blank.

As a prototype, its loadout was incomplete, performance not top-tier. They'd neutered its thought patterns for easier control—nothing like the Genesect "troop."

Being revived from a fossil, even the later troop wasn't that bright. Back in ancient times, it was likely just a mad apex predator with strength alone.

After a quick treatment, Hikaru found its Poké Ball ruined—which meant the creature was free.

"A dangerous Pokémon like this, left to roam, would cause serious fallout."

Cobalion offered a proposal: "Its Ball is broken. To keep it out of evil hands, you should secure it."

Hikaru blinked. "You're the Swords' leader—and, in theory, disdain humans—yet you suggest this?"

Cobalion closed his eyes slightly.

"I'm thinking of safety. Letting a powerful, mindless being loose in nature—what horrors might follow, you know. This is an artificial product."

"Team Plasma hasn't vanished. If they find it, they'll use it again. From life's perspective, it's 'free,' yet not truly free—a pitiful thing."

"So having you—or someone else—take it is best. We don't know that lady well. You, we know."

"No," Cobalion shook his head. "This isn't a capture. It's containment."

"I agree," Entei nodded.

"This one seems to be the heartless kind. More than those future-city Pokémon, it feels like a pure weapon."

"So we should give it heart—let it learn the world's shape and the dread in its own power. Those with power must fear their power—or they'll do terrible things."

On that point, Entei empathized.

When it was born, its wits were far higher than these—but it still made a mess of things.

"Too much selfhood brings crisis; having none does, too."

"And giving machines a heart—that's what you do best, isn't it? The god said so."

Hikaru said nothing—just took out a Strange Ball.

A white flash. The wounded Genesect vanished into it.

An accidental "capture."

Hikaru drafted the log lines in his head:

Genesect — from Team Plasma and 300 million years ago.

Captured after the battle at the Abyssal Ruins.

Perhaps a gentle nature.

May like bitter flavors.

Ability unknown.

Needs Drives fabricated.

Hikaru felt a faint shape within Genesect's heart.

Not entirely empty—there was a blurred vision.

A very beautiful flower.

Connected to it…

"The Flower of Dreams, the world's oldest flower—Altas Flower."

The flower-king's crown from dreams—the same blossoms now sit upon Lilligant's head.

(End of Chapter)

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