The Miracle Crystal.
Created by Team Rocket's Professor Sebastian, this device was famously used by agents Hun and Attila to torment Electric-type Pokémon as bait for the legendary Raikou.
In the plot, the interference of Jimmy (Gold's counterpart), Marina (Kris's counterpart), Vincent, and the Ho-Oh expert Eusine had thwarted their schemes.
Kashiwagi never expected to see this contraption again in the Hoenn region.
And poor Raikou was once again its victim. This time, the hunters weren't even starting with the "Passive Mode" that merely absorbs ambient electricity. These Pokémon Hunters had jumped straight to the Black Hole Mode—an active extraction, a setting that forced the electricity right out of Raikou's body, even in its current injured state.
Kashiwagi recalled the words of the Team Rocket agent Attila: if they drained all the electricity from Raikou's body and forced it into a state of "suspended animation," they could do whatever they wanted with it.
"ROAARRR—!!"
Amidst the crackling flashes of lightning, the sabertoothed Raikou struggled desperately. However, bolts of lightning continued to leak from its body, spiraling into the black crystal.
As Kashiwagi drew closer, he took a deep breath. He didn't rush in blindly. Instead, he shifted his gaze toward a large robot stationed further away from the Miracle Crystal.
The main structure of the machine resembled a giant jet ski with incredibly long, spindly legs. If he guessed correctly, the Miracle Crystal was being controlled from there—though simply wrecking the robot wouldn't stop the crystal.
The anime had made it explicitly clear that the two systems could operate independently. In fact, destroying the control system might even trigger the Black Hole Mode permanently.
Heaven knows if this latest version of the Miracle Crystal System had an even worse "Abyss Mode" or something similar. A standard brute-force destruction wouldn't work.
...
The Ambush
As he crept closer, more information came into view.
The two Pokémon Hunters who had ditched their mountain bikes were now perched in the robot's semi-open cockpit, smirks of triumph plastered on their faces. To prevent Raikou from escaping, the other two hunters had their Pokémon—two Golem and two Vibrava—guarding the mountain path and the sky respectively.
They're certainly well-prepared...
Nearby, several Electric-type Pokémon were trapped in nets, motionless. Their energy had been completely siphoned off by the Miracle Crystal, leaving them in a deep faint.
"ROAR! ROAR!"
Raikou let out constant, furious bellows, its four claws digging into a rock to resist the gravitational pull of the Miracle Crystal. Several severe-looking scars marred its belly and paws. It looked spiritually exhausted, barely clinging to its strength.
By all logic, having faced a Miracle Crystal System once before, Raikou should have known how to handle this.
Just how badly is it hurt?
Kashiwagi stopped his mountain bike, pulled his hat low, and began a light jog toward the peak.
It wasn't that he didn't want to play it sneaky; it was that the moment he spotted the mountain top, a hunter in the cockpit had spotted him.
The mountain Raikou had chosen was perfect for a standoff but terrible for cover—it was completely barren. Even with the thunder muffling his engine, he was exposed.
Of course, he had come prepared.
Kashiwagi's eyes swept over the four hunters. Now that he knew most of their cards, he could strike without hesitation.
To be honest, four people and four Pokémon were no match for him. What he actually feared was the "Black Tech" these hunters often carried—like Hunter J's stone turning ray or Iron-Masked Marauder's Dark Balls.
Since their only trump card seemed to be the robot and the crystal, he felt much more at ease.
With Porygon on his side, this was likely going to be a walk in the park.
He intentionally made his movements look panicked and frantic.
"I'm counting on you, Porygon," he whispered, tapping the phone in his pocket.
...
At the same time,
In the cockpit, the hunter staring at him suddenly shouted, "Hey! Trainee! What happened back there?!"
The shout drew the attention of the other three.
"The one in the hat! The 'Hat' is coming! Mikami has been caught!" Kashiwagi yelled while gasping for air. He lowered his voice just enough to stay disguised and specifically used the hunters' slang for Officer Jenny and the police. He even threw in the name of the trainee he'd interrogated earlier.
As expected, the mention of their greatest fear caused the four hunters to panic. They didn't even stop to verify Kashiwagi's identity.
"Impossible! How did they find us in the middle of nowhere?!"
"What's the situation at the cabin?!"
"Wait! Who are you? Take off that hat!"
Amidst the chaotic shouting, one hunter finally noticed Kashiwagi's suspicious behavior. But as the hunter's suspicion peaked, Kashiwagi simply pulled out his phone and aimed it at the robot.
The four hunters froze, confused, not understanding what he meant.
But the next second:
A strange digital creature zipped out of the phone like a bolt of lightning, diving straight into the robot's hardware.
Simultaneously, the ground shook violently. A massive Steelix erupted through the hard bedrock near the peak!
"ROOOAAARRR—!!"
The Steelix let out a deafening cry. Its colossal frame was like a titan's, casting a shadow that blotted out the light. Even the rolling thunder in the sky couldn't drown out the metallic gleam of its silver body.
The hunters looked on in horror. Ordinarily, seeing a specimen of this size would have made them rich, but right now, it was a nightmare.
Even the struggling Raikou was taken aback by this sudden turn of events, its eyes filled with astonishment as it looked at the Steelix.
"ROAR!!"
Steelix lashed out with its massive, shimmering Iron Tail. Like a giant whip, it swept toward the two hunters guarding the path with their Golems.
"Block it! Block it now!" they screamed, but their reaction was too slow. Before the Golems could even move, they—and their trainers—were swatted off the cliffside like common trash.
Their screams echoed through the clouds as they plummeted.
In the sky, the two Vibrava tried to move in, but seeing their trainers falling, they dove down to catch them.
Steelix wasn't done. It roared and gave chase, its rotating metallic body generating a fierce wind. With the glow of Magnet Rise flickering, its descent was even faster than the Vibrava's.
"ROAR!!"
Vwoom—
One of the panicked Vibrava tried to dodge but was hit head-on by a brilliant blue fireball. It spiraled down, trailing black smoke. A single Dragon Pulse was all it took.
The victorious Steelix looked more arrogant than ever. It reminded he of the Pokémon she used to fight in Pyrite Town—they all looked tough, but they went down faster than anyone.
...
...
Meanwhile, the two hunters in the cockpit were frantically slamming buttons.
Thanks to Porygon's intrusion, the entire system was compromised. Forget attacking Kashiwagi with the mechanical arms; the robot couldn't even move an inch. That's the problem with smart-motor drives—if the robot had been purely mechanical, Porygon might have struggled, but this thing was loaded with networked "smart" systems.
One hunter, seeing the controls were dead, desperately threw a Poké Ball into the air.
"Go! Stall that thing!"
"Cro-bat!"
A Crobat appeared, carrying the weight of its trainer's desperate hopes. But before it could even register what its target looked like, a fist cloaked in freezing air and shimmering light slammed into it.
BAM!
Ice shards flew everywhere. The Crobat fell like a kite with a snapped string.
Before the hunter could even process the sight, the hovering Mawile spun around. She opened the massive jaws on the back of her head, clamped onto the hunter's head, and yanked him clean out of the cockpit, slamming him into the ground!
"Ugh!"
The hunter's head hit the dirt hard. He was wearing a combat suit designed to dampen impact, but he wasn't wearing the matching helmet.
When Mawile aimed for his skull, he didn't stand a chance. He was out cold instantly.
The remaining hunter watched his companion get yanked out of the cockpit, and his soul nearly left his body. Trembling violently, he reached for a Poké Ball, desperate to release his own Pokémon.
But Porygon was already in total control. It overrode the robot's secondary systems, shut down the Miracle Crystal System entirely, and manipulated a mechanical arm like a giant tentacle to snatch the hunter right out of his seat.
"AAAGH—!" the hunter shrieked as he was hoisted into the air.
"Roar..."
With the electricity no longer being siphoned from its body, Raikou felt the crushing pressure vanish. Finally free, the legendary beast slumped onto the ground, too exhausted to move.
Between its previous injuries and the systemic drain, the fact that it had held on this long was a testament to its status as a Legendary Pokémon.
"Pah-ree!"
Porygon's voice chirped through the robot's external speakers.
"Great job!"
Kashiwagi, who had been peering over the cliff edge, gave a thumbs-up to his digital MVP.
Down below, Steelix had successfully intimidated the two Golems and the remaining Vibrava into submission. They hadn't even dared to fight back, watching helplessly as Steelix scooped up their half-dead trainers in her massive jaws to bring them back up.
Seeing that the Golems hadn't resorted to using Self-Destruct, Kashiwagi breathed a sigh of relief.
It was clear that these hunters shared no bond with their Pokémon. You could see it in the way the Vibrava had simply landed next to its fallen comrade instead of continuing to defend its master.
If they had treated their Pokémon with any actual care, that Vibrava would have fought to the end, Kashiwagi thought. And those Golems probably would've blown themselves up just to buy their trainer a chance to escape.
...
With the four hunters neutralized, Kashiwagi got to work.
"I need your help," he said, gesturing for Mawile to bring over the medical kit from his mountain bike.
He released Blissey and began to approach the scarred Raikou with measured steps.
The legendary beast, which had its eyes closed, snapped them open instantly at the sound of his approach. A low, vibrating growl rumbled in its throat, its gaze sharp with suspicion.
Clearly, it wasn't about to trust him just because he'd attacked its captors. Raikou had dealt with humans enough to know that "dog-eat-dog" situations were common among the greedy.
Besides, this human was dressed similarly to the ones who had just tortured it.
"Relax, I'm not with them."
Kashiwagi pulled off his outer jacket and tossed his hat aside, offering a warm, genuine smile. Beside him, Blissey began to emit a soft glow, pulsing with Heal Pulse and the soothing chimes of Heal Bell. The sudden wave of comfort visibly lowered Raikou's guard.
"Let Blissey patch you up."
He took the medical kit from Mawile, opened it to check the supplies, and then moved toward the wild Electric-type Pokémon still trapped in the nets.
"Happy~!"
With a gentle smile, Blissey reached out with a disinfecting spray toward Raikou's wounds, keeping a close eye on the legendary's expression.
"Roar..."
Raikou's eyes widened, giving off a distinct "Take one more step and I'll bite" vibe.
However, a "Nurse" Blissey on a mission is not easily intimidated. Before Raikou could even snarl, she moved with surgical precision, landing two quick sprays on the most jagged wounds.
Ssssh! Ssssh!
"ROAR!!"
The sudden sting of the disinfectant made Raikou bellow in pain. The sonic blast hit Blissey square in the face, blowing her curly hair back like a wind tunnel test.
But Blissey didn't flinch. She just squinted through the gale, her expression completely fearless, and landed two more sprays on the other side.
Ssssh! Ssssh!
His pride ignited, Raikou instinctively raised a massive claw.
"Happy~!"
Blissey met its gaze without a hint of fear, as if to say she'd gladly take the hit if it meant finishing the job. She continued to spray like it was free water and even pulled out a pair of tweezers to carefully remove the grit and gravel embedded in the wounds.
Looking into her determined eyes, Raikou hesitated. Its claw hovered just millimeters above Blissey's head, trembling slightly, before it finally let out a resigned breath and lowered its limb.
"Roar..."
The beast huffed and lay flat. Smart as it was, it realized the "pink thing" was genuinely trying to help. Still, it wasn't used to such a "forceful" bedside manner.
Usually, other Pokémon would tremble in its presence. Who would have thought a ping egg could be this bossy?
Once the medicine was applied, Raikou instinctively lowered its head to lick the wounds.
But the moment it moved, Blissey grabbed its long, saber-like tusks, holding its head firmly in place.
"Happy!"
Blissey looked at Raikou sternly.
Wild Pokémon always try to lick their wounds—it's their only way to heal in nature.
But in the eyes of a professional medic like Blissey, licking freshly applied medicine was strictly forbidden!
"Roar...?"
Raikou, whose teeth were grabbed, stared at Blissey in utter disbelief.
Is this pink marshmallow crazy? Does it not know who I am?
Just as Raikou was about to let out a roar to put this insolent creature in its place, Blissey shoved a strange-tasting restorative into its open mouth. Raikou froze, completely stunned.
"Happy~"
Blissey patted Raikou's head like she was comforting a particularly fussy house cat. She then began to expertly wrap its torso in bandages while humming a soft, gentle melody.
This was a massive blow to the legendary Pokémon's ego.
Exhausted and realizing it couldn't scare the unruly Blissey away—and knowing it shouldn't actually hurt the one saving its life—Raikou simply gave up and accepted its fate.
It turned its head to watch Kashiwagi, who was meticulously treating the other wild Pokémon nearby.
Slowly, Raikou's final walls of suspicion crumbled. It knew that people like those hunters would never care for wild Pokémon with such tenderness, nor would they bother checking their status after the "harvest."
To the hunters, Pokémon were just objects.
Raikou knew how cruel humans could be, but it also knew the heights of human kindness. It seemed its life was a cycle of being hunted by the worst of humanity and rescued by the best.
As Kashiwagi and his Pokémon worked together, Raikou saw a gentle, radiant light emanating from them.
"Roar..."
It let out a soft, tired lowing sound and slowly closed its eyes.
...
By the time Kashiwagi finished clearing the chaos on the cliffside, nearly half an hour had passed.
Officer Jenny, as expected, hadn't arrived in time and would probably be a while longer.
During the cleanup,
he roughly understood why Raikou had chosen this barren peak: the frequency of natural lightning strikes was incredibly high here, making it the perfect "recharging station" to absorb electricity and heal its wounds.
Unfortunately, it hadn't even had a few days of peace before the Pokémon Hunters sniffed it out.
"Phew..."
Kashiwagi looked over the group of wild Electric-type Pokémon he'd settled, then turned his gaze toward Raikou. The legendary beast was currently fast asleep, wrapped by Blissey into something resembling a giant white zongzi (rice dumpling).
"Did you use Sing on it?" he asked.
"Happy~!"
Blissey smiled brightly, holding up a syringe. She nodded while plunging the needle into Raikou's rear end. Even in its deep sleep, the legendary tiger's massive body gave a sudden, involuntary shudder.
"Awoo~"
A drum like roar unconsciously escaped its throat,
but then it simply buried its head back into its paws and kept snoring.
"You... you're getting more and more of a 'pink-and-deadly' type by the day, aren't you?" Kashiwagi twitched his lips. He knew that in Blissey's eyes, all injured Pokémon were created equal. To her, there was no difference between a Ratata and a God.
To Kashiwagi, however, a Legendary Pokémon still carried a certain majestic aura that made seeing it treated like a common patient a bit surreal.
"Happy?"
Blissey tilted her head, not quite catching his drift.
"Never mind. Leaving Raikou to you was definitely the right call." He didn't elaborate, instead gently smoothing down her curly fur, which had been blown messy by Raikou's earlier roars.
"Happy~!"
Blissey beamed, clearly pleased to have her hard work recognized by her trainer.
...
Kashiwagi then took a moment to thank Steelix and Mawile.
"Good work, everyone. I hate having to trouble you both with stuff like this every time. Especially you, Steelix—I know it's a hassle shuttling you back and forth between here and Orre."
"Roar~"
The mountain-sized Steelix shook its head with a toothy grin. Being relied upon felt good. Besides, even though it spent most of its time guarding Pyrite Town, Kashiwagi never neglected it.
He often called it out just to give it a thorough scrub with a heavy-duty steel brush.
It didn't find the trips troublesome at all.
If Steelix was like this, Mawile was even more so, though she expressed it with a wide yawn. "Chido~" she chirped, signaling she was heading back to her Poké Ball for a nap—she told him not to wake her unless something else needed hitting.
Kashiwagi recalled them and walked over to the robot.
He had Porygon wake the four hunters up and dangle them over the cliff's edge using the robot's mechanical tentacles.
"I ask, you answer," Kashiwagi said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. "If I'm not satisfied with the answer, I'll strip you to your underwear and toss you off this peak."
One hunter started to sneer, preparing a witty retort. Kashiwagi didn't even blink; he just waved a hand at Porygon. The digital Pokémon obliged instantly, releasing the mechanical grip.
"If you've got the guts—AAAGH!!"
The hunter's bravado turned into a blood-curdling scream as he plummeted.
Of course, it was just a scare. Porygon snatched him out of the air halfway down.
"That was your warning. You get exactly one chance to be honest," Kashiwagi said, looking at the other three with a thin smile. "There are no cameras here. I wouldn't mind making any of you disappear and framing it as an 'unfortunate accident.'"
The hunters stared at him, frozen. They sensed a familiar radiating off this young man. A scent they all knew too well:
The scent of blood.
They stared at him in shock. They had all been in the Orre region and even Pyrite Town before. They might not have heard the name "Kashiwagi," but they knew the people there intimately.
Exchanging glances, they suddenly realized.
So this wasn't some "Hero of Justice" out on a crusade—this was a "professional".
No wonder he was so ruthless and merciless!
"Did you... did you escape from that place?" one of them stammered. "How is anyone supposed to get out of there alive?!"
"Take a guess," Kashiwagi replied noncommittally. "Anyway, enough small talk. Raikou's injuries—who did it? Was it you?"
The four shook their heads frantically. "No! No, no, no! We just got the intel from the black market!"
"And the black crystal? The robot?"
"The black market too! We bought the whole set! I swear!"
"Do you know the seller?"
"No idea—WAIT! YES! WE KNOW!" They screamed the answer before the robot's claws could loosen again. "Team Rocket! It was Team Rocket agents who sold us the gear!"
Kashiwagi's expression softened slightly. They were being more cooperative than he'd hoped. "And the intel?"
The hunters hesitated for a split second.
"Time for another round of bungee jumping—"
"YES! YES! It was them!" they shrieked, competing to spill the beans. "Team Rocket wants these legendaries hunted! They told us to make as much trouble for them as possible! If we actually managed to catch one, they offered to buy it back for a fortune!"
The four eagerly revealed everything, leaving no room for doubt.
Everything clicked. Team Rocket had been eyeing the legendary beasts for a long time, but since the beasts kept interfering with Team Rocket's plans, the organization had hired hunters to harass them. It was a classic "poison against poison" strategy.
And it was working. The legendary beasts were being driven ragged by these relentless, well-equipped lunatics.
"Poor things," Kashiwagi muttered, shaking his head. He gestured for Blissey to put the four hunters back to sleep with Sing.
The exact cause of Raikou's severe injuries remained a mystery, but Team Rocket's fingerprints were all over it. Still, why did it come to Hoenn? Does Team Rocket have a secret base hidden here too?
Kashiwagi was lost in thought when a low growl snapped him back to reality.
Raikou was awake already?
He turned to speak to the legendary beast, but just then, a light, scattered drizzle began to fall from the dark clouds above.