Chapter 421: The Hedge Fund
Zapdos was a force of nature, but it was no longer qualified to trade blows with
the Nightmare God. To find a true peer for Darkrai, one would have to look
toward the masters of the Three Birds—the Great Guardian, Lugia, or perhaps the
rainbow phoenix, Ho-Oh.
Kenji watched the battle with a growing sense of awe. He truly believed that
Darkrai had the potential to ascend to the rank of a Tier 1 Legendary, standing
shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Groudon and Kyogre.
If it reaches that level, Kenji mused, even Mewtwo wouldn't be able to push me
around.
As powerful as Mewtwo was, it was still a genetic construct. Its distance from a
true Tier 1 Legendary was roughly equivalent to the gap between these new clones
and the genuine Zapdos—powerful, yes, but lacking that fundamental, primal spark
of divinity.
Of course, if Kenji ever managed to catch Mewtwo, the System might be able to
bridge that gap. With a few star-ups and the right Hex Cores, Mewtwo could
probably fight a Tier 1 God to a standstill.
While Kenji was lost in his daydreams, the swarm of shadowy tentacles finally
ensnared the Legendary bird. The moment a single strand of darkness touched
Zapdos, its movements jerked to a violent halt. The jagged wings stopped
beating. It hung in the air, paralyzed by a sudden, total collapse of its will.
Then, the tentacles plunged into its chest. They didn't draw blood; they drew
essence.
"SKREEEEEEEEE!"
A silent, soul-piercing shriek echoed directly into Kenji's mind. A flickering,
semi-transparent phantom of Zapdos was wrenched from its physical body and
dragged screaming into the abyss of the Dark Void.
Darkrai's abilities were fundamentally "broken." Unless an opponent's mental
fortitude or raw power was on the same plane as the Nightmare God, they were
helpless. Darkrai could simply excise their consciousness and sequester it in a
world of endless terrors.
Even at Level 99, the Zapdos was defenseless. It proved that once Darkrai
reached the Master Tier, it would likely be peerless.
With its consciousness severed, the physical body of Zapdos became a hollow
shell. Like a machine with its power cord ripped out, the Great Bird plummeted
from the sky.
BOOM!
It hit the valley floor with a dull thud, unmoving.
"Zapdos!" Yuna Su cried out.
She looked at the drifting Darkrai with a flash of genuine fear in her eyes. She
knew better than anyone how strong her partner was. For it to be silenced so
completely—without even a final struggle—left her feeling a cold sense of
powerlessness. She had faced the Champion's Blaziken before, and while that was
a losing battle, at least they had been able to trade hits. Against Darkrai,
there was no battle. There was only the end.
"I forfeit," Yuna said softly.
She knew the rules of the nightmare. If she didn't surrender, her partner's mind
might stay trapped in that darkness forever.
Kenji snapped his fingers. Darkrai retracted the Dark Void, and the flickering
phantom of Zapdos spiraled back into its physical form.
Darkrai had been disciplined; it hadn't tortured the bird's mind, but the
"Nightmare" trait was passive. Even a second in that void was enough to leave a
Pokémon's spirit shaken. When Zapdos finally opened its eyes, it scrambled
toward Yuna, looking at Darkrai as if it were death itself.
Yuna knelt down, stroking the bird's metallic feathers to comfort it.
[System Notification]
Challenge Successful! Southwest Elite Four: Defeated.
The challenge had been smoother than his fight against Mason Chu, largely
because Electivire had served as a hard-counter to Yuna's entire roster.
Kenji didn't linger at the Southwest Headquarters. He found the bureaucracy of
the League tedious and decided to spend a few days exploring the region instead.
Two of the four pillars had fallen. Only the Northwest's Lawson and the
Northeast's Li Xisheng remained.
After some thought, Kenji decided to head North. He wanted to save Lawson—the
strongest of the four—for last.
A few days later, Kenji arrived in Crane City, the snowy industrial hub of the
Northeast. He checked into a local Pokémon Center, his Ditto perched on his
shoulder and Ninetales walking gracefully beside him.
After weeks of high-intensity training and back-to-back Elite Four matches,
Kenji needed a breather. He collapsed onto the oversized, plush bed of his
suite, sinking into the mattress like it was a cloud.
Just as he was about to drift off, he sat up with a start.
I still haven't used the Hex Core reward from the Yuna match!
With a thought, he summoned the translucent System Interface. He rubbed his
hands together, offering a silent prayer to the gods of RNG.
Please, no more equipment-specific buffs like Archangel's Embrace. Give me
something heavy. Something for Tyranitar.
The Hex Core options began to spin in a blurred wheel of prismatic light.
DING! Hex Core Extraction in progress... DING! Congratulations! You have
obtained the Prismatic Hex Core: Hedge Fund!
Kenji froze. "Hedge Fund?"
If he remembered correctly from the "System's" source logic, Hedge Fund was a
gold-generating augment. It provided a massive influx of cash and increased the
interest cap.
Kenji felt a pang of annoyance. In a video game, gold was king. In this world?
He was the Grand Champion of the Huaxia League. He had sponsorships, a massive
salary, and more prize money than he could spend in three lifetimes.
"If this thing just gives me a bank account upgrade in exchange for a lower-tier
augment later, I'm going to lose it," he muttered.
He tapped the icon to read the localized description.
[Hex Core: Hedge Fund (Prismatic)] Effect: [Loading...]
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