Chapter Summaries

Yan Yang recovered Cosmog’s Poké Ball from Mewtwo and learned that Mewtwo had noticed a hidden mental mark on Xiao Ai, possibly placed by Master Hu long ago. When the unusual Florges arrived, Yan Yang recognized her as the Eternal Flower, and she sensed a familiar aura on him.

• Mewtwo returned Yan Yang’s Moon Ball and revealed his interest in the bond between Yan Yang and Entei, as well as his plan to shelter cloned humans and Pokémon.
• Yan Yang asked Mewtwo to reconsider his connection to the Dark Hunters, but Mewtwo said he would handle the organization in his own way.
• Mewtwo said he knew little about Master Hu but had detected a hidden mental mark or guidance on Xiao Ai, which left Yan Yang wondering about a long-running scheme.
• Xiao Ai brought tea and snacks, and the Florges flew in, drawn by the food.
• Yan Yang called Florges the Eternal Flower, prompting her to ask how he knew that name; after sensing his aura, she became confused and excited.

Yan Yang returned to the Fossil Research Institute with Eternal Flower, where Larvitar greeted him with a bite and the researchers showed him the damage she had caused. He introduced Florges to his Pokémon and spent a peaceful evening with them, while Eternal Flower quietly observed their bonds and considered why she had followed him.

• Eternal Flower left Xiao Ai's mansion and followed Yan Yang, who returned to the Fossil Research Institute through Cosmog.
• Larvitar bit Yan Yang for leaving her behind, and the researchers showed him the parts of the institute she had damaged.
• Yan Yang brought his Pokémon to the ecological zone, reunited with them, and introduced Larvitar to the group.
• Yan Yang introduced Florges as a companion who would travel with them for a while, and Larvitar instinctively shrank away from her.
• Yan Yang shared Poffles with his Pokémon as Eternal Flower watched their close bonds and wondered whether following him would bring her answers.
• Yan Yang rested with his Pokémon in the sunset, putting future adventures aside for the time being.

Yan Yang tested Mega Evolution with Houndoom at the Fossil Research Institute, successfully transforming him and measuring the new form’s power. His attempt with Curse Flame failed because of the resentment within him, leaving Yan Yang worried about what might happen if that resentment were removed.

• Yan Yang gathered the researchers and his Pokémon in the institute’s backyard to attempt Mega Evolution with Houndoom.
• Yan Yang and Houndoom successfully Mega Evolved, and Pita and the researchers recorded the dramatic increase in energy and power.
• Yan Yang tested Mega Houndoom’s moves, checked his stats, and ended the transformation after confirming that Houndoom could handle the form.
• Yan Yang attempted Mega Evolution with Curse Flame, but the unstable connection failed even after Curse Flame changed into his Banette form.
• Yan Yang stopped further attempts after realizing Curse Flame’s resentment could make Mega Evolution dangerous, and worried that removing it might turn Curse Flame back into a Substitute.

After Curse Flame’s failed Mega Evolution stirred up the grudges inside him, Yan Yang decided to face them directly rather than rely on Entei’s suppression. He entered a mental link with Curse Flame and confronted Xiao Nian, but the grudge rejected his attempt to reason with it.

• Pita explained that the conflicting powers within Curse Flame disrupted his Mega Evolution, and Yan Yang suspected unresolved grudges were also involved.
• Curse Flame involuntarily changed into Banette as grudge energy surged, then resisted Entei’s attempt to suppress it and regained control.
• Curse Flame explained that most grudges had quieted, but the powerful grudge Yan Yang named Xiao Nian had grown more resentful and caused the outburst.
• Entei warned that suppression could not solve the problem, and the Eternal Flower suggested understanding and acceptance as a path to purification.
• Yan Yang shared his concern that removing every grudge might change Curse Flame’s form, but Curse Flame said he would accept any form as long as they stayed together.
• Yan Yang used Evergreen Power to connect with Curse Flame’s grudges and experienced their memories, then tried to communicate with Xiao Nian, which refused to accept his reasoning.

Yan Yang reached a tentative truce with Xiao Nian by promising to prove that he had treasured a damaged Substitute doll and would not abandon his companions. Xiao Nian agreed to wait for proof, but refused to cooperate with Mega Evolution for now, leaving Yan Yang to turn his attention to Mount Coronet and Master Hu.

• Yan Yang proposed using a magical embroidery needle to repair Xiao Nian's former cloth-doll body, but Xiao Nian rejected the offer and accused him of being a hypocritical owner.
• Yan Yang told Xiao Nian that he had kept and repaired a battered Substitute doll, then offered to prove it when he returned to his home in the Johto Region.
• Xiao Nian agreed to bet that Yan Yang was telling the truth and temporarily stopped resisting, but demanded to stay in Curse Flame's consciousness and refused to help with Mega Evolution before seeing proof.
• Xiao Nian added that it might occasionally bite Yan Yang's hand while it waited, and the mental connection then ended.
• Yan Yang returned to reality as Xiao Nian and the other resentments settled into a temporary calm, while Curse Flame, Entei, and the Eternal Flower showed their support.
• Yan Yang looked toward Mount Coronet and prepared to confront Master Hu.

Yan Yang prepared to leave for Mount Coronet and decided to visit Pyroar’s biological family in Kalos first. After Larvitar’s research data was completed, Yan Yang gathered his companions and used Cosmog to begin the journey.

• Yan Yang planned to set off early and secretly take Pyroar to visit his biological family near Mount Coronet.
• Pita and the researchers finished collecting Larvitar’s data, allowing Yan Yang to take her outside the institute.
• Yan Yang considered the risks of bringing his entire Pokémon family and accepted that the Eternal Flower would accompany them.
• Yan Yang encouraged Turtwig, who was close to evolving, and noticed Armorouge acting awkwardly around him.
• Yan Yang stored the other Pokémon in their Poké Balls, picked up Cosmog, and vanished with his companions.

Yan Yang brought Pyroar to the grasslands and secretly set him against the Lion King, who was likely Pyroar’s biological father. As their battle intensified, Hawlucha joined the fight by diving at the Lion King.

• Yan Yang and his Pokémon arrived at the grasslands, where he spotted a pride of lionesses and led Pyroar toward them.
• The Lion King confronted Pyroar and attacked, while Yan Yang used Teleportation to hide in the grass.
• Pyroar fought back against the Lion King, and Entei guessed that the two were father and son.
• The Lion King grew alarmed at Pyroar’s strength as the lionesses watched anxiously and one sensed a strange familiarity with him.
• Hawlucha spotted Yan Yang and his companions, then dove toward the Lion King to help Pyroar.

Yan Bao fought Lion King until their battle revealed a bloodline scent that connected them, and Lion King realized Yan Bao was its long-lost son. Yan Bao struggled to process the revelation while Yan Yang and the watching Pokémon reacted to the unexpected reunion.

• Hawlucha interrupted Yan Bao and Lion King's battle with a sudden attack, giving Yan Bao an opening to knock Lion King down.
• Lion King caught a familiar bloodline scent on Yan Bao and used its strength to pin him down and inspect him.
• A nearby lioness recognized Yan Bao, and Lion King realized he was the egg stolen by human poachers years earlier.
• Lion King awkwardly told Yan Bao that it was his father, but Yan Bao questioned the claim and struggled to reconcile it with what Yan Yang had told him.
• Yan Yang burst out laughing as the other Pokémon watched and reacted to the father-son reunion.

Yan Bao learned that Lion King and the lioness were his biological parents after Yan Yang explained how he had raised him from an egg. The pride welcomed Yan Bao home, but Lion King soon resumed their fight, leaving Yan Yang to entertain the cubs nearby.

• The lioness and Lion King recognized Yan Bao as their son and affectionately groomed him while he struggled to understand what was happening.
• Yan Yang explained how he had found Yan Bao as an egg, hatched him, and raised him, and Yan Bao worried that his Trainer might give him up now that his parents had returned.
• Lion King set aside his mixed feelings and roared to announce that his missing cub had come home.
• Yan Yang encouraged the reluctant Yan Bao to greet his parents, and Lion King and the lioness continued grooming him while Yan Yang took photos.
• Hawlucha tried to claim he had intentionally tested Yan Bao for Lion King, but Lion King blasted him with Flamethrower.
• Yan Bao asked Lion King for a massage, prompting Lion King to overpower him as Yan Yang used the scene to warn the cubs against growing up foolish and weak.

Yan Yang and his Pokémon rested overnight on the grasslands after reuniting with the Pyroar pride, while Yan Bao grew closer to his family and friends. During the night, Yan Yang spotted a familiar armed airship heading toward Mount Coronet and realized Master Hu and the plateau might be in danger.

• Hawlucha entertained Yan Bao with tales of their past adventures, then offered to show him around the Pyroar territory.
• Yan Yang watched his Pokémon relax on the grasslands, while Turtwig worked to gather energy for her approaching evolution.
• Yan Bao settled beside Yan Yang for the night as Lion King and the lioness watched over their sleeping pride.
• Yan Yang woke in the night after hearing an engine and spotted a familiar armed airship flying toward Mount Coronet.
• Yan Yang recognized the airship used by the enemies who had tried to capture Volcanion and decided they needed to set out at dawn.

Yan Yang and his companions arrived on Mount Coronet to find an armed force attacking the plateau and capturing its guardian, Volcanion. The airship escaped with Volcanion, leaving Yan Yang to tend to the frightened Pokémon and search the abandoned machines for clues.

• Yan Yang woke before dawn, decided to bring all his Pokémon, and traveled to Mount Coronet with Cosmog after hearing a distant explosion.
• Yan Yang found steel machines driving back the plateau Pokémon while an airship held Volcanion in energy restraints.
• The attackers threatened the plateau Pokémon, and Volcanion stopped resisting to protect them.
• Yan Yang ordered an attack, but the airship lifted off with Volcanion while its machines laid down covering fire.
• Entei shielded Yan Yang’s group as the airship escaped, leaving the abandoned machines behind as distractions.
• Yan Yang chose to calm the frightened Pokémon and look for clues in the wreckage instead of pursuing the airship.

Yan Yang healed the injured Pokémon and rallied them after Volcanion was captured. The Eternal Flower found a hidden message that Yan Yang decoded into a clue pointing to a location, though the identity of the person who left it remained uncertain.

• Yan Yang used Evergreen Power to heal the plateau Pokémon, then learned that intruders had captured Volcanion after threatening the Pokémon with their Drivers.
• Entei and Yan Yang urged the frightened Pokémon to regain their courage and protect their home while they worked to rescue Volcanion.
• The Eternal Flower searched an abandoned turret and found a blank sheet of paper bearing a familiar scent that reminded it of someone from three thousand years ago.
• Yan Yang used an ultraviolet pen to reveal three cryptic lines on the paper and wondered whether Master Hu had left the message.
• Yan Yang connected the clues and realized they pointed to a single location.

Yan Yang connected the clues about Saffron City to the buried Ultimate Weapon and learned from the Eternal Flower that an immortal named Za was tied to the weapon. He agreed to consider Entei’s call to investigate, while suspecting Master Hu and Za had secretly guided events toward this destination.

• Yan Yang recognized Saffron City as the likely location of the Ultimate Weapon and worried that the Dark Hunters’ plans might involve it.
• Entei insisted that they go to Saffron City, but Yan Yang asked to speak with the Eternal Flower first.
• The Eternal Flower revealed that it sensed an immortal aura in the cannon and remembered an immortal king named Za.
• Yan Yang realized Za might have sent the clues leading him to Saffron City and wondered why Master Hu had arranged their meeting but vanished.
• Yan Yang linked the immortal auras around himself and Xiao Ai to their past contact with Master Hu and suspected Master Hu and Za were connected.
• Yan Yang tried to dismiss his theory that an unseen force had guided him toward Saffron City as a chain of coincidences.

Yan Yang chose a small team for the dangerous trip to Saffron City and arranged for trusted Pokémon to stay behind and protect the plateau’s residents. He departed with Entei, Curse Flame, Turtwig, Silvally, and Cosmog, leaving Houndoom and Armorouge to help defend and train the others.

• Yan Yang comforted the plateau Pokémon, then asked his companions to stay behind and guard them while he went to rescue Volcanion.
• Houndoom and Armorouge volunteered to remain, and Yan Yang assigned young Larvitar to stay and play with the plateau Pokémon under Houndoom’s watch.
• Turtwig insisted on joining Yan Yang, so he agreed to take her and Silvally along; Lycanroc chose to stay and assist Houndoom.
• Yan Yang persuaded Pyroar to visit his parents and agreed to let Curse Flame accompany him despite his lingering fear.
• Yan Yang told Armorouge to train the Pokémon and promised to let him get close after the mission, then set out for Saffron City with Entei, Curse Flame, Turtwig, Silvally, and Cosmog.

Yan Yang raced toward Saffron City while Volcanion remained imprisoned in a hidden base, where Master Hu revealed that Yan Yang would take part in an upcoming operation. Master Hu hinted at his connection to the ancient story of ZA and the Eternal Flower, leaving Volcanion to wonder how the Alakazam had lived for so long.

• Yan Yang rode Entei at full speed toward Saffron City, leaving Pyroar to find his way back across the plateau.
• In a secret base north of Saffron City, Volcanion cursed the people who captured him and broke their agreement with him.
• Volcanion worried about the plateau Pokémon and trusted Yan Yang to protect them for the time being.
• Master Hu appeared to Volcanion and said an operation was about to begin, with Yan Yang acting alongside him.
• Volcanion agreed he would be less hostile toward Yan Yang and asked Master Hu about the operation’s goal and his long life.
• Master Hu mentioned ZA and the Eternal Flower, prompting Volcanion to suspect the source of the Alakazam’s longevity.

Master Hu told Volcanion that conspirators were close to restarting the Ultimate Weapon and warned that they could drain the Pokémon of Volcanion’s plateau for energy. Volcanion reluctantly agreed to help Yan Yang stop them, while Master Hu reaffirmed his secret plan to end an ancient being’s bondage.

• Master Hu revealed that the conspirators had gathered the energy, funding, technology, and immortal king needed to restart the Ultimate Weapon, with only its final resonant being left to find and control.
• Master Hu warned Volcanion that the conspirators could use the plateau’s Pokémon and Volcanion himself as fuel, prompting Volcanion to agree to help stop them with Yan Yang.
• Master Hu promised that no true life of this world would die and that one being would be freed, while privately resolving to eradicate the source of eternal immortality and fulfill his agreement with Lord Xerneas.
• Master Hu told Volcanion that Yan Yang was the key and suggested Volcanion travel with him, but Volcanion insisted that no human could ever earn his acknowledgment.
• Master Hu vanished from the cell, leaving Volcanion to curse him and declare that no human could convince him.

Cheng Yu briefed the Dark Hunters and their allies on the near-complete Ultimate Weapon reactivation plan, including their control of Y Energy, Volcanion, and Za. He warned that Yan Yang and the mysterious Alakazam remained uncertain variables as Yan Yang raced toward Saffron City.

• Cheng Yu announced that Y Energy had been extracted from the Cocoon of Destruction and stabilized with help from the Kingdom of Azoth's scientific adviser and Doctor Poppy.
• Cheng Yu showed that the Dark Hunters had captured Volcanion to fuel the Ultimate Weapon and had Za and an ancient device under their control.
• Cheng Yu credited a League insider with supplying funding, equipment, intelligence, and cover for the operation.
• Cheng Yu identified Yan Yang as a threat, noting that he had exposed the Iris Elite Boarding School experiments, nearly disrupted Volcanion's capture, and was heading toward Saffron City.
• Cheng Yu warned the group not to underestimate Yan Yang, Entei, or the mysterious Alakazam who had helped them find Za and capture Volcanion.
• Cheng Yu dismissed the Azoth minister's concerns about the Alakazam, saying the allies would focus on obtaining the Ultimate Weapon's power before investigating his motives.

Cheng Yu and his allies discussed using Yan Yang as the ideal vessel for the Ultimate Weapon’s Pokémon life energy and planned to capture him, while Champion Lucario began investigating their scheme. The chapter ended with Lucario learning that the target airship was headed for Saffron City.

• Doctor Poppy revealed that Yan Yang’s extraordinary body and affinity for Pokémon made him a potentially perfect carrier for the Ultimate Weapon’s energy.
• Cheng Yu told the meeting that Yan Yang was essential to the plan and would arrive with another immortal Pokémon; the League official sought a larger share of the rewards.
• The League official warned that Champion Lucario was secretly investigating, while the Kingdom of Azoth’s minister demanded help finding the artificial Pokémon that had vanished three hundred years earlier.
• After the meeting, Poppy questioned whether Yan Yang would come, and Cheng Yu insisted he would and imagined using him to bring back someone important to him.
• Champion Lucario reviewed a report that Saffron City’s ancient stone pillars had vanished and received confirmation that the target airship’s final landing coordinates were Saffron City.

Yan Yang discovered that the three stone pillars in Saffron City had vanished, suggesting the Ultimate Weapon beneath the square was unsealed, and considered seeking help from Champion Lucario. The Eternal Flower revealed itself to Lucario, who recognized it and questioned Yan Yang as the remaining crowd was cleared away.

• Yan Yang reached Saffron City with Turtwig and hurried toward the Dark Hunters' hideout to rescue Master Hu and Volcanion.
• Yan Yang heard that the town's three central stone pillars had disappeared and suspected the Ultimate Weapon beneath the square had been unsealed.
• Yan Yang worried that the Eternal Flower was following him into danger and considered asking Champion Lucario for help with the unfolding crisis.
• Lucario arrived to investigate the missing pillars, cordoned off the square, and directed the townspeople to evacuate.
• The Eternal Flower revealed itself to Lucario, who recognized it and reacted with shock.
• Lucario turned a scrutinizing gaze on Yan Yang and asked why he had stayed near the cordoned square.

Yan Yang informed Champion Lucario that the Dark Hunters planned to reactivate the Ultimate Weapon beneath Saffron City, prompting her to begin preparing an operation. After the Eternal Flower sensed the weapon underground, Yan Yang insisted on joining the dangerous mission to rescue Master Hu and Volcanion.

• Yan Yang told Lucario that the Dark Hunters had kidnapped Mount Coronet's guardian and were hiding in Saffron City.
• Yan Yang revealed that the Dark Hunters intended to reactivate the Ultimate Weapon, and Lucario moved him to a secure tent to hear his full account.
• Yan Yang recounted his investigation, including witnessing Volcanion's capture and following clues left by a mysterious Pokémon.
• Yan Yang suggested the missing stone pillars had sealed an entrance beneath their former site, and Lucario ordered technical scans of the area.
• The Eternal Flower sensed a fluctuation underground, supporting Yan Yang's theory about the Ultimate Weapon's location.
• Lucario warned Yan Yang that the coming operation would be dangerous, but he insisted on joining to save Master Hu and Volcanion.