The ground suddenly cracked beneath them.
CRACK!
Everyone froze.
"What was that?"
Another tremor shook the chamber.
BOOM!
The stone floor exploded upward.
"Move!"
Everyone scattered.
A large, armored Pokémon burst from beneath the ground, sending chunks of stone flying in every direction.
It landed heavily.
Whitney stared.
"...Why is there a Pupitar down here?!"
The Pupitar let out an irritated cry.
"Pupitar!"
Whitney pointed at it.
"WHY IS THERE A PUPITAR HERE?!"
Bugsy quickly raised his Pokégear.
"Actually, Pupitar are known to burrow underground..."
Whitney looked at him.
"That does not answer my question!"
Lusamine looked toward the Shadows Yaozu had disappeared into.
"Maybe it was drawn here."
Ethan's expression changed.
"By Yaozu?"
Lusamine nodded.
"Probably."
She looked at the Pupitar.
"If Yaozu really has that kind of energy, a Pokémon sensitive to powerful energy could have detected it from underground."
Ethan looked at the Pupitar.
"That would explain why it suddenly came out."
The Pupitar looked around.
Then it stared toward the darkness.
For a moment...
It didn't move.
Then it slowly backed away.
Ethan frowned.
'Even Pupitar knows something is wrong.'
Far away from Ecruteak City...
Beyond the roads.
Beyond the forests.
Beyond the places where ordinary humans could safely travel...
A valley sat hidden between enormous mountains.
No roads reached it.
No buildings stood within it.
And no human had entered it for generations.
The shadows inside the valley suddenly moved.
Yaozu emerged from them.
Its paws touched the ground.
It raised its head.
A low growl escaped its throat.
"Grrrr..."
It wasn't alone.
A sudden pillar of flame erupted from the earth.
WHOOM!
Entei stepped out of the flames.
Yaozu's eyes narrowed.
Then came the sound of rushing water.
A column of water rose into the air.
Suicune emerged from it.
Her eyes immediately found Yaozu.
Then—
KRA-KOOM!
Lightning struck the ground.
Raikou landed beside the other two.
For several seconds, none of them moved.
Three Legendary Pokémon stood together.
The same three beings whose legend was tied to the Burned Tower and Ho-Oh's resurrection.
But there was something different about this meeting.
There was no hostility.
No challenge.
No territorial display.
Instead...
Suicune slowly stepped forward.
Her body began to glow.
The blue aura surrounding her intensified.
Her shape changed.
Her paws became humanlike feet.
Her body became more slender.
Her mane transformed, flowing downward like long purple hair.
The transformation finished.
Where the Legendary Pokémon had stood...
A young woman now stood.
She stared at Yaozu.
Her eyes immediately filled with tears.
"Brother..."
Yaozu froze.
Suicune covered her mouth as a tear rolled down her cheek.
"It's been so long."
Raikou lowered his head.
Entei's flames flickered quietly.
Yaozu didn't move.
For centuries...
He had lived alone.
He had watched humans turn his home into ruins.
He had hidden beneath the earth and within shadows.
He had forgotten what it felt like to hear a familiar voice.
But that voice...
He remembered.
Yaozu's expression softened.
He took one step forward.
Suicune smiled through her tears.
"You're alive."
Yaozu let out a quiet growl.
Not threatening.
Almost relieved.
Suicune ran toward him.
She wrapped her arms around his neck.
Yaozu froze for a moment before lowering his head against her shoulder.
Raikou looked away.
Entei sighed.
Suicune laughed softly.
"I looked for you."
Yaozu closed his eyes.
For the first time in centuries...
The forgotten fourth Legendary was no longer alone.
Back in the city
The group finally made their way out of the Burned Tower.
The sunlight hit them almost immediately.
Everyone collectively sighed.
After everything that had happened inside, standing under an open sky felt strangely comforting.
Morty, however, looked like he had just won the lottery.
He turned toward Ethan and practically grabbed his shoulders.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Ethan blinked.
"Uh... you're welcome?"
Morty grinned.
"If you came here for the Gym Badge, I can give it to you!"
Ethan stared at him.
"Just like that?"
Morty nodded enthusiastically.
"You helped me confirm the existence of Yaozu! Do you have any idea how important that is?"
Ethan scratched his cheek.
'Apparently finding a Legendary Pokémon is worth more to Morty than following Gym regulations.'
Morty looked toward the Burned Tower.
"I've spent years researching the legends surrounding this place. Most people thought I was wasting my time."
He smiled.
"But now I know the fourth Legendary really exists."
Ethan smiled.
"Then I'll take you up on that Gym Battle later."
Morty blinked.
"Later?"
"Yeah. I still want to earn the badge properly."
Morty's smile grew.
"Fair enough."
Meanwhile, Whitney was completely distracted.
She was crouching beside the Pupitar.
The little Pokémon stared back at her.
"Pupitar..."
Whitney gently poked its shell.
"Pupitar."
The Pupitar stared.
Whitney poked it again.
"Pupitar!"
Whitney grinned.
"You're adorable."
Falkner stared at her.
"We're just going to let her have it?"
Erika shrugged.
"I'm a Grass specialist."
She pointed toward Sabrina.
"Sabrina is a Psychic specialist."
Then she pointed toward Falkner.
"You're a Flying specialist."
Then toward Bugsy.
"You're a Bug specialist."
Falkner waited.
"And?"
Erika looked toward Lyra.
"And Lyra is Lyra."
Lyra slowly turned toward her.
"...What is that supposed to mean?"
Erika smiled.
"You know."
"I don't know."
"You catch whatever you want."
Lyra opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
"...Fair."
Falkner sighed.
"So basically, Whitney gets the giant rock cocoon because none of us have a reason to complain."
Whitney hugged Pupitar.
"Exactly!"
"Pupitar!"
Ethan looked at the two of them.
'She really does collect Pokémon like souvenirs.'
Whitney suddenly looked up.
"Ethan!"
"What?"
"Look!"
She proudly held up the Pupitar.
"I got a new Pokémon!"
Ethan smiled.
"Yeah, I noticed."
Whitney's grin became even wider.
"I'm going to train it until it becomes a Tyranitar!"
Bugsy's eyes lit up.
"A Tyranitar would be amazing."
Falkner nodded.
"Assuming you don't spoil it first."
Whitney gasped.
"I do not spoil my Pokémon!"
Everyone looked at her.
Silence.
Whitney frowned.
"...Okay, maybe a little."
Ethan laughed.
The group began walking back toward the car.
But Ethan glanced over his shoulder one last time.
The Burned Tower stood silently behind them.
'Yaozu...'
He remembered the overwhelming darkness.
The way Marshtomp had been defeated in a single attack.
And the strange sadness hidden beneath that terrifying power.
'Something tells me this isn't the last time we're going to hear about you.'
The group eventually made their way to the Pokémon Center.
After everything that had happened inside the Burned Tower, nobody particularly wanted to do anything complicated.
They just wanted their Pokémon healed.
Lusamine, however, had other priorities.
She sat near one of the tables, carefully looking through the photographs she had taken with her Minolta X-700.
She turned the camera over in her hands.
"Please, please tell me I actually got a picture."
She had been moving when Yaozu attacked.
There was a very real possibility that half the photographs were going to be blurry.
Lusamine looked toward the Nurse Joy behind the counter.
"Excuse me?"
Nurse Joy looked up.
"Yes?"
Lusamine held up her camera.
"Is there a way to print these photographs here?"
Nurse Joy blinked.
"Photographs?"
Lusamine nodded.
"Yes. I took some pictures inside the Burned Tower."
Her expression became slightly more serious.
"Very important pictures."
Nurse Joy looked at the camera.
"We can develop and print film, although it may take some time."
Lusamine's eyes immediately brightened.
"Really?"
"Of course."
Lusamine smiled.
"Wonderful!"
Ethan, who had been sitting nearby, looked over.
"You actually got pictures?"
Lusamine looked at him proudly.
"I hope so."
Ethan remembered the moment.
Lusamine had been holding the camera when Yaozu attacked.
She had barely avoided the Dark Pulse.
"You were taking pictures while that thing was attacking us."
Lusamine shrugged.
"Scientific documentation is important."
Ethan stared at her.
"You almost got blasted."
"I noticed."
"You didn't stop."
"I also noticed that."
Ethan sighed.
"You're insane."
Lusamine smiled.
"Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment."
"I accepted it as one."
Kitsu laughed from the other side of the room.
Ethan shook his head.
'She's definitely going to become one of those researchers who walks into danger because she wants a better photograph.'
Lusamine handed the film over to Nurse Joy.
"Please be careful with it."
"I will."
As Nurse Joy walked away, Lusamine leaned back in her chair.
"If even one photograph came out clearly..."
She smiled.
"...we may have the first modern photographic evidence of Yaozu."
Morty, who had been sitting nearby, immediately turned toward her.
"You have photographic evidence?!"
Lusamine froze.
"...Potentially."
Morty stood up.
"Can I see it?"
"After it's developed."
Morty looked like he was about to explode from excitement.
"How long will that take?"
Nurse Joy called from behind the counter.
"A little while!"
Morty sat back down.
Then immediately stood again.
"How long is a little while?"
Ethan covered his face.
'This guy is going to lose his mind waiting for those photographs.'
Meanwhile
Hermonia Corporation.
Violet and Midori were Infront of there father
Shinku looked at his two Daugther. "So?"
Violet spoke fixing her glasses. "This project, is Insane"
Midori spoke next. "It's year ahead of what we have now in Pokèmon Research Lap and Even the League".
Shinku looked at him. "To bring back Extinct Pokèmon that's what Lysander said".
Flashbacks
[Author Note: This Flashbacks is only for people who don't remember the Events of Ch 42, by the time this Ch comes out, there has been a long time, for everyone who is reading these Ch all at once, you can skip this]
Lysandre folded his hands behind his back.
"The ability to bring back extinct Pokémon."
Silence.
Not confusion.
Not skepticism.
Silence.
Because nobody in the room had a reference point for what he had just said.
Steven stared.
Akagi blinked.
Even Shinku's expression shifted slightly.
Lysandre continued casually.
"We used fossil remains, residual Type Energy, genetic reconstruction algorithms, living descendants, predictive evolutionary models, and enough computational power to make Arceus nervous."
Steven finally found his voice.
"That's impossible."
Lysandre chuckled.
"So were Poké Balls once."
Steven stood there frozen.
Because he wasn't hearing a scientist describe a new machine.
He was hearing someone describe the resurrection of an extinct species.
Akagi slowly crossed her arms.
"You successfully recreated an ancient Pokémon."
Lysandre nodded.
"Technically, it's a clone."
"Technically?"
"Nothing living today is old enough to verify whether our reconstruction is one hundred percent accurate."
The room grew quiet again.
Shinku finally spoke.
"You're trying to play God."
Lysandre's smile didn't disappear.
But it became smaller.
More serious.
"Interesting."
The red-haired man walked toward the window.
Snow-white lights from the Gala shone through the glass.
"You know, most people say that immediately."
He turned.
"They said the same thing when mankind learned to heal diseases."
Nobody spoke.
"They said it when mankind learned to fly."
Steven's eyes narrowed.
"And they said it when mankind first captured Pokémon."
Lysandre spread his arms.
"So tell me, Shinku."
His blue eyes sharpened.
"If extinction can be reversed..."
A pause.
"Why should it remain permanent?"
The question lingered in the air.
Because nobody had an immediate answer.
Steven looked troubled.
Akagi looked thoughtful.
Even Shinku remained silent for several seconds.
Then he spoke.
"No."
Lysandre blinked.
Shinku's red eyes met his.
"You're asking the wrong question."
The room became still.
"The question isn't whether extinction should remain permanent."
Shinku stood.
"The question is whether humanity has earned the right to decide otherwise."
End of flashbacks
Shinku looked at his daughter. "I said no back them in the Gala and I am saying no now"
Midori stared at the documents spread across the table.
The more she read...
The worse it became.
"This isn't just another Pokémon research project."
Violet adjusted her glasses.
"No."
She tapped one of the reports.
"They're attempting to reconstruct an extinct Pokémon from fossil remains."
Midori looked back at the documents.
"And nobody has ever done that before."
Violet nodded.
"Not successfully. As far as the scientific community knows, it's never been possible."
Shinku remained silent.
Midori continued.
"That's what makes this so insane."
She pointed toward the research data.
"They're using fossilized genetic material, residual Type Energy, genetic reconstruction algorithms, living Pokémon descendants and predictive evolutionary models to fill in what the fossil doesn't contain."
Violet's expression became more serious.
"They aren't restoring an existing species."
She looked toward her father.
"They're trying to recreate one."
Shinku nodded.
"Exactly."
Midori leaned back.
"And if Aether Foundation succeeds..."
Violet finished her sentence.
"They'll have created an entirely new field of Pokémon science."
Shinku remained silent.
Because that was precisely what concerned him.
This wasn't merely another technological advancement.
There was no established fossil-revival industry.
No existing procedure.
No proven methodology.
No previous generation of scientists to learn from.
Lysandre was attempting to establish the field from nothing.
And if he succeeded...
Every fossil discovered afterward would no longer necessarily be considered the remains of a dead species.
It could become the starting point for bringing that species back.
Midori looked toward her father.
"That's why you rejected it at the Gala."
Shinku nodded.
"Yes."
Violet pushed her glasses higher.
"And you're still saying no."
"I am."
Midori looked down at the report.
"Even if they're successful?"
Shinku's expression didn't change.
"Especially if they're successful."
The room fell silent.
Because all three understood what Project A.D.A.M. could eventually lead to.
Today, they were talking about extinct Pokémon.
Tomorrow...
Who knew?
Shinku picked up the report.
"Study their work. Monitor their progress. But Hermonia will not participate."
Violet nodded.
"Understood."
Midori gave a small sigh.
"Still..."
She looked at the research.
"If this succeeds, the entire world of Pokémon research changes."
Shinku stared at the A.D.A.M. file.
"Yes."
He closed it.
"And that is exactly why we need to be careful."
To be continue
Hope people like this and give me power stones and enjoy