Chapter 57: The Unbelievable News
Back in the battle.
The Pidgeot Leader struggled to its feet. Its unburnt wing flapped, scattering feather-shaped energy pieces that shimmered with a dazzling light, attempting to confuse its opponent.
But Arcanine wasn't falling for it.
Officer Jenny, riding on Arcanine's back, quickly issued commands: "(Human Language) Use [Howl] to boost attack!"
"Awoooo—" A majestic howl erupted from Arcanine's mouth. With a flash of red light, Arcanine's fur bristled, and it pawed at the ground with its two front paws, a look of eagerness on its face.
"(Human Language) Use [Extreme Speed]!"
Before her voice had even faded, Arcanine had "whooshed" and disappeared from its spot. The entire Pokémon, with the speed of lightning, crashed into Pidgeot, directly sending the latter seeing stars.
The several Pokémon Rangers who had arrived with the flying Pokémon landed lightly, took out their Capture Stylers, and said, "(Human Language) Officer Jenny, leave the rest to us."
These Pokémon Rangers' Capture Stylers were different from Souichi's. Souichi's was a wristwatch style, while theirs were handheld, resembling remote controls. They worked in默契 (tacit understanding/coordination), throwing out their Capture Discs. The spinning-top-like Capture Discs traced various arcs, encircling the Pidgeot Leader, which had been dizzied by the attack.
It had to be said that the Rangers' experience in calming Pokémon was indeed rich. In Rio's Aura vision, the frenzied Auras of the Pidgeot Leader and the Snorlax Leader were continuously being stabilized under the soothing efforts of Souichi and the other Rangers. Their Aura color even gradually shifted from a terrifying red-black to a gentle azure blue.
Over here, Officer Jenny's police squad and the Pokémon Rangers led by Souichi had subdued the Pidgeot Leader and Snorlax Leader with lightning speed. Over there, the Blastoise Boss, along with the Pokémon of Sunrise Valley and Crescent Lake, watched quietly.
Finally, Souichi, dressed in his red jacket, walked over. He looked up at the Blastoise Boss, who was calm but slightly on guard, extended his right hand, and said with a bright smile, "%￥￥%#%"
The Blastoise Boss's expression remained unchanged as he watched the human before him.
Seemingly realizing that Blastoise couldn't understand his human language, Souichi scratched his head in embarrassment. He looked back at Takuma, who was whispering with Rio, went over, and took the translator earpiece from Takuma's ear, putting it on himself.
"Hello, hello, can you hear me?"
Translated Pokémon language came from the translator. The Blastoise Boss was taken aback for a moment, then nodded lightly.
"Oh, oh, oh, I didn't expect it to actually translate."
Souichi had a look of novelty on his face.
As a Pokémon Ranger, he naturally knew that Pokémon's intelligence was in no way inferior to humans'. In his daily life, he would also have heart-to-heart communications with many Pokémon. However, that kind of spiritual communication was more of a vague sensing of each other's thoughts, unlike now, using a prophecy (translator) machine to communicate directly and clearly with a Pokémon. This was indeed an experience he had never tried before.
"Hello, you must be the leader of the Pokémon here, right? I am Souichi, the Head Ranger of the Ist Region Pokémon Ranger Branch. This is my partner Pokémon, Pachirisu, and these are my team members, Officer Jenny, and her colleagues."
"…"
Noticing the wary and uneasy expressions on the Pokémon's faces, Souichi said with a smile, "Don't be nervous. We Pokémon Rangers are different from the Pokémon Trainers you know. We don't capture any Pokémon, so you don't have to worry. Right, Pachirisu?"
He said, turning to gesture at the Pachirisu perched on his shoulder.
Pachirisu, which looked like an electric squirrel, waved its fluffy tail and nodded cutely. "(Pokémon Language) That's right! Souichi is very nice to Pokémon."
"Oh, oh, Pachirisu, I can understand you now! I'm so moved!"
"(Pokémon Language) He's just a bit unreliable sometimes."
"Hey, hey, hey! How can you say that about your own partner?"
"(Pokémon Language) But last time when you were calming down a Victreebel, you got swallowed by it..."
"Ahem, that, um, that was an accident. What job doesn't have accidents?"
"(Pokémon Language) And the time before last..."
"Stop! That's enough out of you."
Seeing Souichi and his partner Pokémon bickering, the Blastoise Boss seemed to be reminded of something, and his originally serious and composed expression softened.
The Blastoise Boss spoke, "(Pokémon Language) Thank you very much for your help, and for saving my companions."
"It was nothing, nothing," Souichi waved his hand, then his tone became a bit more cautious as he asked, "But I'm very curious, do you know what's going on with these two Pokémon? I've been a Pokémon Ranger for so long, and this is the first time I've sensed such a violent heart. It's as if... they were stimulated by something and lost their minds."
"(Pokémon Language) Let me answer that."
Elite Machop emerged from the side. Having experienced so many events, and combining it with the knowledge he had learned from the Professor, he had vaguely guessed the reason for the appearance of these abnormal Pokémon.
"(Pokémon Language) You know that psychic power exists in the world, right? And the stronger a being's spiritual willpower, the stronger the psychic power it can control. But when the growth of psychic power outpaces the growth of spiritual willpower, a state of being out of control occurs. At this point, the uncontrollable psychic power will overflow, and the overflowing psychic power will affect the living beings around it, thereby invading the minds of the affected creatures, disrupting their spiritual will, and thus causing the affected beings to fall into this frenzied, irrational, abnormal state."
"In that case, there must be a powerful psychic lifeform that is out of control to cause this phenomenon," Souichi said thoughtfully.
"Yes, that was the previous guess of myself and Squirtl—ah, no, the Blastoise Boss as well," Rio also joined the conversation. "Your purpose in coming here isn't just to assist us, right?"
"Takuma told me that his parents were captured by a group of suspicious individuals and may be imprisoned in an experimental base on the other side of this swamp. Moreover, a famous Pokémon Professor might also be there. So, our primary objective is to rescue the hostages."
Speaking to this point, Souichi paused. He looked at Rio with a very serious expression.
"Also, I heard from Takuma that you once told him a very great disaster would befall the entire Newmoon Forest, even implicating the towns surrounding the forest. Can you tell me what you know?"
The word "disaster" made the entire scene fall silent.
Rio said with a grave tone, "If I'm not mistaken, I'm afraid that just as these controlled Pokémon said, we will be facing the power of a god."
Souichi: "A god? Are you talking about those legendary Pokémon? But I haven't heard any legends of any legendary Pokémon in Newmoon Forest. The Legendary Birds? The Legendary Beasts? Ho-Oh? Lugia? It's impossible for any of them to appear here."
"Not these legendary Pokémon, but a god that has never appeared before."
"Never appeared before?"
"Yes. A powerful, man-made legendary Pokémon, created by humans using forbidden power."
"A man-made legendary Pokémon?"
Souichi showed an expression of utter shock. Since Rio was also wearing a language translator, what he said was simultaneously heard by Officer Jenny and the other humans.
"(Human Language) Is, is this a joke? A legendary Pokémon created by humans?"
"(Human Language) How is that possible?"
The Rangers and police officers all expressed disbelief.
However, Souichi did not question it. He said with a grave tone, "Do you know what that, no, what that man-made legendary Pokémon is called?"
Rio took a deep breath and slowly said, "That deity, its name is..."
"Mewtwo!"