"Wait… What did you just say? A Legendary Pokémon? The King of Swords?"
"Pei Jingguo encountered a Legendary Pokémon inside the consciousness space?"
"Holy crap… You said earlier that the Pokémon capable of entering this consciousness space are all Pokémon that can resonate with Pei Jingguo's consciousness… Doesn't that mean…"
Wang Tao was quick to catch on. He immediately realized what this meant.
And yet, that realization was precisely what made it so hard for him to believe!
Even the appearance of that Ultra Beast called Kartana, which Su Bai had mentioned before, had already been shocking enough, all right?!
"That's right. In other words, Pei Jingguo actually had a chance to obtain a Legendary Pokémon…"
Su Bai looked at Pei Jingguo and shook his head regretfully.
If Pei Jingguo had actually managed to catch Zacian, the King of Swords…
That would have been insanely cool!
"So there really are infinite possibilities within the consciousness space. It's just that compared to randomly drawing a Pokémon, the possibility of obtaining a Legendary Pokémon still requires the Trainer himself to be strong enough…"
Su Bai had originally thought that even a special-individual Ceruledge might not necessarily be stronger than a pseudo-legendary like Tyranitar.
For a moment, he had even wondered whether the system had made some kind of mistake.
But now, it seemed that the system was actually far more generous than he had imagined.
It had even given Pei Jingguo a chance to catch a Legendary Pokémon!
Unfortunately…
Pei Jingguo hadn't managed to seize it.
Ceruledge was certainly cool, but compared to a Legendary Pokémon, there was ultimately no comparison.
Seeing the regret on Su Bai's face, Pei Jingguo instead chuckled.
"Gaining it would have been fortunate. Losing it was simply fate."
"Besides…"
He reached down and gently patted Charcadet's little head.
"I really like this Charcadet. I can't say whether I'd choose it over a Legendary Pokémon, but if that Kartana and Charcadet were both standing in front of me…"
"I'm afraid I'd actually have a hard time deciding which one to choose!"
Pei Jingguo wasn't merely putting on a show.
To him, this Charcadet, which was completely devoted to the sword, was clearly more compatible with him in certain ways.
When it came to catching Pokémon, stronger wasn't necessarily better.
The bond between a Trainer and their Pokémon had to be built up little by little.
The veteran Trainers had understood this principle long ago. They wouldn't become overly obsessed with a Pokémon simply because of its raw strength.
"But… what did it mean when it said, 'Though you are brave, you have not fought a hundred battles'?"
Liu Yunlan looked puzzled as she nervously bit her fingernail.
"Hasn't Pei Jingguo already been through enough battles?"
Su Bai shook his head.
"That brings us to this Legendary Pokémon known as Zacian."
"Zacian… is a legendary hero from a certain region in the Pokémon world."
"As for how powerful it is, I don't really need to say much. Anyone who witnessed Groudon descending upon Haicheng should understand what a Legendary Pokémon is capable of."
"Zacian may not necessarily be weaker than Groudon!"
Su Bai's words immediately caused a chorus of gasps.
Everyone had experienced that war—the battle they had all believed would end in their deaths.
The sight of Groudon descending from the heavens like a divine soldier had been so awe-inspiring that even remembering it in the middle of the night could leave their blood boiling and make it impossible to fall asleep!
"Zacian… is even stronger than Groudon?!"
Liu Yunlan exclaimed.
"Are you serious?! Pei Jingguo actually had a chance to catch a terrifying Legendary Pokémon like that?"
"It's difficult to determine which Legendary Pokémon is truly stronger than another, so there's no need to get hung up on that…"
Su Bai shook his head.
Not a single Legendary Pokémon was to be taken lightly.
Sure, there had been that insanely hype scene in the movies where Rayquaza fought seven opponents at once, which had elevated the status of that "green Caterpie" to near-divine levels in the hearts of Pokémon fans.
But it was a movie.
You know how that goes.
In any case, Legendary Pokémon were powerful. That was all that mattered!
"As for Zacian, according to legend, this Pokémon has experienced countless battles."
"The white patterns covering its body are said to resemble scars left behind by battle. It is a Pokémon that fears no fight."
"This is Zacian's Hero of Many Battles form."
"When Zacian holds its exclusive item, the Rusted Sword, it transforms from its Hero of Many Battles form into its Crowned Sword form."
"Legend says that this sword can cut through all things. That is why it is also known as the Sword of the Fairy King."
"It is said that its slashes are unrivaled. They move so quickly that the naked eye cannot even perceive them. By the time someone realizes they have been struck by its sword, they have already fallen without even feeling the pain."
Su Bai rested a hand against his chin, choosing his words carefully.
"The fact that Zacian's consciousness responded to Pei Jingguo's consciousness and entered the consciousness space means that, at the very least, Pei Jingguo was capable of resonating with Zacian when it came to the sword."
"Unfortunately… compared to this Hero of Many Battles, all those battles you've experienced before may have been little more than child's play."
"It probably considers you unqualified to become its Trainer just yet…"
Pei Jingguo listened seriously to Su Bai's explanation.
After a long silence, he suddenly smiled.
"So I was looked down upon by Zacian…"
"Fair enough. Compared to an existence like that, my battles…"
"They probably really were nothing more than child's play."
"Boss Su, let me ask you something."
As he spoke, Pei Jingguo's expression grew serious.
"If, one day in the future… I gain the strength of someone who has fought a hundred battles…"
"Will I have another chance to meet Zacian?"
Su Bai was slightly taken aback.
Pei Jingguo's meaning was obvious.
Although he had failed to catch Zacian this time, that powerful King of Swords had clearly left an extremely deep impression on him.
He hadn't given up on catching Zacian.
"In the future… you will."
Su Bai nodded with a smile.
"And not just Zacian. There will be even more Legendary Pokémon."
"And it won't be limited to Pei Jingguo. If it's you guys…"
"You might really be able to catch Legendary Pokémon."
He turned his gaze toward the Trainers.
In the Pokémon world, there were indeed Trainers who had managed to obtain Legendary or Mythical Pokémon. Even Trainers with Pokémon on the level of the Legendary Beasts weren't unheard of.
As for absurdly overpowered Trainers like Tobias, there was no point even bringing them up. His Darkrai and Latios had nearly steamrolled Ash.
If not for Sceptile's outstanding performance and Pikachu being an existence that completely defied common sense, Ash's team might not even have managed to take two Pokémon down in exchange for six!
Then there was Dark, who possessed an Articuno, and Brandon, who possessed the three Eternal Legendary Titans—Regirock, Registeel, and Regice.
The most ridiculous example, however, was probably some random contestant at the Lily of the Valley Conference who actually had a Heatran!
All of this was enough to prove that if a Legendary Pokémon happened to take a liking to a Trainer, it was willing to "lower itself" and become their partner.
As more and more Pokémon descended into this world in the future, there would naturally be more and more Legendary Pokémon as well.
And if one were to talk about who had the highest chance of catching a Legendary Pokémon…
It would undoubtedly be these old customers of his!
After all, they could be considered the pioneers of the Pokémon world in this reality.
Su Bai's words immediately set the Trainers' blood on fire.
Pei Jingguo nodded.
"Then… good."
"In that case, I can't waste any more time. Since I need more battles…"
"Then I'll go fight."
With that, Pei Jingguo waved a hand and prepared to leave with his Pokémon.
Clearly, even this genius young swordsman, who always wore the same expressionless face, had been thoroughly provoked by those words:
You have not fought a hundred battles.
The others immediately exchanged looks.
Liu Yunlan wore a bitter expression as she complained,
"What the hell? You're way too hardcore! Even a training fanatic shouldn't be this crazy!"
"We just finished an exhausting exploration, and you're already going out to fight again? Are you even human?!"
"Hey, hey! Why is everyone leaving?"
"Wait for me! Hey!!"
Watching Liu Yunlan hurriedly chase after the others, Su Bai smiled and shook his head.
The enthusiasm of these Trainers really was something else…
Fortunately, as the shop owner, he didn't need to work nearly as hard.
He yawned, stretched lazily, then waved toward a puddle of purple slime.
Immediately understanding what he wanted, Ditto transformed into Su Bai's appearance and walked behind the counter.
Zhu Jianyuan watched the scene with confusion.
"What are you doing? You're already here, aren't you? Why do you need Ditto?"
Su Bai rolled his eyes at him.
"Isn't it obvious?"
"The busiest part is over. As the Pokémon Envoy, I deserve a little rest, don't I?"
Those Trainers could work themselves to the bone training in hopes of obtaining a Legendary Pokémon.
He didn't need to!
Maybe one day, the system would decide to be generous to its shopkeeper.
And then a Legendary Pokémon might simply drop out of the sky for him.
Anything was possible, after all!