Chapter 161: The Way of a Queen
"Gavin actually lost!"
"The Captain of the League's Mining Corps lost?! Even if Golem isn't his ace, that Sceptile must be incredibly strong, right?"
"That Sceptile is so smart! It used the rocks to block his line of sight, faked an attack with clones, and then approached from underground."
"And the damage it dealt was absurd! I didn't even see it use any special buffing moves."
"There was a lot about that battle that I just didn't understand."
The battle was over. The crowd of onlookers seemed even more surprised than Gavin and Will. Will had taken a little damage at the start of the fight, but it wasn't a big deal. A single Recover and he was pretty much fine.
"When I went to the Hoenn League for an exchange program, I also met a few Sceptile—some with trainers, some were Alphas of wild clans," Gavin said, recalling his Golem. He walked over to Will. "Some of them might have been physically stronger than you, but none of them were as outstanding. You've really amazed me."
"You flatter me," Will nodded casually. Since they couldn't speak the same language, he had no intention of wasting words.
"You've refreshed my understanding of wild Pokémon. I always thought that I could only improve my command skills by fighting against strong humans. Now I see that I still have so much to learn," Gavin sighed, feeling his past self had been too shortsighted.
Will scratched his head. Wasn't he also a human trainer? The only difference was that other trainers commanded their Pokémon, while he commanded himself.
"I have to take my Golem to the Pokémon Hospital for treatment, so I'll be leaving. By the way, I'm really curious... what kind of person is the trainer of a Sceptile like you?" Gavin said, leaving with that last question hanging in the air.
The Pokémon Hospital was right next door. The words he had spoken, however, floated in Will's mind. He looked up at the surrounding crowd. The people and their Pokémon were all looking at him with reverence and admiration, mixed with shock and appreciation. But there was no greed. Not a single person dared to imagine becoming his trainer. Because his performance had been too stunning, so stunning that most of them couldn't even imagine—if I became this Sceptile's trainer, what use would I even be?
Does such a powerful Pokémon even need a trainer? For him, most trainers would probably just be a hindrance.
"The list of trainers I would approve of... is actually quite long," Will sighed softly.
In terms of battling, it was true he didn't need any human's help. But... a trainer's job isn't just to increase a Pokémon's combat power. A trainer grows together with their Pokémon, and this growth is multifaceted. It's like being a master. A master not only teaches their apprentice to be strong, but also how to be a person, how to grow, how to achieve their dreams... And most importantly... as long as the trainer and the Pokémon like each other, that's all that matters.
So... Liz, Hestia, Iris, Sola, Gunther... all of these were people he would approve of as a trainer. It was just that... he had only chosen Liz.
Will returned to Shigeru and Celestia's side and stood quietly. Now, no one was thinking of coming up to challenge him.
"I'm also very curious. Who will become this Sceptile's trainer?" Celestia asked with a smile.
"...There won't be anyone," Will shook his head. He had already made his decision. In this life, he would just stay with Meowscarada. When he had fulfilled his promise to Liz, he would travel everywhere with his cat, meet more friends, and revisit the ones he had made along the way. When they got tired, they'd find a quiet corner to rest for a while, and when they got bored, they'd set off again.
"I can't take it anymore! That battle got me so fired up, I have to go fight too!"
"Turtwig!"
Shigeru and his Turtwig were extremely excited and ran directly onto the field.
"I think, tonight, this Sceptile will be the talk of many dinner tables," Celestia said, turning to Will.
However, she found it strange that his gaze was fixed on a distant street, as if he hadn't heard her.
And in Will's eyes, the phantom of Liz, which only he could see, seemed to be arguing with someone. He didn't even have to think to understand. She was undoubtedly arguing with the people of Jubilife Village over the issue of Pokémon.
Jubilife Village had a typical "Era of Primal Beasts" tribal mentality. Before Professor Laventon arrived, they refused to let any Pokémon into the village. Even if they saw an injured Pokémon in the wild, they wouldn't help it. Instead, they would hide and watch from a distance. This was a very rational behavior. If a Pokémon was injured, it had undoubtedly been attacked by another. The attacker was most likely still nearby. The humans of that era knew to run at the first sight of an injured beast, not to think about getting a lucky break.
Until Laventon arrived, the situation hadn't improved much. Only Pokémon that were kept inside Poké Balls were allowed into the village. After all, in their eyes, a Poké Ball was like a nose ring on a bull; it was a controllable entity, and therefore, not as frightening. It was only after the "player character" appeared that Jubilife Village began to truly change, and the concept of humans and Pokémon living together and helping each other began to take root.
And now, Liz was doing what the player should have done. But she was different from the player. The player could only follow the game's script. But Liz had her own thoughts, her own opinions, and she didn't need the village's acceptance. Especially since she was accompanied by several powerful Pokémon that weren't in Poké Balls. The people of Jubilife must have been terrified when they first met her.
The fact that she could even enter the village must have been thanks to Laventon. He had come to Hisui specifically to study the habits of Pokémon. A trainer like Liz, who had several tamed Pokémon by her side, would have been the perfect research assistant in his eyes.
"Looks like she's staying," Will murmured.
He didn't even need to hear what she was saying. With just one look, he understood her intentions. Liz would definitely stay in Jubilife Village. Not to help Laventon, nor to rest. But to change the thoughts and views of these people.
She had told him once that she wanted to create an era where humans and Pokémon could live in peace. This era wasn't just a new era for Kanto and Johto, but for the entire world. So, she would stay, and from Jubilife Village, she would begin to change the relationship between humans and Pokémon across the entire continent of Hisui.
But... Will, as someone who already knew the future, felt that she shouldn't be doing this. By doing this, she was accelerating the pace of Hisui's development. If she hadn't, then in the future Three Kingdoms War, the victor would have certainly been the Dragonite Kingdom. Even if they had fought Hisui and Hoenn at the same time, the outcome would have been the same. At that time, perhaps the Dragonite Kingdom would have unified all four regions.
But, as he had said, this was only a thought he had because he already knew the future. It was hindsight. If he hadn't come to the future, if he were still alive with her, he probably wouldn't have stopped her. After all, this was the goal they had wanted to achieve together.
"Meow?" Meowscarada came to his side and rubbed his face. She had seen him staring into space for so long without responding and had come to check on him. Her two big pink eyes were filled with worry.
"It's nothing. We might just be staying in the Sinnoh region for a while longer."
"Meow~" Meowscarada smiled and hugged his arm. Her meaning was clear: as long as she was with him, it didn't matter where they were.
"Everyone is looking at you."
"Meow."
At Will's words, she immediately stood up straight, crossed her arms, and lifted her chin, looking down on the battlefield with the air of a cold, proud goddess.
Will smiled and shook his head, his mind already turning to his future plans. The plot of Legends: Arceus was not short. And many of the operations in the game would be extremely troublesome and fatal in reality. In the game, the player could revive if they died. But in reality, once you were dead, you were dead.
Thinking of this, even knowing that Liz had eventually returned to Johto, Will couldn't help but feel worried. And there wasn't much he could do but follow her phantom and stay by her side, to walk the path she had walked in Hisui and to see the things she had done.
Half an hour later, the group was on their way home. Shigeru and his Turtwig had been eliminated in the first round of a match. His fiery mood had cooled, and he now looked dazed.
"Tomorrow, I'll take you and Meowscarada for a tour. Jubilife City has many places worth visiting," Celestia said, holding her Budew.
"Yeah, yeah! You guys go with her. I've got ten battles scheduled for tomorrow; I don't have time to play with you," Shigeru nodded, not being polite at all, with no awareness of his role as a host.
"What old things?" Will asked.
"Meow?" Meowscarada made the same expression.
"The museum. There are things there from hundreds or even thousands of years ago, and many from other regions, too," Celestia said.
Will paused, then he knew what she was talking about. The Three Kingdoms War from centuries ago... The final battle had no victor. But before that, there had been several smaller wars. The ruling kingdom of Sinnoh at that time must have plundered some things from the other regions and stored them away.
"I'm very interested in those things. I want to research them," Celestia said.
"I'm a little interested too," Will replied.
"When I'm done with my research, I'll have to leave. What about you two? Would you like to come be a guest in Celestic Town?"
"I'm not sure. We'll see," Will shook his head, temporarily refusing her invitation. He didn't know where Celestic Town was located in the Hisui of a thousand years ago. It might have been a barren wilderness that Liz never even passed through.
"Alright, what a pity."
"Haha! It's fine! Sceptile and Meowscarada, you can stay at my place as long as you want! Don't worry! When I get back, I'll have someone renovate the warehouse to give you a more spacious room!" Shigeru clapped his hands, looking quite happy. This way, his Turtwig would have a teacher.
"Thank you, but that's not necessary," Will said with a smile, shaking his head. He was grateful for Shigeru's kindness, but staying in a human's house for a long time wasn't ideal. Besides, he and Meowscarada ate a lot.
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