In the Digital World.
Akira wasn't in a hurry to leave.
Instead, he arrived at another area.
There, an enormous figure loomed.
A colossal Snake's head hovered in the air, its cold reptilian eyes glaring.
Crimson lightning crackled around it, and even its forked tongue was massive!
Beneath the giant head was an equally enormous body, coiled within the Digital World and occupying a vast area.
Just one of its eyes was unimaginably large, and its full form was downright terrifying.
This was the [Snake Lord].
It was a transformed version of Ditto—the true Snake Lord had long vanished from the world.
Countless memories, vast as an ocean, drifted through the space.
These were the Snake Lord's memories.
By having Ditto transform into the [Snake Lord], Porygon-Z could extract these memories.
However, due to the Snake Lord's immense lifespan,
even Porygon-Z, which only absorbed useful memories, had spent many days on the task.
Now, Porygon-Z was finally about to complete its mission.
Half a minute later,
as the last fragment of data was absorbed by Porygon-Z, the process came to an abrupt halt.
Porygon-Z then transmitted the memories Akira sought directly into his mind.
They mainly consisted of terrain details and information about the Dark Continent.
After a quick review, Akira donned the [Invisibility Cloak] and stepped outside.
He was eager to find out what those two Pokémon might be.
Before this, he could only guess they were Pokémon related to basins or canyons.
But after encountering the [Mimic Stars], he had a new clue.
Perhaps they were related to stars?If that's the case, then the scope of Pokémon has been further narrowed down.
Stepping outside.
At first glance, the surrounding environment remained unchanged, with only himself having "disappeared" from the world.
As expected, even when he appeared outside, those elusive "disguise stars" did not show up again.
This proved that the clothing was indeed effective.
Akira chose not to summon Genesect and instead decided to walk ahead on his own for a while.
Along the way, Akira noticed that the area below was indeed quite barren, with little sign of life.
The uneven ground was scattered with rocks of varying sizes, and the irregular terrain looked as if it had been impacted.
After walking for some distance, Akira suddenly stopped, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.
Ahead, a strange rock blocked his path.
What made it strange was the variety of colors and patterns on its surface.
If it were placed on the Six Continents, it would likely attract countless admirers.
[Four-Color Rock]: A rock mutated by special light radiation, possessing partial self-awareness.
In its normal state, it exhibits four coexisting colors.
If its body turns entirely red, its strength increases significantly.
If its body turns entirely blue, its speed increases significantly.
If its body turns entirely yellow, its defense increases significantly.
If its body turns entirely pink, its healing ability improves dramatically.
...
This Four-Color Rock...
It feels like I've seen something similar somewhere before?
Akira frowned, feeling as though he had encountered something with similar effects before.
But he couldn't recall it at the moment.
Still, he was quite intrigued by this thing.
Not only did it have research value, but it would also make a great meal for Steelix.
Since this was a living creature, it could be handled more easily.
As soon as the thought crossed Akira's mind, the two-person-tall [Four-Color Rock] suddenly vanished from its spot...
Shortly after, Akira disappeared as well.
...
In the Digital World,
Akira watched the [Four-Color Rock] begin to tremble in the distance, curious about what would happen next.
The [Four-Color Rock] also realized its surroundings had changed, its stony body shaking violently.
In the blink of an eye, the irregular rock began to take on a humanoid shape, though it still differed significantly from an ordinary human.
Its head was disproportionately large, accounting for nearly a third of its body, and its limbs split into multiple arms like vines.
It looked more like an octopus.
No one would believe this was a rock at first glance.
After all, a rock's sturdy body normally couldn't achieve such flexibility.
But the [Four-Color Rock]'s appearance only deepened Akira's sense of familiarity.
It matched the image of a certain figure in his memory even more closely.
Lost in thought, Akira waved his hand, and the figure of Mega Steelix suddenly appeared.
Mega Steelix now had a ring of floating metal fragments around its neck, divided into six groups rotating clockwise.
The three pairs of rocks on its body had transformed into golden diamond-like material.
The tip of its tail had also turned into golden diamond material.
On the four sides without rocks, there were now blue hexagonal ring patterns.
An intimidating aura erupted as Mega Steelix glared fiercely at the [Four-Color Rock] before it.Pierced by a frigid gaze.
In an instant, the Formless Rock seemed to be dyed, transforming entirely into blue—its speed form.
It wanted to flee.
The next moment, fragments shimmered around Steelix as boundless earthen Aura erupted forth.
Encircling its body, the Aura coalesced into uniformly sized shards, growing increasingly sharp and menacing.
The Rock-type move—Stone Edge!
Countless stone blades shot forth, infused with terrifying Aura, instantly kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
Suddenly, a figure burst out from the dust, draped in a veil formed by the swirling particles.
The fully blue Formless Rock fled madly, yet its body bore unavoidable injuries.
The wounds were healing at a noticeable pace.
It seemed any creature with some strength possessed either formidable regenerative abilities or other means of survival.
The Formless Rock's grotesque eyes locked onto Steelix, brimming with unmistakable fear.
Had it not shifted into its speed form in time, it would surely be dead by now!
As for resistance...
Gazing at the overwhelmingly powerful Steelix, the Formless Rock didn't even consider the option.
It would likely perish the moment it tried!
Abruptly, several of its arms drooped as its body trembled uncontrollably.
Faced with Mega Steelix, it felt nothing but boundless terror.
Not a shred of fighting spirit remained.
[Is it afraid?]
Akira pondered silently.
Upon reflection, it made perfect sense.
This Formless Rock was unlike the rock creatures encountered in the ravine before.
Its intelligence was clearly higher.
Yet, with greater intellect and emotion came the understanding that resistance was futile against absolute power.
Then, with keen perception, the Formless Rock canceled its speed form, reverting to its original state.
It had surrendered.
This was submission.
Akira remained silent for a moment before snapping his fingers. A spectral figure materialized before him.
A jellyfish-like form drifted quietly beside the now "shut down" Formless Rock.
It was Nihilego.
With its tentacles serving as limbs, Nihilego resembled a bashful maiden at first glance.
Its crystalline body, like polished glass, emitted a soft glow, exuding an aura of purity.
Sensing another presence approach, the Formless Rock trembled uncontrollably.
Fearful that Akira intended to dispose of it.
But that wasn't the case.
It still had use to Akira, and its strength was decent enough, so Akira had Nihilego take control.
Nihilego floated midair, its tentacles swaying unconsciously as if swimming through an unseen sea.
Meanwhile, the tips of its tentacles split open into large, translucent segments, strikingly beautiful.
These segments contained vast amounts of neurotoxin.
Controlling a stronger creature required more toxin.
Paired with a fragment of Nihilego's consciousness, it could freely manipulate other beings.
Under Nihilego's control, the nearly transparent tentacle mass merged seamlessly into the Cursed Snake Demon's body.
At the moment of splitting, Nihilego's tentacle tips grew out once more, replenishing what had just been consumed.
Nihilego itself is a jellyfish with a certain degree of self-healing ability.
After undergoing multiple battles in succession, it had also reached SS-rank, and its ability to control living beings had grown even stronger.
Not just animals—anything with life could now be manipulated by it.
This brings us to Meowth's utilization of the Soul Crystal.
It had Nihilego absorb a portion of the Soul Crystal, leading to new developments in its original abilities.
Previously, Nihilego only controlled creatures using neurotoxic substances, rarely involving the soul level.
But now, its control could delve deep into the soul, making it far more convenient and reliable.
Immediately after, several eerie lights emerged from the Four-Colored Rock's body, and its injuries began to revert to their original state.
Its expression shifted from fear and worry to dullness and confusion, finally settling into calmness.
This meant the Four-Colored Rock had been completely taken over by Nihilego.
The next moment, Porygon-Z appeared in the air, flipping upside down as a radiant green light burst from its surface.
Countless memories surfaced from the Four-Colored Rock, eventually converging into Porygon-Z.
Considering the vast area of this massive crater,
and judging from what was already known, the interior seemed anything but ordinary.
So Akira wanted to see if the Four-Colored Rock knew anything about it.
The Four-Colored Rock wasn't as formidable as the Snake Lord, so the memory absorption process was brief.
It was over in an instant.
In its memories, the Four-Colored Rock initially had no consciousness—it wasn't even originally a rock.
After some unknown event, it transformed into a strange stone and developed self-awareness.
From the moment it gained consciousness, its surroundings had always been like this.
It had encountered some creatures, but they were all quite different from those Akira had seen before.
Like that [Disguise Star], the creatures here exuded an indescribable sense of eeriness.
A feeling that things shouldn't be this way.
Almost as if they didn't belong to this land.
But these weren't the main points.
Through the Four-Colored Rock's memories, Akira discovered an extremely important scene.
It was an image from when its consciousness first emerged—distant and somewhat blurred due to the passage of time.
Standing before the newly born Four-Colored Rock were several figures for no apparent reason.
And their appearances... were as bizarre as aliens.