Ten Gyarados roared, the power of dragons gathering about them until it became a raging tempest.
A mighty storm drilled up the heavens like a tornado, locking the falling Celesteela in place. Wrapped in the swirling airstream of Hurricane, Celesteela's terminal velocity began to drop.
Cyrano's expression grew progressively more animated.
The Nature Preserve's Gyarados were strong, yes.
But the way Hikaru could instantly command them—making these unruly leviathans obey—was even more astonishing.
This all-encompassing gale looked ready to flip the whole world over.
To freely direct wild, powerful Pokémon and to understand their moves—this takes overwhelming strength and deep knowledge.
"Now! Gyarados—use Whirlpool!"
Several Gyarados broke from the Hurricane formation. Furious torrents surged from their jaws, even drawing the preserve's river up into the sky.
The violent spirals of water widened, forming the perfect buffer zone.
"Torterra—use Frenzy Plant!"
With the turtle's bellow, sky-piercing plants erupted from the earth, madly twining upward and interlacing into a living net.
Celesteela plunged into the Whirlpool, then crashed into the cross-braced mass of colossal vines.
Boom!
The dust settled. The green steel grande dame had come down in one piece.
The ten terrifyingly potent Gyarados made the nearby weaker Pokémon shiver.
As for Kartana—
The thing had scurried under Torterra's trees.
Because it's paper, it isn't weak to Water on the type chart, but it's helpless against "dampness." In rain it just flails.
In a game, rain weakening Fire could let it slice nimbly through foes. In the real world, Kartana—like Duraludon—simply hates rain.
[You actually stopped its fall! You truly are a capable human!]
[And the creatures of this world as well—how strong they are!]
Kartana was awed by the power of those Gyarados. So the black dragon that lured it here wasn't even the strongest around!
Have the true strong already grown beyond petty fights?
"Whew!"
Skyla glided back on her bird Pokémon. Seeing the Gyarados Hikaru had called, she wiped the water from her brow.
"Incredible… You actually commanded the Gyarados here. These ferocious Pokémon are famously difficult to tame!"
Hikaru: "I understand Dragon Taming a bit. Besides, I just asked them to help."
Skyla chuckled, eyes fixed on Hikaru. "When I'm with you, anything marvelous seems possible."
Sure enough, if she stayed at Hikaru's side, she'd run into wonders she would never encounter otherwise.
Mm, it's still raining, but I'm in a great mood.
Hikaru blinked. "Skyla, you seem really happy."
Skyla beamed. "Yup. Because you're here, I'm happy."
The air turned a little… delicate.
They looked into each other's eyes.
Skyla suddenly flushed and hurried to add, "J-just happy, that's all! Don't get the wrong idea!"
Hikaru coughed lightly. "Of course. We're friends—being with friends is happy."
Then, with mutual tacit understanding, they moved past the topic.
The three kids' voices floated over, rescuing the mood:
"Gyarados—so this is the legendary Gyarados from other regions!"
It was the first time the teens had seen a Gyarados. Even Principal Cyrano was impressed.
In Unova you can't see Magikarp or Gyarados at all, and even in other regions, Gyarados isn't common.
Magikarp is—but evolving Magikarp into Gyarados is painful and troublesome. Even professional researchers struggle with it.
"What a spectacle!"
Though it isn't Dragon-type, when people think "dragon," they still picture Gyarados. The Pokédex treats it as the true form of the dragon in ancient texts.
The rain the Gyarados had summoned still poured down. Water- and Grass-type Pokémon were wildly active in the rain. So were Dragon-types.
Basculin leapt from the river one after another, but they'd lost their usual swagger of bullying Magikarp. Rarely, they huddled together, blankly watching the leviathans rising from the depths.
If Magikarp were a tad smarter, they'd probably be snickering at those bullies.
Sadly, Magikarp's brains are dozy. Even faced with their own imposing evolved kind, they barely react.
The deluge filled the air with vapor.
Hikaru took an umbrella from his Link Space. The "carry-space" trick made Professor Burnet gasp at the convenience.
"I've got to have Fennel make one for me!"
"If you go too far from Unova, Link Space might lose signal," Hikaru cautioned, which made Professor Burnet fret.
So the Alola region would be guaranteed no-signal?
That place is distant from everywhere.
"Up close, she's not as big as I imagined."
The four kids gathered round Celesteela. Since crashing, the big lady showed no expression at all.
Most of her body was metal. On either side were huge bamboo-like cylinders serving as arms, each ending in eight small thrusters.
Most parts were gray and teal. Beneath the gray cylindrical helm, her chin and mouth showed, along with a slender neck.
A white drill extended from the helm. Metal casing fanned behind like a woman's long hair, and at the very bottom, eight more black thrusters jutted like fingers.
After his examination, Hikaru gave the verdict:
"She fainted."
Obviously, the heat of atmospheric friction and the sudden crash had knocked the steel grande dame right out.
Ultra Beasts have mind and cognition. Fear in danger is normal.
Celesteela has no biological sex either—but because she's an "Iron Princess" patterned after Princess Kaguya, people still see her as feminine.
That's a psychological gender, not a biological one. In Unova, you could call that thoroughly politically correct.
"You said her number is also 04? Why the same as Kartana?"
"Is it because they appeared together?"
"Or is it typing? She's green and steel—could she be Grass/Steel too?"
"This species has never been recorded."
The same applies to Kartana—an undiscovered Ultra Beast.
Professor Burnet pondered in silence.
Faced with her curiosity, Hikaru thought: he couldn't exactly answer, "Versioning made their numbers overlap."
So after a brief think, he replied in detail:
"It's nothing official. It's just the numbering I gave them. As for why, it's about their hidden correspondences."
"Light and razor-sharp Kartana can sever steel in one stroke—the keenest blade."
"Heavy and unyielding Celesteela is the iron wall that no blade can cut—the sturdiest shield."
"One is extremely light; the other extremely heavy. In typing and abilities, they correspond in several ways."
"You remember when I said some Pokémon look like Type A but are actually Type B? If you judged only by moves and appearance, Celesteela would indeed seem like a Grass type."
"Because it's 'bamboo.' Unfortunately, it isn't Grass-type."
"Both Celesteela and Kartana wear Grass symbolism on the outside, yet both wield strength on par with steel. And both can fly."
"Ecologically, Kartana cleaves boulders and iron towers to hone its swordplay. Those 'iron towers' are likely Celesteela fallen from space."
Professor Burnet listened, nodding repeatedly.
She had no idea where Hikaru's intel came from—
But at least she could record it now,
Then compare it with new observations later.
At present, only Alola and Galar show suspected traces of Ultra Wormholes, and Alola is by far the most active.
Unova's spacetime blip, most likely, was a one-off.
Professor Burnet: "Then, what are this Ultra Beast's types?"
Hikaru: "Steel and Flying."
"The soaring iron tower that a fighter's blade cannot cut—the ultimate shield that leaves Kartana helpless."
Steel/Flying is quite rare. Only Skarmory in Johto and Corviknight in Galar share the combo!
"Its biggest feature is energy sealed within. Its body stores large volumes of combustible gas and can vent them from its huge arms."
"That thrust can launch it into space. Ecologically plantlike, it draws nutrients from soil, absorbing iron and minerals. Where it feeds, plants fail to grow and the ground slowly collapses. The gas from its two arms can incinerate a forest in an instant."
"In Alola, there's a legend of 'Starship Kaguya'—the 'Kaguya' in question is this Ultra Beast."
"Yet after the forest burns, high-quality bamboo shoots abound, and new bamboo groves take root."
"If I'm right, your later research will bear it out."
Hikaru studied the steel grande dame before him. This Celesteela wasn't as gigantic as in the anime. That one had survived for over two centuries. This one—
Her height didn't even reach the 9.2-meter average—maybe six meters or so. A rather young individual—perhaps underdeveloped?
"A shorty, huh. No wonder she crashed—not just a flight-plan scramble; her thrust looked underpowered too."
"We can't leave an Ultra Beast here. It has to return to its original world," Professor Burnet said. "But this Celesteela can't go back yet."
The Ultra Wormhole overhead was closing—the sign Unova's spacetime was stabilizing. She checked her instruments. Sure enough.
The wormhole's appearance here was an anomaly.
Suddenly, a thought struck Hikaru.
Hold up—if the Nature Preserve got two Ultra Wormholes…
What about Nimbasa City?!
That wormhole that would whisk Ingo away—no, by the timeline, that shouldn't have happened this early!
Hilda should still be challenging the Battle Subway near the station.
As a precaution, Hikaru pinged Hilda.
Hilda: [Eh? You're asking where I am? Huh? Why the sudden concern?]
Hilda: [Mmm, I'm challenging the Battle Subway right now! I'm fighting for that legendary Berry that brings happiness! Though honestly, I want to conquer this facility even more!]
Hikaru: "Have you seen Subway Boss Ingo?"
Hilda: [Ha, I just got here! No way I'd go straight to the Boss!]
Hilda's face was surely That-guy-what-are-you-even-saying.
Hikaru: "If the Boss goes missing, let me know immediately."
Hilda: [The Boss… missing? You mean a shutdown? That shouldn't happen. No notice like that.]
Hilda: [If you want me to meet the Boss… got any killer strats? The Battle Subway is insanely strong—there are tons of elite Trainers here. I'm feeling the pressure.]
Hikaru, surprised: "Didn't you say my tactics were disgusting?"
Hilda sent a wheezing-laugh emoji: [That's when you use them. If I use them, that's different!]
"Fine." Hikaru thought a second. "Send me your team later. I'll tune it."
Hilda replied with a happy Totodile: [Heck yeah! Time to make 'em suffer—ladder up, ladder up hard!]
Hikaru: "Ahem—don't get cocky. Even great strats fear a brick thrown by brute force. Also, around the Battle Subway in Nimbasa City, be alert for unusual natural phenomena."
Hilda: [Thunderstorms? Relax! I fear no wind or rain!]
Hikaru: "Not that. If a hole opens in the sky, clear out immediately."
A hole… in the sky?
Outside the station, Hilda stared upward, even tracing a confused circle with her hand.
A hole in the sky… a natural phenomenon?
Bit of a niche term. Is the definition of "natural phenomena" really that broad?
Hikaru gave Celesteela a full-body check.
No question—falling from the sky in a "crash" was never going to leave her unscathed. In fact, her thrusters were wrecked.
She wouldn't be flying again soon, but Celesteela knows Ingrain. In the anime, a grounded Celesteela could not be captured even with a Beast Ball.
If she draws nutrients in time, she can recover—but she can't do it in the Nature Preserve.
What to do with Lady Kaguya was a problem. Her "recovery diet" requires altering local ecosystems in a small area.
No Pokémon authority or conservation group can just let the lady run wild.
Then perhaps only one kind of intake remains.
"I wonder if meteorites suit her palate."
Walking Wake already learned Draco Meteor, and Duraludon was stepping up training for the all-you-can-eat buffet. If Kaguya can absorb nutrition from meteorites, she might recover without wrecking the environment.
After all, that's what she does in space.
"To seal the power of a Pokémon from another world—use this ball."
Hikaru produced a Strange Ball. The green Strange Ball took in the massive Celesteela at once—without even a single shake.
"I've never seen that ball before." Professor Burnet grew ever more curious about Hikaru.
Seeing Celesteela handled, Professor Burnet also came clean:
"Normally, otherworldly lifeforms must be reported to the International Police HQ and handled by them—they've dealt with such anomalies before."
"But your ball clearly has special power. That abnormal aura around us vanished!"
"Given that, it's best to leave this Ultra Beast with you for now. In this incident, you captured the two intruders from beyond and handled the situation perfectly."
"I'll file a report with the International Police documenting everything."
The International Police aren't compulsive busybodies. In Sun & Moon, regarding the Ultra Beasts the protagonist caught, Anabel and Looker left them with the protagonist.
Generally, they deal with criminal outfits and dangerous creatures. If a creature is no longer "dangerous," it doesn't need their processing.
"And that one—"
Professor Burnet looked toward Kartana, but she didn't need to say more—Kartana had already flown toward its wormhole.
[Kami-Paper Attendant and Sacred Swordsman! Bear witness—once I refine my sword arts and master "Sacred Sword," I will return!]
[The Divine Paper in your care is the token between us. With it, I will find you wherever you are!]
"Mm. That's what it said."
And then, new information flooded Hikaru's mind.
[Special Vocation acquired: Kami-Paper Attendant!]
[Description: An otherworld profession of supreme sword arts—draw, strike the face, strike the hand, strike the belly, thrust the throat, clash blades!]
[Effect: Training +50%, Swordsmanship/Kendō +200%! By gathering plants from the Ultra Forest as special materials, you can craft "Divine Paper"!]
[Through insight into swordsmanship, you additionally obtain (Sword Art): A Style to Sever Formless Enemies!]
[Description: A teaching of Johto martial-arts grandmaster Chuck-sensei, one of the "legendary martial arts." A Pokémon who masters this sword art can have Normal-type cutting/cleaving moves strike Ghost-types! Hidden enemies will be detected!]
[Martial-art Auxiliary Effect: Foresight!]
(End of Chapter)
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[Thanks for Reading!]