บท 1073: The Sleeping Giant and the God of Nightmares
After listening to Cresselia's story, Yuga and the others began to continue selecting the treasures they wanted to take with them. In addition to countless treasures, the burial goods of the Mirage Tower's owner included many items useful for trainers, as he had been a powerful trainer (beast tamer) in his lifetime.
Since the items in the side chamber where the burial goods were placed were arranged quite chaotically, Yuga and the others separated to search for what they wanted to take.
During his search, Yuga saw several of the pearls that had previously been on the walls of the third floor. Remembering that the powers of these pearls could be utilized by Solrock, he decided to take a few, secretly adding quite a number to his system backpack when no one was paying attention.
These pearls were the most abundant items here aside from the treasures, so taking them all was certainly impossible. Therefore, Yuga took a few openly while calculating his way through, then quietly hid some in his system backpack for later use when no one was watching.
Believing that these pearls might benefit Solrock's training, Yuga suggested that Ash and Brock, who had also captured Solrock, pick out a few as well.
Each of these pearls was roughly the size of a fist, and putting a few into the spatial backpack wouldn't take up much space.
Ash and Brock remembered the scene from earlier on the third floor, where Solrock absorbed the energy from the pearls, so they followed Yuga's suggestion.
Additionally, while rummaging through the treasures, Yuga found two Light Ball, which are special held items for Pikachu, so he split one with Ash.
He kept the other for himself, knowing he couldn't use it but wanting to keep it as a collectible.
Afterward, Yuga found various other assorted held items and useful items for Pokémon training, filling his spatial backpack to the brim.
Since they were searching separately, Yuga wasn't clear on what the others had chosen, but May and Max trusted him enough to have him check everything they picked, afraid they might choose something useless.
Though young, Max had a large reserve of knowledge, so he had a keen eye when selecting items. In addition to choosing common held items like the King's Rock, he also found a very beautiful and complete fossil.
"When we get back to Verdanturf Gym, I'll use the fossil revival machine to help you revive this fossil. The revived Pokémon can stay with you to raise," Yuga said, patting Max on the head.
"Really? That's awesome!" Max exclaimed in surprise, nearly bouncing up and down.
"However, since you're still young, when the Pokémon is revived, you can't take it out to show off everywhere. You'll have to wait until you're ten before the Pokémon can be registered under your name," Yuga cautioned Max in advance.
"I know, I know." Max was already well aware of this, having always wanted to become a Pokémon Trainer.
Max's spatial backpack was quite small, so it couldn't hold many items. He felt a deep sense of regret at the thought of so many treasures he couldn't take with him—his heart ached as if it were bleeding. A little money-loving kid through and through!
While checking May's items, Yuga was surprised to find that, aside from items useful for trainers, she also had several colorful gemstones in her collection.
However, Yuga thought it made sense; after all, she was a girl, and it wasn't wrong to like beautiful things. Moreover, since the gemstones were small, he didn't comment on them.
It was actually May who felt a bit embarrassed when she noticed Yuga paying attention to those gemstones. Among the three of them, only she had picked out anything flashy, while Yuga and Max had chosen only practical items, given their limited backpack space.
But when Yuga didn't voice any opinions on the gemstones, May quietly breathed a sigh of relief. She simply thought those gemstones were pretty and wanted to take them back for her collection.
The most precious item May selected was a Mega Evolution Stone for Lopunny; it was a pity that she hadn't found the corresponding Keystone. However, what Yuga didn't know was that there actually was a Keystone hidden here, but it had been found by Ash. Since he hadn't looked at Ash's items, he was unaware of it at the moment.
"This is a Mega Evolution Stone for Lopunny. Once you capture a Lopunny and collect a Keystone, you can make it Mega Evolve," Yuga explained the function of the Mega Evolution Stone to May.
"Can Lopunny evolve further?" Max asked incredulously. He knew Lopunny was the evolved form of Buneary, but the idea of Lopunny being able to evolve was beyond his knowledge.
At present, knowledge related to Mega Evolution was still semi-public, and it wasn't surprising that Max, being young, didn't know about it. Mr. Norman wouldn't specifically tell him about Mega Evolution, after all. Mega Evolution Stones weren't just ordinary stones found on the side of the road; the chances of encountering one were rare.
"Mega Evolution is a special evolution state that allows a Pokémon to temporarily evolve during battle by using a Keystone in conjunction with a Mega Evolution Stone. It doesn't last long; once the battle is over, the Pokémon will revert to its original form…" Yuga patiently explained the knowledge of Mega Evolution to May and Max.
By the time he finished speaking, Ash, Brock, and Luvia had also returned with their selected items.
"Let's leave once we've all chosen our items," Yuga said to the group.
He didn't ask Luvia what they had found, and she didn't mention it either.
After exiting the side hall, Yuga looked up at the floating Cresselia above his head and asked, "Can we meet that person?"
Cresselia knew who Yuga meant by "that person." After hesitating for a moment, she replied, "Okay, but he probably won't wake up. Just don't try to wake him intentionally; he will be angry."
The group nodded in agreement.
Then, under Cresselia's guidance, Yuga and the others made their way to the main hall deep within the palace, where they saw a massive stone bed.
On the bed lay a giant, towering at least three meters tall, dressed in tattered clothing. The figure had a peaceful expression on his face, and if it weren't for the slight rise and fall of his chest, Yuga and the others might have thought he was dead.
"Is he really still alive?" May instinctively held her breath and whispered to Yuga.
"He should still be alive," Yuga nodded and lowered his voice as well. Looking at the person on the stone bed, a speculation formed in his mind.
"It's incredible; has he really been alive for hundreds of years?" Brock asked incredulously.
"Perhaps even longer," Yuga silently murmured. Not waiting for others to continue speaking, he looked up at Cresselia and asked, "Can I know this person's name?"
Cresselia thought for a moment and replied, "His name is AZ."
Just as he had guessed! Yuga thought to himself. The three-meter-tall giant who had lived for hundreds of years—AZ was the first name that came to Yuga's mind.
AZ was a famous king from the Kalos region three thousand years ago. His best friend, Floette, lost her life in a war. On order to revive Floette, he created the legendary ultimate weapon.
With the birth of the ultimate weapon, the war ended, and Floette was revived, allowing both her and AZ to attain eternal life together.
However, the activation of the ultimate weapon sacrificed the lives of countless innocent Pokémon. The kind Floette, upon learning of this, left AZ out of guilt and vanished without a trace.
After Floette disappeared, AZ also went missing in his search for her.
All of this is recorded and passed down in the history and legends of Kalos.
Moreover, with the memories of his past life, Yuga knew that AZ was also blood-related to Lysandre; AZ's brother was an ancestor of Lysandre.
Unfortunately, in his previous life, Yuga was just a simple anime fan and only knew the general background of this part in the games. He couldn't confirm whether there was any connection between the game and the anime, especially since everyone he had encountered so far was related to the anime.
Additionally, he could no longer clearly remember many details from the anime. Who could have predicted that he would one day reincarnated into this world? If he had anticipated it earlier, he would have memorized everything.
AZ did not appear in the main anime storyline, but that doesn't mean AZ doesn't exist, nor does it mean that the AZ here is the same as the one in the games. Therefore, whether AZ and Lysandre are related remains an unknown.
Understanding the identity of the person before him, Yuga said to the others, "Let's leave this place for now." They nodded in agreement and moved on, no longer dwelling on the matter of AZ.
"I'll take you to Darkrai. Whether or not you can persuade it to let you leave is up to you," Cresselia said.
So, Yuga and the others followed Cresselia out of the main hall.
However, what Yuga and the others did not know was that several months after they left the Mirage Tower, Lysandre and his team found AZ on the other side of the Hoenn desert and brought him out.
By that time, AZ had already awakened. Lysandre spoke to him about something, and AZ willingly agreed to leave with him. With two Legendary Pokémon guarding him, Lysandre would not have been able to take him away if AZ hadn't voluntarily decided to leave.
But that was all in the future, and Yuga and his group naturally could not know this.
When parting ways with Yuga and the others, Cresselia dropped a beautiful feather. She said, "This is a feather from me; it may help you at a critical moment."
Yuga recognized it as the Lunar Feather, an essential item for dealing with Darkrai, and gratefully accepted it.
Leaving the palace where Cresselia resided, Yuga and his group followed her instructions, navigating through winding corridors until they reached a massive golden door.
This massive golden door was similar to the white giant door in Cresselia's palace; it was exceptionally heavy and could not be pushed open by Yuga and his group alone. They would need several Pokémon to work together.
However, this time Yuga summoned Absol, which possessed immense strength. With a powerful push, the giant door swung open with a loud rumble.
"Ah, ah, ah! No, no! Don't come near!"
"Wuwuwu…"
"Meow, meow, meow…"
Before Yuga and the others could enter, they heard a series of wails from the other side of the door.
"What… what is that sound? There can't be ghosts in there, right?" Max hid behind Yuga, trembling.
"Doesn't this sound a bit familiar to you?" Ash suddenly asked Brock and May.
Brock responded uncertainly, "Team Rocket?"
"No way?" Although May denied it verbally, she actually agreed with Brock in her heart.
Team Rocket? Yuga stroked his chin; it was indeed possible. Given Team Rocket's persistent nature, it wouldn't be surprising for them to appear here.
"Let's go in and take a look first," Luvia suggested. She had heard of Team Rocket's infamous reputation but couldn't understand how this villain organization was connected to rookie trainers like Ash and May.
The group followed Yuga as they passed through the door and entered a palace similar in scale to Cresselia's but with a distinctly different style.
The most eye-catching feature in the palace was a long staircase leading up to a golden throne, where a black Pokémon with a disdainful expression sat—none other than Darkrai, Cresselia's arch-nemesis.
In addition, the source of the wails that Yuga and the others had heard outside lay beneath the throne: Jessie, James, and Meowth.
At that moment, they were in a state of slumber, affected by Darkrai's ability, Bad Dreams, and trapped in a continuous nightmare.
"Darkrai…"
Darkrai's cold voice echoed, and a strange wave gradually spread out, causing Yuga and his companions' eyelids to become heavy.
Just then, the Lunar Feather on Yuga emitted a faint, colorful glow, banishing their drowsiness, and even Jesie, James, and Meowth, who were asleep and dreaming, woke up.
Upon opening their eyes and seeing Darkrai on the throne, the trio screamed and backed away, clearly frightened.
At this moment, the sharp-eyed Jessie spotted Ash and the others and exclaimed like she had found a savior, "Hey, kid! Quickly save us! This guy is terrifying!"
"Ah, kid, thank goodness! We're saved!"
"You guys will be Meowth's lifesavers from now on; Meowth will be grateful to you for life!"
At Jessie's reminder, Meowth and James also noticed Yuga and the others' presence, scrambling behind them in a panic.
"Pathetic!" Max quietly scolded them upon seeing their reaction.
Yuga thought to himself, You seem to have forgotten how you were trembling outside when you thought there were ghosts.
"Darkrai!"
Who are you? What is your relation to Cresselia?
At this moment, Darkrai paid no mind to Jessie and James, focusing all its attention on Yuga, who held the Lunar Feather. It couldn't possibly be unaware of its old adversary's feather.
"Ugh… ugh…"
Sensing Darkrai's malice, Absol jumped in front of Yuga, blocking him. It let out a threatening growl and activated its Ability, Pressure, releasing an overwhelming mental pressure that enveloped the area.
The effect of Absol's Pressure was magnified as it fused the unique royal aura from the King's Rock, making it significantly stronger than ordinary pressure.
Feeling the intense threat from Absol, Darkrai floated up from its throne, its gaze sharp as it looked down at Absol.
Buzz…
Feeling the powerful aura radiating from Darkrai, Absol instinctively initiated Mega Evolution.
"Absol!"
Mega Absol let out a howl, its aura intensifying yet again, unwilling to show weakness in front of Darkrai, even though it was a Legendary Pokémon.
The two Pokémon faced each other, poised for battle, as if ready to fight at any moment.
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