Professor Oak had only asked the question out of idle curiosity—he didn't really expect Haru to give him some earth-shattering answer.
From his point of view, since Haru had asked those two white-haired girls to "stand guard" here, one of them was probably a powerful Trainer.
Most likely the older one with the ahoge—the one Haru had been addressing when giving instructions. She could easily be one of those reclusive Elite Four– or even Champion–level Trainers who live off the grid.
Such people—those who don't enter tournaments yet possess terrifying strength—were rare, but not that rare.
As for the younger white-haired girl, she clearly wasn't too fond of Haru. Probably a victim of his "playful experiments."
But... the truth turned out to be way beyond his imagination.
Holy Arceus—Lugia. And not just a Lugia, but a mother and daughter pair! Haru had actually nabbed an entire family of Lugia!
Of course Professor Oak knew that not long ago, Haru had sent out Mewtwo to battle a rampaging Lugia.
He had even been present to witness it himself—to see the mythical Mega Mewtwo in action.
That incident had ended with Haru riding on Lugia's back, both of them vanishing into the distance mid-battle.
But wasn't that Lugia supposed to hate humans? The same one that flew in just to obliterate human cities...
So how on earth had she come back in human form, reconciled with Haru, and even brought her daughter along?
Did Haru have some kind of innate Legendary-beast-charming aura or something?
Or... did he perhaps "tame" that Lugia with his ahem "frozen popsicle" during his absence?
Feeling a chaotic swirl of emotions, Professor Oak first cast a greedy, almost drooling look at the Lugia mother and daughter, then turned to Haru and asked:
"Don't tell me… they're your Pokémon now?"
Lugia—legendary guardian of the seas. Though her command over the oceans wasn't as absolute as Kyogre's, she could easily summon oncoming storms and unleash tsunamis capable of swallowing continents.
How he longed to study them up close… After all, no one had ever successfully captured a Lugia before.
If Haru truly had two of them, then his team was practically a full roster of Legendary Pokémon already.
Sure, technically speaking, Mewtwo wasn't "officially" in a Poké Ball… but come on—if it can Mega Evolve, who's kidding who?
That Mewtwo was just like a brat sulking at his dad while pretending not to care.
Haru smiled faintly.
"As much as I'd like them to be my Pokémon, unfortunately, the answer is no."
"They're simply staying by my side for… certain reasons."
"One day, they might leave me altogether."
The moment he finished speaking, Lugia (the mother) straightened up and immediately protested with a serious tone:
"Never! I won't leave until I've repaid my debt—uh, I mean, mastered your secret techniques!"
She was determined to become the strongest woman in the world; spending a little extra time here was a small price to pay.
"You two seem to get along really well…"
Professor Oak chuckled, sneaking closer to the Lugia pair with the same sly gait Noctowl might use while stalking prey.
Unfortunately, before he could get within three meters, the young Lugia backed away several steps, her face full of suspicion.
So he could only sigh and give up—defeated by maternal instinct and childlike wariness alike.
Damn it—why was it that Haru could so easily get along with Legendary Pokémon?
No, not just get along—he could even get along with them.
Meanwhile, Professor Oak couldn't even get close!
Was this what being handsome got you?
Handsome people got to do whatever they pleased, while old men like him had no human rights anymore—apparently.
"Well then, we'll be on our way."
Haru, holding the pink feline in his arms, turned and started toward the door.
But just as he was about to step over the threshold, he suddenly turned back to look at Professor Oak, who still seemed unable to take his eyes off the Lugia duo.
"Professor Oak, if you're willing, you can stay here and help guard the Grand Cathedral."
"You wouldn't want its defense system to end up helping those people, would you?"
"Of course not!"
Oak didn't even hesitate—he agreed immediately.
Though both Lugia were still quite wary of him, this was far too rare a chance to pass up. A chance to observe two first-rank Legendaries up close!
Besides, since they were Haru's "friends," they probably wouldn't hurt him… right?
Encountered Lugia.
Used all his strength—still can't approach.
At that moment, the long-tailed pink cat in Haru's arms raised her head and spoke:
"Master nya~, I actually want to stay here too nya~."
"Hm?"
"You want to stay?" Haru blinked, then shrugged. "Well, if that's what you want, you can."
Though a little surprised, he agreed without hesitation.
"Mewtwo, how about you come with me?"
"…"
Mewtwo didn't reply immediately. She sat there for several seconds, then quietly closed her book and rose from her chair.
Upon hearing Mew's and Haru's exchange, Lugia's ahoge began to whirl like a drill—her eyes lit up with excitement.
She knew what this meant: Mew was finally keeping her promise to train her!
Heh. Once she became invincible, she'd challenge that so-called "Mewtwo" of Haru's and utterly crush her!
Mega Evolution? Big deal!
---
Pale greenish water stains carved rib-like patterns across the brick walls. Thirteen iron-bar partitions divided the space into a decaying honeycomb of cells. Each door bore locks from different eras—from corroded bronze padlocks to dimly glowing electronic keypads—every keyhole clogged with cobwebbed mold.
Water seeped along the ceiling's exposed rebar, condensing into murky droplets that clung to the cracks in the concrete.
A clogged drain overflowed with black-brown fibrous sludge, rising and falling faintly with the stale air, like the shed skin of some ancient creature.
And inside one of those iron-bar cages sat a pair of sisters—identical in face and build.
Yes—these were Oakley and Annie, the twin thieves Haru had captured.
In a sense, they were the true culprits behind the disaster of Altomare.
In the anime, they were the ones who activated the defense mechanism using the Soul Dew, nearly sinking the city—and causing Latios to lose his life.
Though… in reality, it seemed their luck had turned out even worse.
The facility was originally meant for high-level wanted criminals, but it had long since been abandoned. The only ones left imprisoned here were those two.
Despite the wretched conditions, when Haru arrived, he found that the sisters weren't doing too badly. No visible injuries—just endlessly bickering and blaming each other.
Then Haru stepped out from behind the wall, revealing himself.
The moment they saw him, both sisters fell silent as if someone had hit a mute switch. Their faces hardened; they looked as though they'd just seen a demon.
They'd never fought Haru head-on, but they'd seen what he was capable of—
The man who single-handedly flattened an entire Team Rocket division.
And after that, rumor had it he'd fought a first-rank Legendary—and won.
A walking disaster like that? If they'd seen him on the street, they'd have crossed to the other side without a word.
Haru didn't bother with pleasantries. He went straight to the point:
"Tell me everything you know about the one who attacked you."
"Since they got close enough to strike, you must have seen something."
Seeing the fear on their faces, he added quietly,
"Don't try to hide anything from me. Or you'll learn what regret truly means."
"My Pokémon may not excel at everything, but they're very skilled at manipulating human perception."
"Amplifying your pain—or pleasure—tenfold, a hundredfold—it's child's play to them."
"Then I could tie you up, toss you into a pitch-black room full of mosquitoes…"
"Or smear you head-to-toe in honey and release a few hives of bees."
"Or perhaps I'll use my own weapon—a whip that sprays acid on impact—and tune your pain to a thousand times normal, before striking your faces—"
He didn't even finish the sentence before both girls shuddered violently.
Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.
What kind of karma had they accumulated over generations to end up in his hands?
Seeing the fear in their eyes, Haru nodded, satisfied.
That was the effect he wanted.
If Annie and Oakley weren't afraid, how could he expect truthful answers?
If necessary, he could always separate them and cross-check their confessions one by one.
"Of course, I'm not a complete monster," he continued mildly.
"As long as you tell me everything honestly, I won't use any of those methods."
(At worst, I'll just make them play Ring Fit Adventure while controlling their characters in Elden Ring, using squats to attack and jogging to move...) Haru thought to himself wryly.
Still trembling, the sisters shook their heads.
"We really don't know who that was…"
"If we did, we'd already have hunted him down for revenge."
"We can't even be sure he's human. His form—he looked like a giant bat, shrouded completely in darkness."
"We couldn't make out his face at all."
"The only thing we could tell was… his voice."
"It was rough, distorted—but we're fairly sure it belonged to a male."
"Oh?" Haru's eyes narrowed. "And how did he take Latios and the Soul Dew? Don't tell me he just jumped out and scared you into handing them over?"
If the attacker wasn't human but a Pokémon, there weren't many bat-like Pokémon capable of that level of power.
And if one had to guess…
Lunala fit the description almost perfectly.
A Pokémon that embodied the moon, shrouded in darkness, with a body resembling a great bat.
The only inconsistency was the male voice.
Though Lunala technically had no gender, it was generally perceived as a feminine Pokémon—so its voice should have been female.
But that detail hardly mattered.
If it truly was Lunala, mimicking a male voice would've been trivial.
Still… wasn't Lunala supposed to be with Lillie? How could it appear here?
Even if it weren't unique, it should only appear in Alola, not suddenly show up in Kanto's Altomare.
Only Alola had active Ultra Wormholes that allowed Ultra Beasts and other extradimensional entities to appear.
And besides—why would Lunala kidnap Latios in the first place? She wasn't exactly known for hostility.
Though Haru now had a suspect in mind, the mystery only deepened.
As he fell silent, lost in thought, the sisters spoke more carefully.
"As for his abilities… we don't know much. But based on what we experienced, we think it was psychic power."
"He didn't use any Pokémon. He subdued us using pure psychic force."
"My Espeon specializes in Psychic-type moves—I'm certain of it."
Seeing Haru's expression grow darker, Sana hurriedly added,
"I swear, that's the truth!"
She was desperate for him to believe her—to avoid those horrific "methods."
Haru nodded slowly.
"I see."
Psychic-type again.
That lined up with Lunala too.
The more he thought about it, the more it seemed like she was the one behind it all.
Could it be that Lillie had secretly come here?
Or had she just sent Nebby to cause trouble on her behalf?
No… that didn't fit her character. She wasn't the type to pull underhanded stunts like that. She'd know it would only make herself Haru's enemy—and then be ruthlessly humiliated by Miss Burnet.
Still, from a typing standpoint, it made sense—
Lunala, the Moon Pokémon, Psychic/Ghost dual-type…
A four-times weakness to Ghost.
So yes—despite being a first-rank Legendary, if Burnett fought her, she'd at least stand a chance.
A weak sun god and a moon goddess afraid of ghosts.
Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.
---
While Haru was still interrogating the twin thieves, a young woman who looked as though she'd just been violated by fate itself struggled out of her diving gear.
Though Haru had been gone for quite some time, she'd spent all that while suppressing an overpowering, shameful desire—an effort that had cost her dearly.
In the end, she'd resorted to a truly dark solution: she had personally thrown Dr. Namba of Team Rocket into the ocean, letting the crushing pressure drag him to a slow, despairing death.
Killing intent to resist lust—that was the desperate method she'd come up with.
Of course, it hadn't worked particularly well, and it wasn't something she could repeat often.
Even as a former Rocket operative, the act of killing someone with her own hands weighed heavily on her.
Even if that someone had been a scumbag who would've doomed thousands.
Leaning weakly against a jagged reef, the girl exhaled.
Her mind had steadied, but her body was still wracked with exhaustion.
And it was all thanks to Haru and Lusamine.
"Damn you, Haru! Damn you, Lusamine!"
Sabrina clenched her fists, fury boiling in her chest.
She had regained control of her body—and yet she couldn't help but feel humiliated.
Fine. She would bide her time.
When the moment came, she'd use her psychic power and joint locks to make Haru beg for mercy.
But as she swore vengeance in her heart, a man's voice came from the rocks above.
"So here you are. I've been looking for you for quite a while."
"The Rocket traitor."
Sabrina's eyes snapped up—and then her heart sank.
It was a man, dressed in a Team Rocket uniform.
And more importantly—
He was a psychic.
***********************
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P@treon/GodDragcell