The Z-Move That Never Appeared and the Kabukicho Elite Four

"A Sparkling Stone, and..."

Xingye glanced down and never expected there to be more than one here—there was a whole pile of them!

They came in every color. He wondered which four unlucky guys had gotten beaten up and robbed.

Normally, Sparkling Stones were gifts given by guardian deities to Trainers they acknowledged, and they were essential materials for making Z-Rings.

But Xingye suddenly realized something. He had been in this world for nearly two months, yet he had never heard anything about Z-Moves.

He had never paid attention to it before. He had been busy all day long and had no interest in checking out competitions or gossip online...

So he immediately took out his Rotom Phone and began searching. The results came quickly: there was absolutely no record of Z-Moves online!

There was Mega Evolution, Dynamax, and even Terastalization, but Z-Moves alone were missing.

There were some clues about Z-Crystals, though. They could be picked up on Alola's beaches or chipped out of rocks. But these crystals were sold as pretty gemstones and weren't called Z-Crystals.

"Could it be because a bunch of Sparkling Stones got stolen, and nobody knows how to make Z-Rings either? Don't the guardian deities teach them? Did they get beaten stupid?"

That was the only answer Xingye could think of. But wasn't that a good thing? If he managed to bring out Z-Moves, develop a new system, then... gain both fame and fortune. Of course, that was a nice thought and all...

"So how do you make a Z-Ring?"

Just as Xingye was pondering that, he suddenly sensed something approaching from behind. He froze, then slowly turned around and silently met Bewear's gaze as it held several jars of Honey.

"..."

"I was just curious... I was only looking..."

"..."

Bewear gave him no chance to explain. It grabbed him and dumped an entire jar of Honey into him. Cyclizar did not escape either; this was dessert after dinner.

"..."

Xingye collapsed weakly onto the ground, feeling like he never wanted to eat anything sweet again for the rest of his life. Why force-feed them? Were they afraid they could not feed themselves?

After feeding them Honey, Bewear seemed to have finally completed its task. It extended a paw and gently patted Gengar's little head, seemingly saying goodbye.

"Gengar?"

"Bear~"

Bewear made an unusually gentle cry. Gengar stared blankly, seemingly not understanding, but it still called out in reply.

Xingye did a sit-up and climbed back to his feet. Looking at the Sparkling Stone in his hand, he hesitated for a moment before asking, "Can I... take this with me?"

"..."

Hearing that, Bewear sharply turned its head toward him. Its presence was terrifying. With an expression that revealed none of its thoughts, it silently watched him for several seconds before turning its head back.

Although it said nothing, Xingye felt that it had agreed... When dealing with someone like this, he simply could not read them at all. His talent was useless.

As for why he had to ask instead of secretly taking it? Since Bewear was willing to trust him and had entrusted him with finding its child, he could not betray that trust by doing something like that!

Seeing that they could leave now, Xingye got to his feet and said, "Then we're heading out. If we find your child, we'll tell you right away, so don't give up. Also... even though it wasn't dinner time yet, thanks for the meal."

"Cyclizar..."

"Gengar~"

"Bear!"

"Huh? Don't..."

Seeing Bewear suddenly spread its arms, Xingye inexplicably had a bad feeling. Then, in the next second, they were hugged again, packed together, and hurled into the sky with all its strength!

"What is this feeling supposed to be?!"

After a long while, Xingye finally rode Cyclizar back to Kabukicho. They had been thrown who knew where and had run all the way back. Thankfully, they were completely fine, aside from nearly being scared unconscious.

"Cyclizar..."

Cyclizar collapsed in front of the izakaya, utterly unable to run another step. Xingye could only drag it into the shop and get something to eat and drink so it could recover.

Gengar was not very tired. It had already gotten used to making itself Levitate and was having a wonderful time playing around, though it did not stray from Xingye's side.

The moment Delphox saw them, it came over to help. Slowking stood behind the counter, looked at the group, and asked, "Where did you run off to cause trouble this time? Octillery went to collect the goods and didn't see you, but it left your payment here."

"No wonder I didn't see the boat when I went over."

Xingye sat down at the counter, ordered some food and drinks, then asked, "So where's my payment?"

"Right here."

As it spoke, Slowking flung over a red envelope. Xingye opened it and counted the money, immediately showing a puzzled expression. "Hm? Why is half of it missing?"

"I took it."

"You charged an agency fee too?!"

"You smashed my door yesterday."

"How could one door cost that much?!"

"The doors come as a set. If one breaks, naturally the other one has to be replaced too."

"..."

Xingye was rendered speechless again. But none of that was important now. He should ask about the situation first...

"The Bewear whose child went missing?"

After hearing his question, Slowking rarely looked confused. Then it continued asking, "You mean the one living in Mahalo Mountain's forest?"

"That's right. Looks like you really do know it. Tell me about it. I saw Tapu Koko get one-shot by its punch. It was amazing."

Hearing that, Slowking froze. Then its tone suddenly grew heavier as it said, "How did you get involved with that thing? Don't get blood on me."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"That's the Bear God, the most terrifying creature in the Alola Region. As for the Tapu Koko you mentioned, it probably spent the whole night partying in Kabukicho, then drunkenly ran over to Taunt it and got beaten up. That kind of thing happens from time to time."

"???"

Watching it casually say that last part, Xingye was completely baffled. Wasn't Tapu Koko one of the Elite Four that protected this place? Why did it seem to have no dignity at all? What exactly was going on?

He voiced his question, but Slowking seemed to have heard a joke. It suddenly laughed and said, "Kabukicho's Elite Four aren't the same kind of trash as guardian deities. The Bear God may not be from here, but its strength is enough to rank it fifth among the Elite Four, one of the Five Special Combat Powers!"

"What kind of setting did that come from?! Are they going to use Bankai too?!"

"It has always been that way. As for whether they can use Bankai, I don't know. The only thing I know is that they were already the strongest force back when the Alola Region was first born—the Generation of Miracles, the golden..."

"Wait! Wait! Stop!"

Xingye quickly stopped it from continuing. At the same time, his mind filled with question marks, because every one of his previous guesses had been wrong!

He had originally thought the Elite Four were guardian deities, but from Slowking's words, the Elite Four seemed to all be monsters with strength comparable to Bewear! Guardian deities here were merely guests of Kabukicho!

"Hey, something's not right..."

Xingye could not understand it. One Bewear could one-shot a lesser legendary with a single punch, and there were four more beings with that kind of strength on this street? Could four Mewtwo be hiding here? But where could so many Mewtwo come from?

"Boss Slowking, those Elite Four..."

Before he could finish, Slowking suddenly slapped the counter and interrupted him. With a stern expression, it said, "Don't ask what you shouldn't ask. None of them are people you can afford to provoke. I told you already, Kabukicho hides many terrifying things. Be careful, or everything about you might be seen through!"

"Seen through everything...?"

Xingye quietly repeated those words. It felt as if the surroundings had suddenly fallen silent, and he could no longer hear any sound. He realized that he still knew far too little about this street.

On the counter, the mascot Slowpoke continued staring up at the sky, seemingly lost in thought as it swayed its tail.

"Slow~"

Once Cyclizar had recovered most of its strength, Xingye took it and Gengar back upstairs. He had received far too much information today, and his brain could barely process it.

Slowking had told him not to get further involved in Bewear's affairs. It seemed that the Bear God was completely unreasonable, possessing nothing but overwhelming strength and capable of doing anything. It was extremely dangerous.

Furthermore, Bewear's child had apparently been missing for several years without ever being found, and there were no clues whatsoever. In a situation like that, there was basically no hope.

But Xingye was not the type to give up. Since he had gained Bewear's trust and accepted its request, he would naturally help it to the end, even though he currently had no idea where to begin...

"It's only the first day Odd Jobs has been open, but at least we already have business!"

Xingye instantly perked up. The moment he opened the door to his home, he seriously shouted, "Keep it up! Let's make our name known throughout all of Kabukicho!"

"Cyclizar!"

"Gengar!"

P.S. There were so many leaked Pokémon Scarlet and Violet images today. If you're interested, you can look them up online. The future Tyranitar and ancient Salamence are seriously cool.