The pond, which had been bustling in the morning, now bore traces of battle that looked particularly unsettling at night.
A raindrop fell on Gui Ling's head, and heavy rain began to pour, washing away the bloodstains on Gui Ling's body.
"Ah..."
The rain on his wounds caused Gui Ling to stir from the pain.
He struggled to support himself, propped himself up with his tang katana, and stood, completely stunned by his surroundings.
"I..."
Gui Ling gasped for air, then turned and slowly walked towards a patch of grass.
He clutched his chest, which had been blasted by Hyper Beam, and slowly parted the grass.
The cocoon of destruction in front of him remained still, floating silently in the air.
"... ... ... ..."
"Hey... wake up..."
Gui Ling kicked the cocoon, but it didn't move at all.
"You were already awake, weren't you..."
"... ... ... ..."
This time, the cocoon fully opened, revealing its true form.
Yveltal spread its wings, its massive body looking down at Gui Ling.
"Quick... now... the rain has stopped them... there's still time to catch up..."
"... ... ... ..."
Yveltal merely looked at Gui Ling silently, its blue eyes fixed on him, and Gui Ling understood.
"Why? You can defeat them!"
"... ... ... ..."
Seeing Yveltal still pretending to be foolish, Gui Ling, enraged, directly raised his tang katana and slashed at Yveltal.
The tang katana only produced sparks as it scraped Yveltal's skin; Yveltal reacted as if it had merely been scratched, suffering no harm.
"I already knew who you were..."
"?!"
"Yveltal... the Death God... right?"
"... ... ... ..."
Yveltal roared at Gui Ling, but Gui Ling showed no fear, taking a step forward.
"Before... the first time I saw that book... I knew... I understood... you can't fool me."
"??? (Then why? Why did you keep me, a dangerous existence?)"
"I can't abandon my Pokémon! I simply can't!"
"... ... ... ... (What...)"
"I don't know why you entered my Poké Ball.
As a god, you naturally have your pride! But you also gave me determination and helped me through the most difficult times!"
"... ... ... ... (Listening quietly)"
Gui Ling coughed violently for a while, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and then roared.
"But why did you just stand by and watch?!"
"... ... ... ... (They were too weak; I think you only need to raise me.)"
"What? You think you're great?"
"... ... ... ... (What do you think?)"
"I think you can't even compare to a Caterpie!
At least it wouldn't stand by idly after I caught it!"
"... ... ... ... (Just because of this? I don't want to hear it.)"
"You..."
"... ... ... ... (I'm hungry.)"
"... ... ... ..."
The rain intensified, turning into a downpour.
Gui Ling buried his head low, his expression unclear, and Yveltal simply watched him silently, making no further moves.
"... ... ... ..."
Gui Ling left.
Yveltal watched him walk towards the river, skillfully pick up a fishing rod, and then sneered, transforming back into its cocoon form.
Several hours later, due to the rain, the fish became more active, and Gui Ling caught nearly 50 during this time.
He tried to start a fire with his tang katana, but the firewood was already soaked by the rain and wouldn't light.
"So many fish caught on a rainy day..."
Gui Ling sighed, picked up a stainless steel rice bowl, and slowly walked towards the cocoon.
Yveltal transformed back into its true form, looked at the raw fish, and paused for a moment, but then, considering it was a rainy day, didn't mind and lowered its body to eat.
"... ... ... ... (Hmph, he still has to prepare food for me.
Gui Ling should calm down soon, right? How dare he yell at me? Who does he think he is?)"
But Gui Ling picked up Yveltal's Poké Ball and threw it directly to the ground.
Yveltal heard the movement and looked up, only to see the red and white Poké Ball lying on the ground, and Gui Ling turning to leave.
"(Where are you going?)"
Yveltal roared, but Gui Ling left without looking back.
"Goodbye, Yveltal, I wish you sweet dreams."
These were Gui Ling's last words, leaving Yveltal silently watching the disappearing Gui Ling.
"... ... ... ... (Hmph, he'll definitely come back for me later... definitely...)"
Gui Ling ran desperately into the jungle, following the traces that hadn't been washed away by the rain.
He drank some water from the river, picked up a whetstone for sharpening, and then exhausted his strength to sharpen the tang katana in his hand.
After a while, the tang katana in his hand became incredibly sharp, but at the cost of its durability.
"This is when it's sharpest, and also when it's most likely to break... but this is the only way.
I'm sorry..."
Gui Ling turned his head and saw a huge fruit tree behind him.
He walked under the tree and pointed at the largest fruit.
"Gengar..."
"... ... ... ..."
"Gengar?"
"... ... ... ... ... ..."
"Ah... they're all gone..."
After saying this, Gui Ling stood silently under the fruit tree, looking at the fruits on the tree and falling into reminiscence.
"Noibat, which fruit is the best?"
"Noibat!"
"Gengar, I'm counting on you!"
"Gengar!"
In a short while, the ground was covered with very sweet apples.
"Well done! Dinner is settled for today!"
"Gengar!"
"Frogadier!"
"Shuppet!"
"Noibat!"
"You come over too, try a fruit."
The cocoon slowly floated over, extended its huge head to bite some apples, and then retracted.
"Sigh, really, always so lazy and gluttonous."
"... ... ... ... ... ..."
"Heh heh..."
Gui Ling punched the apple tree, and the huge fruit fell directly, landing squarely on Gui Ling's head.
"... ... ... ..."
Gui Ling took a bite, but found the apple was already rotten inside.
He couldn't help but sneer again and continued on his way.
Meanwhile, Yveltal had finished all the fish in the bowl, but it waited for a long time without Gui Ling arriving.
"... ... ... ..."
After thinking for a while, Yveltal still transformed into its true form and flew out, seeing Gui Ling's belongings next to the erected tent.
"... ... ... ... (Gone to sleep? Is he sulking?)"
Yveltal slowly extended one eye to look inside, only to find nothing there but a rain-soaked bedding and backpack, and the Pokémon encyclopedia beneath the notes.
"... ... ... ... (Where is he?)"
Yveltal directly flipped the tent over, its massive body blocking the rain.
A gust of wind swept through, and the Pokémon encyclopedia flipped to the last page.
Under the faint moonlight, Yveltal saw a drawing on the previously blank space at the back.
It was Gui Ling, Gengar, Banette, Noibat, Frogadier, and... itself.
They were all huddled together, with Yveltal in the center above them, not in its cocoon form, but in its true form.
Everyone's faces were drawn with happy smiles, even its own.
It spread its huge wings, appearing lifelike in the drawing, and below it was a line of text.
"In this place without family, you have always been by my side.
I hope we can always be together like this.
Thank you."
"... ... ... ..."
Yveltal fell silent, a mix of emotions in its heart.
This was the first time it had felt such emotions in its long life.
"He never feared me because of... my identity?"
Yveltal continued to observe, finding that all of Gui Ling's belongings were there, except for the tang katana.
Yveltal had a bad premonition...
Suddenly, a huge figure flew into the sky.
The rain did not hinder its flying speed.
Against the backdrop of the night, it looked like a Death God.
"He didn't treat me differently because of my identity, but I..."
This was Yveltal's thought as it flew.
It circled a few times in the sky, found Gui Ling's trace, and flew towards him with all its might.
Meanwhile, the five Pokémon Hunters gathered together, hiding under a large tree in a jungle.
The rain was blocked by the leaves, and the few of them were eating convenient hotpot and chatting cheerfully.
In the specialized cages beside them were the Pokémon they had captured.
"Hahahahaha! Today was a truly fruitful harvest!"
"That kid was really something, to be able to beat Garchomp like that?
That's a pseudo-legendary Pokémon!"
"That damned Banette actually burned two of my Pokémon to death! It infuriates me! I must sell him for a good price!"
"By the way, did that kid die or not? Why didn't anyone check?"
"Give it a rest, how could he survive a Hyper Beam?
If he's alive, I'll take his surname!"
However, as luck would have it, on the other side of the tree, Gui Ling was quietly sitting on the ground, his eyes becoming sharp and dangerous, slowly caressing his tang katana.
“……”
The five big men grew more and more excited as they spoke, mostly mocking Gui Ling, ridiculing him as an overconfident little brat, but just as they were about to clink their cups again, one of the men’s hearts was suddenly pierced directly by a blade.
“What?!”
“Wh-…What’s going on?!”
“No! Second Brother!”
“Damn it! Who’s there!?”
Gui Ling pulled the tang katana out of the man’s body, his eyes fixed on the remaining four Pokémon Hunters, while Pangoro and Krookodile, seeing their master killed, ran over frantically.
Pangoro threw a punch, but Gui Ling directly dodged it by sidestepping, then with a single slash, he severed one of Pangoro’s arms.
Pangoro recoiled in pain, and just as it was about to counterattack, its neck was sliced by a flash of blade light. Krookodile reacted and opened its mouth to bite Gui Ling, but Gui Ling used his feet to brace himself against Krookodile’s mouth, then stabbed directly towards its throat with his blade.
The Pokémon in the cages sensed the situation here and all looked over. Except for Gengar, who was still unconscious, Banette and the others in the cages watched Gui Ling with shocked expressions, but at the same time, they were also very worried.
Everyone immediately reacted and began to command their Pokémon to attack.
“Garchomp! Brick Break!”
“Gengar! Shadow Sneak!”
Gui Ling saw that his position was no longer sufficient and could only try his best to avoid Gengar’s Shadow Sneak, but he guarded his blade beneath him, taking Garchomp’s Brick Break head-on with his body.
“I can’t block it with the blade… It’ll break! Then I’ll be completely powerless to resist!”
Garchomp’s scythe pierced Gui Ling’s body, but Gui Ling’s adrenaline surged. Taking advantage of Garchomp’s scythe being free, he directly slit his own wrist, staining the blade with his blood.
The effect of “Bloodthirsty Iron” unfolded, and the blade emitted particles of red light. Gui Ling used this method of trading injuries to directly cut through Garchomp, and at the same time, the surrounding trees were also cut in half, but with this, the blade was completely broken.
“Fourth Brother!”
The aftermath of the blade light injured one of the Pokémon Hunters; his body was also cut open, and he fell down, bleeding.
“Damn it! You little brat!”
A Pokémon Hunter, furious, kicked Gui Ling into a tree, while also commanding his Gengar.
“Shadow Sneak! A super big Shadow Sneak! Blast him to death! Blast him to death!!!”
“Gengar!”
Banette in the cage could no longer sit still. Draining all the power from its body, it summoned a huge Will-O-Wisp. The force of this attack was so fierce that it actually burned open the specially made cage.
However, with all its power drained, it also sat down weakly, losing its battle capability.
Looking at everyone who had been released, Gui Ling gripped the broken tang katana in his hand. If this Gengar was dealt with, everyone could escape.
Gui Ling had already thought it through: he would take this attack with his body, use the impact to gather his last strength, and injure this Gengar. This way, there would be a chance to turn the tables!
Just as Gengar’s Shadow Sneak was about to hit, a huge Hyper Beam suddenly shot out from the forest, directly blasting Gengar away.
“What?”
The Pokémon Hunters had not yet reacted; they only felt the surrounding wind growing stronger and stronger. Suddenly, they felt the rain had stopped, but looking up, they saw a huge figure flying in the sky.
“What is that thing?!”
Yveltal first scanned the area, then was shocked to find that Gui Ling, despite such severe injuries, was able to counter-kill three fully evolved Pokémon. It couldn’t help but be thoroughly impressed by Gui Ling.
A weak human being able to defeat things many times stronger than themselves—this unyielding spirit and the belief in protecting his family completely conquered Yveltal. Yveltal thought that perhaps it would discover other beauties in this world through Gui Ling, and decided to acknowledge Gui Ling as its Trainer.
So now, it was its time!
Yveltal’s wings glowed red, and its originally blue eyes turned purple. This was a characteristic it displayed during battle.
The next second, Yveltal’s signature move, Death Wing, was released directly. The red beam swept over the blasted Gengar, and in an instant, Gengar was stripped of its life force and petrified.
“Gengar!”
That Pokémon Hunter’s heart shattered upon seeing this. Although he was a Pokémon Hunter, he cared for his Gengar as if it were his own child, which was why their bond was so strong.
However, Yveltal’s next Death Wing also shot over, and the three men, in their panic and shock, likewise turned into stone statues.
Gui Ling’s eyes had begun to lose focus, but he still looked at Yveltal soaring in the sky. At this moment, he didn’t throw a tantrum, but instead smiled.
“Occasionally… fly more… Yveltal…”
Yveltal directly swooped down, destroying all the cages with one claw, then slowly descended in front of Gui Ling.
“…………”
Looking at Gui Ling, who was quickly losing vital signs, Banette, supported by Noibat and Frogadier, immediately rushed into Gui Ling’s arms and cried loudly.
When it was still a doll, it was abandoned by its grown-up owner and thrown into a trash can, eventually turning into a Shuppet due to prolonged resentment.
Later, it was caught by a Trainer, but because it was too weak, it was released again. From that day on, it fell in love with itself, which is why it often wove leaves to Mimic its own appearance and make dolls.
Gui Ling’s appearance gave it another chance to trust humans. Gui Ling would buy it the dolls it liked, give it delicious food, and never disliked its weakness, helping it train together.
Now it had grown stronger, but the Trainer in front of it was almost gone… They had clearly made a promise before…
“Dang dang! (We promised to go fight a Mega Glalie together!)”
Just then, Yveltal, who had been silent behind them, slowly condensed a mass of black substance in its mouth, then slowly injected it into the dying Gui Ling.
What was shocking was that Gui Ling’s aura was slowly increasing, but the bleeding from his wounds had not stopped.
“…………”
Yveltal frowned. This method was something it had learned from a book; it could absorb life force and also return it. Although it succeeded, the wounds did not heal at all, and it could only continuously supply life force in this manner.
“Gardevoir~”
Just as everyone was at a loss, a Gardevoir walked out from a nearby destroyed cage. Behind her followed a Kirlia and a Ralts.
Gardevoir looked at Gui Ling, nodded, then her body emitted a white glow as she began to use her healing ability to treat Gui Ling.
Yveltal also increased the life force transfer. Under the gaze of the rescued Pokémon, Gui Ling’s bleeding stopped, his face slowly regained color, and his breathing became steadier.
Seeing Gui Ling’s condition stabilize, all the Pokémon cheered. At the same time, Gengar also woke up and immediately hugged Gui Ling upon seeing him.
“Gengar Gengar!”
Just then, a glass bead was thrown directly onto Gengar’s face. When Gengar picked it up, it found it was its ite.
Yveltal had pried this ite off the Gengar that had turned into a stone statue and tossed it to Gengar with a flick of its hand.
“Gengar!”
Gengar nodded after expressing its gratitude. The rescued Pokémon all stayed there, waiting for their benefactor to awaken.
Even though they knew the Death God was nearby, none of them feared Yveltal, which surprised Yveltal even more.
“………… (Why don’t you fear me?)”
“Gardevoir~”
“………… (Is that so… I understand, thank you for your answer.)”
Yveltal looked up at the night sky, and at the same time, the rain stopped. After Yveltal placed Gui Ling’s belongings nearby, this time it did not transform into its cocoon of destruction form, but instead lay quietly beside Gui Ling.
“………… (I hope I haven’t misjudged him.)”