Chapter 516 - 514
The environment in the Area Zero Underdepths was actually quite dangerous.
Just as Professor Sada's research notes had stated, this place had gone through repeated collapses over and over before finally forming this terrifying yet beautiful wonder. Although it was stable now, overly intense battles could still trigger fresh fractures in the cavern.
That said, the Tera crystals reinforced the rock walls and gradually stabilized the geology here. Especially at the deepest part of the Underdepths where the little turtle slept, the rock strata were almost completely wrapped in Tera crystal, making the whole place feel like it had been fortified into something indestructible.
"If you fall down there, climbing back up won't be easy. They say it's a thousand meters from the surface, but no one actually knows just how deep the very bottom of this cavern ultimately collapsed."
"And now, the second one: Noivern."
One of the Dragon-type Pokémon, Dragon and Flying. It felt like there were already several species with that exact typing.
Noivern was a large bat-like Pokémon. It had a pair of huge ears and a ring of white fur around its neck. Its enormous bat wings were black on the inside and purple on the outside, with cyan wing membranes and two red claws on them. When it opened its mouth, two sharp fangs could be seen on its lower jaw.
Hikaru took down that Noivern that had apparently been mooching drinks. This species was the type to mercilessly bully opponents who were helpless in darkness. Belligerent, vicious, and cruel.
But if you gave it the ripe fruit it liked, it would completely change and become surprisingly friendly.
Of course, it wasn't as if there were no examples of gentle-tempered ones raised from a young age. Ash later had a Noivern of his own, after all, hatched from an Egg.
Noivern's weaknesses were Rock, Ice, Dragon, and Fairy, with a quadruple weakness to Ice.
But in a dangerous place like this, Hikaru didn't release Chien-Pao. If it slipped and fell, that would be the end of it.
So even though Chien-Pao scratched irritably at the inside of its Poké Ball, Hikaru released Aerodactyl instead.
Since it had no chance to defeat its old nemesis Flutter Mane, it could at least make this wild Noivern suffer.
"Maximum-power Head Smash!"
Aerodactyl's Rock typing was amplified within this gigantic cavern. One slam of its head nearly concussed Noivern on the spot, and then it followed up with a Dragon Rush that blasted it straight into the ground, pushing it into the Stellar burst phase.
But after beating it up, you had to offer a little consolation too. Hikaru tossed it a few common Berries, making it clear that he wasn't just bullying it for free.
"These are your consolation payment."
After all, most of the other guardians didn't really eat, and the only one remotely similar to you, Garchomp, could at least dig its way out. You were stuck down here. Too miserable.
"This consolation payment is only for you, okay? I'm not giving any to the other Pokémon. I usually just beat them and leave."
"Graaah..." Noivern lay on the ground staring at those few Berries for quite a while. In the end, it still couldn't resist the temptation of food and finally started devouring them.
Who knew how many years it had been since it last ate something like this?
Up until now, it had only been going over to the Tera tree to beg for scraps.
"Noivern really would have a hard time living here." AI Sada addressed the Noivern. "Do you intend to leave this place? If you do, I can provide you with food. We can form a contract with one another."
AI Sada looked at Hikaru. "The caves here are too narrow. I think the skies outside would suit Noivern much better."
"Besides, these so-called treasure guardians are simply Pokémon that came here on their own to absorb Stellar power. They are only ordinary living creatures. They don't have any organized idea of fighting together."
She aimed a Master Ball at the Noivern. It hesitated for a moment, but perhaps it felt it had already stayed here long enough and was thoroughly bored and stifled, because it lowered its head and touched the Master Ball. In the next instant, it turned into a beam of light and was captured.
Hikaru: "A cause for celebration. The fighting strength protecting Area Zero has increased again. If this really becomes a challenge facility one day, Noivern may even get to soar around Area Zero, or even the outer zones."
AI Sada: "My plan from here on is to have Noivern act as my eyes on the outside world. Since I can't leave the lab facility myself, it would be better to let Noivern make deliveries for me, whether that means carrying letters or bringing items."
"And Noivern is powerful. In an ecologically rich region like Paldea, there's no need to worry about anything in the sky threatening it. I only hope it hasn't spent so long underground that it developed acrophobia."
Hikaru thought to himself.
Noivern, huh. Calling it strong wasn't exactly wrong. It was the signature Pokémon for Boomburst, after all. But its durability and power had both been sacrificed for Speed, and sadly, base 123 Speed was already outdated in this era.
And it didn't even have a particularly good Ability. Players loved making the same joke about it.
Noivern is only one Aerilate away from making a comeback.
But Aerilate was a Mega Evolution Ability. No ordinary Pokémon had ever gotten it.
Meanwhile, Hikaru took a brief look at the Stellar Tera Shards.
As crafting materials, they could do more than just convert a Tera Type into Stellar. They could also be used to create certain special items.
"The Glimmering Charm! And the core of an Ecology Core!"
Still, not all that useful.
After Noivern, the third Stellarized guardian turned out to be a Sandy Shocks, and Hikaru slapped a hand to his forehead.
This one benefited from Stellar more than almost anything else - after becoming Stellar, the light-ring orb on its head basically turned into a spinning disco ball.
How was this thing everywhere?
What was it, some kind of primitive maniac? Starting tribal wars all over the place? It was in Area Zero, all over Paldea, around the professor AI, and now even at the bottom of the Underdepths.
What exactly were you people trying to do?
Sandy Shocks had barely let out a shriek and started yelling kill kill kill, this road is mine, pay the toll in Stellar Tera Shards, before the Palafin waiting behind Hikaru charged forward and landed a Jet Punch that sent all three of its heads spinning wildly.
Ora ora ora ora!
A barrage of Jet Punches!
"What a joke. I'll be taking your Stellar Tera Shards."
Sandy Shocks collapsed to the ground, eyes wide open, watching the two humans and their Pokémon head deeper into the cavern, tears of a mook who had just been beaten to a pulp running down its face.
It had saved up those ten-odd Stellar Tera Shards over who knew how long.
And now all of them had been taken.
Ceruledge looked at the dreamless mook Sandy Shocks lying there on the ground. After thinking for a moment, it took out a Nugget from inside its shoulder armor and left it beside the fallen Pokémon.
A knight of justice couldn't bear to watch something like this.
Sure, your attempted robbery made no sense. But after being summoned here for so long, you'd only managed to save up a dozen or so shards. That was just too pathetic.
Use this well. This is a knight's Nugget, payment for your shards.
After all, a Nugget was not a difficult thing for it to obtain.
Sandy Shocks looked at Ceruledge's retreating back in gratitude, shouting kill kill kill, take care, though somehow that didn't sound quite right at all.
"We've now reached the deepest part of the cavern. There's another giant crystal barrier, which means the Stellarized Pokémon should be nearby."
"In that river over there. Once we cross it, we'll see it. Even the water here is saturated with rich Tera energy."
AI Sada spoke to Hikaru as she guided him onward. "The legendary seasoning discovered by the expedition team two hundred years ago, the source of Herba Mystica, has its mother tree in this place. The last time Professor Sada came here, she discovered the guardian."
"Well, rather than calling it a guardian, it would be more accurate to say that, like the Titan Pokémon outside, it's simply a Pokémon that likes Terastalized seasoning and settled down here because of it. But due to the influence of Terapagos's Stellar power, this Pokémon didn't become enormous the way the Titan Pokémon from the rumors did. It retained its original form."
Hikaru: "That one is also one of my capture targets this time. The true form of the seasoning indispensable to life itself: salt."
Hikaru and AI Sada rode on the thoroughly intimidated Miraidon and crossed the water directly.
"Though there are Garganacl all over Area Zero, the one in front of us is the most special."
"I rarely go out of my way to catch certain Pokémon. Most of the time, Pokémon and I end up together because we share the same thoughts or goals."
"But this time, I need to catch it. Salt affected by Herba Mystica should possess the power of every secret seasoning, or perhaps something beyond all of them."
Standing beneath the Tera mother tree was that level-80 Garganacl.
The strongest of all the white giants in the whole of Area Zero.
In its hand it held something like a branch from the Herba Mystica tree, yet also like a flower: a blue Tera crystal. Standing there beneath the blue crystal tree, it looked astonishingly beautiful.
That sight made Hikaru think once more of the giant of stone far away in Sinjoh.
"Do all rock giants like holding flowers?"
"But even so, it really does have a certain elegance."
Hikaru stepped forward and looked at the level-80 Garganacl. The latter had never seen a human before, but it could still tell why these creatures had come.
You want the Tera mother tree? Or the source of Herba Mystica?
Then come and take it.
AI Sada tilted her head in thought.
"Two hundred years ago, this Garganacl probably wasn't here yet, because Heath and the others were not obstructed, and there are no similar records."
"In other words, this Garganacl is very young, possibly not even two hundred years old. For a Rock-type Pokémon, that really is extremely young."
"The original seasoning, the Tera tree, could supposedly make a person feel instantly invigorated when eaten. That was written in the Scarlet Book and Violet Book."
Hikaru, meanwhile, was thinking:
"In the distant Johto region, the Mythical Pokémon Celebi is said to have brought back a medicinal herb that could cure any disease from a place far away, from the very end of the world. That herb also became the origin of a sports competition known as the Pokémon Sumo Conference."
"Could that medicinal herb have some connection to the source of Herba Mystica...?"
At the Iron Fist Tournament held at the end of the year or maybe next January, it was said that one of the prizes would include that very thing. That drew martial artists in droves.
After all, what martial artists wanted most was a miraculous medicine that could strengthen the body, recover injuries and disease, and eliminate hidden physical problems. Those who trained in martial arts almost always accumulated some old injury or weakness in their youth. If that kind of thing dragged on too long, it would obviously be bad for the body.
And if you could guarantee a healthy body and a state free of injury, then it was basically like hanging the Horse Talisman on yourself - the noble horse erasing all external harm.
"That legendary herb really can strengthen the body if you eat it. Otherwise, modern medicine would have all sorts of complicated ingredients mixed in..."
"Ah, terrible news for the martial arts world - why is your head pointy..."
After muttering a few jokes to himself, Hikaru gathered his focus and looked at the battle-ready Garganacl before him.
Level 80. Supreme among its peers. In this place, only the hidden Garchomp and the little turtle itself could rival or suppress it.
That said, the earlier guardians had all been level 78 or 79 too. And even with such high levels, they still crumbled in front of a bad matchup. That was the flaw of Stellarization.
"Stellar doesn't suit you. You're far better off with Water Tera or... Ghost Tera. That's your proper battle style!"
"Salt-rorororo!" Garganacl raised its arm.
It would defend its own territory and this tree.
If you wanted it, then enough talk. Fight.
I don't know you, and you don't know me. Let us speak through battle.
Stone Edge!
Sharp rock spires burst up from the ground with a thunderous rumble, large chunks shattering away as they formed a swirling storm of jagged stone.
Under Stellar, Rock-type moves received a 2x boost in power, while all other moves were uniformly increased by 1.2x.
Its defensive profile might be bizarre, but offensively, it was ferocious.
"Young people really are full of fire! A Garganacl less than two hundred years old is totally different from those old giants outside with nothing better to do!"
"But there's one Pokémon that can shut you down completely."
"Show me the rainbow of battle born from your training, Lilligant!"
The Poké Ball containing Hisuian Lilligant was thrown high into the air before anyone had quite realized it. Garganacl slightly raised its body to watch. White light burst from the ball as it popped open.
And then a savage kick came crashing straight down.
"Axe Kick!"
She lifted her leg high and slammed her heel down on the opponent with overwhelming force.
Sometimes, it left the opponent confused.
A base-120 Fighting-type STAB move, amplified by Hustle and same-type attack bonus, and Garganacl's double weakness to Fighting...
With one kick, the damage would reach a terrifying number.
Large chunks of white salt stone shattered and scattered everywhere. The kick sent Garganacl's center of gravity reeling.
"The power of a normal strike is already around 270. And after practicing The Secret of Power, the move's damage should rise even further. I'd estimate the effective base power is over 300 now."
"When it comes to pure offensive force, among all my Pokémon, Lilligant's normal, unboosted move power should actually be the highest."
Hisuian Lilligant's Attack stat was only 105, not even as high as Palafin's Special Attack.
But with the immensely powerful Ability Hustle, all its moves were boosted by 1.5x. Sure, that came with reduced accuracy, but that could be overcome through training and accuracy improvement.
So even with only 105 base Attack, under those stacked normal-state buffs, its power was absolutely not to be underestimated.
AI Sada: "That Pokémon resembles one called Lilligant. And you just called her Lilligant too?"
Hikaru: "Are you collecting my data? Well, that's fine. I still have lots of partners. You won't finish collecting them anytime soon."
"This is an ancient regional form. Back when Sinnoh was called Hisui, one form of Lilligant looked exactly like this, using her powerful legs to unleash proud kicks and using the fragrance of courage to inspire her companions."
"She is honored as the Lady of the Ridge!"
"Now then, here it comes!"
The rainbow field had already been deployed. That meant secondary effects would be doubled. Hikaru projected the pursuer's conviction into Lilligant, just as the great N-sensei could do - using the correct move at the crucial moment and triggering the desired secondary effect with that strange power.
And after that, the rest of the battle was very simple.
Garganacl used Protect and blocked Lilligant's kick. But Lilligant, filled with joy from the feeling of becoming one with her Trainer, did not care in the slightest about Garganacl's futile resistance.
As a future companion, you'd better resist a little longer.
That way, I can dance with my Trainer just a bit more.
Under the dazzling light of those magnificent Tera gemstones, this moment would be turned into eternal beauty.
"Rolling Kick!"
Bang!
The second Rolling Kick landed. Garganacl could not use Protect again to stop it. The strike hit, and just as Garganacl was about to move and retaliate, its body suddenly seized up.
That blow had not only hit a vital point, but also triggered a flinch, leaving Garganacl mentally disoriented and physically unable to respond.
It was like a machine crashing and freezing in place.
"It stopped moving?" AI Sada stared at the stiffened Garganacl in confusion. She had never seen Lilligant use those moves before, and the situation left her feeling rather awkward.
As an AI that had collected all sorts of data, failing three or four times in a row to identify an opponent's move was deeply embarrassing for her. At the same time, it gave her a whole new appreciation for ecological field study and move analysis.
The League really did need to be urged to carry out a major ecological survey.
A lot of her data was from far too long ago. It had never been updated.
"The follow-up kicks aren't over yet!"
Rolling Kick, again!
Hikaru pointed ahead.
"Rolling Kick is a move where the user rapidly spins and delivers a flashy kick to send the opponent flying. The move's base power isn't high, but under my Lilligant's Ability and Fighting-type STAB boost, it becomes something completely different."
"And it has a base 30% flinch chance. Under the rainbow, secondary effects are doubled!"
On top of that, with the help of N-sensei's power, it was effectively guaranteed to flinch every time, almost like gaining Serene Grace.
Garganacl was swallowed by an unrelenting storm of kicks. It was locked in place, pummeled from head to toe, its body unable to move even slightly.
Large chunks of white rock salt cracked and fell away with sharp snapping sounds until, at last, the white giant could no longer endure it and crashed heavily to the ground.
Stellar burst!
AI Sada sighed in amazement. "Infinite flinching. Completely seizing control of turn priority in your own hands."
"That battle style is terrifying."
"Is it the same principle as Chansey's Rock Slide from before? But reaching this result through a different chain of effects... I see. So that force that doubled the flinch chance before was the rainbow."
"This is the first time I've really understood this strange field condition... no, saying field isn't exactly right."
Hikaru: "Sometimes, status changes applied to the field and the sky really are hard to distinguish from ordinary terrain. Besides rainbow, there are several others. Two of them are Swamp and Sea of Fire."
While AI Sada recorded all the information and observations, Hikaru walked toward the fallen Garganacl.
"In a one-on-one battle, I won."
Hikaru chose a ball suitable for Garganacl. Given its white appearance, a Premier Ball or perhaps a Timer Ball would work.
But in the end, the Premier Ball suited it better.
After capturing Garganacl, Hikaru spoke to the Pokémon inside the ball.
"Use Recover."
Naturally, the Pokémon inside the ball could hear Hikaru's words.
A soft glow came from within the ball, then faded into stillness.
'Garganacl, a Pokémon encountered in the Area Zero Underdepths.'
'We met beneath the Tera mother tree.'
'Has a stubborn nature.'
'Poor with words, and accustomed to using battle in place of conversation.'
"We'll get to know each other properly later." Hikaru said that to the Premier Ball.
That Terastallized tree was the Tera mother tree from the promotional trailer, the source of Herba Mystica.
And yet the place had only been set up as the final checkpoint before meeting the little turtle, with no real story content beyond that. A real shame.
[Mythical Plant: Herba Mystica - Tera Tree (mother stock).]
[Description: It never withers.]
[Description: A tree possessing the effects of all Herba Mystica. It is the root source of those secrets and myths. After being influenced by the star crystal from two million years ago, its trunk became completely crystallized, and its fruit mutated, gaining unimaginable power.]
[Herba Mystica is the form taken before the legendary fruit fully matures. In the outside world, where Tera energy is not sufficiently abundant, these seasonings can never grow into their final form.]
[Effect: Fully restores a Pokémon's stamina and all five physical parameters, raises stamina cap, raises vitality, and can heal fatal injuries. Due to the influence of Terapagos's power, after consuming it, whenever the Pokémon defeats an opposing Pokémon or undergoes effort training, the base points gained become 4, and an additional fixed 3 HP points are acquired. When used together with training items, this effect is doubled.]
[When used with specific-flavored Herba Mystica as a catalyst, it can produce top-tier food with all three meal powers at Lv. 3.]
[It seems to be connected to the legendary medicinal herb of a distant region. If grafted onto a specific tree - the Tree of Life, avatar of Xerneas - it may produce a continuous harvest of Herba Mystica.]
"This is something that massively boosts a Pokémon's growth, stamina, and vitality. It doesn't have the unique effects of the five subsidiary stocks, but its general usefulness is incredibly high, and very straightforward."
Increasing the base points gained from defeating a Pokémon to 4 probably came from Terapagos itself, because defeating the little turtle's second form granted a total of four EVs, while defeating the third form granted three HP EVs.
As for the first form...
Defeating it gave a pitiful single point.
"Seven fixed base points from a single battle. That's fantastic."
As Hikaru collected branches from the Tera tree and placed them into linked storage space, AI Sada was also recording information on the tree itself. She updated the old data and spoke in a tone full of wonder:
"Just by standing near this tree, the activity in my machinery seems to have increased. Could this thing work on robots too?"
Hikaru stroked his chin. "Maybe it could. So far, the Tera tree's power seems harmless to living things, and probably harmless to machines too. After all, you yourself are a construct made from Tera energy. If you ate some of this, maybe you'd stop depending on Area Zero's Tera facilities and be able to leave the lab."
AI Sada thought about it for a moment. "Yes! Your suggestion makes a lot of sense! It really might work! I'd never considered this angle before. Mostly because researching the time machine took up so much time."
"If I could leave the lab... honestly, even if I can't go to the ancient world I've always dreamed of, I could still gain freedom in this world. That's such a strange thought. I never once thought about leaving before, and now all of a sudden I'm seriously considering it. Perhaps... perhaps I really can't stay here forever and keep making that child Arven come all this way just to see me."
(End of Chapter)
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