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"Is someone finally here?" Roy asked, though he wasn't particularly surprised by Mew's discovery.
Whenever a new spiritual realm appeared, whether for survey purposes or rescue operations, investigation teams would typically arrive within a few hours.
Seeing that Mew was preparing to drive the humans away, Roy immediately intervened.
"How exactly are you planning to stop them?"
Mew explained that it intended to command the fossil Pokémon dwelling in the realm to drive away the human intruders.
Roy shook his head firmly. "That approach won't be effective in the long run. Even if you drive them away once, they'll simply return later with better preparation. If you want humans to respect and abide by your rules, you must demonstrate overwhelming power that can deter entire nations. At the very least, you need to display strength equivalent to Ho-Oh's level."
The current world situation was vastly different from what it had been a century ago.
Every major nation now possessed champion-level trainers, as well as their own Elite Four members.
Roy wasn't entirely certain about the true strength levels of champions and Elite Four members, or whether they could match genuine divine beings in battle. However, judging from the fact that the Crown Tundra had been designated as a "controlled area," it was obvious that the Alliance had some means of dealing with legendary Pokémon.
Although Ho-Oh maintained a benevolent relationship with the Alliance, Roy had learned never to underestimate human ambition and greed. If Ho-Oh's strength wasn't overwhelmingly superior, it would be impossible for the Alliance to respect Ho-Oh's territorial rules so consistently.
Based on this reasoning, Roy believed that only the strength of a "first-tier god" could force the Alliance and all world governments to obediently follow established rules.
Moreover, completely preventing humans from entering might actually be counterproductive.
The more forbidden something was, the more desperately humans seemed to want it.
Even the guardian deities of the Alola region had been forced to sign agreements with human governments, resulting in compromises like the "island challenge and trial system."
While Ho-Oh's influence had certainly played a role in those negotiations, if the Alolan guardians hadn't demonstrated sufficient strength, it would have been impossible to establish such agreements given the typically aggressive nature of those protective spirits.
After Roy shared his thoughts with Mew, he concluded, "You'll need to handle this personally. Additionally, you'll need to make some reasonable compromises."
"Mew," Mew responded with obvious distress. The pink Legendary didn't actually hate humans - it often transformed into other Pokémon to play with people and genuinely enjoyed interacting with those who possessed pure hearts.
However, the Tree of Beginning presented a different challenge entirely.
Humans represented a form of contamination to the Tree of Beginning's delicate ecosystem.
Once exposed to too many humans, the Tree of Beginning would trigger a hyperimmune response that could be devastating.
Therefore, Mew's absolute bottom line was that humans could enter the spiritual realm, but only in very limited numbers, and they absolutely could not approach the Tree of Beginning itself.
"I understand completely," Roy said with a slight smile. "I'll handle the negotiations for you."
With its tail swishing happily, Mew floated up and settled comfortably on top of Roy's head, patting him gently with tiny paws.
Excellent! Mew had definitely chosen the right human!
Roy chuckled and carefully lifted Mew down, cradling the Legendary in his arms.
Like Latias before, Mew was allowing him to choose his own reward, and Roy wasn't the type of person who only took without giving something back.
Moreover, negotiating on Mew's behalf and acting as a diplomatic intermediary wasn't such a bad role to play.
With this plan forming in his mind, Roy said, "However, you'll need to perform a little scene with me."
"Miao?" Mew curled up obediently in Roy's arms, looking up at him with curious eyes.
"Let me see who's arrived first."
Mew closed its eyes in concentration, then suddenly opened them after two seconds, using Confusion to project the distant scene for Roy to observe.
The members of the spiritual realm investigation team came into Roy's view.
Most of the visitors were blonde, blue-eyed Europeans, which didn't particularly surprise Roy, but...
"Uncle Cole is here?"
Spotting Cole's familiar figure among the group, Roy felt genuinely surprised.
In addition to the pleasure of seeing a familiar face, Cole's presence significantly increased the success rate of the plan forming in Roy's mind.
"Mew, can you Transform into Rayquaza?"
"Miao?" Mew looked puzzled. What was Rayquaza?
Roy paused, quickly understanding the confusion.
Of course Mew knew of Rayquaza's existence - it simply didn't recognize that particular name.
Unlike Ho-Oh, which frequently interacted with humans, the three super-ancient dragons were reclusive beings that only a few specialized researchers and archaeologists knew much about in the modern Pokémon world.
"The one that's completely green and serpentine," Roy described briefly.
This description made Mew's expression brighten with recognition.
Its body glowed with brilliant white light as its form rapidly shifted, completing the Transform move in just an instant.
Roy looked down at the 'Rayquaza' now resting in his arms.
What he saw was essentially a tiny, adorable Caterpie-sized version.
"(^_-)Hey!" it chirped cheerfully.
Roy stared in disbelief. "?"
Mew was definitely doing this on purpose.
Meanwhile, in the spiritual realm proper...
Using the simple coordination method of 'Hold Hands,' the spiritual realm investigation team had all teleported to the same general location.
The researchers immediately began investigating air quality and collecting soil samples. Seeing that gathering comprehensive environmental and ecological data would take considerable time, Cole walked to a secluded corner, lit a cigarette, and reflected with obvious frustration.
"These Europeans are absolutely ruthless."
For Cole to join the first batch of the spiritual realm investigation team and potentially rescue Roy in time, China had paid an enormous price.
A rough calculation showed that securing this single spot had cost at least two billion pokédollars.
The European negotiators had undoubtedly demanded excessive compensation, but there had been no alternative. Rescue operations were always a race against time, and China hadn't had the luxury of extended negotiations.
Considering the mere loss of resources versus rescuing the prodigious Roy as quickly as possible, the trade-off was obviously worthwhile.
Although Cole understood the logic, it didn't prevent him from feeling the financial pain.
One day, he vowed, they would settle this debt.
Just as Cole was steeling his resolve, a blonde researcher approached and reminded him politely, "Mr. Cole, it's time to move out."
"Right."
Cole carefully extinguished his cigarette, wrapped the butt in paper, and placed it in his pocket.
Protecting the environmental integrity of spiritual realms was a basic responsibility of any professional trainer.
At that exact moment...
An invisible, overwhelming sense of pressure suddenly descended upon the area.
The air became thick and viscous, and all bird and fish Pokémon immediately fell silent.
A crushing sense of suffocation welled up in everyone's chest.
Including Cole, every professional trainer in the investigation team felt their pupils contract sharply. Instantly, all the Pokémon responsible for "rear guard security" materialized around their trainers.
Cole's body was immediately swallowed by his Gengar, which emerged from his shadow.
Of course, he wasn't actually being eaten - Gengar's stomach dimension was simply a safe space.
Through Gengar's translucent body, Cole looked toward the source of the overwhelming pressure.
It was coming from the sky above.
An emerald green dragon, measuring over one hundred meters in length, hovered majestically in the air, calmly observing the humans below with ancient, intelligent eyes.
The moment of seeing this Pokémon's true form brought with it a suppression that seemed to operate on the very level of biological hierarchy. The oppressive atmosphere intensified dramatically, and all humans and Pokémon instinctively felt a wave of primal fear wash over them.
Cold sweat broke out across Cole's forehead.
This level of power was...
"God's Domain Level."
The Alliance classified the existence of "second-tier gods" like Suicune and Entei as "Legendary Level."
"First-tier Gods" like Ho-Oh were designated as "God's Domain Level."
The guardian deities of Alola belonged to the Legendary Level individually.
However, those guardians had mastered mysterious ancient powers and excelled at combination techniques. When all four worked together, they could exert power approaching God's Domain Level.
'This spiritual realm is actually governed by a God's Domain Level being...'
Cole gritted his teeth, beginning to seriously worry that he and his team's lives were in genuine danger.
Against a God's Domain Level opponent, even increasing their professional-level forces by a hundred times wouldn't be nearly enough.
Judging from its appearance, this dragon didn't look like one of the more docile divine beings either.
Wait... was there a figure standing on the dragon's head?
Cole's eyes widened as he squinted upward, suspecting his vision was playing tricks on him.
After blinking several times to clear his sight, Cole finally confirmed what he was seeing was real.
The other professional trainers in the investigation team had apparently noticed the same thing, and excited murmurs began spreading through the group.
All kinds of theories raced through their minds:
This spiritual realm had only just appeared - how could there already be people inside?
Could it be that in this ruined Pokémon world, someone capable of commanding God's Domain Level beings had somehow survived?
Or perhaps it wasn't a human at all, but rather a Pokémon that had taken human form?
The massive dragon's body slowly descended, and the figure finally came into clear view.
Cole was completely stunned.
A moment later, he made an incredulous sound of recognition.
"R-Roy?!"