Chapter 782: Top-Tier Hybrid
The violent trembling and roaring of the entire island caused Chloe, who was lying on the ground, to groggily open her eyes.
She first gasped heavily a few times, taking a moment to recover her senses before remembering what had just happened.
Propping herself up with both hands, Chloe looked around: "Ugh..."
Immediately.
Her gaze focused first on the Darkrai beside her.
He was sitting in an inconspicuous corner, leaning against the wall and resting.
Chloe hurriedly got up and ran over, slowing her pace as she approached: "Darkrai, are you okay? Thank you for just now."
"...Sit."
Kazuya opened his closed eyes, glanced at her, and then gestured to the beige stone bench beside him.
On the streets of Sootopolis City.
You essentially couldn't see any plastic or wooden benches.
Public benches were basically all made of stone.
Perhaps because there were too many Water-type Trainers in this city, and it was inevitable that they would drench the streets of Sootopolis City during their daily battles.
So, in order to prevent the city from smelling strange and foul, the building materials were basically all chosen to be moisture-resistant.
Like this beige marble that looked quite appetizing.
Chloe blinked.
She didn't sit down next to Kazuya, but instead immediately looked around Sootopolis City.
"Having one more person like you won't make the situation any better. Besides, there are quite a few Trainers underground, right? With the power of their Pokémon, surviving won't be a problem. Moreover, my companions have also stepped in."
Kazuya saw the anxiety and worry in her eyes.
Hearing him say this.
Chloe pursed her lips, then nodded, and sat on the stone bench next to him, keeping a distance of about a meter.
She had so, so many things she wanted to ask this Darkrai.
However...
Because this Darkrai had saved her first.
And his companions were also saving the survivors of Sootopolis City.
So Chloe suppressed her curiosity, prepared to listen to what he had to say first.
"What is your name?"
This Darkrai's voice was very gentle.
The timbre sounded like a young older brother, but the tone seemed somewhat mature and authoritative, giving the impression of an elder.
"Chloe."
Chloe answered honestly.
She currently had the illusion that she was facing one of those elders who visited her home during the New Year—the kind she wasn't very familiar with.
This made Chloe somewhat reserved.
This feeling.
She herself couldn't even say how many years it had been since she last experienced it.
"..."
Hearing this name, Kazuya raised an eyebrow, his expression changing significantly. He continued asking, "Who are the elders in your family? Tell me about them, umm... within three generations is fine."
"?"
Hearing this question, Chloe looked at the Darkrai in confusion.
She thought he would ask some major questions.
Instead.
They were all personal questions.
Chloe didn't intend to hide anything regarding this. After all, there was nothing to be ashamed of.
In fact...
Around League Calendar Year 260.
She was also quite a famous figure, and her ancestry was a household name.
"My grandfather was the Champion of the Hoenn League and the Gym Leader of the Sootopolis Gym, Wallace..."
Chloe began to briefly introduce her blood relatives within three generations.
Just as expected.
Chloe was the descendant of Wallace and Lorelei.
But the things that surprised Kazuya were truly far too many.
First.
He didn't expect Chloe to be the granddaughter of Wallace and Lorelei.
A woman who had already lived for over a hundred years.
When Kazuya first heard the name Chloe, he realized something was off.
He remembered Lorelei once telling him.
That she had a granddaughter named "Chloe."
So after Chloe stated her name, Kazuya directly asked her to list her blood relatives within three generations, without going any further back.
Sure enough.
This Chloe was actually their granddaughter, a person who, like Silver, should have died long ago.
Second.
He didn't expect Chloe's status to be so grand.
This child's father.
Was the son of Lorelei and Wallace, the later Mayor of Sootopolis City and Gym Leader of the Sootopolis Gym.
Kazuya was also relatively familiar with him. That child wasn't some super dazzling human genius, hadn't done anything major in his life, and wasn't really worth mentioning.
The key point was Chloe's mother's lineage.
Starting with her maternal grandfather and grandmother.
Her maternal grandfather was also an acquaintance of Kazuya's, the former Hoenn Champion and the heir to the Hoenn's leading enterprise, the Devon Corporation—Steven Stone.
And her maternal grandmother was the princess of the Kanto region's leading enterprise, Silph Co., a figure who rarely showed her face.
They had a son and a daughter.
The daughter was Chloe's mother, someone truly remarkable.
It was said she succeeded Wallace's position as the Hoenn Champion, and simultaneously became the later head of the Devon Corporation.
As for Chloe's uncle, he inherited Silph Co.
Regarding Steven's family matters.
Kazuya had heard Lorelei mention it in passing.
But at the time, hearing it was a union of the leading companies from two regions, he thought it was some cliché political marriage event, and truly didn't listen closely.
Third.
Was Chloe's own abilities and status.
This little girl, born from the union of the former human elites, was naturally an extraordinary top-tier hybrid.
The current Patriarch of the People of Sootopolis, a Person of the Water, Mayor of Sootopolis City, President of Devon Corporation, the final Champion of the Hoenn League, a globally renowned Top Coordinator...
"It's a miracle you managed to grow up smoothly."
Kazuya reached out and patted Chloe's shoulder.
"?"
Chloe tilted her head in confusion.
What did that mean?
She naturally couldn't understand. For Kazuya, the League's number one slacker, holding multiple positions was simply a nightmare.
Just being the ace of an Elite Four Champion had him complaining endlessly.
He couldn't even imagine how exhausting it must have been for Chloe to live day in and day out bearing so many titles.
A top-tier workaholic.
Compared to Chloe.
The Rami who died of exhaustion could only be said to have been too fragile.
"However, as the former Champion of the Hoenn League, why couldn't you even defeat those three guys?"
Kazuya asked curiously.
At the level of the three Regis.
Wallace alone could take on all three.
Did the average strength of the Pokémon League drop significantly later on?
That shouldn't be the case.
The era was progressing.
Kazuya remembered that by League Calendar Year 250, the Elite Four members of each region were all pseudo-Champion-level Trainers. The Champion's strength should naturally be even greater.
"My partner sacrificed herself during the Great Darkness event back then. The Empoleon I have now was one I unexpectedly saved over a decade ago. She is still young..."
Chloe's expression darkened, and she lowered her head.
"I'm sorry."
Kazuya apologized to her sincerely.
He had truly been foolish.
Subconsciously assuming that Chloe and her partner had survived unscathed until now.
How could that be possible?
As the Champion of the Hoenn League.
When the Great Darkness event broke out, Chloe and her Pokémon were inevitably on the front lines.
The fact that she herself survived was already a fortune amidst misfortune.
"It's fine."
Chloe shook her head.
So many years had passed...
Even if she couldn't let it go, she was already used to it.
"Speaking of which, why were you fighting the three Regis, and how did those three guys get in?"
Kazuya changed the subject, getting down to business.
Even though running into Lorelei's granddaughter was an amusing event for him.
However, there are priorities.
Moreover, he didn't plan on spending much time on Chloe.
In fact.
Kazuya had no intention of telling Chloe his identity at all.
To be honest.
Even a hundred and fifty years ago.
Kazuya wasn't familiar with this little girl, having barely seen her a few times, so there was no need to mention any emotional attachment.
It was purely because of Lorelei's existence that he was chatting a bit more with Chloe at this moment.
"They fell from the sky! They seemed to have been dropped from the sky by something!"
Chloe's expression became serious.
She stood up, her gaze shifting to the lake island in the center of Sootopolis City.
Kazuya followed her gaze.
Then couldn't help but frown.
Having taken the full brunt of Regirock's Explosion head-on, the giant tree on that lake island was actually completely unscathed?
"What is that tree? Why is it still alive at a time like this?"
Kazuya asked directly.
Also.
What's with falling from the sky?
He had never heard of the three Regis being able to fly.
Based on what Chloe was saying.
This seemed more like a targeted drop. The three Regis were as if purposefully thrown onto Sootopolis Island.
As for the purpose...
If he hadn't noticed that tree.
Kazuya would have thought the three Regis were there to destroy Sootopolis City.
But now he had to reconsider.
"That is the Tree of Eternity."
"Tree of Eternity?"
Kazuya blinked in confusion.
Counting his time as a human, he had lived nine lifetimes.
In all nine lifetimes up to now.
He had never heard of the setting of a "Tree of Eternity" in the Pokémon universe.
There were things like the Eternal Flower and the Everlasting Ice; he didn't know if there was any connection.
"Ah, the Tree of Eternity. That is the tree formed by AZ's Floette over a hundred years ago."
Chloe nodded solemnly, "AZ and Floette, have you heard their story?"
In her view.
Since this Darkrai didn't even know her.
He probably wouldn't know about AZ and Floette either.
"Oh, I know. I know about the Eternal Flower too. Go on."
Kazuya nodded with a calm expression.
With her saying that, he understood.
The so-called Tree of Eternity, wasn't that just the tree form of the Eternal Flower?
How could he not be clear about this?
Right before he came to the first world, he had just bid farewell to Florges. After Florges turned into a tree, it was called the "World's Eternal Tree."
But the difference between the two was immense.
So Kazuya truly hadn't connected this small tree to Florges.
One must know.
Before Florges turned into a tree.
She was already a Master-level creature from the ancient era.
And when she transformed, she merged with the power of the Meadow Plate.
That was why she had that kind of scale and numerous abilities after becoming a tree, earning the title of the underground king of the Kalos region, the fourth first-tier god.
But this small tree in front of him...
Scale, abilities—he couldn't see anything at all.
Kazuya couldn't even sense any emotional Aura from this tree, as if it had no consciousness. How could he possibly link it to Floette?
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