Chapter 201 – Capturing Buzzwole
"Again!" Yozora hurled a Poké Ball for the third time, only to see it burst open once more.
"Buzzwole, won't you become my partner?"When force didn't work, Yozora had no choice but to try communicating instead.
Buzzwole, though classified as an Ultra Beast, was still a Pokémon at its core. They too could understand the language of humans.
"Buuuzzz…" Buzzwole shook its head violently, like a rattle being spun.
Through Aura, Yozora roughly understood the meaning behind its rejection: Impossible! We proud warriors will never dance alongside humans!
"I can make you stronger…"
Step by step, Yozora coaxed it: "I can make you the strongest Buzzwole in the entire universe."
Buzzwole clearly wavered at that, but after a moment of silence, it shook its head even more fiercely. Cunning human, do you think I'll believe such lies?
Yozora could only sigh. Clearly, this Buzzwole harbored deep resentment toward humans.
But giving up was out of the question. If persuasion failed, then he could only capture it by force!
He kept throwing balls, but every single attempt ended in failure.
Soon, the ground was littered with fragments of broken Ultra Balls.
His mouth twitched as he looked at the wreckage. In just a few minutes, he had already lost several hundred thousand in Poké Balls.
"If only I had a Beast Ball…" Yozora muttered.
Beast Balls were special Poké Balls developed by the Aether Foundation specifically to capture Ultra Beasts. They had a dismal success rate on ordinary Pokémon…
…but against Ultra Beasts, they were extraordinarily effective.
That was because Ultra Beasts were overwhelmingly powerful. Every time they crossed into this world through an Ultra Wormhole, they wreaked havoc on Alola's delicate ecosystem.
Worse still, some even slaughtered humans.
The so-called "Ultra Wormholes" were essentially rifts that connected Ultra Space with the Alola region.
Yes—always Alola.
Whenever Ultra Beasts crossed into the Pokémon world, their first stop was invariably Alola.
Thus came into being both the Guardian Deities that protected the region and the human organization known as the Aether Foundation.
The Guardian Deities were Legendary Pokémon safeguarding Alola, while the Aether Foundation sought to capture any invading Ultra Beasts to preserve the balance of its ecosystem.
They had created Beast Balls for that very purpose—but they were never made available for public sale.
Details in the original records noted that each Beast Ball cost several million to manufacture.
Yozora had none. He could only rely on Ultra Balls.
Before long, his entire stock of Ultra Balls was gone. All that remained were ordinary Poké Balls and a handful of Great Balls.
At last—after a staggering expense—Yozora finally succeeded in capturing Buzzwole with a single Great Ball.
Poké Ball: 100 apiece.Great Ball: 1,000 apiece.Ultra Ball: 30,000 apiece.Luxury Ball: 500,000 apiece.
Ordinary Balls and Great Balls were affordable. Ultra Balls were the true premium tier, costly to the extreme.
Before setting out for Alola, Yozora had prepared eighty-nine Ultra Balls. Now, every single one of them was gone.
That alone came to well over two million…
In other words, he had sunk more than two million into the attempt, along with countless ordinary Balls, before finally succeeding with a single Great Ball.
But it was worth it.
Absolutely worth it!
Joy surged in Yozora's chest. Buzzwole, as an Ultra Beast, wielded power on par with Legendary Pokémon species. Its value was beyond measure.
If one had to assign a monetary value, the figure would easily start in the billions!
After capturing Buzzwole, Yozora stayed behind to battle a few Mudbray for training.
He spent three more days in Alola before finally flying home.
Taige Gym
Returning to the gym, Yozora resumed his rigorous training.
Taige Gym was equipped with a Pokémon Transporter. Using it, Yozora contacted Professor Oak and had all of his Pokémon—including his Magikarp—sent over to train together.
His mornings were spent on meditation and fundamentals. Afternoons were filled with sparring matches against Master Tyron and baseball training.
Every day, Yozora and his Pokémon collapsed like dead dogs from exhaustion.
But each night, after soaking in the hot springs, their strength was completely restored.
"How's this place, Buzzwole? Not too bad, right?" Yozora asked with a grin as they sat in the hot springs.
Buzzwole lounged back with an utterly relaxed look on its face. At Yozora's words, it nodded repeatedly.
Though it had been difficult to capture, once it was truly caught, Buzzwole proved to be a surprisingly good companion—getting along well with Yozora and the rest of the team.
Time flew. Two months of hard training passed, and the opening ceremony of the Indigo Plateau Conference was now only a day away.
During these two grueling months, both Yozora and his partners had grown tremendously.
Yozora's physique, mental focus, and Aura had all advanced to new levels.
As for his Pokémon, each had achieved their own breakthroughs—
Beedrill* (Huge Power + Sniper + Tinted Lens): Elite Four Mid-tier, pseudo-legendary potential
Buzzwole (Ultra Boost + Huge Power + Endurance): Elite-level Beginner, Tier 2 Legendary potential
Charizard* (Blaze + Blaze + Blaze + Water Absorb): Gym Leader Beginner, Tier 3 Legendary potential
Golduck* (Drizzle + Swift Swim + Volt Absorb + Adaptability): Lord-tier Peak, Tier 3 Legendary potential
Gengar* (Cursed Body + Adaptability + Technician): Lord-tier Peak, Champion potential
Aegislash* (Stance Change + Huge Power + Light Metal): Lord-tier Advanced, pseudo-legendary potential
Pidgeot* (Keen Eye + Volt Absorb + Adaptability): Lord-tier Beginner, Champion potential
Machamp* (No Guard + Huge Power + Adaptability + Endurance): Lord-tier Beginner, Champion potential
Kangaskhan* (Scrappy + Huge Power + Endurance): Lord-tier Beginner, Champion potential
Graveler* (Rock Head + Water Absorb + Sap Sipper): Commander Mid-tier, Champion potential
Nidorino* (Poison Point + Poison Point + Poison Point + Poison Point): Commander Mid-tier, Tier 3 Legendary potential
Magikarp* (Rattled + Volt Absorb + Huge Power + Adaptability): Elite-level Advanced, pseudo-legendary potential…
Miltank* (Thick Fat + Huge Power + Endurance): Elite Peak, Elite Four potential
Dratini* (Marvel Scale + Huge Power + Endurance): Intermediate tier, Tier 3 Legendary potential
In total, Yozora now commanded fourteen Pokémon.
Aside from Buzzwole, he had achieved complete spiritual resonance with the other thirteen, unlocking the fourth ability slot for each.
Yozora had already made plans for most of them.
Beedrill would wait until it could gain Multiscale.Gengar, Aegislash, and Pidgeot were all to receive Speed Boost.
Over these two months, every single one of his Pokémon had shown dazzling growth—
…every one, except for Dratini.
Dratini's growth rate was painfully slow. Compared to the others, every level and every stage demanded enormous accumulation of strength.
But this accumulation was not meaningless.
When the day finally came for it to evolve into Dragonite, all of that hidden power would erupt at once.
(End of Chapter)