The Dying Siblings

Yuga didn't expect that Latias and Latios would sacrifice themselves to fulfill the wishes of the Golurk.

After the two Legendary Pokémon pounced toward the Golurk, a suction force automatically emanated from the Golurk's body, draining their life energy away.

Then, the Golurk began to revive, while the aura of Latias and Latios visibly diminished at a speed visible to the naked eye. Their once-glossy scales gradually turned grey and dull.

Upon seeing this situation, Yuga immediately wanted to stop it, but at that moment, the Golurk opened its mouth and spoke.

"Beast Tamer, please stop!"

The Golurk spoke in a rich, mature male voice. Upon hearing this, Yuga halted his actions and asked, "Are you King Robi?"

The Golurk nodded and said, "That's right."

Yuga thought to himself: As expected!

King Robi had built this underground palace—not just as a tomb in name, but also as a secret place for conducting experiments. His goal was to transform himself into a Ghost-type Pokémon in order to obtain powerful strength and an extended lifespan.

And King Robi had indeed succeeded!

Only, King Robi hadn't anticipated that after transferring his consciousness into the Golurk's body, he wouldn't be able to awaken immediately. Instead, he would require a long slumber to allow his soul and body to fully merge.

The reason the Froslass and the others had lost their minds earlier was because they had awakened before the soul and body had completely fused.

Now, by sacrificing their vast life force, Latias and Latios had helped King Robi adapt to his body ahead of time. Otherwise, even now, King Robi wouldn't have truly awakened.

"Beast Tamer, there is no enmity between us. Why must there be killing and fighting? Let's have a calm and peaceful conversation," King Robi said in the form of the Golurk.

Yuga frowned and said, "What do you want to talk about?"

Someone who could use his own queen and soldiers as test subjects—Yuga didn't believe he was a good person.

King Robi spoke temptingly: "I will give you everything in this underground palace. Just let me leave, how about that?"

King Robi was very clever. He knew he was no match for Yuga, so there was no way he would recklessly make a move. All he wanted now was to leave safely.

This current body of his had originally been one of his main Pokémon. He knew its strength very well—if even Latias and Latios weren't a match, how could he possibly defeat the young beast tamer who had beaten them?

Yuga shook his head and said, "This underground palace has existed for over four hundred years. Most of the valuable items in here have long since decayed. They aren't of much use to me."

King Robi thought to himself: So more than four hundred years have passed…

At this moment, he suddenly noticed Latias and Latios lying at his feet.

"If you let me leave, I can give Latias and Latios to you. They're legendary beasts—guardian deities of the Dorro Empire!"

Latias and Latios, already on the brink of death, widened their eyes in disbelief upon hearing King Robi's words. They wanted to say something, but were too weak to make a sound.

Although they hadn't willingly chosen to follow King Robi at the beginning, after so many years together, was there really no bond at all? Yet now, he was offering them up so easily!

Latias and Latios felt utterly heartbroken.

Yuga was quite tempted by King Robi's offer. Though the two Legendary Pokémon were near death, if he really wanted to heal them, there were still ways.

However, without King Robi, even if he obtained Latias and Latios, the two Pokémon probably wouldn't obey him.

Given how they had fought desperately to protect King Robi, they must be extremely loyal. But if King Robi were to voluntarily hand them over, that would be a different story… Even if Latias and Latios were reluctant, they would surely submit to him.

Then he could slowly "influence and win them over."

"But they're dying." Although tempted, Yuga's expression remained unchanged.

Hearing this, King Robi immediately felt troubled. He had just awakened and had nothing in his possession. Even if he wanted to negotiate with Yuga, he had no leverage.

Seeing King Robi remain silent, Yuga took the initiative to say, "If you can guarantee that they will obey me from now on, I'll let you leave."

King Robi hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Alright!"

Then Yuga saw him take out two items from behind the throne, and Yuga instantly recognized what they were.

Soul Dew!

Back when the Aerodactyl, who had a grudge against the Nido clan on the sea island, had a nest, there had been one Soul Dew inside. Yuga had used it on his Dragonite. He hadn't expected that today King Robi would produce two of them at once.

King Robi explained, "These are what Latias and Latios' parents became after death. They are also the tokens that bound Latias and Latios to obey the Doro royal family."

Back then, the reason Latias and Latios left Doro Royal Capital to follow King Robi onto the battlefield was because he had obtained these two Soul Dews.

Upon seeing this, Yuga immediately said, "Deal. You may leave now!"

After speaking, he gave Florges a look. Understanding instantly, she extended two vine whips and swiftly snatched the two Soul Dews from King Robi's hands.

Yuga took the two Soul Dews and stored them in his system space.

Just as King Robi was about to leave, Yuga suddenly called out to him again.

"Wait!"

King Robi turned around, his expression dark. "You want to go back on your word?"

Yuga smiled. "What are you saying? I'm not that kind of person!"

"Then what else is it?" King Robi was internally uneasy, afraid that Yuga might indeed go back on the deal.

Under the eaves, one must bow their head — even the once-famous King Robi was no exception.

Yuga pulled out all the Cofagrigus, Ninjask, and Shedinja that he had previously captured and said, "These were all the Pokémon that guarded the underground palace for you. Since you've given me everything in the underground palace, naturally that includes them too. Tell them yourself: I'm their new master now."

Originally, Yuga had been worried that capturing these Pokémon might be a bit troublesome. But now with King Robi's help, everything would be easily resolved!

As for whether these Pokémon might act as spies for King Robi and leak information about Yuga's Ecopark in the future — that, Yuga wasn't worried about at all.

Any Pokémon that left the system's Ecopark would be under the system's restrictions, unable to disclose even a hint of information about the Ecopark. Not even Tier 1 Legendary Pokémon like Giratina were exceptions.

Otherwise, with so many Pokémon sold from YoYo Daycare, how could one guarantee they would all keep Yuga's secrets?

Hearing Yuga's words, King Robi was covered in black lines — this guy was completely fleecing him like a sheep! But under the pressure of Yuga's "tyrannical might," he had no choice but to nod in agreement.

When King Robi left, he also took with him the corpse sealed in the black crystal. Yuga had originally wanted to stop him — that black crystal didn't look ordinary — but in the end, he didn't speak up. It was better not to go too far.

King Robi was obviously no saint. Since Yuga had decided to let him go now, it was better not to offend him too much. Otherwise, if he held a grudge and came back for revenge in the future, that would be troublesome.

Although Yuga wasn't afraid of him, it was better to avoid unnecessary trouble. Besides, there are a thousand days for a thief to steal, but not a thousand days to guard against one.

Watching King Robi vanish into the underground palace, Yuga walked over to Latias and Latios and fed each of them a Max Revive. The injuries of the two Legendary Pokémon finally stabilized, but the lost life force couldn't be fully replenished. They still looked incredibly weak.

"Alright then, from now on you two will follow me. I'll treat you well!" Yuga patted their heads as he spoke.

But Latias and Latios had just experienced the pain of being abandoned. They looked completely disheartened and didn't react to Yuga's words at all. Yuga, however, didn't mind.

There's a long road ahead. We'll take our time getting to know each other, and you'll come to appreciate my charm! I'm definitely better than that loser King Robi.

When King Robi left just now, he didn't even ask about his queen. That showed how heartless he was. No wonder the Froslass was so filled with grievance before her death.

According to historical records, King Robi's queen had followed him through countless battles and made many contributions, even saving his life on the battlefield. Yet in the end, her fate turned out to be so tragic.

Afterward, Yuga took out two Poké Balls and captured the Latias and Latios siblings. The two disheartened Legendary Pokémon didn't resist in the slightest.

When Yuga passed by that fork in the underground palace, he decided to explore the other path as well.

The situation on that side was about the same, but it ultimately led to a very well-hidden trap, not to King Robi's hideout or treasure. Had Yuga not been alert, he might have perished there.

By the time Yuga emerged from the underground palace, the sky had gone completely dark. The construction site was empty of workers, and only Mayor Ishida was still waiting there.

Seeing Yuga come out, Mayor Ishida hurried over and asked with concern, "How was it? You didn't encounter any danger, did you?" He didn't even ask Yuga whether he had found anything.

Yuga shook his head and said, "No problem. See, I'm perfectly fine."

Mayor Ishida scrutinized Yuga for a moment and saw that he really was unharmed. He finally breathed a sigh of relief—waiting outside had made him extremely anxious.

"As long as you're alright, that's all that matters!" Mayor Ishida said repeatedly.

Yuga then asked, "Mayor Ishida, did you notice anything coming out from the underground palace?"

Mayor Ishida asked in confusion, "What? I didn't see anything! Did something happen?"

Yuga shook his head. "It's nothing, I was just asking casually." But in his heart, he was thinking: Could there be another exit from the underground palace? Otherwise, how did King Robi leave? Don't tell me he dug his way out?

Mayor Ishida didn't ask further and said, "It's getting late. Let's head back."

Yuga nodded in agreement. "Alright, but please notify the League as well. Ask them to send someone to handle the underground palace. There's no need to keep my exploration a secret."

After all, other than capturing a few Pokémon, he hadn't taken anything. He believed the League wouldn't hold him accountable for that.

Mayor Ishida said, "Alright then, leave it to me."

When they got home, Duoduo had already prepared dinner and was waiting for Yuga. But Yuga's mind was on the injured Latias and Latios, so he only ate a few bites before heading to the Ecopark.

The injuries of Latias and Latios still had to be treated by Mewtwo.

As Mewtwo continued to study, it was becoming more and more knowledgeable. It had an almost photographic memory and absorbed all kinds of knowledge it could access every single day.

However, before going to Mewtwo, Yuga made a stop at the Insect Paradise to settle the Ninjask and Shedinja there.

Then he went to the Haunted House Sub-Ecopark, stopped by Stone Fortress No.1, and placed the Cofagrigus there so they could keep company with the Chandelure clan. Only then did he head to Stone Fortress No.3 to find Mewtwo.

Mewtwo was just about to rest, but when it saw Yuga arrive, it reluctantly got up again.

"Why are you here so late?" Mewtwo asked curiously.

Yuga took out the Poké Balls containing Latias and Latios and told it everything that had happened in the underground palace.

Mewtwo stretched out its hand and said, "Let me take a look."

Yuga handed over the Poké Balls of the two Legendary Pokémon, and Mewtwo began examining them with a machine.

After quite some time, Mewtwo frowned and said, "This is going to be a bit tricky."

Yuga asked, "Is it that difficult?"

Mewtwo pondered for a few seconds and then said, "I'll do my best. I won't let anything happen to them."

As it spoke, it took the Poké Balls of the two Legendary Pokémon off the machine, opened them, and released the Pokémon. After conducting a thorough inspection of the two listless Legendary Pokémon, Mewtwo took out two syringes and injected each of them with a special solution.

After the injection, the visible condition of the two Pokémon improved significantly in terms of spirit and energy, but they were still extremely weak and couldn't move at all.

Mewtwo walked over to a large nutrient pod, opened it, and used its psychic power to lift the two Legendary Pokémon inside. After closing the pod's door, it operated the console to fill the chamber with a nutrient solution specially tailored for the two Legendary Pokémon.

This nutrient pod was previously used for Heatran. After Heatran recovered, the pod had remained unused, so it was just right for the sibling pair now.

After everything was set, Mewtwo said, "They'll be fine for now. But it's going to take some time for them to fully recover. You need to get me some things."

As it spoke, Mewtwo listed off a long string of names—some were machines, some were materials. One way or another, Yuga was going to bleed his wallet dry again.

After jotting down everything Mewtwo asked for, Yuga sighed and said, "Sigh… all the money I make ends up being spent here with you."

Upon hearing that, Mewtwo said, "Then shall I cut back in the future?"

Yuga quickly waved his hands and said, "No, no… spend whatever you need to spend. I was just complaining out loud. What's the point of making money if you're not going to spend it?"

Mewtwo nodded and said, "Then I won't hold back in the future."

Upon hearing that, Yuga could only feel a sharp pain in his teeth.

After chatting with Mewtwo a while longer, Yuga left.

The next day, Mayor Ishida did indeed report the matter of the underground palace to the League, and the League soon dispatched an archaeological team.

During that time, Yuga was summoned by the team once, as he was the first person to explore the underground palace. The team leader asked him a lot of questions and even wanted to request his help in clearing out the wild Pokémon inside the palace.

Although Yuga had already dealt with many of the Ghost-type Pokémon, the palace had been buried underground for many years, and there were still plenty of wild Pokémon lurking inside, causing quite a bit of trouble for the archaeology team.

Fortunately, the League indeed did not hold him accountable for capturing Pokémon within the underground palace.

However, Yuga didn't agree to help clear out the underground palace. Instead, he asked Mayor Ishida to post an announcement in town, calling on other Trainers to take on tasks to assist the archaeology team inside the palace.

The remaining Pokémon in the palace weren't very strong, and the Trainers in town were more than capable of handling the problem.