Night had fallen.
Far from the light pollution of any city, the night sky over Liberty Garden was especially brilliant.
"Grey, I heard that if you make a wish on a shooting star, you'll have good luck. Too bad Jirachi isn't here. I wonder when it'll wake up again."
Victini lay on Grey's shoulder, one little paw pointing at the meteor streaking across the sky.
The sight of the shooting star made it think of one of its old friends, Jirachi.
Unfortunately, Jirachi only woke up once every thousand years.
And each time, it stayed awake for only seven days.
A pretty rough deal, honestly.
In the end, it all came down to Jirachi not having enough energy of its own.
If it had enough energy, it could stay in the world all the time.
Victini had even tried giving some of its own power to Jirachi.
But the effect had been minimal at best.
It had only extended the time a tiny bit.
Still, it did seem to have shortened this current sleep.
At this rate, Jirachi might wake up again after only a few hundred years.
Which was... good news, sort of.
"Jirachi... If I remember right, that's a Mythical Pokémon from the Hoenn region."
Jirachi's image surfaced in Grey's mind.
Actually meeting Jirachi in person would still be pretty difficult.
"Yep, yep, that's right. The Mythical Pokémon from Hoenn."
Victini nodded eagerly. It hadn't expected Grey to know Jirachi existed.
"It probably won't be too long before it wakes up next time. If you want to go see it then, I can come with you."
Little Riolu was fairly familiar with Jirachi too. Whenever Jirachi wasn't asleep, the two of them had spent time together.
Calling them close friends wouldn't be an exaggeration.
With that thought, Little Riolu looked off into the distance.
Grey followed its gaze.
Far away, the beam from the lighthouse swept across the ocean, blending with the reflected stars until it became hard to tell where the sky ended and the sea began.
The night breeze carried the damp scent of saltwater, mixed with the fragrance of night-blooming jasmine on the island.
"Come to think of it, this kind of pure darkness has become a luxury in modern cities."
Grey let out a quiet sigh. He had lived in Saffron City for so long, yet this was the first time he had spent this long simply staring at the night sky.
Sure enough, there were all kinds of things beyond the city.
"Grey, what's life like in the cities where you all live every day?"
Victini tugged lightly at Grey's collar with its tiny paw, curiosity shining in its eyes.
To it, the bustling cities trainers always talked about sounded like fairy tales from another world.
This island, jokingly called "Liberty," was in truth an exquisitely made cage.
Unpredictable ocean currents surrounded it on all sides, and the nearest land was dozens of nautical miles away.
Victini had flown to the island's edge countless times, trying to cross beyond it.
But it had never managed to take that final step.
After staying on Liberty Garden for so long, Victini had long since lost the desire to escape.
The wealthy man had treated it very well.
He had given it almost everything it wanted.
Everything except the chance to go outside.
"Victini, all I can say is that the outside world isn't as wonderful as you imagine. If you want to leave, I can take you with me. But..."
Grey left the sentence hanging there.
"What is it?"
Victini tilted its head, curious about what Grey was about to say.
"But I might not be able to spend that much time playing with you."
Grey had a lot of Pokémon now. He did spend time with them in everyday life, but that time was usually spent training.
There really wasn't much pure play.
So Grey felt that if Victini followed him, it might end up getting neglected in much the same way.
"That's okay, that's okay. As long as you let me stay with you, that's enough."
Victini honestly didn't mind.
Its relationship with the wealthy man from before had been pretty similar.
They would wander around the island and chat from time to time.
To be honest, Victini felt that even if it could only follow Grey around and chatter at him once in a while, getting a response already felt wonderful.
That wealthy man had never been able to understand what it was saying. Every time, Victini had to spend forever trying to make itself understood.
So Victini felt that being able to talk with a trainer like Grey, someone who actually understood Pokémon speech, would be far more comfortable.
Besides, Little Riolu would be following Grey too.
That was its good buddy. Even if it couldn't always play with Grey, couldn't it still play with its best friend?
Thinking about it that way, going out with Grey seemed like all upside.
"That works. If you want to come with me, then come along."
Grey nodded. He didn't think it was a big deal.
"Great! Then come with me, I'll show you my home!"
Victini happily led Grey toward its house.
...
...
At Liberty Garden, in front of the lighthouse at the island's center, Grey stood there and looked it over carefully.
On the surface, it looked completely ordinary, just a normal lighthouse.
But Grey knew better.
Push open that rusted maintenance door, go down the spiral staircase for thirty meters, and you would arrive at a heartbreaking little "paradise."
"Alright, Victini, lead the way."
Grey rubbed his brow and decided to let Victini take him in.
"Okay! Come on!"
Victini knew the place inside and out, and in no time at all it brought Grey to its "home."
It was a circular room about two hundred square feet across.
Inside were piles of expensive toys and custom-made furniture.
Real-time weather projections covered the walls, and in one corner there was even a model windmill built to resemble the ones in Eindoak Town.
Victini's little nest sat right in the center. Even its golden food bowl had an inscription carved into it:
For the Most Precious Victory Star
Grey walked over and brushed the edge of the bowl with his fingertips. The metal was cold, as though it were mocking the extravagance of this gilded captivity.
A windowless basement remained a basement. No matter how elegant the furnishings were, it was still just a deluxe cage.
The whole place felt stifling.
"Bars? Why are there bars here?"
Grey pointed at the floor beneath his feet.
Through his aura perception, he could sense the electromagnetic barrier system buried inside the walls, still giving off a faint blue glow.
Still, the energy was weak. Grey could tell in reverse that even at full power, it likely would never have been able to seriously hurt Victini.
"I don't know. He said that if I wanted to go outside, I had to get through this thing."
Victini explained it matter-of-factly.
Grey thought for a moment, his eyes sweeping toward the little shrine tucked in the corner of the wall.
Inside it was a photo of the wealthy man and Victini together, taken shortly before his death.
In the photograph, the old man looked thin and worn down, yet he had still insisted on hanging the key around Victini's neck.
Grey thought back to the notarized video of the will he had seen earlier.
The wealthy man, hands shaking, had crossed out the names of every relative and donated his entire fortune to a Pokémon rescue fund.
That video was still pinned to the top of the Unova League website even now.
"He gave Victini everything except freedom..."
Grey let out a quiet sigh and unclenched his fist.
Victini rubbed its head against his palm, the warm touch bringing to mind a certain question.
How much distance was there, really, between love and possession?
Grey didn't know.
And he had no desire to find out.
"Want a late-night snack?"
Grey turned and took a few steps forward before asking Victini.
"Wait for me a second."
Victini said that, then started pawing around on the floor like it was looking for something.
"Then I'll wait outside... Hm? What's that?"
Just as Grey turned to leave, a yellowed envelope in the corner caught his eye.
He walked over and picked it up. Dust fell away in soft flakes as he opened it.
"To whoever comes after me,
By the time you read this, my ashes have probably already been scattered over the windmill flower fields of Eindoak Town.
And if you found this letter, then that means you are a trainer Victini has recognized.
Of course, maybe you're not.
But that no longer matters.
What matters is that I hope you will take it away.
Catch it, or release it, either is fine.
I'm giving its Poké Ball to you, and I only ask that you treat it kindly.
This child hates dampness, and before sleep you need to rub its left ear three times or it won't settle down.
It always says the inside of a Poké Ball feels too stuffy.
So I hid its Poké Ball in..."
That was as far as it went. The writing after that became more and more messy.
By the end, it was nearly impossible to read, just a blur that looked like fading scribbles.
Grey knew this must have been written when the man had very little time left.
"But where exactly did he hide the Poké Ball?"
Grey closed his eyes and tried using his aura.
And sure enough, he found a round object carrying Victini's scent.
It was underneath the third floor tile to the left of the entrance.
Grey lifted the tile without any effort.
A Luxury Ball appeared beneath it.
And lying quietly beside it was a small slip of paper.
May You Have Freedom Forever
"Freedom forever..."
Grey let out a quiet sigh.
He didn't want to say any more about someone who had already passed away.
Still, the old man's letter had mentioned a place called Eindoak Town.
That had once been Victini's home, and the wealthy man had gone to immense effort to bring Victini out of there.
If Grey remembered correctly, that was also where the Victini movie had taken place.
He hadn't expected to run into a familiar place name under these circumstances, and the feeling it gave him was hard to describe.
"Oh, you found my Poké Ball! Then I don't have to keep looking for it. In that case, let's go get barbecue!"
The late-night snack Victini wanted was barbecue.
Grey readily agreed.
It was just barbecue.
No big deal.
...
...
The next day, the battle for the final four began.
Yesterday they had fought down to the top eight, and today would decide who advanced further.
Eight trainers remained.
Grey, N, Mustard, Alder, Shauntal, Caitlin, Marshal, and Grimsley.
Most of them were high-ranking figures from Unova.
That made Alder breathe a little easier.
Thank goodness the Elite Four were all still here.
Otherwise, if one of them had already been knocked out, they would have been laughed at to death.
The match list appeared quickly.
Grey's opponent in the fight for the final four was Grimsley.
An Elite Four-level trainer.
"Elite Four Grimsley, huh? I've got the type advantage... Fine. This is actually the perfect chance to test that."
Grey adjusted the silk scarf around his neck. Set into the end of it was a Key Stone.
He had already decided which Pokémon would be taking the field this time.
...
...
It was Grey's turn to step onto the field soon enough.
Grimsley stood across from him and gave a slight nod in greeting.
Grey returned the nod.
Once the greetings were out of the way, both of them sent out their partners.
"Lucario, I'm counting on you!"
"Bisharp, I'm leaving this to you."
Grey sent out Lucario, while Grimsley sent out Bisharp.
Pokémon: Bisharp
Type: Steel / Dark
Level: 66
Ability: Inner Focus
Moves: Omitted.
A Bisharp at Elite Four level.
And now, Lucario had reached that same standard as well.
The livestream started on schedule.
Title: Strongest Trainer Tournament Day 2, the real Elite Four vs. Elite Four!
Tags: Elite Four, outdoors, small island
Today really was a battle between an Elite Four and an Elite Four, and in terms of typing, Grey had the advantage.
Fighting beat Dark. If Grimsley didn't have some hidden trump card, there was a very real chance Grey would sweep both Pokémon in one go.
"Hm?"
Grimsley noticed Grey was wearing a scarf today, and at the clasp in the center was a bead shining with rainbow light, bright enough to catch the eye.
"That's... a Key Stone?"
Grimsley had a Key Stone of his own, so he naturally recognized what Grey was wearing around his neck.
But which of Grey's Pokémon was his Mega?
Lucario, or Blaziken?
If it was Blaziken, that would still be manageable.
But if it was Lucario...
That would be troublesome.
"Lucario, Mega Evolve!"
Grey opened the match by choosing Mega Evolution. The Key Stone set into the center of the scarf burst with rainbow light, then transformed into countless threads of energy that shot toward Lucario.
At the same time, the Mega Stone on Lucario's body shone with the same brilliance.
The two streams of light connected in midair, forming an energy cocoon-like shell around Lucario.
Crack!
With a sharp burst, Lucario's appearance changed dramatically.
Its gaze grew fiercer, and its tail gained a tuft of fluffy yellow fur.
Beyond that, black markings spread across its blue body, while red streaks appeared at the tips of its limbs and the dangling appendages on its head.
Pokémon: Mega Lucario
Type: Fighting / Steel
Level: 66
Ability: Adaptability
Moves: Aura Sphere, others omitted.
After Mega Evolution, Lucario's Ability changed to Adaptability, increasing its same-type attack bonus from fifty percent to a full hundred percent.
Its move power shot up dramatically.
The instant the Mega Evolution ended, Lucario turned into a streak of silver light and shot forward.
Bullet Punch!
"Bisharp, Iron Defense."
Grimsley chose the steadier approach. Before Lucario could reach it, he had Bisharp boost its Defense so it could weather the storm that was about to come.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
After Mega Evolving, Lucario's speed climbed to another level. Bisharp hadn't even had time to fully gather its Steel-type energy before it was hit by a chain of blows.
Sparks flew everywhere. Even though Bisharp resisted Bullet Punch, it was still driven backward again and again.
Still, it managed to use Iron Defense in the end.
A flash of silver light rose around it, sharply increasing Bisharp's Defense.
"Now, Brick Break!"
The two of them were already close together, the perfect distance for close combat.
Lucario grabbed Bisharp with one hand while raising the other high overhead. Brownish Fighting-type light burst into being, and a crushing wave of martial force rolled forward.
"Sucker Punch."
The moment Grimsley gave the order, Bisharp curled its mouth into a cold grin.
Its bladed arm became coated in dark energy, and before Lucario's attack could land, it struck first, smashing hard into Lucario's abdomen.
Lucario grunted in pain, and the claw pinning Bisharp in place loosened involuntarily.
"Use Brick Break to counter!"
Bisharp spun free at once, its steel blade-arm gathering the same kind of energy Lucario had just used before chopping forward first.
Boom!!!
"Luca!"
Lucario's shoulder took the hit, and one knee bent slightly.
"Drain Punch!"
Grey barked the command, and Lucario clenched its fist again before driving it forward in a heavy blow.
The moment it hit Bisharp's chest armor, a violent green shockwave exploded outward.
Life energy poured back into Lucario's body, the blue glow in its eyes intensifying as its bent knee straightened once again under the rush of restored strength.
Bisharp, meanwhile, dropped to one knee, clearly in bad shape.
Even with Iron Defense up, Fighting-type moves hit it for four times the normal damage.
That one blow had come dangerously close to finishing it.
"Aura Sphere."
Lucario's left paw curled slightly as aura energy converged like rivers flowing into the sea.
In the blink of an eye, a brilliant blue sphere half a meter wide formed in its palm.
Whoosh!
Aura Sphere detonated directly above Bisharp's head, and the damage it dealt left Bisharp hanging by a thread.
After taking two hits like that and still having any stamina left, Grey had to admit Bisharp really did have something going for it.
If the type disadvantage hadn't been so severe, it probably would have been an even match against Lucario.
But...
Why was Grimsley getting more excited?
"Metal Burst!"
Just as suspicion flashed through Grey's mind, Grimsley called out the move.
Metal Burst: Returns the damage taken at 1.5 times the power.
In an instant, Bisharp's body erupted with silver light.
Hundreds of razor-sharp steel blades blasted from its body, all of them screaming through the air toward Lucario as though locked onto it.
Lucario immediately realized things were bad. It retreated at top speed while rapidly forming several Aura Spheres in a row, blowing apart huge numbers of the blades.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A few of the blades remained intact and still managed to bury themselves in Lucario's body.
The damage had been reduced considerably, but the damage Lucario had dealt earlier had simply been too high. Even after being weakened, the counterattack still inflicted serious injuries.
And after using Metal Burst, Bisharp finally couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed.
"Bisharp is unable to battle. Grimsley, please send out your next Pokémon."
"Tch. I thought I'd at least be able to trade one for one at the end."
Grimsley sighed.
Metal Burst was one of his hidden cards, something he would never reveal unless absolutely necessary.
Unfortunately, Lucario's Aura Sphere had still canceled out far too much of it.
Sure enough, the safer, more reliable moves were usually the better choice.
"My next Pokémon is this one."
Grimsley's second Poké Ball hit the field.
A dark-blue shark Pokémon floated above the battlefield. It looked large and strange, almost like it was all head with barely any body.
The Brutal Pokémon, Sharpedo.
"Huh? Since when did Grimsley catch a Sharpedo? And it looks pretty strong too."
Outside the field, Shauntal adjusted her glasses, looking a little surprised.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 30 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810