Pokemon Paldea [327-328]

Chapter 327: Ruined Herba Mystica and Evolution Items That Turn the Impossible Into Possible!

The dust kicked up by the explosion was no weaker than the sandstorm stirred when two Paradox Pokémon rolled, and even the distant Raifort could feel the violent tremors.

Watching the Donphan that were panicking from the shaking, Raifort showed a thoughtful smile.

Great Tusk and Iron Treads stopped ramming into each other and looked up together at Lucas and Dragonite in the sky. One pair of eyes brimmed with savagery; the other, cold digital optics, showed a completely different emotion.

Great Tusk let out a roar, slammed its forelegs into the sand, and countless cracks spread across the ground. Terrifying energy surged, and in an instant, a brilliant eruption of Ground-type power shot skyward like a straight sword, thrusting toward Lucas and Dragonite!

Ground-type move: Earth Power!

Behind Dragonite, Lucas wore a strange expression. Does this Great Tusk not understand type matchups?

How are you even going to land a Ground move on Dragonite?

Without Lucas needing to say anything, Dragonite lightly beat its wings; its seemingly bulky body exploded with unusual speed and blinked aside, letting Earth Power miss completely.

Though Dragonite had only just begun practicing the Dragon Clan's Extreme Speed and hadn't yet mastered the move Extreme Speed or its advanced applications, dodging an Earth Power was easy.

Compared to Great Tusk, which chose a direct assault, Iron Treads didn't act first. Streams of data ran through its crimson digital eyes, as if analyzing something.

Their choices didn't escape Lucas's eyes either.

And their choices fit the eras they hailed from and the personalities formed back then.

When facing a reckless opponent and a calculating opponent, as a Trainer, you send the Pokémon best suited to handle each.

The moment Dragonite safely landed, Lucas pulled out a Poké Ball he'd already been gripping, ignored the colossal beasts of past and future to either side, and shouted in a deep voice: "Serperior!"

In a flash of red, Serperior raised its head high and immediately locked onto Iron Treads on the other side, which looked like it was plotting something nasty.

Dragonite was the kid it had watched grow up—its battle style was all about overwhelming force, with no twisty schemes in its belly. To keep the house's child from being bullied, of course Serperior would deal with Iron Treads.

It was the hottest time of day; the sun hung venomously in the sky. But for Serperior, this was the most favorable weather.

The sunlight-forged energy within its body was surging!

Casting a cool glance at Iron Treads, Serperior lifted the tip of its tail. The three dark green leaves there were shrouded in a verdant glow and, in an instant, became a hurricane of fluorescent leaves. With razor sharp force, it swept toward Iron Treads.

Leaf Storm raged against Iron Treads' steel body, but Iron Treads seemed to "hang" for a split second, as if it had frozen. A few more data streams flashed in its eyes.

As if it had found a counter, thin ice spread beneath Iron Treads. It curled up, turned into an "ice top," and spun in place. Frost billowed out, and it actually neutralized the Leaf Storm entirely!

An Ice-type move—Ice Spinner!

Serperior, whose body gleamed with a red aura, arched a brow; its proud gaze turned more serious.

As expected.

Watching the battle between Ceruledge and Iron Valiant earlier, it had wondered whether these Pokémon with bodies of metal and steel and electronic eyes possessed analytical abilities far beyond ordinary Pokémon—and even some Trainers.

Now it seemed this one, called Iron Treads by Lucas, even knew to use Ice-type moves to counter Serperior's Leaf Storm—totally different from that brute Great Tusk over there using Ground moves against Dragonite.

"Sia-ro!"

Serperior sang out. The tip of its tail once more swelled with a Leaf Storm, now several times more terrifying in aura and power.

Let's see how long Iron Treads' little cleverness can hold out under an absolute difference in power.

After all, Serperior's condition right now was unexpectedly great!

Elsewhere, in Dragonite and Great Tusk's battle—

Dragonite had directly grabbed Great Tusk's massive tusks that were trying to gore it, matching the big guy in raw strength.

With a sudden shove, Dragonite knocked Great Tusk back, then slammed energy-charged claws into it—only for Great Tusk to block with a Megahorn.

Its claws were locked, but it could still fire off a special attack.

Under Lucas's command, Dragonite planned to land a super-effective Hydro Pump for heavy damage. But Great Tusk's instincts kicked in the moment it sensed danger; it was going to throw caution to the wind and trigger Earthquake.

Dragonite didn't want Lucas caught in the Earthquake's AoE, so it stepped back a few paces, scooped him up, and took to the sky.

Lucas focused his commands here; he wasn't worried about Serperior versus Iron Treads.

He believed Serperior could handle Iron Treads—this was his trust in his second Pokémon.

As a Paradox Pokémon from the ancient side, Great Tusk possessed power enough to shake mountains. Its strength was nearly on par with Roaring Moon, which Lucas had fought before—maybe even a bit stronger.

After all, this Great Tusk had silently slipped out of the Paldea Crater—no pushover.

By the time the game's protagonist gets here, they'd have roughly Elite Four-tier strength. Add six-Pokémon rotation and Arven's help, and beating something this strong would be possible.

But here, both past and future Paradox Pokémon appeared at once—that was something Lucas couldn't figure out.

Just like the existence of Professors Sada and Turo, the future would likely see multiple Koraidon and Miraidon brought back by the time machine.

Four legendary Pokémon coexisting—imagining the accidents that could cause already gave Lucas a headache.

While Lucas pondered, Dragonite and Great Tusk clashed several more times. Paradox Pokémon really were ridiculous in some ways.

Great Tusk's strength could even contend with Dragonite's. Add in the need to protect its Trainer mid-fight and avoid big AoE moves like Earthquake hitting Lucas, and Dragonite couldn't take Great Tusk down quickly.

Still, under Lucas's calm command, more and more wounds appeared on Great Tusk, carved by Dragonite.

Seeing Great Tusk trapped within a "sand twister" conjured by Dragonite's Hurricane and accumulating cuts from the howling winds, the pained Great Tusk instinctively lifted its forelegs, ready to repeat its tactic and force Dragonite to stop with an Earthquake.

Great Tusk didn't know why Dragonite would stop attacking, but it knew that if it used Earthquake, it could buy breathing room.

It did so again.

But Lucas had been waiting for this timing.

The instant Great Tusk's forelegs rose, Lucas shouted, "Now—Hydro Pump!"

The dense Water-type energy Dragonite had been charging at Lucas's signal burst from its mouth in a cerulean torrent. With a thunderous boom in the air, a massive water column slammed into Great Tusk, scouring its body and washing away the last candle-flame flickers of its stamina.

As Great Tusk crashed down with a boom, the Serperior vs. Iron Treads fight also reached its conclusion.

No matter how Iron Treads analyzed the optimal move for the situation, Serperior—whose Contrary ability let it reach theoretical Sp. Atk limits—only had to spam Leaf Storm to keep Iron Treads on the back foot.

Not to mention the writhing mass of Frenzy Plant—even if Iron Treads entered its rolling mode, those terrifyingly thick roots could still bind it tight.

Granted, in a desert it was hard to conjure roots; the energy cost was several times the norm.

But under the blazing sun, Serperior's solar-boosted energy was practically begging for an outlet.

By the time Iron Treads' power core was pounded dry and it entered standby, even its analysis module couldn't compute why all its attack plans were so easily unraveled by Serperior, then countered with greater force.

The moment the two behemoths thudded to the sand, Lucas whipped out the Ultra Balls he'd prepared and, with a Champion-level precision toss that Nemona dreamed of, beaned both Paradox Pokémon right on the forehead.

Beaten into their deepest slumber, the two didn't even struggle before the Ultra Balls clicked shut.

Judging by their combat performance, though, Lucas figured there was no way to keep these two as farmhands.

Sigh—still too wild!

Having defeated the guardians lingering over the treasured resource, it was time to reap the rewards.

Heart pounding with excitement, Lucas stepped into the cave.

What met his eyes was a patch of sparse vegetation wrecked like it had been rooted up by pigs—a complete mess.

"Sia-ro..."

Serperior's brows knit. As a Grass-type, it could faintly sense that most of these plants had been gnawed by Great Tusk and Iron Treads.

"Bwu!"

Before Lucas could show his heartache, Dragonite suddenly called out, pointing to another corner of the cave.

Lucas followed Dragonite's finger.

There, a small pile of coal-like blocks lay stacked, their texture looking like compacted dirt. There were about ten.

"This is..."

As if remembering something, Lucas's expression shifted from puzzled to astonished.

Bad news: this was an uncharted deserted island.

Good news: this was a deserted island someone had actually landed on.

Chapter 328: Peat Blocks and Ursaluna!

Outside the nine generations of mainline Pokémon games, there are various spin-off series:

Mystery Dungeon, Pokkén, New Snap, and so on.

These gray, brick-like Peat Blocks—if Lucas wasn't mistaken—should be from the Pokémon Legends series, specifically Legends: Arceus, set in the Hisui region, the ancient Sinnoh. They're the essential evolution item used to evolve into a Pokémon called Ursaluna.

Ursaluna is a Ground + Normal-type Pokémon and the final stage of the Teddiursa–Ursaring line.

It boasts excellent offensive power and bulk, fitting all the elements a strong Pokémon needs.

However, just like how Hisui is the precursor of modern Sinnoh, Ursaluna—prominent in Hisui—has long since vanished from history.

Nowadays, no one even knows if Ursaluna still exists. The Teddiursa → Ursaring → Ursaluna evolution route has been corrected in modern knowledge to end at Ursaring.

Sure, Arcanine is also a Hisuian Pokémon, and Perrin has a Hisuian Growlithe too.

But that still doesn't explain why an evolution item like a Peat Block would show up here in Paldea's Asado Desert, half a world away from Sinnoh/Hisui.

"System, can you check if these are real Peat Blocks?"

Under Serperior's and Dragonite's gaze, Lucas crouched and picked up a gray Peat Block, examining it closely while asking in his mind.

[They're real. These eleven Peat Blocks are genuine evolution items, and we've ruled out the possibility they were dug up here.]

[Ursaluna is pretty strong—Guts + Flame Orb hits like a truck! Does our dear host want to catch a Teddiursa or Ursaring?]

"...Got it. We'll see."

Ending the exchange with the system, Lucas looked pensive.

If they weren't unearthed here, then are they connected to Great Tusk and Iron Treads—or something else?

Too few clues—no way to deduce it.

So Lucas decided not to dwell on why the Peat Blocks were in Paldea.

He set the Peat Block down and, flanked by Serperior and Dragonite, walked over to the ravaged pile of plants—and got a headache.

He'd prepared for the worst, but what lay before him still exceeded expectations.

The air, aside from the earthy scent of soil and the special traces left by Great Tusk and Iron Treads—redolent of the ancient and the futuristic—was dominated by a peculiar fragrance from some plant.

Among the unevenly gnawed plants, Lucas could only find three that had grown in a corner and escaped the two Paradox Pokémon's depredations.

The plants looked like ordinary twigs overall, but their leaves were a special yellow—not the yellow of withering, but like a slightly dim yellow crystal.

A strange aroma wafted around the leaves, as if it had some allure, urging creatures to eat it.

No wonder the Herba Mystica had become endangered and unknown to the wider world.

Fruits that give off a fresh scent when ripe do so to have their seeds carried far and wide by creatures.

But this stuff had no seeds at maturity, and smelled amazing. Didn't you see Dragonite eyeing the Herba Mystica with drooling longing, crystal beads at the corners of its mouth?

Even the self-controlled, poised, and noble Serperior kept glancing at the herbs.

Lucas identified the mature Herba Mystica by their leaves. Yellow leaves—this should be Sour Herba!

Unlike the pink Sweet, white Salty, green Bitter, and red Spicy, the yellow Sour Herba excels at relieving fatigue.

Probably because both Iron Treads and Great Tusk had appeared in the Asado Desert and fought constantly, the Sour Herba in this cave got trashed by the two who both needed to restore stamina and energy.

Lucas sighed. This was something he hadn't anticipated at all.

The fights between the two Paradox Pokémon had ruined the original patch of Sour Herba, leaving only three sprouts. Still, this should be better than when the game's protagonist and Arven arrive.

Back then, the herbs barely made three sandwiches for the protagonist, Arven, and Mabosstiff—maybe only a single plant remained.

Calamity hides blessing; blessing hides calamity.

While the big patch of Herba he wanted was gone, he'd gained eleven Peat Blocks.

Call it a wash.

Lucas took out three wooden boxes for the mature Sour Herba he harvested, then had Dragonite and Serperior collect the Peat Blocks and store them in his spatial backpack.

He also dug through the soil for a long while, but found only dead roots and rotting leaves—no seeds at all.

That made Lucas suspicious of Iron Treads and Great Tusk.

Could they have ruined even the Sour Herba seeds?

Though plants can be propagated asexually by grafting, based on the bags of seeds Professor Sada had given him, Lucas believed Herba Mystica definitely had seeds.

In the end, he could only refill the dug-up soil, hoping he'd missed the Sour Herba seeds and that new herbs would grow here in the future.

Raifort lay across the car window, so bored she'd started counting Donphan and Phanpy.

These Donphan were fairly docile and showed no intent to attack the off-road vehicle.

They seemed to have been driven out by those two big guys Lucas called Iron Treads and Great Tusk and had to live nearby.

Their normal habitat should be the pseudo-canyon zones formed by rocky hills. The surrounding rock walls could block smaller sandstorms and keep the Phanpy calves safe.

Just as Raifort got sick of counting Donphan and started wondering when Lucas would return, the Donphan and Phanpy ambling around the SUV gave warning calls as if a threat approached, then curled up and rolled away in a flash.

The next second, Dragonite descended, its wingbeats whipping up a gust that tossed sand into the air.

"...Cough, cough, cough!"

Caught off guard, Raifort almost choked on the suddenly airborne sand.

But that wasn't what held her attention.

She stared in surprise at Lucas. From departure to return, it had been just over half an hour.

Subtract the time for travel each way and handling the spoils—he'd only needed ten minutes to subdue those two hulking, quite powerful beasts?!

But when she recalled how her first impulse upon seeing Iron Treads and Great Tusk was to retreat and run, she suddenly grasped more deeply just how monstrous a Champion-tier Trainer's strength really was.

Recalling Dragonite, Lucas buckled into the passenger seat, glanced at the dazed Raifort, and reminded her, "Not going? If we head to the Watchtower now, we might make it before midnight."

"Ah—right!"

Snapping back, Raifort blinked, her gaze on Lucas now much more fervent.

Ignition, handbrake, gear, gas—smooth as silk!

Driving the SUV like a roaring desert beast, she headed for the Inclined Watchtower—a route she'd scouted so many times she could recite it backward.

Inside, she felt unprecedented relief—but even more excitement and zeal.

With Lucas here, whether it's one or ten Golurk, they're nothing to fear. As long as they find an official's notes proving the Treasures of Ruin aren't fairy tales but real history, she can delve further into the ancient past!

…

By 9 p.m., Lucas finally saw the outline of the peculiar Watchtower through the window.

Raifort stomped the brake. The wheels screeched a bit, and the SUV came to a steady stop. Engine off, lights out.

Raifort fished two high-powered, fully charged flashlights from the cluttered back seat and handed one to Lucas. "Please hold onto this. Backup."

"I still need to prep some tools for the tomb ra—cough, for the survey. You can stroll around the watchtower a bit."

Taking the flashlight, Lucas blinked. "You're not resting a night before going into the tomb?"

"You did drive all day."

"No need."

Raifort shook her head. Back when she was rob—er, researching tombs, going several days without sleep to study routes was normal. A day of driving wouldn't affect her trap-breaking and main chamber search.

Seeing her insist, Lucas didn't argue. He figured that if she dropped the ball later, he'd have the system guide them and ferry her straight to the end.

With the system's role down to navigation and reminders, Lucas actually preferred it that way.

Otherwise, if he ran around doing tasks because of it, would he be the system's puppet on strings—or a marionette?