Chapter 161: Congratulations, Miori, You Can Be King Now!
The instant the mechanical beast charged into the chamber, Miori threw her Poké Balls.
Three bursts of red light erupted.
Luxray, Metang, and Ampharos surrounded the mechanical beast from three different directions, while Emolga flew overhead and hovered above it.
"Good formation."
Miori adjusted her goggles.
"Attack!"
The mechanical beast struck first.
A compressed energy projectile erupted from its mouth and shot directly toward Luxray.
Luxray twisted aside, and the projectile struck the stone wall behind it, blasting out a small scorched crater.
"Wild Charge."
Miori’s voice remained calm.
Golden electricity erupted around all four of Luxray’s legs. Its entire body transformed into a bolt of golden lightning and slammed head-on into the joint of the mechanical beast’s left foreleg.
The grinding of its gears abruptly became shrill.
The impact forced the mechanical beast’s left foreleg half a meter outward, sending a shower of sparks from the joint.
"Metang, use Psychic! Ampharos, use Thunder!"
Blue light flashed in Metang’s eyes.
An invisible force field precisely locked down the mechanical beast’s right foreleg just as it attempted to raise it.
Ampharos lifted its head, and a massive golden pillar of electricity erupted from its body, striking the mechanical beast directly in the chest.
Electricity spread throughout its gears and transmission rods, causing all four of its legs to seize at once.
Miori frowned as she watched the mechanical beast twitch.
She knew exactly how powerful Thunder was. An ordinary Pokémon would already have collapsed after taking that attack, yet this thing had merely frozen for several seconds.
Its gears were still turning.
The armor covering the mechanical beast’s chest suddenly opened, revealing an entire array of rapidly rotating gears inside.
The next second, more than a dozen energy projectiles erupted from its chest and rained down upon them.
"Metang, use Protect."
Blue light flared brilliantly in Metang’s eyes.
A pale-green barrier instantly appeared in front of all four Pokémon.
The energy projectiles struck the barrier one after another, bursting into showers of sparks. Countless tiny cracks spread across its surface.
"What in the world is this thing made of?"
Miori stared at the rapidly spinning gear assembly inside the mechanical beast’s chest.
"If ancient people genuinely possessed technology like this, how did their civilization ever fall?"
Emolga landed on her shoulder, electricity flashing twice from its cheek pouches to indicate that they could discuss that question after escaping alive.
At that moment, a piercing metallic scraping sound came from the entrance beside them.
A streak of silver light shot out from the darkness and planted itself between Miori and the mechanical beast.
It was a sword.
Miori took out her Pokédex.
"This seems to be..."
[Aegislash, the Royal Sword Pokémon. It is said to recognize those who possess the qualities of a true king. Those chosen by it are destined to ascend to the throne.]
"That impressive?"
Miori put away her Pokédex.
"It’s a shame people can’t exactly declare themselves kings anymore. More importantly, are you an enemy or an ally?"
At the same time, the mechanical beast launched another attack.
More than a dozen energy projectiles surged toward Miori from every direction.
Aegislash’s body contracted and transformed in an instant, its arms and blade folding inward.
An enormous honeycomb-patterned shield of light unfolded before it.
The energy projectiles struck the shield and exploded into wave after wave of sparks, yet the luminous barrier didn’t move in the slightest.
Miori patted her chest.
"I nearly became a fully roasted human. Thanks, Shield Hero."
Aegislash didn’t respond.
It merely changed back into its sword-like form, revealing the ghostly blue light flowing across its blade.
The gear assembly inside the mechanical beast’s chest began rotating at high speed once again, clearly unwilling to give them any more time to chat.
"Fine. Let’s finish the battle first."
Miori raised one hand.
"Metang, use Psychic! Ampharos, use Thunder! Luxray, use Wild Charge!"
The three commands were issued almost simultaneously, and all three Pokémon moved at the same moment.
Ampharos raised its head and unleashed a massive golden pillar of electricity.
The mechanical beast instinctively attempted to dodge to the right, but Psychic pinned its body firmly in place, throwing it off balance and forcing it to tilt toward the left.
Wrapped in golden electricity, Luxray precisely struck the joint of the mechanical beast’s left hind leg.
The joint finally exceeded its limits.
Its supporting rod snapped, and the entire left hind leg completely lost the ability to bear weight.
The mechanical beast’s enormous body crashed to the ground.
It opened its mouth and began gathering energy for another projectile.
"Aegislash!"
Miori raised her hand.
"Use Sacred Sword!"
A flash of sword light swept through the chamber.
Aegislash cleaved the gear assembly inside the mechanical beast’s chest cleanly in half.
The entire mechanical beast then collapsed with a deafening crash, sending a cloud of dust billowing through the chamber.
Aegislash returned to Miori’s side, and the ghostly blue light surrounding its blade slowly faded.
"We worked together surprisingly well."
Miori turned toward Aegislash.
"Hey, tell me honestly. Do I possess the potential to become king?"
"I’m still alive, and you’re already thinking about declaring yourself king?"
Miori abruptly looked down at the communicator attached to her waist.
"Dad?! Since when have you been eavesdropping?!"
"Since you read the words ’None but the king may enter,’" Asher’s voice replied through the communicator.
"Wasn’t that practically the moment I entered?!!!"
"That isn’t important. I called to remind you that Aegislash will soon lead you into the core section of the main hall."
Asher paused.
"There’s a stone inside. Take it with you."
"What kind of stone?"
"The Dark Stone."
Asher’s voice became unusually serious.
"It’s the item capable of awakening Zekrom."
Miori remained silent for a moment.
"If I take it, Zekrom isn’t going to wake up immediately and come looking for me, is it?"
"Of course not. Keep it safe after obtaining it. We’ll deal with everything else once you reach Dragonspiral Tower."
"But—"
Beep, beep, beep—
The call ended.
Miori remained silent for a moment before turning toward Aegislash.
"All right. The mission announcement is over. Lead the way, Shield Hero."
Aegislash guided Miori through an extremely well-concealed side passage.
As Miori approached, a crack silently appeared in the stone wall at the corridor’s end. The two halves slid apart, revealing a relatively small stone chamber.
A stone pedestal half a person’s height stood in the center of the chamber.
A single stone rested upon it.
"Wait."
Miori didn’t immediately approach.
"Following the usual pattern, an item of this importance must be surrounded by traps. The floor might collapse, poisoned arrows might start flying everywhere, or something similar."
"So..."
Miori lifted Emolga down from the top of her head.
"I’m leaving this to you, Emolga Ranger!"
"Emolga, emolga, emolga!!!" (So it doesn’t matter if I die?!)
Emolga flailed furiously in protest.
"I’m joking."
Miori took out a Poké Ball.
"Come out, Metang! Use your psychic power to bring that stone over here!"
Blue light appeared in Metang’s eyes.
An invisible force enveloped the Dark Stone on the pedestal, lifting it through the chamber until it stopped directly in front of Miori.
Before Miori could examine it closely, Emolga snatched the Dark Stone away and landed steadily in front of her.
It dropped to both knees, raised the Dark Stone respectfully above its head with both front paws, and bowed.
"Emolga, emolga, emolga, emolga!!" (Congratulations, Miori—you can be king now!)
"...Who taught you to do that?"
[VIP Chat Group]
[May]: Hahaha! Emolga turned Miori’s own joke against her! It’s a genius!!
[Volkner]: Why do I get the feeling that Emolga is completely serious?
[Flint]: What do you mean?
[Volkner]: Think about it. If Miori genuinely becomes king, wouldn’t Emolga become one of the founding retainers who supported her rise?
[Gary]: Based. What a scheming little mouse.
[Brock]: Returning to the important matter, now that Miori has obtained the Dark Stone, she’ll probably be heading to Dragonspiral Tower soon, right?
[Drayden]: Most likely. However, the other hero still hasn’t formally appeared.
[Raihan]: Personally, I think it’s almost certainly that guy named N.