“This is incredible… is this what a legendary-level battle is like?”
As the pace of the battle grew faster and faster, Terrance was thoroughly exhilarated. Even in the Champion match, there had never been a battle of this intensity. Both sides were now drawing upon vast amounts of natural energy. The power they unleashed was no longer just their own.
With every movement, both Tapu Koko and Altaria were stirring natural energy, invoking the power of nature itself!!
Before he even realized it, even with the continuous recovery from the Flame of Life, Altaria’s condition inevitably plummeted to a low point.
But it still held on… because as Altaria’s condition declined, Tapu Koko would also ease its offensive slightly, yet never enough to let Altaria relax, forcing it to unleash its full strength under pressure it could barely endure.
“Fi-ni!”
“Le-le”
“Bu-lu”
As the battle reached its final stage, Altaria could no longer hold on. The other three guardian deities each used their own methods—pure water, glowing scales, and life energy—to support Altaria from every aspect. Finally, after a grueling six-hour battle, Altaria underwent a qualitative transformation in its ability to harness natural energy.
According to the Rotom Pokédex’s assessment, with Altaria’s current state, even without using a Z Move, it could enhance its strength by about 10% through natural energy alone, even in a normal environment. If placed in an area rich in natural energy, or when using its exclusive Z Move, the boost could become even more terrifying!
In fact, the most important point was… after being tempered by the power of lightning, Altaria would find it much easier in the future to withstand the amplification brought by natural energy.
During the final exchanges, after breaking through its limits, the three guardian deities no longer provided healing, instead quietly watching the battle come to an end. And after fighting to this extent, even Tapu Koko, despite its immense strength, was mentally exhausted.
This made Terrance sigh. Perhaps an Altaria that could borrow natural energy might even be able to defeat a Tapu Koko that didn’t rely on it.
Of course, such pointless speculation would never have the chance to be proven.
As the strongest among the four island guardian deities, Tapu Koko held the upper hand throughout the battle but nonetheless acknowledged Altaria’s performance.
In just four days, it had completed a series of special trainings. While the help of the four guardian deities played a part, it was inseparable from Altaria’s own perseverance.
Finally.
Tapu Koko looked toward Terrance. More precisely, at the Z Ring it had given him.
At Tapu Koko’s call, the Z Ring suddenly detached from Terrance’s wrist and floated into the air.
What happened next left Terrance, Altaria, and the Rotom Pokédex utterly stunned.
“What is this…”
Terrance was momentarily dumbfounded as he watched Tapu Koko bring together the two halves of its shell-like arms, enclosing the Z Ring within them. What made him even more speechless was that after “swallowing” the Z Ring, Tapu Koko began performing a bizarre dance.
This dance… had an extremely strong rhythm, making Terrance subconsciously think of three words: shaman dance.
Not just Tapu Koko, one by one, the other three guardian deities also took the Z Ring, enclosed it within their bodies, and began dancing in strange rhythms, as if using this method to imbue the Z Ring with some kind of mystical transformation.
While “processing” the Z Ring, the four island guardian deities also sang an unusual melody. As Terrance watched for longer, he suddenly felt… their dancing was actually pretty good…
When the Z Ring returned to Terrance’s hand, he discovered that the Z Crystal, which had disappeared after activating a Z Move, had reformed on the Z Ring. Moreover, it seemed to be set even more firmly than before, as if it had fused into the Z Ring itself.
“Ko-ko.”
After completing all this, Tapu Koko flew over to Terrance and seriously instructed him about matters concerning the Z Ring.
Hearing Tapu Koko’s warning, Terrance nodded with a solemn expression. This Z Crystal… after being strengthened by the four island guardian deities, had become even more powerful. They did not recommend that Terrance use it under normal circumstances. Unless facing a major disaster, it would be best never to use it, as it would place an immense burden on both Altaria and Terrance’s bodies.
“I understand. Thank you very much.”
“Alt~aria”
Terrance quickly bowed to the four island guardian deities, understanding their intentions… this final Z Ring was meant to help him face the great disasters.
As for how powerful the Z Move produced by the new Z Crystal would make Altaria, Terrance naturally hoped he would never find out, because that would mean no major disaster had occurred.
“Tapu Koko, I have one more thing I’d like to ask you.” Suddenly, Terrance thought of something and spoke:
“Is it possible for the totem aura to permanently exist on a Pokémon?”
Faced with Terrance’s question, the four island guardian deities fell silent for a moment before Tapu Koko gave an answer. Upon hearing it, Terrance was momentarily stunned.
“I see.”
Solgaleo and Ultra Wormholes?
The answer Tapu Koko gave was to rely on the power of Solgaleo or Ultra Wormholes. As for anything more, it was unknown.
Terrance memorized this information and nodded firmly.
……
……
Aether Paradise.
This was already Terrance’s fifth day in the Alola region, and there were two days left before his Elite Four Challenge Competition began.
“Faba, how is the research on those three stones going?”
As his departure approached, Terrance couldn’t help but ask Faba about the progress of studying the three Magtonium fragments.
“They are indeed helpful.” Faba adjusted his glasses. “No… rather, they provide a line of thinking.”
“A line of thinking?”
“That’s right.” Faba snorted lightly. “Magtonium is man-made, isn’t it?”
Terrance was immediately taken aback. “Why do you say that?”
“Although it’s well concealed, they still bear traces of technology.” Faba spoke proudly. Although he hadn’t discovered it immediately, through his research he had still detected the anomaly of Magtonium. Even he himself was surprised. What kind of genius researcher could have done such a perfect job, almost fooling him, a top researcher of the Alola region.
“Not bad.” Terrance smiled awkwardly. “So what’s this line of thinking? Tell me.”
“It’s about the energy used to open Ultra Wormholes. I’ve always been using psychic energy as the power source to open Ultra Wormholes. Now that I think about it, how foolish!!”
“Mohn, a professor from the Aether Foundation, once proved that Ultra Wormholes can be opened using Cosmog’s power. However, opening them through Cosmog consumes a huge amount of energy. According to Aether Foundation records, Cosmog is a Psychic-type, so I’ve always been using psychic energy. But after obtaining Magtonium, I was inspired. Cosmog seems to feed on light, yet the energy it consumes isn’t purely psychic energy. So is it possible that it’s a special kind of energy formed by the fusion of light energy and psychic energy?” Faba laughed loudly.
“Among the three Magtonium fragments, one can autonomously absorb light energy, one can store light energy, and one can purify light energy and allow it to merge with other energies. You understand what I mean, right?”
“You mean trying to use energy formed by fusing light energy with psychic energy as the power source to open Ultra Wormholes?” Terrance asked with interest.
“Exactly.”
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