Chapter 143

Another intense clash of skills ensued, and the floor began to collapse completely under the impact of the energy, with the rising dust obscuring the view.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zacian cleaved through the already crumbling wall with a single sword strike, while the other Pokémon provided cover, allowing Suicune, carrying Qiao Ran on its back, to jump inside.

--As long as Qiao Ran can get to the next room, then everything will be worth it!

Suicune's agile figure drew an arc in the air and landed steadily on the ground on the other side.

"Ha ha ha ha."

Looking at the ceiling, which was completely different from the previous room, Qiao Ran couldn't help but laugh.

He came over.

He really came!

The other Pokémon that were providing cover at a distance were all retrieved into their Poké Balls by Qiao Ran from a distance, bypassing Genesect's encirclement.

"However, those guys will come again..."

Qiao Ran gripped the Poké Ball tightly again, ready to release them once more and continue the battle.

However—what he didn't expect was that, in

After waiting for a long time, it seemed that what he had expected did not happen.

"It stopped...?"

Qiao Ran could see that the Genesect had stopped at the entrance of the large hole in the wall, seemingly having no intention of continuing their pursuit.

They just lingered around the entrance of the hole, occasionally peeking in, but they wouldn't come in.

"What happened?"

Qiao Ran frowned. He looked around and found that the room had no windows and no trace of insects.

But -- this room is different from the other rooms.

Both the distance between the ceilings and the size of the rooms were several times larger than the other rooms. At the far end of the room, Qiao Ran saw a series of marble steps leading to a platform above, where outside light streamed in from the dome, creating a solemn and dignified atmosphere.

However, this is not the most important thing.

Rather, it's the color of this room. The color of this room isn't the black or gray outside, but pure white.

Qiao Ran glanced at the Vulpix fox on his shoulder. Although it was blinking, its body had completely blended into the background.

That's way too white.

This is no longer something that can be changed by the background or the decorating style; it's as if the air, or the world he sees, has been veiled by a white filter.

Something's not right.

This is really too unusual.

Qiao Ran looked up at the top of the stairs. He Tangled Feet down from Suicune's back, wanting to go up and see what was going on.

Suicune seemed to want to help Qiao Ran up, but Qiao Ran refused. (The rest of the text appears to be unrelated and possibly machine-generated gibberish.)

For some reason, he wanted to walk up the stairs himself.

If he remembered correctly, this should be the scene from the game—the largest room in the Castle built by Team Plasma.

--The Throne Room.

The palace where the King of the Unova ascended the throne.

The Pokémon cautiously followed Qiao Ran, prepared for a surprise Sucker Punch, since they didn't know where the bugs would attack from.

Step by step, I climbed higher and higher, getting closer and closer to the Castle's dome. Looking back down at the path I had walked, everything below seemed as insignificant as ants.

Is this the view that the king was supposed to see...?

However, Qiao Ran quickly averted his gaze; he wasn't interested in any of that. He simply focused on what lay ahead, moving forward step by step.

Qiao Ran saw it; at the top of the high steps, there were two "boxes" containing objects.

One of them was empty, while in the other, there was a pure white "bead".

"This is?"

Looking at that bead, Qiao Ran felt as if her heart had been completely captured by it.

Qiao Ran didn't know, nor did she understand, how to describe this strange object. In this pure white world, it was so dazzling and obvious that even without special observation, one could discover the existence of this bead.

He had never seen such pure white.

"... Owner!"

In a daze, Qiao Ran had already made the movement involuntarily, and he didn't hear the surprised voices of the other Pokémon at all.

His hand had already touched the bead.

Section 277, page 273 [Real]

In the beginning, the world was gray.

However, a single color is ultimately too monotonous, so gray was divided in two, transforming into the Ideals black and the true white.

These two wills have clashed since ancient times, and neither has ever prevailed.

The balance was maintained in this silence.

However, for some reason, the world ultimately made a choice, which led to the birth of its own Ideals.

The Ideals of the world is to end this world with one's own hands and erase all traces of its existence.

From that time onward, black became the dominant color of the world.

--It is the Ideals color.

The pure white reality is completely abandoned. One day, the world will gradually darken, the stars will stop, the rivers will flow backward, and even the gray in between will not leave a trace.

"The reason it still exists... is because the reality of this world still exists; 'reality' hasn't been completely destroyed, right?"

In the illusory space, Qiao Ran seemed to hear a very long and wonderful story.

He appeared here after touching the sphere.

Although those strange stories were very difficult to understand, he had roughly grasped some of the points.

The sheer volume of information made Qiao Ran's head spin a little, but perhaps because she had experienced similar events before, Qiao Ran didn't panic when faced with this situation.

After all, the times he had seen Zacian before were probably similar.

"..."

In the white light, the illusory shadow nodded, acknowledging Qiao Ran's words.

This whiteness is not actually pure white, but a conceptual existence, a spiritual product of "reality". As long as reality is not eliminated or denied, then whiteness will exist eternally.

Just like the black that Qiao Ran saw before, it is not actually pure black, but a conceptual "Ideals". As long as the Ideals is not destroyed or denied, then black will exist eternally.

However, this "Ideals" seems to have been met with resistance.

It has been distorted to some extent, resulting in its current form.

It has even become a tool for manipulation and coercion.

"So... my opponent isn't actually something tangible, but rather the world...? The world??"

Qiao Ran shook her head, but something still felt off.

These things are too abstract and conceptual; just thinking about them gives me a headache.

Moreover, there are just too many flaws!

"..."

The shadow opposite him, seeing Qiao Ran's confused expression, remained silent. Gradually, the surrounding light dimmed.

Qiao Ran's consciousness simultaneously detached from the space, and suddenly, he opened his eyes.

"Master? Master?!"

The anxious voices of the Pokémon echoed in his ears, Mimikyu even slapped his face with its black tentacles sticking out from under its skirt, almost as if it was going to use Double Slap to bring him to his senses.

Fortunately, Qiao Ran woke up at just the right moment, and Mimikyu regretfully retracted its tentacles.

"I..."

Qiao Ran looked around. He was still in the same huge room as before, but now he was tightly holding the white bead in his hand.

If he remembered correctly, this thing was originally in a container on the table, and its appearance in his hand meant that he must have done something while he was unconscious.

"This is..."

Qiao Ran picked up the bead, preparing to examine it closely. However, just as he raised his hand, a faint Ember emerged from the white bead, startling the Vulpix on Qiao Ran's shoulder.

As Ice-type Pokémon, she is afraid of fire, but at this moment she is more worried about Qiao Ran's safety.

"Owner!"

How did it suddenly catch fire?

No... I seem to be fine.

Qiao Ran looked somewhat bewildered. Although he was holding the bead in his hand, which was still on fire, he seemed completely unaffected, and the flames did not cause him any burning sensation or heat.

Was the fire fake? Or was it just an illusion?

At the same time, Rotom suddenly jumped out of the Poké Ball.

"New good news Rotom!"

A large smiley face appeared on her screen, followed by a series of messages.

Good news?

Noticing Rotom's high spirits, Qiao Ran couldn't help but glance at her.

However, instead of seeing the good news Rotom had mentioned on the screen, he was met with a series of strange messages and... countless question marks.

Singularity Name:???

"Danger level...???..."

"Target...???..."

Special containment (???): Complete!

"Rewards are being converted... converting..."

That's it?

"So... I triggered something, and then accomplished something?"

Qiao Ran was completely confused. "What's in this transformation?"

"I don't know either, Rotom. But it should be a good thing, Rotom." Rotom immediately put on a cute face, indicating that he didn't know anything.

However, Qiao Ran's question did not last long, because as soon as Rotom finished speaking, he saw the bead in his hand gradually Minimize, then slowly expand, and rise into the air.

The peculiar scene drew the attention of everyone present.

"Conversion in progress..."

The text was still displayed on Rotom's screen.

As the white bead ascended into the air, the flames burning on it grew increasingly intense. The red and blue flames intertwined, outlining the silhouette of a colossal creature. Although this outline only depicted the boundary of a certain concept, when a Roar resounded in the hall, everyone understood.

Something was born from it.

"Roar!!!!!"

It was a gigantic dragon with a pure white body.

Its body is as white as snow, its figure as light as a cloud, its face like a legendary white wolf, and its wings like a giant white bird. However, despite having so many unique features, it is filled with sacred majesty and power.

Furthermore, its tail has a strange turbine-like structure, from which faint flames seem to emerge.

The dragon raised its long neck and surveyed everything on the ground with its blue eyes. Its gaze swept over each Pokémon before finally settling on Qiao Ran.

At the same time, the text on Rotom's body finally stopped displaying.

Special Containment Bonus: Reshiram (Real)

"Conversion complete!!"

Section 278, Chapter 274 [Divine Dragon]