Sinnoh, Jubilife City, late at night.
On top of a tall watchtower, a young man in black is huddled on the platform, keeping watch over the surroundings while shivering uncontrollably.
There were no walls or watchtowers here originally. But with the help of Pokémon, such structures could be built quickly.
Though it was early spring, the weather was still cold, and for some reason, despite it being a time when it should have been warmer, the temperature kept dropping.
Footsteps echoed in his ears, and the young man turned to look.
"It's cold, isn't it? Here, have some hot tree juice."
A blue-clad young man he knew well approached him with two steaming cups of tree juice.
"What are the twelve ways to prepare Pidove?"
"Pokémon aren't meant to be eaten… Speaking of which, if Pokémon actually heard this code, do you think they'd get angrier or more relaxed?"
The black-clad young man on duty hurriedly stood up, holding the cup of tree juice tightly, feeling its warmth.
"Who knows? We're not even sure if Pokémon will attack us."
The blue-clad youth shook his head with a smile at his expression, then removed a Poké Ball from his waist.
"Come out, Flareon."
"Eevee!"
With a clear cry, a Pokémon with an orange-red body and a bright yellow tuft of fur resembling flames on its head appeared before the two.
As soon as Flareon appeared, the two felt the surroundings grow much warmer.
The black-clad youth finally let out a sigh of relief.
Seeing the black-clad youth's relieved expression, the blue-clad youth smiled and said, "You deserve it. Why didn't you catch a fire-type Pokémon?"
The black-clad youth shook his head and took a sip of hot tree juice: "I only want dragon-type Pokémon."
"Charizard would be fine; it has Dragon-type attributes after Mega Evolution."
The blue-clothed youth sat down on the spot, stroking Flareon's fluffy, warm fur, and said with a smile.
The black-clothed youth sighed helplessly, "Mega Stones are something you can save up for, but their production is too low. Unless you go to Kalos and use connections, it's hard to buy them."
"Save up? How long would you have to save?"
Mega Stones are truly rare items. They were currently in Sinnoh, not Sinnoh. While the Champion of the Sinnoh region was powerful, he didn't have the habit of giving Mega Stones to trainers he favored, like the former Champion of Sinnoh had.
Hmm, I heard that Mr. Steven over there even gives away Pseudo-Legendary Beldum when he's in a good mood. It's no wonder the Stone family is so wealthy.
"I'll save up for a month, show my dad my efforts, and then he should give me the money."
The young man in black spoke calmly.
The young man in blue twitched his lips. Although he had already guessed the answer, it was still a little hard to accept when he actually heard it.
However, at this point, the young man in blue suddenly seemed to think of something and turned to the young man in black and asked, "Do you know the new girl who joined our team? I saw you talking to her the other day."
The black-clad youth had been about to take another sip of tree juice, but upon hearing the blue-clad youth's words, he quickly set down his drink and looked at him with some suspicion.
The blue-clothed youth felt a bit uneasy under his gaze: "What's wrong? I was just asking. It's mainly because her Shiny Serperior is so eye-catching, and it has some strange patterns."
At this point, he paused for a moment, then said with an odd expression, "My Pokémon also said they felt a fire-type aura from Serperior..."
The black-clothed youth still looked at the blue-clothed youth with suspicion.
The blue-clothed youth smiled wryly and said, "I really don't mean anything else. I saw it with my own eyes. It was personally given to her by Champion Cynthia."
"So it's even more attractive, isn't it..." The black-clothed youth said calmly.
The blue-clothed youth: "..."
"Damn, you kind of have a point..."
The black-clothed youth looked at his troubled friend and patted his shoulder helplessly.
"Brother, I don't care if you have any improper intentions toward her, but in the end, I still have to tell you this: if you don't want to humiliate yourself or get into trouble by being too persistent, it's best to keep your distance. Being friends is fine, but don't think about anything else."
The blue-clothed youth looked helpless: "I really don't mean that. I just want to know why her Pokémon is so strange. Aren't you curious? I don't believe you can't tell..."
"Seeing it is one thing, but saying it is another." The black-clothed youth shook his head. "But her identity isn't a secret. Since Cynthia, the champion, is the one delivering it, that means there's no intention to hide it."
"Then just say it already..." The blue-clothed youth was nearly exasperated. After all that rambling, his hand had already reached out to Flareon.
The blue-clothed youth shoved the bewildered Flareon into the black-clothed youth's arms.
The black-clad youth rubbed Flareon against his nearly frozen face before speaking. "I only know that girl casually. It's me who knows her, not the other way around."
The blue-clad youth rolled his eyes at him. He was well aware of his friend's family background. It was indeed quite affluent, even reaching the upper echelons of the League, a stark contrast to his own middle-class upbringing.
But if the gap between him and that girl wasn't so great, he wouldn't be so secretive about it.
"She's not really a trainer either, but a researcher. And you've definitely heard of her teacher." The young man in black looked admiringly at him. "Her teacher is Professor Rope. The Serperior you're so interested in was probably bred by Professor Rope as well. Though I don't know what methods he used."
When the name "Professor Rope" came up, the blue-clothed young man's expression first showed surprise, then some regret, and finally turned into resignation.
The black-clothed young man patted his friend on the shoulder again: "Don't think too much about it. She's the direct disciple. After Professor Oak retires, the Oak Research Center and Professor Rope's research institute will merge. And once Professor Rope retires, the head of the institute will theoretically be that girl named Whitley."
"Don't even mention you. Apparently, Charles Goodshow's granddaughter is also assisting Whitley. You're already pretty impressive for being able to talk to her. I wouldn't dare say more than a few words to her..."
The blue-clothed youth rolled his eyes: You're just saying I'm naive in a roundabout way..."
"Hahaha! No way!" The black-clad youth slapped the blue-clad youth on the back.
Meanwhile, a Noivern flying in the air for surveillance was diligently observing the surroundings. It had heard everything the trainer and the other trainer were saying, but hadn't listened too closely. After all, it wasn't anything important.
He had seen that Serperior with his own eyes, and it was truly beautiful, although he couldn't breed with her himself.
But even if he could breed, he probably wouldn't choose such a partner. The pressure was just too much; the other party was far superior to him in every way. That kind of pressure was truly terrifying.
Noivern was thinking about all sorts of things. Before he knew it, he had flown beyond his patrol range.
After flying beyond his patrol range, he quickly came to his senses, but he didn't panic. He had flown beyond his patrol range many times before to explore or play. In any case, it wasn't particularly dangerous, and as long as there was nothing going on within his patrol range, continuing to explore beyond it should be fine, right?
Noivern thought to himself, glanced around, didn't see anything amiss, and was about to turn around and fly away.
But the moment he turned around, a sudden chill ran down his spine.
He instinctively dove downward.
As he descended, a powerful gust of wind roared above his head.
He even felt a stinging pain on his back.
When he looked up again, a Honchkrow was staring down at him from above, its eyes filled with savage ferocity.
Noivern felt the pain on his back and, seeing the bloodstains on the Honchkrow's claws, could guess that his back had been clawed by the opponent. More importantly, if he hadn't reacted in time, the injured part wouldn't have been his back.
It would have been his head.
Noivern was about to shout for help. Though he didn't know if the creature was the enemy they were on guard against, it clearly meant no good.
But at that moment, he suddenly realized that because he was far from the patrol area, even if he shouted, his comrades wouldn't hear him. The path leading to the patrol area was blocked by Honchkrow.
Noivern's expression grew grim. Looking into the opponent's eyes, he knew that today he would either break through or die here.
There was no other choice.
Noivern growled, emitting an ultrasonic wave toward the opponent and preparing to break through. However, Honchkrow wasn't fooled by this and dived straight toward Noivern. The sharp beak glowed with a black light.
"It looks like a fight broke out over there," a Weavile said coldly to the old Alakazam beside him.
"It's normal. This is a war. We can't expect the enemy to let us through so easily. After all, their strength isn't any weaker than ours. In fact... we're the ones at a disadvantage."
After all, the opponents they faced were humanity's peak combat power. Although the Pokémon in their hands weren't as strong as the top-tier Pokémon of their own kind, it couldn't be denied that, with the help of their trainers, they could temporarily break through that limit in combat power.
However, this kind of breakthrough is not what Old Alakazam desires, and having him follow the commands of those weak humans is simply impossible. As for capturing a human to force them to observe the battlefield for him, the other side would likely have countless ways to outsmart him.
Old Alakazam would never do such a foolish thing.
"Do you really think this war has any chance of winning?" " Weavile looked at Old Alakazam, unable to fathom what gave him the confidence that their current operation had any chance of success.
The enemy had the aid of a deity.
Even without having faced a deity directly, Weavile felt that he had struggled greatly when dealing with his previous old master. If he were to actually confront a deity, he might have to thank the deity for sparing his life.
To be honest, if it weren't for Old Alakazam helping him out, he wouldn't have bothered with this nonsense. It's not just that it's a thankless task—it's that he's risking his life on it. If he wins, he gets a villa by the sea; if he loses, his ashes will be scattered in the ocean.
It's just that Weavile has a fearless personality, and he feels he owes Old Alakazam his life anyway, so repaying the debt wouldn't hurt. Of course, the most crucial factor is that Old Alakazam's persuasion skills are truly top-notch.
"We don't need to face the gods," Old Alakazam said expressionlessly. "We just need to complete our mission. Of course, if there's ever a chance to confront the gods directly, I won't miss it."
"I want to replace them. At least I need to know what level they're at."
After saying that, Old Alakazam no longer paid attention to Weavile but turned to the others behind him, using his psychic powers to shout in their minds, "Act!"
Thus, the Pokémon with red eyes in their eyes moved swiftly and quietly toward Jubilife City in the distance.
A sharp dragon roar echoed from the distance.
The black-clad youth nearly jumped off the ground. He stared in the direction of the roar, momentarily unable to believe what he was hearing.
"Something's wrong?"
The blue-clad youth also stood up immediately, his hand already on the Poké Ball at his waist. The black-clad youth, however, directly released a Pokémon.
"Salamence, go assist Noivern! If you detect enemies, send a signal."
"Roar!"
Salamence spread its wings and flew toward the area.
The young man in black had already pulled out a red button from his pocket.
"Are they definitely enemies?" the blue-clothed youth cautiously confirmed. "If it's just Noivern being attacked, we can't just press it."
"I know, I'm waiting for confirmation too." The black-clothed youth licked his lips, his nerves on edge.
Before long, another distinct yet equally urgent dragon roar echoed through the air.
"Better to kill the wrong one than let the enemy escape. I'll take responsibility for whatever happens."
Without hesitation, the black-clad youth pressed the red button.
Red light and urgent alarms erupted instantly. Almost visibly, the entire city of Jubilife plunged into tension and alertness.
Like a ferocious beast baring its fangs.