Chapter Summaries

Yong’s Baltoy lost to Winona’s Altaria, so he sent out Aerodactyl for the next match. Aerodactyl gained the upper hand in their aerial battle, leaving Altaria knocked out of the sky as the chapter ended.

• Yong’s Baltoy used Rock Slide and Psybeam against Winona’s Altaria, but Altaria defended with Cotton Guard and attacked with Hurricane.
• Winona’s Altaria used Dragon Dance to dodge Psybeam, then defeated Baltoy with Brave Bird after Yong’s Pokémon tried to hold back the Hurricane.
• Yong sent out Aerodactyl, and the match began after Trick Room ended; Altaria struck it with Disarming Voice, but Aerodactyl retaliated with Dragon Claw.
• Altaria used Tailwind and Roost to recover, but Aerodactyl forced it airborne with Flamethrower and pursued it into an aerial battle.
• Yong’s Aerodactyl outpaced Altaria in their Dragon Pulse exchange and knocked it from the sky with Dragon Breath.

Yong’s Aerodactyl defeated Winona’s Altaria, then battled her Skarmory in a fierce aerial match. Both Pokémon fell from the sky, so the referee declared Yong the winner and Winona smiled at him.

• Aerodactyl knocked out Winona’s Altaria, and Yong’s Pokémon leveled up to Lv38.
• Winona sent out Skarmory, and he and Aerodactyl traded Wing Attack and Steel Wing while boosting their speed.
• Skarmory struck Aerodactyl with Aerial Ace and Swords Dance-boosted Drill Peck, but Aerodactyl burned him with Flamethrower.
• Aerodactyl met Skarmory’s Aerial Ace with Iron Head, then both Pokémon used their final attacks and crashed down, unable to battle.
• The referee declared Yong the winner, and Yong recalled Aerodactyl as Winona watched him with a smile.

After winning the Feather Badge from Winona, Yong traveled along Route 120 toward Lilycove City but had to seek shelter from a storm. He and Swampert rescued a sick Rhyhorn from the swollen river and carried it away to treat it.

• Winona awarded Yong the Feather Badge after their battle, and they spoke about humans and nature understanding one another.
• Yong collected his Pokémon from the Fortree City Pokémon Center and continued east along Route 120 toward Lilycove City.
• As storm clouds gathered, Yong and Swampert found a hollow near a river to shelter in.
• Swampert sensed trouble at the river, where Yong spotted a Rhyhorn struggling in the rushing water.
• Swampert pulled Rhyhorn from the river, and Yong placed the feverish Pokémon in a Pokémon Ball so he could take it somewhere safe.

Yong cared for the injured Rhyhorn through the rainy night until it recovered enough to wake, then welcomed it into a sunny meal with his Pokémon. Rhyhorn relaxed among Yong’s close-knit group, though whether it would stay with him remained undecided.

• Yong made a cave, warmed and dried the rain-soaked Rhyhorn, and stayed beside it through the night while Swampert kept watch.
• Rhyhorn woke the next morning, and Yong fed it Berries and Pokémon medicine.
• Yong let his Pokémon out to enjoy the sunshine and prepared lunch while they relaxed and played.
• Swampert helped Rhyhorn leave the cave, and Yong introduced it to the others; Rhyhorn soon set aside its wariness.
• Yong served the group lunch, giving Rhyhorn beef soup and sharing Pokéblocks and supplements with his Pokémon.

Yong welcomed Rhyhorn onto his team, reached Lilycove City, and sent Lairon home before setting out for Wailz Island in search of Ancient Pokémon fossils. As he sailed through a sudden storm, restricted zones across the world began stirring, and a dragon flew from Ever Grande City toward Lilycove City.

• Yong invited Rhyhorn to become his partner, and Rhyhorn agreed before the team welcomed him.
• Yong arrived in Lilycove City, transferred Lairon home through a video call with Shiyan Toru, and collected Rhyhorn from Nurse Joy.
• Mew sensed unusual energy near Lilycove City and vanished toward Mt. Pyre, where blackish-purple energy seeped from the mountain.
• Yong boarded a passenger boat for Wailz Island, hoping to meet Dr. Moroboshi and find Ancient Pokémon fossils, but a sudden storm formed at sea.
• Mysterious energy agitated Pokémon in restricted zones around the world, prompting the Pokémon League and regional authorities to mobilize.
• A giant dragon flew from Ever Grande City toward Lilycove City, where Mt. Pyre stood.

After a storm destroyed their ship, Yong and four other Trainers recovered on a fog-covered island, where Mikiko treated the survivors and confirmed that Kijiro’s Corphish had died saving him. The group identified the island as Mt. Pyre and began considering how to reach its harbor, while Kijiro walked off alone with Corphish’s body.

• A storm overturned and wrecked the passenger ship, but Swampert protected Yong as they were swept ashore.
• Yong, Hirotsugu, Kijiro, Mikiko, and A Cheng woke on the beach with their Pokémon; Swampert recovered first, and Mikiko used supplies and adrenaline to help the survivors regain strength.
• Mikiko determined that Corphish had spent his life force protecting Kijiro, and Kijiro left the group carrying Corphish’s body after his Poké Ball could not recall him.
• Hirotsugu and A Cheng noted the island’s fog and gray rocks, and the group recognized the distant mountain as Mt. Pyre.
• Mikiko explained that a harbor lay at the front of Mt. Pyre, while A Cheng warned of dangers near its summit and released his Slowbro.

Yong and his companions formed a team to cross the increasingly dangerous outskirts of Mt. Pyre, where spreading Lost Energy brought them into conflict with a lost Trainer and his spectral Pelipper. Elsewhere, Team Magma and Team Aqua arrived together to pursue their leaders’ plans, while the group was left wondering whether the lost souls could still be saved.

• Yong, Dr. Mikiko, A Cheng, and Hirotsugu formed a team, choosing Baltoy and Slowbro to maintain a psychic barrier and Cacturne and Manectric for combat support.
• The group set out toward Mt. Pyre and discovered that blackish-purple Lost Energy had spread beyond the mountain, changing the area within the last two days.
• A lost Trainer and his spectral Pelipper confronted the group, so Dr. Mikiko and Hirotsugu fought while Yong and A Cheng maintained the Psychic Field.
• Manectric defeated Pelipper, whose spirit briefly appeared as it had in life before fading; the Trainer then stood motionless, prompting the group to question whether lost souls could be saved.
• Team Magma and Team Aqua arrived on the coast together, argued over their cooperation, and headed toward Mt. Pyre as Tabitha ordered his men to sabotage Team Aqua’s submarine.

Drake blasted open a path into Mt. Pyre while Yong’s group fought through the lost souls and confronted a huge, obsession-infused Gengar. After A Cheng turned against them and Gengar absorbed their attacks, Yong prepared to face it with Swampert and Steelix.

• Drake ordered his Investigators to secure the entrance to the fourth level, then used Salamence’s Draco Meteor to disperse the eerie energy around Mt. Pyre’s summit.
• Yong led his group toward the mountain, where Haunter attacked them and a towering, level 59 Gengar shattered Baltoy and Slowbro’s psychic barriers.
• Yong and his allies battled Haunter and Gengar, but Gengar’s attacks overwhelmed them and forced Steelix to shield the group.
• A Cheng suddenly attacked his companions under apparent control, while Gengar grew completely black after swallowing their Dark Pulse and Fire Spin.
• Swampert froze Slowbro and knocked A Cheng away, and Yong asked Doctor Mikiko to protect the others before recalling Baltoy.
• Yong faced Gengar with Swampert and Steelix and ordered them to use Rock Storm and Fallen Star Dust.

Yong and his allies fought Gengar, whose counterattack nearly overwhelmed them until Zinnia intervened and drove it off. After waking in a cave, Yong learned from Zinnia that she was undercover in Team Magma and that Team Magma, Team Aqua, and the Pokémon League were converging on Mt. Pyre amid a surge of energy from restricted zones.

• Swampert and Steelix unleashed a devastating assault that seemed to destroy Gengar, but Gengar reformed and attacked the group with energy that filled them with negative emotions.
• Tabitha’s Magcargo defeated the Dusclops blocking Team Magma’s path, and Tabitha ordered his people to withdraw without waiting for Zinnia.
• Zinnia arrived on Noivern and struck Gengar with Dragon Rush, after which Yong collapsed and later awoke in a cave beside Dr. Mikiko, Hirotsugu, A Cheng, Steelix, and Swampert.
• Zinnia told Yong she was undercover in Team Magma and explained that restricted-zone energy was running wild, while Team Magma and Team Aqua searched Mt. Pyre for something connected to the Red Orb and Blue Orb.
• Zinnia revealed that Tabitha and Matt were leading their teams on the island, while Elite Four member Drake led the Pokémon League Investigators, and warned Yong that nobody could leave Mt. Pyre.
• Zinnia explained that A Cheng’s distress came from the lingering attachment of a Pokémon buried at Mt. Pyre, then rejoined her Team Magma companions and led them onward.

Yong and his companions recovered A Cheng and headed toward Mt. Pyre’s summit while Team Aqua and the Pokémon League fought inside the mountain. On the fourth floor, Zinnia revealed her Tyrantrum and began battling Investigator Yokota as her subordinates went ahead to join Tabitha.

• Team Aqua’s E Shui attacked the Pokémon League Investigators, and Yokota’s Typhlosion fought back with Fire Spin and Fire Blast.
• Zinnia stayed hidden while Team Aqua drew the Investigators’ attention, then sent her subordinates toward the summit.
• Yong explained A Cheng’s condition, but A Cheng insisted on joining the search for whoever was using the dead’s obsessions; the group followed a path up the mountain.
• Yokota gained the upper hand against E Shui until Zinnia arrived with Tyrantrum, which narrowly missed stomping Typhlosion.
• Zinnia asked Yokota to let her take Team Aqua away, but Yokota ordered the Investigators to retreat and challenged her; Tyrantrum countered Typhlosion’s Flamethrower with Dragon Claw.

Yokota and Zinnia’s battle shook Mt. Pyre as E Shui detonated Golem and Weezing, collapsing the fourth-level chamber. The destruction awakened something on Mt. Pyre’s top level while the summit’s lost energy triggered upheavals across the Hoenn Region.

• Yong, A Cheng, Dr. Mikiko, and Hirotsugu decided to confront Team Magma and head for Mt. Pyre’s summit, while A Cheng and Dr. Mikiko attacked the guards to let Yong and Hirotsugu pass.
• Tabitha and Matt’s teams uncovered an ancient warding stone at the summit, but Matt surrounded Tabitha as the lost energy suddenly surged and violent storms spread across the region.
• Drake sensed the summit’s strange energy, while a huge creature beneath Mt. Chimney stirred and an enormous Pokémon in a deep-sea ruin twitched its tail.
• Typhlosion and Tyrantrum exchanged powerful attacks in the fourth-level chamber as Yokota and Zinnia continued their confrontation.
• E Shui threw out Golem and Weezing and ordered them to use Explosion, causing the fourth-level chamber to collapse and Mt. Pyre to shake.
• Cracks spread through the top-level chamber, and a pair of deathly pale eyes opened.

The chapter recounted Mt. Pyre’s ancient history, from the Ninetales clan’s betrayal by humans to its last survivor becoming a vengeful spirit. In the present, the spirit awakened beneath the Suppressing Stone, overwhelmed the summit, and appeared as a colossal Ninetales ready to attack everyone.

• Long ago, Groudon and Kyogre’s battle devastated the land until Rayquaza stopped them and sealed their power in the Red Orb and Blue Orb.
• A century later, humans attacked the weakened Ninetales clan, and its leader severed Mt. Pyre from the mainland before dying; the last young Vulpix later became a vengeful spirit.
• A thousand years later, Drake arrived at Mt. Pyre and ordered Salamence to attack Tabitha, Matt, and their teams as Investigators converged on the summit.
• Salamence exposed the Suppressing Stone, but black energy erupted beneath it, swallowing people and showing the gathered humans an illusion of the Ninetales clan’s destruction.
• The black energy formed a pillar and released the spirits of dead Pokémon, then a gigantic spectral Ninetales appeared and threatened to kill everyone.

Ninetales fought Drake and the others until their clashing attacks triggered a catastrophic explosion, but Mew shielded everyone and tried to help Ninetales. Tabitha and Matt then seized the chance to steal the sealing stone, and their attack knocked Mew into Yong’s arms as Ninetales sprang into action again.

• Ninetales attacked Drake, Salamence, Tabitha, Matt, and the Pokémon League forces with powerful flames and Will-O-Wisp.
• Drake sent out Flygon and Altaria, and their Dragon Dance-enhanced Dragon’s Descent collided with Ninetales’s Shadow Ball, causing a devastating eruption.
• Yong and the others survived inside Mew’s pink energy barrier, and Mew approached the weakened Ninetales to communicate with it.
• Tabitha and Matt split their teams and crept toward the sealing stone while Mew focused on Ninetales.
• Tabitha and Matt attacked Drake’s group with smoke, poison, and Explosion, but Salamence’s Hurricane scattered their assault.
• Yong used Baltoy’s Confusion to catch the falling Mew, and Ninetales sprang into action again.

Ninetales’s rampage threatened the people on Mt. Pyre until the shattered sealing stone summoned Kyogre’s power and restored calm. As Ninetales faded away, he said goodbye to Drake, still believing in the promise they had made together.

• Ninetales’s attacks overwhelmed Team Magma and Team Aqua, and their fighting shattered the sealing stone.
• Ninetales unleashed a wave of negativity against Drake and the investigators, while Yong and his Pokémon helped defend them.
• The Blue Orb summoned Kyogre’s apparition, which subdued Ninetales and cleared the mountain of its negative energy.
• Mew woke and returned to Yong, while investigators gathered the injured, arrested remaining criminals, and granted Yong and his companions provisional exemptions.
• Ninetales told Drake and Yong about his mother and the voice that had controlled him, then chose to seek his mother as he faded away.
• Drake watched Ninetales disappear into the sky after Ninetales said he still believed in him.

Elite Four Drake told Yong that Ninetales had been a Guardian Warden, not Mt. Pyre’s true taboo, and urged him to seek the truth by growing stronger. Yong discovered the Red Orb, encountered Groudon through it, and received a new ability and rewards before the orb vanished and he thanked Mew.

• Elite Four Drake recalled how Ninetales had saved his crew on Mt. Pyre and explained that Pokémon called taboos could be Guardian Wardens protecting humanity.
• Elite Four Drake left Yong with unanswered questions and encouraged him to keep training for the Elite Tournament.
• Yong noticed that Lost Energy had vanished from the island, though the volcano’s summit remained marked off-limits.
• Yong found a Red Orb in his pocket and saw Groudon emerge from a world of lava before returning to his body.
• The system granted Yong the Great Matrix Heart, 2,000 Training Points, a Perfect Evolution Potion, and experience that raised Trapinch to Lv34 and Baltoy to Lv35.
• Doctor Mikiko called Yong to leave, the Red Orb vanished, and Yong thanked Mew.

Yong arrived in Mossdeep City to pursue his next Gym badge after ending his training in Lilycove City. Elsewhere, a red-haired young man emerged from the Dragon's Den and headed back to Blackthorn City, remembering an approaching tournament.

• After a week of supervision, Yong regained his freedom and ended his special training early to seek his next badge in Mossdeep City.
• Yong reflected on his growing bond with his Pokémon and their training gains, including Swampert and Steelix reaching level 40 and Steelix learning Sandstorm.
• Yong arrived by ferry in Mossdeep City, explored its shallows, and spotted the Mossdeep Space Center on his way to the Pokémon Center.
• A red-haired young man emerged exhausted from the Dragon's Den, apologized to Dragonite and Kingdra, and summoned Dragonair.
• The young man flew with Dragonair toward Blackthorn City to rest and recalled that a tournament was approaching.

Yong reached the Mossdeep Gym to challenge its Psychic-type Leaders, but the Gym’s random transport sent him to a battle with Gym Trainer Shuichi. Yong chose Trapinch to face Shuichi’s Kadabra, and the match began.

• Yong learned that the Elite Tournament would begin on September 16 and decided to earn his next Badge before then.
• Yong arrived at the Mossdeep Gym, where apprentice Sachiko explained its training facilities and random battle-room transport.
• Yong stepped onto the transport platform and arrived in a room with Gym Trainer Shuichi.
• Shuichi sent out his Lv. 38 Kadabra for the one-on-one battle.
• Yong sent out Trapinch, which emerged with its head above the rocky ground.

Yong’s Trapinch battled Shuichi’s Kadabra and evolved into Vibrava after enduring Kadabra’s attacks and pursuing it. The newly evolved Vibrava gained new moves and levels, and Yong upgraded several of her moves before the battle resumed.

• Yong’s Trapinch used Sandstorm and Rock Slide to track and challenge Shuichi’s Kadabra, but Kadabra’s Teleport and Psycho Cut gradually wore her down.
• Yong sent Trapinch underground with Dig, and she ambushed Kadabra with Crunch after it used Recover.
• Trapinch blocked Kadabra’s Psycho Cut with Protect and evolved into Vibrava while straining to reach her opponent.
• Vibrava gained a level and learned Dragon Breath, Supersonic, Bug Buzz, and Fissure, which Yong upgraded along with several other moves.
• Shuichi congratulated Yong on Trapinch’s evolution, and they prepared to continue their battle with Vibrava.

Yong defeated Shuichi’s Kadabra with Vibrava and advanced to the next room, where Gym Trainer Sachiko challenged him with Spoink. Yong sent out Rhyhorn to begin their battle.

• Yong ordered Vibrava to use Bug Buzz and Crunch, knocking out Shuichi’s Kadabra.
• The referee declared Vibrava the winner, and Shuichi let Yong proceed to the next room.
• Yong arrived in a pink room and met Gym Trainer Sachiko, who sent out her Spoink.
• Yong sent out Rhyhorn, and the referee started the battle between Spoink and Rhyhorn.

Yong and Rhyhorn defeated Sachiko and Spoink in a fierce battle, earning Rhyhorn training points and experience. Sachiko accepted the loss and encouraged Yong as he headed to the next room to continue his Gym challenge.

• Sachiko opened the battle with Spoink's Shadow Ball, but Rhyhorn smashed through it and charged toward Spoink.
• Spoink used Confusion to halt Rhyhorn, but Yong ordered Rhyhorn to break free with Take Down.
• Rhyhorn broke through Confusion and struck Spoink despite its Protect, then ignored Teeter Dance and hit it with another Take Down.
• Sachiko ordered Spoink to use Rest, but Rhyhorn's Stomp buried it in rubble and left it unable to battle.
• Sachiko recalled Spoink, accepted the defeat, and encouraged Yong to earn the Badge as he moved on to the next room.