"You've already seen it, this Lugia has developed a bit of a problem, and we don't even know what it came into contact with…"
"In short, the malice and dark thoughts within it have almost completely crushed its rationality."
Lucas briefly explained Shadow Lugia's condition to Kyogre. Up to now, they still had no idea what had caused Shadow Lugia to become like this.
Even Lugia itself, which had guarded Shadow Lugia for nearly a century, was unable to give an explanation.
"I think I more or less understand what you want me to do."
Kyogre's golden pupils fixed on the sleeping Shadow Lugia. Among all attributes, Water was the gentlest and most harmonious form of power, which was why the Splash Plate's pure water energy was being used to suppress and cleanse Shadow Lugia's malice.
Well—although Kyogre, according to legend, had nothing at all to do with words like "gentle" or "tolerant," the Water attribute was indeed the most suitable force for purifying evil.
"I'll try first."
Kyogre felt it was necessary to attempt it and see the situation firsthand.
"GRUUUUU—!"
Kyogre spread its fins and rose into the air, its entire body erupting in dazzling blue light—Primal Reversion!
In the blink of an eye, Kyogre's form expanded and grew within the radiance, its golden beastly eyes contracting sharply.
Primal Kyogre appeared!
Vast divine might surged outward as Primal Kyogre flew before Shadow Lugia. Pure, ocean-blue energy rose and shot toward the Splash Plate.
Driven by Primal Kyogre's power, the blue divine radiance on the Splash Plate grew even more intense. Countless specks of blue light continuously fell upon Shadow Lugia's body.
As it was enveloped by the clear and gentle blue glow, the dense malice surrounding Shadow Lugia noticeably weakened.
Seeing this, both Lugia and Mother Lugia lit up with joy—this could work!
As expected of Kyogre, the creator of the seas!
Compared to Suicune, this was simply on a completely different level!
Half an hour passed quickly, and Primal Kyogre slowly retracted its Water-type energy.
"Well?" Lucas stopped teasing little Lugia and turned to ask.
"With the assistance of the Splash Plate, it is indeed possible," Primal Kyogre replied calmly. "However, it can only purify the malice in its heart and restore its consciousness. Its physique and energy has already completely stabilized."
"In other words, even if it regains its sanity, it will remain in this form forever, right?"
Lucas roughly understood Primal Kyogre's meaning—Shadow Lugia's genetic constitution had already been fixed, making it impossible to revert to a normal Lugia.
"That's correct. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Its power is no weaker than mine, and it should be even stronger than it once was."
Primal Kyogre glanced at the two Lugia beside it. This black Lugia was far stronger than either of them.
Lucas blinked and looked at Lugia.
Lugia: "…"
"As long as the leader can regain consciousness, that's enough," Lugia said in a deep voice.
At this point, how could they ask for more? Besides, Lugia firmly believed that as long as Shadow Lugia regained its awareness, it would still be the same kind and gentle clan leader it once was.
"It will take some time. Its power is immense, so in order not to agitate it, the purification process will require a considerable period."
After a moment of contemplation, Primal Kyogre's low telepathic voice echoed.
Even with the Splash Plate's assistance, fully purifying that evil malice would still take serious effort.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Kyogre."
"It's no trouble. This is beneficial to me as well," Primal Kyogre replied calmly.
As a Water-type, being able to come into contact with the Splash Plate was also advantageous to it.
Hmm… once things here were settled, if it gained something from this experience, it would go find that big lizard and have a proper fight!
"However, human, there may indeed be one thing I need your help with."
"You're not going to ask me to help you deal with Groudon, are you?"
"How did you know?" Primal Kyogre seemed genuinely surprised.
Lucas was speechless—did that even need guessing? Everyone knew about your feud with Groudon.
"No problem. I'll have Rayquaza help you pin Groudon down!" TN: Lmao
"Then I thank you in advance, human."
Primal Kyogre's eyes lit up.
Honestly, in its entire life, it didn't have many hobbies. If it could beat that big lizard senseless, the big blue fish felt it could stay happy for thousands of years!
After temporarily bidding farewell to Lugia and Kyogre, since their massive bodies could easily cause trouble, they chose the purification site deep beneath the sea.
"This time, the gains are not small. If these genes can be matched with Mewtwo…"
After returning to Blackthorn City, Lucas had a trusted member of the Blackthorn Clan send some small items to Lavender Town in Kanto.
Yes—during the battle at the Arche Valley, Lucas had collected quite a number of legendary genes.
He had Dr. Fuji test them one by one. If they could be perfectly integrated into his Mewtwo 2.0, that would be ideal.
Mewtwo could already Mega Evolve, yet his enhanced Mewtwo hadn't even been born—Lucas was already growing impatient.
According to the reports from Fuji and Colress, however, the experimental progress had been extremely smooth. Once these legendary genes were fully matched, it wouldn't take long for his enhanced Mewtwo to begin growing.
After dinner, Lucas leisurely lay on a bench in the pavilion of the back garden, gazing at the beautiful night sky.
"Once N and the others gain fame by challenging the Master Rankings, we can start arranging the Johto League."
Lucas lit a cigarette, contemplating the next steps.
The Johto League couldn't be rushed—at the very least, N and Zinnia needed to fully stabilize their positions as Elite Four first.
Once their influence grew strong enough, they could naturally propose the concept of a Johto League to Chairman Loki.
Not long ago, Lusamine had already united the various decision-makers of the Alola region and jointly submitted a request to establish the Alola League.
It was said that this time, Loki did not refuse. After all, the mystery of the Ultra Beasts had already been resolved, and their data had been added to the Pokédexes of various regions.
Naturally, there was no reason for Loki to reject the request for an Alola League.
Being able to fully incorporate Alola, the world's most famous resort destination, into the League's domains actually made Loki quite pleased.
As for Arceus, there had been no new developments for the time being—they could only wait for Arceus to fully awaken.
Arceus was recuperating within its own exclusive alternate space, the Hall of Origin. Even Palkia and Dialga were unable to open the Primordial Gate leading there.
However, there would be advance signs when Arceus fully awakened, so Lucas wasn't worried.
Now that he had already established good relations with Hoopa, all it would take was a phone call for Baraz's side to send Hoopa over.
With Hoopa around, distances between regions were completely meaningless.
"Looks like I still need to pick an opponent to relax a bit."
After finishing his thoughts, Lucas stretched, stubbed out his cigarette, and took out his phone.
It hadn't been long since Lance and the other three were arrested. Before the matter of the Johto League was put on the agenda, Lucas didn't plan to look for Lance.
Thus, his idea of challenging Lance would have to be shelved for a while.
In that case…
"If I'm replacing Cousin Lance, then Steven and Cynthia are still a bit lacking in spark…"
Lucas lightly tapped the screen, opened a certain "second-in-command's" profile, and selected "Challenge."
"Well then—back to the region where dreams began. Might as well go have another look."
Galar Region, Wyndon City.
League Headquarters, top floor.
"Chairman…"
Oleana knocked on Chairman Rose's office door. After entering, she bowed slightly toward Rose, who sat behind his desk, hesitating as if unsure how to speak.
"What is it, Oleana?" Rose looked at her in confusion. Although Oleana tended to lose composure when her emotions fluctuated too much, it was still rare to see her like this.
"Lucas… he has challenged Leon…"
After hesitating, Oleana spoke helplessly.
Rose raised an eyebrow, opened the World Championships app, and sure enough, a massive headline appeared.
Master Class Rankings No. 5 Lucas Blackthorn challenges Master Rankings No. 2 Leon Laventon!
"Oh~ Lucas really did choose Leon after all," Rose shook his head, seemingly not surprised at all.
"Chairman, you've already treated him so well, and yet he still—"
"This was inevitable, Oleana. You should know that Lance is probably still being detained by Chairman Loki."
"And besides, this was only a matter of time."
Rose interrupted Oleana's complaint. If Lance were still able to accept challenges, Lucas would definitely have chosen him.
Moreover, even if Lucas challenged Lance instead, once he succeeded, Leon's ranking would still drop by one anyway.
From the perspective of the final result, there was no difference—Leon would simply avoid one brutal beating from Lucas… that was all.
"Then I'll go make arrangements for Wyndon Stadium."
Oleana pressed her lips together. With her intelligence, she naturally understood this reasoning, but it still left her feeling uncomfortable.
Perhaps it was because of what happened earlier this year, which made it hard for her to feel goodwill toward Lucas. Or perhaps she felt that Rose had already treated Lucas with exceptional courtesy…
Yet Lucas still chose Leon as his opponent and what the result would be hardly needed to be said.
"Mm. Also, issue a notice to thoroughly clean all areas of Wyndon City. We must present the city in its best and most prosperous state."
"Have Wyndon Stadium cleaned as well. Inform Officer Jenny and the others to organize security teams in advance—this will definitely be extremely lively."
"And you don't need to dwell on this too much, Oleana. The fact that Lucas chose Leon instead of Steven or Cynthia is itself a different kind of recognition of Leon, isn't it?"
Rose's thoughts were extremely clear as he smiled at Oleana.
The result might be difficult to change, but the process could be shaped. Lucas challenging Leon was bound to be a highly anticipated battle!
It might be second only to Leon's challenge of Lance back when the World Championships first began—and this time, the main stage would be Galar.
This was also an opportunity to showcase Galar's prosperity to the world.
"I understand, Chairman. I'll go take care of it."
Oleana pressed her lips tightly together, then bowed to Rose before leaving in her high heels.
Lumiose City, Kalos.
Under Diantha's guidance, Leon, Steven, and the others were strolling through Lumiose City's night market.
Yes—in fact, Leon hadn't even returned to Galar yet.
After all, although they were all regional Champions, they rarely kept in contact and usually stayed busy within their own regions.
Since they had finally come to Kalos—and with the host Diantha's enthusiastic invitation—they decided to stay for a couple more days before heading to Unova to watch the battle between Red and Iris.
On the bustling and lively night market streets, Leon and Steven were clearly in great spirits, chatting freely while admiring the scenery along the way.
Cynthia and Diantha, the only two female Champions at present, were exchanging insights and experiences.
Only Iris…
Iris frowned slightly, deep in thought about how to arrange her team for her upcoming battle with Red in two days.
For her, although Red wasn't a despair-inducing opponent like Lucas, he was still an extremely dangerous enemy.
During the Saffron City incident, Red had already been stronger than her, and after such a long time, that monster Red had definitely improved greatly, just like Blue.
"Seriously… why is it always me?!"
With too little information about Red's current lineup, Iris let out a helpless sigh.
Why do these people always pick me to fight?!
She glanced at the cheerful seniors ahead, all laughing and chatting, and her little face scrunched up even more.
Your cute junior is suffering this much—can't you see it?!
And you're even discussing what time the flight to Unova departs?! Have some humanity!
You're actually going to watch me get beaten again! How annoying!
Yes—this was a world where only Iris got hurt.
"Leon…"
Suddenly, Raihan, who had been taking photos of the street scenery, stopped and called out to Leon.
But Leon didn't respond at all—amid the lively street, he was smiling and chatting with Steven and Wallace, clearly not hearing Raihan.
"Leon!"
"Huh? What is it, Raihan?"
Leon turned around in confusion, looking at his close friend. Why call him out of nowhere instead of taking photos properly?
"Uhhh… just look for yourself."
Raihan gave Leon a strange look and handed him his Rotom Phone. Leon glanced at Raihan oddly, took the phone, and looked down at the screen.
"Being all mysterious, let me see what it i—what?!"
As Leon read the message, his relaxed expression instantly vanished, his brows knitting together as he demonstrated a lightning-fast change of expression.
Steven and the others were extremely curious about what could make the normally calm and steady Leon lose control of his expression, but out of politeness, they didn't peek at his phone.
"Lucas challenged me."
After a few seconds, Leon let out a long breath, returned the phone to Raihan, and spoke with a faint smile.
So… it finally came.
Leon's eyes flickered nonstop. He could feel it—his heart was pounding wildly at this very moment!
Yes—far faster than the night before his battle with Lance back then.
(End of Chapter)