Chapter 592. A Golden Opportunity
Alex bid his family farewell before teleporting to Lumiose City. From there, he made his way directly to Prism Tower, having registered for a time slot several weeks in advance.
He joined the other Master ranked trainers inside the glass dome, wearing his Deep Suit and carrying his backpack, with a return beacon provided by the scientists strapped to his vambrace. Once everyone was ready, the teleportation device activated. A burst of white light engulfed him, followed by the familiar sensation of being squeezed through a space far too small for his body.
When the sensation finally passed, Alex found himself standing in the middle of a vast desert with a village right in front of him.
“Rotom, where are we?” Alex asked.
“Satellite link unavailable. Temporal analysis indicates the current timeline predates the present era. Environmental analysis, including desert terrain and sand composition, places the current location within the central Kalos region. Unidentified settlement detected ahead.”
“Kalos, huh? Then the Champion ranked aura I’m sensing from the village must belong to either Yveltal or Hoopa. Let’s go see.”
Alex deactivated his Deep Suit before leisurely making his way toward the village. Since he was in the past, he was in an ideal position to acquire resources that would normally be difficult or impossible to obtain in the present or future. With countless deposits still untouched, he could potentially make a considerable profit with relatively little time and effort.
Before getting started on his mining plans, however, he wanted to satisfy his curiosity. The presence of a powerful Pokémon in an otherwise random village was unusual enough to warrant a closer look. For all he knew, he could be witnessing some great history in the making.
Once he reached the village proper, Alex’s eyes widened as what he found easily surpassed his expectations. In the central square, all the villagers had gathered, pooling together whatever scraps of food they could spare. In return, they received mounds of gold coins, raw ores, and ornate jewelry.
At the center of the gathering stood a colossal 6.5-meter-tall Unbound Hoopa, casually exchanging all kinds of food for gold and other valuables. Its golden rings served as portals, sucking up the food offered by the villagers before depositing mounds of gold in exchange.
“Have all my materialistic problems just been solved?” Alex muttered as a sinister grin slowly spread across his face.
Rather than joining the rabble and taking advantage of the situation, Alex lingered in the shadows of a nearby building and simply watched. Why settle for exchanging his food for gold when he could have the goose that laid the golden eggs?
A temporary exchange was hardly enough. It would be far more profitable to negotiate a permanent arrangement with Hoopa instead. Besides, gold and jewelry weren't particularly valuable to someone like him. At best, their imperishable nature and excellent electrical conductivity made them comparable to Elite ranked resources.
The villagers happily continued the exchange until every last scrap of food in the village had been traded away. It wasn't a problem, though. A major city was located nearby, and they could easily travel there to replenish their supplies by tomorrow.
Suddenly, one careless comment set off a chain of events that would spell disaster for the village.
“You look pretty strong for a Pokémon, but I bet my Garchomp can beat you,” someone in the crowd called out before releasing a Garchomp, which bravely stepped forward to face Hoopa.
“That’s nothing! Why don’t you try fighting my Flygon instead?” another villager challenged, releasing a Flygon.
“Have a go at my Golem and see if you’re really as powerful as you look!” a third person added, releasing a Golem.
All three Pokémon were impressively Elite ranked, but that was it. They stood no chance against the Champion ranked Hoopa, and judging by the confident look on its face, Hoopa seemed to know it as well.
A smirk spread across Hoopa’s face as it eagerly accepted the challenge, clearly intent on impressing the crowd even further. Three of its arms floated forward, each curling its fingers in a beckoning gesture as it challenged all three Pokémon at once.
“Ha! That’s the spirit! Get ’em, Garchomp!”
“Show ’em what you’ve got, Flygon!”
“That’s what I like to see! Get in there, Golem!”
The villagers quickly gave the battling Pokémon a wide berth, clutching their newly acquired gold as they excitedly cheered from a safe distance.
The battle started easily enough, with Garchomp opening its jaws and unleashing a stream of blue-white Dragon Breath. At the same time, Flygon spread its wings and let out a shrill Screech that rippled through the air, while Golem hurled a barrage of jagged rocks with Rock Blast.
Hoopa responded with a display that immediately caught Alex’s attention. Three of its arms rose simultaneously, each palm glowing with dark, swirling energy before firing a separate Dark Pulse. Three black-and-purple spheres of condensed energy tore through the air at once, one from each hand, their surfaces churning like miniature vortexes.
“Since it has six floating arms, does that mean it can fight six opponents at the same time?” Alex muttered, his excitement growing as he watched Hoopa in action.
The Unbound Hoopa already possessed the power of a Champion ranked trainer on its own, which made it incredibly intriguing to Alex. If it could somehow reach Master rank and fully unleash the potential of all six arms, it would be an absolute force to be reckoned with.
The battle continued in a brutal back-and-forth, though the trainers were clearly fighting at a disadvantage. Then, in a sudden shift, they manufactured an opening through perfect teamwork.
Golem charged forward with Bulldoze, deliberately drawing all three Dark Pulses toward itself. The shadowy blasts slammed into its rocky body, but Golem powered through the barrage without slowing down.
Using the distraction, Garchomp and Flygon circled behind their fainting teammate, striking from opposite sides the moment they reached Hoopa. Garchomp slashed out with devastating Dragon Claw while Flygon closed the distance with a precise Bug Bite, their combined assault ripping through Hoopa's defenses and dealing massive damage.
“ROOOAR!”
Hoopa threw its head back and roared in pain. While the Dragon Claw carried a same-type attack bonus and targeted its brittle physical defenses, the Bug Bite from Flygon was on an entirely different level. Exploiting Hoopa’s devastating 4-times weakness to Bug type energy while simultaneously striking its weakest defensive stat, the attack dealt a catastrophic blow.
That pain instantly mutated into pure rage. Hoopa’s eyes flared crimson as blind fury took control. The gold rings surrounding its body hummed with volatile energy, three of them expanding into enormous portals as something massive began to emerge from the void of each one.
Regigigas, Reshiram, and Zekrom emerged from the portals, each carrying a Champion ranked aura that immediately overwhelmed the tiny village.
“ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAR!”
The three legendary Pokémon roared as one before unleashing their power without restraint. Their attacks tore through the village, reducing buildings to rubble and sending debris flying in every direction. Fortunately, their initial attacks were concentrated on the surrounding structures rather than the villagers gathered in the central square, sparing them from the worst of the destruction. That mercy lasted only moments, however, as the three berserk Pokémon soon turned their attention toward the people.
Alex acted immediately, summoning his Pokémon to intercept them. Ultra Necrozma shot into the sky and slammed into Zekrom, the impact sending both legendary Pokémon hurtling upward as their battle quickly moved away from the ground. Their clash in the sky was no less dangerous, with each exchange threatening to unleash devastating attacks upon the village below.
Guzzlord charged straight at Regigigas, its massive body barreling through the ruined village as it intercepted the legendary Pokémon and forced their battle farther into the distance. Meanwhile, Grim's team of Knight and Hydreigon converged on Reshiram, unleashing a coordinated barrage to keep it occupied.
At the same time, Alex's attack team descended upon Hoopa in its enraged state. They struck one after another in a tightly coordinated sequence from one side, their continuous assault driving the massive Pokémon farther away from the villagers and preventing it from summoning another Legendary Pokémon through its rings.
“Gardevoir, send Altaria’s team to support Ultra Necrozma and Grim’s team. Send Urshifu’s team to support Guzzlord, and make sure it doesn’t eat Regigigas. Have the rest contain Hoopa and support the attack team. I don’t think this battle is going to be as simple as it looks.”
A standoff quickly followed as the enraged Unbound Hoopa regained its bearings after the ambush. Alex’s Pokémon surrounded it from all sides, with the fastest members positioned at the front to form a 5-sided encirclement. Beyond them, the defense team spread out even farther, creating a second perimeter around the first and preparing to contain the massive threat posed by Unbound Hoopa.
“ROOOAR!”
Hoopa roared defiantly, its rage undiminished as it prepared to engage Alex and his Pokémon. Its six arms floated into position, each one tracking a different target while the last remained raised defensively near its head. The battle began moments later as Raticate, Arcanine, Togekiss, Lucario, and Raichu rushed forward, each unleashing their highest-priority moves in a coordinated opening assault.
Hoopa had already sustained significant damage and was dangerously close to fainting, so Alex saw no reason to hold back. A concentrated burst of damage should have been enough to finish the battle. What they had underestimated, however, was Hoopa's combat ability.
Five of Hoopa's arms suddenly thrust forward, each sending one of its rings flying toward the charging Pokémon. The rings expanded rapidly as they flew, transforming into swirling portals directly in the path of the incoming attacks. Raticate, Arcanine, Togekiss, Lucario, and Raichu had already committed to their attacks at full speed, while the loose desert sand gave them almost no footing to change direction.
“Dodge!” Alex shouted, but it was already too late.
One after another, all five Pokémon disappeared into the portals. A moment later, the portals snapped shut, leaving Alex staring at the empty battlefield as his five Pokémon vanished to who knew where.