Chapter 136
However, while the two were still in shock, another unexpected event occurred.
Strange black smoke began to rise from the Genesect, and its form gradually dissipated. At the same time, a Ring- shaped object suddenly spread out beneath the Genesect.
--Wait until Qiao Ran and Yi
When Ruoyun blinked again, the Genesect had already vanished from their sight.
"..."
Yi Ruoyun stared blankly at the scene unfolding before her.
Where... is that thing?
Were you just here a moment ago?
As a native of the Real World, Yi Ruoyun was unaware of what had happened, nor could she possibly understand the "meaning" of what had just occurred; these things were beyond her comprehension.
While Qiao Ran was surprised, she clenched her fists tightly.
A bad feeling crept into his heart once again.
"This is troublesome..."
Although he didn't know what had happened to Genesect, the moment Qiao Ran saw the "Ring," he knew that things were definitely not that simple...
In the world of Pokémon, there is only one Pokémon that has the ability to control Ring and Pokémon space. While its individual combat ability may not be top-tier, its special ability is arguably the most troublesome.
The Hoopa and the Clash of Ages.
--Hoopa.
Section 263, page 259 [Double World]
The battle on Qiao Ran's side continued, while on the other side, Lillie also began her own exploration and adventure.
"Where am I...?"
Looking at the scene that suddenly appeared before her, Lillie's eyes showed a hint of surprise.
Although the natural scenery was exactly the same as anywhere else, Lillie could sense that something was noticeably different.
Although the sky will brighten, there will be no Sun in the sky.
Although a gentle breeze was blowing on my face, it lacked a certain warmth.
"... Is this the Pokémon World?"
Lillie looked around and saw grasslands and rivers, Forest and hills, and many Pokémon hidden among them, all of which seemed to be living quite well here.
"This is the Wild Area of Rotom."
Rotom floated in the air and explained to Lillie.
"If I had to say, it really is the Pokémon World, Rotom."
Perhaps because of the unfamiliar faces, Lillie's arrival eventually attracted the attention of the other Pokémon. However, since the most dangerous one had already been sent out by Qiao Ran, the first to appear was Maid dressed in Maid outfit with blue-purple hair.
"Rotom, why did you bring other people in without permission?"
The Maid frowned and questioned Rotom about his actions. As the one who controlled the Portal, she felt that Rotom shouldn't have acted this way.
"... This was Master's task, Rotom. I didn't do it myself, Rotom."
Rotom shook her head frantically, promptly shifting the blame. She was clearly surprised when Qiao Ran said she was going to bring the person in!
"My master's mission...?"
The Maid pondered for a moment before finally turning her gaze to Lillie.
"... Long time no see, Miss Lillie."
"Huh?"
Lillie was somewhat surprised and at a loss when the other person suddenly called her name.
She didn't know the other person's purpose or identity, but looking at the thing on the other person that looked like a "ribbon," Lillie felt that something was not quite right.
"Um... do you know me?" Lillie asked cautiously.
"Of course, we've met many times before," the Maid replied with a slight smile.
"Since this is your master's mission, then I will show you around this world."
As soon as she finished speaking, under Lillie's suddenly widened eyes, the Maid emitted a light, and even her appearance changed.
"You are actually...!"
Lillie swore that this was the first time she had ever seen anything like it, and she had never even imagined anything like it before.
That human we just saw was actually Pokémon in disguise...!
In the Real World, in the Forest.
Most of the Genesect in the sky had Smack Down Qiqi, but just like before, those Genesect shrouded in Haze emitted black smoke after being shot down, and were then transferred away by the suddenly appearing "Ring".
"Hurry up and pack our things here, we need to get to Hangcheng!"
Seeing Qiao Ran still standing there, seemingly deep in thought, Yi Ruoyun couldn't help but urge him on. The battle was already over, what was he still thinking about?
"Good."
Qiao Ran responded, released Altaria, and recalled the other Pokémon. Yveltal and the others had other battles to fight and needed to conserve their energy. Moreover, Qiao Ran didn't want to attract too much attention when entering the city, especially with Yveltal's enormous size, it would be impossible to avoid being noticed.
Although... Qiao Ran glanced at the golden Altaria beneath her—it seemed to attract quite a bit of attention too.
However, Qiao Ran had no choice; his only two options were...
Since air travel is already available, the Altaria is the more suitable option after weighing the two.
What were you thinking about just now?
On the way to Hangcheng, Yi Ruoyun approached him and asked him a question.
She didn't quite understand what had happened before, and thinking about it for even a little while killed many of her brain cells, so she simply stopped thinking about it. She figured she might as well ask Qiao Ran, who had a similar experience, who might offer some insights she hadn't considered before.
"I'm thinking... how to stop that thing from disappearing completely. Or rather... how to make it stop this behavior."
Qiao Ran's eyes flickered.
He was indeed thinking about other things just now.
He had experienced many things like space travel and time travel, so when faced with such events, he didn't panic at first, but rather had a calm "Oh, I see" attitude.
He was thinking about how to use the appearance of the "Ring" to strike the enemy. He already knew that after the Genesect fell, the Ring would definitely appear to rescue them.
Pokémon to attack the Ring?
No... the Ring shouldn't suffer any obvious damage. Instead of wasting time here, let's try a different approach.
Generally speaking, Portal, in essence, is simply a "tool that connects two worlds".
"Connecting two worlds...?"
Qiao Ran stroked his chin, his expression gradually becoming clearer.
"What came to mind?" Yi Ruoyun asked with some interest.
"I have a rough plan, but... it might be a bit dangerous. And I'm not sure what the chances of success are. If it fails, it will be very troublesome."
Qiao Ran carefully considered his words, appearing extremely cautious. In this plan, he personally had to take enormous risks. For Qiao Ran, taking risks was not a one-off event; he was already able to face them calmly. But the most important thing was—he didn't know what the rewards would be after taking the risks, nor did he know if what he was doing was exactly what the other party wanted.
"... If I make up my mind by then, I hope Sister Yi Ruoyun can give me a hand."
"...?" Yi Ruoyun couldn't understand why Qiao Ran was suddenly so serious, but she still nodded. "Sure, if you can convince me."
"Um."
Qiao Ran responded, and at that moment, he once again felt his own inadequacy.
Although Yi Ruoyun kept emphasizing her significant improvement in strength after they met, Qiao Ran wanted more than just that.
What he wants to do is not just challenge the Gym and the Pokémon League.
Section 264, page 260 [Preparing for War]
Approaching Hangcheng from the sky, especially with both sides' Pokémon flying at full speed despite the exhaustion, Qiao Ran and Yi Ruoyun arrived at the outskirts of the city in a short time.
"Damn it... what on earth is going on?"
Along the way, Yi Ruoyun had seen many sights she had never seen before: collapsed houses, broken streets, and rescue workers busy at work. Moreover, as she gradually ventured deeper into the city, she saw more and more similar scenes.
Although she saw many Pokémon Trainer helping out,... against an enemy of this caliber, the role that ordinary Trainer could play was destined to be limited.
According to Yi Ruoyun's assessment, they would need to be at least at the level of an ordinary Gym Leader to be of any help; otherwise, they would become a burden in the battle.
Unable to contain her anxiety, Yi Ruoyun took out her phone again and dialed the Pokémon League contact to find out the current situation.
She had initially thought the situation in the city would be worse than she imagined, but the other party's response was somewhat unexpected.
"... Really? Because the evacuation was carried out relatively early, there were basically no casualties?... Wait, you're saying those things were only attacking the building??"
She heard surprising information from the liaison officer once again, but upon further reflection, she felt that something seemed amiss.
"That's not right. I encountered these strange things before when I was outside Hangcheng, and they were attacking us."
Yi Ruoyun glanced at Qiao Ran, her expression somewhat puzzled.
Qiao Ran also heard her voice. Although he couldn't make out what the liaison officer on the other end was saying, he could roughly understand Qiqi of it from Yi Ruoyun's words.
Qiao Ran couldn't help but frown.
Those things... don't they attack people? How is that possible?
So, when they first appeared there, wouldn't their first attack be...?
Qiao Ran was startled, and Lillie's face flashed into his mind—yes, they had attacked Lillie back then.
Is Lillie special, or is the Pokémon League's intelligence incorrect?
If Lillie is a special case... then doesn't that mean there's another person who is also...?
Thinking of this, Qiao Ran couldn't help but take out her phone and quickly dial a specially marked number.
"... Qiao Ran?"
Perhaps as expected, the other party answered the phone quickly.
Qiao Ran quickly inquired about the other person's situation.
Mei, is there any situation on your end?
"... I'm fine here, but you... Qiao Ran, you should be in the danger zone designated by the Pokémon League... right? What happened over there?"
Whether it was due to the damage caused by Genesect or because Qiao Ran Agility in the sky, the sounds Qiao Ran heard were always intermittent, but Mei's voice still reassured him a little; nothing strange had happened on her end.
Furthermore, Mei seemed to already know something about what was happening here. After all, her superior was a doctor in the Pokémon League and had some connection with the "oldest Elite Four," so Qiao Ran wasn't surprised that she could know some things.
"I'm glad you're alright," Qiao Ran replied.
However, upon further reflection, Qiao Ran felt that his worries might be somewhat unnecessary. Although Mei's strength couldn't be considered a true "Elite Four" level, she was still a top-tier player below the Elite Four. Moreover, she hadn't slacked off in training her Pokémon, and her strength was constantly increasing. With that kind of strength, no matter what problems she encountered, she would at least have the ability to protect herself.
"... I saw Genesect, many Genesect shrouded in Haze... and I also saw Hoopa's Ring. I guess these things were teleported here by Hoopa."
"What did you say...!?"
Qiao Ran and Mei briefly described what they had just witnessed. After listening quietly to Qiao Ran's description, Mei finally couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
"It's... wait, Genesect..."
Even though they were separated by thousands of miles, and the phone was still making a loud static sound, Qiao Ran could feel her immense excitement.
It wasn't a feeling of excitement, but rather... a deep sense of worry and fear.
Mei seemed to be afraid of something.
"That shouldn't be... something from this world... Qiao Ran, where are you!... I need to get there right away!"
Mei inquired about Qiao Ran's location, and Qiao Ran understood what Genesect meant to Mei, or rather—these things might be related to the calamity that Mei had mentioned earlier in the Unova Region.
After all, the only organization in the Pokémon World to have revived and modified Genesect is Team Plasma from the Unova Region. Furthermore, things related to this Pokémon have been discovered in those previous Ruins.
Also, in Mei's hazy memories, she mentioned something called "black stuff."
"I'm in Hangcheng... I'm on my way there, but the situation is urgent, I don't know if you can make it in time."
Qiao Ran hoped she could come quickly, but the situation waits for no one. If it really came to the point where there was no way to solve the problem without taking action, Qiao Ran had to take further measures.