Chapter 271: Floette's Spite, Zhi Huo's Destiny
After placing the Eternal Flower in the Distortion Space and leaving Xatu and Togekiss to watch over it, Bai Feng began to wait with peace of mind for Officer Jenny to arrive.
Officer Jenny was extremely efficient and quickly arrived at the Base with her people. Seeing that all the enemies in the Base had been subdued, she wasn't too surprised. She simply hurried to instruct the police officers to arrest the criminals and then arrange for the Pokémon that had been used in experiments to be taken away.
After completing all of this, Officer Jenny saluted Bai Feng and said, "Mister Bai Feng, thank you for assisting us with the matter!"
Bai Feng waved his hand and said, "It's nothing, this is what I should do as a Pokémon League citizen."
Thinking of his berries, he then said to Officer Jenny, "Officer Jenny, can I ask you for a favor?"
Officer Jenny readily said, "Go ahead, as long as I can help."
Bai Feng looked pleased and said, "The batch of berries that were robbed are in the Warehouse of this Base. Can you notify the Delivery Company people to come and help me transport them to the Changqing Tree Breeding House? Something happened at Home, and I want to rush back quickly."
Although Hatterene told him not to worry about Home, he still felt it was better to rush back as soon as possible. Regarding Zhi Huo, this fox, he felt it was better to be cautious.
"So it's this!" Officer Jenny realized, and immediately agreed wholeheartedly, "Don't worry, I will definitely handle this matter for you and won't let you suffer even a tiny loss."
Bai Feng smiled and said, "Then I'll trouble Officer Jenny!"
After entrusting the transport of the berries to Officer Jenny, Bai Feng hurried out of the Base, mounted Dragonair, and rushed towards Home at the fastest speed.
By the time they arrived above Fangxing Mountain, Dragonair was already panting heavily with exhaustion.
Since he had arrived Home, Bai Feng Recalled Dragonair to its Poké Ball and used his psychic power to fly quickly towards the Mountain top.
As soon as he flew to the Mountain mid-slope, the patrolling Talonflame discovered his presence and flew up to meet him.
"Ya gu~ ya gu~"
Seeing that they were all injured, Bai Feng asked nervously, "Are you all injured? Is it serious? Is the Mountain okay?"
"Ya gu~ ya gu~" Fine, fine, just minor injuries, Hatterene already treated us.
"Ya gu~ ya gu~" The Mountain is also fine, the enemy has been subdued!
...
The Talonflame chattered, recounting the events to Bai Feng. Learning that everyone was safe and sound, he finally breathed a long sigh of relief.
"You continue patrol, I'll go back and see."
"Ya gu~ ya gu~"
Hearing Bai Feng's words, the Talonflame flapped their wings and continued their patrol elsewhere.
When Bai Feng arrived at the Mountain top, he saw from a distance Bai Ye, Mewtwo, Lopunny, and Senior Ninetales gathered at the Small Courtyard Gate. Surrounded in the center were a tall man and several Pokémon.
He looked closely and easily spotted the exceptionally noticeable Delphox.
Zhi Huo?
Bai Feng hadn't seen Zhi Huo's true body, but he figured this was probably the only Delphox audacious enough to cause trouble on Fangxing Mountain!
As Bai Feng approached, Bai Ye and Mewtwo seemed to sense his presence and suddenly looked up. Seeing Bai Feng return, they both smiled, and Bai Ye even came forward directly.
"Shana~ Shana~" Baby, you're back!
"Yes, I'm back!"
Bai Feng smiled and nodded, while subtly observing Bai Ye, wanting to see if it was injured.
Bai Ye allowed Bai Feng to observe, looking at Bai Feng with a beaming smile. Because of the Fairy Aura, its recovery ability was extremely strong, and the minor injuries on its body had already healed before its baby Son returned.
Seeing that Bai Ye was truly unharmed, Bai Feng felt relieved. He controlled his psychic power to land slowly, descending opposite the battered Delphox.
"Zhi Huo?" He tentatively asked the battered Delphox before him.
It seemed Mewtwo had truly angered it, as the Delphox was beaten very miserably in the end. Its originally vibrant fur was not only messy and dirty, but also dull and lifeless.
"It's me, we meet again, Bai Feng." The Delphox spoke in the human tongue. Although looking battered, it had been human for a long time, and its aura remained unique.
"Yes, we meet again! But I didn't want to meet you this way!" Bai Feng said deeply.
Bai Feng's words made the Delphox fall silent.
Seeing that it didn't speak, Bai Feng turned his gaze to the tall man beside it, "This should be the creator of the Ultimate Weapon, Mr. AZ?"
To be honest, Bai Feng hadn't expected Zhi Huo could invite AZ to act. But thinking of the sleeping Floette in the Distortion Space, he seemed to guess the reason AZ would listen to the Delphox.
AZ heard this and looked at Bai Feng in surprise. He had been living anonymously and wandering for years, and hadn't expected someone still recognized him.
He gently nodded in admission.
"Mr. AZ is still looking for Floette?" Bai Feng asked again.
AZ stared at Bai Feng for a while, finally nodding slowly again.
Bai Feng pointed at AZ and angrily said to Zhi Huo, "Can't you see the tragedy of AZ and Floette? Why are you still fixated on resurrecting Diancie?
AZ resurrecting Floette was the indirect reason for Diancie's death. Don't you hate him?"
"Of course I hate him!"
Zhi Huo suddenly looked at AZ, its gaze revealing deep-seated hate.
Sensing Zhi Huo's hate, AZ silently lowered his head, his long hair covering his face, making his expression unclear.
Noticing the hate in Zhi Huo's gaze, Bai Feng continued, "Looks like you hate him, but you are now step by step becoming the person you hate the most!"
Bai Feng's words struck Zhi Huo like lightning, and its gaze quickly dimmed. It actually knew what evil things it was doing, but had just been unwilling to face it!
At this moment, Bai Feng opened the Distortion Space and took out the unconscious Floette from inside.
"Floette!"
The moment he saw Floette, AZ's expression was agitated, and he was about to leap to his feet, but under the pressure of Mewtwo's psychic power, he had to kneel back down. Only his eyes stared unblinkingly at the Floette in Bai Feng's Hand, his gaze revealing hope.
Regarding the matter of Floette being in Bai Feng's Hand, Zhi Huo was not very surprised. Since he could rush back so quickly, it meant the interception plan in Lumiose City had failed.
With Bai Feng's methods, if the plan failed, the Base naturally couldn't be saved.
Its attack on Fangxing Mountain this time was a desperate act, only it unfortunately misjudged Fangxing Mountain's strength and underestimated Bai Feng.
Who could have thought Bai Feng could grow to this level in just a few years?
"Look at the resurrected Floette, is it still the same Floette as before?" Bai Feng held up Floette, speaking to both Zhi Huo and AZ.
Floette was originally a lively, cute, pure, and innocent Pokémon, but the Eternal Flower Floette's body was covered in terrifying ominous power.
Just think, a Pokémon resurrected by sacrificing the lives of countless other Pokémon, how could it still be the same as before?
Perhaps the Eternal Flower Floette also discovered this ominous power hidden within its body, which is why it chose never to see AZ again for eternity!
Legend says after Floette was resurrected, the reason it separated from the King was because it saw the King killed many innocent lives, felt disappointed in him, and chose to leave.
But in Bai Feng's view, this was probably only one of the reasons, and not the main reason.
"AZ resurrecting Floette is not something worth being happy about for Floette. Similarly, if you, Zhi Huo, resurrect Diancie, Diancie will not only not be grateful to you, but will also resent you!" Bai Feng continued to press Zhi Huo and AZ.
As expected, as Bai Feng's words fell, AZ and Zhi Huo seemed to lose all strength, collapsing onto the Ground.
Bai Feng wanted to provoke them.
Just then, the Floette Bai Feng held in his Hand slowly woke up. It first stared blankly in confusion for a while, then upon seeing AZ and Zhi Huo, flew up in panic.
It didn't want to see either of these two people!
"Floette!"
AZ stretched out a hand, looking at Floette with a face full of anticipation. However, Floette's gaze towards him contained both attachment and pain.
Seeing Floette's reaction, Bai Feng seemed to think of something. He smiled and said to AZ and Zhi Huo, "How about we ask the Pokémon involved what it thinks!"
"Floette, do you wish to be resurrected?" Ignoring AZ and Zhi Huo, Bai Feng asked directly.
Floette didn't recognize Bai Feng, but still honestly answered his question. It shook its head painfully.
Bai Feng asked again, "Floette, do you resent AZ who resurrected you?"
Floette hesitated for a moment, finally nodded with tears in its eyes.
"Wh... why?" AZ was struck like lightning. He knew Floette was very disappointed in him, but hadn't expected Floette would resent him.
Floette was silent. At this moment, it saw the Fairy Flower Field not far away, and flew over.
"Look, you'll know if you look!" Bai Feng said to AZ.
The flying Floette suddenly had scattered purplish-red light points fall from its body. The moment the Fairy Flowers in the Flower Field touched the light points, they withered rapidly, losing all vitality.
Bai Feng's family used to have Floette. Its family's Floette dropped green light points, which could promote grass growth, belonging to Floette's racial talent.
The Floette and Florges family are very close to and love plants and flowers. Now the Eternal Flower Floette can no longer be close to flowers, instead making plants lose vitality. This blow was too great for it.
No wonder it said it resented AZ.
Floette flew back again, its gaze towards AZ full of tears. This wasn't what it wanted, it didn't want to live like this either!
Bai Feng saw this, looked at Zhi Huo and asked, "Are you willing for your bond with Diancie to become like this? Do you hope Diancie also experiences this pain?"
Zhi Huo stared blankly at Floette, saying nothing.
Bai Feng thought for a moment, opened the Distortion Space again. With a wave of his hand, a pile of things clattered down in front of Zhi Huo and AZ. It was the remains of the Ultimate Weapon.
"Aren't you looking for the Ultimate Weapon? Here, it's here, see if you can still use it."
Looking at the shattered Ultimate Weapon remains, AZ said in disbelief, "Ho... how could this be?"
As the creator of the Ultimate Weapon, AZ naturally recognized the pile of remains before him as belonging to the Ultimate Weapon.
"No... impossible! Impossible!" Zhi Huo also muttered with an agitated expression, "How could a divine object be destroyed?"
Hmph hmph~ Bai Feng snorted coldly. He wanted to strike at their soul, making them cause trouble for him!
"I told you long ago, but you didn't believe me!"
Suddenly, Zhi Huo's body went limp, utterly lifeless. Without the Ultimate Weapon, it didn't even have the last hope.
AZ saw Floette consistently refused to approach him and also became a puppet who had lost his soul.
After a while, Zhi Huo suddenly looked up at Bai Feng and said, "Kill me!"
Having lived for over a thousand years, Zhi Huo had persisted solely supported by the belief of resurrecting Diancie. Now everything had come to nothing, and it no longer had any attachment to this world.
Moreover, it also knew Bai Feng wouldn't let it go.
"You killed so many Pokémon, you indeed deserve to die!" Bai Feng said. He had not an iota of sympathy for Zhi Huo.
At this moment, Bai Ye suddenly suggested, "How about banishing it to my Black Hole!"
What kind of Location the other end of the Black Hole Bai Ye created was, even it didn't know clearly. But it was certain it was extremely terrifying inside, possibly even the Void that could annihilate everything.
Bai Ye didn't want to dirty its baby Son's Hands, so banishing Zhi Huo to the Black Hole was the most proper Arrange.
Zhi Huo had seen Bai Ye's Black Hole. It could Sense the terrifying Aura emanating from within even from the outside, knowing it would surely die if it went in. However, it had nothing left to live for, so it didn't speak, implicitly accepting this Arrange.
It stared intently at the Staff in its Hand. At the tip of the Staff was a tuft of Flame. It seemed to see its Destiny in the flickering firelight - the Destiny of death.
Legend says a Delphox can see future events if it focuses its mind on the burning Flames at the tip of its Staff.
Bai Feng thought for a moment, felt Mother's suggestion was feasible, so he nodded.
Zhi Huo moved its gaze from the Staff, pointed at the Goodra and Carbink beside it and said to Bai Feng, "Although they have always followed me, they haven't done anything bad. They usually just accompanied me and took care of me, so I hope you won't make things difficult for them."
Hearing Zhi Huo's words, Goodra and Carbink quickly gathered around it, looking at it tearfully, their gaze full of reluctance.
If not for Lord Zhi Huo, they would have died outside long ago. To others, Lord Zhi Huo might be a Pokémon that committed all sorts of evil, but to them, Lord Zhi Huo was a lifesaver.
Zhi Huo said expressionlessly, "I saved you back then just to use you. You don't need to be sad for me. After I die, go live your own lives!"
Goodra and Carbink had tears in their eyes, shaking their heads non-stop, not wanting to leave Zhi Huo. But they couldn't decide this matter, Zhi Huo was certain to die.
(End of chapter)