Pokemon: I Transmigrated Twice [150]

Bea: "What's with that Altaria?"

Its feathers were more puffed up and beautiful than a typical Altaria's, making people want to dive in and take a deep breath.

Sonia: "Could it be a new regional form of Altaria?"

As the granddaughter of a Pokémon professor, Sonia knew more than the average trainer.

 And since Galar also had regional forms of Pokémon—though not as many as Alola—it wasn't entirely impossible.

Since Mega Evolution was still in its developmental stage, neither Sonia nor even her grandmother, Professor Magnolia, knew that this was a Mega Altaria.

But even in the era when Mega Evolution would become widely recognized a few years later, the Fairy-type Mega Altaria before them would still shock the world.

Because this Swablu had directly evolved into Mega Altaria—

 Instead of the usual process: Swablu → Altaria → Mega Altaria through a Key Stone and Mega Stone.

"Is this the power awakened by Ho-Oh?"

Will muttered under his breath.

"Lii~"

 Mega Altaria let out a clear, melodious song.

 Its fluffy white feathers shimmered with a faint glow, which was then continuously absorbed back into its body.

That was Roost, restoring its stamina!

The Galarian Zapdos narrowed its eyes, and in the next instant, it transformed into an orange lightning bolt, charging forward again.

Whoosh—

 A deafening sonic boom echoed.

This time, it flashed directly above Mega Altaria's head!

Boom!

 With a powerful back-kick—like Sasuke's Lion Combo—Galarian Zapdos struck Mega Altaria's spine with immense force!

In an instant, the snowy ground beneath Mega Altaria caved in, forming a massive dent, with countless cracks spreading out like a spider web.

"Such overwhelming strength… As expected of a Legendary Pokémon."

Watching the cracks, which had spread to her feet despite being over a hundred meters away, Nessa pursed her lips in awe.

"Lii~"

 Lying on the ground, Mega Altaria slowly turned its head to look at Galarian Zapdos above it.

Its expression seemed to say: "Did you just do something?"

Galarian Zapdos's gaze turned sharp, and it exerted even more force, trying to completely suppress its opponent.

However, the fluffy feathers beneath its talons expanded even further.

 Instead of pinning Altaria down, Zapdos found itself being pushed upward by the rapidly swelling feathers!

"Hyper Voice."

Stephen issued his first command after Swablu's evolution.

"Lii—!"

 Mega Altaria opened its beak.

A bright and clear song transformed into sound waves, which then turned into a pink storm, surging toward Galarian Zapdos!

Mega Altaria's Ability: Pixilate.

 All Normal-type moves automatically become Fairy-type and receive a power boost!

Whether facing physical or special attacks, Galarian Zapdos could usually rely on its incredible leg strength and speed to dodge.

But this time—

 Its leg was completely tangled in Altaria's feathers, as if trapped in a swamp, unable to escape!

Damn it… even worse than when it was a Swablu!

Boom—!

The next second, Galarian Zapdos felt a sharp wave of pain coursing through its body, its brows furrowing tightly.

Then, under the stunned gazes of Bea, Sonia, and the other onlookers—

It was sent flying in a massive arc across nearly a hundred meters before crashing hard into the ground.

"Yes! Bea, you can go for it now!"

Even Sonia, who had given up on being a trainer, could tell that Galarian Zapdos was now hanging on by a thread.

It was the perfect moment for Bea to capture it!

"Let's go back."

However, Stephen's words immediately froze Sonia's excited smile.

W-What…?

....

On the way back to the inn.

Holding Pikachu in her arms, Sonia couldn't hold back her curiosity.

"Doctor, why didn't you let Bea catch Zapdos in the end?"

"Even if she caught it now, it wouldn't obey her commands. With only a little over a week left until the Galar Star Tournament, there just isn't enough time."

Stephen smiled faintly. "Besides, I have another use for it."

Nessa glanced at the Galarian Zapdos still lying in the snow, looking a little worried.

"Is it going to be okay?"

"Don't worry, I've already treated it. And don't underestimate the endurance of a Legendary Pokémon."

Except for a few rare exceptions, most Legendary Pokémon were incredibly tough—

 Especially Galarian Zapdos, a Fighting-type known for its resilience.

When they arrived at their lodging, Stephen reached for the door handle to open the door—

But suddenly, they all heard a series of "Awooo~ Awooo~" dog-like cries from inside.

"Zamazenta is under attack?!"

Bea's face changed drastically.

Before they left today, Stephen had specifically left Linlin (Bewear) behind to stay with Zamazenta, saying it was for bonding time.

But now, hearing these pained howls, Bea instinctively assumed that Zamazenta was being attacked.

…Wait. Zamazenta being attacked?

Even though Zacian was the stronger of the two legendary siblings, Zamazenta was still a top-tier Legendary Pokémon.

Who could beat it up so badly that it was wailing like this?

Carrying this doubt, Stephen turned the handle and opened the door.

The moment they stepped inside, they saw—

Zamazenta lying on its back, all four legs in the air, eyes lifeless, tongue hanging out… completely defeated.

And sitting on top of the legendary shield Pokémon, Linlin was doing deep squats… rhythmically.

Silence.

The five people at the door were utterly speechless.

Even Stephen, who had lived through three lifetimes, didn't know how to react.

And the three young women behind him, who had never seen anything like this, were even more lost for words.

Noticing that Zamazenta wasn't responding, Linlin suddenly smacked it across the face with a loud "PAH!", scolding it fiercely with a deep, guttural growl:

"DONGOOH!"

At that moment, a child-like feminine voice echoed in Stephen's mind:

[She's saying: "Put some effort into it, damn it!" Mew~]

Stephen fell silent for a long moment before muttering:

"No need to translate this time…"

Just then, Linlin finally noticed Stephen and the others standing at the door.

"Dongoooh?"

"Oh no, I forgot to activate Observation Haki."

"Sorry, we came at a bad time."

Stephen awkwardly closed the door.

...

Everyone returned to the first-floor lobby of the inn, silently praying that the Shield King would survive.

The atmosphere became rather awkward. After holding back for a while, Nessa couldn't help but find a topic to talk about:

"Sonia, are you not participating in this year's tournament?"

"Yeah, I don't want to do it anymore."

Bringing up this topic, Sonia—who usually played the role of the mood maker in this temporary team—rarely showed a hint of sadness. She rested her chin on the top of Pikachu, her pretty face shadowed with gloom.

After failing to achieve good rankings in the tournament for several consecutive years, and especially after her challenge at the Ballonlea Gym, where Opal bluntly told her, "You haven't improved much compared to last year," Sonia was completely crushed.

But what hit her the hardest was watching her childhood friend, who had once been on the same level as her, pull further and further ahead.

When she went to show Rose a video earlier, she happened to overhear that Mustard had learned a new move from Stephen.

Once Mustard mastered the move and passed it on to his disciple, Leon, Leon's strength would soar even higher.

That realization was like salt in Sonia's emotional wounds.

"Leon rising to the top in just a year had a lot to do with luck. You don't need to dwell on it too much."

Stephen, who was busy mixing pulp, looked up slightly and said:

"At the time, Rose and his champion brother had significant disagreements, and Peony essentially stepped down voluntarily."

Currently, in the Galar League, the only trainers at the Elite Four level in Leon's generation were Raihan and Melony.

Back then, neither of them was a match for Leon.

As for the older generation, aside from the previous champion—Rose's younger brother, Peony—not a single one of them even reached Elite Four level, let alone champion level.

Leon truly emerged in a fortunate era.

After Peony's brother, Rose, took over as chairman, the conflict between the two brothers intensified.

And with a daughter to care for, Peony became even less interested in holding onto the champion title.

It just so happened that Leon, a promising young trainer with both talent and strength, came along.

Peony practically handed the championship title to him on a silver platter.

"Thanks for trying to comfort me, but honestly, I just can't catch up to Leon."

Sonia smiled bitterly.

Sure, luck played a part in Leon becoming champion in just one year.

But the bigger factor was still his sheer strength.

Otherwise, even if Peony had stepped down, the championship wouldn't have simply fallen into Leon's hands.

"By the way, Doctor… are you… making paper?"

Sonia noticed that Stephen had mixed a nail from the Galarian Zapdos into the pulp. He then had a Fairy-type Altaria release a weak warm breeze to dry it, turning the pulp into a palm-sized sheet of paper.

"Yeah."

Stephen placed the paper on the table.

The three girls were surprised to see that, without any external force, the paper was slowly moving south on its own.

"A Vivre Card. Its effect is…"

Will took on the role of an explainer, giving the three girls a rundown of what the Vivre Card does.

"What an incredible invention!"

Sonia exclaimed in amazement.

As long as you obtained someone's nail and crafted a Vivre Card from it, you could track their location and even monitor their life status.

That was incredibly convenient.

In other words, once a Vivre Card was made, no matter where someone tried to hide—even at the ends of the earth—they could still be found.

If this could be applied to capturing Pokémon…

"Alright, Bea, the Vivre Card for Zapdos is yours."

Stephen handed the Vivre Card to Bea and said, "Catching it is up to you now."

Bea immediately understood Stephen's intention.

"I'm on it!"

She grabbed the Vivre Card and leaped up from her seat, dashing out at full speed.

There were less than ten days left until this year's Galar All-Star Tournament.

She had to push herself to the limit in this final stretch!

Through the window, Sonia and Nessa watched as two figures chased each other across the frozen tundra to the south.

Faintly, they could hear Bea's determined shouts:

"I will catch you!"

"I won't give up!"

"Nessa, does Bea realize that in the All-Star Tournament, it's her Pokémon that are supposed to battle, not her personally?"

Sonia quipped.

But then, another thought crossed her mind.

Wait a minute…

Was there a rule in the Galar All-Star Tournament that explicitly forbade trainers from fighting themselves?

If Rose heard Sonia's thoughts at that moment, he would be completely speechless.

Who in the world would even think of making such a rule?

It was like in The New Prince of Tennis, where someone played with a racket in each hand, and people around them asked, "Isn't that against the rules?"

To which the player replied, "The rules of tennis never said you couldn't use two rackets."

If the inventor of tennis saw that, they would probably curse out loud.

When I created tennis, I never imagined someone would try playing with two rackets!

Stephen glanced at the ceiling.

"It's gone quiet. I guess it's over now?"

Hearing that, Sonia and Nessa recalled the scene they had just witnessed. Their faces blushed slightly.

PS: The first lemon guys! Ahahaah!

PS: First r18 at chapter 180.