Ultra Beast

After who knows how long, Yuga finally woke up, but all he could see was pitch blackness.

"You're finally awake! You scared me!"

Nana's voice echoed in Yuga's ears, calming his heart instantly. The darkness surrounding him seemed trivial now.

"Where are we?"

Yuga rubbed his eyes and realized that the surroundings were still pitch black. He could only vaguely see the shadow of Nana moving.

It wasn't his eyes; the environment was indeed this way.

Before Nana could answer Yuga's question, a burst of light suddenly appeared, and upon closer inspection, it was Arcanine standing beside Yuga, flames engulfing its body.

The flames on Arcanine illuminated the pitch-black space.

Yuga was startled by Arcanine's sudden appearance and asked, "Why is it here too?"

Nana replied helplessly, "What do you mean, 'why is it here'? It's the owner of this place."

Due to Arcanine's frenzied attack, the ground collapsed, and both Yuga and the unconscious Arcanine fell down. Fortunately, Nana saved them in time.

Where they fell was not just any place; it was the lair of Arcanine.

It was more like a secret hidding place than a traditional lair.

QAlthough Arcanine was powerful, it couldn't compare to the Nidoran clan or the Kangaskhan clan next door. Yet, it had lived here peacefully with its wife for many years, thanks to the secrecy of this hiding place.

When they couldn't win a battle, all they had to do was hide here, and no one could find them.

Originally, the entrance and exit of this place were well concealed, but unexpectedly, a subsidence not only brought them here directly from the surface but also destroyed the original entrance.

When they first fell, Arcanine was not only injured but also unconscious. It was Nana who saved both the human and the Pokémon. After learning that its son was actually fine, Arcanine calmed down.

Yuga's physical condition was not as good as the Pokémon's. Although his injuries were lighter than Arcanine's, he woke up a bit slower.

After listening to Nana's explanation, Yuga finally took a look at his surroundings. With the help of Arcanine's flames, he discovered that they were in a narrow underground tunnel.

"Hiss!"

Supporting himself with difficulty and with Nana's assistance, Yuga slowly got up and realized that due to the aftermath of the fall, his bones were sore all over. He gasped in pain.

"Arcanine, you've already lost to Nana. How about you come with me from now on? Your child is with me too. If you come with us, you won't be separated from your son."

Seeing that Arcanine had calmed down, Yuga, despite his sore body, tried to persuade it.

Seeing Arcanine silent, he continued, "You've been living on this island for so long, and you've never seen the outside world. You can't leave here either. Don't you want to take Growlithe out to see the world? The world outside is very exciting, and it's not as brutal as this island. With me here, you and Growlithe won't have to fight for your lives every day."

Even though they didn't have much of a bond, Yuga used his silver tongue to persuade Arcanine to come with them.

"Is what you're saying true?"

Arcanine was genuinely tempted by Yuga's description of the outside world. Apart from its thrilling environment, the idea of stability had always been something Arcanine yearned for.

If they had a stable and peaceful environment, its wife wouldn't have died. Arcanine didn't want its son to end up like its wife, going outside and never returning.

Seeing Arcanine's hesitation, Yuga hurriedly said, "Everything I said is true. I absolutely won't deceive you."

The outside world was indeed more stable than this place, and with Yuga by their side, Arcanine didn't have to worry about anything else. Yuga thought silently in his heart.

Arcanine was straightforward. Seeing Yuga repeatedly assure it, and since it couldn't defeat Gardevoir, it reluctantly agreed. Otherwise, the human in front of it probably wouldn't return its son.

Seeing Arcanine's agreement, Yuga grinned from ear to ear.

Then, Yuga released Growlithe. When Arcanine saw that its son was indeed fine, it finally let go of its worries.

Growlithe had only fallen asleep due to hypnosis and was not injured. It had already woken up inside its Poké Ball long ago. When it emerged and saw its father, it was initially happy but became cautious when it saw Yuga grabbing it.

However, after hearing Arcanine's explanation that Yuga was their new owner, Growlithe, being a loyal canine Pokémon, returned to its lively self.

"Arcanine, how do we get out of here?" Yuga couldn't help but worry after the initial excitement. All the entrances and exits seemed blocked; how would they escape?

"Please follow me, Master," Arcanine replied.

With Growlithe, it walked towards the other end of the narrow tunnel, and Yuga and Nana quickly followed suit.

The tunnel was indeed very narrow. Yuga didn't have much trouble walking, but the taller Arcanine made it somewhat crowded. However, Arcanine seemed used to it and didn't feel uncomfortable. The small Growlithe happily followed its father.

The tunnel seemed to descend continuously, which puzzled Yuga. He couldn't help but ask Arcanine, "Aren't we supposed to leave this place? Why are we going deeper?"

Arcanine replied, "Before leaving, I want to show Master something."

Hearing Arcanine's response, Yuga suppressed his curiosity and continued to follow Arcanine deeper into the tunnel.

After who knows how long and how many twists and turns they had taken, Yuga gradually noticed that the walls of the tunnel were sporadically adorned with some Stardust. Illuminated by Arcanine's flames, these Stardust pieces reflected a faint glow.

Upon closer inspection, these were Moon Stones! Moon Stones had a generally dark color, and they would be hard to notice in the pitch-black tunnel without the reflection of the flames.

Some of the Moon Stones embedded in the walls were intact, while others were fragmented into various sizes.

"Why are there so many Moon Stones here?" Yuga asked curiously and occasionally picked up a Moon Stone to put into his system's backpack, thinking it could be sold for money.

"This is the underground territory of the Nidoran clan, who have a rich deposit of Moon Stone veins. The thank you gift should also be a part of those Moon Stone veins," Arcanine casually explained. As Fire-type Pokémon, neither it nor its cfamily had ever paid attention to these Moon Stones.

The island had Moon Stone mines, Thunder Stone mines, but there was no Fire Stone mine. Arcanine had evolved in a unique way and had never used a Fire Stone.

After listening to Arcanine's explanation, Yuga was genuinely amazed. Wait, you chose a hiding place and ended up digging into someone else's underground territory?

According to Arcanine, they were quite deep underground, and the Nidoran clan couldn't possibly detect them. Furthermore, there were no entrances or exits connecting to the Nidoran clan's territory, so there was nothing to worry about.

Hearing Arcanine's explanation, Yuga finally felt at ease.

As they went deeper into the tunnel, the Moon Stones on the walls became more numerous and intact. After an unknown amount of time, Moon Stones were scattered everywhere on the walls, all of them complete, with not a single fragment left.

The Nidoran clan's evolution required Moon Stones, but they had never discovered this place, indicating how abundant their own Moon Stone reserves were.

As they continued to go deeper, Yuga had already collected quite a few Moon Stones.

As they walked further, Yuga suddenly noticed one Moon Stone that looked very strange. In its center, there was a green light spot, about the size of a fingernail. It was emitting a bright, beautiful glow.

"What is this?" Yuga asked Arcanine about the Moon Stone with the green light spot.

"It's a Moon Stone," Arcanine replied casually.

"No, I mean the green spot inside it!" Yuga said, somewhat frustrated.

"I don't know," Arcanine replied with a puzzled expression. "Isn't it just a regular Moon Stone? There are many similar ones ahead!"

Many? Regular Moon Stones don't look like this!

"Nana, do you know what this is?" Yuga turned to Nana while holding the special Moon Stone.

"I don't know. It doesn't seem much different from a regular Moon Stone," Nana shook her head, indicating she didn't know.

Seeing that both Arcanine and Nana were clueless, Yuga silently asked his system for answers. He had a feeling that the green light spot inside the Moon Stone was something extraordinary; it gave him a strange feeling.

Yuga's system had interacted with this world's information since entering it, making it an all-knowing entity for the most part. And regular questions were no problem for it.

[ Please place the Moon Stone into your backpack, and I will analyze it ] the system instructed.

Yuga promptly placed the Moon Stone into his system's backpack and continued following Arcanine deeper into the tunnel.

About ten minutes later, the system provided Yuga with an answer:

The green light spot inside the Moon Stone was born from Revival Grass. Over millions of years, Revival Grass had undergone evolution to form this unique Moon Stone, which resembled an amber containing Revival Grass.

However, unlike amber, which could perfectly preserve the original appearance of the enclosed object, the Revival Grass encased in the Moon Stone had turned into a green light spot due to special reasons.

As for the purpose of a Moon Stone fused with Revival Grass, the system had not yet figured it out.

Yuga was genuinely amazed by this unexpected revelation. He hadn't expected that this Moon Stone had formed in such a way—Revival Grass buried by the earth, combined with Moon Stones deep underground, over millions of years, creating a unique Moon Stone with a green light spot.

Then, Yuga began to notice several more of these unique Moon Stones. He collected all of them.

After walking for a while, Yuga noticed that the tunnel had opened up, and the narrow passageway disappeared. In its place was a massive dome-like space.

The walls of this dome were adorned with countless Moon Stones, many of which had the green light spots inside them. These spots emitted a gentle light, illuminating the entire space brightly, even without Arcanine's flames.

Yuga couldn't help but wonder how many Revival Grass had been buried underground and how many years had passed to create so many unique Moon Stones.

However, the most eye-catching feature was not the special Moon Stones but the central white flame that rose to the height of a person in the center of the dome. This flame burned seemingly out of nowhere, with no visible source or signs of extinguishing.

Yuga realized that this must be the thing Arcanine wanted to show him.

There was nothing else in this space except for this flame and the Moon Stones adorning the walls, and Arcanine didn't seem interested in Moon Stones.

Seeing this flame, Yuga finally understood why this island had so many Revival Grass plants.

Yuga was quite familiar with this flame; he had seen the same one before on Mount Tensei in Kanto region.

Indeed, this flame came from Ho-Oh, and only Ho-Oh's flames could bring such vitality and cause so many Revival Grass to flourish.

Whether intentionally or accidentally, Ho-Oh left this flame on the island, which bringing great changes on the island.

Ho-Oh, as legendary as it was, had left behind a flame that had quietly burned for years without extinguishing.

Arcanine discovering this flame was also quite unexpected. When it evolved from Growlithe into Arcanine, it didn't use a Fire Stone; it relied on this very flame.

Yuga had previously known that the birth of purple potential Pokémon was related to legendary Pokémon. Now, it seemed that the Nidoran that became Nidoqueen also had been influenced by this flame, even if it didn't realize it.

Unfortunately for Arcanine, it was close to the water's edge but hadn't quenched its thirst yet. Until now, it remained an Indigo potential Pokémon.

"Master, can we take this flame with us when we leave?" Arcanine asked Yuga.

Yuga fell into silence for a while before reluctantly saying, "Let's leave it be. Without this flame, Revival Grass won't grow on this island anymore. Besides, figuring out how to carry this flame with us is a challenge in itself. How do we even store it? It's not something we can carry in our hands. Instead of risking it going out, let's leave it here to continue benefiting the island."

"Oh," Arcanine responded in disappointment. This flame had been its companion for so long, and now it had to say goodbye to it.

However, even though the flame couldn't be taken, Yuga couldn't let go of the Moon Stones here, especially the ones with the strange green light spots.

Just as Yuga was preparing to dig out the Moon Stones, the system suddenly remembered something. [ Host, please take out the Pokémon egg that Melotic has gifted to you ]

Yuga was puzzled by why he needed to take out the Pokémon egg, but he followed the system's instructions and retrieved the egg from his backpack.

When he first took it out, the egg didn't show any reactions. However, a few minutes later, all the green light spots from the Moon Stones started to float out and rushed toward the Pokémon egg.

What was happening?! Yuga was taken aback, nearly dropping the Pokémon egg in his hand.

The green light spots floating out of the Moon Stones seemed like playful little fairies, and they cheerfully and eagerly entered the Pokémon egg. It was as if a swarm of them had rushed in, and suddenly, the Pokémon egg in Yuga's hand began to emit a radiant glow.

What on earth was going on?!

Is this... about to hatch? Yuga found it quite sudden that this Pokémon egg, which hadn't hatched for so long, was now on the verge of hatching. For a moment, he, alongside Gardevoir, Arcanine, and Growlithe, all stared at this soon-to-hatch Pokémon egg.

What kind of Pokémon would hatch from it? Yuga was filled with anticipation.

The light on the Pokémon egg continued to flicker for nearly half an hour, and finally, the egg hatched.

"Is this... Kartana?" Yuga couldn't help but exclaim when he saw the small Pokémon in front of him. He never expected to hatch an Ultra Beast like Kartana.

No wonder he had always felt a special energy field around this Pokémon egg. It turned out to be the aura of an Ultra Beast, Kartana.

The palm-sized Kartana floated gently in the air, emanating an indescribable sense of closeness towards Yuga.

Even while inside the egg, Kartana had a consciousness. When it fell from Ultra Wormhole into the sea and was rescued by Manaphy in the Alola region. If it weren't for Yuga, it wouldn't have survived, trapped in egg.

The ocean wasn't a suitable environment for a Steel and Grass-type Pokémon like Kartana to hatch.

Kartana had a unique way of communicating, a language that Nana and Arcanine couldn't understand, but Yuga could. His special ability allowed him to comprehend the meaning behind Pokémon cries rather than the language itself.

So even though the language of Ultra Beast was different from regular Pokémon, Yuga still understood what Kartana was expressing. And Kartana was thanking Yuga.

Although Kartana had just hatched, its presence was no weaker than a pseudo-Elite level. Yuga wondered if this was a characteristic of Ultra Beast or a result of the Purple Grade Essences he had fed it.

Regardless, the few bottles of Purple grade Essences didn't go to waste!

Yuga took out a specially crafted Poké Ball from his system and said to Kartana, "Kartana, nice to meet you! From now on, please lend me your strength."

Without hesitation, Kartana extended its arm, and with a gentle tap, it was captured inside the Poké Ball.

Looking at the Poké Ball containing Kartana, Yuga couldn't help but think happily: With this, I basically have a Legendary Pokémon, don't I?

Ultra Beast weren't exactly Legendary Pokémon, but they were just as powerful as Legendary Pokémon. Legendary Pokémon had divinity, while Ultra Beast had Ability Beast Boost. It was said that the Mythical Pokémon Solgaleo and Lunala in the Alola region were essentially Ultra Beast.

Thinking about Kartana, Yuga suddenly remembered the Pokémon egg that Kerry had given him, said to be her grandfather's heirloom, and it emitted the same special aura as Kartana.

So, was that also an Ultra Beast egg? No wonder Bridges treasured it so much. Yuga realized it was an Ultra Beast egg, but he didn't know where Bridges had obtained it.

Before Kartana, Yuga hadn't seen an Ultra Beast, so he wasn't aware of the aura that both Pokémon eggs possessed.

Since Kartana hatched with the assistance of the green dots inside the Moon Stones, what about the other one?

Thinking this way, Yuga quickly took out the other Pokémon egg, but the system's voice sounded once again.

[ It won't work, Host. Kartana was able to hatch because it's a Grass-type Ultra Beast and has a good affinity with Revival Grass. The other one won't hatch ]

Reluctantly, Yuga waited for a while beside the other Pokémon egg, but there was no sign of hatching.

Even though there were Moon Stones with green dots on the walls, it seemed that this egg simply couldn't hatch. Perhaps it needed a specific environment or condition to do so.

Yuga eventually gave up and returned the second Pokémon egg to his inventory. He recalled that according to Kerry, Bridges had possessed that egg for a long time. So why hadn't it hatched all this time? There had to be some unique circumstance or condition required for its to hatching.

After putting the second egg away, Yuga decided to focus on nurturing his newly hatched Kartana. The little Kartana needed time to adjust to its new environment and build a stronger bond with Yuga.

Yuga released all of his other Pokémon to help him gather Moon Stones. Apart from his main team, he had Snover with him. Snover was Rowlet's only good friend, so whenever Rowlet went on a journey, Snover was a must-bring companion.

Seeing that this time Absol, Roserade, Dragonite, Gengar, and Mismagius were not present, Yuga agreed to Rowlet's request and brought Snover along for the trip.