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Chapter 200: Return to Jiangnan
🕑 Added 2025-09-14 12:58:46 +0000 UTCChapter 200: Return to Jiangnan
After a brief moment of disorientation, Basalt found himself back at the Dragon's Tooth Oasis, right where he had entered the Hidden Land. All around him, other portals were opening, and the young trainers who had participated in the trial were returning one by one. But of the hundred or so who had entered, only fifty or sixty had returned. The rest, he assumed, had been eliminated after their guardian Pokémon had been forced to intervene.
"Basalt! Summer!" Agent Zhou and Mr. Archer called out, waving them over.
"How did it go?" Mr. Archer asked, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.
"It was great," Summer said, a bright smile on her face. "I caught a Bronzong. It's just as strong as my Ninetales, and I even got a high-tier status move manual."
"A Bronzong? An excellent choice," Mr. Archer said, impressed. "With its title as a 'bringer of harvests,' it'll fit perfectly into your team. By the way, does it know Sunny Day? If not, you should teach it as soon as possible. It has a natural talent for it."
"It already knows it," she replied with a grin. For some reason, all the Bronzor from the Mount Veridian clan automatically learned Sunny Day upon evolving.
"Wonderful! This trip was a great success," Mr. Archer said, clapping his hands together. He was even more excited when he heard that her Bronzong had absorbed over two hundred kilograms of the sacred Aegis Ore before evolving.
"And what about you, kid?" Agent Zhou asked, turning to Basalt.
Basalt just scratched his head, thinking of the mountain of loot in his bag. "Well, my Bronzor evolved," he said with a mumble. "So I guess I got a little something out of it."
"A little something?" Summer scoffed. "You call absorbing six or seven hundred kilograms of Aegis Ore, growing to a monstrous size, and eating a Custap Berry a little something? You're being a little too humble, don't you think?"
"Six or seven hundred kilograms?" Zhou and Archer's jaws dropped. "How is that even possible? It'll be too heavy to fly!"
"Don't worry," Basalt said with a grin. "It can fly. And it can fly fast." He then gave them a brief, heavily edited version of the story, explaining about the Custap Berry and the Aegis Ore. But when he got to the last part, their expressions changed from disbelief to utter shock.
"Reverse Gravity?" they both exclaimed, looking at him as if he had just grown a second head. A Bronzong that had just barely reached the advanced tier had mastered Reverse Gravity before it had even evolved? Their first reaction was denial. It was a technique that even most professional-level trainers couldn't master. And Basalt's Bronzor had taught itself?
Meanwhile, Fiona was being led away by her uncle, a tall, thin man named Mr. Fiore. "You look terrible," he said, looking down at his niece.
"Uncle, I got bullied," she whined, putting on her most pathetic face. "Some jerk robbed me of all the stuff I worked so hard to find."
To her surprise, her uncle's eyes lit up. "Really? Someone finally put you in your place? Who is he? I have to meet this young man!"
"UNCLE!" she shrieked, her eyes wide with fury. But before she could continue, she was surrounded by a group of angry trainers from the Savanna Province—all of her previous victims. She couldn't deny what she had done, and with her uncle there, they couldn't do much more than glare at her. But their hateful stares were enough to make her blood boil. She had done the dirty work, and now, some jerk named "Ethan" had all the loot.
"ETHAN! ETHAN!" she muttered, scanning the crowd. She finally spotted Basalt, but before she could go and give him a piece of her mind, she was being dragged away. She could only watch as he climbed onto Agent Zhou's Charizard and flew off.
"Ethan, you said?" her uncle asked, a thoughtful look on his face. "What's his story?"
"He's from the Psi-Ops Bureau," she said. "And he has a Bronzong that's twice the size of a normal one."
"The Psi-Ops Bureau?" Mr. Fiore's interest was piqued. The Fiore family might be a big deal in their home province, but the Psi-Ops Bureau was on another level. "Don't worry, little Fiona," he said, patting her on the shoulder. "With a name and an organization, I'm sure I can find him." And then, I'll arrange a blind date for you two.
After a night of rest in Crimson City, Basalt and his group said their goodbyes to Summer and Mr. Archer and returned to the Cinnabar Sanctuary. The moment they arrived, Basalt released his Bronzong, and the "Super Flying Bell" shot into the sky. He had promised to be back within ten days, but the expedition had taken another ten. He was worried Lileep would be upset.
Watching the massive Bronzong disappear into the distance, Zhou's eye twitched. "This kid is a real piece of work. I have to report this to the Director." Not just the size and psychic power of the Bronzong, but the Reverse Gravity... that alone was enough to raise Basalt's potential to a whole new level.
In the central garden of the primeval forest, the Mega Venusaur, who was in the middle of a lesson with Lileep, suddenly looked up, a surprised expression on its face. It sensed a familiar presence approaching at high speed. But what truly shocked it was that the approaching Pokémon was carrying a faint trace of Life Energy. And the purity of that energy... it was even higher than its own. It was... legendary.
"Lileep!" Basalt called out as he approached the garden.
"Liii~ Liii~" Hearing his voice, Lileep began to wave its tentacles in excitement.
As the Bronzong slowed its descent, Basalt leaped off and landed lightly on the ground. "Long time no see, Lileep," he said, patting its small head.
"Saur~" The Mega Venusaur stared, a strange look on its face. The pure energy it had sensed was coming from the Bronzong, the little creature it had barely given a second thought to before. What in the world happened to it?
