Master Craftsman of the Pokémon World

Twelve Garganacl marched at the front, clearing the way and driving off ordinary wild Pokémon.

Those Gible and Deino scattered in panic the moment they saw this roaming natural disaster.

As for the Glimmora pressed up against the rock wall at the roadside, they simply popped question marks over their heads. They didn't do anything, just spun in place, watching Hikaru and the others head downward.

Still, Hikaru caught one Glimmora's thoughts:

"The fighting down below just stopped. There's a building occupied by mechanical Pokémon, and it's cutting off the upper level from the lower level."

"Observation Station No. 4?"

In the original storyline, Observation Station No. 4 was the station abandoned after an explosion. Although the fourth lock still functioned inside, the station's interior was already riddled with marks of Terastal crystal corrosion.

The one that caused the explosion was the second violent Koraidon, one of the "Paradise Guardian Dragons"!

"Hiss, looking closely, it's packed down there. Paradox Pokémon everywhere. Flutter Mane all over the airspace, and down at the bottom there's a huge crowd of Pokémon that look like Poké Balls but are totally not."

"Is that Brute Bonnet?"

Among the ancient Paradox Pokémon, Brute Bonnet's role was basically mob troops and legion infantry. That was because in the plot, once the lab doors opened, it was the one that poured out in the greatest numbers, and Arven even described it as "the ones that look weak."

If this were the Violet version world, the mass-produced mob unit would be Iron Hands instead.

In the story, you can call Iron Hands a grunt and it won't argue with you.

But once you're actually doing Tera Raids and battling in-game and you see Fake Out, Drain Punch, Belly Drum, what are you going to call it then?

Raid god.

Brute Bonnet looks like a superior Amoonguss, but in competitive use it's actually not stronger than Amoonguss. One big reason is the burden of Grass and Dark typing. It's nowhere near as comfortable as the mushroom's Grass and Poison.

Just look at another Grass and Dark Pokémon and you'll get it. Wo-Chien is one of the four Treasures of Ruin, yet it's sealed in a grassy field.

A random passing Kamen Rider with raging-kick grasshopper legs can come in with a big flying kick and almost send Wo-Chien to the afterlife. That's the insecurity of being four times weak to Bug.

Brute Bonnet suffers the same embarrassment, and it also loses Amoonguss' proud Regenerator, trading it for the painfully generic Protosynthesis. It's basically a blank slate.

So even though Arven isn't great at battling, he's spot-on at "judging mushrooms."

This thing really is the ancient mob unit.

Hikaru looked at "Senior Arven." "Do you think those Poké Ball-looking guys down there are strong?"

Arven crossed his arms, tilted his head, and peered from behind Garganacl and Mabosstiff.

"They feel weird. Like Amoonguss. But Amoonguss doesn't have spikes on its head, right, and it's not that big."

"But there are so many of them, so they probably aren't individually strong. N, no, maybe not. I guess it's not guaranteed."

Arven thought of those Great Tusk and couldn't help shivering.

Hikaru shook his head too.

Great Tusk do appear in groups, but that's an exception.

Their model is a mammoth, and elephants are exactly that kind of creature. Huge individual combat power, and they still like moving in herds.

Arven pointed down below. "Big bro, I see that building. That should be Observation Station No. 4, right? Also, this place is so pretty. It's like heaven. It's a different kind of pretty than the outside!"

"But those mushroom monsters, and some weird floating things in the air, are attacking the station. It looks like they're fighting those robot-like mechanical Pokémon!"

"Uh, and it feels like there's something else mixed in nearby too!"

"Your eyesight really is good." Hikaru praised Arven. After all, this guy would later be able to search for the Titan Pokémon together with the protagonist. As a Pokémon player, this eyesight was fully qualified.

The inherent trait of Pokémon players, Sharp Eyes.

In a crowd of Pokémon, you can instantly spot an inconspicuous shiny Pokémon, no matter how far away.

"Those are Brute Bonnet. They were featured in an issue of some paranormal magazine. They combine traits of dinosaurs and Amoonguss. They're a very strange lifeform. Their bodies are much larger than normal Amoonguss, but their intelligence seems low. Violent temperament, all offense, like a boxer."

The Salt Kings stomped forward, and Arven's Garganacl helped along the way.

Because Garganacl were everywhere down in the lower area, Arven's Garganacl started persuading them.

Driven by the thought of "if there's a fight, I have to go help," the bored Garganacl began joining the giants' earth-rumbling procession on their own.

The formation grew from the original 12 plus 1 to over twenty. The booming footsteps made nearby Pokémon flee even faster.

Hikaru glanced around again.

Hydreigon, Deino, Gible, Gabite, Dreepy, Drakloak.

Right. For some reason, once you entered Area Zero's lower and deepest layers, these pseudo-legendary Pokémon started showing up everywhere.

In every other region, they were rare sightings.

In Area Zero, they appeared in piles, like an outright infestation.

"Area Zero's soil looks barren down here, but it still supports so many pseudo-legendary Pokémon. That said, the appearance of the Dreepy line might confirm something."

"They say Dreepy once lived in the ancient sea, then died due to environmental change and were reborn into their current form."

Hikaru collected and sampled soil from the upper level, mid level, and the current lower level.

This soil could be used not only as ammo for the E-Bullet Gun to fire calming formations that eased Pokémon rage, but also as a necessary component in building an important "ecological core."

In terms of fertility alone, Area Zero's soil really was among the most special. The soil from each area definitely differed in subtle ways.

The Brute Bonnet were gathered like a red-green tide, besieging Observation Station No. 4 and battling the future Pokémon.

When they saw the white giants thundering down from the upper portion, they were stunned.

These Garganacl usually just stood around blankly and slept. They ate minerals, and they weren't prey that ancient Paradox Pokémon cared about, so no one ever paid attention to these NPC-like background Pokémon.

But now, they had formed a terrifying legion. Garganacl that never moved in large numbers were moving.

"It's starting. It's starting down there!"

Arven stared in shock at the fierce battle around Observation Station No. 4. Honestly, Hikaru was shocked too.

Ancient and future coexisting wasn't unusual. It had appeared in the Horizons anime and the Pokémon Adventures manga.

A dual-version merge was normal. If anything, outside of the games, almost everything followed a merged timeline, with one version as the base and the other version's Pokémon mixed in.

The games being split into two versions was the franchise's old tradition. Selling two copies. Ancestors' law cannot be changed.

"A giant melee, huh. But it's fine. With a Garganacl legion, we still have the advantage."

"All twenty-two of you, Rock Blast!"

It fires hard rocks at the target. The attack hits two to five times in a row.

Hikaru unleashed the rock secret art, boosting the power of Rock-type moves. It was a power he'd obtained long ago, but he rarely used it because his team only had one Rock-type.

Aerodactyl was already strong enough, high Speed and high Attack. After learning Head Smash and Brave Bird, most fights ended in a few headbutts.

It was the kind of Pokémon where you pressed R instead of thinking. Thanks to Rock Head, those moves didn't recoil. You just slammed in.

But Garganacl were a bit weaker offensively, so they needed a small boost.

The white giants formed ranks, raised both arms, and countless stones rose into the air around them, repeatedly firing at the enemy.

With the move released at scale, the rock barrage turned into a storm of artillery, blasting the Brute Bonnet into the dirt.

The Brute Bonnet howled in pain, but that only stirred their ferocity. The tide that had been besieging the station split, sending part of their force to answer the Garganacl assault.

At the same time, the shadows roaming nearby seemed to "come alive," swarming toward the Garganacl as well.

A surge of Ghost-type energy rose. Fairy-type power too.

"The Flutter Mane are attacking. They're fast, like shadows, with a deep move pool. But their weakness is that their physical defense is extremely fragile!"

"But I still haven't seen the Flutter Mane I know. If the boss isn't here, the rest won't be too hard, right. Big sis Flutter hits hard, sure, but her physical bulk is trash."

Armarouge stepped forward with its golden spear. Holy light surged along the weapon, as if it became a spear of light.

Domain Expansion. Psychic Terrain.

Psyshock, Royal Gunshot!

Psychic isn't super effective against Flutter Mane, but it still hits normally. Psyshock gets stronger on Psychic Terrain, and it's the lower-tier move of Psystrike, meaning it calculates damage using the target's Defense instead of Special Defense.

And everyone knows Flutter Mane's Special Defense is excellent, but its HP and Defense…

Normally, even a Scizor with STAB and Technician can one-shot it with Bullet Punch.

Scizor's punch is strong, sure, but usually Bullet Punch still wants a Swords Dance first to reach truly lethal damage. But against Flutter Mane, it doesn't need Swords Dance at all.

That flimsy physical defense simply can't withstand Psyshock.

Armarouge entered rapid-fire mode. Every light-shot dropped a Flutter Mane out of the sky. Palafin, who had somehow slipped into the lineup, also started flexing hard.

Flutter Mane doesn't have many weaknesses, but it also doesn't have many resistances. It only has one quadruple resistance to Bug and three immunities.

Which means this.

Palafin fired off Jet Punch in a barrage. Flutter Mane had never eaten a physical punch with 160 base power behind it. Those sandbag-sized fists slammed them into crash landings one after another.

And through this fight, Palafin's growth was skyrocketing.

"Letting lower-level teammates fight to farm experience. But with the effect of 'Rising Power,' the whole team gets equal experience."

"Also, I even made a learning device, but I still haven't had the chance to use it."

"Walking Wake, Archaludon, use Dragon Cheer together!"

"Flamethrower, Flash Cannon!"

The Water Dragon and Steel Dragon joined the melee, using Dragon Cheer to energize the whole team. Against Dragon-type Pokémon, the effect was even stronger.

Critical-hit rate plus four.

In other words, guaranteed critical hits.

Walking Wake spewed raging flames. Archaludon, relying on its high Special Attack, blasted out heavy firepower.

Falinks didn't join the fight against Flutter Mane. The little bean soldiers were already in a full waaaaahg frenzy, and Brute Bonnet were double weak to Fighting. This was exactly where +6 Falinks got to shine.

The tiny Falinks rushed in with tiny round shields. Brute Bonnet's hands also looked like shield-plates with Poké Ball patterns, because it inherited the design from Amoonguss, but for Falinks…

Your shields are too soft. Ours are harder.

Heave ho. Brick Break.

Golden small shield, parry and execute.

Let us kids join a bigger, wilder waaaaahg!

"Roar!"

The Nest Ball snapped open. Aerodactyl's roar shook the sky. Seeing Walking Wake and Archaludon's momentum, it refused to be left out and joined the chaos!

Dragon Cheer?

No. It had the full version, Dragon Dance.

Dragon dance, dragon dance. Attack plus two, Speed plus two. The rest is for the head.

Head Smash isn't easy to land on fast Pokémon?

Then use Brave Bird, the move it learned earlier.

"Aerodactyl that mastered Head Smash and Brave Bird through, uh, unofficial channels, is the undisputed No. 1 high-speed physical attacker among Rock-types. Probably. Anyway, it's basically invincible!"

Even the illegally modified future form Iron Boulder still had Speed six points lower than Aerodactyl.

Of course, Aerodactyl's issue was that its base Attack wasn't high enough. It only reached 135 after Mega Evolution. In its normal form, it was only 105, so high-power moves were mandatory.

Without them, it became a comedy act. That's why Mega Aerodactyl ranked near the bottom of Mega tiers. It lacked truly usable power moves and got seated at the same table as Mega Mewtwo X.

"I don't know what's going on, but those machine Pokémon, are they on our side?"

Arven blinked, hiding beside Mabosstiff, while having his Garganacl provide battlefield support and join the melee.

He saw those future Paradox Pokémon fighting with what looked like rational coordination, but their bodies were battered and broken.

"Those are future Paradox Pokémon," Hikaru explained.

"You already know your mom invented the time machine, but the concept of the time machine probably existed when your dad was still alive."

"So he thought about what future Pokémon might look like, and for unknown reasons, he also sent a batch of Pokémon from the future."

"They look like robots, but they really are Pokémon."

"From what we learned earlier, the future forms are rational. They've occupied Observation Station No. 4 and are fighting the ancient forms, but they definitely have their reasons. I've met future forms. They can communicate. Normal people just can't understand electronic audio."

Arven watched the future forms, then noticed a Pokémon tilting its head, staring at him. It looked kind of like Delibird.

"Huh, this is a future form too? Why aren't you fighting. Is it because you're too weak?"

"You look like you don't have much strength. Want to come over to our side?"

Arven looked at the mechanical Delibird. Its pixel eyes blinked, and then its head suddenly popped outward!

"Beep beep beep, di di di!"

Bawk you!

[Careful, that Pokémon is not on our side!]

A harsh electronic voice rang out from Observation Station No. 4. A flashing silver blade swept out, driving back the ancient forms attacking the station.

It was Iron Crown, Cobalion's future form!

The moment it saw that "Iron Bundle," it panicked.

"Agaas!"

A violent bolt of electricity struck the mechanical Delibird at the critical moment. It smoked, toppled with a thud, its eyes turning into XX as it lost the ability to battle.

"What was that just now?" Arven was shaken. Mabosstiff too. It had already sensed something off and had rushed to Arven's side, pinning him down under its body.

Miraidon switched into its full mode. Electricity crackled over its body. A torrent of energy blasted from its tail. The Hadron Engine in its chest had activated.

This state was also called its battle stance.

But the timid lizard rarely showed this form. Most of the time it ran whenever it could. This was one of those "I have to step in" situations.

The timid lizard, the electronic dragon Miraidon, exhaled in relief.

[That Pokémon is named Iron Bundle. It looks like a future form, but its program is not the same as ours!]

Iron Crown finished off the nearby invaders. The other future Pokémon were almost out of power, covered in battle damage, their paint nearly scraped off.

Uh. If the paint gets scraped off, then it becomes a shiny form.

"Iron Bundle. It has a shape similar to Delibird. It can spray huge amounts of ice from its sphere device, letting it move across snowfields. According to that paranormal magazine, it has only ever been sighted twice in the past. Its true nature has many theories."

"But the strongest theory is that Iron Bundle is a product of an ultra-ancient civilization. According to records left in ancient documents, a machine resembling Iron Bundle was once designed and used."

"So a robot born from an ancient civilization disguises itself as a future form. But stylistically, it doesn't look as 'medieval' and 'nostalgic' as the Pokémon made by mysterious science. It also doesn't have many gear-like traits."

In theory, Iron Treads and Iron Moth were alien weapons, while Iron Bundle was a product of an ultra-ancient civilization.

A lot of paranormal magazine content is unreliable when it touches society, but one thing is common knowledge.

In the Pokémon world, as long as it's a "legend," most of it is real.

And this thing was also extremely strong in competitive play. People called it Chicken Bro, Iron Zhi Yin.

Zhi Yin of the future!

Hikaru casually grabbed Iron Bundle's popped-out head. Its eyes had already gone dark.

"Let's check its structure a bit. We might be able to analyze something."

Arven was still rattled.

"Th, thank you, Miraidon." Arven thanked the electronic dragon. Miraidon nodded, clearly enjoying it.

See, I'm not cowardly.

I just only make a move at critical moments.

[Long time no see! I didn't expect it would be you who showed up in Area Zero and resolved Observation Station No. 4's predicament!]

Iron Crown greeted Hikaru.

[After we said goodbye last time, it's been a long time!]

"For me, it hasn't been that long. Has it been a very long time on your end? But Miraidon got here pretty quickly."

Hikaru looked at Miraidon. Miraidon and Iron Crown locked eyes, and Iron Crown's voice suddenly turned into a stern electronic tone.

[Iron Serpent! Leaving the managed area without permission. If your battle program had activated and you clashed with external Pokémon, the consequences of your power would be unimaginable!]

[You violated our established regulations and should receive punishment!]

[But this is a tense period, and you brought back a maintainer. Therefore, your punishment is temporarily postponed! Now, welcome back to the squad, Iron Serpent!]

Miraidon: "Agaas! (I'm not planning to rejoin!)"

Hikaru: "Why does this feel like I just walked onto a Transformers set. So you're the Autobots, huh?"

(End of Chapter)

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