At the same time, not far from those few people, Ash and Pikachu looked at each other, both seeing the seriousness in the other's eyes.
This competition was very similar to the Tauros contest they had taken part in before.
The first similarity was that the entry bar was very low. At the entrance they ran into ten contestants and one staff member. Ash just said he wanted to sign up, and he was let in.
The second similarity was that the rules were almost the same. If you wanted to capture an Ultra Beast, the premise was that you had to first pass through obstacles.
"I thought we wouldn't get caught up to, but I didn't expect those guys to be this fast."
"Pikachu, we've got to give it our all!"
In this crossing, the route was not fixed. The choice in front of them was to go through dense forest or cross a river.
Hearing the voices of those people in the forest, Ash decided to cross the river to save some time.
This was related to whether they could return to the Pokémon world!
Seeing how serious Ash looked, Pikachu instantly became stern as well. With sharp eyes and clenched little fists, it burst out with a presence that completely did not belong to a small electric mouse.
"In that case, let's blast a path open ahead."
"Pikachu, use Electroweb!"
"Pika~ Chu!", The Pikachu on Ash's shoulder immediately leapt high into the air.
As its right paw pushed forward, jumping energy gathered in its hand. The moment it was thrown out, it gradually turned into a net of lightning, spreading over the top of the riverbank.
"Nice job, Pikachu!", Ash made a charging pose, grabbed Pikachu while it was still in midair, and then his whole body leapt up high, boldly jumping straight down onto the Electroweb.
"Ahhh! That hurts, Pikachu!"
One of Ash's legs stepped onto the electric net, and incredibly, he bounced off it, rushing forward at even greater speed.
The price was that electricity flashed across his body, and for a split second even his skeleton showed through from being shocked.
Fortunately, Ash and Pikachu had been together for a very long time. Their resistance to Electric-type moves was almost maxed out.
After taking one shock, Ash successfully crossed the river and once again left the others far behind.
"Pikachu, we did it!"
"According to the map, up ahead is where the Ultra Beasts gather. As long as we catch the strongest Ultra Beast among them, we'll have hope of getting out!"
What Ash did not see was that behind a large tree, there was a bipedal feline Pokémon hiding, its eyes thoughtful.
Its overall figure looked like a standing cat, with tight yellow and black fur.
Its back and belly sides were bright yellow, as if wrapped in flowing light.
It was the Mythical Pokémon, Zeraora.
"Meow~ If I catch the strongest Ultra Beast… I can leave this place?"
"If that's the case, then the strongest Ultra Beast is mine!"
Zeraora's eyes narrowed slightly. Its body instantly turned into a bolt of lightning, bursting out at a speed far beyond Ash and the other contestants, shooting straight toward Axel's direction.
———
Axel and Eva were waiting at the place where he had arrived. Axel used Groudon's Ground-type energy to build a small house. In the middle was a thin layer of lava, just enough to offset the cold of the Ultra Wormhole.
"So boring… Didn't those Ultra Beasts say there's a catching competition? Why hasn't anyone come after all this time?"
"We didn't wait at the wrong place, did we?"
"It's fine, let's wait a bit longer," Eva was holding up a book, reading with great interest.
She was used to doing research that lasted several days on a single topic, so she did not feel bored at all.
Axel had a Fairy lollipop he made for Gardevoir in his mouth, leaned against Eva, crossed his legs for a while, but still felt like he should go out and take a look.
If they just waited here, who knew how long it would take?
"Regirock, you stay here with Nihilego and protect your master. I'll take Pheromosa out for a bit to see if something unexpected happened."
"Before we come back, don't run around, got it?"
["Rock~ Got it, Dad!"]
Axel: "..."
This guy was smart in every way, except when it came to recognizing a dad. In that area, he really looked like an idiot.
"Let's go."
Axel took Pheromosa and walked out of the house. That feeling of silence came again. Other than the lava light above Eva's head in the room and the rustling sound of pages turning, there was no sound at all, no light at all.
"Yo~", As soon as she stepped outside, Pheromosa let out a comfortable cry, gently holding Axel's arm, looking very at ease.
"Miss home?"
Pheromosa nodded, "Yo!"
"Then after we finish things here, let's stay in the Ultra Wormhole for a while. If possible, we'll find a way to solve the eternal night problem here."
"Living in this kind of environment is really too depressing."
"Yo?", Pheromosa's purple eyes instantly lit up. Ever since she was still an egg, her mother would often hold her and tell her what the Ultra Wormhole used to look like.
It was said that before losing its light, this place was extremely beautiful.
If it were really possible, Pheromosa very much wanted to live in that kind of Ultra Wormhole with Axel for a while.
'Just… should I repay master in advance?'
"No, no!", Seeing Pheromosa tilt her head, Axel quickly waved his hands.
"This isn't the right time. Let's wait until we really solve the Ultra Wormhole's problems."
"But I feel like it should be pretty stable."
Axel more or less knew Necrozma's condition. He had only lost his light. As long as he absorbed a large amount of light, the Ultra Wormhole could return to how it originally was.
Now that he knew the multiverse truly existed, this matter was actually not hard to solve.
The Dialga and Palkia that Rainbow Rocket used to travel across dimensions, he just happened to have a set of them too.
Even though he had not captured them, asking them for a small favor should still be simple.
"Muah~", Pheromosa stood on tiptoe and lightly kissed Axel on the cheek, then put her hands behind her back and grinned foolishly.
Axel gently closed his eyes as well, extending his mental power outward to begin checking the surrounding area.
Since those people were not coming to him, he would go find them instead.
If he caught a few more people, he would surely be able to gather information about Ultra Megalopolis.
"Huh?", Suddenly, Axel let out a surprised sound.
The moment his mental power extended outward, he saw a streak of golden light less than two thousand meters away.
That streak was extremely fast, almost flying along the ground. Even compared to Pheromosa, it was not inferior.
Rivers, mountains, branches, all terrain seemed like flat ground before it, unable to delay it even a bit.
In the instant he withdrew his mental power, he saw that figure had already crossed the forest and river and entered his line of sight.
Looking at the running posture of that Pokémon and its blurry silhouette, Axel's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Is that Zeraora?"
And at the moment Axel recognized her identity, that Zeraora also leapt up and stretched out her claws toward Pheromosa.
["Human, this Ultra Beast is mine!"]
Axel, Pheromosa: "???"
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