"Still at Master-level..." Shiro muttered to himself. "It just went from newly entered Master-level to peak Master-level."
The higher a Pokémon's level, the slower its growth became. Peak Master-level was naturally far stronger than someone who had just reached Master-level.
'Another four should be enough to reach Legendary-level...' He quietly calculated in his mind.
If Arceus was level 100, the absolute peak of the Divine-level, then in theory the highest level that all twenty-eight Unown could reach after merging should also be level 100.
Four Unown reached level 71. Eight reached 79... Twenty-eight reached 100.
That meant twelve to sixteen should be around Legendary-level, while twenty should just enter Divine-level.
Shiro wasn't completely sure.
What he could say with confidence was that collecting Unown was far easier than slowly raising a Pokémon from scratch. It was even easier than catching a Legendary Pokémon.
About ten minutes later, he carefully searched the Snowpoint Temple once more.
Previously, after learning that the Hunters Guild had raided the temple in search of treasure, he had assumed they were after something related to Regigigas. Looking at it now, it was also possible they had been searching for Unown, specifically the Unown C.
Perhaps because of technical limitations or the environment at the time, they had failed to find Unown C.
Even so, the Hunters Guild, or rather Team Galactic, had indeed taken Regigigas's treasure.
After confirming several times that nothing else was hidden inside the deserted temple except a few Pokémon sheltering from the cold, Shiro finally said, "Let's go."
'Okay,' Unown A replied.
The next moment, both of them disappeared.
Snow quickly piled up in front of the temple entrance. Without psychic protection, the inside of the temple became even colder.
* * *
Sinnoh, Sandgem Town.
Rowan Research Institute.
Returning to the lab after having finished his meal, Rowan looked completely relaxed. He lay back on the sofa with one hand on his stomach, enjoying a rare lazy moment. Even the research he normally loved couldn't pull him away from his break.
Then a startled shout suddenly broke the silence.
"What? The League trainers sent on the mission were trapped inside the Hunters Guild headquarters?"
Carolina strode in through the laboratory entrance with a communicator in hand. She had originally been about to leave by car.
"Huh? What?" Rowan blinked, feeling like he hadn't fully woken up yet.
"The League organized a team of trainers to deal with the Hunters Guild. Shiro was among them," Cynthia explained from behind with her arms folded, sounding slightly hesitant.
"Didn't he say he had something to do and left early? Uh..." Rowan stopped halfway through his sentence as realization hit him.
Something to do... That was the League mission.
Chairman Goodshow really did know how to make the most of every capable person.
His drowsiness vanished instantly. Scratching his head in frustration, he asked, "They were trapped inside the Hunters Guild headquarters? What happened? Are there really hunters capable of cornering Shiro and the others?"
Carolina gently shook her head. "According to the reports, the hunters still had Legendary Pokémon with them. There was even a battle between Legendary Pokémon inside the Hunters Guild headquarters."
Rowan frowned the moment he heard that, wondering if he had misheard.
A routine mission from the League, yet it involved... Legendary Pokémon?
"L-Legendary Pokémon?" he asked carefully.
"That's right." Carolina let out another sigh.
Rowan's face immediately turned pale. He jumped to his feet and anxiously headed toward the door, only to stop and pace back again.
"W-What should we do? Should we ask Chairman Goodshow to send those veteran trainers? Or… has Shiro and the others already..."
"No. They've already completed the mission and returned safely," Carolina replied with another sigh as she rubbed her forehead. "Otherwise, how would I know all this information?"
Rowan stood there silently for a few moments before dropping back onto the sofa. It didn't take long before he sat upright again.
"So which Legendary Pokémon were involved? And how exactly did Shiro and the others escape?"
He had confidence in Shiro, but nowhere near enough to believe he could defeat a Legendary Pokémon head-on.
Even the weakest Legendary should possess Master-level strength. Not long ago, they had said Shiro's strongest Pokémon was only at Champion-level. If he had really crossed one or even two major ranks in such a short time, that would be unbelievable.
Although Rowan wasn't much of a trainer himself, he understood just how difficult it was to raise Pokémon.
Even if every region in the League combined their forces, including the retired old experts hidden somewhere and the members of the evil organizations, they might not even gather five Master-level trainers.
For most trainers, Champion-level was already an unreachable peak.
"They were the Kanto Legendaries, Articuno and Moltres," Cynthia answered, resting a finger against her chin. At the same time, she couldn't help recalling the Entei she had seen with Shiro before.
Entei was also a Legendary Pokémon. Perhaps it had some connection with the two legendary birds?
When she first heard that Legendary Pokémon had appeared, she assumed it had been a battle between Shiro and some hunter. She never imagined it would involve Articuno and Moltres instead.
Besides, although there had been no mention of Shiro's Entei in the mission reports, the thought of three Legendary Pokémon appearing in the same battle still felt incredibly unbelievable.
"It was because Chairman Goodshow reached an agreement with the Hunters Guild's new leader, Hunter W, that our people were released," Carolina explained calmly as she sat down beside the sofa.
Rei immediately brought over coffee and filled everyone's cups.
"Hunter W? An agreement?" Rowan asked with interest.
He knew the Hunters Guild's previous leader had been Hunter A. Hunter A had disappeared after being seriously injured during the earlier interception mission. With the guild left leaderless, that had become the starting point for all the recent chaos and this operation.
Yet they had already chosen a new leader so quickly.
A trace of heaviness appeared in Carolina's eyes as she spoke in a complicated tone. "Yes. The Chairman accepted Hunter W's proposal to lift the ban on the Hunters Guild. In Hoenn, Unova, and Kalos… it's said the Vice Chairman is already drafting the necessary documents."
"Lift the ban on the Hunters Guild?"
Cynthia stepped closer. This was the first time she had heard about it. Shock and confusion filled her eyes as she asked, "Why would the League Chairman agree to something like that? Weren't they planning to wipe out the Hunters Guild in Sinnoh?"
Carolina raised a hand to stop her and lowered her voice. "Officially, this involves several senior League officials who participated in the operation. In reality, it was a decision the Chairman made after considering the overall situation."
"Mainly, it was Hunter W who somehow managed to persuade Chairman Goodshow. If the proposal is officially approved, the League will even provide funding to help rebuild the Hunters Guild."
**
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