Chapter 212. You All Saw It—This Was a Line-of-Duty Sacrifice
"Alright, Ash, you go."
Ash was blankly tossed by Natsume into the driver's seat.
"Oh my gosh, it's a kid!"
The camera immediately caught Ash's face.
"Natsume, can your telekinesis carry something this heavy?"
Tracey pulled up the basic specs of the mining haul truck on the Pokédex, and when he saw the reference value for max load, his expression changed.
"By myself, it's a stretch, but I'm not the only one here."
As soon as Natsume finished speaking, the telekinetic road shimmered and grew more solid.
"Hey, hey, hey, there's no need to go this far, right?"
Misty waved, totally baffled.
"Why put Ash up there, and why must we ram it with this haul truck?"
Misty had a million questions.
But her only answer was Ash's cheeks flushing with excitement, and Natsume's blood-pumping cheer.
"Don't be afraid, Ash, you're a—cough, cough—world-saving hero!"
With that, another Rotom flew out and merged into the massive haul truck.
Black fog surged along vein-like lines, and the patterns across the truck turned eerily black.
The next second, a roar thundered.
"You've got to be kidding me."
Lawrence III stiffly turned his head.
Behind him, that behemoth was actually running in midair over the telekinetic road, and not slowly either.
Lawrence III flailed his golden rod, trying to shake off the telekinetic highway locked onto him.
But no matter how he wobbled the black-rod platform, the road curved with it, its end fixed on him.
Lawrence III stabbed the golden rod into the black-rod slab to try and speed up, only to realize in despair that he couldn't outrun the haul truck.
"Are you out of your mind!"
From afar, Lawrence III glared at Natsume.
He'd considered the League suddenly sending out a few Elite Four–level Trainers to block him.
He'd considered the League having some high-tech weapon to intercept him.
He'd considered many, many things.
He'd even considered that this suddenly appearing guy named Natsume might be some terrifying Trainer.
But he had not considered being chased through the sky by a truck.
And a haul truck at that.
Fully loaded.
There should be many ways to solve a problem.
Why this one!
Lawrence III wanted to question Natsume, but it was too late.
The haul truck roared up right behind him.
Gritting his teeth, Lawrence III swung the golden rod and shoved the cages holding Zapdos and Articuno off in two different directions.
Their goal was definitely the legendary birds, so he'd split the targets.
But he guessed wrong.
Natsume's goal was to find the brain-dead culprit and beat him up—assuming the guy survived.
Seeing the road still locked straight onto him, Lawrence III's face kept flickering between hope and dread.
Damn it, he should've blocked with those two cages.
As for Moltres—
Lawrence III glanced at Moltres's cage, which showed no movement at all.
The black-rod platform layered up, wrapping Lawrence III into a giant sphere.
But even that sphere was only as big as two of the haul truck's wheels.
To the onlookers, making the target bigger was only going to make the outcome worse.
"Boom!"
The instant they met, the massive impact was fully unleashed.
The black rods shattered and clattered into the sea, while Lawrence III inside was rocked senseless by the shockwave, blood streaming from his seven orifices.
On the other side, the haul truck wasn't doing great either.
The entire front end had caved in, and several tough black rods were driven deep into the cab by the collision.
In the cab, Ash's excitement evaporated, replaced by dizziness and shortness of breath.
He looked down and finally noticed a golden rod had somehow pierced straight in.
The rod pressed against his chest, and breathing became hard.
The next second, a lightning-swift figure streaked past in scarlet light and whisked Ash out of the cab.
Seated atop Loreidon, Ash reeled, then realized the telekinetic road had crumbled to pieces in the crash, and the haul truck was plunging straight into the sea.
"Natsume?"
Ash gasped, thinking he'd just seen a familiar silhouette flash across the truck for a split second.
"Rumble!"
The gigantic haul truck hit the water like a depth charge, throwing up a vast curtain of spray that turned that patch of sea white.
"The cages of the legendary birds broke—They're out—The League's strategy is so…"
The reporter craned his neck, and after thinking forever, still didn't know what to say.
He, like everyone glued to their TVs across Kanto, was completely dumbfounded.
What was the League even doing?
How did the League get a haul truck?
How did the haul truck fly?
Why do this?
No one knew, but it seemed to have worked.
"Ahem, everyone, as you saw, this haul truck died in the line of duty, so let's hold a three-second moment of silence."
After straining for ages, the flushed reporter could only squeeze those words out.
Under the sea—
A colossal mass plunged rapidly toward the seabed.
Countless bubbles frothed upward, startling the nearby schools of fish.
Natsume blink-warped to the sinking haul truck.
"Ugh, waterlogged; needs repairs."
He winced at the damage to the front end, then shook his head.
He went to the shipping container packed with Mega Stones, eyes gleaming, and set his hand on it.
"Clack!"
The container vanished.
"Good comrade, the League will remember your contribution."
Natsume twisted off a bolt, planning to burn a stick of incense for the big hauler every holiday for services rendered.
When Natsume returned to the surface, the expected return to normal weather hadn't happened.
Two silhouettes crossed in the sky, bolts of electricity and bursts of glacial light colliding over and over.
"Professor Ivy, what's going on—Why did Zapdos and Articuno suddenly go berserk!"
"The three forces have fallen out of balance—" Professor Ivy stared anxiously toward the sea.
Three forces out of balance?
Extending his telekinesis, Natsume overheard the reporter and Professor Ivy talking.
Right—Where was Moltres?
Natsume's heart clenched.
From the start, he'd noticed something off about the divine Moltres.
It felt like it had been dead for a long time, and yet he could sense some other kind of vitality propping it up.
"Argh, there was supposed to be a stretch of clear skies, so why is there nothing now!"
Misty clutched her head and ducked behind a rock.
Outside, the gale howled so hard it was difficult to stand.
In the sky, the rampaging Zapdos and Articuno turned on each other, as if blinded by bloodlust.
"What's going on?"
Ash clenched his fists and stared upward.
"Haven't you heard any similar folk legends?"
Natsume appeared, his projected psychic barrier shielding everyone from the storm.
"Folk legends?"
Tracey suddenly looked up.
"Before we came here, there was an island that venerates Lugia and the legendary birds."
"As long as you find the Fire Orb, Lightning Orb, and Ice Orb on Fire Island, Lightning Island, and Ice Island, then blow the ocarina, you can call forth Lugia to stop the conflict."
With the whup-whup of rotors, Professor Ivy jumped down and landed in front of them.
Not far away, many League helicopters had been forced by the storm to put down on this very island.
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