Chapter 799: Celadon University
A month passed by.
Kazuya and his party's maritime journey finally came to an end.
They had at last returned to the Kanto mainland.
Originally, according to Kazuya's plan, they intended to make a temporary stop at the isolated island of Cinnabar Island, located at the bottom left of the Kanto mainland.
However.
Considering that Cofagrigus had mentioned Groudon earlier.
Just in case they actually ran into that guy.
Kazuya decided to avoid Cinnabar Island, sail straight into the inland sea, and make landfall at Celadon City on the northern coast.
After all.
Cinnabar Island boasted one of the few volcanoes in the entire Kanto region.
Furthermore, its serene and undisturbed environment made it a perfect place for slumber.
If Groudon were truly sleeping in the Kanto region, It would most likely be hiding around Cinnabar Island.
Therefore, avoiding it directly was the best choice.
On the outskirts of Celadon City.
Looking at the high-rise buildings in the city before them.
The seven Pokémon couldn't help but exchange glances, all feeling it would be somewhat troublesome.
Celadon City was one of the top three largest cities in the Kanto region, and Kanto itself was one of the most populous regions globally.
So the danger level within Celadon City naturally went without saying.
Who knew how many magical beasts were hidden among these skyscrapers.
If they made too much noise, it would likely trigger a "zombie horde" in an instant.
But.
This Celadon City.
They simply had to come.
When choosing a place to dock and stop, Kazuya and the others actually had quite a few options.
There were six coastal cities surrounding this inland sea!
Pallet Town, Viridian City, Celadon City, Saffron City, Vermilion City, and Fuchsia City.
Aside from Pallet Town, which was the smallest in scale.
The other five were all famous large cities in the Kanto region.
Viridian City had the most advanced medical care.
Celadon City had a Department Store and Celadon University.
Saffron City was the most advanced city in technology in both Kanto and Johto.
Vermilion City was the port city of the Kanto region, a hub of international exchange and trade.
Fuchsia City had the only Safari Zone in the Kanto region.
Each had its own unique landmarks and characteristics. In terms of danger level, the five cities were actually quite similar.
So when making a choice.
The influence of the danger level had to be pushed back slightly.
Ultimately, the key factor that led Kazuya to his decision came from Lugia's method to save the world—collecting the eight Plates.
The five Plates represented by the Jewel of Life.
The three Plates represented by the Orb of Spacetime.
Since both required the Splash Plate, the Dread Plate had to be used as a substitute.
And in Kazuya's possession...
He had the Earth, Splash, Zap, and Dread x2, totaling five Plates.
Among them, the Dread Plate had a special property: it could substitute for any Plate except the Blank Plate.
This meant that of the eight Plates needed, Kazuya had already secured five.
As long as he found three of the four remaining Plates: Grass, Dragon, Steel, and Ghost.
He could synthesize the two treasures to save the world.
If he wanted to.
He could try to create the Jewel of Life right now with the five Plates he had on hand.
But a single Jewel of Life couldn't save the world.
And once he consumed the two crucial Dread Plates now.
If he subsequently missed a key Plate and couldn't find it no matter what, the situation would become extremely serious.
As for the significant drop in Kazuya's combat power after consuming the five Plates...
The importance of this matter had to be ranked behind that.
Therefore.
For Kazuya and his party right now.
The most important thing was to acquire information about the remaining four Plates.
Of course.
It would be excellent if they could get information about the Blank Plate.
The Blank Plate, like the Dread Plate, could substitute for other Plates.
It was just that Kazuya guessed the Blank Plate was on the corrupted Arceus. If that were truly the case, obtaining the Blank Plate would be practically impossible.
Since it involved information about the Plates.
The choice of cities to dock at.
Could immediately eliminate four.
Leaving only Pallet Town, which had Professor Oak's Laboratory, and Celadon City, which had Celadon University.
Considering that Professor Oak's research theme was [The Relationship Between Pokémon and Humans].
Kazuya estimated it would be difficult to find information and data related to the Plates in his laboratory, so he chose Celadon University.
The [Universities] in the Pokémon world.
Carried a prestige incomparable to those on Earth.
Because in the entire Pokémon world, the schools qualified to be called "Universities" totaled no more than 10.
Basically, each region only had one or two, and they had to be prominent, major regions.
Celadon University.
Was the only university within the jurisdiction of the Indigo League.
Including Professor Oak, Professor Elm, Professor Westwood, Gym Leader Erika, Nurse Joy...
They were all graduates of Celadon University, and some of them served as special lecturers there after graduation.
This shows the prestige of Celadon University.
Kazuya believed they could definitely find clues about the Plates in this university.
Even finding information on just one Plate.
Would be a huge profit.
Carefully weaving through the streets and alleys of Celadon City, Kazuya said to his companions: "We won't need Samiya for a short while. I've already let it sink into the sea. I'll summon it again when we reach the northern border of Sinnoh."
He possessed the Sea Crown.
He could summon Samiya no matter where he was.
So there was absolutely no need to worry about losing it.
"Great, I've had enough of life at sea,"
Cofagrigus complained.
He wasn't used to staying in the ocean and was always nervous.
He seemed to have a bit of thalassophobia.
The other companions nodded.
Although they hadn't said it out loud, they were actually getting tired of life inside Samiya as well.
Only Dragonite was more patient and didn't feel particularly irritated by it.
After all, she had stayed in the Dragon Clan's territory for over a thousand years before and didn't find it too annoying.
Of course.
This also had to consider that.
The ocean was like a "hometown" for the Dragonite species.
Right at this moment.
Crash!
A window on the wall next to them suddenly shattered.
"Meow!!"
Skitty was startled by the noise, her fur standing on end as she hissed in the direction of the sound.
A Dodrio glaring with its six crimson eyes pecked towards them.
In the eyes of these magical beasts.
Their status as Masters and Champions meant nothing, and even their numerical advantage might as well not exist.
When Dodrio was halfway through its charge.
Crack!
Its three necks suddenly snapped, and it collapsed onto the ground.
Mewtwo, standing in the back, expressionlessly lowered His hand and continued reading the travel guide.
The other Pokémon ignored it completely.
As if this Dodrio had never appeared.
Only Skitty flicked her tail in annoyance, her mood slightly soured, but it didn't affect her much.
This was a matter of course.
Not just anyone had the strength to ambush them.
Admittedly.
There were many one-way mirrors in Celadon City where you couldn't see inside from the outside, but the magical beasts inside could see Kazuya's party passing by.
The problem was.
Among the seven Pokémon in Kazuya's group, three were essentially humanoid walking surveillance cameras.
They didn't need their eyes to perceive everything around them.
They noticed this Dodrio even earlier than it noticed them.
"Celadon University is in the northernmost part of Celadon City. It's a bit far. Looks like we'll have to fight quite a few times along the way."
Mewtwo put down the travel guide and looked north, then shifted His gaze to a nearby manhole cover. "How about taking the sewers?"
"No, the underground is full of magical beasts."
Lucario hurriedly raised his hand to stop him.
In his perception, the underground of Celadon City was simply a nest of magical beasts. That kind of dark and damp place was too comfortable for many furless Pokémon.
"We'll just walk on the surface. At our speed, it won't even take half an hour."
Scizor continued forward without looking back.
He didn't want to go to a foul-smelling place like the sewers.
Dragonite and Skitty nodded simultaneously.
They wouldn't like that kind of dirty place either.
Cofagrigus didn't care either way.
Seeing this, Mewtwo didn't bring it up again and continued following everyone forward.
"Isn't this city... a bit too gaudy? Humans have such strange tastes."
Scizor tilted his head, looking at the skyscrapers outside, a look of disgust in his eyes.
A dark green building on the left.
Followed immediately by a dark purple building on the right.
What kind of devilish color scheme was this?
Scizor, who preferred simplicity, disliked Celadon City. The style of this city made him slightly nauseous.
But upon hearing this.
Lucario perked up and hurriedly assumed the role of a tour guide, afraid someone else would snatch it from him: "The biggest feature of Celadon City is its colorfulness..."
It was known as the "City of Rainbows, Like a Dream." Not only were the buildings and billboards in the city vibrantly colored, but even the badge of the Celadon Gym had always been the "Rainbow Badge."
However.
This actually suited the seven of them quite well.
Black, White, Red, Blue, Orange, Pink, Gold...
Seven Pokémon of seven colors. Walking through this city, there was surprisingly no sense of incongruity, as if they blended into the background.
"I think we might as well call ourselves the 'Rainbow Heroes.' I remember there's a legend like that in the Kanto region, right?"
Cofagrigus grinned, developing a bit of wicked amusement.
The group chatted as they moved forward.
They soon arrived at Celadon University, located in the north of the city.
"Split into three groups. Mewtwo goes to the library, I'll go to the Department of History, Lucario, you go to the Department of Items..."
Just upon stepping inside Celadon University, Kazuya raised his hand and made the arrangements.
They only had three days.
After three days, regardless of whether they obtained information on the Plates or not, they had to leave.
Gathering information together was too slow.
It just so happened.
Kazuya, Mewtwo, and Lucario all knew how to read, so they could go to different departments to search for information.
Especially Mewtwo.
Using His massive psychic power to directly scan the entire library, His ability to search for information was absolutely terrifying.
That was why Kazuya assigned Him to that place resembling a sea of books.
The seven Pokémon split up according to their strengths.
Kazuya was accompanied by Scizor.
Mewtwo was accompanied by Cofagrigus.
Dragonite and Skitty went with Lucario.
~~~
Get early access to 30+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
~~~
Every 5 new reviews = 1 extra chapters
Every 150 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter