Chapter 378 · Conquering the Great Tusk

"Dungu!!"

At that moment, Great Tusk roared furiously, having just taken a hit from Eevee. Its massive tusks glowed red as it charged at Eevee with incredible force.

"Vee!!"

Eevee stood its ground. A shimmering veil of water wrapped around its tail, forming a sharp blade of water. With a swing, it slashed forward.

Whoosh!

The Water-type attack collided with Great Tusk's tusks, and the resulting impact knocked both Pokémon backward. The clash was evenly matched.

Even though Eevee's level was higher, Great Tusk's raw size and strength made it difficult to overpower.

"Eevee, stop using physical moves—use Solar Beam!" Gary suddenly commanded.

"Gary!" Zinnia cried out in surprise, not expecting Gary to have arrived.

"Vee!"

Hearing the command, Eevee gathered a glowing sphere of light at its mouth, then unleashed a blinding Solar Beam.

Boom!!!

Great Tusk's enormous body left it unable to dodge. The Solar Beam struck it squarely, and with a painful roar, Great Tusk collapsed into the sand, unconscious.

Gary, riding Latios, landed beside the fallen Pokémon. He pulled a Poké Ball from his pocket and tossed it.

The ball hit Great Tusk, absorbed it in a flash of light, and began shaking on the sand.

One... two... three... click!

Capture complete.

A New Mission

[Ding! New mission unlocked: Capture the Ancient Paradox Pokémon species. Each Paradox Pokémon caught earns 1 × Gold Bottle Cap. Capture all Ancient Paradox Pokémon to receive: 10 × Master-grade Rare Candy and 1 × Crown of the Gods.]

[Ding! Great Tusk captured. Reward sent to space backpack.]

Gary was speechless. He hadn't expected that capturing a Paradox Pokémon would trigger a new system mission.

But this quest wasn't going to be easy. There were ten ancient Paradox Pokémon in total:

Great TuskScream TailBrute BonnetFlutter ManeSlither WingSandy ShocksRoaring MoonWalking WakeGouging FireRaging Bolt

"The reward's a little stingy..." Gary muttered to himself.

Ten Pokémon, and only ten Master Rare Candies and one special item in return? Seemed hardly worth the effort. But then again, it wasn't clear if Paradox Pokémon counted as Legendary Pokémon. They were creatures from a billion years ago—Pokémon from a time when humans were still primitive.

Gary didn't overthink it. After Latios landed, he picked up the Poké Ball and checked Great Tusk's data:

Pokémon: Great Tusk

Type: Ground / Fighting

Level: 45

Potential: Champion

Ability: Protosynthesis (In harsh sunlight, the user's highest stat increases by 30%; if it's Speed, by 50%)

Known Moves: Horn Attack, Defense Curl, Rollout, Sunny Day, Bulldoze, Protect, Rapid Spin, Brick Break, Stomping Tantrum, Knock Off

Friendship: 80 / 255

"The moves aren't great..." Gary thought.

Aside from Brick Break, most of its moves were pretty basic. It seemed that ancient Pokémon weren't highly evolved in terms of battle strategy—they relied more on raw power and simple techniques.

"Gary, what kind of Pokémon is this? Why did it attack me the moment it saw me?" Zinnia asked.

She and Eevee had only gone into the desert out of curiosity. But as soon as Great Tusk saw them, it attacked without warning.

"I'm not exactly sure, but it looks a lot like a Donphan," Gary replied.

In truth, Paradox Pokémon were only known to appear in the Paldea region, and their existence was a closely guarded secret. Gary wasn't about to tell Zinnia its real name.

"Donphan?" Zinnia took out her Pokédex and scanned it.

Pokédex: Donphan, the Armor Pokémon. The evolved form of Phanpy. It curls its body and rolls like a wheel to attack enemies...

"It does look a little like Donphan, but why are its tusks so huge?" Zinnia asked, confused as she compared the Pokédex image to the towering creature they'd just fought.

Great Tusk resembled Donphan, but it was far larger and more ferocious—like the final evolution of Donphan, if such a thing existed.

"Maybe it's a species from another region," Gary suggested vaguely.

Zinnia gave him a puzzled look. "Is there really a Pokémon you don't know about?"

Gary chuckled. "Of course. I'm just a kid. The world's full of unknown Pokémon. But maybe my grandpa would know something about it."

Paradox Pokémon had only been discovered in the last five or six years, and their existence was still classified by the Paldea League. The rest of the Pokémon world remained unaware.

Even Professor Oak might not have seen one personally, but he probably knew of their existence through research.

That said, Gary didn't plan on sending Great Tusk to Professor Oak anytime soon.

Judging from its data, Great Tusk's friendship level was only 80, meaning it wasn't very familiar with humans. It had probably only recently appeared in the area.

But what confused Gary most was how it ended up here. Paradox Pokémon should be confined to the Great Crater of Paldea. At the very least, they should only appear in the Paldea region.

So how did one show up in Hoenn?

"Is there some kind of space-time rift in Hoenn that's letting ancient Pokémon from a different timeline cross over?" Gary wondered.

If so, this could mean more Paradox Pokémon might be wandering around Hoenn.

"Let's go. Time to eat."

"Okay." Zinnia didn't ask further questions. She didn't know much about Pokémon lore anyway. To her, Great Tusk was just some Pokémon she'd never seen before.

Besides, Zinnia only cared about Dragon-type Pokémon. She wasn't interested in Great Tusk at all.

When they returned to the camp, Zinnia quickly reverted to being a food-lover and dug into lunch.

Gary released Great Tusk from its Poké Ball, prepared some food for it, and asked Latios to heal its wounds.

Latios used Heal Pulse, and Great Tusk's injuries quickly faded away.

"Dungu!!"

Great Tusk awoke with a start. It remembered what had happened before—how that tiny Pokémon had taken it down.

"Buyi! (*'▽`)ノ!" Eevee greeted Great Tusk cheerfully, wagging its tail.

"Dungu! (QAQ)!"

Seeing Eevee again, Great Tusk was startled. This little creature was the one that had knocked it out cold.

"Relax, we're not your enemies," Gary said calmly.

Latios used telepathy to translate Gary's words and reassure Great Tusk.

Slowly, Great Tusk calmed down. Realizing these people didn't mean to harm it, it decided to follow its instincts and didn't resist further.