The Z-Move That Never Appeared and Kabukicho's Elite Four

"A Sparkling Stone, and..."

Xingye looked down and was surprised to find that there was more than one here—there was a whole pile of them!

They came in all sorts of colors. He wondered which four unlucky bastards had gotten beaten up and robbed.

Normally, Sparkling Stones were gifts bestowed by guardian deities upon Trainers they acknowledged, and they were key materials for making Z-Rings.

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

He had never paid attention to it before. He was busy all day long and had no interest in looking at online competitions or gossip news...

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

Mega Evolution, Dynamax, and even Terastalization existed, but Z-Moves alone were nowhere to be found.

There were some leads on Z-Crystals, though. They could be picked up along Alola's coast or chipped out of rocks. But these crystals were sold merely as pretty gemstones and were not called Z-Crystals.

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

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

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

Just as Xingye was thinking about that, he suddenly sensed something approaching from behind. He froze for a moment, then slowly turned around and silently locked eyes with Bewear, who was carrying several jars of Honey.

"..."

"I was just curious... Just looking..."

"..."

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

"..."

Xingye lay limply on the ground, feeling as though he would never want to eat anything sweet again for the rest of his life. Why force-feed them? Was it afraid they could not feed themselves?

Having fed them the Honey, Bewear finally seemed to have finished its task. It stretched out a paw and patted Gengar's little head, as if saying goodbye.

"Gengar?"

"Bear~"

Bewear made an unusually gentle cry. Gengar stared blankly, seemingly unable to understand, but it still called back in response.

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

"..."

At his words, Bewear sharply turned its head toward him, its presence terrifying. With an expression that revealed nothing, it silently watched him for several seconds before turning away again.

It had not said anything, but Xingye felt that meant it had agreed... Creatures like this were impossible to read. His talent was useless on them.

As for why he did not simply steal it and had to ask first—since Bewear was willing to trust him and had asked him to help find 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'll be going. If we find your child, we'll tell you right away, so don't give up. And, um... It's not dinnertime yet, but thanks for the meal."

"Cyclizar..."

"Gengar~"

"Bear!"

"Wait? Don't..."

Seeing Bewear suddenly spread its arms, Xingye inexplicably had a bad feeling. Then, in the next second, they were hugged by it again, bundled up, and hurled forcefully into the sky!

"What is this feeling supposed to be again?!!!"

After quite some time, Xingye finally rode Cyclizar back to Kabukicho. They had been thrown to who-knew-where and had run all the way back. Thankfully, they were completely fine—they had just nearly been scared unconscious.

"Cyclizar..."

Cyclizar collapsed in front of the izakaya, too exhausted to move. Xingye could only drag it inside and get some food and drinks so it could recover.

Gengar was not too tired. It had gotten used to making itself float and was having a great time, though it did not stray from Xingye's side.

When they appeared, Delphox immediately came over to help. Noble Pokémon stood behind the bar, 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 the payment with us."

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

Xingye sat at the bar and ordered some food and drinks before asking, "So where's my payment?"

"Right here."

As it spoke, Slowking tossed over a red envelope. Xingye opened it and counted the money, immediately showing a puzzled expression. "Huh? 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?!"

"Doors come in pairs. If one is broken, naturally the other has to be replaced too."

"..."

Xingye was speechless again, but none of that mattered now. He should ask about the situation first...

"The Bewear that lost its child?"

After hearing his question, Slowking rarely looked confused. It then continued, "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 it one-shot Tapu Koko with a punch. It was incredible."

Upon receiving that answer, Slowking froze. Then its tone suddenly became heavier as it said, "How did you get involved with that thing? Don't get blood splashed 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 went to provoke it and got beaten up. That kind of thing happens from time to time."

"???"

Seeing it casually say that last part, Xingye was utterly baffled. Wasn't Tapu Koko one of the Elite Four guarding this place? Why did it seem to have no standing at all? What was going on?

He voiced his doubt, but Slowking seemed to have heard a joke. It suddenly laughed and said, "Kabukicho's Elite Four are not the same kind of trash as guardian deities. Though the Bear God is not from here, its strength qualifies it as the fifth member of the Elite Four, one of the Five Special-Class Combat Powers!"

"Where the hell did this setting come from?! Do they have Bankai too or something?!"

"It has always been that way. As for whether they have Bankai, I don't know. The only thing I know is that ever since the Alola Region was born, they have been its strongest forces—the Generation of Miracles, the golden..."

"Wait! Wait! Stop!"

Xingye hurriedly stopped it from continuing, his mind filled with question marks. All his previous guesses had been completely wrong!

He had originally thought the Elite Four were guardian deities, but from what Slowking was saying, the Elite Four seemed to be all monsters with strength on Bewear's level! 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 punch, and there were four more creatures with that kind of strength on this street? Were four Mewtwo hiding here? But where would that many Mewtwo even come from?

"Boss Slowking, those Elite Four..."

Before he could finish, Slowking suddenly slapped the bar, cutting him off. Then, with a serious expression, it said, "Don't ask about things you shouldn't. None of them are people you can afford to provoke. I told you Kabukicho hides many terrifying things. Be careful not to have everything about you seen through!"

"See through everything...?"

Xingye silently repeated those words. The surroundings seemed to suddenly fall silent, and he could no longer hear any sound. He realized that he still knew far too little about this street.

On the bar, the mascot Slowpoke continued staring at the ceiling, its tail swaying as though it was thinking about something.

"Slow~"

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

Noble Pokémon told him not to get involved in Bewear's affairs any further. It seemed that the Bear God was completely unreasonable. It was simply overwhelmingly strong, capable of doing anything, and extremely dangerous.

Moreover, its child had apparently been missing for years without being found, and there were no clues whatsoever. In a situation like this, there was basically no hope.

But Xingye was not someone who gave up. Since he had earned Bewear's trust and accepted its request, he would naturally help to the very end, even though he currently had no idea where to start...

"This is only Odd Jobs' first day of business, but at least we already have work!"

Xingye instantly pulled himself together. The moment he opened the door to his home, he shouted earnestly, "Keep it up! Let's make our name resound throughout all of Kabukicho!"

"Cyclizar!"

"Gengar!"

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