Chapter 822: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel, Magearna
At first, AZ didn't understand what Kazuya meant.
But after walking out of the underground passage, he understood.
In front of the underground palace where he placed the Ultimate Weapon and the Master, there actually stood two magical beasts.
And they were no ordinary magical beasts.
[Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel, Magearna].
The title of the 19th Pokémon movie was perfectly fitting here.
The Azoth Kingdom is very close to the Nebel Plateau, which was also the birthplace and home of Magearna.
It wasn't surprising for these two Mythical Pokémon to appear here.
"You're right."
AZ's brow furrowed.
Initially, he didn't quite believe it.
After all, that Shadow had never specifically targeted humans like them, as if completely disregarding them, perhaps thinking that the magical beasts alone were enough to wipe them out.
In fact...
That was pretty much the case.
Look at how humanity had been driven to this desperate dead end.
But now.
Leaving aside Giovanni and Chloe.
At least he, AZ, seemed to still be somewhat of a threat in Shadow's eyes.
To actually dispatch two Demon Gods to wait in this place.
Not going to lie.
If it weren't for Kazuya, Greninja, and their group this time.
Relying solely on Team Flare's strength would have inevitably led to their total annihilation while trying to retrieve the Ultimate Weapon.
AZ only had infinite lifespan; he wasn't unkillable.
And if he died.
The extinction of the survivors in the Kalos region would just be a matter of time.
Seeing Kazuya and his party arrive, Volcanion and Magearna wasted no time, their four arms aimed directly at them as they launched an attack immediately.
Fleur Cannon.
Hydro Pump.
Two fierce energy blasts surged towards them, causing the expressions of all the Team Flare members to change drastically.
Only AZ calmly crossed his arms and stood his ground, not even intending to blink.
You must be joking.
What level were Magearna and Volcanion?
Didn't they see the kind of characters standing beside him?
The latter was okay.
It could at least be considered a combat god.
It had some level of skill, at least stronger than ordinary second-tier gods.
But what was the former?
A companion-type artificial Pokémon created by AZ's junior over six hundred years ago.
AZ had even communicated with Eliphas back then.
Many people didn't know that Magearna's design blueprints were drawn by Eliphas under AZ's guidance.
So AZ knew perfectly well that Magearna's combat capabilities were not strong.
They didn't design much combat capability into Magearna.
After all.
Eliphas only wanted to create a toy for the young princess of Azoth at the time. Compared to combat capability, the ability to take care of people was much more important.
On this side.
Scizor and Lucario were somewhat distracted.
So they failed to block the attack in the first instance.
By the time they snapped back and prepared to act, a massive Water Shuriken had already been thrown from behind, shattering the two energy beams in one strike.
"Not bad."
Kazuya glanced at the Greninja who made the move and nodded in appreciation.
At the same time, he looked at Magearna opposite them, pursed his lips, and shook his head.
The contrasting attitudes were stark.
It couldn't be helped.
He simply knew too much.
In his fourth life, Kazuya was an Empoleon, a Master-level Water-type Pokémon carrying the title of "God of the Sea".
He could be said to have reached the pinnacle of the Water type.
So facing a junior like Greninja, he could tell the other's potential and level at a glance.
Quite excellent.
Truly worthy of the frog who had abandoned many novice Trainers in the past; this talent lived up to the pride in his heart.
As one of the aces of the former fated protagonist Ash, and Zygarde's hand-picked lumberjack assistant, the current Greninja possessed the qualifications to hold his own and independently claim godhood on this land.
According to Kazuya's observation.
Greninja should be at the Master level.
It was to be expected.
Greninja and Lucario were about the same age, both being Pokémon with outstanding talent and complex experiences.
With the former being Ash's Pokémon, having bathed in the blessing of the protagonist halo, it was understandable for him to develop slightly faster.
If Lucario wasn't also an Aura Guardian, perhaps this gap would only be wider.
Looking again at Magearna opposite them.
He had never seen the first world's Magearna in the past.
He thought the "daughters" of the two worlds would be somewhat similar.
Thinking about it now.
He had overestimated the Magearna here.
Perhaps the first world's Magearna knew better how to take care of people, but in terms of combat power, she fell far short of the second world's.
When the latter was just a concept, it was designed with the goal of "shattering comets" in mind, not to mention it was equipped with the core of the Ultimate Weapon.
The hardware was incomparable.
If the ones guarding this place were his two friends from the second world.
Kazuya would at least show some respect.
By teaming up to beat them down.
But right now...
"Scizor, Lucario, can I leave them to you?"
Kazuya looked at his disciple and junior.
They obediently nodded and then charged forward.
Watching them focus their minds on the battle, Kazuya breathed a slight sigh of relief.
He also had the intention of using the battle to distract the two, hoping they wouldn't focus too much on Cofagrigus's situation.
They were still two juniors, after all.
Unlike a grand senior like Dragonite, who had lived for over a thousand years and could quickly accept reality and manage her emotions.
Skitty and Mewtwo were also quite sad, but the pain from the shadow energy corruption coincidentally distracted them significantly in this regard, requiring no excessive comforting from Kazuya.
Thinking of this.
Kazuya turned his head and glanced at the kitten in his arms, and the humanoid white cat beside him.
The shadow energy was almost dissipating.
He figured they would be free from it by tomorrow or the day after.
This battle ended very quickly.
Just as Kazuya and his party felt powerless against Giratina, two mid-tier Champion magical beasts felt equally powerless facing a Master and a pseudo-Master.
In less than fifteen minutes.
Volcanion and Magearna lost their lives and reverted to their original forms.
Watching the two of them fall.
Kazuya felt no sadness in his heart.
There was nothing to be sad about.
The Volcanion and Magearna he knew were living happily in the second world.
"How did They survive from that time? Which of you fought on the Kalos battlefield?"
Scizor looked down at the two Pokémon, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
On the battlefield of the Great Darkness back then.
The number of Demon Gods killed by the gods was not small.
Regieleki, Miraidon, Glastrier and Spectrier, Genesect, Celebi, Shaymin, Zeraora...
The number of casualties was quite significant.
It could be said that the number of Demon Gods surviving in this world was only half or even less of the total number of gods back then.
Of course.
Most of those surviving now were powerful gods.
Or Demon Gods with special abilities, or those who liked to move in groups.
Demon Gods like Volcanion and Magearna...
Logically speaking, shouldn't have survived until now.
"Hmm... They were probably corrupted by shadow energy very late. By the time They were corrupted, the war here was probably almost over."
Lucario lowered his head to briefly analyze.
To this theory.
Kazuya nodded in agreement.
He had a relatively good understanding of Volcanion and Magearna, whether from the original work or from his friends in the second world.
Anyway, in his view.
Volcanion and Magearna would absolutely not participate in the battlefield of the Great Darkness. They would definitely stay and guard their small territory of the Nebel Plateau, undoubtedly.
Therefore.
They must also have been among the last batch of Pokémon to face magical beast attacks.
"Let's not talk about this. AZ, take us to see the Master."
"Alright, follow me."
AZ nodded.
He led the group all the way to a secret room on the negative first floor of the Azoth Palace.
After pulling down an inconspicuous oil lamp on the wall.
The entire basement floor began to shake.
Kazuya could feel the room they were in moving.
Such a sudden change surprised not only the Team Flare members but even Lucario and the others.
A moment later.
Kazuya and his group followed AZ out of the secret room.
Only to find that the path they came from had completely transformed.
They arrived at an unfamiliar and dim underground clearing.
In the center of the clearing stood five giant bronze pillars in the shape of the Eternal Flower. The five pillars were constantly emitting natural energy outwards, forming a semi-transparent barrier glowing with rainbow-colored light.
It was precisely because of the existence of this barrier.
That the entire underground clearing wasn't pitch black.
"That's the Ultimate Weapon?"
The Team Flare members curiously looked inside the barrier at the giant flower-bud bronze mechanism.
Many of them were children born in the New Magical Beast Era, so they had never seen the Ultimate Weapon in all its glory during the Great Darkness.
The Ultimate Weapon, which had lain dormant for over three thousand years, looked somewhat dilapidated.
Evidently disappointing the young people of Team Flare.
It didn't look like a divine artifact at all.
Except for AZ, the creator.
Only Kazuya and Greninja wouldn't underestimate this thing.
They had both witnessed the power of the Ultimate Weapon with their own eyes.
One, three thousand years ago in the second world.
The other, on the Kalos battlefield over seventy years ago in the first world.
"Next, we just have to wait for Zygarde to come knocking. It should have almost integrated into Its Complete Forme by now."
AZ crossed his arms and looked up at the Ultimate Weapon and the Master before him.
His eyes held pride, but also regret.
These two things destroyed a lot, but they also created a lot.
Right now.
He would use Them once again to create hope for the survivors.
"How do you know It will definitely come?"
Greninja turned to look at AZ.
He had wanted to ask for a while.
Why was AZ so certain Zygarde would come knocking?
AZ turned his head to meet his gaze, a sinister smile appearing on his face: "Because of this."
He held out a hand, revealing a jar-shaped glass container resting on his palm.
Everyone stared at the green lump inside the container.
And were all ultimately shocked!
"Zygarde?!"
More accurately, one of Zygarde's Cores.
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