Come Battle, Moltres!

From the various details and characteristics, Luo Mu could say with certainty that this giant bird was Moltres, the legendary Pokémon of the Kanto region.

But why had Moltres appeared in the Paldea region? And how had Luxray and the others forcibly "invited" it back in a posture that should have utterly humiliated Moltres?

Luo Mu had no time to voice any of his questions. He only saw Luxray getting closer and closer, while Whimsicott and the others anxiously hid behind Serperior. Luo Mu looked back at the lush green fields, his expression changing as he shouted, "Don't come over hereee!!"

Fortunately, Serperior was reliable. At that critical moment, two tree trunks thick enough to require two people to wrap their arms around them burst from the ground under its control, sweeping directly toward Luxray's charging path.

Having spent so much time together, Luxray and Serperior needed no words to coordinate. With perfect understanding, Luxray flung Moltres's neck upward from its jaws, sending Moltres's body flying into the air with the momentum.

At that moment, Serperior's Frenzy Plant reached upward as though it had eyes, tightly binding Moltres before Serperior hurled it toward the Lake Area, which was still nothing but wasteland.

Luo Mu instantly understood Serperior's plan. Luxray and the others had brought Moltres back this way, so it was surely already furious. They would probably have to fight before it would calm down enough to talk.

In that case, they might as well take this chance to make the huge pit needed to establish the Lake Area.

Boom—!

A deafening crash came from the Lake Area. Luo Mu shrank his neck and muttered, "That fall must've hurt like hell."

Luxray came to a sudden stop in front of Luo Mu, with Ceruledge close behind. With a single leap, it landed stylishly at Luo Mu's side.

Mimikyu slowly crawled out of the shadows, then jumped into Luo Mu's arms to act spoiled and ask for praise.

Luo Mu gently rubbed Mimikyu's head until it happily narrowed its eyes. Then he looked at Ceruledge and Luxray and said quickly, "You've worked hard. Tell me what's going on."

Luxray and Ceruledge exchanged a glance, then began explaining with both their mouths and their hands.

After a round of conversation, Luo Mu pieced together the situation through guessing and inference.

After leaving the ranch, Luxray and the others had been racing through the Paldean wilderness. They had found quite a few Pokémon with Flame Body, but their strength had been mediocre, not even comparable to the Gym Leaders they had fought before.

After searching for several days, they finally encountered this Moltres at a volcano. However, it had quite the temper and had mercilessly attacked Luxray and the others as soon as they approached to negotiate.

Luxray and the others did not indulge Moltres either. They immediately gave it a thorough beating.

However, Moltres seemed capable of rapidly drawing power from the volcano's magma to restore its stamina. Combined with Moltres's terrifyingly deep reserves of endurance, Luxray and Ceruledge decided to forcibly abduct it from the volcano and bring it back to the ranch for Luo Mu to figure out.

After all, even if they were much stronger than Moltres, dragging things out indefinitely was not a solution.

After quickly processing all that information, Luo Mu pondered for a moment. Then his expression changed as he inwardly cried, Not good.

Legendary Pokémon were famous for having bottomless stamina bars. Just now, Luxray had constantly used electricity to paralyze Moltres, Ceruledge had used its Flash Fire Ability to absorb the flames, and Mimikyu had weakened Moltres with Ghost-type energy from the shadows.

That was the only reason Moltres had obediently allowed Luxray and the others to bring it back.

Now that Moltres had been given time to recover, then—

"Screeeech—!!"

As though carrying boundless fury, Moltres's high-pitched, piercing cry resounded through the heavens. Nearly golden orange flames clung to its wings, sparks glittering with every beat. A crown-like blaze burned fiercely above Moltres's head, while its brightly burning tail feathers were beautiful enough to stir the soul.

Moltres beat its wings in the sky, spewing a pillar of heat so intense that the surrounding air began to distort. It struck the wasteland of the Lake Area directly, forcefully burning out a massive pit.

Moltres was now utterly enraged!

"Bwoo!" "Swamp!"

Apparently noticing the commotion, Dragonite and Swampert, who knew where they had gone off to fool around, also returned at this moment. Their gazes turned serious as they looked toward Moltres venting its rage in the Lake Area.

All six Pokémon had now returned. Luo Mu pondered for a moment. How should he resolve the Moltres problem?

There were two options.

The first was for everyone to attack together and instantly suppress Moltres. The downside was that Moltres would likely refuse to submit.

The second was a one-on-one battle. Even a proud legendary Pokémon would not be overly resistant to being caught if it lost in a one-on-one fight.

Judging from Luxray and the others' description, along with Moltres's current performance, its level was probably only around fifty or sixty. It was not especially strong.

Luo Mu had no interest in catching Moltres.

So, he would thoroughly beat Moltres into submission first, then negotiate.

Having made his decision, Luo Mu looked at the six Pokémon and pondered briefly before saying, "Dragonite can fly, so it'll have an easier time fighting. The rest of you guard the area nearby. Make sure the aftermath doesn't damage other parts of the ranch."

"Bwoo!"

Dragonite, having been chosen, clenched its claws. Its simple, honest eyes instantly sharpened as intense fighting spirit rose within it.

Although the other Pokémon were disappointed not to have been chosen, they obediently each found a position to guard. They would prevent the aftershocks from spreading into other areas, while also intercepting Moltres if it tried to flee.

As for the possibility of Dragonite losing?

They had never even considered it!

The enraged Moltres endlessly rained its fury upon the surroundings. Ever since it had gained consciousness, every detail around it had told it that it was nobler than ordinary Pokémon, that its power was greater than ordinary Pokémon, and that all other beings were mere insects.

Moltres did not reject such thoughts. It had lived arrogantly like this until now.

But not long ago, its pride had been shattered by that beast wrapped in lightning, one of the insects in its eyes. Its noble, sacred flames had also been effortlessly absorbed by that humanoid shadow swordsman.

It had even been dragged by its vulnerable spot and forced to race for an entire day.

Destroy everything around it, then make those insects pay the price—those were the only two thoughts remaining in Moltres's mind.

Moltres spewed flames at the ground with the seemingly vast, inexhaustible energy within its body. Then a human voice rang out. "Come battle me, Moltres!"

Moltres's bloodshot crimson eyes instantly locked onto the human man strolling toward it below.

Moltres spread its wings, and Sky Fire descended from the heavens!