Zekrom's voice, tinged with a slight electronic buzz, rang out in Lucas's mind.
Looking at the immensely oppressive body, Lucas's expression remained unchanged, and he showed a friendly smile.
"How about giving me some face and leaving this place?"
Terribly powerful electrical currents surged and refined inside Zekrom's engine-like tail.
"Human, I am afraid I cannot agree to that."
Hearing Zekrom's voice, Lucas was slightly shocked.
Huh? Zekrom actually seems to have a pretty good temper?
"Can you give me a reason?"
Zekrom looked at the human who dared to question it, feeling somewhat curious.
"Human, are you not afraid of me?"
"Why should I be afraid of you?"
Hearing Lucas's words, Zekrom's eyes instantly turned cold. The electrical currents refining in its tail suddenly exploded outward, forming an incredibly terrifying electric net that hung upside down in the sky.
"I am the Dragon of Ideals. Human, how dare you offend me!"
Zekrom's voice carried immense pressure.
Its tone had completely changed as if it were a different Pokémon altogether, instantly transforming from a seemingly friendly Legendary Pokémon into an ancient deity of the Unova region.
"Trying to scare me? Can't reach an agreement? Then let's fight!"
A brilliant light erupted from Lucas's chest, and the red-and-white jet beneath him instantly Mega Evolved into a blue-and-purple fighter jet.
Zekrom stared at Latias beneath Lucas. Strange. It could read all kinds of emotions in Latias's eyes, except for fear.
Has Latias... become this bold now?
After entering Mega Evolution, Latias bared her teeth slightly at Zekrom.
"I've even fought Arceus. Why would I be afraid of a mere electric dragon like you?"
Zekrom shifted its gaze and turned it back to Lucas.
Strange. How could he carry such a powerful force of ideals—
"Human, I ask you, what, in truth, is your ideal?"
Lucas tilted his head.
?
Weren't we about to start a fight just a second ago? Why the sudden turn to ask about my ideals?
A red gleam flashed in Zekrom's eyes, and Lucas's vision instantly went pitch black. In the darkness, Lucas opened his eyes and stared ahead, where Zekrom's figure slowly materialized.
Tall, majestic, and imposing.
It looked down from above at Lucas, who stood on the ground, its voice crackling with faint electricity as it echoed in his mind: "Human, what, in truth, is your ideal?"
Asking again?
Is this kind of formalism really necessary? It's not like I wouldn't have answered if you asked me outside. Why drag me in here—
"Hmm... to eat well, sleep well, play well, and live well."
Zekrom looked down at Lucas, saying nothing.
Lucas showed no fear either, raising his head to look straight into its eyes.
Just as his neck began to feel sore and he was about to give in and look away first, Zekrom finally spoke: "I see..."
It felt from Lucas that those few simple sentences represented his ideal of humans and Pokémon living together.
This force of ideals... was actually on par with the force of ideals of the Hero of Ideals it had chosen, the "Hero of Black".
"Your expectations manifest your ideals."
The space before him began to shatter. Lucas snapped out of it and found Latias calling out to him.
He gently patted Latias's head. "I'm fine. It just pulled me into a mental world to ask me some things. I don't think we'll be fighting now."
Recalling what Zekrom had just said, Lucas thought to himself that he should be considered a hero acknowledged by it, right?
The engine motor inside Zekrom's tail stopped spinning, and the terrifying lightning began to slowly subside.
"Zekrom, does this mean I've passed the test?"
Hearing Lucas's question, Zekrom nodded.
"But unfortunately, I have already recognized a Hero of Black beforehand."
Lucas: "..."
"Then why did you have to drag me in there just to ask me all that?"
Zekrom: "..."
I recall only asking you one question, how did that become 'all that'?
However, the human before it was ultimately a hero who had passed its test, so it still patiently explained: "His ideals are on par with yours."
"Him? Who? N?"
"You know him?"
"Sort of."
"?"
"Don't sweat the details. Then why did you pull me in just now?"
"Because you are surrounded by many bonds that are on par with mine, and at the same time, I sensed the force of ideals within you. As the Dragon of Ideals, it is my routine inquiry."
Oh, quite the official attitude you've got there.
"Where is your brother, Reshiram, the Dragon of Truth? Did you two have another big fight here recently because of your differing beliefs?"
Lucas pointed to a spot and asked Zekrom.
Zekrom turned its head to look, then shook it. "No, it has not yet awakened."
It was full of patience toward a hero it acknowledged. "Hero, you must understand that a battle between me and it would never be confined to such a small area; instead, everything in the vicinity would be reduced to ashes."
"My name is Lucas."
"Lucas, I understand."
"If it wasn't you two, then who was it? Kyurem of the Void?"
"I do not know where Kyurem is. It is very mysterious."
Even Zekrom didn't know where Kyurem was?
Lucas was somewhat surprised.
The Tao Trio are naturally inseparable from spirit and matter. Logically speaking, shouldn't they be closely connected?
Seeing that they wouldn't be fighting, Latias deactivated her Mega Evolution and sighed in disappointment.
Seeing that the misunderstanding was resolved, Lucas asked, "Then, Zekrom, could you give me some face and leave this place?"
"I am afraid not."
"Pfft—"
Lucas covered Latias's mouth, looked at Zekrom, and gave a puzzled smile. "Why?"
"I need to wait here for the Hero of Black."
Great. It turns out that even after getting recognized, I still don't count as the Hero of Ideals, just a backup.
Lucas sighed and looked at Zekrom. "Zekrom, the electrical currents you've unintentionally leaked here have already affected the surrounding Pokémon. Many of them have lost their energy because of you."
Lucas gripped the wooden plaque pendant on his chest and spoke seriously, "If you still insist on staying here, then I'm sorry, but I will have to use force to evict you."
The engine motor in Zekrom's tail began to spin once more.
"I will restrain myself."
"Your aura will still affect them."
"Do not push your luck, my hero."
"This isn't pushing my luck, this is just discussing things with you."
"Are you not afraid of my World-Ending Thunder?"
Zekrom's eyes grew colder as it questioned Lucas.
"Back then, I didn't back down even when facing Arceus's Judgment, and the same goes for today."
Zekrom: "..."
Staring into Lucas's serious eyes, Zekrom couldn't tell for a moment whether he was telling the truth or bluffing.
His expression didn't seem fake, but to emerge unscathed after facing Arceus was a bit...
Sensing the wariness in Zekrom's eyes, Lucas held the wooden plaque pendant on his chest and gently brought it to his lips.
"Arceus..."
Drip~
Like a water droplet falling onto a calm surface, ripples spread out. Zekrom instantly turned its head toward the Sinnoh region.
Zekrom: "???"
"Are you the messenger of Arceus?"
Zekrom turned back and stared at Lucas. The energy fluctuations on him were indeed those belonging only to an envoy of Arceus.
Since Arceus had only chosen Lucas as its envoy and hadn't given him the Power of Conis, Lucas had almost forgotten he was even Arceus's envoy.
"If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten I was even its envoy."
Zekrom looked at Lucas and fell into silence.
Oh my god... What kind of person is this hero I've tested... He's actually an envoy of Arceus.
No wonder he wasn't afraid of it.
After a long silence, Zekrom spoke, "I will fly higher and do my best not to affect the surrounding Pokémon."
Hearing Zekrom's words, Lucas also let out a sigh of relief. Not having to fight was for the best.
"That would be best."
Lucas nodded. "Since you've made a concession, I'll give you some compensation. Wait a moment, I'll have Darkrai bring you some snacks."
Sitting on Latias's back, Lucas shouted downwards.
"Darkrai!"
Darkrai in the classroom instantly opened his eyes and turned into a shadow, rushing into the sky.
"Darkrai, you—"
Seeing Darkrai appear beside him, Lucas was about to ask him to take out some snacks for Zekrom. But before he could finish his sentence, he saw Darkrai hurl a massive Dark Void straight at Zekrom, while simultaneously throwing a gathered Dark Pulse from his hands.
Lucas: "?"
Latias: "??"
Zekrom: "???"
"Roar!"
Zekrom used Fusion Bolt to shatter the Dark Void, but was immediately hit by the Dark Pulse following right behind it, crashing straight into the dark clouds behind.
"Roar!"
A Fusion Bolt shot out from the dark clouds, striking toward Darkrai.
Darkrai's figure dodged back and forth in the air.
"Stop!!!"
Lucas shouted loudly, stopping the two Pokémon.
Riding Latias, Lucas flew between the two Pokémon. Looking at Darkrai, who was gathering a Dark Void in his hand, and then at Zekrom behind him, whose tail was fully unfolded and refining terrifying electrical currents, he asked curiously, "What are you guys doing? Why are you fighting the moment you meet?"
Zekrom was fuming with anger.
"Roar!"
"Is this the snack you promised me? Eating it with my body, is that it?!"
Inside Zekrom's tail, deep blue electrical currents crackled.
Darkrai: "Didn't you say that as soon as you called my name, I should come up and lay down suppressing fire?"
Lucas: "!"
Oh, crap! I forgot!
Looking at the two Pokémon on the verge of a fight, Lucas pursed his lips and then spoke cautiously: "Um—if I said this was a misunderstanding, would you believe me?"
"What do you think?!"
"Roar?!"
After finally clearing things up, Lucas rode on Latias's back, pressing his palms together and apologizing profusely.
After resolving the conflict, Lucas looked at Darkrai, "Darkrai, you should hand over all the snacks you're carrying to Zekrom first. I'll make it up to you when we get back to the Breeding House."
"That wasn't in the contract just now!"
Darkrai was definitely not satisfied. It had just been struck by a few Thunderbolts, and the pain was one thing, but now it actually had to hand over all its snacks? How could that be!
"I'll make it up to you when we get back to the Breeding House."
"No way!"
"Plus five cans of top-tier sweet honey."
"That's still—"
"Twenty cans of other sweet honey. Choose for yourself."
"Two cans of Max Honey."
"Zekrom, come on, eat up. Let me tell you, we've gotten to know each other through this fight. Those Thunderbolts you hit me with—you truly deserve to be the deity of the Unova region. The power is just—"
Watching Darkrai instantly put its arm around Zekrom's shoulder, Lucas had black lines running down his forehead.
Zekrom took the snacks handed over by Darkrai with disdain. Looking at Darkrai and Lucas, and thinking that this was food given to it by the hero it had chosen, it frowned, tore open the packaging, and poured it all into its mouth.
Zekrom: "!"
Hmm? What is—this?
Seeing this, Darkrai was instantly overjoyed, "How is it? Isn't it delicious? Let me tell you, the snacks from the Breeding House are incomparable to anything outside. I'm not bragging. Come, here's more."
Zekrom didn't refuse any of it, pouring it all into its mouth and crunching away.
Beside it, Darkrai continued to chatter away.
Watching Zekrom being won over by the snacks, Lucas nodded in satisfaction.
One must know that the raw materials for these snacks were blessed by Celebi, Lugia, the Duo Gods of Time and Space, and Arceus.
Lucas didn't believe any Pokémon could refuse such a delicacy.
Seeing that Zekrom, Darkrai, and Gengar had become friendly, Lucas couldn't help but exhale. The misunderstanding was finally resolved.
Wait, no!
"Gengar, when did you sneak in there?!"
Looking at the big chubby boy floating between the two Pokémon, Lucas asked it loudly.
"Gen Gengar"
Just now.
"You managed to sneak in even for this—I really don't know whether I should praise you or criticize you."
"Gen Gengar"
Don't blame me, I took out a lot of snacks.
Lucas said irritably: "Come over when you've had enough. We need to go down."
"Gen Gengar"
Coming~
After Gengar took out another huge pile of snacks and gave them to Zekrom, it waved at it and then floated back to Lucas's side.
Lucas reached out and tugged at its mouth corners, "Glutton."
"Gen Gengar, hee hee."
Lucas looked at Darkrai, "Darkrai, I'll leave the rest to you."
Then he looked at Zekrom, "I hope you will keep your promise."
Darkrai gave an OK sign, while Zekrom nodded aloofly and flew towards the high sky.
Darkrai: ?
"My snacks!"
Darkrai chased after it.
"Leave some for me!"
Lucas shook his head and returned to the academy with Gengar.
"Resolved?"
Nina asked as she watched Lucas walk in with Gengar.
Lucas nodded, "Yes, it's fine now. Resolved peacefully."
Then he looked at the Researcher, "Rest assured, there won't be any more cases of Pokémon losing their vitality in the future."
"Was it really because of a Legendary Pokémon?"
Nina asked doubtfully.
Lucas hummed, "The Dragon of Ideals from the Unova region has been in the clouds for some time. The electricity within its body has affected these Electric-type Pokémon, and combined with its presence, this has caused these Pokémon to fall into a state of emotional abnormality."
After speaking, Lucas clapped his hands, "But it's fine. I've already talked to it, and it promised me it would stay in the high sky, so it won't affect the Pokémon anymore."
Listening to Lucas's words, the Researcher swallowed hard, "Dr. Lucas, you... are you saying... it's still in the sky?"
"Yes, rest assured, it's fine. It will leave in a few days after it meets the Hero of Ideals it acknowledges."
"This—how can I be at ease—it's a Legendary Pokémon."
"That's a deity from legends that can destroy a country with a single Thunderbolt—"
The Researcher was almost crying.
"It is also a Pokémon, just a Pokémon, only with a bit more powerful strength."
Lucas said decisively: "Rest assured, I am here."
The Researcher looked at Lucas's gentle eyes and suddenly relaxed.
"O-okay."
Lucas looked at Shauna and Tomoyo and the others, "You all rest for the night first. How about I show you around the school tomorrow, or go to the surrounding towns?"
"Okay~"
"Mm-hmm~"
Lucas smiled and patted their heads, then looked at Nina, "Sister Nina, I'll leave it to you to take care of them tonight. I'm going to find Shauntal to see if there's anything I can help with."
"Okay, take care on the way."
Lucas hummed and rode Latias to fly out of the academy again.
Latias flew towards the distance following the moisture remaining in the air.
High in the sky, Darkrai was sharing snacks with Zekrom while talking about Lucas.
The more Zekrom heard, the more shocked it became.
On the other side. Abundant Shrine.
"Chandelure, Flamethrower!"
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
"Eelektross, Thunderbolt!"
"Braviary, Brave Bird!"
On the plains, Pokémon moves were everywhere.
Shauntal stood on the grass, looking at the three cloud-like Pokémon above, commanding Chandelure to entangle them, and letting the other Gym Leaders protect the nearby residents.
And Ash was assisting Shauntal on the side.
"What kind of Pokémon are they exactly?"
Ash scurried away under Thundurus's attack, asking loudly while running.
"The Legendary Forces of Nature of the Unova region."
Shauntal said coldly.
"It seems the abnormality at Striaton Academy was caused by them."
During a gap in conversation, Ash was hit by Thundurus's Thunderbolt and sent flying directly.
Pikachu in his arms also fell beside him.
"Ash!"
Shauntal seeing Thundurus's Thunder striking towards Ash who was lying on the ground, hurriedly commanded Cofagrigus to go and protect Ash.
Ash looked at the approaching lightning, his eyes dazed.
Pikachu beside him tried its best to use Thunderbolt, wanting to neutralize Thundurus's Thunder, but the difference in strength was too great.
Just as Ash pulled Pikachu into his arms, a familiar figure appeared in front of Ash and Pikachu.
A pale purple psychic protective shield shielded Ash and Pikachu behind it.
"Gothitelle!"
"Pika!"
Ash and Pikachu exclaimed simultaneously.
Gothitelle nodded expressionlessly.
Great, it's finally not calling for mom.
Landorus looked at the vaguely familiar Gothitelle and stopped its fight with Tornadus, seemingly pondering where it had seen Gothitelle before.
Tornadus seized the opportunity, gathering a powerful hurricane in its hands, preparing to ambush Landorus.
Behind it, a purple big chubby face revealed its full set of white teeth, and the Dark Void in its hand slammed heavily onto Tornadus's back.
Boom!
Tornadus was blown away directly.
"Gen Gengar"
Treat yourself to a big explosion.
Gengar kept throwing Shadow Balls at the figure of Tornadus flying backwards.
Gengar the Tragic began its prince tactics.
"Gengar!"
Ash's excited voice rang out.
Iris and Cilan, who were helping with the rescue nearby, all looked up in confusion, looking at Gengar in the sky.
Cheren and Elesa, as well as Lenora also called back their Pokémon, looking at Gengar in the sky.
"Oh ho? So it's you guys, unfamiliar old friends."
A voice filled with surprise sounded in the air. Everyone turned their heads to look and found a young man with black hair, riding a Latias, with a slight smile on his face.
Thundurus looked at Lucas, its eyes scarlet, gathering terrifying lightning in its hands.
In an instant, dark clouds gathered over Lucas's head.
"Lucas, be careful!"
Ash's anxious voice shouted.
The Thunder struck down, but Latias, relying on its agile movements, dodged the Thunder.
And just as Thundurus was about to continue attacking, it was hit hard by a flaming cannonball that shot into the sky, smashing it into the ground.
Thundurus stood up shakily, forcing its thoughts to return to normal, and began to look around for the Pokémon that attacked it. As a result, it discovered a Ninetales with a body shape like a tank running continuously on the plains, accelerating, the flames on its body becoming more and more intense, and it was charging towards it.
"Roar!"
Thundurus summoned a thunderous storm to block Ninetales.
Just as it let its guard down, Ninetales passed through the thunderclouds and storm, appeared in front of it, slammed into it, and smashed it into the mountain behind.
"Shu!"
Ninetales roared loudly.
Sure enough, it's more comfortable running on the plains.
Landorus looked at the beaten Thundurus and Tornadus, its mouth corners twitching involuntarily.
Everyone was still in a state of "what happened," when a round of clapping sounded in the sky.
"So, you three, can you listen to me for a few words?"
Lucas, riding on Latias's back, looked at Landorus, as well as Thundurus and Tornadus who had just stood up and were carrying injuries, and said.
The three clouds stared at Lucas's position, seemingly waiting for Lucas to speak.
"Would the three of you do me a favor?"
***************************
Thoughts on where the plot is heading? Let me know in the comments! If you're enjoying the ride, please leave a quick review and toss a few Power Stones my way. Every bit of support means the world! 🙌