Chapter 152: Lord of Thunder: Don't Come Any Closer!

The sound of cracking echoed deep within Sabrina's heart.

To be precise, this scene was unfolding right before her eyes, filling her with a rage so intense that her very pupils seemed to blaze with fire.

The culprit who had turned her into this state was currently wearing an anxious expression as he used tools to chip away the outer layer of ice, making it easier to drag her off for thawing later.

Erika stood nearby with a solemn expression.

She had already reported the intelligence regarding Scrooge to the Indigo League, and they had promised to dispatch an elite squad to investigate and intercept him.

However, this was a long-term project. After all, that master thief had no prior criminal record whatsoever, and even some of the heavyweights in the underworld had no impression of him.

The main point was his formidable strength; being able to make a clean getaway under Brock's interception was in itself a feat worthy of serious attention.

Yet, as far as the League was concerned, they could only say they were used to it, seeing as the guy had escaped in the exact same manner last time.

Wrapped in a blanket, Sabrina shivered as Erika considerately handed over a cup of hot chocolate, gently bringing it to her lips.

After all, it was probably best to keep Sabrina completely sealed inside the blanket for now, to the extent that not even her hands should be exposed.

Sabrina sipped the drink with trembling lips. Although the feeling of being fed like a pet was humiliating, she had no spare capacity to care about that right now.

The special power wielded by that fellow was simply absurd. It was fine when he wasn't doing much, but when it erupted, it directly suppressed her psychic powers into absolute silence.

Sabrina calculated silently in her mind, completely unaware of the satisfaction and joy in Erika's eyes, resembling a cat owner who had just successfully cat-napped.

"That guy is genuinely strong."

Brock's expression was grave. "He didn't even reveal his partner's appearance; a single Flamethrower roasted my Onix to the point where it almost lost the ability to battle."

Chu Suihan, standing to the side, nodded in agreement. "Indeed, very strong. Ordinary high-speed attacks can't even touch the hem of his garment. He's not easy to deal with."

[I was already holding back. You're the one who asked me to display a bit of strength.]

Brock was pondering what to do if he ever encountered that kind of enemy again, completely oblivious to the fact that the person standing right in front of him was the most dangerous outlaw of all.

"Mhm, the League needs to pay more attention to dangerous individuals like this."

Chu Suihan glanced at the two female Gym Leaders inside the tent, then waved at Brock to signal that he had other business to attend to.

Brock looked somewhat surprised. "Aren't you going to stay a little longer? We have plenty of specialty dishes in Pewter City, you know."

Having someone around to share the pressure with would be rather nice—Erika's league tier was simply too high!

"I'm busy, I have other things to take care of."

Chu Suihan calculated the time. "If we meet again next time, it will probably be at the Indigo League Conference. As a Gym Leader, you should be going to watch, right?"

"Oh, you mean the Pokémon Center over at Joy's?"

Brock laughed. "I'll be going. I can even give you a promotional plug then, so more people will come to the Pokémon Center you're in charge of."

Chu Suihan laughed as well. "Please don't. If I'm too busy, how am I supposed to steal a moment of leisure to watch the matches?"

After bidding farewell, Mewtwo brought Chu Suihan to a secluded mountain forest—so secluded that not even a tiny purple-skinned rat could be found.

"Not even a Rattata? Could it be that some powerful Pokémon just finished a battle here?"

Chu Suihan retrieved a stone sphere from his incense burner. "Hey, pick your method of death."

"Do you want to decide between being burned to death by the Sacred Fire in my frying pan, or having me spend a small fortune to hire a few Ghost-type Pokémon to devour you?"

Chu Suihan's tone was flat. "Filthy things like you that give people upset stomachs when eaten naturally require money to tempt Pokémon into taking a bite."

"I am the King of Poltegeist!"

Chu Suihan glanced at Mewtwo, who knowingly departed with the Poké Ball. Only then did the white-furred monkey calmly place the frying pan on top of the stone sphere.

"I hate villains who talk too much."

Piercing screams echoed endlessly. The Sacred Fire truly possessed a sort of innate restraining power over the King of Poltegeist.

Perhaps for the concept of a soul, the only things that could make them fear and feel pain were the unforgettable memories carved deep into their bones from the past.

For instance, Ho-Oh, the one who destroyed his dream.

"I have other treasures! And a Demonic Beast device far more effective than a Dark Ball, capable of making a Pokémon instantly powerful and completely obedient to your command!"

Gold and silver treasures, the crystallization of historical civilization—anyway, aside from the beautiful women and fine wine that the King of Poltegeist could not provide at the moment, all other conditions had been tossed out.

His primary directive was simply begging to stay alive.

"Oh, but I don't need them."

Chu Suihan raised the frying pan. "Don't misunderstand, I just purely want to torture you."

The three little ones in the distance, eavesdropping via psychic powers and the synchronized state: !

Yet another scene of their own white-furred monkey acting inhuman had been added to the collection!

Mewtwo gently tapped the second sister's body. Alcremie rubbed her hands together with sparkling eyes, instantly grasping the third sister's intent.

She had to make a sculpture out of cream, so she could let her Trainer see his own dark history when he grew old!

[Something is approaching!]

Blue light flared in Mewtwo's eyes as it used Teleport to arrive by Chu Suihan's side, while Lapras and Alcremie automatically emerged from their balls, wearing guarded expressions.

[I bear no malice, do not misunderstand.]

On the other side of the forest, a large tiger with thunderclouds growing on its back walked slowly forward. Judging by the lightning and thunder flashing across its back, it must have sprinted all the way here.

[By order of the Sovereign, I have come to take away the stone sphere of the King of Poltegeist.]

Mewtwo narrowed its eyes, and the psychic power beside its right hand gradually began to condense toward a materialized state.

[Raikou, one of the Legendary Beasts. What is your purpose?]

[Child of Viridian Forest, I have no intention of fighting you,] Raikou said. [Your Trainer has shown immense grace and deep kindness to our kind; I would never harm him.]

Mewtwo: .

In terms of raw power, it was definitely holding the advantage, but in terms of seniority, it held practically no advantage to speak of.

That phrase, "Child of Viridian Forest," was something it genuinely had no way to refute.

"Raikou, calculating the time, it's just about right for you to show up."

Chu Suihan smiled, then struck the stone sphere once more.

It was just like a naughty child who, knowing they were about to go home, hurried to frantically grind away on their older siblings' phones.

After all, once playtime was over, such opportunities would be rare indeed.

"I thought it would be Entei or Suicune. Are you just happen to have free time?"

Raikou nodded. [This realm is guarded by me, and the Sovereign commanded me to keep a close eye on the King of Poltegeist.]

Chu Suihan: ?

"I anticipated that you would come to retrieve the stone sphere, but does Ho-Oh saying this mean it's worried I'll make a mistake?"

This was looking down on his lineup's configuration to a certain extent.

Raikou remained silent. There was no way he could admit that the Sovereign was worried that the "unlucky brat" in his words might pull off some strange stunt, and had therefore assigned him specifically to block the guy.

Furthermore, Ho-Oh had specifically mentioned that whoever encountered that unlucky brat must remember their mission and not be influenced by his words.

Never mind Chu Suihan's bizarre seniority that bordered on terrifying; just standing there right in front of him made Raikou feel his favorability toward this frying-pan-wielding madman steadily rising.

Tsk, that was reckless.

He should have called those two fellows along as well; if he was going to get chewed out, they deserved to share the scolding.

However, monitoring the surroundings was also the Sovereign's command, and the destruction of Team Dark was beneficial to nature anyway.

Who told that King of Poltegeist to specifically pick their territory to land in.

At the thought of this, Raikou suddenly felt an impulse to deliberately stall for time and let the King of Poltegeist suffer a bit more.

No!

The Sovereign's command comes first!

Raikou looked at Chu Suihan. [Can you hand this stone sphere over to me?]

"Sure. Anyway, I'm already done playing with it. Listening to an old fogey scream in agony is nowhere near as exciting as watching young girls sing and dance."

"Wuu wuu!"

"Milu!"

This is a lie! x2

Listening to Lapras and Alcremie complaining to it about Chu Suihan's historical exploits—such as watching girls dance with eyes as unmoving as an ancient well, or being more excited than anyone else when he dismantled the Burned Tower and threw people into the fire—Mewtwo remained silent.

Raikou: .

To be fair, shouldn't the three of them go thank Ecruteak City for having somewhat subpar opera and dance standards?

He was one of the Legendary Beasts, and furthermore a victim of back then; surely he wouldn't get beaten up and driven out by those girls... right?

Though making a few of them cry from anger was quite likely.

Chu Suihan tossed the stone sphere over. "Take it. What does Ho-Oh plan to do with him?"

A small thundercloud formed on Raikou's back to catch the stone sphere, and he nodded at Chu Suihan in gratitude.

[The Sovereign said that since he chose to commit such deeds against Pokémon and humans back then, even if he is to return to nature, an extra step must be added in between.]

[Letting him experience the despair of those pitiful creatures of the past within the Sovereign's flames—translated into layman's terms, it should be the illusion realm you experienced.]

"Splendid, I very much like Ho-Oh's style."

Chu Suihan nodded with satisfaction. "Then I can hand this stone sphere over to you with peace of mind. Of course, my suggestion is that you might as well destroy the stone sphere itself along with him."

There was a saying from a source he no longer remembered: when a gun appears in a script, that gun is bound to be fired.

If some ambitious fellow were to discover the stone sphere later on, the appearance of a brand-new King of Poltegeist would merely be a matter of time.

[The Sovereign has her own considerations regarding that.]

Raikou nodded. [By the way, the Sovereign asked me to bring you a message. Strictly speaking, the technology inscribed upon this stone sphere belongs to a form of封印 (sealing).]

[Whether it is sealing with Keystones, or forging stakes and pillars using elemental resources as materials, supplemented by the natural environment to create large-scale seals, these all have traces to follow.]

[If you are interested, you can do some research in this direction. This is the reward given to you by the Sovereign.]

Chu Suihan touched his chin, remembering the two sealing methods Ho-Oh had used as examples.

Spiritomb in the Sinnoh region, and the Treasures of Ruin in the Paldea region. If the latter's seal existed in reality as well, it could indeed be called grandiose.

It seemed there was also that technology where the Aura Guardian sealed his own partner, though other people probably couldn't learn that system—after all, having the prerequisite of Aura was a hurdle right there.

Chu Suihan clicked his tongue.

A brand-new direction for research did interest him quite a bit, but it somehow felt like Ho-Oh was drawing a giant pie in the sky with empty words.

Forget about reference materials; she didn't even give any preliminary resources. She didn't have to offer things like fur or feathers, but at the very least, she could have let Raikou bring him a small vial of Sacred Fire.

She was undeniably a bit stingy.

"Fine, better than nothing. Researching sealing technology can just count as leisure outside of class."

Chu Suihan smiled as he approached Raikou and patted the beast's head.

"You've worked hard. Guarding a realm must be exhausting, right?"

[The human League's preparations are quite thorough; there hasn't been any need for us to take action.]

Just kidding, the greatest drain on him had been the elemental energy consumed by sprinting over at full speed after hearing those screams.

"You've worked hard. Since you've come all the way to my place, how can I let you go back empty-handed? After all, our affinity runs quite deep, doesn't it?"

Chu Suihan smilingly pulled out his incense burner. "Wait for me to look for it, it won't take long."

Raikou's majestic body shook, and he instinctively took a step or two backward.

[No, no need. The task entrusted to me by the Sovereign is not yet complete, I'll take my leave next—]

"Mewtwo, Psychic."

Mewtwo silently murmured a mental apology to not blame it, then used its psychic powers to lock the thunder tiger in place.

"Don't shy away. I saw you back when you were just little balls of light, what are you afraid of? Just a bit of food and drink, don't stand on ceremony with me."

Smiling broadly, Chu Suihan pulled out box after box of supplies.

"Keep at it, Entei can do it, and you can too! If you find it troublesome, you can just have those guys come over and pick it up themselves later."

Raikou's pupils violently dilated, yet he was unable to break free from Mewtwo's psychic restraint.

Don't come over here!