Vita Magicis (HP SI-WC) (Patreon)

Chapter 60: Legendary Complications

‘Fuck! Is this really happening right now!?’

I barely dodged a massive bolt of yellow lightning as it tore through the air where I’d been a second earlier. I pushed myself farther out over the ocean, making damn sure the stray bolts wouldn’t arc toward any unlucky bystanders on land.

Glancing back mid-flight, I frowned as I spotted the source of my problem.

A very pissed-off Zapdos was right on my tail.

I swerved again just in time as another attack came screaming past me, not a simple Thundershock, but something closer to actual lightning ripped straight out of the sky.

‘I knew it,’ I thought grimly. ‘Things were way too relaxed lately and it was only a matter of time before the other shoe fell.’

It seems in my relaxed mood, I’d forgotten one key detail about Pokémon.

Some of them were extremely territorial.

I knew Zapdos nested around the Power Plant north of Lavender Town, but I’d intentionally ignored it. I had no intention of dealing with a Legendary yet, encounters like that tended to attract the wrong kind of attention.

‘And I didn’t even do anything to—’

I froze mid-thought.

Then my eyes widened.

“…Oh.”

When I’d arrived in Lavender Town and felt all those wandering souls, I’d let my deathly presence leak out completely for a few seconds before reigning it in to deal with the spirits.

That had to be it.

Pokémon instincts were far sharper than any human’s. To Zapdos, that surge of power probably felt like a threat, something encroaching on its territory.

‘Great. So this is my fault.’

Once I judged myself far enough away from any towns, cities, or ships that could get caught in the crossfire, I finally stopped retreating.

I turned around midair and faced the incoming Legendary, fists clenched.

“Alright, you electric chicken,” I muttered darkly. “You want a fight? Then come get some.”

The sky had already darkened, storm clouds blotting out the sun as thunder rumbled overhead. Zapdos screeched in response, lightning crawling over its massive wings as it gathered power.

“KRYYAAA!!”

I flicked my HUD open for a split second and activated Lightning Resistance and Paralysis Resistance, then dismissed it.

Just in time.

A colossal bolt of lightning tore straight toward me.

Trusting my resistances, I didn’t dodge.

I backhanded the bolt out of the air.

The lightning scattered violently across the clouds, and Zapdos recoiled in shock, then rage.

Another bolt followed immediately.

“My turn!” I yelled.

I shot forward, ignoring the lightning crashing into me as it dissipated harmlessly against my body. Zapdos’ eyes widened as I closed the distance far faster than it expected.

“Chill the fuck out!”

I drove my fist straight into the side of its face.

The impact sent the massive bird tumbling backward through the air before it barely managed to stabilize itself, letting out a furious shriek.

Pride flaring, Zapdos pulled in everything.

Lightning wrapped around its body in blinding intensity, far beyond simple attacks, likely a full-power Thunder or Discharge.

The air itself screamed.

Then it launched the storm at me.

“Useless,” I muttered.

I flew straight into the literal storm of lightning, bursting out the other side completely unscathed. Zapdos’ eyes widened in pure disbelief just before I kicked it upside the head, the impact making it squawk in both surprise and rage.

Finally abandoning lightning attacks altogether, Zapdos’ beak began to glow white as it lunged forward, trying to skewer me through the stomach.

I barely dodged in time.

That was enough.

Deciding to stop holding back, I surged forward and unleashed a relentless barrage of punches and kicks, each blow slamming into its body with brutal precision. Zapdos could do little more than grunt in pain as the assault continued without pause.

Then, drawing both hands together like a hammer, I brought them down onto its head with a final, crushing strike.

That did it.

Zapdos let out one last squawk before its eyes rolled back and its massive body went limp, dropping into free fall toward the ocean below.

“Shit.”

I immediately pulled a Poké Ball from my inventory and hurled it downward, catching Zapdos mid-fall before it could crash into the sea. The ball rattled heavily in my hand as I caught it.

One ping.

Two.

Three.

The ball clicked shut.

Successful capture.

I slipped the Poké Ball back into my inventory and hovered there in silence, watching as the storm clouds overhead slowly thinned and dispersed now that Zapdos was gone.

The ocean below calmed, the waves settling down and the sky lightened gradually, the huge thunderstorm disappearing as if it never happened.

Feeling like I was being watched, I snapped my head up and swiveled my head around but found nothing around me with the presence already gone from my senses.

“Tsk, I think we’ve overstayed our welcome in this world,” I muttered quietly.

I could hide my own presence and energy if I was careful due to my defenses unless I was being an idiot like earlier. I’d been doing it for a long time now to be honest. But Zapdos?

Since he hadn’t been captured yet, my protections didn’t extend to it and with all the monstrous existences in this world, somebody probably noticed.

With whole organizations and powerful people making it their job or priority to study or keep a watch on the legendary Pokémon, it was only a matter of time before they became suspicious of what caused the huge ass thunderstorm that originated from the Power Plant before heading toward the ocean.

After all it was not paranoid if they really were out to get you.

“I have no doubt that something, or someone, is aware of me now,” I said under my breath, exhaling slowly as I turned back toward Lavender Town.

I began flying inland at a steady pace, already bracing myself.

“…Hopefully the girls won’t be too upset about cutting our vacation short by a few days,” I added.

Especially Luna.

She’d really fallen in love with this world and I had no doubt she would be sad to be leaving early.

=====

Several Hours Later

The moment I reached land again, I didn’t waste any time.

After quickly catching myself a Gastly for Asako, I took off once more, heading south. As I did, I noticed a small crowd gathered below, at least a dozen people clustered together, speaking in worried tones as they stared out toward the ocean.

Toward the place where Zapdos and I had fought, just affirming the next decision I was about to make.

Even though I felt a little bad about it, I decided to go ahead and capture the remaining Pokémon the girls had wanted but we hadn’t been able to get yet.

That meant a fossil Pokémon for Rin, which required a quick detour to Mt. Moon.

A Jynx for Sakura, which meant traveling back to Cerulean City for a trade.

A Horsea for Astoria, found just south of Lavender Town.

A Lapras for Illya, which required me to finally use my Bounty Tracker.

And finally, a Ditto for Luna, which I picked up on Cinnabar Island. I wasn’t about to risk running into Mewtwo of all beings by going to the Cerulean Cave in Cerulean City.

Rose had already secured herself an Eevee in Celadon, and now that we had a male and female pair, we could eventually breed for the full collection.

Flying at speeds that broke the sound barrier more than once, I was thankfully able to wrap everything up within a few hours. By the time I finally arrived in Fuchsia City, the sun was already setting.

Right on time.

I headed straight for the Poké Center, our agreed meeting place, and took a seat. The moment I sat down, I grabbed some food and started eating having gone without for most of the day.

That was when the TV in the background caught my attention.

Mid-sip, I froze.

The screen showed footage of the thunderstorm from earlier.

…Shit.

“Earlier today,” the reporter said calmly, “what appeared to be one of the legendary bird trio, Zapdos, manifested unexpectedly and generated a massive thunderstorm north of Lavender Town. Fortunately, the storm diverted its course before reaching the town and continued eastward over the ocean.”

The footage replayed, lightning tearing across the sky.

“It is currently unknown what caused Zapdos to become agitated or whether it detected another Pokémon encroaching on its territory. The incident remains under investigation. We will provide updates as more information becomes available.”

The broadcast then switched to other news.

I leaned back and sighed quietly.

“Yeah… now there’s really no way to avoid some nosy bastards poking around,” I muttered under my breath. “What worries me now is that presence I felt for an instant before disappearing after my fight with Zapdos.”

I frowned slightly.

“Just who the hell was watching me? A legendary Pokémon perhaps… or something else?”

Another sigh escaped me as I took another bite.

“Hah. I really need to get stronger if I want to wander worlds like this in the future without a worry, worlds with beings far more monstrous than I am right now. Especially if I decide to bring the girls around with me. If it was just me I wouldn’t really care but I can’t risk the girl’s safety like this.”

I paused, thinking.

“Next year… I might have to travel to a universe solely for training. Maybe somewhere with a proper dungeon system that synergizes with my Satou Template.”

Shaking my head, I pushed the thought aside for now and returned my focus to my food.

One problem at a time.

Just as I finished my meal, the doors to the Poké Center slid open.

The previously calm, peaceful atmosphere was instantly annihilated.

A wave of noise flooded in as a familiar group of girls entered, all talking over one another at full volume.

‘And they wonder why most Nurse Joys always look relieved when we leave,’ I thought fondly, rolling my eyes as I turned to face them.

“Onii-chan~ There you are!” Illya immediately spotted me and launched herself forward, landing neatly in my lap and snuggling against my chest. “How was your little adventure? We had a blast in ours!”

“Senpai, how was your day?” Sakura asked next, taking the seat beside me. “Did you have fun?”

“And how come you didn’t order food for us if you knew we’d be arriving around this time?” Rin added, sliding into my other side with a pout.

“We had a blast!” Artoria declared proudly as she took a seat as well, the rest of the girls following close behind.

I looked around at them with a raised eyebrow.

They all looked happy. A little ruffled from the bike ride which made sense. And… suspiciously scuffed in a few places.

There were a few scrapes here and there. Some dirt on their clothes. Even a smudge of dirt on Luna’s cheek.

My suspicion deepened.

“…What did you girls do this time?” I asked slowly.

That only made it worse.

Rose, Hermione, and Daphne all looked away at the same time shily with slight blushed on their cheeks.

“…We beat up a gang of bikers who wouldn’t leave us alone~” Luna said cheerfully, already halfway through a plate of pudding that she got from somewhere. Her Pikachu, Sir Sparksalot, sat proudly on her shoulder.

“Luna! We said we’d keep that to ourselves!” Hermione hissed, only to blush and avert her eyes again when she realized I was now staring at her.

“They asked for it,” Artoria said simply, shrugging as she casually stole a strip of bacon from my plate, bacon I had been saving for Charmeleon later.

I sighed.

“Whatever,” I muttered. “I don’t really care, and I definitely don’t want details.”

Feigning ignorance was absolutely the correct life choice here.

“Is something bothering you, Senpai?” Sakura asked softly. She took my left hand in both of hers and held it gently against her chest. “You look worried.”

That did it.

The girls stopped talking. Stopped eating. All eyes turned to me, some curious, some concerned.

“What’s wrong, Aether?” Rin asked, her tone serious now.

“I have something to tell all of you,” I said calmly. “But let’s wait until you’re done eating and we’re alone in our room. We can use the expanded trunk I brought so we’ll all fit comfortably.”

That got their attention.

“…That sounds serious,” Hermione said, frowning slightly as she was already clearly theorizing.

“Wait,” Illya said slowly, looking up at me from my lap. “You mean to tell me you had one of those expanded trunks this entire time and never told us?”

“In my defense,” I replied with a shrug, “I wanted everyone to get the full Pokémon-world experience. Camping out, sleeping under the stars, all that.”

She looked unimpressed.

…But only for a moment.

Then she huffed, shifted around to get more comfortable in my lap, and started eating as Ginny and Rose returned with food for everyone else.

Crisis averted.

For now.

=====

An Hour Later

“So… that’s what happened,” I finished, leaning back into the sofa after explaining everything, the fight, the aftermath, and the decision I’d come to.

Silence followed.

The girls sat quietly, expressions serious as they processed everything I’d told them. After a moment, Rin broke the quiet.

“I see,” she said thoughtfully. “So Zapdos detected your presence, interpreted it as a threat, and immediately became aggressive. You drew the fight out over the ocean to avoid civilian casualties, but the battle still attracted a lot of attention, including the media. And then there was that presence you felt afterward.”

I nodded.

“Which made you worry another Legendary might take notice,” Hermione continued, adjusting her grip on her teacup. “So you decided it would be safest to leave this world.”

“Right,” I said. “And I might’ve also panicked a little and captured all the remaining Pokémon you wanted.”

I pulled the Poké Balls from my inventory and handed them out one by one, earning surprised looks and quiet thanks as everyone received theirs.

“There’s no need to feel bad, Aether,” Daphne said gently, shaking her head. “You made the right call. And it’s not like we didn’t already enjoy our time here.”

“She’s right,” Rose added with a soft smile. “You were just worried about us, especially since we’re not as strong as you, Rin, Sakura, Illya, Bella, or Asako.”

“What they said!” Astoria chimed in with a shrug before grinning widely. “Anyway, forget all that serious stuff! I wanna see the Legendary you caught. And the other Pokémon too! You said you raced a Pidgeot, right? Show us!”

Just like that, the tension evaporated.

“I read Zapdos is supposed to be almost as big as a person,” Hermione said, excitement creeping into her voice.

“Is it scary?”

“Does it glow all the time?”

“Can it zap people indoors!?”

The questions came fast, and before long every pair of eyes was on me, bright with anticipation.

“Haah… you girls are impossible,” I said with a small smile as I stood up. “Come on. There’s enough space in the other room for this.”

Cheers and excited chatter followed as everyone trailed after me into an empty room, one I’d been planning to turn into a proper training area later.

I reached into my inventory and pulled out Pidgeot’s Poké Ball first.

“Alright,” I said with a grin. “Say hi to my friends, Pidgeot.”

I released it.

And instead of a majestic, powerful bird filling the room…

A small, pink, cat-like creature floated gently in the air.

“Mew, mew!”

The room went dead silent.

…

What the fuck?