Chapter 217: The Legendary Forces of Nature — Mammon Is Very Happy About This
"She's someone I met when I first set out traveling last year."
Mammon recalled the memory, and a small, genuine smile found its way onto his face.
"She's a trainer too. Traveling in Alola right now. You might actually cross paths eventually — the Alola League is officially established now. Headquarters at Mount Lanakila. The building's still under construction, but it should be done by end of year."
By then, Mitsuki would probably be ready to challenge it. She'd be Alola's first Champion.
"You two sound really close." Nora made a rueful face.
Such a good one, already taken.
"Mm. We don't see each other very often, with how things are — both of us have things we're working toward separately. But it's stable."
That was the honest answer. Mammon had his work. Mitsuki had her journey. They both understood what that meant, and neither resented the other for it. The distance didn't change what it was.
"That's sweet~" Nora blinked, genuine in the compliment.
Even with the distance, still loyal to her…
She thought about it.
Long-distance relationships had a historically low success rate, she'd heard. Which meant, technically, the odds weren't impossible. And a person like this didn't come along very often.
She'd talk to Touko tonight. Get a second opinion.
Caitlin, walking alongside them, maintained her usual perfect composure. Elesa watched her for a moment, out of the corner of her eye, and observed that the composure was very good today. Better than expected.
She didn't even flinch.
Caitlin's internal position was simple, really. A girlfriend wasn't a wife. She wasn't threatened by an abstract relationship conducted mostly across a regional ocean. What mattered was who was here, in the same space, every day.
That was her.
She was going to be the one who walked into the future beside him. She was absolutely certain of this.
The valley they arrived at was narrow and wind-scoured, the air churning with a consistent pressure that was clearly coming from somewhere specific. Straight ahead, a cave mouth opened in the sheer rock face, and the wind pouring out of it was unmistakable.
"There we go." Mammon squinted at the cliff face. "That's the source."
"Hm." Nora tilted her head back, eyeing the steep rock wall. Getting up there wasn't a casual climb. "That's pretty vertical."
She'd never formally learned rock climbing.
"Hydreigon!"
She made up her mind quickly and released her Hydreigon — the three-headed dragon materializing in the air before her.
"Go get that Pokémon to come out!"
Hydreigon surged forward immediately, pulling up at the cave mouth and unleashing a full draconic roar directly inside.
The response was immediate.
A screech came from inside — sharp, furious — and then a wall of solid wind exploded outward with enough force to fling Hydreigon backward like it weighed nothing. The dragon tumbled through the air before catching itself.
And from the cave came the Pokémon.
Enormous. Deep green, avian, every line of it aggressive — it spread its wings wide and fixed its gaze on Hydreigon with an expression that left no ambiguity about its feelings. Purple-tipped feathers at the wing edges. White clouds clustering at the base of its tail. A purple tail extending behind.
"What is this Pokémon?"
Nora studied it with genuine confusion. She didn't recognize it. Not in the field, not from the Pokédex, not from anything she'd read.
Caitlin and Elesa were similarly at a loss.
"Tornadus," Mammon said. "Therian Forme."
"Wait, what?"
"The Forces of Nature have two forms — the Incarnate Forme, which is humanoid in appearance, and the Therian Forme, which is the true form. The beast shape. Therian is what they actually are."
The four corresponded, actually, to the Four Sacred Beasts of classical mythology — Tornadus Therian as the Vermilion Bird, Thundurus Therian as the Azure Dragon, Landorus Therian as the White Tiger, Enamorus Therian as the Black Tortoise. Not that the actual designs made this particularly obvious.
"So it really is Tornadus," Nora breathed, eyes lighting up.
She straightened her back and set her jaw.
"Then I'm going in."
A legendary Pokémon. The fact of it registered like electricity in her chest. This was what trainers dreamed about — a genuine legendary, here, catchable. The satisfaction of that wasn't something any ordinary Pokémon could match. Rare and powerful, and right there.
"Go for it." Mammon smiled. "It's strong. Be careful."
He wasn't particularly invested in catching this one himself. If it ended up in his hands, it would go to the Ranch as a merit point redemption. And Nora had found the location — giving her the first attempt was the reasonable thing.
"Leave it to me!"
Nora planted her feet. "Tornadus! I'm going to catch you! Fight me properly, and if you lose — become my partner!"
The determination in her eyes was real.
Therian Tornadus shrieked, irritation radiating off it. It had just been settling in for a rest. Now it had two separate humans and a large dragon all appearing at once. The Hydreigon in front of it. The loud girl below.
It had been through this before. Many times. None of them had managed it yet.
Therian Tornadus narrowed its eyes, locked onto Hydreigon, and made its assessment.
"All right! Here we go!"
Nora was vibrating with energy—
"AH AH AH AH HYDREIGON RETURN RETURN STOP—"
Roughly eighteen seconds later, Nora was watching her Hydreigon's Poké Ball click shut with an expression of profound injustice.
Therian Tornadus's Acrobatics had been running too fast to track. Speed and power both significantly above Hydreigon, which hadn't gotten a single clean hit in. The gap was absolute.
"Mammon, I can't do it." Nora looked at him with the expression of someone who had accepted an outcome they didn't love. "You take over."
Hydreigon was her hardest hitter. She wasn't going to send out Serperior against something airborne and type-disadvantaged at Champion-tier strength. That was just math.
"Sure."
Therian Tornadus let out an impatient screech. Its temper was poor on a good day. It wouldn't attack the humans directly — that was one thing that could be said for it — but it was not interested in continuing to be poked at.
"Before we do this — I'm curious." Mammon turned his Poké Ball in his fingers. "How did you get back to Therian Forme? Where did you find a Reveal Glass?"
Therian Tornadus paused.
This human knew what a Reveal Glass was?
It stared at Mammon for a moment, then let out another screech. It wasn't answering.
"Fair enough. Hard way it is, then." Mammon opened the Poké Ball.
Dark Mewtwo landed in front of him. Violet flames burned in its eyes — cold, utterly unimpressed — and it looked at Therian Tornadus with the expression of something that had already decided the outcome and was simply waiting for the paperwork.
Therian Tornadus seethed at the implication. A human, being this casual about a legendary Pokémon—
It spread its wings and inhaled, preparing to generate a gale—
And stopped.
It couldn't move.
It couldn't move.
Therian Tornadus's eyes went wide. It tried to struggle — strained with everything it had — and managed only the very slowest possible turn of its head.
What is this.
What kind of psychic force—
Nothing in Unova should be able to hold it like this. Nothing it knew of. This Pokémon had come from somewhere else.
"Oh my GOD—"
Nora's jaw had dropped. She stared at Dark Mewtwo — at Therian Tornadus frozen in the air, barely twitching under the psychic grip — and could not form a complete sentence.
That was Tornadus.
Dark Mewtwo's violet eyes flickered. It slowly closed one fist, and the psychic pressure around Tornadus tightened. Tornadus made a sound that was half-screech, half-groan.
Then, from above—
Black clouds rolled in. Fast. From nowhere.
Lightning flickered in the depths of them.
"Hm?"
Mammon looked up, mildly surprised.
CRACK.
A bolt of Thunder dropped from the clouds directly onto Therian Tornadus. The impact detonated. Tornadus shrieked — pain and fury combined — then launched into a rapid-fire string of angry chirping that was, from the pattern and pitch of it, extremely rude.
Thunder was a type disadvantage. And that hit hadn't been weak.
"Was that Dark Mewtwo?" Nora asked, confused. She hadn't seen it move.
It wasn't Dark Mewtwo. Dark Mewtwo hadn't charged up, hadn't glowed, hadn't done anything. The lightning came from the clouds themselves.
Dark Mewtwo's eyes rose slowly toward the stormclouds.
Something's up there.
"Lei~!"
A sound drifted down — self-satisfied, gleeful — as a Pokémon descended lazily from the cover of the clouds.
It had the appearance of a human upper body, blue-toned, sitting atop a base of swirling cloud-matter. From its cloud base extended a tail like a chain of black meteors, swinging loosely.
Thundurus. Incarnate Forme.
It looked down at the immobilized Therian Tornadus with absolute delight. The sucker punch had been perfectly timed — Tornadus couldn't respond, couldn't fight back, couldn't do anything.
Tornadus strained against Dark Mewtwo's grip just enough to raise its head and turn one extremely cold eye toward Thundurus.
You.
You waited until I couldn't move.
Truly magnificent timing.
Thundurus fluttered its cloud-tail, looking very pleased with itself. It had been watching from up there for a while. This was the best possible moment. Classic.
Then Thundurus tilted its head.
Wait.
Why wasn't Tornadus fighting back? Tornadus always fought back. That was basically Tornadus's entire personality.
And now that it was looking closer—
That faint blue light on Tornadus.
Thundurus's gaze drifted to Dark Mewtwo.
Then to Mammon.
…
"Well," Mammon said, grinning. "Buy one, get one free."
He genuinely hadn't expected this. One Tornadus had been a pleasant find. Tornadus and Thundurus in the same afternoon was a different category of result entirely.
He found himself wondering if Landorus and Enamorus were also in the vicinity. A full set would be ideal.
(End of Chapter)
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you