Under Guzzlord's pitiful explanation, the cat's raised fist froze midair.
["Meow~ Senior, if I said I just saw how hard you were working picking up trash and wanted to give you a little shoulder massage, would you believe me?"]
Guzzlord looked up at the sky.
Zeraora dispersed the electricity from her fist and looked toward Axel with a pleading expression.
Seeing Axel's conflicted face, as if he had made some kind of decision, Zeraora stepped forward stiffly like a robot, lowered his head slightly, and gently rubbed it against Axel's arm.
Axel subconsciously stroked him twice, then suddenly realized.
'Oh no. I got set up by the cat!'
["Meow~ Help me talk to Guzzlord, okay?"]
Looking at Zeraora's hopeful eyes, Axel's mouth twitched.
Sure enough, there isn't a single cat in this world you can pet for free.
["Ahem! Guzzlord, how about you stop working for now and take Zeraora to see his parents first."]
["I'll give you a few days off. After everything's settled, go check in with the Sun and Moon gods and see if they can help you boost your strength a bit."]
Guzzlord blinked, clearly tempted, but still kept that wronged look on his face.
Axel continued, "Also, if I remember right, the landfill in Ultra Megalopolis is short a supervisor."
Guzzlord's eyes lit up, "Lord! Lord!"
———
After seeing off Guzzlord and Zeraora, Axel finally let out a sigh of relief.
Gardevoir smiled sweetly, ["Master… this trip wasn't for nothing after all."]
["Although Zeraora didn't choose you as her Trainer, I can feel that she's already developed a sense of reliance on you."]
["This kind of situation… is the prototype of a bond. The two of your fates are already connected."]
"Mm, but there's no rush. Let's see what happens after Zeraora reunites with her parents," Axel replied casually.
To be honest, after finding out Zeraora was about to reunite with her parents, Axel had already decided not to catch him for now.
Let him stay with her parents for a while and make up for the family affection she's missed all these years. That's not a bad thing.
As for what happens later, that depends on fate.
"Come on, let's head back and eat. After dinner, there's still some work to do."
Even though Team Rainbow Rocket couldn't come for the time being, Axel still decided to test Ultra Megalopolis's current defense level. That way, when he eventually leaves Ultra Space, he'll have a better idea of what to expect.
It might mean wronging Groudon or the Unova Tao Trio a bit. After all, aside from deities, no other Pokémon really qualified for this kind of test.
Sensing Axel's thoughts, Gardevoir seemed to think of something and suddenly laughed.
["Master… I have a feeling that when the time comes, you might be more inclined to use Giratina as the test subject…"]
Axel looked puzzled, "Why?"
Gardevoir held back a smile, ["You'll know when you have time to chat with Giratina."]
["Emmm… here's a hint. When we came to Ultra Megalopolis, he seemed to have found something you care about very much."]
———
[Pokémon World, Team Plasma's New Base]
Pryce and Colress stood beside a vast body of water, staring at the center of it.
Swimming in the middle was the Kyogre that Pryce had just obtained from Axel a few days ago.
Large numbers of Team Plasma members were holding various Berries and secret treasures, continuously pouring them into the water.
Colress looked a little pained, "Sage Pryce, is it really worth putting in this much effort to cultivate an ancient Legendary Pokémon?"
"With these resources, I could have built a Genesect army."
"And a Genesect army would be fully under the control of my Colress Machine. We wouldn't even have to worry about loyalty issues…"
"Loyalty issues?", Hearing those words, Pryce's face instantly darkened. The Delibird on his shoulder sharpened its gaze, pressing down on Colress with silent pressure.
"Are you mocking me over Kyurem's betrayal?"
"No! Not at all!", Seeing Pryce flare up, Colress quickly explained.
"It's just that the risk feels too high. And during our struggle with N, our expenses have also been enormous. We're already short on resources."
At this point, Colress showed a distressed expression.
"And there aren't many underground organizations left in this world now. Even if we wanted allies, we can't find any."
"Even this batch of supplies, I had to borrow half of it from Lysandre…"
Seeing Colress like this, much of Pryce's anger faded, and he began to explain.
"Don't worry. Every investment will have its return."
"During the process of obtaining Kyogre, I also unexpectedly gained other information. Perhaps in other timelines…"
In order to steady Colress, Pryce told him everything about encountering members of Team Rainbow Rocket and about the immense power of Necrozma.
In the end, Pryce patted Colress on the shoulder, "As long as we have Kyogre at full power, along with my Pokémon, we can directly take down Necrozma."
"Then we can also unify the other Legendary Pokémon and establish a Rainbow Plasma Team as powerful as that organization from another world."
"At that time, you can research anything you want."
Hearing this, Colress's eyes instantly lit up.
"You're saying that by obtaining Necrozma's power, we can create even greater technological marvels?"
Pryce nodded, "Exactly!"
Colress immediately showed an excited expression, "Good! Then I'll hurry and see if there are any more supplies we can prepare, and strive to restore Kyogre to its peak state as soon as possible!"
After leaving Pryce, one of Colress's subordinates followed him, "Sir, are we really going to keep investing?"
"Investing?", Colress let out a laugh, his tone full of disdain.
"That guy is a bottomless pit. Why would I keep investing in him?"
"The three Legendary Pokémon I told you to capture, they've all been secured, right?"
"Contact Lysandre and tell him I've discovered the secret of immortality. See if he's interested in cooperating!"
[🎉 Shoutout to Asriels, LN and Slashdog for joining p@treon. Thank you very much.🤗]
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