Chapter 174:
Hayashi Kaede nodded. This aligned with what he had imagined, so upon hearing this result, he instinctively glanced at Salamence.
Kazephyr added, "So, if this Salamence is in such a condition and you can't soothe it, you can send it to the League. The League has Breeders who specialize in this area."
If any other Breeder had a Salamence like this, Kazephyr would have taken it away without a second thought.
Because a Salamence like this, left out in the world, was like a bomb—no one knew when it might explode.
But Hayashi Kaede clearly had the ability to control whether this "bomb" detonated or not, which was why he could allow Salamence to remain in this town.
Hayashi Kaede nodded, indicating that if he couldn't soothe it, he would agree with the Champion's suggestion.
Kazephyr said no more, only took another look at Mewtwo in the distance, then bought a considerable amount of juice from the Breeding House. After a moment's thought, he also purchased some Berry Wine placed beside the juice, stored it in his Storage Ball, and then took to the skies on Moltres.
After flying some distance away.
Kazephyr asked, "What did you think, Moltres?"
He was asking Moltres about its impression of that humanoid Pokémon.
"Moltres...." (Very strong.... incredibly strong. I'd find it very difficult.... I basically can't defeat it. I might need to seek out the deity of our clan to have a chance....)
Moltres gave its reply.
During the earlier standoff with Salamence,
Just a wave of psychic energy falling upon it had brought an immense pressure, like a mountain weighing down on it.
And that was without the other deliberately targeting it; its attention was on Salamence, yet Moltres had still felt such overwhelming pressure.
It could only mean that Psychic-type Pokémon was far beyond its imagination.
"So powerful?"
Hearing this answer, Kazephyr exclaimed in surprise mid-air.
To need to invite the deity of the Moltres clan—didn't that mean that humanoid Psychic-type Pokémon possessed nearly divine like power?
Thinking this, Kazephyr looked back in disbelief.....
...
Aogiri Town,
Hayashi Kaede withdrew his gaze from the sky and turned his attention back to Salamence. "Did you hear that? If you cause trouble in the human world, there will be consequences."
"You've seen it yourself. Although you're powerful in the wild, you're not invincible. What if you cause destruction and get captured by humans?"
"I know you hate humans, but those who experimented on you and drew your blood were only a small portion of bad humans. Your hatred should be directed at them, not at all humans."
Appealing to emotion and reasoning with logic.
Salamence was already grown.
It couldn't be coaxed like a child; it needed to understand the severity of the situation and the consequences of its actions.
Salamence fell silent. It turned its head away, ignoring Hayashi Kaede's words.
Having mentally prepared itself enough, it wouldn't let go of the hatred in its heart because of these few sentences.
Hayashi Kaede didn't expect these words alone to erase the hatred in its heart either.
"Think about it. If innocent humans were harmed because of your hatred, wouldn't they come to hate you after surviving?"
Salamence remained unmoved.
Hayashi Kaede paused, then began again, "How about this, Salamence, let me tell you a story.
Look, suppose I was a child. My family was very happy. I had parents who loved me, and Pokémon that grew up with me—they were my parents' Pokémon.
There was a Wigglytuff that loved to sing, a very cool Scyther, a powerful Charizard, and a Pikachu and Eevee I could hold and pet every day. They were very cute, and I loved them very much.
But one day, I went to school, thinking I could play with Pikachu when I got back. I was very happy.
But when I returned, I saw a Salamence flying in the air. It was battling my parents. The Salamence was very strong; Charizard and Scyther couldn't defeat it. My parents' Pokémon saw me. They wanted to protect me, but Salamence found an opening. Then, with a Dragon Claw strike, followed by a Hyper Beam, Pikachu and Eevee fell in the ruins. Wigglytuff was nowhere to be found."
"Finally, my parents and Charizard fell before me. The Salamence, driven away by its human Trainer, fled this place.
Later, with my own Pokémon, I became the Champion of a League region, with the authority to mobilize all high-level Trainers within the League.
What do you think my thoughts would be then? Find that Salamence for revenge? Or seek out all Salamence populations and eradicate them?"
"Salamence?"
Salamence hadn't intended to listen, but Hayashi Kaede's story seemed to mirror its own, as if infused with some magic. It couldn't help but listen.
Moreover, images appeared before its eyes—hazy,dazed and confused, it became the Salamence that destroyed the child's family. As time passed, the child grew up into a top-tier Trainer. Following his perspective, he led powerful human Trainers, sweeping through place after place, going to areas with Salamence and Bagon, capturing them all for elimination.
Cries, neighs, the loss of countless brethren made Salamence's heart begin to pound.
It wanted to swoop down and challenge this human Trainer to a battle, because grievances have sources, debts have owners.
But no matter how it moved in the vision, it couldn't break through some limitation. It could only follow this human Trainer, clearing out or capturing one fellow after another.
Until finally, on this continent, there was not a single Salamence left.
Only then did its ability to act return.
But by now, its appearance held no meaning. The other merely said, "So there's still a Salamence here. Hah, such a violent, destructive Pokémon doesn't deserve to live in this world."
It wanted to resist, to explain that it was humans who had experimented on it first. But now, the other offered no explanation, simply swarming forward all at once.
Crack...
The vision shattered with the sound.
Salamence's eyes gradually focused, landing once again on Hayashi Kaede.
Only now, Hayashi Kaede was looking toward Goodra in the distance.
It was a rare sunny day, so by this time, the midday sun cast its rays slightly downward, falling on Goodra's smile. Compared to the panic of its nightmare awakening, it was particularly striking.
"No one is born undeserving of life, and no one can sail smoothly forever. What you dreamed of, the human in the story, has shadows of me after extreme change, and that Salamence has shadows of your future self.
Now, what is your choice?"
Seeing Salamence awaken from its dream, Hayashi Kaede turned his gaze to the bottle of juice placed on the ground.
He had added the remaining Dream Spinach juice from last time into it.