Chapter 817: Little Golden Retriever Makes a Great Contribution Again!
"The power of bonds allows you to see through the nature of some things. For example, the state of the land beneath our feet, and those black vines are one of the external manifestations."
"It's like a Pokémon such as Furfrou; once it gets sick, its fur will grow wildly. Although it doesn't affect others, it makes its own body much heavier."
"Trimming the fur only treats the symptoms and not the root cause, but at least it can make the Furfrou feel a bit more relaxed and have the spare energy to heal itself."
Greninja explained, using the idol Pokémon of the Kalos region as an example.
It could only be said that it was very vivid and descriptive.
It instantly made Kazuya understand the relationship between the dark vines and the Kalos continent.
"Why didn't I see these in other regions?"
Kazuya recalled.
They had traveled through quite a few regions over these ten years.
Only when they arrived in the Kalos region did he see the dark vines. This indicated that other regions didn't have this problem at all.
"Accurately speaking, it's because of Team Flare led by Lysandre over a hundred years ago. They targeted the three ecological gods of the Kalos region, causing the three gods to unleash too much energy when resisting, which subsequently affected the ecosystem of the Kalos region."
"The three gods are equivalent to the producers, consumers, and decomposers of the ecosystem. If any one of them goes berserk, it will cause an imbalance, not to mention all three going berserk at the same time. Therefore, the ecosystem of Kalos collapsed over a hundred years ago, and the lifespan of the Kalos continent also began to drop significantly."
"Although I have been maintaining it all these years, without Zygarde, it's just a drop in the bucket. Within thirty years, Kalos will eventually succumb to the burden and begin to sink gradually. In a hundred years, Kalos might no longer exist in this world."
Greninja's words still cut straight to the point, explaining the situation to a layman like Kazuya in just a few sentences.
But if that was the case.
Didn't that mean the Kalos region was already in imminent danger?
This situation was not optimistic at all.
Currently, the regions with the most survivors in this world were Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Kalos.
Once the Kalos region sank.
Wouldn't at least a third of the survivors in this world die?
"Since the outcome cannot be changed, why do you still stay in Kalos?"
Kazuya turned his head to look at Greninja.
He might have known what this child was thinking, but he still asked the question out loud.
"...Ash and I met here, and we also fought on this land together with everyone. This place holds too many important memories for me. I can't just watch it disappear."
Greninja shook his head, let out a heavy sigh, and looked towards Lumiose City. "Moreover, there are still too many survivors in this place. If they lose this land, they will have nowhere to go."
His individual strength might not be able to achieve anything grand.
But he still wanted to do everything in his power.
Even if it only moved himself.
"I can understand."
Kazuya nodded gently.
It was pretty much what he had guessed.
Greninja's reason for wanting to save Kalos was also one of Kazuya's reasons for wanting to save this world.
"Let's not talk about this. What are your plans?"
"We agreed with our companions to rendezvous at Prism Tower in Lumiose City in three days."
"...Are you connected with Team Flare?"
"No, we're just purely looking for Team Flare. Are you familiar with them?"
Kazuya looked at Greninja curiously.
Come to think of it.
Given the nature of AZ and Greninja...
It would be hard for them not to know each other.
"They're alright. I've saved Team Flare members many times, and AZ is also having Team Flare help me clear the dark vines."
"They can see them too?"
"No, but they can see a vague energy body through some strange glasses, thereby determining the location of the dark vines, and use guns created by imitating Zygarde's power to eliminate them."
"That guy AZ is really something. To be able to research even this kind of thing, and he's still working hard to prolong the lifespan of Kalos. It can be considered making up for his past mistakes."
Kazuya offered a sincere compliment.
As expected.
Truly worthy of being the old fox AZ.
Whether in the Magical Beast Era or the New Magical Beast Era, he was a formidable figure.
He knew his judgment was flawless.
AZ was definitely the boss with the most potential among the three major world-saving organizations.
Greninja glanced at Kazuya, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with that statement.
There was no special meaning.
Simply because he didn't understand AZ's past and wasn't curious about it, so he couldn't offer any opinions on Kazuya's words.
He spoke up, "With your current condition, it's impossible for you to go to Lumiose City in three days. You should also have an idea of how dangerous that place is."
Even with him escorting them all the way.
Greninja didn't think Kazuya's party could reach there.
He even.
To put it bluntly.
Doubted whether these other three Pokémon could currently withstand the corruption of shadow energy.
This Dragonite was okay; the degree of corruption wasn't too severe.
But the condition of this Mewtwo and Skitty was truly unoptimistic, looking so bad that it made Greninja's heart ache.
However.
He saw that Kazuya seemed very confident in his companions.
So he didn't say any discouraging words.
"We have Heal Balls. I can put my companions in the balls and take them there myself. With my abilities, I don't think it'll be a big problem."
Kazuya wasn't worried about this at all, and was even quite confident.
"You could go a few days later, just to be safe."
Greninja suggested.
"No, my companions will worry. Since we've already agreed to rendezvous in three days, I absolutely must go and fulfill that promise."
Kazuya shook his head and refused.
With that said.
He looked down at his leg.
Skitty had crawled over at some point, slowly leaning against Kazuya's leg and snuggling up to him, her face full of pain.
Her strength was the weakest, yet she was the most heavily injured.
So the pain she endured from the shadow energy corruption was also the most severe.
But Skitty didn't have the energy to consider anything else right now.
She just wanted to lean close to her family; that way, she could feel a little more at ease.
Kazuya reached out and picked up the little cat by his leg, placing her in his arms. He stopped treating himself and instead used his Aura to help Skitty soothe her turbulent negative emotions.
"..."
Watching this scene, Greninja's lips moved, a look of nostalgia and envy revealing itself in his eyes.
He too once had companions who cherished him so much.
But now, he was the only one left.
Even his former companion who also stayed in the Kalos region—Goodra—had now become the most terrifying magical beast in that wetland.
He never went near that area.
He didn't want to fight it.
He could only stand far outside the wetland and occasionally take a few glances.
Sighing silently in his heart, Greninja spoke up again: "Why don't you use Bond Phenomenon to lessen the pain of the shadow energy corruption?"
"I can't achieve Bond Phenomenon anymore."
"Why? Is there a problem with the bond between you and your Trainer?"
Greninja frowned.
"That's impossible."
Kazuya hurriedly shook his head, then stared at Greninja's demeanor and asked, "Why can you still maintain the state of Bond Phenomenon?"
Isn't Ash already dead?
The latter half of the sentence.
He didn't voice out loud.
But he figured Greninja could understand his meaning.
"Although Ash has been dead for a long time, even before the Great Darkness incident, our bond hasn't been broken just because we are separated by life and death. Therefore, I can still achieve Bond Phenomenon, it's just that it is indeed not easy for one person to do so."
Greninja explained.
This also made Kazuya understand why he asked that question earlier.
So.
In Greninja's view.
Even if Kazuya's Trainer had passed away, he should still be able to achieve Bond Phenomenon.
"What a pity."
Kazuya sighed sincerely.
If the Great Darkness had occurred while Ash was still alive.
Then perhaps this incident would have been resolved as soon as it showed its first signs.
It wouldn't have been his turn to handle these matters now at all.
"Tell me about your situation."
"Ugh, my situation... I'm quite confused about it myself..."
Kazuya explained to Greninja the circumstances when he tried to undergo Bond Phenomenon.
After hearing it, the latter fell silent for a long time.
It seemed he couldn't figure out what was going on either.
"Although I don't really know how to resolve your situation, I can teach you some other methods that can reduce the influence of shadow energy. I think the effect should be better than your Aura."
"Oh? There's such a good thing?"
Kazuya immediately perked up upon hearing this.
However, what he was thinking was.
Whether he could use this method to alleviate his companions' pain.
"Mm, you said you can feel the 'heart power' from your Trainer. That's the key. This power can help you forcibly suppress the negative emotions in your heart, thereby reducing the influence of shadow energy."
"However, because this heart power is directed solely at you personally, it's only useful for you personally. If you want to use this power to help them, you might be disappointed."
"Also, to what extent the influence of the shadow energy can be reduced has nothing to do with you. It entirely depends on how pure and intense this 'heart power' is."
Greninja gave a brief introduction.
This greatly disappointed Kazuya.
But he wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Being able to have this kind of effect was already very good.
This way, he would also have more spare energy to use his Aura to help Skitty alleviate her pain.
So.
Greninja began to personally teach him how to utilize the heart power from a Trainer.
It sounded very mystical.
But in actual practice...
Kazuya felt it was quite similar to the legendary Viridian Power. It could also be considered a simple special ability.
And he happened to be a grandmaster of the two major mainstream special abilities. By drawing analogies, he mastered it very quickly.
On the morning of the third day.
Kazuya had already learned how to utilize this power.
At the same time.
It was exactly after learning this.
That the shadow energy attached to Kazuya's wound seemed to become just his special effect. Apart from looking intimidating, it had no effect whatsoever.
He actually couldn't feel any pain at all!
The little golden retriever had made a great contribution again across time and space!
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