After bidding farewell to the Unown, Chen Mo finally had the presence of mind to pay attention to the weather changes mentioned in the official private message.
That said, he hardly needed the reminder— the striking thundercloud overhead had already drawn his full attention.
"No wonder the Pokémon Response and Research Bureau asked me to turn off the stream before leaving. This really isn't something suitable for viewers to see."
Chen Mo looked up at the thundercloud and muttered to himself.
According to the official description in the private message, this thundercloud had formed right around the time he entered the ancient ruins, and it had begun dissipating precisely when he appeared to be acting "abnormally" on stream.
From that, it wasn't hard to infer that the cause of the thundercloud was the Zekrom energy bead.
"Looks like the people at the bureau have probably guessed that the dissipation of the thundercloud has something to do with me… but they shouldn't know that I obtained Zekrom's energy bead."
Chen Mo fell into brief contemplation.
Before long, however, he tossed those complicated thoughts aside.
With his current strength— even counting Pichu and Pidgeotto— the state was still an overwhelming colossus compared to him. He had no leverage at all in any tug-of-war with them.
And at least for now, the land he lived on was still treating him with goodwill— at the very least, on the surface.
So if there were opportunities to cooperate with the authorities in the future, Chen Mo wouldn't deliberately refuse them either.
Once he thought it through, his mood immediately brightened.
After all, who wouldn't like having a big tree to lean against?
"That said… the scale of this thundercloud is honestly ridiculous. And this is after part of it has already dissipated. Yeah… this is seriously outrageous."
Rather than leaving in a hurry, Chen Mo simply sat down at the edge of the cliff. With Pichu and Pidgeotto by his side, he patiently waited for the thundercloud to fully disperse.
Only at this moment, gazing at the massive cloud layer dominating the horizon, did Chen Mo truly grasp just how terrifying the power from Zekrom was— and how utterly insignificant he himself was beneath it.
"Isn't this a bit too exaggerated? From what I remember, even in the Victini and the Black-and-White Hero movie, Zekrom didn't feel this over-the-top."
And most importantly— this was merely the power contained within Zekrom's energy bead. How strong the real Zekrom actually was remained an unknown.
Still, based on the murals and Arthas's account, Chen Mo could roughly imagine it.
At the end of that story, Zekrom had annihilated Arthas's kingdom at its peak while simultaneously suppressing the call of its vessel and suffering a loss of power. The sheer terror of that feat completely overturned the preconceived notions Chen Mo had brought over from his past life.
If you covered up Zekrom's appearance and only looked at that world-ending display of destruction, Chen Mo would've thought some divine alpaca had personally descended.
But then again, looking at it from another angle—
If Zekrom was already this terrifying, what about the other legendary Pokémon?
Setting aside the rest, that vessel calling out to Zekrom was almost certainly Kyurem, the one said to have frozen Unova. In some legends, its power was even described as surpassing Zekrom's.
"This is getting more and more complicated…"
Zekrom's existence served as a wake-up call for Chen Mo: he could no longer casually label legendary Pokémon based on impressions from his previous life. If he did, things might become very dangerous.
With that thought, Chen Mo couldn't help but glance at his own Pidgeotto— the very one that had boldly wanted to challenge Zekrom.
"Pidgeotto?"
Noticing Chen Mo's gaze, Pidgeotto tilted its head in confusion.
Standing up in the breeze blowing across the cliff, Chen Mo gently stroked the smooth feathers on Pidgeotto's back and chuckled softly.
"It's about time. We should head back."
The thunderclouds above had completely dispersed, and the sky had returned to a clear, pristine blue.
There was no longer any reason for Chen Mo to linger here— or rather, his brief stop had only been a momentary whim, just to admire the celestial phenomenon stirred up by Zekrom's extraordinary power.
Now, it was time to leave.
Compared to their cautious ascent earlier, Chen Mo and Pichu were now able to sit steadily on Pidgeotto's back, enjoying the flight. As a result, their return journey was noticeably faster.
—
By the shores of Redleaf Lake
With a rush of wind pressure, Pidgeotto landed steadily by the lakeside.
"Thank you for bringing us back, Pidgeotto."
Chen Mo gently smoothed out the feathers on Pidgeotto's back that had been ruffled by carrying him and Pichu, smiling as he spoke.
"There's nothing else we need your help with here. Go back to your flock for now and get things ready with the Pidgey. Tomorrow morning, I'll be waiting for you all by the lake."
"Pidgeot."
Pidgeotto nodded, then let out a high, ringing cry. With a powerful flap of its wings, it soared into the air and quickly disappeared into the sky.
Just as Chen Mo finished seeing Pidgeotto off and was about to take Pichu to tidy up the campsite in preparation for their departure tomorrow—
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a Magikarp hidden among the dense aquatic plants, seemingly gazing in the direction where Pidgeotto had vanished.
Even without using Detection Eye, Chen Mo knew at once that it was the same special Magikarp he was familiar with.
"What, don't recognize it anymore?"
Chen Mo walked over to the reeds and looked in the same direction as the Magikarp.
"That was Pidgey— you should've seen it that night too. It's just evolved now. Hehe, doesn't it look even more handsome?"
Seeing a familiar playmate, Pichu's eyes immediately lit up, and it excitedly greeted the Magikarp.
"Pichu, pichu!"
As it called out, Pichu leaned toward the lake, but its footing slipped. It tumbled straight off Chen Mo's shoulder and fell right in.
"Pi— sploosh!"
Water splashed everywhere.
Chen Mo burst out laughing at the sight.
Pichu, however, didn't mind at all. Floating in the water, it eagerly searched for its companion.
Soon enough—
It spotted that familiar red figure again.
"Pichu pi!"
"Gurgle gurgle…"
Faced with Pichu's enthusiastic greeting, Magikarp had no choice but to blow a stream of bubbles in response.
Yet its attention wasn't fully on Pichu. Instead, it kept sneaking glances at Chen Mo on the shore, who was grinning foolishly to himself.
What that strange human had just said bothered it.
For example— how did that human know it had seen that dumb bird that night? And why had that dumb bird suddenly evolved?
Those were questions Magikarp found itself very curious about.
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