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Kael's vision was filled with blinding white light.
The pain was sharp, but fleeting—
What followed was an overwhelming emptiness, a void that seemed to cradle him.
His body felt weightless, drifting as if it no longer had substance.
With only the faintest breeze, he could be carried upward, riding the air currents all the way to the highest heavens.
Like a game from his past life, his perspective suddenly shifted from first-person into a third-person, top-down view.
From this vantage, Kael could see the entire ocean around Ashen Isle.
"…Is this the afterlife?" he murmured.
The sea churned violently below, massive waves rolling.
Lava glowed faintly beneath the surface, bursts of steam rising as the scalding heat vaporized the seawater.
Jagged stone pillars, like the fangs of a stone forest, jutted from the sea floor, their tips glowing red with volcanic heat.
And at the heart of it all, wrapped in crimson armor, Groudon roared, its cry like a hurricane blasting in every direction.
Kael stared at the beast that had annihilated him, and a strange mix of emotions welled in his heart.
Was it anger?
No… not exactly.
Something else.
Questions sprouted in his chest like weeds.
Under Groudon's overwhelming might, its attacks were as natural and unstoppable as a storm; Kael had been nothing more than an ant.
The sheer aftershocks of its power had reduced his Ampharos' body, honed through endless struggle, to ash.
And yet, Groudon hadn't even noticed him.
It had merely stirred in its slumber, unleashed a fraction of its wrath, and in the process erased Ashen Isle.
The gap between them was so vast that Kael couldn't even muster hatred.
What filled him instead was a deep, gnawing hatred of himself of his own weakness.
"If only… if only I were stronger…"
If he had the power to at least inconvenience Groudon, maybe his heart wouldn't feel so hollow, so powerless.
"…Ah."
Enlightenment flickered through him. He understood now what he felt.
It was unwillingness.
Unwillingness to leave this vast world behind without seeing more.
Unwillingness to fall just after evolving into Ampharos, before he could test the true limits of his strength.
Unwillingness to depart without ever forging a true, deep bond with a human partner.
Melancholy swept through him.
And then—
From the distant depths of the sea came a resonant song, deep and majestic, like the voices of countless whales harmonizing together.
The surface boiled with bubbles as countless Water-type Pokémon rose, unafraid of the titan nearby.
They turned toward the north, lowering their heads in reverence, as if greeting the arrival of a king.
A soothing aura of life spread across the ocean, carrying with it a faint salt-kissed fragrance.
"…What's this?" Kael wondered aloud, casting his gaze northward.
Beneath the azure waves, a colossal shadow moved.
Lines of brilliant crimson markings glowed across its body like living art, shining faintly in the dark waters.
Before Kael could focus further, space itself twisted.
A tiny black dot appeared in the void, as if ink had been dropped on white parchment.
The space around it warped, twisted, blurred. Its suction was terrifying, like a vortex that devoured everything.
Kael's translucent spirit-form was pulled into the rift, his body dissolving into white light.
Darkness.
He floated in what felt like a silent, starless void, where up and down, left and right, had no meaning.
And then—
The system's emblem, shaped like a Poké Ball, suddenly flared, expanding into countless blue lights that banished the darkness.
Like a movie theater playing memories with no audience, one image after another flashed before his eyes:
His confused, uncertain face when he was reborn as a Mareep.
The white glow shining from his horns during his very first battle.
His pride and joy as he floated in midair using Magnet Rise.
The bittersweet moment of leaving his handprint at the Champion's Hall alongside Lanny after winning the League.
Ding!
A familiar chime echoed.
Blue text scrolled across the void:
[Final Settlement in Progress
Attribute Summary…
Battle Summary…
Event Log Summary…]
Like the loading screen of a game, a blue circle spun slowly in the void.
Beep!
[Divine Beast Blessing Detected. Converting to Points…]
From the emptiness rose a shimmering flame, glowing with all the colors of the rainbow.
It radiated holiness and grace Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire.
Like stardust, the flames scattered gently into the darkness.
Beep-beep!
[Points Tallying…
Attribute Bonus: +1230
Battle Bonus: +750
Event Bonus: +1100
Divine Blessing Bonus: +2000]
[Final Settlement Complete.]
[Overall Rating: A-]
[Total Points Earned: 5080]
Streams of data flooded past his vision. Kael's face, now returned to a human form in this space, remained strangely calm.
Suddenly—
Zzzrrt!
Golden lightning burst across the void, threads of electricity weaving together.
A dazzling brilliance flared, and within it, something metallic took shape.
A badge.
Round, rimmed with interlocking bolts of lightning like a ring of yellow metal. In the gaps shimmered a faint violet-blue glow, noble and regal.
At its center, engraved in detail, was the figure of an Ampharos.
Its long tail swayed casually, radiating an air of calm dignity.
And at its chest rested a dark, purple-black orb like a miniature black hole.
Beside the badge, the system presented a panel of glowing blue text:
[Dark Star Thunder Badge
Grade: Epic
Effect: +20% affinity with Electric-type energy
Evaluation: A final memento of the world. A flawless keepsake.
Notes: A shining meteor, born of a sky of endless stars, falling into the silent abyss. Brief yet brilliant, leaving behind the most beautiful trace of light.]
Kael's human hands reached out, long fingers tracing the metallic badge.
For a long while, he simply stared.
Then, slowly, his lips curved.
A smile bloomed on his face gentle, clear, like the warmth of spring.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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