Chapter 234: A Perplexing Matter
Charizard carried Ryan and Lillie to the edge of the desert. Looking at the dark space ahead, Ryan frowned and said, "It should be a spatial rift. It's best not to go there."
"What will happen if we go?" Lillie asked.
Ryan had Charizard land, then picked up a long, narrow stone. He pushed the stone forward a little, and when he pulled it back, the front end had disappeared, the cut smooth as a mirror. Ryan said calmly, "Like this."
Lillie looked at the smooth, mirror-like stone surface, cold sweat pouring down her back. Lillie said, "No wonder you're taking all the Pheromosa with us, Ryan. If we don't, it's too dangerous for them here."
"And most importantly, this area is gradually shrinking; it's only a matter of time before it disappears. We can't let them continue like this. As soon as Solgaleo wakes up, we'll start our operation, capture them all, and take them out of this space," Ryan said.
"Hmm. Shall we explore some more?" Lillie said. "For some reason, I feel like this place looks familiar. Like I've seen it somewhere before?"
Hearing Lillie's comment, Ryan smiled wryly. "I thought I was the only one who thought that. Indeed, I also feel this place is familiar. If it's a desert we're both familiar with, then there's only one place!"
"The desert in the Hoenn region?!" Lillie instantly thought of it.
"That's the only place. When we flew over just now, I saw some ruins. If I'm not mistaken, it should be the Mirage Tower," Ryan said. "Let's go take a look."
With that, he pulled Lillie onto Charizard's back, and Charizard carried the two of them back in the original direction.
When they arrived at the ruins again, Ryan carefully examined them, after all, he was the only one who had entered the Mirage Tower before.
As the identification proceeded, although reluctant to admit it, Ryan nodded to Lillie and said, "It is indeed the Mirage Tower."
"Wait, I'm a little confused." Lillie shook her hand, one hand on her forehead, and said, "So, this ruin is the Mirage Tower. But when we traveled in the Hoenn region, we didn't see any ruins of the Mirage Tower. The Mirage Towers we saw were intact. But there are ruins here, which means that although this is the desert of the Hoenn region, it is much earlier than the time in our world, right?"
Lillie spoke at length, leaving Ryan somewhat bewildered. Having grasped the underlying logic, Ryan nodded and said, "Yes, that's indeed the case."
Lillie frowned, deep in thought, "If that's the case, Pheromosa's space is the Hoenn region, and Guzzlord's space is the Alola region, then the spaces where those Ultra Beasts reside are very likely fragments of parallel dimensions from other regions."
"You could say that. But whether they all belonged to the same parallel dimension and scattered like this after being shattered, or whether they were individual parallel dimensions that were destroyed and left only these spatial fragments, these are all questions. It seems that to find the answers, we can only search for them ourselves, or perhaps seek out ancient Pokémon like Arceus or Mew; they should know these things," Ryan said.
Lillie clapped her hands, brushing the sand away, and said, "Since there's nothing useful here, let's go back. Once Solgaleo wakes up, it'll be time to find our companions."
Ryan also said with some worry, "Yes, they're scattered in various places, so searching for them one by one is quite difficult. Smaller spatial fragments like these are much easier to search quickly."
Ryan and Lillie returned to the Pheromosa's dwelling. Ryan's Pheromosa came out and reported to him that of its thirty-six members, only twelve were willing to follow Ryan and Lillie; the rest showed no intention of leaving.
"That means there are still twenty-four left. Hmm, no big deal," Ryan said.
After all, he had brought all his Pokémon. Although they couldn't use their moves, Ryan estimated that his Greninja alone could probably take down more than a dozen of them. Not to mention that Ryan had more than thirty Pokémon; a group attack would be enough to defeat them all.
Three days passed quickly, and Solgaleo finally woke up. Solgaleo had almost been parasitized by Necrozma this time, but it had also benefited from this misfortune by successfully advancing to a Tier-3 deity, greatly increasing its strength.
Ryan was somewhat curious about Necrozma's original power, because as long as a Legendary Pokémon reached the level of a Creator God, the system couldn't know its origin. Currently, the only Legendary Pokémon whose origin Ryan couldn't know was Arceus; he hadn't expected that Necrozma was also an existence he couldn't analyze.
Arceus's origin undoubtedly leans towards creation, but Necrozma's ability to be ranked alongside Arceus remains a mystery to Ryan.
As for the Pheromosa, Ryan captured all the Pheromosa that accompanied him and Lillie in Ultra Balls, to be dealt with once they were outside. Regarding the remaining twenty-four Pheromosa, Ryan immediately sent out his Greninja and Gallade, two masters of martial arts.
The two Pokémon joined forces, and the twenty-four Pheromosa were utterly defeated, forced to enter their Ultra Balls.
Lillie counted them; the number was indeed thirty-six. Ryan put all the Ultra Balls into his backpack. He recalled his Greninja and Gallade. Ryan and Lillie rode Solgaleo, and Ryan assumed a commanding stance, calling out, "Solgaleo, open the Ultra Wormhole!"
Solgaleo roared and ran forward. The Ultra Wormhole reappeared, and Solgaleo carried Ryan and Lillie away from the Ultra Desert, returning to the Ultra Space tunnel.
Ryan glanced back at the Ultra Desert space, only to find that after losing the Pheromosa, the space rapidly dissipated. Almost in the blink of an eye, the white Ultra Wormhole vanished, leaving no trace of its existence.
"Ryan, this..." Lillie said in alarm.
Ryan also frowned: Does losing the Ultra Beasts in the space accelerate its collapse?
However, now wasn't the time to consider that. Ryan pulled two gas masks from his backpack and gave one to Lillie: "Let's go to Guzzlord's Ultra Space. It's quite dangerous there. Let's try to rescue whoever's trapped inside first."
Lillie nodded, and Solgaleo led Ryan and Lillie towards a white Ultra Wormhole. Confirming it was indeed Guzzlord's Ultra Ruin space, Solgaleo rushed into the Ultra Wormhole.
Just as Solgaleo led Ryan and Lillie into the Ultra Wormhole, a black figure appeared in the distant passage—none other than Necrozma. It looked around, found nothing, and then disappeared again without a trace.
(End of Chapter)
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