The Legendary Bird Pokémon had been reduced to part-time plant staff, dragged in by a capitalist human to do unpaid labor. That was what Zapdos had thought at first.
But then...
This guy's bird feed was unbelievably good.
So what if it was scraps tossed its way?
These were scraps it actually got to eat.
At the end of the day, it was just a flying thunder chicken anyway. What was there it couldn't sell? It was only a little electricity.
I wanted to roar at this human with all my might, but he was offering way too much.
"An actual Legendary Bird Pokémon has been tamed like a common sparrow... At this rate, even after Raging Bolt and Miraidon leave, Sinnoh's power crisis can still be completely resolved with Zapdos helping supply electricity."
Cynthia watched Zapdos burying its head in food, completely unconcerned by the power cables attached to its body, and her image of what a "Legendary Pokémon" was supposed to be cracked just a little.
But the one whose worldview shattered the most was Dawn.
She blinked, then tried offering some snacks of her own to Zapdos. The fat yellow bird accepted everything without hesitation and pecked it all down in a flash.
After finishing, Zapdos paused for a moment and silently evaluated the meal.
Hmm. It looked good, and it tasted good too, but somehow something was missing. Compared to the handmade dumplings the other human had made, it still came up short.
But what exactly was missing? That part it couldn't figure out.
"So does it like them or not? Why doesn't it react at all after eating them?"
Dawn looked puzzled. Piplup, Buizel, and Kabuto all tilted their heads and bodies at the exact same angle, perfectly mirroring their Trainer's expression.
People always said Pokémon gradually started to resemble their Trainers. There really was some truth to that.
"But these were Poffins... Are they not tasty?"
The food Dawn had taken out came from her bag. She had bought it earlier in Floaroma Town. Poffins were a very popular kind of pastry in Sinnoh, usually made from Berries. Because they carried Berry energy, they could improve a Pokémon's Coolness, Beauty, Cuteness, Cleverness, and Toughness.
They were excellent treats for raising Pokémon, and unless they were made terribly, Poffins were generally very well liked.
"What exactly did you feed Zapdos earlier, Hikaru-san?"
Dawn looked at the bird feed Hikaru had made. It looked like nothing more than handmade rice balls, yet the Legendary Bird Pokémon had eaten them with obvious delight. Cynthia, meanwhile, had a strong impression of the food as well.
Her eyes flickered slightly. "That was... the raising food you used to sell before?"
She had bought that kind of thing from Hikaru once herself. They had been sorted into simple, practical categories like "Grass-Strong Food" and "Ground-Strong Food," sold in cans or bottles.
Hikaru nodded. "That's right. Though it counts as raising food, its proper name is lure cake. A long time ago, people made it by hand as food for Pokémon. If you add special ingredients, it becomes raising food."
"If you don't add anything, then the effect is simpler. But it still has major benefits for a Pokémon's growth."
"This one is Bean Cake. Its main ingredient is plump beans. You can hardly find that kind of bean in modern Sinnoh anymore, right? It has a very strong appeal for bird Pokémon and fish Pokémon. Then you add Electric Seeds, or powder made from Electric Gems."
"If conditions allow, you can even season it using wave power. For electric flavoring, you can use Earth Power to draw on the environment and infuse it. That was also one of the ancient methods for making food."
"No Pokémon can resist the temptation of food. And what I made here can also count as a special kind of snack."
"If you process it a step further, it becomes a food that has already been lost from this land: treasure food."
While Zapdos was helping generate power, Looker had also finished calming down the plant workers and handing things over to Officer Jenny and the police.
"What a stroke of luck. Because I got the intelligence in advance, after leaving Jubilife City I rushed here without stopping and disguised myself as a Team Galactic grunt. Wherever crowds gather, information gathers too!"
"In fact, I got here before Mars and Jupiter even arrived. Those ordinary Team Galactic grunts thought I was just here scouting the place, so I blended right in with them immediately. Though as expected, the way this bunch talks really is all over the place. A bit foolish, really."
Looker recounted everything he had been doing over the last two or three days. When it came to dedication on the job, the trench coat detective truly did not lose to anyone.
That reminded Hikaru of Platinum's postgame, when Looker had finally uncovered useful information and learned that Pluto was heading to Stark Mountain for the Magma Stone. He had rushed there ahead of time and, using his incredible disguise skills, disguised himself as an ordinary rock near the Magma Stone and lay in wait for at least two full days.
And that place was inside a volcanic crater, with extreme heat and dangerous Pokémon everywhere. Yet Looker had not made a sound. He had simply endured until Pluto showed up, then at the critical moment had Croagunk snatch back the Magma Stone by surprise and arrested Pluto on the spot.
If nobody had exposed his disguise at the end, then even if Looker had passed out from the heat, probably no one would have noticed. It really was the kind of thing a man did when he valued fighting crime more than his own life. Even if he could be unreliable at times, there was absolutely nothing wrong with Looker's work ethic.
Hikaru thought very highly of him.
"You stayed undercover for two straight days and completely infiltrated Team Galactic. As expected of Agent 836, the incredible man who once held back Guzzlord. And your Croagunk is excellent too."
"To hear that from you makes me feel rather ashamed..." Looker took a deep breath and kept a serious expression on his face. "To be honest, I'm not especially skilled at Pokémon battles. So I honed my disguise techniques instead."
"A person has to play to their strengths and avoid their weaknesses in order to bring out their greatest power. What I can do only goes this far. Because all of you are here, impossibly strong as you are, my work has been able to proceed this smoothly."
"This is not my achievement. It is everyone's!"
Looker sincerely thanked them, then turned to Cynthia for confirmation.
"Champion Cynthia, if you have no special arrangements for Mars, then the local Officer Jenny will take custody of her and escort her to prison. Her Pokémon will be confiscated and properly cared for until her sentence is complete, at which point they will be returned."
"Returned?" Dawn found that wording strange. "...Wouldn't Mars's Pokémon just be released instead?"
Looker shook his head. "Every criminal I've arrested has had their own story. If I insist on carrying out justice, then it may mean making people endure separation."
"She must have gone through something too, for her to become this stubborn."
Hikaru said, "If Cyrus's issue isn't resolved, she'll still want to break out. But I already gave her my word, so there shouldn't be anything to worry about."
"By the way, doesn't the International Police go a little too easy on sentencing...?"
In the games, the Seven Sages from Unova got out after only two years. That was absurdly short.
And Team Galactic's commanders probably would not be serving any longer than that.
In the game, after quitting Team Galactic, Mars even went traveling as an ordinary woman. It was almost unbelievable.
"There's nothing I can really do about that." Looker rubbed his chin. "But until Team Galactic is disbanded, I will not stop my investigations and arrests in Sinnoh. I will absolutely bring them all to justice!"
"Right. Here, take this."
Hikaru pulled a small charm from his pocket. Under Looker's confused gaze, he explained, "This is Sacred Ash."
"Sacred...?!"
Looker had been to many places, and because of his work he knew quite a few legends. He naturally knew the legend of Sacred Ash. His hand jerked so hard he nearly dropped it.
"W-why are you giving me something this valuable...? No, wait, how do you even have this? Don't tell me you met that one..."
"As long as you have Sacred Fire, you can make Sacred Ash." Hikaru looked at Looker thoughtfully. "When your partner's life is in danger, use this on it."
"Your Croagunk has fought beside you for years, so it's built up a great deal of fatigue. Just like Champion Alder's Volcarona, it may end up losing its life in a dangerous situation if it overuses its strength."
By the time of XY, it was mentioned that Looker's Croagunk had already died, falling in the line of duty during an investigation.
Back in Platinum it had still been lively and full of fight. Which meant that by the time Looker was in Unova, Croagunk was no longer by his side. And by Sun and Moon, he had no partner Pokémon with him at all.
"Is this... a prophecy?"
Looker's heart sank slightly, but the hand gripping the Sacred Ash charm only tightened.
Hikaru said, "'The better a meeting feels, the lonelier the parting becomes.' That's your philosophy in life, isn't it?"
"That's exactly why revival items exist for moments like this. As for where you should investigate next, Veilstone City would be the better choice. Eterna City also has a Galactic building, but that isn't their true headquarters."
"Considering that Pluto didn't steal enough electricity, there's only one Galactic Bomb left. It probably won't be used for a test anymore. It'll be dropped directly into one of the lakes. It may currently be stored in the Galactic Warehouse, or deep inside the research lab at Team Galactic HQ. And the lake they plan to target is... Lake Valor!"
When Hikaru once again revealed information with the certainty of a prophecy, Cynthia could not help letting out a soft laugh.
"In Sinnoh's legends, emotion, knowledge, and will correspond to the three lakes. But why would Cyrus choose to blow up Lake Valor?"
Hikaru answered, "The lake trio are linked. And the islands within the lakes actually contain alternate spaces. They do not exist in the ordinary world we can see. Once Lake Valor is attacked, Azelf will appear in the real world. At that same moment, the gods in Lake Verity and Lake Acuity will awaken as well and move to join Azelf."
"In Unova, there is also an island in a lake. It connects to the alternate space of the lake trio. It is called the Abyssal Ruins. In ancient times, Sinnoh's lake gods traveled to Unova through that space and spread emotion, will, and knowledge."
"In other words, even if Team Galactic attacks them, they actually could flee Sinnoh and cross the distant sea. But... they won't."
"Because the three lakes here and the connected hollow are equally important. They would never choose exile. That is their stubbornness. At the same time, once Lake Valor is attacked, the balance is broken immediately."
"Originally, 'heart' was a complete concept, but at some point it was divided into knowledge, emotion, and will. And among them, the most important is will. The power of Lake Valor affects all of Sinnoh."
"More importantly, if Azelf isn't subdued first, then its power will cause anyone who attacks it to lose their will after seven days and become a puppet!"
Hikaru continued, "And not just Lake Valor. Cyrus will also send people to Celestic Town. In his plan, he even considered using a Galactic Bomb to destroy the Celestic murals..."
Cynthia's brows drew together sharply. "You're saying he may plant a bomb in Celestic Town? He's after the ruins and murals there. The mural depicting the lake trio, Dialga, Palkia, and... Arceus!"
"Cyrus will definitely go look at the mural in my hometown... You once said that mural was..."
Hikaru said, "Perhaps it was something Cogita left behind for later generations. Celestic Town was rebuilt on the site of the Ancient Retreat. It is the reappearance of the oldest settlement, Celestica Town."
Ancient Sinnoh people also had another distinctive trait. They liked to wear their hair over their left eye, to the point that it spawned the old joke: "Are people born here missing their left eye or something?"
Hikaru briefly wondered whether he should try a hairstyle like that himself.
"Do you remember the Cloudy Ruins I mentioned before?"
No matter what Cynthia tried, she had never been able to investigate the location of the ruins Hikaru had once mentioned, the ones capable of producing a Red Chain.
"I couldn't find even the slightest trace," Cynthia said. "Even a lost ruin shouldn't be able to vanish that completely. What exactly is going on?"
Hikaru replied, "The Cloudy Ruins are right by Lake Valor."
"Since ancient times, it has been said that clouds and mist blur the boundary between things."
From ancient maps, it was clear that the Cloudy Ruins were actually the forest in the upper-left part of Lake Valor's map. What was interesting was that after Saturn blew up Lake Valor, that upper-left area was destroyed too. And along the way, Magikarp blocked the protagonist's path, so the player could see the upper-left region but not actually enter it.
"If Lake Valor is blown up, the Cloudy Ruins will disappear along with it. And as Team Galactic's inheritor, Cyrus doesn't even know those ruins exist. That's what happens when someone looks down too much on mythology. The damage this would do to Sinnoh's ancient cultural heritage would be immeasurable."
Akari had learned about the chain from Cogita, yet Cyrus as her descendant knew absolutely nothing about it. Perhaps Cogita had foreseen something too... and judged it unnecessary to record.
Cynthia fell into brief thought. "There are more and more problems to deal with. Team Galactic... I really hope the trouble here can be resolved as soon as possible."
Looker bowed deeply as well.
"Thank you very much then, Lord Shield!"
"I'll set out for Veilstone City immediately!"
Watching Looker leave, Hikaru then turned back to Cynthia.
"Cynthia, there's something else. Have you collected any of the Plates hidden across Sinnoh?"
"The Plates! Right, I found these two, one in Sunyshore City and one in the valley near Celestic Town!"
Cynthia had said before that she wanted to gather Sinnoh's Plates as well, but since she didn't know their precise locations, she could only search through scattered clues and careful investigation.
She had found one legendary Plate near the lighthouse in Sunyshore City, close to the Sinnoh League. After all, they were objects once used by Arceus. Cynthia understood very well what kind of power a Plate possessed.
The second had been a complete surprise. It was right near Celestic Town.
"These are the golden Plate and the green Plate," Cynthia said. "At the Sinjoh Ruins, I remember the powers they corresponded to were..."
Hikaru nodded. "The Zap Plate and the Meadow Plate."
"'The embodiment of will became the three spirits, fixing time and space.' That is a Plate recording a story tied to Giratina."
"'The powers of Plates are shared among Pokémon.' It records the story of a certain Pokémon, or perhaps several."
"There are many more Plates in Sinnoh. Some can even be dug up in the Underground. The Plates themselves are fragments of the universe's power scattered abroad. The power contained in the smaller Plates is limited, but they can still be used to make incredible things."
"Then what about this!"
Dawn suddenly pulled out something similar from her bag. Under Cynthia's astonished stare, Dawn scratched her cheek a little awkwardly.
"I found this underground near Oreburgh Gate! I originally wouldn't have been able to get that deep without Surf, but while I kept training, I somehow ended up reaching a really deep area."
"This looks like the same kind of thing as the golden Plate. And... I also picked up another one on the sandbar outside Sandgem Town."
"Are these really important?"
Hikaru took one look. "The brown one and the dark blue one... The Earth Plate and the Splash Plate."
Water-type Pokémon naturally knew how to swim, so reaching a sandbar out at sea was nothing unusual. In any case, Dawn certainly had not swum there by herself.
But now they had the Zap Plate, Meadow Plate, Earth Plate, and Splash Plate all gathered.
"The Earth Plate: 'When the universe was created, its shards became this Plate.' The Meadow Plate: 'The powers of Plates are shared among Pokémon.' The Splash Plate: 'The rightful bearer of a Plate draws from the Plate it holds.'"
"What a coincidence. Then only the most important one is left, and it's in Eterna City, the final stop on our trip together!"
"Dawn, I'm going to make something good for you. You may need it later. After that, you and Cynthia should keep gathering the Plates of Sinnoh together."
"I'll mark every place where a Plate might exist and give it to you."
Eastern Sinnoh, Veilstone City.
The city had been carved out of steep mountainsides, which was why it did not often interact with other places.
Its location was near the ancient Veilstone Cape, and what few people knew was that Sinnoh's hidden fourth lake, Sendoff Spring, lay quietly concealed in the nearby wilderness.
It was said that the souls of the dead passed through there on their way to the spirit world, and that had subtly influenced some of Veilstone's cultural traditions, giving the city a colder and more severe atmosphere.
Veilstone City had many warehouses built to store goods. It also had a department store. And the tall building on the higher ground was Team Galactic Headquarters.
Of course, publicly, that tower served as the headquarters of the Space Development Enterprise and the Galactic Power Company. On the surface, it appeared to have nothing to do with Team Galactic, but in reality, secret research was being carried out inside.
And on this day, the leader of the parent company behind both firms, the head of the Galactic Group, Cyrus... for years he had appeared to the public as a kind and approachable wealthy businessman. But ever since the "strange accusation" made against him a few months ago, the Sinnoh League had begun investigating and monitoring the Galactic Group.
That had greatly obstructed Team Galactic's operations and research.
All plans and all activities had been delayed. Yet in the critical stages of the project, some locations and people absolutely had to be reached and captured, which meant Team Galactic's plans could only be pushed back again and again, with no useful alternative route available.
After all, there were many unimportant cities. But there were only a handful of truly important places.
What drove Cyrus into silence, and even made him feel pain and anger again for the first time in a long while, was this:
The Valley Windworks operation had failed.
To create the Galactic Bomb, they needed immense power, enough to evaporate an entire lake, energy capable of destroying anything. Only the Valley Windworks and Sunyshore City could provide that kind of power.
And yet... events had not gone smoothly.
"Not only did the ordinary grunts fail, but even Commander Jupiter fled in disgrace, while Mars was captured by the Champion of Sinnoh. At this point, it will be very hard to keep Team Galactic hidden from the public any longer."
"As expected, these people are all imperfect, useless pieces of trash. Useless things cannot even complete a retreat."
"And the reason the plan failed is that someone leaked the information. The last message Mars sent me before being captured was... to be wary of Pluto."
"So then, Pluto, can you explain yourself? Was the plan to destroy Team Galactic your doing?"
Through the communications device, Cyrus questioned the terrified Pluto. Having escaped from the Valley Windworks and temporarily hidden out in the Galactic Building in Eterna City to rest, Pluto waved his hands frantically.
"Boss Cyrus! You can't listen to only Mars and Jupiter's side of the story! They've always been prejudiced against me. The leak of the Valley Windworks operation really had nothing to do with me!"
Under different continuities, Pluto's motives varied wildly. In the manga, he joined Team Galactic to seize every Legendary and Mythical Pokémon for himself. But in the game continuity and spin-off animation, his purpose was much simpler:
Money.
He even had the famous line, "There are many places in society where money is needed." It was surprisingly grounded. But if money was truly his goal, then capturing Heatran and causing Sinnoh's volcanoes to erupt was completely pointless. He would have been better off joining Team Rocket.
"I just want to make money and realize my own value in life! Taking whatever can be taken - that's why I joined Team Galactic. Why would I ever make a plan that harms Team Galactic?"
"Boss, you know me. If I'd betrayed you, I would already have... no, no, that's not the point. No matter how you look at it, it couldn't be me! I'm a genius personally recognized by you!"
"This has to be someone sowing discord and framing me. I suspect there's a real mole still inside Team Galactic!"
Pluto argued as hard as he could for his innocence and insisted that the only reason he had managed to escape the Valley Windworks was because he had been farsighted enough to do so. Cyrus remained noncommittal.
"No matter what, both Mars's and Jupiter's reports point to you as someone who cannot escape suspicion, Pluto."
"This failure is intolerable. The electricity from the Valley Windworks was tied to the Galactic Bomb, and even to the creation of the new world itself. And now all of it has been ruined just like that."
Pluto shakily offered a suggestion. "It's all because of that unknown Trainer. That strange Trainer who appeared in Jubilife City is the greatest factor interfering with us. Even Mars and Jupiter were taken down by him. I think... when it comes to that Trainer, maybe it would be better to move more cautiously."
"And if we don't have electricity, then we can still go to Sunyshore City."
But Cyrus cut him off immediately.
"Silence. If your proposal is to shift the plan to Sunyshore City, then don't bother speaking."
The communication sank into an eerie silence. Pluto had no idea what else to say and could only force an awkward smile.
He of course knew that no matter what happened, Cyrus would never target Sunyshore City. But at this point there was no other viable backup plan.
It wasn't as if they could just go steal electricity from the Sinnoh League headquarters.
Cyrus spoke in a grave tone.
"I am going to conduct a major purge within Team Galactic!"
(End of Chapter)[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"][Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop][Thanks for Reading!]