Under Axel's sweet talk, the four Ruinous Pokémon all pledged themselves to him.
The only thing different from what Axel had expected was that they didn't become generals under Gardevoir, but instead chose to serve under Rayquaza.
Axel didn't really mind. These four were pretty special. They didn't need his training to maintain their level or grow stronger. As long as they had emotional power, they could survive and develop.
With almost no resources needed, basically getting them for free, Axel wasn't picky anymore.
Anyway, Rayquaza was completely on his side. As Aurient's guardian who had lived for so many years, Axel trusted him enough.
With the help of these four guys, Gardevoir's latest training was finally on the right track.
———
A few days passed. Gardevoir was almost always with Axel, learning the power of emotions from Chi-Yu and Chien-Pao.
What puzzled Axel was that Gardevoir found it very difficult to grasp Chi-Yu's jealousy power. On the other hand, Chien-Pao, who came later, quickly managed to teach her something.
Gardevoir herself understood the reason clearly. In her previous life, when she was trampled by Team Rainbow Rocket, she had experienced extreme hatred.
Because of that, when it came to comprehending the power of hatred, Gardevoir progressed extremely fast, practically advancing by leaps and bounds.
But that was as far as it went. By nature, she was kind, and she feared neither heaven nor earth, so it was hard for her to quickly grasp emotions like jealousy and fear.
"Let's leave it at this for now...", Watching the days pass by, Axel finally couldn't hold back.
Gardevoir had already gotten the basics of the power of hatred. For Pokémon or humans harboring hatred, a single thought from her could freeze them.
She could absolutely be called a dragon-slayer plus!
For Gardevoir, although the fire of jealousy was also powerful, Ice-type moves had always been top-tier. Since both could be triggered from within the body, the jealousy fire wasn't that important, and could be learned slowly later.
As for the control effects brought by fear, under Gardevoir's psychic power, it was just icing on the cake. It wasn't something urgently needed in the short term, so it could also wait.
The main issue was that Axel was too busy.
Now that his strength was already sufficient, it was time to fulfill his promise to Mewtwo and go rescue her companions.
There was also the matter on Volcanion's side, which involved a large amount of energy. It might even allow Necrozma to recover.
These were all things that had to be done as soon as possible.
Axel decided to head back to Aurient first. After spending a few days with his parents, he would go find trouble with Giovanni.
["Going back already?",] Seeing Axel stop the training, Gardevoir also let out a sigh of relief. She hadn't done such high-intensity training in a long time.
If it weren't for sensing Axel's intentions, she would have preferred to be like the white Gardevoir, not learning the powers of the four Ruinous Pokémon, and continue training the purest psychic power.
Of course, setting aside the idea of slacking off, Axel's training method would definitely lead to faster improvement.
After comprehending the power of hatred, even without riding Glastrier, Gardevoir now possessed power that surpassed many gods.
Seeing Gardevoir's relieved expression, Axel gently brushed against her long pink hair, "You've worked hard during this time. The remaining powers can be learned slowly later."
"Tomorrow I'll go find a friend and have her help keep an eye on the owner of the Wellspring Mask. After that, we'll head back to Aurient, and rest for a few days in Emberpine."
"After that..."
Axel told Gardevoir his plans. Gardevoir nodded lightly, leaning against him as she looked at the stars in the sky.
["Okay!"]
———
The next day at noon, Axel was awakened by sunlight spilling onto the windowsill. He stretched lazily.
The sunlight shone onto the Wellspring Mask placed casually on the bedside table. The entire room immediately seemed to ripple like water, giving off a soft aura, making it feel like being underwater.
"Ogerpon...", Axel held Gardevoir as he thought about Ogerpon's story.
That little one was also quite pitiful. At the beginning, she followed her trainer to a village in Kitakami.
Because of her strange appearance and frightening look, they weren't accepted by the villagers, and could only live in a nearby cave.
Later on, three greedy Pokémon, Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti, snatched Ogerpon's masks and planned to loot the village.
Ogerpon defeated those three evil Pokémon and protected the villagers, but also lost the three masks that had been stolen.
Yet the villagers never saw the truth. Instead, they treated those three evil Pokémon as heroes who protected Kitakami, and Ogerpon could only leave once again in loneliness.
Fortunately, the ancestors of Carmine and Kieran saw the truth, and passed down the story of Ogerpon defeating the three evil Pokémon from generation to generation.
"Poor thing... no wonder so many people like her."
Thinking of Ogerpon's experience, Axel couldn't help clicking his tongue.
But right now, there wasn't really any chance to clear Ogerpon's name. Because according to Axel's memory, only during a certain festival in Kitakami would that "little widow" come out of the cave.
Before she came out on her own, there was basically no way to find Ogerpon.
After thinking for a bit, to avoid Ogerpon being bullied again, Axel still dialed Iono's number.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
["Ahhh, Axel, you finally decided to call me!"], Iono's voice was excited, her shark-like teeth clenched tightly, looking like she was about to crawl out of the Rotom phone and bite Axel.
["Sister Cynthia even said a few days ago that you guys would come find me. Where are you!"]
"Ahem!", Axel scratched his head awkwardly, "Been too busy these past few days. I thought there weren't any villain organizations here, but after arriving, there was this Explorer Team, so it delayed things a bit..."
["Hmph!"], Iono huffed, reluctantly accepting Axel's explanation, ["Then are you coming to see me before you leave? Sister Elesa is here with me too!"]
'Elesa?'
Hearing that name, Axel immediately thought of those long legs. Plus Iono, the contrast between the two girls was maxed out, and both had fiery personalities.
The two of them together were really hard to refuse.
"I'll be there in a bit. I also need your help to keep an eye on something. I'll head back to Aurient tomorrow."
———
"Okay! I'll go ask Chairwoman Geeta for leave right now, then wait at home with Sister Elesa."
Iono excitedly hung up the call, then immediately had Rotom dial Geeta.
"Hello, hello, Chairwoman, can I take two days off?"
["Leave?",] Sitting in her office chair, Geeta frowned slightly, looking conflicted.
With the help of Axel's influence, she had just consolidated the internal forces of the League.
But this had also created a problem. The collaborators of those parasites within the League seemed to have become somewhat desperate.
Especially after those people were intercepted by Mr. Axel while trying to capture the four Ruinous Pokémon, the Paldea League had become unprecedentedly calm, like the stillness before a storm.
Geeta had originally planned that after Axel obtained the Wellspring Mask, she would go find him and see if he could help deal with the Explorer Team.
But when it came to actually doing it, Geeta found herself too embarrassed to trouble Axel.
Right now, those people could launch a violent attack on the League at any time. At a time like this, giving leave to Iono, one of the eight Gym Leaders, wasn't exactly a good decision.
After thinking for a moment, Geeta shook her head helplessly, "Iono, if you don't have something very important, how about waiting until this period is over before taking leave?"
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