Two days passed quickly.
Regarding the intelligence about the imminent appearance of Ultra Beasts, Aiden naturally notified Professor Kukui, the current head of the Alola League, as early as he could and received his full cooperation.
For the people of Alola, Ultra Beasts have always been a massive headache—
Since the earliest traceable periods of civilization, they had already appeared in the written records of the ancient Alolan royal family, referred to by humans as "monsters that destroy everything."
No one could predict when they would attack or where they would appear; there was absolutely no pattern to their behavior.
People only knew that when Ultra Beasts were about to appear, the sky would suddenly tear open, forming a passage large enough for them to squeeze through, and they would descend upon one of Alola's islands.
The reason the Tapu Guardians were so revered by humans in the Alola region was largely due to their courage and fearlessness when facing Ultra Beasts, having resolved many extremely dangerous crises for humanity on numerous occasions.
However, this time, the one solving the problem was Aiden.
Because he was recognized by Tapu Koko, Professor Kukui had no doubts about his words. He immediately activated an emergency evacuation plan, directing the Pokémon and staff at Paniola Ranch to evacuate in advance, leaving Aiden with a battlefield where he could operate freely.
However.
Just as Aiden was preparing to set out from the Hano Grand Resort to wait nearby for the Ultra Beasts' arrival, he encountered a "familiar face" he was meeting for the first time.
"Yo, isn't this Teacher Azure?"
Outside the hotel, Aiden, who was about to throw out his Salamence to take flight, turned around to see a red-haired woman in a swimsuit walking toward him and greeting him proactively. He blinked subconsciously.
"Madam——Miss? Lorelei!"
He blurted it out instinctively, but immediately corrected himself after suddenly feeling the surrounding temperature drop sharply, as if Sheer Cold had been used, creating a suffocating environment.
The visitor was none other than the Ice Queen of the Indigo League—Lorelei!
"Just Lorelei is fine."
Lorelei had already arrived in front of Aiden. She didn't mind his slightly impolite half-sentence from earlier and continued with a smile.
"I was going to say 'long time no see,' but then I realized this is actually our first time meeting."
"However, in Pokémon Champions, I've already received your guidance, Teacher Azure."
"Not at all, not at all. I just offered some suggestions. Whether you could benefit from them depends on you, Miss Lorelei."
Aiden waved his hand modestly.
A few months ago, he had encountered Lorelei during a livestream and introduced her to Alolan Ninetales as a potential core team member.
Their conversation just now naturally revolved around this matter.
Although he hadn't reacted immediately just now, Lorelei's appearance was actually quite normal.
After all, the Ice-type Masters Tournament was being held in Alola this time, which was perfectly suited to her expertise.
The Type Masters Tournament was held three times a year, and cycling through all types took six years. Generally speaking, trainers who specialized in the corresponding type wouldn't miss the opportunity.
And for Lorelei, there should be a deeper reason—
In his memory, shortly after Red became Champion, she and Agatha retired one after another, so this should be Lorelei's last tournament to participate in, giving her even more reason not to give up.
Furthermore, being able to showcase her newly caught Alolan Ninetales on the international stage made it even more perfect.
"Actually, besides thanking you, I have some business to discuss with you, Teacher Azure."
After chatting with Aiden for a few sentences, Lorelei got straight to the point and proactively stated her purpose: "I heard from Lance that you're planning to deal with some trouble called 'Ultra Beasts'?"
"So, do you need a helping hand?"
After saying this, Lorelei pointed at herself and revealed a confident smile.
"Although I'm not a professional police officer like Lance, I'm also a very reliable big sister~"
Akala Island, Paniola Ranch.
Originally, this was Alola's largest livestock base, with most of the dairy raw materials for the four islands coming from here.
It had to be said, due to the existence of Pokémon, the various ingredients in this world were very distinctive. For example, "Moomoo Milk" produced by Miltank was an extremely nutritious beverage for any living creature.
But because of the Ultra Beast crisis, Paniola Ranch was now completely empty, with only an open pasture remaining.
"I didn't expect that Teacher Azure would actually have the ability to predict where Ultra Wormholes would appear?"
Flying parallel to Aiden in the sky, riding her Articuno, Lorelei adjusted her glasses and looked at the young man on the other side whose face was filled with calmness.
"I just borrowed the power of the Temporal and Spatial Dragons."
Aiden casually gave his answer while focusing his attention on her Articuno.
The Legendary Birds theoretically existed in populations, as they could be seen in every region, and they even had special forms in Galar.
But the one Lorelei had caught was extraordinary in terms of aura.
It was most likely a direct subordinate of the Sea God Lugia, like the Moltres revered by the Indigo League—the strongest individual in the population.
Someone who could travel alongside Legendary Pokémon—besides himself, this was the first time he had seen such a person, right?
In a sense, Legendary trainers were even rarer than Legendary Pokémon.
Aiden couldn't help but think this, but he didn't dwell on it too much.
Although Legendary Pokémon were rare, when they encountered a trainer they recognized, they were willing to accompany them through humanity's brief lifetime.
For example, the two Heroes of Galar, as well as the Black and White Dragons of Unova.
"The Temporal and Spatial Dragons of Sinnoh?"
Lorelei blinked, a trace of surprise appearing on her face before quickly recovering.
Truly worthy of being Teacher Azure, casually saying something unimaginable.
However, she had heard some rumors about what happened in Sinnoh, so she knew Aiden was definitely not lying.
If he could summon Legendary Pokémon to help, then mere Ultra Beasts were indeed not a problem.
The existence of Legendary Pokémon was just that domineering—there was an almost insurmountable strength gap between them and ordinary Pokémon.
Even the Articuno willing to travel with her, merely a subordinate of the Sea God Lugia, was powerful enough to crush a Champion's ace Pokémon.
As for those legends born alongside the world, their strength would only be more terrifying—
If Teacher Azure could command the Sinnoh Creation Trio in battle, any Champion who stepped into the arena would probably be ruthlessly crushed by him.
However, for a trainer, that would be no fun.
The two quickly landed at Paniola Ranch. Aiden immediately noticed the unusual aura in the sky.
Although nothing unusual had appeared yet, the gradually intensifying Ultra Aura told him that soon, a special phenomenon called an "Ultra Wormhole" would appear in the sky.
"Is it coming? The interdimensional visitor recorded by International Police as UB (Ultra Beast)?"
Lorelei looked up, her expression carrying obvious curiosity.
Because she had accepted Lance's commission, she had roughly learned some intelligence about Ultra Beasts.
They were the number one enemy of the International Police stationed in Alola. Each Ultra Beast possessed strength rivaling a Champion's ace, and their stamina was monstrously abundant.
Not only did they require rotation battles to continuously exhaust them, but even after defeating them, they had to be temporarily suppressed using the Aether Foundation's specially made "Beast Balls," and opportunities had to be found when Ultra Wormholes opened to send them back to their own world.
As for catching them for personal use—such examples existed, but they were absolutely rare.
After all, according to Lance, they were creatures driven by instinct to destroy.
In the world where they lived, Ultra Aura was as abundant as air, while life energy was extremely scarce—the complete opposite of the current world.
Therefore, for Ultra Beasts to survive, they had to engage in endless energy competition.
Even in this world, their habits wouldn't instantly disappear; they would still indiscriminately attack surrounding life.
It was hard to imagine such a cruel world existed.
After Aiden and Lorelei stared at the sky for about two minutes, sure enough, a deep purple crack soon appeared at low altitude, continuously expanding outward until it formed a rainbow-colored hole.
It was as if that space was being forcibly torn open from the outside, yet different from Palkia's method of traversing space—it looked very violent.
"It's coming!"
Aiden narrowed his eyes, preparing to send out his Pokémon at any moment.
Lorelei, beside him, adjusted her glasses again and looked at the Articuno behind her.
"I'm counting on you."
"Kree—!"
Articuno also sensed that danger was approaching and had already entered a state of alert.
Crack—Crunch!
Strange sounds came from the rainbow-colored Ultra Wormhole that extended to who-knows-where, and then a threaded needle emerged first.
Until a crimson iron fist suddenly smashed through space, a giant mosquito monster covered in explosive muscles and looking overwhelmingly oppressive traversed the universe to descend here, vibrating its wings to hover in the air.
It was actually Buzzwole?
When he saw that strange needle, Aiden already had his answer in his heart, and simultaneously breathed a slight sigh of relief—although Buzzwole was powerful, it didn't have any troublesome abilities. It was best at crushing opponents with sheer strength.
No mechanics, just pure stats.
Therefore, as long as it wasn't allowed to use its needle to absorb energy from other creatures, it should be relatively one of the easier Ultra Beasts to deal with.
"UB02: Absorption, the Swollen Pokémon, Buzzwole———"
Lorelei recalled the intelligence she had obtained from Lance earlier and also quickly confirmed their opponent this time.
At the same time, she couldn't help but think—wasn't Buzzwole's type Bug + Fighting?
She should have dragged Lance here too; that guy definitely had a good handle on dealing with it.
However, since things had come to this, she could only proceed.
Seeing that Buzzwole was already rotating its compound eyes in the air, obviously searching for a target to absorb, Lorelei and Aiden no longer hesitated and moved simultaneously: "Articuno, Sheer Cold!"
"Go, Salamence!"
Against Ultra Beasts invading their world, there was no need to fight fair in 1v1. The correct solution was to eliminate them as quickly as possible before they caused serious damage and restrain their movements with Beast Balls.
"Roar!!!"
Salamence made a dazzling entrance and immediately roared toward Buzzwole in the sky.
As the King of the Sky, it would never allow other creatures to fly higher than itself, forcing it to look up!
———Except the Trainer!
Its Intimidate ability activated silently, not only immediately attracting Buzzwole's attention but also intimidating it with Salamence's powerful momentum.
And this moment of stunned opportunity was enough for Articuno to unleash its ultimate move: "Kree!!!"
Articuno flapped its wings covered in countless frost crystals with full force. Bone-chilling cold instantly activated, and wherever it reached, water vapor in the air immediately solidified, transforming into a continuously extending sword of ice.
"Bzzzz—"
By the time Buzzwole reacted, it was too late to dodge. It could only subconsciously extend both fists to block in front of itself, forcibly intercepting Articuno's finishing move.
If this were a game, a Pokémon hit by Sheer Cold would instantly lose all HP.
But clearly, the physical constitutions of Pokémon in reality couldn't be generalized.
Not only did Buzzwole forcibly tank Articuno's ultimate move with its arms, it even appeared completely unaffected.
Its arms flexed slightly, and instantly expanding muscles shook off all the ice shards attached after the attack hit. At the same time, its severely frostbitten skin quickly reddened and recovered at a visible speed.
"As expected, it's not that simple——"
Lorelei sighed.
Just now, her coordination with Aiden was excellent, and Articuno's Sheer Cold was undoubtedly lethal.
But for Ultra Beasts with extremely abundant stamina, it could only be considered an appetizer.
No wonder they were called monsters.
"Bzz"
After being attacked proactively, Buzzwole's target instantly locked onto the area below. It immediately vibrated its wings and dove down, aiming its muscle-swollen fists at Articuno, who had attacked it.
Its speed didn't look fast, but it faintly flickered with orange light.
That move was—Bulk Up?
Aiden narrowed his eyes and immediately reacted: "Salamence, use Scary Face to limit its speed!"
"Articuno, Hurricane!"
He and Lorelei gave commands almost simultaneously.
"Roar!"
Salamence's roar and glare successfully attracted Buzzwole's attention, but Articuno's Hurricane that followed failed to interrupt its action.
Perhaps due to its excessively high muscle density, even when hit by the blade-sharp Hurricane and instantly receiving several bloody cuts on its body, Buzzwole still maintained its forward attacking motion.
However, its speed was slightly affected by Salamence, giving Articuno the opportunity to flap its wings and dive down to dodge its attack.
Under this just 2v1 offensive, although Buzzwole still recovered its injuries quickly and appeared even more battle-hungry, its various abilities had been genuinely weakened somewhat with Salamence's assistance.
Since it was a rotation battle, continuing to exhaust it like this would mean defeating it was only a matter of time.
This was Aiden's plan; he had never thought about resolving the battle quickly from the beginning.
When the time was right, he would have Salamence complete its Mega Evolution to further accelerate Buzzwole's stamina consumption.
Everything was within his calculations.
Until——
"Lele——"
A somewhat confused yet somewhat dissatisfied voice appeared behind him, immediately startling Aiden greatly.
He subconsciously turned around and discovered that a pink demon had appeared behind him at some point, looking at him with great interest.
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