Chapter 88: Return Journey: Hail-a-Dragon
In that moment, Celebi was intimidated by Arthur's imposing aura, her body trembling involuntarily.
She could understand the meaning behind Arthur's words—beating up Gengar wasn't the main point. The crucial part was that this man intended to personally go and bring his Gengar back!
One must understand that the Stitched Shadow Army had now completely morphed into a worldwide terrorist organization.
Regardless of their initial motivations, in this current era, they had become desperate outcasts, unwelcome in both the human world and among Pokémon. Their methods were ruthless, cruel, and utterly unrestrained.
Merely making contact with them or probing for information about them was already exceptionally dangerous, let alone Arthur actually planning to delve deep into their midst and drag back a century-old ghost who was likely one of the organization's founders.
The dangers involved were unimaginable for an ordinary person.
But in this moment, Arthur spoke with extreme determination, his words firm and decisive!
As long as his Pokémon were still alive, he absolutely had to go find them!
This was the resolve a true trainer should possess.
"Then, will you still participate in competitive battles?" Celebi asked again.
"Of course. Besides Gengar, I still need to rely on official Alliance channels to find the whereabouts or learn the fates of my other Pokémon. You little thing aren't helpful enough, after all."
"Woo!"
Celebi puffed up her cheeks angrily, yet, for the moment, she couldn't find any reason to refute him.
"Hmph! Just you wait! Once I recover even a little bit of my power, I'll definitely show you the might of this Mythical Pokémon!"
Celebi turned her head away angrily, folded her arms, and muttered quietly.
Arthur, listening from the side, smiled faintly but didn't reply.
Poor Celebi hadn't yet realized that she had been completely played.
Arthur had merely used a small goading tactic; without giving up anything himself, he had ensured that this little creature would proactively help him check the past whereabouts of his other Pokémon the next time she observed spacetime.
Compared to the human Elite Four member skilled in battlefield tactics from back then, the naive Celebi was ultimately still too inexperienced.
Afterward, the group returned along the path they had come.
Frogadier had completed his evolution, and there was no longer any need for them to remain inside the cave.
The energy of the Pure water Spring had been largely absorbed; the efficacy of the spring water was destined to be greatly reduced for a short period. To achieve the optimal drinking effect again, they would likely have to wait for about a year.
Upon emerging, Arthur clearly sensed that some of the younger Milotic were looking at him with less friendly eyes now.
It wasn't surprising, thinking about it. The Pure water Spring was very precious, and they still needed to share it with the neighboring Dragonite and Kingdra clans. Even among the Milotic clan members themselves, not everyone had the opportunity to drink the spring water.
With Arthur cutting in line, the time they would have to wait became even longer.
However, fortunately, the thoughts of Pokémon were not as complex as those of humans. At the same time, it was also evident that Arthur's Lapras from back then held truly high prestige in this region.
Even though she had passed away more than twenty years ago, the younger members of the clan still didn't dare to openly show disrespect to this close human friend of hers.
Later, the clan leader took back most of the gifts that had been shown to Arthur earlier, counting them as payment for the use of the Qingce Spring this time.
However, there were still quite a few sea specialties remaining, items that could easily fetch a high price in the human world. They packed all of them up and continued to present them to Arthur.
It was fortunate that Arthur had seen the world; otherwise, a different person might have already kneeled down and called them 'daddy' by now.
It wasn't that humans readily discarded their dignity; it was simply because they were offering so much...
Finally, Arthur tentatively asked, "May I take the medals and photographs from the ice palace?"
Although those items weren't valuable in monetary terms, they represented precious memories of him and Lapras.
Regrettably, the Milotic leader shook his head and transmitted telepathically: "Strictly speaking, those items do not belong to us; they belong to your human Alliance. They were merely placed in our custody temporarily at Great-Grandmother's request. If you want them, you will need to negotiate with your human Alliance."
Arthur nodded in understanding, but mentally, he had already temporarily shelved this idea.
Human thoughts were far more complex compared to those of Pokémon. For the time being, he didn't want too many people to know that he had transmigrated from two hundred years ago.
It's better to just let these photographs remain here, continuing to accompany Lapras.
After all matters were settled, it was finally time for Arthur to depart.
Originally, Arthur had thought they would ride back on Little Lapras. Unexpectedly, the Milotic elder doted on his daughter and wouldn't allow them to sit together on Little Lapras's back. To this end, he even employed a move best described as: Hail-a-Dragon.
A short while later, an adult Dragonite, standing over three meters tall, landed swiftly and efficiently on the beach of Coral Palace.
This move truly opened Arthur's eyes.
However, he soon discovered that it wasn't about the Milotic clan being particularly impressive, but rather that this specific Dragonite itself had a prior connection with him.
"You lucky human. The Dragonite clan remembers your kindness. But don't think for a second that I've approved of you. Little sister just asked me to come over, said she didn't want to owe you a favor, that's all."
That goofy tone, that tsundere demeanor... wasn't this Dragonite Three, the one who had accompanied him earlier to find the cruise ship?
The 'little sister' he mentioned should be the Dragonair Arthur had rescued.
This implied that after Arthur fainted and drifted away, the trio of Dragonite had managed to escape safely, and the Dragonair had successfully received treatment.
This allowed Arthur to breathe a sigh of relief.
Along the way, he took the opportunity to ask Dragonite Three for more details regarding the earlier incident.
Unexpectedly, however, he received news that left him utterly horrified.
That cruise ship...
...had actually exploded!!
"Yes, that big ship exploded in the end. Exploded completely. Broke into two pieces and sank on the spot."
"Your human side initially planned to frame us for the crime of sinking the ship, humph! Truly despicable!"
"However, the message your Pidgeotto delivered was very timely. We stopped our attack in the end. Also, that... that thing you made called a live stream, was also used as evidence. That finally proved our innocence and confirmed our non-involvement in the incident."
"My brothers said we should thank you properly, humph! I refuse to listen."
Dragonite Three spoke with his usual hint of goofiness. Although his mouth said he wouldn't listen, his hands were currently carrying Arthur through the air, acting as an exclusive dragon chauffeur.
It was a typical case of his heart and mouth not being aligned.
However, for the moment, Arthur couldn't spare a thought to laugh at him.
Simply because this news was truly too shocking. When he first heard it, his mind struggled to process it.
He had originally thought that the Stitched Shadow Army's attempt to provoke conflict between humans and Pokémon would, at most, involve injuring one or two Dragonite and then framing the cruise ship, causing the two sides to fight. He never expected that their actual actions were far more ruthless!
They directly blew up the entire ship!
That giant cruise ship, including tourists and service staff, conservatively estimated, must have had two or three thousand people on board, right?
Truly depraved and utterly devoid of conscience!
This forced him to gain an extremely concrete and profound understanding of the terror posed by the Stitched Shadow Army.
It was enough to make him raise his guard by one hundred and twenty thousand percent.
But it still wasn't enough to shake his determination to seek out this organization!
Perhaps because of this updated understanding, he needed to reconsider the plans and steps involved more carefully. But regardless, what needed to be done, he absolutely would do!
On this point, his resolve was unwavering!
(End of Chapter)
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