Other than that, there was one more thing Hikaru couldn't stop thinking about.
Charcadet's last move earlier—Solar Beam—hadn't felt right.
Sure, a move's real combat power can be boosted by all kinds of energy. Base power is base power, practical power is practical power, and it can be affected by stat boosts and other factors.
But that Solar Beam just now had come with a special prompt.
[Charcadet is intensely releasing light.]
[Under the influence of the Prism Star.]
[Charcadet learned "Solar Beam* (Base Power 200)"!]
A Base Power 200 Solar Beam?!
That version of Solar Beam had only ever appeared in one set of game content!
Namely: Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! / Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee!
In that version of the games, they added special character setups, changed the original Kanto traveling cast, and introduced some downright ridiculous partner moves.
And beyond that…
Absorb's power was raised from 20 to 40.
Mega Drain's power was raised from 40 to 75.
Teleport's priority was lowered from 0 to -6.
Sky Attack's power was raised from 140 to 200!
And finally…
Solar Beam's power was raised from 120 to 200!
"Solar Beam is a move Charcadet can learn once it becomes Armarouge, so learning it early isn't that weird."
"But a 200-power version? That's not normal Solar Beam."
"Is it a true sun-flare blast, fused with flame and aura?"
"A special Solar Beam awakened by the Prism Star…!"
If he had to give it a name, that old translated name "Sunlight Blaze" might actually be the most accurate.
But calling it "Blaze of Light," "Sun-Spear," "The Oldest Miracle," any of that would work too. After all, back in the original anime, Solar Beam was always treated as a finisher-level trump card, and with 120 base power it really did stand above the crowd.
Since Let's Go was essentially another remake of FireRed/LeafGreen, wasn't this 200-power Sunlight Blaze worthy of being called "the oldest miracle"?
"Yeah—if I'm forced to pick a translated nickname, Solar Beam's common unofficial names also include [Sun Ray] and [Hollow Electron] as options!"
Hikaru glanced at Charcadet, who was busy chomping down on Berries.
The little knight was replenishing its energy!
Pokémon like Charcadet loved high-fat Berries—anything that made their flames burn hotter!
"Here. This is the medal for defeating the last Treasure of Ruin."
"I hereby award you the medal for defeating Ting-Lu!"
Hikaru presented the medal to his brave little warrior. At that moment, the battered scrap-armor Charcadet had reforged again and again seemed to be glowing faintly.
A powerful psychic force—along with achievement, emotion, and shared feeling—soaked into that unremarkable pile of junk armor…!
"Your very own Auspicious Armor is about to be born."
Watching Charcadet practically vibrating with excitement, Hikaru muttered with anticipation, "After you evolve… what kind of change will you undergo? You won't just stop at a normal Armarouge, will you?"
Raifort's voice came from the side.
"Ever since earlier, you've been muttering to yourself nonstop. What, doing an on-site after-action review of the battle? I'd say you were pretty impressive."
The tomb-raiding teacher snapped her notebook shut. She'd been recording details about Ting-Lu too.
Even if the Treasures of Ruin couldn't be used by her…
She'd at least witnessed all four gathered together with her own eyes, and she'd documented their ecology and abilities.
"Hatred, jealousy, resentment, fear—those are the forces the four Treasures of Ruin possess!"
"If they're treasures trafficked from an eastern country… then if you reforged the treasures and used those same emotions, could four disaster beasts be born again?"
"How interesting. The mystery of the legend is solved, but a new mystery has been born. What do you say, legendary craftsman?"
"That should be possible." Hikaru thought for a moment. "I understand the principles behind forging and carving those treasures now. The sword and the vessel require high-level craftsmanship and materials. Jade needs carving. Bamboo slips are the easiest to obtain."
"Even a wooden tablet used in place of paper could become a 'treasure' if it held precious teachings."
"Hm. If we made another batch of disaster beasts… what if we made them shiny?"
"Of course, reforged treasures might become auspicious instead. Maybe you wouldn't need negative emotions at all—maybe positive emotions could birth them too."
"Gimmighoul is a good example. It's a Pokémon born from passion soaking into coins. Sure, it represents human greed too, but overall it's more positive than not."
Raifort's eyes flickered.
"That's a pretty good idea."
"Uh, and I was also thinking…"
"Four treasures turned into Pokémon, caused havoc, and became the Treasures of Ruin that have been passed down for a thousand years."
"But could there be other similar things out there—ones that haven't yet become Treasures of Ruin?"
"The merchant vanished at the end of the story. That merchant who brought the treasures, then left… did he leave the same kind of things in other countries too?"
Raifort's speculation… actually wasn't baseless.
Shiny Treasures of Ruin?
Hikaru took out Aegislash's Poké Ball.
"Aegislash, what do you think?"
"Geh? (You mean…?)"
Inside the ball, Aegislash was completely lost.
Wait, so I'm not the cheapest option—and there are even cheaper ones?
After all, it caused the downfall of a kingdom. Everybody knows secondhand goods with a history of "incidents" get dumped at clearance prices!
Casseroya Lake shimmered in the light. In its deep-blue waters, many Pokémon were blowing bubbles.
Hikaru and Raifort—even the little snail that had joined the discussion halfway through—were talking about other treasures.
The leopard and the old deer were beating each other senseless.
The other few were eating like their lives depended on it.
Chi-Yu—Bubbles—floated along leisurely, drifting toward the lakeshore. Staring at the vast, endless lake, it imagined how fun it would be if this were a sea of volcanic magma instead, where it could play to its heart's content.
Even if it really became a magma sea, all it could do was…
Blow bubbles.
Bubbles blinked its big eyes.
Then it suddenly locked eyes with another red "fish" for a moment.
That fish's body was arched upward in a cocky, aggressive posture. After staring Bubbles down for a beat, it suddenly whipped its tail over!
Ow!
Chi-Yu was a little stunned, but it reacted quickly.
Oh, you want to play the tail-slapping game?
"Papapapa—!"
"What was that sound?" Hikaru, Raifort, and the little snail all looked toward the lakeshore.
Chi-Yu was slapping tails with another red, fish-like Pokémon—smacking each other like they were playing patty-cake.
Bubbles used Fury Swipes (×)—Payback!
After taking the hits, the other Pokémon looked even angrier. Its arched body bent harder and harder until it formed a C shape, open upward.
"Ah. What is that little Pokémon…?"
Raifort pushed up her glasses. "I feel like I've seen it before. It's called Tatsugiri or something? Kind of like sushi."
"Ugh, the scholars around here are all obsessed with Terastalization, so they're fuzzy on ecology. And I'm not a biologist!"
"Tatsugiri has three forms. It's a very rare Dragon/Water-type Pokémon—or you could say, a water dragon."
The order of the typing said something about the Pokémon's nature.
"This one is Tatsugiri in its Curly Form… Casseroya Lake… Curly Form…"
Something clicked in Hikaru's mind.
Raifort stepped forward and waved her hand. "It's actually tail-slapping the Treasure of Ruin. Hey, how can you compete with a legendary Pokémon? Even if you have the typing advantage, in terms of actual strength you—"
Tatsugiri heard Raifort's taunt. It shot her an angry look, then glared at the bubble-blowing Chi-Yu.
And then—
"Psh!"
A weak stream of water splashed over Bubbles. Chi-Yu blinked, at a loss.
"That is—" Hikaru's eyes sharpened, and he strode over.
Then the lake suddenly boiled. A massive surge of water climbed and gathered upward, forming a waterfall-mountain made entirely of rushing currents!
A gigantic blue fish Pokémon erupted from the lake with a roaring bellow, like a whale rising from the depths.
Its tongue extended like a massive cutting board and swallowed the sushi-shaped Tatsugiri in one gulp!
Raifort: "What is this, a food chain…?!"
"Bubbles—Treasure of Ruin—get back here! It looks like it's going to eat you!"
Raifort jolted in panic.
There was something that huge in Casseroya Lake?!
There hadn't been any ecology reports about a super-sized whale Pokémon like this!
What was it trying to do? Fight the Treasure of Ruin? Or literally eat an ancient relic?
And just now—was that really a food chain?!
After swallowing Tatsugiri, the giant blue "whale" surged with a violent aura. The lake whipped into towering waves, as if it had become the ruler of Casseroya Lake itself.
Hikaru said, "That move just now was Soak. It splashes a huge amount of water over the target, changing it into a Water type. You could achieve something similar with a fire hose too."
"In other words, Chi-Yu's typing has now become pure Water!"
"Fire- and Dark-type moves won't get STAB anymore!"
"And as for this thing in front of us… should I call it lucky, or unlucky?"
Hikaru explained to Raifort, "According to the League's investigation, something is lurking somewhere in the vast Casseroya Lake."
"Its appearance and ecology are unknown, but they say it lures prey and catches them with an enormous mouth. That's why people aren't supposed to go looking for it."
"The thing's name is… the False Dragon Titan! And if I'm right, it's guarding one of the legendary Herba Mystica—specifically the Spicy Herba Mystica!"
"The whale-like giant and that Tatsugiri together are the complete False Dragon Titan. That wasn't a real food chain. It was a fake one."
Last time this thing showed up, it had made such a grand entrance you'd think Kyogre had descended.
"Tatsugiri is an extremely cunning Pokémon. It pretends to be weak to lure prey closer, then has its partner Pokémon launch the attack. It usually feeds on certain bird Pokémon. Even among Dragon-types, its intelligence ranks near the top. It inflates its throat sac to mimic things… that sushi look is exactly that."
"And this whale-like Pokémon is called Dondozo. Strictly speaking, it's a catfish. Even though it's a huge glutton, it's not very good at hunting. It works with Tatsugiri to catch prey."
Raifort looked stunned. "A catfish? You're kidding. I've never seen a catfish Pokémon this huge!"
Pokémon biology was just way beyond the syllabus.
After all, Raifort was a tomb-raiding history teacher, not a biology teacher like Jacq with all that knowledge.
Raifort: "So… are they treating Bubbles as prey?"
"Chii-yu…" Bubbles felt soaked through. Even after drying off the moisture with flames, it still felt weak all over.
And now the False Dragon Titan had opened a cavernous mouth, looking like it wanted to swallow Bubbles in one bite!
Move: Crunch!
"Chii-yu!"
Bubbles got clamped in Dondozo's jaws, and yet it still looked… slow and unbothered.
Haha. I was just playing tail-slaps. How did it turn into this?
"Chii-yu (annoyed)."
Raifort: "Hey! It's going to get eaten!"
Bubbles: "Chii-yu~"
Raifort: "What did it say?"
Hikaru: "Bubbles says it's not in a hurry."
Hikaru: "Even if it swallows it, it can't digest it anyway. Bubbles' real body is the Treasure of Ruin itself. That goldfish-like body is just a disguise!"
[Legendary Craftwork: Treasure of Ruin — the Jade (Bi Disc).]
[Description: A legendary beautiful jade, said to have once been a ritual vessel from an ancient eastern region. After absorbing too much malice and greed, and after enduring the jealousy born from "a man is innocent, but a jade in his possession is guilty," it became an evil jade that brings disaster.]
[Effect: Pokémon near the jade will have their Sp. Def lowered. The jade is Chi-Yu's true body and cannot be given to other Pokémon to use.]
[Curved jade is said to carry divine power and souls. Jade fish symbolize divinity. In a certain ancient eastern region, they were treated as burial treasures and symbols of priceless value—and that is the root of why Chi-Yu brings calamity.]
So. Goldfish vs. giant catfish?
"Even if becoming a Water type means losing Fire STAB…."
Anyway, Tatsugiri and Dondozo had a 4× resistance to Fire and a 2× resistance to Fire respectively. Fire moves could sit out for now!
The False Dragon Titan's level was extremely high. Among the five Titan Pokémon, it was the final boss and the strongest—Level 56/57!
And Dondozo had 150 HP and 115 Defense. A Water-type super meat shield. The second you see it in battle, you know it's going to start fishing for OHKOs like Fissure.
As for Tatsugiri—sure, it called itself "weak," but it still had 120 Special Attack!
Power budgets in later generations were getting more and more generous. Even a random roadside sushi in Casseroya Lake had 120 Special Attack?
No wonder Paldeans could get jumped by sushi on their way out the door. Unreal.
"Bubbles, you warmed up yet? Use Lava Plume!"
Chi-Yu Bubbles was the slow-and-steady type. Even in battle, it took a while to truly get going. When it did, the magatama in its eyes would glow.
So… now was the moment!
"Chii-yu!"
No rush. No rush. Let Chi-Yu be the one to get rushing!
Whoosh! Intense flames and thick smoke blasted outward from Bubbles' body!
"Cough, cough!"
Lava Plume attacks all Pokémon around the user with scorching flames and superheated smoke. It has a 30% chance to burn the target!
A rainbow rose into the air!
The battle rainbow—doubling secondary effects!
"Doo!"
Dondozo did resist Fire, sure. But smoke was a biological assault. If it's alive, it can feel pain and discomfort. Unless it's an Ultra Beast, getting a mouthful of smoke will kill anyone's appetite—no matter what Pokémon it is!
"Chii-yu!"
Bubbles successfully slipped free of Dondozo's mouth.
And jumping out along with it was Tatsugiri, choking and miserable from the smoke!
It had been "merged" with Dondozo, fighting like it was piloting a Titan mech—like a mecha cockpit ecosystem.
But now the cockpit was filled with smoke. Of course it couldn't stay inside.
"Perfect. Use Ruination on Dondozo!"
A devastating calamity that halves the target's HP. It ignores type matchups and STAB!
Against a wall of meat like that, one Ruination cuts it clean in half!
Bubbles' eyes burned with scorching light, its body flaring with violent jealousy as it elegantly flicked its tail in the air.
Jealous of what?
Jealous you're bulky, strong, and can eat all day, obviously!
Don't look down on me just because I'm small. Ruination's HP cut is no joke!
The giant catfish howled. Ruination's fixed halving ignored any gap in strength. With a tremendous splash, Dondozo crashed back into Casseroya Lake, kicking up monstrous waves!
Tatsugiri, half-snotty and half-teary from the smoke, flopped on the shore over and over—
And Bubbles seized the timing.
Heave-ho! Tiny goldfish flying kick!
Move: Bounce—Chi-Yu's only Flying-type move. Like Wailord, it leaps high into the air and then smacks the opponent. It has a 30% chance to paralyze, and under the rainbow state that chance doubles to 60%!
Smack!
Bubbles' tail hammered Tatsugiri on the head. Tatsugiri immediately got dizzy, the world spinning as it fell into paralysis!
And at that moment, the half-HP Dondozo refused to accept this. It surged up from the lake again!
But something was off.
Steam poured off its body like it had been roasted!
It had been burned—its physical Attack cut in half!
Hikaru felt the energy in the item at his chest.
"The Prism Star is blinking… while Bubbles is changed to a Water type by Soak, can it learn a new move?"
At the cost of 1% raid chance, let's try it. Light—gather!
"The Prism Star is saying— it says we can go in!"
If it's a fish, why does it only know Fire and Dark moves? It's got to learn at least one Water move!
And isn't this the perfect opportunity?!
[Chi-Yu Bubbles learned "Scald"!]
[Chi-Yu Bubbles learned the field state — "Sea of Fire"!]
[Chi-Yu's Fire typing has returned!]
"More illegal moves, huh? Then let's start immediately—use Scald on Tatsugiri!"
It attacks by spraying boiling-hot water. It has a 30% chance to burn the target!
Tatsugiri was already reeling, and then it saw the little fire-fish gather water energy and blast out a scalding stream. It cried out in pain!
Hot hot hot hot hot!
I'm going to turn into boiled sushi!
"Next! Summon fire pillars, melt the surrounding life energy, and trigger Sea of Fire!"
The magatama that had caused countless conflicts gathered jealousy. That jealousy wrapped around flame and became Chi-Yu.
It could control 3000-degree flames, melt rock and sand into a sea of lava, and then swim around inside at its leisure.
Hikaru said, "Learning to set up Sea of Fire yourself—that finally fits Bubbles' whole concept. Even though, in theory, Sea of Fire isn't a standalone status move. It normally requires the combo of Fire Pledge and Grass Pledge to create the extra field effect."
"For four turns, the opponent's field becomes Sea of Fire. Each turn, non-Fire Pokémon lose 1/8 of their max HP!"
But the limitation on the pledge moves was still too harsh. Only certain Pokémon could use them—basically the "starter partners"—and it required pairing up to trigger.
There were three pledge field effects.
Swamp, Sea of Fire, and Rainbow!
"And then, on top of that…"
"Fire Spin!"
It deals damage and traps the target in a binding vortex of flames!
The binding lasts 4–5 turns, and the target loses 1/8 of its HP each turn. Pokémon in the bind keep taking damage and can't escape!
A furious Sea of Fire spread across the surface of Casseroya Lake. Bubbles' magatama eyes radiated intense golden heat, driving the blazing field toward Tatsugiri and Dondozo!
Burn inside the roaring Sea of Fire!
No rush, no rush—let it roast for a while first!
"Sashimi sushi? No. Too cold. It'll mess up my stomach."
Hikaru looked at the visibly excited Raifort. "Grilled rice balls—perfectly cooked. Sprinkle some Spicy Herba Mystica on top, then pair it with grilled fish. How does that sound?"
Raifort tugged at the corner of her mouth as she looked at the lakeside.
A strong fish aroma was already drifting up.
But that didn't mean Sea of Fire had actually cooked a bunch of fish Pokémon. That was impossible.
It was because the battle here had scared the Veluza nearby out of their minds. One after another, they used Fillet Away, tossing their excess flesh aside so they could flee Dondozo's attacks.
Except—
This giant catfish had just been subjected to the ultimate humiliation, and now the entire lake was littered with ingredients!
(End of Chapter)
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