There was no day-night cycle in Area Zero, but the lab naturally had clocks.
The upper layers were always daytime, while the lower layers were always night. After all, this was already a cavern in the deepest depths.
Hikaru had stayed here for about two days.
And now, it was the night of the third day.
After eating and drinking their fill, Arven and the Pokémon were all sound asleep.
After running diagnostics on her own body, AI Sada had also entered a short-term sleep mode. Even though she was a machine AI and could work without rest, she still felt mental fatigue. On top of that, she had just gone through an extremely intense battle, so now she entered sleep mode at fixed intervals every day.
From that perspective, she seemed even more human.
As for Hikaru, after finishing the Item Printer, he still had to help AI Sada suppress and modify the time machine.
At the same time, the Three Sacred Swordsmen were carrying out maintenance on her body, then drafting detailed plans for repairing Research Station No. 4, along with the other three stations.
For example...
The three future Sacred Swordsmen would each take charge of one research station, serving as its director.
So then there were four research stations total. What about the last one?
The answer was that all of them recommended Iron Thorns to serve as the director of Research Station No. 1.
Their reasoning was that there were no Great Tusk in the upper layers. If it took a lower-layer post, it would probably get flattened the moment it walked outside every day.
And Iron Thorns had extremely high processing power too. After all, it was supposedly the product of a technological gap of 1 billion years.
But Iron Crown declared that the whole "10 billion years in the future" setting was just another expression of paradoxical nonsense.
You'd evolved for a full billion years and were still four times weak to Ground. That already explained everything.
If the gap really were that enormous, you should have evolved into a Pokémon with all eighteen types existing at once by now.
That "1 billion years" was a number somebody pulled straight out of their ass.
That was Iron Crown's verdict.
At the same time, in order to suppress those ancient Pokémon that refused to obey, the future Three Sacred Swordsmen believed the power of the Paradise guardian dragon Koraidon was necessary.
The No. 2 specimen was violent, but unexpectedly, it still obeyed AI Sada's orders fairly well. As for the No. 1 specimen, it was kind of timid, but it was still a major fighting force.
For some reason, Koraidon No. 1 had ended up hanging out with Miraidon.
It had started listening to Miraidon talk about the world outside the crater, and from time to time, a look of longing would appear in its eyes. It had gone outside before too, but never to as many places as Miraidon had.
At first, Miraidon hadn't had a Poké Ball, so it could go wherever it wanted. It didn't care even when the future swordsmen scolded it.
It had just wandered all over the place. And now that it had met an incredible boss, this electronic dragon was even happier every single day.
That made Koraidon No. 1 a little jealous, and every so often it would glance toward Arven.
Once upon a time, it too had spent a relatively happy period with the professor and that child.
However, the violent part left in its ancient genes had made it attack outside Pokémon, and in the end it had been brought back here.
Still, it wasn't until No. 2 was transported over that Koraidon No. 1 realized its own destructive urges really didn't amount to much.
This No. 2 was the real mad dog.
Miraidon comforted Koraidon No. 1, saying that after getting beaten half to death, No. 2 had become a lot more obedient. It also confessed that during the earlier battle, it had secretly been watching, and when Iron Boulder got knocked flying by a single sword strike, the emotions in No. 2's near-dead eyes had been nothing but fear.
Right?
Nobody wouldn't be scared.
A human could actually go head-to-head with future Iron Pokémon that had evolved to the ultimate limit. Even it had been terrified.
And then its boss had sent one of them flying with a single sword strike. That was a Legendary Sacred Swordsman!
The two big lizards chatted for a long time.
Koraidon No. 2 knew they were gossiping about it, but unfortunately, it didn't dare voice any opinions.
That absurdly powerful human still hadn't left yet, and the professor also had ways to keep it under control. That made Koraidon No. 2 feel a kind of unreal weariness.
It had come here intending to become the boss.
But the moment it entered battle, it had gotten instantly destroyed. It felt like every Pokémon here possessed power no less than its own.
This whole "Paradise guardian dragon" job really wasn't worth doing after all.
It had come here to be the boss. How had it somehow ended up doing labor instead?
And now it even had to manage those equally violent ancient species...
Just thinking about the several dozen Great Tusk in the middle layers was enough to give it a headache.
Bit by bit, No. 2 started losing hope in dragon life. It even looked at how weak No. 1 was and came up with an absurd idea.
If it could train this guy until he was as strong as itself... then wouldn't its own workload become lighter too?
This wasn't territorial bullying. And it definitely wasn't some ancient-beast instinctive struggle, or it trying to bully him or anything.
It was all for the sake of helping him become a strong fighter who could stand on his own.
Restore glory to the dragon-fighting family!
Miraidon's electronic eyes glanced toward Koraidon No. 2, which was lurking in the corner of the lab, apparently staring this way. It let out a thoughtful buzzing sound, then leaned close to Koraidon No. 1's ear.
Come here, let me tell you something. If it bullies you in the future, use this move.
I may be a coward in battle, but since I'm an electronic dragon, I've got tons of weird move data.
For example, both you and it are both weak to Flying by the same amount. I'll teach you a great move for beating it. It's called Acrobatics!
As for Hikaru, after finishing his work, deep in the middle of the night, he began writing team-entry records for his Pokémon.
After going through the Area Zero adventure, Palafin wanted to see a much more distant world, and sincerely expressed its desire to go to the place Hikaru had described, a place filled with seawater, sunlight, Berries, and rainbows.
The heroes of Alola and Oblivia were heroes famous across the seas!
So Palafin officially joined the team.
As for the Falinks, their thinking was simple. Just like when they had followed Hikaru off to participate in the Tauros competition in the first place, what they wanted was simply to fight. Sons of Rome, or maybe more like greenskin personalities.
And they thought both Armarouge and Hikaru were the biggest and most waaagh-worthy individuals around. The little guys wanted to follow the biggest one!
"Armarouge's legion, huh? A knight having a knight order sounds perfectly reasonable."
As for the rest, there really wasn't much more to say.
Gouging Fire and Raging Bolt had come because of Walking Wake. After hearing about Ho-Oh, they too longed to see Ho-Oh and the true Legendary Beasts.
As dragons, they possessed long lives and plenty of time. Staying in Area Zero was simply too boring.
And with the reverse-time-machine technology still not yet under development, and the time machine not fully shut down, it was entirely possible that other members of their species might still appear in Area Zero over the next few days. There was no way to know.
"As for shutting down the time machine, because AI Sada herself is part of the time machine's repair system, completely shutting it down can't be done unless AI Sada dies here or leaves for another space-time. But adjusting the machine's output and reducing its summoning frequency to the absolute minimum is no problem."
Just as Hikaru had said to AI Sada earlier, the technology was too advanced.
But if they didn't change the core framework and simply made it slightly more outdated instead, that was perfectly workable.
Someone in Unova had developed a time machine too. If they borrowed a few ideas from that and sharply lowered the time machine's energy output, then everything would be fine.
At the same time, Armarouge's record also needed to be updated. Hikaru suddenly realized that he had never actually written down the little knight's official team-entry note before.
'Armarouge, a legendary fire warrior who worships the sun.'
'Met back when it was still a Charcadet, near the Tinkaton village by the West Sea.'
'Brave nature.'
'Learned Sacred Fire from the teachings of the Phantom Entei, and can create Sacred Ash!'
'Skilled in forging, wearing armor imbued with feelings of celebration. A great knight of sunlight.'
'Palafin, met near the Tinkaton village by the West Sea.'
'A Pokémon that dreams of becoming an ocean ranger.'
'Proud nature.'
'Is it an Elemental Hero or a Neo-Spacian? Preparing to head for Alola. A new hero trying to become famous across the seas.'
'Falinks (6 individuals), met in the sandstorm of the Asado Desert.'
'Waaaaagh. Likes fighting, but will also run if it meets something it can't beat.'
'Cheerful nature (all 6 are the same).'
'Accustomed to legion warfare. The six individuals can fight independently. A knightly order.'
'Raging Bolt, a Pokémon encountered in the lower layers of Area Zero.'
'Met during the battle at Research Station No. 4.'
'Serious nature.'
'Shows considerable interest in things it has never seen before. Has sauropod-like habits, and seems to regard travel as its lifelong purpose.'
'Gouging Fire, a Pokémon encountered in Area Zero / the green grassland.'
'Once appeared in the dream of the Phantom Entei, and came to the future with the help of Unown power.'
'Adamant nature.'
'Likes sleeping. If its sleep is disturbed, it gets very angry.'
'Miraidon, a future Pokémon, the legendary Iron Serpent. Recorded in the Violet Book. Once turned the land to ash with lightning?'
'Met in the Asado Desert. Likes eating.'
'Timid nature.'
'Prefers formal battles, rejects wild brawls, and often shrinks from battle.'
"This time I'm taking quite a few Pokémon with me. I'll have to improve the backpack a bit too... Food isn't a problem, though. What's stored in the linked worlds, plus the Berries the little turtle grows, are completely enough. And there's also a huge supply of glittering vegetables."
In the Adventures manga, Red had at one point carried more than ten Pokémon in the early days, while Crystal once carried thirty-six Pokémon on her at once, then transferred thirty of them to Professor Oak.
Gold's team also exceeded six, because he also had the twenty Remoraid that followed his Mantine around and were used for jet-propelled flight.
Adding in the special Pichu that could use Volt Tackle, his total carried number should have been twenty-seven, second only to Crystal.
In the Platinum chapter, after Diamond disappeared, Pearl once carried all of Diamond's Pokémon on his person as well, which should also have brought his total to above ten.
Professor Oak once told Professor Elm that while a trainer could carry twenty to thirty Pokémon, it was very hard to care for all of them properly, so the Pokémon Association set six Pokémon as the most appropriate number for a trainer's active lineup.
Compared to people like that, someone like Alder, who carried around nine to twelve, only counted as middle of the road.
"Cool~"
Hikaru said, "Gimmighoul, stop rummaging through the professor's drawers. There shouldn't be any coins in there. Sorry, though. I did promise treasure, but all that's here are Tera shards and Terapagos."
The Coin Chest Pokémon glared unhappily at the little turtle sprawled on the desk.
The true form of the treasure that had been passed down for two thousand years was actually just a turtle.
The gem on your body may be very shiny, but what I need are coins!
What kind of legendary treasure is this?!
Isn't this just a scam?!
The Gimmighoul of Paldea really had it rough. At least the King of the Sea had left some ancient coins in underwater ruins. But in Paldea, all the coins had to be picked up from ruins and roadsides, and when you finally found a real treasure, it wasn't money at all!
Well, since arriving in Paldea, it had picked up, or robbed, quite a lot of coins already, but there was still a long way to go before reaching the 1000 mark.
At minimum, it still needed...
still needed 500 coins!
Gimmighoul humbly reported that number. But after thinking about it, wasn't it greed incarnate by nature? What was there to be embarrassed about?
500? Too low!
At least 800! No, 999!
It thought a little harder, got its brain moving, and suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
Hey, wait. Didn't Armarouge know metallurgy?
And the trainer had lots of useless Nuggets in his hands too! You actually don't sell Nuggets and Big Nuggets for money, and instead use them as throwing-damage items. What a waste!
I've got a favor to ask! Could you help me privately mint some coins?
"Gimme!"
Hikaru sighed and told the little coin-goblin, "Coins privately minted like that wouldn't be infused with passion, so they probably wouldn't let you evolve."
"How about I help you get some from Geeta when I go to the Paldea League?"
"Cool~!"
Only then did Gimmighoul give up on the idea of private minting and nod at Hikaru. Then it ran off to inspect the little turtle.
Hikaru read its thoughts.
Even if the little turtle, being the ultimate treasure itself, wasn't coins, which was a shame, it was still something legendary. Since they'd already met it, why not pluck a few hairs before leaving?
And if it happened to run into Raifort's Gimmighoul again next time, maybe it could rob that one too?
Hikaru: "..."
Still, Raifort's Gimmighoul really did seem to have a bit of story to it.
After completing the trade at the League Club, Raifort would say, "The Gimmighoul you took off my hands used to constantly demand coins from me. It caused me quite a lot of trouble."
"The one who robs money will eventually get robbed by someone else. You could say I'm just helping Raifort-sensei out. Going from Gimmighoul to bankrupt spirit means you no longer need to think about all those messy things. Just lie down in an empty chest and feel like your life is over."
While making that joke, Hikaru suddenly thought of how to arrange carrying even more Poké Balls.
"If I carried thirty-six companion Pokémon, that would be six full teams."
"After all, Poké Balls can shrink. That's very convenient."
At full size, a Poké Ball was about as big as a baseball, making it easier to throw.
At small size, it was about as big as a ping-pong ball, making it easier to carry.
By pressing the button in the center, a Poké Ball could switch between the two sizes.
Once shrunk, a Poké Ball was much smaller than before, like the difference between a twelve-inch pizza and a six-inch pizza.
Not counting Lokoko, Entei, Victini, and the Light Stone, the current team he carried was exactly four teams' worth.
"In Adventures, Emerald once had a special set of gear custom-made by the Trick Master. Among it were those oversized shoes that could support his height. Those shoes were also called Thick-Soled Shoes. Inside the shoes was storage space for Poké Balls. Between the left and right sides, they could hold a total of forty Poké Balls."
That was also the highest-numbered Pokémon-carrying scene in Adventures.
Of course, that excluded Archie robbing the Battle Factory and illegally stuffing a massive number of Poké Balls into his armor.
As for the movies, probably only a few villains like Dr. Zager could send out over thirty Pokémon at once, like an army of Magnemite and the like.
"Use Emerald's thick-soled shoes as a reference to create a special backpack that lets Pokémon fully sense the outside world while also storing items."
"A similar ability could be achieved using Soul Dew, because Latios and Latias possess an ability called Dream Projection. Unfortunately, though, I don't have anything like that on hand."
"In Kanto, there may be an Enigma Stone. In HeartGold and SoulSilver, Steven will clean that crystal in front of the Pewter Museum of Science and turn it into Soul Dew." (Bulbapedia)
"That item was originally meant to be a special item for catching Latios and Latias."
"While making the special backpack, I can also make Control Bracers."
"That was an item Wally used in Adventures. It let him ride a bicycle at high speed while releasing Pokémon from his hands to battle, then instantly recalling them. It was used together with a small oxygen supply device during the breakthrough of Sky Pillar."
That bracer had no formal name. It could be called training bracers, control bracers, or sprint bracers.
It was a convenient device developed by Norman, based on Hoenn League technology.
In Adventures, it was already extremely stylish for its time, riding a bicycle while battling and using the device to instantly deploy and recall Pokémon.
But looking at it now, it lacked a little cool factor. It had a kind of simple, unadorned feel.
Now if you used that while riding Miraidon or Genesect...
"A true high-speed duel!"
[Special Item: Control Bracers - Modified!]
[Description / Effect: Worn on both arms, with six Poké Balls embedded in each side, up from the original four. This makes them equipment capable of simultaneously controlling a total of twelve Pokémon in battle! Designed specifically for use while riding at high speed. They can release Pokémon instantly, or instantly swap and recall them!]
[Special Item: Giant Backpack (Battle Mechanism Backpack)!]
[Description: A backpack somewhat similar to the large packs used by the Ginkgo Guild in the Hisui era, but also somewhat different. It contains special mechanisms, and its design resembles the Poké Ball storage mechanisms in the thick-soled shoes used by Emerald, the 'calmer of Pokémon.' It also possesses part of the functionality of a [Pokémon Box]. The Poké Ball mechanisms embedded on both sides can hold a total of forty miniaturized Poké Balls.]
"Still, even though I've gained a lot of new companions, for the battle against old Mr. Alder, I'll only use the original six."
Aegislash, Lilligant, Walking Wake, Torterra, Volcarona, and...
the still-unevolved Riolu.
The first six of the original formation.
After going through so much...
they would enter the rocky cave of training, carry out their final meditation, and then head for the distant Champion path.
Mist drifted through the air. In his dream, Hikaru vaguely saw a floating island in the dream world, but there were no Pokémon there.
Waking up inside a dream sounded like a strange thing.
But in the Pokémon world, where the dream world truly existed, that was nothing unusual at all.
[You hear the voice of someone calling to you. Will you answer the call?]
(End of Chapter)
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