Scales of Zygarde!
Guo Yi never would've imagined stone gambling could crack open a treasure like this.
Zygarde—Kalos's Order Pokémon.
Unlike most Legendary Pokémon, Zygarde isn't born as one complete being. It's assembled when countless cell-like components—"Cores" and "Cells"—gather together.
And depending on how complete that assembly is, it can take three forms:
10%, 50%, and 100%.
Zygarde chooses its form based on the opponent's strength, adjusting to meet the threat head-on.
And Guo Yi still hadn't forgotten another system function: teaching Legendary Pokémon's exclusive moves.
The system had always contained recipes for the relevant Pokéblock—but Guo Yi had never been able to find the materials.
After all, Pokémon with exclusive moves were almost always major Legendary Pokémon.
Getting materials from them was anything but easy.
A chance like this?
Pure luck. The kind you couldn't chase down even if you tried.
At that thought, Guo Yi couldn't help but sigh. Good thing I bought every single stone.
Otherwise, I really would've missed something huge.
With these scales, Guo Yi could finally make the corresponding Pokéblock for his Nidoking.
Why Nidoking?
Because of Zygarde's exclusive moves—and their typing.
Zygarde is a Dragon/Ground-type Pokémon.
And it has four exclusive moves:
Thousand Arrows, Thousand Waves, Land's Wrath, and—finally—Core Enforcer.
Of those four, Core Enforcer is Dragon-type, while the other three are Ground-type.
And Nidoking just so happened to meet the requirements to learn those three Ground-type moves.
After pocketing the scales, Guo Yi glanced at the rest of the haul and shook his head on instinct.
Stone gambling really was nine losses out of ten—it wasn't just a saying.
If Guo Yi didn't know what these items were actually for… then this "haul" would've been nothing short of miserable.
He hadn't expected, though, that the simple act of shaking his head would scare the shopkeeper half to death.
"T-Teacher Guo!"
"I'm so sorry! I didn't expect this batch to be this bad."
"How about I refund you half?"
Half the stake, plus the Thunder Stone he'd already paid out of pocket—put together, the shopkeeper would be bleeding dry.
But faced with someone like Guo Yi, all he could do was try to calm him down.
Otherwise… if the League put him on their radar, his days would become a living hell.
Ugh…
Call it paying to avert disaster, he consoled himself.
Seeing how pained the man looked, Guo Yi let out a small laugh. "Don't worry."
"Business runs on trust. I bought the stones, so I accept the risk that comes with them."
"Still—watch the quality next time."
It was only a token reminder. After that, Guo Yi didn't spare the shopkeeper another glance.
"Let's go, Jin Peng. Time to head back."
Jin Peng nodded.
They'd been out for over an hour. It was about time.
"Teacher Guo, Elite Four Jin—take care!" Xiao Zhou and Old Jin stood at the market entrance, seeing them off together.
Hah…
Once the two silhouettes vanished from sight, the pair let out a long breath in perfect unison.
Half a minute later, Xiao Zhou grumbled, "Old Jin, you nearly got me killed this time."
"That quality was awful!"
Honestly, if it were Xiao Zhou himself—spending ten million and getting a pile of scrap—he would've exploded.
All he could say was that Teacher Guo had a good temper, and the money to match.
He didn't sweat the small stuff.
Otherwise—Xiao Zhou's position as market supervisor might not have survived the fallout.
Old Jin wore the same bitter expression.
"Supervisor Zhou, I swear—there wasn't a drop of fraud in this batch."
"Everything was first-hand stock mined straight out of a Secret Realm."
"Who could've guessed it would turn out like this?"
For a new market, reputation was everything. Even if Old Jin had the guts, he wouldn't dare cheat here.
The only explanation was that Teacher Guo's luck had been atrocious.
"Enough," Xiao Zhou said. "I don't want to hear your explanations."
"Since Teacher Guo isn't going after this, I won't say more either. But from here on out, you'd better keep a tight grip on the quality."
What was done was done. Saying more wouldn't change anything.
Better to do the follow-up work right.
The next big spender might not be anywhere near as easy to deal with as Teacher Guo.
Old Jin nodded again and again. "Don't worry, Supervisor. I'll suggest we stop shipping stones from that Secret Realm."
Only after repeated assurances did Xiao Zhou finally leave, satisfied.
...
That afternoon.
After getting enough rest, Lin Feng sat down with Jin Peng and Guo Yi to discuss their next move.
"In terms of trainer numbers, we've gotten a major boost," Lin Feng said slowly. "It's time to push back into the Secret Realm."
"The water level at Yunlong Dam is looking… less than reassuring."
While the wild Pokémon spilling out had been held back for now, the floodwaters brought by the Secret Realm's torrential rains were another matter entirely.
They couldn't block that.
The urgent priority was finding a way to make the Secret Realm disappear.
For time-limited Secret Realms like this, there were two options.
One was to wait for it to vanish on its own.
The other was to force it.
And the forced method was simple in principle: capture large numbers of Pokémon inside, and strip the place of its resources.
Once the Secret Realm's Pokémon and resources dropped below a certain threshold, it would enter a self-protection state—and vanish forcibly.
When disasters like this struck, it was the best-known solution for time-type Secret Realms.
"We definitely need to push back into the Secret Realm," Jin Peng said. "But the question is—how?"
He voiced his concern.
"We still haven't found any trace of the Seven Sages or Team Galactic. If we send students in blindly, it could be dangerous."
The Seven Sages were one thing.
They were a domestic organization in Dragon Country, and their methods still had some restraint.
But Team Galactic was different.
Abroad, they were infamous.
If it got them what they wanted, there was nothing they wouldn't do.
These students had come as support—so it was on them to ensure their safety.
"That's the real issue," Lin Feng agreed with a nod, then looked to Guo Yi. "Teacher Guo, any suggestions?"
Guo Yi lowered his head and thought for a moment before speaking.
"If we don't know what's going on inside, we start with a League-organized assault team. Have them do a reconnaissance sweep first. Once we confirm it's safe, we bring the volunteers in."
"What do you two think?"
Lin Feng and Jin Peng exchanged a glance.
They generally agreed—though the details would need some adjustment.
"No problem," Lin Feng said. "But to speed things up, I suggest the three of us each lead a team and clear several areas at once."
"That should push the timeline forward."
If they led personally, reconnaissance speed would jump by more than a factor of a few.
"Works for me."
"Agreed."
Guo Yi and Jin Peng nodded in turn.
"Good."
"Then this time, Teacher Guo and I will lead the teams."
"Jin Peng, you stay here and hold Yunlong Dam."
With the direction set, Lin Feng assigned the roles.
Of the three, Lin Feng was the oldest. It made sense for him to give the orders—and besides, this plan had been hammered out together.
After that, Lin Feng organized several advance squads.
He and Guo Yi would each lead one, conducting rapid reconnaissance inside the Secret Realm.
...
Drip, drip, drip!
Dense raindrops hammered the leaves, rattling out a constant hiss.
At the boundary where the Secret Realm met reality, a fully equipped Corps advance unit—Squad 997—filed in under Guo Yi's command.
Besides Guo Yi, the squad had nine members. Each carried two to three Pokémon.
All of them were elites picked from the Corps.
Every Pokémon under their command was at least Gym Leader Tier.
"You nine—split into three teams of three and scout in different directions. "Remember: reconnaissance first. Avoid battles whenever possible."
"If you run into danger, contact me immediately over the radio."
"Understood?"
Guo Yi's expression was severe.
Everything in the Secret Realm was unknown.
Guo Yi feared no enemy—but that didn't mean everyone else could say the same.
The reminders were necessary.
"Understood!" the nine answered, voices sharp and unified.
Guo Yi nodded.
"Move out!"
At his order, the nine split instantly into three groups and dispersed.
Once they were gone, Guo Yi swept his right hand across his waist.
The next second… two Poké Balls were pinched neatly between his fingers.
"Come out."
"Beedrill. Nidoking."
"Buzz!"
"Nido!"
Two flashes of red light spilled out, and the two Pokémon took shape.
In the relentless rain, Beedrill didn't seem to care.
Nidoking, on the other hand, looked openly irritated.
As a Ground-type, Nidoking hated weather like this.
If it were living alone in the wild, it would've already found a dry cliff face—used Dig to carve out a temporary nest—and slept in comfort until the rain passed.
But then—the annoyance on Nidoking's face was suddenly drowned out by greed.
Its eyes went wide. Wider than Guo Yi had ever seen.
Its gaze was locked on Guo Yi's palm.
Or more precisely—on the faint blue-green Pokéblock resting there.
---
T/N: my goodness... learning legendary pokemon exclusive moves
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
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