Pokemon: Raised by Legends, Chapter 43-44

Chapter 43 - Ho-Oh… Caught?!

The stir caused by Ho-Oh’s appearance didn’t end with its departure.

That very night, an Ecruteak City host spread the shocking news through the local radio station.

“Welcome, everyone, to Ecruteak Radio. It’s now 7:15 p.m.!”

“This afternoon, the Legendary Pokemon Ho-Oh was sighted above Ecruteak City, seemingly responding to the monks’ prayers from the Bell Tower!”

“What’s even more astonishing is that a human was seen riding on Ho-Oh’s back. Who was it? Could that person be Ho-Oh’s Trainer? If so, just how powerful must that Trainer be?”

“Of course, Ecruteak City is an ancient place with deep historical ties to Ho-Oh. Its appearance today may carry a meaning far beyond what we can imagine!”

“Hey!”

Outside the broadcast room, the assistant in charge of recording, Sarah, opened her mouth and gestured silently, asking whether it was really okay to say things like that.

Inside, Elsa switched the program to music and spoke smoothly into the mic.

“Alright, it’s just after dinnertime. Let’s all relax and enjoy a song first.”

She took off her headphones and looked outside.

Sarah couldn’t help asking, “Elsa, is it really fine for us to say that?”

“According to eyewitness reports, the person riding on that Legendary Pokemon’s back was clearly a boy who looked only about two years old…”

“Heh, you don’t get it.” Elsa’s face was full of confidence. “That’s exactly how you spark curiosity among Trainers listening in. Maybe we’ll even draw a lot of people to Ecruteak City.”

After all, whether for ordinary folks like them or for Trainers, anything related to Legendary Pokemon was impossible to ignore.

They were powerful, rare, and incredibly elusive.

If someone truly managed to catch a Legendary Pokemon, it would cause an enormous sensation. That moment could be the start of instant fame.

“Well, alright then.” Sarah nodded, only half understanding.

Elsa smiled faintly and resumed recording.

In an era where information didn’t travel quickly and journeys took time, most Trainers and civilians alike had the habit of turning on their Pokegear or radio while traveling or resting at night.

At the same time, in a stretch of wilderness far from any city…

A red-haired youth wrapped in a cloak sat by a campfire with a Dragonair, quietly listening to the broadcast. His handsome face was sharp, his expression steady and resolute.

“Ho-Oh…”

Growing up in the Dragon Clan, Lance knew far more about Legendary Pokemon than ordinary Trainers.

They were beings of overwhelming strength and extreme rarity. Some existed as the sole specimen in the entire world.

Ho-Oh was one of them.

“Ho-Oh appeared in Ecruteak City?” he murmured.

The woman’s voice on the radio continued.

【What’s even more astonishing is that a human was seen riding on Ho-Oh’s back. Who was it? Could that person be Ho-Oh’s Trainer?】

“What?”

Lance’s pupils shrank. A Pokemon on Ho-Oh’s level had been subdued by a human?

From what he knew of Legendary Pokemon, beings like that were inherently proud. They would never tolerate a human trampling on their dignity.

Only two possibilities could explain it.

Either that person had earned Ho-Oh’s recognition and shared an exceptionally close bond with it.

Or they had defeated it through sheer strength and become its Trainer.

“Someone actually caught Ho-Oh…?”

Would that person compete in this year’s Indigo League?

For the first time in a long while, anticipation stirred in Lance’s heart.

Meanwhile, in the neighboring Kanto region, in a rural town called Pallet Town.

Inside Professor Oak’s lab, Professor Oak sat in a chair, slurping instant noodles.

Suddenly, the radio mentioned phrases like “Ho-Oh appears” and “Ho-Oh caught.”

He nearly sprayed the noodles straight out of his mouth.

“What? Ho-Oh was caught? That can’t be right.”

He was deeply shaken.

As far as he knew, neither Kanto nor Johto had a Trainer powerful enough to pull that off.

“Who could it be…?”

A Trainer from another region, perhaps?

“Professor Oak! Pokemon, I want to see Pokemon!”

A childish voice abruptly broke his train of thought.

Professor Oak turned to see a little boy, barely over two years old, running toward him in excitement.

The child got too carried away, lost his footing, and fell flat on the floor.

“Waaah…”

“Oh, Ash, is that you? You’ve got to be more careful next time.” Professor Oak chuckled as he helped him up.

“I’m really sorry, Professor Oak, for coming so late,” Delia said apologetically. “Ash kept crying and insisting on coming to see the Pokemon here.”

“It’s fine. That just means he really likes Pokemon.” Professor Oak picked Ash up with a smile. “Come on, I’ll take you outside to see them.”

“Yay!” Ash cheered.

Watching him, a look of nostalgia surfaced on Professor Oak’s face.

For a moment, his thoughts drifted back to that summer long ago, to the events he had experienced deep in the forest.

Back then, he was still a boy named Samuel Oak. After an accident, he had traveled through time alongside the Mythical Pokemon Celebi, reaching the end of time itself. There, he met a boy named Ash and became his friend.

The boy had introduced himself with a grin.

“I’m Ash from Pallet Town!”

That was why, after graduating from Celadon University, Samuel Oak turned down offers from elsewhere. Ignoring the confusion of his peers, he came to this remote little town and founded Professor Oak’s lab.

“Ash…” Professor Oak looked at him, his heart full.

It’s good to see you again.

【Lance is extremely shocked that you caught Ho-Oh. Shock Points from Lance +200!】

【Professor Oak is utterly shocked that you caught Ho-Oh. Shock Points from Professor Oak +100!】

On Mount Tensei, Fuyuki had just returned home with Ho-Oh and was in the middle of enthusiastically renovating the place when two notifications suddenly popped up on his panel.

The familiar names made him freeze on the spot.

Lance. Professor Oak.

Were they really the ones he knew?

But how did even they find out?

He tried scrolling through the notification history.

In truth, Shock Points didn’t stop flowing in after people left. They continued trickling in, steadily supplied by others.

The rate had slowed down before, but just now, another massive wave surged in, almost flooding the panel.

He hadn’t realized it before. Now that he looked, it was downright shocking.

Every single name listed was reacting to one thing.

They were all stunned that he had caught Ho-Oh.

A drop of sweat slid down Fuyuki’s forehead.

This rumor… really was getting more and more exaggerated.

Chapter 44 - Ho-Oh Levels Up!

The rumor might have been false, but the Shock Points pouring in were very real.

After a full day of spreading, he’d gained nearly three million more Shock Points.

Maybe because many people hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, their reactions, while still shocked, didn’t contribute much individually.

Still, it was more than enough.

Time to get to work.

Before officially starting the renovations, though, there was one thing he needed to do first.

Thanks for all your hard work today, Ho-Oh!

Fuyuki looked at the Legendary Pokemon beside him. With a thought, he spent 82,000 Shock Points in the system shop and exchanged them for a Rare Candy made specifically for Ho-Oh.

Ho-Oh had already noticed the human infant’s gaze.

It turned its head and saw the little one carefully holding what looked like an ordinary piece of candy, walking straight up to it.

“Ho-Oh, here!”

Ho-Oh paused slightly. Its eyes settled on the candy, not because of the child’s gesture, but because it could clearly sense a rich, concentrated energy coming from it.

That was…

“Thanks for taking me out to play today!” Fuyuki peeled off the wrapper and added, “This is a present!”

A present…

Something stirred in Ho-Oh’s heart.

It hadn’t done any of that for a reward.

Ho-Oh gently took the candy from Fuyuki’s hands with its beak and swallowed it.

The moment the Rare Candy slid down, a warm, surging energy spread through its entire body. Power flooded its limbs and core, as if it suddenly had endless strength to draw from.

A crimson glow burst forth from its body.

Within that light, Ho-Oh could feel it clearly.

It had grown stronger.

The sudden change left it genuinely stunned. It stared at the human infant in disbelief.

“Th-this is…?!”

Fuyuki grinned. “That’s my power!”

Ho-Oh knew he possessed a mysterious ability to conjure things out of thin air, and it also knew that power wasn’t limitless.

Still, some things didn’t quite add up.

“Before, my energy was limited, and I’d always run out,” Fuyuki explained, choosing his words carefully so Ho-Oh could understand. “But today, when Ho-Oh took me to the human world, all those people looking at me made a special kind of energy gather together. So I wanted to thank Ho-Oh!”

Ho-Oh immediately understood, shock and joy surging together.

What moved it most was that after gaining so much power, the first one the child thought of was Ho-Oh, even turning that gathered energy into a gift for it.

And what made its heart beat a little faster was the thought that if it kept taking little Fuyuki into the human world, wouldn’t that mean he could gather even more of that energy?

An image surfaced in Ho-Oh’s mind, of the child offering it another gift formed from that condensed power.

With even greater strength, it could protect the weak better and safeguard peace in this world.

After feeding Ho-Oh the Rare Candy, Fuyuki finally checked his balance.

Balance: 6,280,500.

He had no idea what exactly had happened in the human world after he and Ho-Oh left, or how wildly people had filled in the gaps themselves.

But over six million Shock Points was more than enough to get a lot done.

Fuyuki slowly walked to the deepest part of the cave, stopping beside the wall.

He placed his hand against the stone and activated Secret Power.

Before long, a separate empty room was carved out.

Then…

His gaze shifted to the shop.

【Large Spatial Ecological Park: Developed using Palkia’s spatial power. An independent space equipped with an artificial sun, climate simulation, terrain adjustment, seasonal changes, and more. Fully capable of meeting all Pokemon daily needs. Cost: 2,000,000 Shock Points.】

Exchange!

【Set in this location?】

Yes!

In the next instant, a dense white light enveloped the empty room.

At first, everything was nothing but chaos.

The light continued to expand, and the space before him grew larger and larger…

Ho-Oh sensed the change and quickly turned its attention that way.

Before little Fuyuki, an enormous space had appeared out of nowhere.

That was…

After some time, the blinding light finally faded.

What appeared was a bright, independent world bathed in sunlight.

Mountains and water stretched across the land. Rivers, waterfalls, forests, grasslands, valleys, snowy peaks, deserts, beaches, oceans, and even a volcano all coexisted within it.

Above was a vast, clear blue sky dotted with drifting white clouds. Directly overhead hung a sun radiating warm light.

An artificial sun, nearly indistinguishable from the real thing.

In front of Fuyuki floated a control panel resembling a tablet.

Through it, he could freely adjust the temperature, humidity, terrain, day and night cycle, seasons, climate, and countless other environmental factors.

This was practically a perfect ecological park, fully equipped to house every type of Pokemon.

The sight immediately reminded Fuyuki of the ecological park at Blueberry Academy from the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Blueberry DLC.

But unlike that, this park only appeared to be inside Mount Tensei. In reality, it was an independent space and didn’t occupy the mountain itself.

Otherwise, even hollowing out the entire mountain wouldn’t have made room for something this vast.

Ho-Oh walked over as well.

When it saw the scene inside, its gold-and-crimson pupils contracted sharply.

“Fuyuki… is this also your power?”

“That’s right. This way, everyone can live together here!” he said.

This power… it truly is magnificent. Ho-Oh couldn’t help but marvel.

What a treasure I’ve found!

The ecological park was complete. Next came the real work, decorating the place.

【Bathtub: Furniture for bathing together with Pokemon. Cost: 700 Shock Points.】

【Refrigerator: Appliance for food preservation. Requires a generator to operate. Cost: 1,500 Shock Points.】

【Tableware Set: A complete set of dining utensils. Cost: 300 Shock Points.】

Bathtub exchanged. Refrigerator exchanged. Tableware exchanged!

【Automatic Sunlight Window: Installable inside caves. Simulates real sunlight shining into a room. Cost: 1,000 Shock Points.】

Fuyuki bought five at once and installed them in several rooms.

Immediately, bright beams of light, warm with the feel of sunlight, streamed in through the windows.

Even without mushroom night lights, the cave was as bright as daytime.

Next up…

【Chandelier: Hanging indoor lighting fixture. Requires a generator to operate. Cost: 500 Shock Points.】

However, appliances like refrigerators and chandeliers needed electricity to function.

Fuyuki’s gaze moved to the generator.

【Generator: Power supply equipment. Requires an Electric-type Pokemon to generate electricity. Can store up to one year’s worth of power. Cost: 1,000 Shock Points.】

Bought! Raikou was an Electric-type Pokemon and could help charge it.

With the generator in place, Fuyuki’s eyes drifted toward a particularly convenient household item.

【Fully Automatic Flush Toilet: Household fixture for personal hygiene. Must be installed near a water source. Can be paired with a Distortion World Connection Device. Waste will be automatically flushed into the Distortion World. Cost: 1,000 Shock Points.】

Distortion World connection device? What was that?

He searched the shop.

【Distortion World Connection Device: A mysterious device used to connect to the Distortion World. Can be installed on furniture such as trash cans, toilets, and sewage outlets. Garbage, waste, and wastewater will be automatically transported to the Distortion World. Cost: 100,000 Shock Points.】

Fuyuki: “…”

This was straight-up using Giratina’s Distortion World as a trash dump.

At this rate, the day he installed it would probably be the day Giratina crawled out of the toilet while he was doing his business.

The image was way too vivid.

He really didn’t want to think about it.