Hoenn Region, Mossdeep Town.
In the central hall of the Mossdeep Space Center, on the large screen hanging there, the female host, with delicate but not gaudy makeup and her hair in an updo, said with a calm expression:
"The above is the complete report of this LaRousse City incident. Finally, please allow me, on behalf of all the staff of Hoenn TV, to pay the highest respect to Mr. Lucas, the hero who single-handedly saved the entire LaRousse City."
The female host slightly lowered her head, and the news report footage on the TV also froze at this moment.
Nemona, Paul, and Shizuka, who had just visited the Mossdeep Space Center, stared seriously at the TV screen, unable to recover for a long time. At this moment, their hearts were completely filled with shock.
"So amazing!"
Shizuka's face flushed red. She had completely lost the ability to organize her words and could only repeatedly say these few words.
When she was studying at the Joy Academy, she had once been roommates with a Joy from the Hoenn Region. The other party had told her more than once about the mythological stories of the Hoenn Region. Because of this, Shizuka understood even more clearly what kind of existence Rayquaza was.
In super ancient times, Rayquaza could even single-handedly quell the disputes between the creator of the land and the creator of the sea. Yet such an existence had been single-handedly stopped by Teacher Lucas—and two of them at that!
"..."
Paul remained silent without speaking, but from his flickering eyes, one could see how unsettled his heart was.
Nemona, who should have been so excited she was running wild, was also unusually quiet at this time. She was completely immersed in the excitement of "So when Teacher battled me, he didn't even use one-tenth of his strength." It really was such a distant gap, but… she also wanted to become as strong as Teacher!
Only now did Nemona realize that the gap she thought existed between herself and Lucas was really just what she had thought!
At the same time, what the three did not notice was that a man with short light-blue hair and sunglasses had also been standing here for quite a while.
The man was none other than the young master Steven Stone, who had recently stepped down and did not want to be the Hoenn League Champion for the next few months.
Because the Devon Corporation had some cooperation with the Mossdeep Space Center, as the company's heir, he had been dragged out of his cave by his father Mr. Stone today and forced to come discuss the cooperation.
Steven was very unwilling, but his father said that Steven's home was right here, so no matter what, Steven had to make this trip today. Otherwise, he would go find the Hoenn League Chairman and Wallace and make Steven continue being the League Champion, not letting him dig for stones.
How effective this threat was could be seen from Steven standing here.
Although he had already stepped down, Steven's own permissions had actually not changed much. He knew more details than ordinary people. Because of this, he was also far more shocked than most people.
The LaRousse City incident was not as simple as just two Rayquaza. There were also Pokémon from space; the figure of Deoxys had also appeared in it. Professor Lund had already reported the relevant situation and requested the Hoenn League to cover up the existence of Deoxys to prevent anyone from targeting them.
Therefore, only a very small number of people knew that what Lucas had single-handedly stopped was not just two Rayquaza, but also a Deoxys that had attracted the two Rayquaza and caused the chaotic battle in LaRousse City.
He alone had stopped three legendary Pokémon. Even Steven himself admitted he could not do such a thing.
Before stepping into the elevator heading to the top floor of the Mossdeep Space Center, Steven, waiting while standing, subconsciously let out the same sigh his good friend Wallace had made when calling him last night.
"Really so strong that it makes people want to challenge you…"
…
Meteor Falls.
Zinnia, who was still in confinement, looked incredulously at the news being broadcast on her phone. Especially when she saw that familiar face she could not forget, her mentality fluctuated uncontrollably a few times.
What exactly had she seen?
"No way…"
The girl's murmured voice attracted the attention of Whismur, which was dozing off nearby. It raised its head in some confusion and looked at her.
"It's nothing, you keep sleeping."
Zinnia patted its head and, as if doubting the authenticity of the news, began searching on the internet.
Compared to the other Draconid people, she did not reject these modern things. Because of this, during her confinement period, she did not feel too bored.
When she had nothing to do, she would train with her Salamence and the others. When she wanted to relax, she would play on her phone for a while. When it ran out of battery, she would have her Pokémon use Electric-type moves to charge it, which could also train control over the moves—pretty nice.
This was also necessary training for her to become an outstanding inheritor.
But when she saw the overwhelming news on the phone's network, Zinnia fell silent.
The Shiny Rayquaza aside—that was not the object of faith for the Draconid people. But the Hoenn Rayquaza, the Dragon God, why had it suddenly appeared in LaRousse City and become that man's stepping stone!
Zinnia could not accept such a result at all. Her current mood was like that of a fanatic believer who had learned that the god she worshipped and admired had been shot down to the mortal world by a blasphemer—confused and angry.
Not to mention that in this incident, the Hoenn Rayquaza had played the role of invader.
"…I must do something."
Zinnia stood up with a "whoosh," pacing back and forth in the sealed cave. Her heroic face was full of anxiety.
That was the Dragon That Rules the Sky, the supreme Dragon God! She would not allow the other's existence to be stained with any blemish.
Probably most believers' ways of thinking were different from ordinary people. Just like before in the Blackthorn City of the Johto Region among the Dragon Clan, Zinnia's priority had been to obtain the Extreme Speed secret manual by any means necessary, to enrich her own power in preparation for ascending the Sky Pillar and obtaining the recognition of Dragon God.
This time, she believed she must deepen the impression of the entire Hoenn Region toward the Dragon That Rules the Sky and let people know the great salvation of Dragon God.
"The Magma Team and Aqua Team seem to have some unusual movements recently; they should be searching for the traces of Groudon and Kyogre. Decided!"
Zinnia quickly thought of a suitable method to once again clearly let the people of the entire Hoenn Region recognize the mercy of Dragon God. Of course, she had not the slightest interest in colluding with those bad guys. But slightly making use of them was also a good idea.
"Under this vast blue sky, no evil should exist, and no beautiful things should be destroyed. Since they want to revive Groudon and Kyogre, then I'll give them a push, and then—let Dragon God come to quell everything and completely destroy the two organizations. In this way, that crisis can also be…"
As her words fell, Zinnia looked up toward the top of the cave, where strands of sunlight were sprinkling down.
Carrying Whismur, she mounted Salamence, and Zinnia's figure completely disappeared from the cave.
From the beginning, confinement had been meaningless to her. The reason she had been locked up here reflecting for so long was merely because she had planned to lie low for a period of time.
The Rayquaza now should have already returned to the top of the Sky Pillar. Next, all she needed to do was trigger a disturbance sufficient to attract its attention. That way, the stage would be set.
…
January 23, LaRousse City.
Ash and his group had already set off on the same day the incident ended to head to the next city to challenge a Gym. That kid had even vowed that this time he would also take the Hoenn League—Ever Grande Conference victory and not embarrass Lucas.
That appearance would make people who didn't know think Lucas really had some relation with Ash.
Lucas had sent Ash away with a black face. What a joke. The only thing he needed was for Ash not to casually say outside that he had taught him for a period of time. Otherwise, if one day Ash suddenly acted foolish again and came out with "Ah, I forgot Dragon doesn't work on Fairy," "Oops, Ground is immune to Electric-type Thunderbolt" or something, Lucas would not be able to mix in the Trainer world or the teaching world anymore.
He could even already see someone pointing at him saying, "Look, that's the teacher who taught his student to use Dragon-type against Fairy-type, Electric-type against Ground-type." The sky would collapse, okay?
After Ash and his group left, the matter that needed to be handled right now was the reconstruction of LaRousse City, which had become tattered from the fierce battle. Even the landmark building of LaRousse City, the Battle Tower, had been turned into a pile of ruins by Lucas, Luxray, and the Shiny Rayquaza.
However, neither the several managers of LaRousse City nor the official Hoenn League had any intention of holding Lucas responsible for it. The situation of "What exactly did you protect?" did not appear.
The LaRousse City incident had almost let the entire Hoenn know of the person Lucas. Just in terms of current fame in the Hoenn Region, he might temporarily be able to go toe-to-toe with people of the level of Wallace, Steven, and Drake.
However, because Lucas fundamentally did not want to show his face to accept interviews and consolidate his own popularity, it could be foreseen that after some time, this fervent discussion atmosphere would drop to a normal level. After all, the main person involved did not show up; no matter how high the heat, it was useless.
Perhaps it was precisely because of Lucas's name now, with his feat of stopping two Rayquaza widely sung in the Hoenn Region, that to avoid chilling the people's or his heart, the blame for the city's post-disaster reconstruction did not fall on Lucas.
Professor Lund, who had changed into a different outfit, opened the door and walked into the room. He said to Lucas, who was browsing various travel plans and recommendations on the internet:
"Your choice was correct. Even though two days have already passed, there are still quite a few reporters or paparazzi squatting outside the hotel. If you showed your face to accept interviews, I'm afraid your travel plans would have to be canceled."
"Yeah."
Lucas paused his phone-swiping motion and replied with some emotion. Putting aside whether he could or not, at least he could not endure the life of that female actress Champion from Kalos—worrying about being photographed and stared at by many pairs of eyes at all times—feeling like he would sooner or later have a mental breakdown.
So from the end of the incident, he had basically stayed shut indoors, holing up in the hotel for two full days. He had also taken the opportunity to review with Luxray and the others the gains from this experience and areas that needed improvement.
After chatting idly for a while about the current state of LaRousse City, Lucas asked Professor Lund:
"What about those two Deoxys? How do you plan to arrange them?"
"Talk about arrangement." Professor Lund shook his head. "Strictly speaking, I cannot keep them. Although Deoxys No. 2 has formed a friendship with Tory, it is also more rational. If they stay in this city, sooner or later they will once again attract the unwilling Rayquaza—whether one or two. It will only bring disaster to LaRousse City. So they left the city last night and should live in some corner of this planet from now on."
Lucas stroked his chin, deep in thought. "…I see."
No wonder the night sky of LaRousse City had lit up with auroras again last night. So the two Deoxys were bidding farewell to this city?
But thinking about it carefully, it made sense. In the theatrical version plot, even when the two Deoxys had reconciled with Rayquaza, they had still chosen to leave LaRousse City. Now that the Hoenn Rayquaza had been beaten away, the plot had completely deviated. If they continued staying in LaRousse City, they would only bring the rested Hoenn Rayquaza over again one day.
This time, the Hoenn Rayquaza's strength would be hard to say. In terms of time span, it probably would not take a year for the opponent to accumulate enough energy to activate the Mikado Organ and Mega Evolve. At that time, the power-spiked Mega Hoenn Rayquaza could even one-shot Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre with Dragon Ascent. Dealing with two small aliens would be even easier.
Thinking that he and Luxray still had to deal with the equally troublesome Shiny Rayquaza later, Lucas felt his vision darken.
The two chatted for a while more. As the topic neared its end, Professor Lund curiously asked where Lucas planned to go next.
LaRousse City was now in ruins and waiting to be rebuilt. As a manager, he was already swamped with affairs and probably could not entertain Lucas well. If the other planned to go see other places in the Hoenn Region, Professor Lund felt he might be able to provide some suggestions.
Asked this question by Professor Lund, Lucas—who indeed had not planned to leave the Hoenn Region immediately and still had an appointment with Lugia and the giant Dragonite—thought for a moment and replied:
"Mm, I indeed still want to go to a place where I can relax. After a big battle, it's time to relax a bit."
"Relax, huh? If that's the case, I do have a suggestion. Going there should nicely wash away the fatigue on all of you."
Professor Lund smiled and called over the intelligent room butler cube robot on standby in the hotel corner, having it pull up a series of photos.
"This place is near Route 112; it's a small-to-medium-sized town." Pointing at the position shown on the map, Professor Lund enthusiastically introduced it.
"Its name is Lavaridge Town. It's a rather famous town in the Hoenn Region. Lavaridge Town is located at the foot of Mt. Chimney. Because of the geothermal heat, there are hot springs there. Not only can they wash away all fatigue, there are also rumors they can cure diseases. Many elderly people in the Hoenn Region live there or frequently travel there. There are also rumors that some Ice-type Trainers specially go there to challenge and temper their limits. Also, Lavaridge Cookies are a specialty there. If you're interested, you can also go into the Mt. Chimney behind to try digging for stones; you might even dig up some rare ores."
It had to be said that Professor Lund's recommendation perfectly matched Lucas's needs.
The only issue was that Lavaridge Town was far from the many sea areas of the Hoenn Region, located deep inland. If he really wanted to go there, his preparations to summon Lugia and the giant Dragonite would probably have to be postponed a few days. After all, summoning them anytime was fine. The two of them were not in a hurry, and Lucas was even less so. It was better to first provide healing and relaxation for the Pokémon after the big battle.
Lucas, who had already considered going to Lavaridge Town, directly accepted Professor Lund's recommendation and planned to set off for Lavaridge Town tomorrow.
"Although Lavaridge Town has mixed-gender bathing hot springs as well as separate male and female ones. You probably prefer bathing together with your Pokémon and need a larger hot spring pool that can protect privacy. If you trust me, I know a friend who runs a hot spring inn in Lavaridge Town. They should have a hot spring that meets your needs there."
…
The next day, under Professor Lund's arrangements, Lucas directly boarded a train in LaRousse City destined for a city near Lavaridge Town.
Although Lavaridge Town, as a famous tourist city in the Hoenn Region, did not have direct rail service, the distance was actually not much different from going straight there.
Soon, the train arrived and stopped at the platform. Standing there, one could vaguely see the dormant Mt. Chimney in the distance through the gaps between buildings, as well as the building complex of Lavaridge Town at the mountain's foot.
Although Mt. Chimney was in a dormant state and had not erupted for many years, it was still continuously sprinkling volcanic ash, covering the mountain foot and roads with a different color.
Most of the passengers getting off around them were dressed as tourists. They walked in twos and threes, heading toward Lavaridge Town with faces full of anticipation, looking forward to the hot springs there.
Because he had never shown his face in public from beginning to end, and with the help of Officer Jenny and Professor Lund, his personal image data had also been kept confidential, Lucas, standing at the edge of the platform looking into the distance, did not attract much attention. The tourists only took him as a person traveling alone.
Terapagos curiously poked its head out of the shoulder bag, then was startled by Delibird lurking behind and directly shrank back.
"Don't scare the child."
Rubbing Delibird's head, Lucas lightly scolded it.
Then, he also began following the crowd toward Lavaridge Town.
On the way, he curiously asked: "Has Delibird soaked in hot springs in Lavaridge Town before?"
Since Delibird had been wandering around the Hoenn Region for several months, Lucas thought it should have experienced it already.
Sure enough, Delibird directly nodded.
"Delibird!"
It had soaked in natural hot springs in the forests near Lavaridge Town with some wild Pokémon!
Even though it was an Ice-type Pokémon, Delibird felt it did not reject hot springs. It even felt very comfortable soaking in the water, as if its soul was being purified.
Walking from the outskirts to Lavaridge Town required a not-short period of time. Many tourists chose to ride Ride Pokémon, which also allowed them to enjoy the scenery along the way. After all, they had come for tourism—to relax their tired bodies and minds, not to do some extreme training.
Lucas was the same. The Ride Pokémon was a specialty of the Hoenn Region, called Camerupt. The rock-like hump on its back was a bit uncomfortable to sit on, but fortunately these Camerupt specially doing this job all had saddles installed.
After riding the Camerupt shakily for a while, as gusts of breeze carrying a sulfur scent brushed past his nose, Lucas realized he had already entered the range of Mt. Chimney, the largest volcano in the Hoenn Region.
The Lavaridge Town, famous in the Hoenn Region for its hot springs, was also close at hand.