Mewtwo returned to Nathan's side, and Nathan reached out to gently stroke the Rayquaza scale armor that now adorned Mewtwo's body.
In his heart, he couldn't help but feel the urge to make armor like this for all his Pokémon.
Unfortunately, it wasn't something that just any Pokémon could wear.
Take Volcarona and Frosmoth for example—their bodies were simply not suited to wearing scale armor at all.
But thinking about today's performance of the Rayquaza-scale armor, its strength was nothing short of outrageous.
As the battle drew to an end, thunderous applause erupted from the crowd.
After watching this fight, everyone felt that the money they had pooled in for this wedding banquet gift was more than worth it.
No—saying "worth it" wasn't enough. It was a profit of pure blood!
Forget the banquet gift money, even if they had paid real tickets to watch a battle like this, they would have felt they had profited greatly.
After Nathan recalled Mewtwo, he was just about to accept the next challenger when he suddenly noticed Spectrier walking toward him.
The trainer who had brought Spectrier along was stunned.
"Spectrier, what are you doing?"
The trainer hurriedly shouted, panic in his voice.
But Spectrier paid no attention to its trainer. It continued moving forward on its own, heading straight toward Nathan.
Watching the Ghost Horse steadily approach him, Nathan was a little surprised.
Could it be that Mewtwo's overwhelming strength earlier had intimidated Spectrier, allowing it to sense his kingly aura… and now it wanted to follow him?
Just thinking about it made his blood stir with excitement.
But it was only a thought. Nathan knew better than to take it seriously. A single victory in battle wasn't enough to make a powerful Pokémon willingly follow someone.
If it had been a weaker, low-level Pokémon, then perhaps such a thing might happen.
But for a Legendary-level Pokémon? No way. Even a Pokémon above Champion-level would absolutely never abandon its trainer on such a whim.
Yet when Spectrier finally stopped in front of him, a deep, magnetic voice suddenly resonated in Nathan's mind.
"Is Calyrex doing well?"
Hearing this voice, Nathan froze for a moment.
This was Spectrier's voice?
And the question it asked—did this mean it had once known Calyrex personally?
"It should be doing fine. You… and Calyrex, are you old acquaintances?" Nathan asked with an intrigued expression.
He himself had never truly met Calyrex face-to-face.
But there had indeed been some brief intersections between them long ago. That, however, had been a very long time ago.
Yet somehow, Spectrier was able to sense that he had once come into contact with Calyrex.
This truly caught Nathan by surprise.
While Nathan was conversing with the Ghost Horse, the trainer who had brought Spectrier over was on the verge of tears.
He had painstakingly grown those shaderoot carrots for Spectrier, and even traveled across a thousand miles just to bring it here to challenge Nathan.
Sure, they had lost the battle—but was that any reason for his Pokémon to suddenly defect and run off to his opponent?
If it left, then where would it eat its black carrots?
"What's going on here? Under Nathan's overwhelming aura, this Legendary Pokémon actually defected?"
"I'm crying—why do all the Legendary Pokémon want to follow Nathan? Why hasn't something like this ever happened to me?"
"Wait, could it be that this Pokémon suddenly plans to attack Nathan?"
The voices of speculation rippled through the crowd, making the trainer even more frantic.
He quickly urged his flying mount to draw closer to Nathan.
He could live without a piece of Rayquaza's scale armor—but he absolutely couldn't let Spectrier follow Nathan.
After all, a Rayquaza scale was nothing compared to Spectrier. Even ten of them wouldn't equal the worth of this single Legendary Pokémon.
"That's right, I still live in the Crown Shrine," Spectrier said calmly.
It had been far too long since Calyrex had disappeared, and it truly missed its old companion.
Spectrier and Calyrex had been friends, true partners. Though Calyrex's strength had been far, far beyond its own, their bond had never been diminished by the difference in power.
Yes, Spectrier was a Pokémon that favored solitude and silence. But Calyrex had always been the exception.
If Spectrier's entire life had been spent in still, suffocating darkness, then Calyrex had been the lone streak of green light in that darkness—radiating life, carrying the warmth of spring.
The two Pokémon's friendship had run deep, far deeper than words could describe.
"I haven't heard Calyrex's voice in a very long time… If you ever meet it again, I hope you can tell it that," Spectrier said, its eyes shimmering faintly with longing.
Looking at the Ghost Horse before him, overflowing with deep emotion, and listening to its slightly magnetic voice, Nathan suddenly felt the atmosphere becoming strangely off.
Calyrex had no gender, yet its bearing and aura had always been that of a true king.
Spectrier too had no obvious gender—but this magnetic tone of voice unconsciously made Nathan imagine it leaning toward the male side.
And then, the thought of the two of them together…
Nathan involuntarily shivered. This was giving off serious Bromance Energy.
No—more accurately, this was bromance plus cross-species!
He had always thought that relationships like this among humans were already shocking enough.
Never in his wildest imagination had he thought that even Pokémon might have such dynamics.
Of course, all of this was just Nathan's imagination running wild. But when faced with a situation like this, anyone with even the slightest gossipy streak would find themselves thinking the same.
"I'm still waiting in the Crown Shrine for it to return…" Spectrier lowered its proud head slowly as it finished speaking.
Noticing its drooping mood, Nathan wanted to offer words of comfort.
But before he could even speak, the words caught in his throat.
After all, he truly didn't know what sort of bond existed between Spectrier and Calyrex.
Anything he said might not only fail to comfort, but could easily backfire instead.
By this time, the trainer had rushed over to Spectrier's side.
Seeing its lowered head, he was completely lost.
What had happened? How could Spectrier turn into this after being by Nathan's side for such a short time?
This clearly wasn't because it had lost the battle—there was something else going on.
"What… what did you say to it?" the trainer demanded angrily, glaring at Nathan.
Nathan shrugged. What could he say? He hadn't said anything at all.
But he also knew this wasn't something easily explained, so he simply couldn't be bothered to answer.
Meanwhile, the spectators on the shore, seeing this scene, grew even more eager in their speculations.
"My guess is that Spectrier wanted to become Nathan's Pokémon, but Nathan rejected it. That's why it's feeling down now."
"No, no, no! I think Spectrier went to ask Nathan why Mewtwo was so strong, but Nathan wouldn't answer, which left it upset."
"You're both wrong. Clearly, Spectrier fell in love with Mewtwo, and Nathan told it that different Pokémon species can't be in love!"
…
Guesses of every kind filled the air.
Too bad Nathan couldn't hear any of them.
If he had, he would definitely have jotted them all down—because these theories would make for a perfect novel.
But speaking honestly, Nathan really did feel sorry for Spectrier.
Although his own encounter with Calyrex had been brief, he knew that Calyrex had long since left the Crown Shrine.
At least a hundred years had already passed since then.
Which meant that all this time—over a century—Spectrier had been left alone in the shrine, enduring endless solitude.
Thinking about Spectrier, and about Yaya, he realized both had borne countless years of loneliness.
But at least now, Spectrier had found some kind of companionship.
Whether or not it chose to remain this trainer's Pokémon, for the present moment, this wasn't such a bad arrangement for it.
The trainer pulled out a Poké Ball, intending to recall Spectrier back inside.
Just before entering the ball, Spectrier turned its head toward Nathan, as if silently praying to see a certain familiar figure appear beside him.
But no matter how long it looked, it could not find that familiar silhouette.
The white light from the Poké Ball spread over Spectrier's body, gradually enveloping it.
Still, it saw no trace of the one it longed for.
Nathan sighed softly. He truly wanted to help Spectrier, but there was nothing he could do.
Calyrex wasn't his Pokémon. He couldn't just summon it at will to let them meet again.
But just then—
From Nathan's own body, a faint glow suddenly emerged.
As the glow appeared, Spectrier, who was just about to be recalled into the Poké Ball, abruptly stopped.
And it wasn't Spectrier doing this of its own will—it was being held back by the strange aura radiating from Nathan.
That faint glow expanded outward, spreading rapidly.
Spectrier was immediately caught within the radius of the light.
Even Nathan himself was shocked at what was happening.
What was this? Could it be that Spectrier had truly summoned Calyrex here?
If that were the case… wouldn't this mean he could actually see Calyrex again?
Nathan's heart raced at the thought.
But before he could even glimpse anything, the glow suddenly flared with a powerful repulsive force.
The next moment, Volcarona was blasted away by the light.
And Nathan, seated on Volcarona's back, was thrown back with it.
The glow quickly contracted, condensing into a sphere about ten meters in diameter.
And within that sphere, only Spectrier remained.
The trainer who had just battled Nathan saw this unfold and immediately flew into a rage!
(End of Chapter)