Chapter 400: Chapter 400

“B-Block them!!” The King of Pokélantis roared with forced bravado. The Three Regis were under a relentless storm of attacks, arms crossed in defense—yet still stood unshaken.

If they couldn’t be beaten head-on… Then Gengar might as well poison the Trainer directly. Lu Ye was just thinking—if I poison Brandon, do I have to cover the medical bills?

Then suddenly, Ash charged forward. “Charizard, Seismic Toss!”

“Raaaargh!” Charizard flapped its wings and dove toward the immobile Regice. “Re—gi—” Regice’s Hammer Arm was caught in Charizard’s claw.

Charizard twisted around, locking Regice’s arms behind it. “Raaaagh!!” Lu Ye watched, eyes wide, as Charizard pulled off a textbook Seismic Toss, flinging Regice high, then finishing with a blazing Flamethrower—the orange fire lighting up the whole field.

It’s here—the classic Ash combo!

“Well done, Charizard!” Ash shouted in excitement.

On the sidelines, Lu and a battered Brock were spectating the chaos. Lu pulled a Max Revive out of his bag—something he’d gotten from Squirtle—and handed it to Brock.

Brock was taken aback. “Why would you carry something so rare?” “Ah… long story,” Lu coughed. “Just hurry and use it on Steelix.”

Cynthia gave a swift command: “Togekiss, Air Slash!”

Togekiss sliced the air with its wings—Air Slash struck Registeel with a clang of sparks. Flinch triggered. Registeel staggered.

Lu stared in envy. Her bonus effects just never stop triggering!

As for Lu… he wasn’t even asking for flinches—just a slightly better Hydro Cannon hit rate would be enough.

The battle grew fiercer, and the King of Pokélantis was beginning to despair.

Four versus one, and they still had the gall to act righteous?!

Have some shame, this guy called “Mr. Lu”!

“Regice, Regirock, Registeel—build a defense formation!” Their defensive strength once repelled even the twin gods of Hoenn. But under Lu Ye’s barrage of Will-O-Wisp, Paralysis, and Toxic…

The Regis felt like they were about to crack.

Getting ganged up on and poisoned? What kind of evil tactics are these?!

As the battle evolved, Lu Ye casually took over command of Charizard. “Charizard, Fire Blast!”

“Roar!!” Charizard flapped upward, mouth wide open, unleashing a massive blast of blazing orange fire at Regice.

“Re—gi! o(╥﹏╥)o” (Stop! If this keeps up, I’ll melt!!)

Ash stood slack-jawed. Why does it feel like Charizard suddenly got stronger?

So this is what Green meant by the difference in Trainer levels…! Ash clenched his fists, eyes ablaze.

“Pikachu, Thunderbolt!”

Under this righteous team beatdown, the Regis’ defensive line finally began to crumble.

“Gengar, sneak up on Brandon and use Hypnosis!” “Not happening!!” The black mist around Brandon roared back to life.

“Regirock, to my side—Zap Cannon!”

Regirock, stacked like boulders, crossed its arms as blue electric energy built in its chest.

Zap Cannon was pretty impressive in power— But there was barely any Rock-type energy left in the air, so Stone Edge was no longer usable.

“Ran out of PP?” Lu muttered cryptically.

Rotom, staring at the Zap Cannon beam, lit up like it had spotted a gourmet buffet. Its eyes gleamed.

“Requesting deployment, Roto!” Rotom saluted with its mechanical arms. “I was just thinking of that strategy.” Lu nodded, grabbed Rotom like a baseball, and got into a pitch stance.

“Let’s go, Rotom!!” He hurled it out.

“Cannot compute, Roto! o(TヘTo)”

ZAP—!! Rotom bathed in the blue lightning, buzzing with glee as its battery bar filled to the brim. It let out a satisfied burp.

“Now, Ash! Grab the sealing orb!” Brock shouted. “Leave it to me!”

Ash turned his cap backward and charged straight through the dazzling Zap Cannon. Everyone was stunned.

All: Σ(っ°Д°;)っ Lu Ye: (￣▽￣)~* Just standard Ash moves.

“Oh… it’s the Geodude protection circle,” Cynthia observed softly, watching Ash emerge from the Zap Cannon surrounded by three hand-holding Geodudes Brock had launched.

“No wonder he could withstand that…” she murmured.

Honestly, I feel like he could’ve taken it even without the Geodudes… Lu called out, “Rotom, use Trick!”

【Trick: Swaps the held items between two targets—particularly effective when combined with Choice Scarf.】

Ash lunged at the King of Pokélantis. The king had already stashed the sealing orb inside his robe, but then—

He looked down. In his hand was a juicy Pecha Berry. The orb was gone!

“It’s here, Roto! (￣▽￣)/” Rotom floated proudly, holding the glowing orb aloft like the Statue of Liberty returning a package, drifting back to Lu Ye.

The king’s face twisted in fury. Ash tackled him to the ground, trying to resist— But the strength from this teen was… inhuman.

What the f*?!** Why can’t I move?! “How is he not a Fighting-type?!” Lu muttered.

“Quick, seal it!” Brock urged. “Ah—right.” Lu took the orb from Rotom.

The ancient object still bore the prototype shape of a modern Poké Ball.

Silence fell. The King of Pokélantis looked utterly defeated.

But the quiet… went on too long.

“What is it?” Cynthia asked curiously.

Lu scratched his head. “What’s the incantation?”

Brock’s face twitched. “Ash, punch him! Maybe we can get Brandon to wake up again!”

“Got it!” Ash, straddling the King of Pokélantis, raised a Friendship Punch—but before it landed—

Brandon’s voice bellowed out: “Th-The slab! I have it!”

Ash grabbed the tablet Brandon handed over and tossed it to the group. Gengar caught it in time. “Geng?” It glanced over the tablet’s writing and scratched its head.

Everyone gathered around, staring at the twisting, minuscule script.

“This is… Unown script?” Brock asked. “Yes,” Cynthia nodded, frowning. “But deciphering isn’t exactly my specialty…”

Especially with so little time— Even just converting those obscure runes into usable language would be difficult.

Cynthia fell silent, brow tightly knit.

Silence filled the room. The King of Pokélantis suddenly sensed hope.

“You think you can reseal me with that crew?” Pinned beneath Ash, he burst out laughing.

“So young… so naive!”

His voice echoed through the quiet pyramid.

“Rotom,” Lu said suddenly. “Hit him with a Thunder Wave. Thanks.”

Brandon’s body flinched. A jolt of electricity surged through him. Thick black mist billowed out behind him again.

“Even if you destroy this body… you’ll never trap me again!!”

Suddenly, the Three Regis all turned, as if they’d heard a familiar language.

Brock watched as Lu picked up the stone tablet in one hand, the orb in the other.

“■■■■■! (Light, return from darkness to darkness!)”

The line was so cheesy it sounded like a magical girl transformation. Good thing no one understood it…

Lu gave a light cough, then used Aura to lock onto the spirit inside Brandon.

A fierce wind erupted. The orb glowed bright blue. All the black mist surged toward it.

“No—this can’t be! How could you—?!”

The King of Pokélantis stared wide-eyed. Before him stood a wave master fluent in ancient script—

Impossible! He had mastered both?!

You should’ve been buried in history! Are you also a reincarnated old fossil like me?!

The wind howled. Brandon’s body trembled. The last of the mist was sucked into the shining orb.

“No!! He’s not human either—believe meee!!”

THUNK— The orb stopped glowing. The Pyramid fell silent.

Brandon collapsed, unconscious. Several pairs of eyes turned toward Lu Ye.

Lu stared at the orb in his hand and stroked his chin.

“…Did I just catch the King of Pokélantis?”

Brock wiped the sweat from his brow. “That was… ancient script, right?”

Cynthia: “When did you learn that?”

Even as a mythology expert, she had never been able to decipher it. Most of the ancient text in literature still required translation help.

But now— Right next to her stood a professional scholar of ancient runes…

Cynthia blinked her pale gray eyes, like she’d just discovered a new world— her eyes shining with excitement.

“I learned in Alola… from my uncle,” Lu said cautiously.

“You’re fluent in both deciphering stone tablets and translating language?” Cynthia’s eyes sparkled even more.

Cynthia gave a soft smile. Her delicate tongue pressed against her lips. Lu suddenly got nervous. “W-What do you want?”

Cynthia beamed, her eyes curving into crescents. “Oh, nothing at all~” I’ll ask more thoroughly once we’re home~

Lu’s eye twitched. I think you’re not after my skill—you’re after my body!

“Mr. Lu!” Ash’s shout snapped Lu Ye out of his thoughts.

“Mr. Brandon’s waking up!”

Lu looked at the orb in his hand, then glanced toward the Three Regis.

“Re—gi—” The Regis lowered their heads like kids who’d just been scolded.

“Gengar, paralyze him with Lick,” Lu ordered. “I’m gonna interrogate him myself!”