Chapter 309: Phione
With Serena's call, the sparring match was over. Ryan and Ash exchanged a grin across the ruined arena, recalling Victini and Incineroar respectively.
Ryan tucked Victini's Poké Ball away and looked over at Ash. "What's the plan from here? The Pokémon Master Title Tournament is still a ways off. You've got time to keep traveling and challenge for your Championship qualification before it starts."
Ash stretched his arms above his head with a satisfied smile. "Obviously! That's exactly what I'm doing — keep traveling, take on the League Conference circuits, lock down my Championship qualification, then show up to the Title Tournament ready to go. That's going to be our real battle, Ryan. The one that decides who actually becomes Pokémon Master."
Ryan nodded. That was about what he'd expected from Ash.
He glanced over at Serena, who was standing nearby, and smiled. "Serena — you've been traveling with Ash for a while now. Your mom must be wondering about you. Doesn't she still live in the Kalos region?"
Ash looked over immediately. "Oh yeah, Serena — you've been on the road with me for a long time. Aren't you going to go visit your family?"
Ryan gave Ash a quiet internal thumbs up. Truly, genuinely, impressively oblivious. Some things never changed.
Serena gave Ash a look that communicated everything, turned on her heel without a word, and headed purposefully in the direction of Ash's house. Ash blinked after her, looking faintly confused about what he'd said wrong.
Ryan decided not to explain it.
Afterward, Ash headed into Professor Oak's garden to visit his Pokémon, while Ryan took the Necrozma energy crystal he'd extracted from Rowlet and brought it to his research team. He hoped that having an actual physical sample of Necrozma's power — rather than secondhand data — would let them develop more precise countermeasures. The crystallized fragments recovered from the Ultra Ruin had been exhausted weeks ago. These new samples needed to go further.
His researchers didn't disappoint. Working with the energy fragments, they successfully integrated the absorbed Necrozma power into a specialized alloy — a metal capable of containing and channeling spiritual energy without degrading. Weapons and equipment built from it could withstand enormous output levels, focusing that energy to a point before release. The resulting improvements to the energy cannon design were significant — a meaningful step toward closing the gap in raw combat power they'd been worried about. That, however, was a matter for another time.
What occupied Ryan's attention more immediately was Phione.
Eight Phione had been transferred back to the Guild headquarters. Ryan had selected the one showing the highest potential and begun training immediately. He'd also prepared the Splash Plate, wanting to test the theory that had been forming in the back of his mind — whether a Phione that truly understood its own origins might have a path toward becoming Manaphy.
Phione stirred from unconsciousness and took in its surroundings — reinforced walls, structured facilities, the unmistakable architecture of a place built for serious training. It understood what had happened. It and the others had been captured by humans. Defeated outright and brought here. Phione felt the sting of that, but fighting the reality of it wasn't going to change anything.
Then the Poké Ball opened.
A flash of light, and Phione found itself standing in a large open training field. The space was filled with powerful Pokémon — and several that Phione immediately recognized as Legendary. It looked around, adjusting to the sudden change, and then its attention settled on the young man standing in the center of the field watching it.
Phione didn't recognize him. But something about him stopped it.
His presence carried an aura Phione knew on an instinctive level — the same warmth, the same deep connection to the ocean's energy that it associated with Manaphy. Not identical, but clearly touched by it. Clearly acknowledged by it.
Phione regarded him carefully. He hadn't been the one to defeat it. But that aura wasn't something that could be faked or performed. Phione made a quiet decision.
He's not a bad person.
"Hi, Phione," the young man said. "My name is Ryan. You can call me whatever feels natural. Starting now, I'm your Trainer — and I'm going to be responsible for helping you grow until you can stand among the Legendaries yourself."
Phione blinked. The words stirred something complicated — a thread of disbelief, and underneath it, something it hadn't expected. Longing. Every Pokémon carried some version of that dream, even the ones who never voiced it. To cross that threshold. To become something more. Very few ever did.
But if it was actually possible—
Phione pushed down its remaining skepticism and nodded.
Training began that same day. Not passive conditioning or isolated ability work — active combat, real battles with real stakes, one after another. Through those sessions, Phione began to build a picture of who Ryan actually was.
This is an extraordinary human, was the conclusion it came to within the first week. It wasn't just the speed of improvement — though the gains were undeniable and came faster than Phione had thought possible. It was the way Ryan operated. His read of a battlefield in real time, the precision of his calls, the depth of his strategic thinking. He didn't just react — he constructed. He saw several moves ahead and shaped the flow of a battle before the other side realized it was happening.
Currently Phione was training alongside Charizard, who Ryan had mentioned was his first partner. Phione had expected a strong Pokémon. What it had not expected was a Pokémon that radiated the energy of a true Legendary — and not just any Legendary, but one sitting near the top of that tier. Ryan's description had been straightforward: below Domain-level, Charizard didn't lose.
Phione had been deeply envious. Then it had actually trained with Charizard, and the envy had given way to something more like humility. The intensity was unlike anything Phione had experienced. There were sessions that left it completely spent — unable to move, barely conscious — while Charizard continued without visible fatigue.
But what earned Phione's genuine respect wasn't Charizard.
It was Ryan himself. He was human. He didn't have a Pokémon's physical capacity or recovery rate. And he still kept pace. He trained alongside them. He pushed himself to the same standard he asked of his Pokémon. That wasn't something Phione had seen before, and it meant more to Phione than any demonstration of power could have.
The trust that Phione had extended cautiously at the beginning became something unconditional. Every battle reinforced it — Ryan's calls were right. Not sometimes, not usually. Consistently right, in ways that only became clear after the fact. Trusting him was simply the highest-percentage play available.
As Phione's strength climbed and the first threads of a genuine mental link began to form between them, Ryan led it one afternoon to a chamber it hadn't seen before. At the center rested a deep blue stone tablet, etched with patterns that rippled like the surface of open water. The energy coming off it pressed against Phione's awareness like a current.
Ryan stopped beside it and looked at Phione quietly.
"Clear your mind and let yourself actually feel what's in this tablet," he said. "Don't analyze it — just feel it. This is the step that changes everything for you."
Phione looked at the Splash Plate for a long moment, then closed its eyes.
It reached inward, set everything else aside, and opened itself to whatever the tablet was holding.
(End of Chapter)
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