Chapter 518 - 516
Terapagos never even got the chance to use its "Tera Absorption" ability three times.
The very first Meteor Beam from the cosmos directly blew apart the turtle's Stellar Form on the spot, even with its absurd base 160 HP.
Stellar explosion!
[Terapagos suffered heavy damage and lost its balance!]
There was no helping it. Even if it didn't resist itself, it also didn't resist the attack either. This super move, with 2400 power and an expected output of 4900, directly blew through even its Tera Shield.
The crackling bombardment of Tera Starstorm was swallowed outright by Meteor Beam.
That level of force even made the little turtle remember the starry meteorite that had slammed into the land 2 million years ago and carved out the Great Crater of Paldea. That had also been the force that granted it evolution and made it the source of Terastal power.
A beam of meteoric light. This move, too, was an ultimate technique born from the cosmos.
As the fierce strike of Meteor Beam landed, the little turtle dropped out of its third form, and the abnormally surging energy tide caused by Terastallization was torn apart by the force of the beam and gradually calmed.
[Stellar Shards +20!]
"Wh-what kind of power is that?! 4900 power?! Is that still even a Pokémon move?!"
AI Sada raised an arm in front of herself, though a huge golden shield had already appeared in front of her, while Armarouge had raised its ability-based shield as well.
Light Screen and Reflect blocked the shockwave rolling toward them.
The power within the star-filled cavern rumbled outward in all directions.
Some crystal-studded rocks came crashing down, but a silver-white body blocked them.
At AI Sada's side, Archaludon appeared and shielded her from the falling Stellar crystal chunks, letting her breathe a sigh of relief.
"A quake-resistant Pokémon... I've never seen that one before, but judging by its shape, it should be a Steel type. Extremely reliable."
"Guh-hoh-hoh~"
Archaludon looked Sada over, then suddenly its eyes lit up. It bit off a chunk of Stellar crystal, then picked up another piece from the ground and handed it to her.
"No, thank you. I may also function through crystalline power, but I don't eat this."
AI Sada politely pushed the crystal back. Archaludon thought about it for a while, then sadly shook its head.
A life where you couldn't eat rocks and steel beams was a failed life!
If she didn't eat something this delicious now, who knew when she'd get another chance to feast on it properly?
"That Pokémon..."
AI Sada turned and looked toward Aegislash again. After all, that Pokémon didn't exist in Paldea, so there was no data on it in her records.
But once she thought of what Hikaru had said before about his "trump cards," she understood immediately.
There were many Pokémon inside those Poké Balls that had never been sent out, but all of them had been watching this expedition.
And now, the two strongest among them had appeared right before her eyes.
Hikaru said, "King's Shield."
"It completely blocks all attacks from the front and protects itself from most physical and special moves used by other Pokémon. It can also lower the Attack of any opponent that makes contact."
"My Aegislash is my ace, and my original partner."
"The giant sacred sword can slash through enemies while ignoring their stat changes, and the golden shield can block all who would invade."
"But compared to King's Shield, what's even sturdier is this crystal cavern itself. Even after taking a blast of that magnitude, the cave structure still hasn't shaken. There are only a few glowing cracks in the ground."
"The power of Stellar energy has fully merged into the strata. That's why the collapse stopped here in the first place."
AI Sada said, "If that move were used outside, I wouldn't be surprised at all by its destructive force. No matter what kind of enemy it faced, it could defeat them!"
Hikaru looked at the now-calmed little turtle and shook his head with a laugh.
"Moves used by humans and Pokémon still don't compare to the force that changed the crust 2 million years ago."
"And now the energy here has calmed down, which means proper research on Terapagos can officially begin."
"My objectives have all been completed too."
Hikaru took out a hexagonal jewel. At this moment, it was shining with the same light as Stellar Form Terapagos.
Tera energy overflowed from it and transformed into an even stronger attribute, Stellar energy.
As an energy module, it surpassed ordinary Tera power.
At the same time, the Tera Orb could now be reused repeatedly without any recharging.
[You defeated Terapagos (Stellar Form)! After gathering the starry energy of Area Zero, Deoxys has grown tremendously!]
[You and your Pokémon have all grown significantly! Due to the influence of Stellar power, your Pokémon's attribute-based powers have strengthened, and their move pools have deepened!]
Tremendous growth.
Along the way, Deoxys hadn't fought all that many times, but in theory it had still reached around level 50 already. With a boost this huge, it would probably jump to above 60.
"How do you feel?"
Deoxys returned to its Normal Forme and clenched its fist, testing its condition.
[My time being active outside the ball has increased again. My growth rate is astonishing, even to me. If I keep going to places like this, places filled with cosmic energy, Giant Chasm, Area Zero...]
[I can probably fight outside for about twenty minutes now!]
"That's definitely a massive improvement!"
Most normal battles didn't even last that long.
Of course, if it was one of those endlessly repeated battles... like against Nemona, for example.
That girl had apparently dragged Kieran through a battle that lasted several hours, maybe even half a day, in the story. Nobody knew how she managed it.
If she ever went to a League Conference in one of the regions, she'd probably consume the entire day by herself. The audience would be screaming for refunds.
"Terra... pagos."
The little turtle was panting heavily.
That last attack had scared it silly.
If it hadn't been in Stellar Form, it wouldn't have survived even with a hundred thousand lives.
No wonder this person had said it would be fine.
You're way too strong!
Mm! But that abnormal overgrowth of power in my body is gone now, which means...!
"Here. A Tera Shard branch."
"Go-go."
The Tera crystal branch they'd gotten at the entrance earlier could also fully restore a Pokémon's energy. After the little turtle ate it, it immediately sprang back to life.
You used my own power to heal me. Then why can't I heal myself?
"Because doctors can't treat themselves. So, how do you feel now?"
Faced with Hikaru's question, the little turtle decided to answer with actions instead of words.
It floated up into the air, light flaring from its body once more as it transformed back into Stellar Form.
AI Sada jumped.
"Wait! It's not over yet? It transformed again... huh? It became like that without using the Tera Orb's power?"
She stepped forward and examined it closely.
"The mechanical functions in my body have improved even further now. I'm no longer having that stiff walking issue... This power comes from Terapagos. The uncontrollable surging energy inside it has calmed down."
"I see. So this is the final state. Once it settles, it can enter a calm Stellar Form through normal Terastallization."
"That's right. What it looks like now matches the Scarlet Book's description. Heath saw it from up close before, but he never recorded the side of it that erupts with light and power. That means the Terapagos Heath saw was also in a calm Stellar state."
"And the Terapagos recorded in The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero, the white book given to the professor by a child beside a sulfur-smelling pond in some eastern region, was the out-of-control version."
"There's still a major difference. It's still glowing, but it's no longer blasting out wild light and energy in all directions."
AI Sada sounded a little emotional.
"Originally, research into the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero was only done for the sake of the time machine. The professor herself may never have intended to do anything to Terapagos, but now, unexpectedly, the investigation into the Hidden Treasure has been completed."
"But this means we can now study calm Stellar power and try to begin research into a reverse time machine."
Hikaru said, "My side's done too. Mission accomplished. Terapagos, do you want to stay here, or come up above with us?"
"Go-go. Ba!"
The little turtle dispersed its Stellar Form, returned to its second form, and let out a yawn.
You already woke me up, and now you're asking whether I want to go above.
Still, you're not bad people, so going out with you sounds fine.
AI Sada said, "Even if it goes out, it'll still only be moving around within Area Zero. But seeing daylight again for the first time in 200 years... no, was it 200 years, or 2 million years? Either way, for Terapagos, it should be something to be happy about."
"There's a new world outside. And even without Terapagos, the Tera crystals here still seem to be multiplying slowly."
Hikaru said, "The meteor infused this land with the power of Terastallization. Terapagos only happened to be granted that power by chance."
"2 million years ago, it was just an ordinary, adorable little turtle living a carefree life."
In the original storyline, Terapagos should have been obtained by the protagonist several years later, during that absurd expedition through Area Zero. It should also have gone through the whole famous scene where Kieran caught it with a Master Ball and then contributed another classic Master Ball explosion moment.
"Hm?" AI Sada suddenly pressed a finger to her forehead. "Something's strange."
"If the contents recorded in The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero were events from the future... then we changed the past..."
Once again, she remembered the professor's mutterings from before. Countless encounters were only possibilities of space-time. There was no conclusive evidence that time had ever formed a closed loop.
Perhaps the so-called closed loop had never happened at all.
Perhaps only countless parallel worlds had intersected with one another.
When the two of them brought the little turtle back to the upper research station, Terapagos acted like it had entered a whole new world. It started chatting with the Pokémon around it, and even though it had lived alone for a very long time, its ability to make friends seemed absurdly strong.
A lot of the Pokémon, like Iron Treads and the others, all thought the little turtle was pretty cute.
"Teraa, pagos!"
Even if these Pokémon didn't look anything like it, they were all still Pokémon, so in that sense, they were all the same.
Then suddenly, the Capture Styler reacted.
After opening it, a strange wavelength appeared on the Styler's screen, and then...
A trail appeared!
[Obtained: Terapagos's Summoning Trace!]
Terapagos's Summoning Trace was the interlocking cone of light on the mysterious plate.
"I can summon Terapagos now. Just kidding. Until the wrist-mounted Styler is finished, there's no way to use Ranger Signs yet."
"But... did you give me this trace?"
Hikaru looked toward Terapagos. The floating, mane-covered little turtle let out a cheerful sound.
"Gori!"
I thought this trace might be useful, so I gave it to you!
I don't know what this symbol does either, but it seems like it has something to do with me!
"Legendary Pokémon have their own marked plates and corresponding legends, and some ordinary Pokémon also have specific traces. These traces have existed since ancient times, though some were added later."
"But the Pokémon themselves probably don't really understand that traces exist. They only have an effect once someone makes use of them."
"Well then, thank you very much!"
"Here!"
At the side, Aegislash made a sound and lifted a ribbon-like arm in a thumbs-up.
Nicely done, Trainer!
That thing we talked about before, getting all the Legendary Pokémon to stamp their approval? See? Didn't we just complete another whole batch of them?
(End of Chapter)
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