Sinnoh Region, Twinleaf Town.
""The three-way intersection in the back mountain really resembles the later Metagross Mountain."
Wayne stood at a three-way intersection. This was the fourth location he had searched based on his foggy memories.
About eighteen years ago, Wayne had been born into this world where humans and Pokémon lived together.
To Wayne, this place felt both familiar and strange. It was familiar because of Ash and Pikachu from the stories he remembered, yet strange because he was actually living in it now.
What had once been just animations and games in his memories were now real experiences he was living through every day.
His home had been demolished, and the Breeding House had closed down.
His parents had temporarily left on a journey.
Wayne finally had the time to search for the Silver Metang he'd heard about.
After all, it was incredibly cool, and he couldn't resist the idea of catching it.
Strength might be temporary, but being cool lasted forever.
Cool trainers should have cool Pokémon!
At the base of the mountain, Wayne overheard a couple talking.
"I heard another trainer went up to challenge that Silver Metang on the back mountain and got completely defeated."
"That Metang has a really nasty temper. I just hope nobody else gets seriously hurt."
Wayne approached their table.
"Excuse me, would you mind sharing more details? I'll pay for your ramen."
Looking at Wayne's honest appearance, the couple didn't refuse his offer.
After buying them their meal and gathering the information he needed, Wayne made his way to the back mountain of Twinleaf Town.
Wayne pulled out two Luxury Balls from his belt.
"Lucario, Arcanine, I'm counting on you both."
Arcanine appeared first—covered in fluffy cream-colored fur with bold black and orange stripes running across its body, and a magnificent bushy tail that swayed behind it.
Lucario materialized next, standing confidently on two legs. Its body was yellow on top and blue below, with distinctive white bone spikes protruding from the backs of its paws and its chest, giving it the appearance of a majestic warrior.
Leave it to me, Lucario communicated, nodding with a serious expression on its face.
Lucario could use its Aura abilities to send thoughts directly into Wayne's mind through telepathy.
"Awoo!" Arcanine howled enthusiastically, practically dancing in place with excitement.
Leave it to me, boss!
Arcanine grinned widely, looking every bit like a proud guardian.
Lucario knelt down on one knee and placed its paw firmly on the ground, focusing its Aura to detect the presence of everything around them.
Aura flows within my heart, Lucario thought, concentrating deeply.
Lucario's Aura sense could easily detect presences up to a kilometer away, and the surrounding landscape appeared clearly in its mind like a mental map.
Meanwhile, Arcanine shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, lowering its head and sniffing the ground intensely as it tracked their target.
Less than fifteen minutes later, Lucario's voice rang out in Wayne's mind.
Found it!
There was clear excitement in Lucario's mental voice.
Following the path uphill, Wayne arrived at a cliff that extended from the mountaintop.
Standing at the edge of the cliff, Lucario pointed down toward a gully below. It's down there.
"Metang, come out!" Wayne called, his voice echoing through the valley.
Shortly after, a Metang emerged from the gully. Its disc-shaped body gleamed brilliantly in the sunlight, with two powerful arms extending from its sides. Sharp golden spikes protruded from its joints, and its entire metallic body shone with an incredible luster.
Normal Metang were typically teal-blue in color.
But Shiny Metang were bright silver.
A flicker of surprise and excitement crossed Wayne's face. How could there be such an amazingly cool Shiny Metang!
Wayne estimated the diameter of this Shiny Metang's disc-shaped body to be close to one meter—about thirty centimeters larger than average.
Wayne's eyes locked with the dark red pupils of the Silver Metang.
"Metang, let's have a battle! If I win, you'll become my Pokémon!"
"Buzz-ka!" The Silver Metang nodded, its expression remaining completely neutral and focused.
"Lucario, return for now."
"Arcanine, I choose you!"
"Awoo!" Arcanine let out a powerful, majestic howl that echoed across the mountain.
Wayne's Arcanine possessed the Intimidate ability, which naturally lowered the Attack stat of opponents within its range through sheer presence alone.
However, the Silver Metang's entire body simply glowed with a metallic sheen, and its Aura showed absolutely no change whatsoever.
Arcanine tilted its head in surprise, clearly confused.
Wayne murmured to himself, "Looks like it has the Clear Body ability. That means my Intimidate and Snarl won't have any effect on it."
Clear Body was an ability that prevented a Pokémon's stats from being lowered by an opponent's moves or abilities.
The Silver Metang launched the first attack without warning.
Its right claw began glowing with a silver light, and it executed a high-angle Metal Claw aimed directly at Arcanine's head.
"Take the hit, then use Will-O-Wisp at close range!"
The Metal Claw connected accurately with Arcanine's head, but at the exact same moment, three ghostly purple flames erupted from Arcanine's body!
The three chilling purple flames swirled together, converged, and compressed into a concentrated sphere before exploding against Metang with a loud boom. The flames continued burning on its body, clinging like they were stuck there.
Struck by the Will-O-Wisp, Metang immediately fell into a burned status condition.
Even though you have Clear Body, it doesn't matter, Wayne thought. I've still got a reliable Will-O-Wisp technique.
Metang's pupils flickered with pain.
"Now, Flamethrower!"
Wayne pressed his advantage immediately.
Orange-red flames erupted powerfully from Arcanine's open jaws, splashing directly across Metang's metallic body.
The sheer force of the flames sent Metang crashing backward into the cliff face. Its expression showed clear pain, and scorch marks began appearing on its previously pristine metallic surface.
Suddenly, a layer of blue psychic energy surrounded Arcanine's body, causing it to float uncontrollably off the ground. This also interrupted Arcanine's Flamethrower attack.
Lifted about thirty centimeters into the air, Arcanine looked somewhat panicked, its four legs paddling uselessly in empty space.
"Is that Confusion?" Wayne was genuinely surprised.
He hadn't expected Metang to still be able to use Confusion effectively despite being burned and damaged. This further proved just how talented this Shiny Metang really was.
"Break free with Flare Blitz!"
"Awoo!"
Accompanied by another powerful howl, Arcanine's entire body became engulfed in intense flames as it charged fiercely toward the airborne Metang.
Metang had intended to dodge, but the burn damage flared up at that crucial moment, and the pain prevented it from moving quickly enough.
Bang!
Struck hard by Arcanine's Flare Blitz, Metang was sent flying backward, crashing heavily against the cliff face with tremendous force.
"Finish it with Extreme Speed!"
Wayne knew this wasn't a turn-based game where you waited politely for your opponent to recover. When you had an opening, you had to press forward relentlessly.
Before Metang could even fall to the ground, the agile Arcanine kicked off from the cliff face. Its entire body began glowing with a brilliant white light, and in the blink of an eye, it appeared directly in front of the falling Metang!
Boom!
Accompanied by a thunderous impact, Metang's eyes swirled into spirals as it fainted, falling limply to the ground below.
"That wasn't as difficult as everyone made it sound. Actually pretty straightforward."
"Go, Luxury Ball!"
Wayne threw out a Luxury Ball. Its main body was sleek black, with a distinctive yellow stripe running around its middle, and red stripes decorating the top and bottom portions.
Luxury Balls had a higher capture rate than standard Poké Balls and provided an exceptionally comfortable interior space for Pokémon. Any Pokémon living inside would feel more at ease, which naturally helped increase the bond and intimacy between the Pokémon and its Trainer.
The only real downside was that Luxury Balls were quite expensive.
The unconscious Metang instantly transformed into red energy and was absorbed into the Luxury Ball.
The ball didn't shake even once—a perfect capture on the first try!
Wayne picked up the Poké Ball from the ground and exchanged triumphant glances with both Lucario and Arcanine. Then he raised the Luxury Ball high above his head.
"Silver Metang, I got you!"
"Lucario!" Lucario pumped its fist in celebration.
"Awoo!" Arcanine howled victoriously.
At that same moment, Wayne's Pokédex watch chimed with a notification.