Chapter 51. The Giant Dragonite's Request
The cavern was enormous, as if the Giant Dragonite had carved it out by herself.
It had clearly existed for a very long time, with moss everywhere inside and a heavy dampness in the air.
He could even see a few stalactites above his head.
"Ooo~"
From within the cave, a faint, ragged breathing could be heard.
"Ooooo—" the Giant Dragonite called back anxiously.
The muffled sound boomed like thunder through the cavern.
Natsume grimaced and put on his paw-pad earplugs.
"You jerk, don't you have hands of your own, meow!!"
Meowth was so rattled by the echo that he nearly fell off Natsume's shoulder.
Before long, Natsume reached the innermost part of the cavern, and he understood why this Giant Dragonite had brought him here.
At the deepest point, a slab of rock had been leveled flat like a bed.
Lying atop it was a massive, ordinary Dragonite.
Only, this Dragonite was anything but normal.
At the sight of its condition, Natsume's pupils shrank, and Meowth beside him was so frightened he didn't dare open his eyes.
Its deformed right antenna drooped over the stone like a mutated vine, the tip swollen into a translucent cyst with black-red fluid sloshing inside.
A spur of bone from the left wing had pierced the wing membrane; the grotesquely enlarged wing bones had gouged cracks along the cavern ceiling, and every attempt to fold its wings brought down a patter of crumbling stalactite chips.
It pressed its ulcerated abdomen to the cool rock, yet the tumor-like tail tip still twitched unconsciously, pounding radial pits into the ancient moss beneath it.
Claw marks covered the cave walls, the newest still slick with glistening mucus—perhaps the residue left when it tore at the rock in agony last night.
When Natsume's gaze fell on it, the Dragonite's bloodshot pupils snapped tight; its throat worked soundlessly, producing only a whine like a rusted gear seizing up.
Natsume had a bad feeling.
"Woo!"
Overhead, the Giant Dragonite called down to Natsume.
Meowth's voice quavered.
"She says… she says this is her child, and she wants us to heal it, meow…"
The moment he saw this deformed Dragonite, Meowth had already guessed as much, and he crept to Natsume's ear, whispering cautiously.
"How about… we run while she's not looking!"
"Why would we run?"
"You can heal it, meow!?" Meowth brightened.
"I can't—I'm not a Pokémon doctor," Natsume waved him off.
"…"
On the system panel, this young Dragonite's parameters were abysmal—like every aptitude was zero.
He didn't know if that had anything to do with the aberrations on its body.
Under the Giant Dragonite's soothing, the young Dragonite gradually calmed down.
As Natsume leaned in, a rotting stench reached him.
After a short inspection, Natsume formed a preliminary assessment of the young Dragonite's condition.
The right antenna's diameter exceeded normal by nearly 300 percent, the left wing's area was about two to three times that of the right, and the weight-bearing bones of the feet showed stress-induced crystallization.
Don't ask how Natsume could "see" that—the left leg was the worst: half the thigh was like carrion, with glimpses of bone within.
"Why do you think I can treat it?" Natsume looked up and asked the Giant Dragonite.
From the battle earlier on, she had shown great interest in him; Natsume knew as much.
Since she had singled him out, there had to be a reason.
"Roar! Roar—roar—"
"Meow—she says that move you used to siphon power from her body might be able to save her child," Meowth translated.
At that, Natsume nodded.
A Dragonite that could maintain an Eternamax state, a "divinity," and a young Dragonite whose body parts seemed to Dynamax randomly—and failed.
This was definitely related to Eternatus.
But where was Eternatus? Wasn't it in the Galar region?
And how did a "divinity" end up inside this Giant Dragonite?
"Come out, Great Ball Rotom!"
"Rotom, use the Redistribution Ball on this Dragonite!"
Natsume didn't have the full picture, so he chose to treat this malformed Dragonite first, then ask questions.
A blue beam enveloped the deformed Dragonite.
The Giant Dragonite watched tensely; in her expectant gaze, a much thinner Dragonite was released.
Its condition had indeed improved.
The once vine-swollen antenna was much smaller now.
At this rate, a few dozen more times and this Dragonite might return to normal.
In that case—Battle Domain, expand!
A rousing theme blared to life.
"Rotom, one more time!"
Natsume tossed Rotom an Ether and continued.
"Roto—" Rotom didn't act, instead turning to speak to Natsume.
"He says he can only store it once. For a second time, he needs to discharge the first, meow," Meowth reflexively translated.
"Discharge the Redistribution Ball onto Meowth!"
"Meow???"
Meowth went blank, and in the next second, a blue beam struck him.
"Because of the Redistribution Ball's effect, Meowth Gigantamaxed."
"What a wonderful feeling, meow!"
A Meowth with a wildly elongated body appeared in the cavern.
"I feel invincible now, meow!"
Meowth flexed, itching for a try.
The Giant Dragonite shot him a glance, and Meowth immediately behaved.
"Continue, Rotom!"
And so, under the Battle Domain's blessing, the aberrant Dragonite was taken into storage again and again—well over a hundred times.
By dusk,—
"Rotom, use the Healing Ball!"
"Finally I don't have to get big anymore, meow."
Meowth flopped to the ground like a rag.
Soon, a green light released a peacefully sleeping Dragonite back onto the stone slab.
This time, the Dragonite's condition was much better.
The swollen antennae, feet, and tail had all reverted.
"As for your kid—the wing bones have already set. Flying is out of the question," Natsume said, pointing at the one large and one small wing on the Dragonite's back.
"But if you can pay for it, I can fit a mechanical prosthetic onto the small wing. It might even be faster that way."
Natsume rubbed his hands together and looked at the Giant Dragonite.
"Ooo—ooo—"
The Giant Dragonite moaned twice toward Natsume.
"Get up and translate."
Natsume grabbed Meowth by the scruff and fed him some Energy Powder.
"She wants to ask why her child became like this."
Dangling by the nape, Meowth spoke feebly.
He never wanted to get big again.
"Then you tell me first why you became like this. Your child's deformities are very likely related to you," Natsume cut straight to the point.
At that, the Giant Dragonite paused, a forlorn look crossing her face.
Perhaps she had long suspected it, but needed someone to say it aloud.
"Ooo—ooo—"
The Giant Dragonite's steady voice filled the cave as she told Natsume her story.
She had once been an ordinary Dragonite.
A long, long time ago, a huge black-and-red meteor fell from the sky.
A shard broke off and landed before her.
It looked delicious.
After eating it, she became the size she was now.
"What you ate was likely a fragment of Eternatus's divinity," Natsume gave a brief explanation of Eternatus to the Dragonite, then continued his deduction.
"That meteor was likely Eternatus's body. Which way did it fall?"
"Ooooo—" The Giant Dragonite pointed.
Natsume followed her gesture and pulled out a compass.
Northwest… that did seem to be toward Mt. Moon.
Another Eternatus had fallen in Kanto?
A sudden guess flashed through Natsume's mind—did it come from a parallel world?
Only, this Eternatus didn't seem to be doing well—its "divinity" had been shattered.
Could it be that the giant Tentacruel from the original plot had one inside it, too?
Natsume kept speculating.
"Alright, I've got the picture now."
Natsume clapped his hands, and the Giant Dragonite held her breath, watching him.
"You have a fragment of Eternatus's divinity inside you, but your child does not. However, for some reason, Dynamax energy may also arise in your child's body."
Pointing to the sleeping young Dragonite, Natsume continued.
"Without a divinity fragment inside, once Dynamax energy manifests, it will destabilize. It needs to be drawn off at intervals to keep it from relapsing. I'll come by every so often to do that."
At this, the Giant Dragonite tilted her head, lost in thought.
[Ding! S-Class Project—Giant Dragonite completed. Master Ball Scratch Card issued.]
Natsume's eyes lit up, and he signaled the system to scratch it immediately.
[Master Ball ×1.]
Why the guaranteed minimum again?
Natsume squatted on the rock, striking a Thinker pose.
"What are you thinking about, meow?" Meowth sidled over.
"Nothing. I'm wondering how that male Dragonite managed it."
"What male Dragonite? They're both fem—"
Meowth broke off mid-sentence, assuming a Thinker pose of his own.
Right, meow? How did they manage it…
Enjoyed the story? Support me and get access to early chapters by joining my Patreon!
Find me at: Patr*eon*.com/Resium
Free members can read 10+ Chapters Ahead of Release
Paid member can read 150+ Chapters Ahead of Release
Stories Available
Honkai? No, This Is Daily Life
Hogwarts Pet Master
Pokémon: Who Let Him Leave Pallet Town!
Scrolling Yu-Gi-Oh! Shorts