The Alolan Raticate swarm had finally begun to thin, with the defense team no longer needing to participate in the fighting. Instead, they turned their efforts toward cleanup, shoveling the growing mounds of corpses into Guzzlord's waiting maw. The pair of Rhyperior proved especially efficient, churning up the earth and rolling everything, including the Raticate corpses, straight toward the Ultra Beast.
Meanwhile, the attack team continued engaging the dwindling swarm in the distance. They picked off any Raticate that attempted to regroup into another coordinated horde before hurling the carcasses back toward Alex and the others, further accelerating Guzzlord's feast.
Alex watched with a satisfied expression as he checked on Guzzlord and found its satiety had already reached 40%. There truly was a massive difference between eating dirt and consuming Pokémon corpses, even if the latter were far lower in rank than it. With their numbers easily exceeding a million, the endless supply promised to fill Guzzlord's stomach in no time, finally allowing Alex to properly explore this dimension.
If he was being honest, however, he wasn’t particularly eager to do so. Rotom had already surveyed the internet and found the world wanting. From what it had summarized to Alex, this dimension wasn’t all that different from his own, making it unlikely to contain the answer to the black hole consuming the Distortion World.
His time would be better spent pursuing greater personal strength, though even that prospect was uncertain unless he decided to start hunting down and capturing Legendary Pokémon to bring back with him. That was an entirely different can of worms that he wasn’t sure he wanted to open.
“What do you think is the best use of our remaining time here, Rotom?” Alex asked.
“The current storage capacity remains at 30%, with reserves allocated to supplies and ammunition. It is recommended that all remaining capacity be utilized for the acquisition of Master ranked materials before initiating the return beacon. Regarding the database requested by Nyx, the available information is of insufficient value due to the high degree of similarity between this world and the original. Further analysis of their technological development is therefore deemed unnecessary. Finally, the capture of Legendary Pokémon remains the only objective classified as strategically worthwhile,” Rotom replied.
“I’m not too keen on simply running around and capturing Pokémon, however,” Alex said, feeling like he was in a bind.
He’d never been interested in hunting Legendary Pokémon because many of them were surprisingly docile, simply living their lives. He didn’t want to overpower and capture them on a whim, especially if they weren’t a threat and would rather flee than fight. If one went berserk and actively tried to kill him, he’d consider capturing it, but hunting peaceful Legendaries just because he could left a bad taste in his mouth.
“What about you, Gardevoir? Any other suggestions?” Alex asked, turning to the rather gloomy Gardevoir beside him, who clearly disliked the oppressive twilight.
“Gardevoir? Gar~” she replied.
“I don’t think the criminals here are so bloodthirsty that they deserve to be hunted down the way we do back in our world,” Alex said with a chuckle.
Gardevoir remained as bloodthirsty as ever, eager to hunt down criminals and consume their minds. Unfortunately for her, the criminals here were far more cartoonish and nowhere near the same level of threat as the ones Alex usually hunted without mercy. The worst crimes they commonly committed were often limited to stealing Pokémon. It was still a serious offense, but not enough to justify hunting them down and executing them all.
“It’s sad because they wouldn’t even be much of a challenge. Everyone here is simply too weak,” Alex added with clear disappointment.
At most, the Pokémon here were barely at Elite rank, with the strongest only reaching Champion rank. This was because they lacked the culture of absolute strength needed to push their Pokémon to their limits through constant battles and consuming the corpses of other Pokémon. Simply put, this world was much closer to the happy-go-lucky anime than the brutal reality of the games.
Alex continued to ruminate over the problem for the next hour while waiting for Guzzlord to fill its stomach. The surrounding corpses and loose terrain might not be enough to completely satisfy it, but they should bring it close to capacity. After excavating a few mountains, it’d likely be full enough to allow Alex to explore the dimension.
Suddenly, Alex felt the aura of an Elite ranked trainer approaching at high speed from the south. It seemed this desolate land wasn’t as empty as he’d initially assumed. Still, that wouldn’t stop him from continuing his work, so he simply waited for them to arrive.
Over the dark horizon, he spotted a Flygon flying toward him with a teenage girl riding on its back. She had large brows, brown skin, and twin tails made of long, curly black hair. She wore brown overalls with purple accents, black rubber boots, a purple scarf, and a bonnet.
She approached cautiously, carefully observing the devastation left behind by the battle. She didn’t seem pleased, but rather resigned to the necessity of the destruction. It was clear she cared about the Pokémon here, but more importantly, she understood that it’d been necessary given how dangerous the canyon had become.
“Who are you, and why are you doing this?” she demanded as she dismounted, standing tall despite her small stature.
“My name’s Alex and I’m just here to feed my Guzzlord,” he replied, pointing toward the distance where the Ultra Beast continued shoveling corpses into its mouth.
Her eyes widened slightly. “You have tamed an Ultra Beast?”
“Yes. It’s rather gluttonous. I heard this canyon had been devastated by the Alolan Raticate swarm, so I thought it’d be a good place to help fill its stomach. Is there a problem with that?”
She narrowed her eyes, studying him and the devastation around them. “An Ultra Beast is not a Pokémon to be treated lightly. Even if your intentions aren’t cruel, you’ve brought a creature capable of great destruction into this land. I need to know whether you truly understand the danger you’ve unleashed.”
“Unleashed is a strong word,” Alex said as he studied the young girl. “It implies I have no control over the beast once it’s been released. In my case, it’ll remain perfectly docile as long as it’s well-fed and kept company.”
She turned her attention toward Guzzlord and observed the Ultra Beast carefully. To her surprise, it truly was docile. It wasn’t rampaging or attacking anything around it. Instead, it calmly consumed the remains of the swarm while a small army of Pokémon worked together to feed it.
She wasn’t blind to what that meant. This man was clearly a powerful trainer who had concealed his strength while fighting alongside his Pokémon to deal with the swarm. Perhaps someone capable of controlling such a large force was more than capable of taming a dangerous creature like Guzzlord.
“Very well. I am Kahuna Hapu, and I grant you permission to continue your activities on this sacred land,” she declared. “I am also willing to trust you with the responsibility of caring for Guzzlord. So long as it does not go on a rampage here, you may continue what you are doing.”
“Oh... I didn’t realize I needed permission. My apologies,” Alex said, bowing slightly.
He, of course, recognized Kahuna Hapu immediately. She was younger than the version he knew from the original world, but there was no mistaking her identity. Still, he genuinely hadn’t considered that he needed permission, especially given the state of the land and the devastation left behind by the swarm.
“Would you mind answering a few questions?” Alex asked.
“Considering the assistance you’ve provided in containing the Alolan Raticate swarm, I’ll answer them honestly,” she replied.
“What happened here? I know the general situation, but I don’t know the details. I also don’t know what’s being done to fix it.”
“You mean the swarm?”
“That too, but...” Alex said, looking up at the solar eclipse. “That doesn’t seem like something just any Pokémon could cause and maintain.”
Hapu sighed heavily. “That was caused by the Blinding One, who was once known as the Giver of Light. We, the Kahuna, failed in our duties and were punished for our greed. As a result, our light was taken from us and has never returned.”
“There is nothing more we can do but endure this punishment,” she continued. “Until the day the Emissary of the Sun and Moon returns and lifts the curse placed upon us.”
“I see...” Alex said, resisting the urge to slap his forehead.
It seemed they were far more superstitious in this world, having made little effort to understand the Ultra Wormholes or the true nature of what had happened. However, based on the information he had, Hapu wasn’t entirely wrong. They would need the assistance of either Solgaleo or Lunala to track down Necrozma and defeat it, returning the region’s sunlight to normal.
Ultimately, there was little point in continuing to question the Kahuna for information. Alex would be better off heading to Aether Paradise, where he could investigate the area himself and search for any remaining clues.
The Aether Paradise might also contain rare materials or advanced technology worth bringing back. Either way, he’d found his next destination once Guzzlord finished eating.
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