Chapter 180: Catching Registeel
The aftermath of the explosion lasted several minutes. Rio didn’t dare look around—even with Regirock shielding him, debris still pelted him. He could only lower his head and stare at Munchlax, who was hugging his leg in terror. In the midst of its fear, the little chubby suddenly remembered it still had a rice cracker, so it sat there munching while looking at Rio—which made him laugh despite everything. Even staring death in the face, it won’t forget to eat.
Once the chaos settled, Rio slowly lifted his head. Regirock, who had taken the brunt of the blast, was once again reduced to a battered state—even worse than before. Its entire left arm had been blown off at the shoulder.
"Charr~" Regirock’s cry was weak.
"Thank you, Regirock." Rio patted its broken arm. "Let me see what’s outside."
"Charr~" Regirock struggled to its feet. A massive boulder—probably weighing dozens if not hundreds of tons—toppled to the side with another deafening crash. Rio looked at the rubble, then at the broken Regirock, and said again: "You’ve really been through a lot, Regirock. Go find some rocks to repair yourself."
"Charr~" Regirock nodded and went off to dig for stones. The rocks it needed could be found in geological layers all over the world.
Once Regirock left, Rio looked up at the sky. The mist that had once shrouded the graves was now pouring down into the ruins from above.
"Sigh..." Rio let out a long, heavy sigh. It was just a regular Pokémon battle—why did you have to pull out Explosion? Were you trying to prove that art is an explosion?
He scanned the area and found Articuno cowering in a corner, completely unharmed. Charizard, standing beside it, had taken some minor damage.
"How come you’re both fine?" Rio asked in confusion.
"Of course—this legendary bird used Protect! A little Explosion like that is nothing to me," Articuno said proudly, a white shield flickering around it. "Little Charizard, you should thank me. If I hadn’t reacted fast enough, you’d be down right now."
Charizard let out a dismissive snort and turned its head away. Though it had indeed been saved by Articuno, saying "thank you" wasn’t that easy. Next time Articuno’s in trouble, I, the genius of the Charizard lineage, will step in and save it instead.
But Rio’s expression froze at Articuno’s words. Protect! Of course—Regirock knows Protect too! I completely forgot! He didn’t need to be told that if Regirock had emotions, its friendship toward him would have plummeted by twenty points.
"Annih~"
A sound came from the other side. Rio turned—Annihilape was tossing aside rocks, each weighing over a hundred pounds, as if they were nothing. Soon, it uncovered the Red Gyarados, buried beneath the debris. Though blasted to the brink of death, the Gyarados still wore an expression of pure bliss.
"Annih~" Annihilape dragged the Gyarados over to Rio. The message was clear.
"Sigh—this one’s something else too," Rio thought, feeding the Red Gyarados a Revival Herb while it wore that contented look. "Annihilape—help me find Registeel."
"Annih~" Annihilape went back to clearing rocks.
After the Red Gyarados recovered, the culprit—Registeel—was finally unearthed. Though its exterior appeared undamaged, it lay motionless on the ground. Rio tossed a Poké Ball. Registeel was drawn in, but it broke free after two wobbles. He tried again—same result. After five attempts, Registeel was finally caught.
Rio tucked the Poké Ball back into his bag. Unlike Regirock, Registeel didn’t need to dig for rocks to repair itself—its body was nearly indestructible and didn’t require food. It just needed time to recover its combat capability.
"Charizard—next stop. Time to catch the last of the three Regis—Regice."
"Roaar~"
Half an hour later, once Regirock had recovered, Rio climbed onto Charizard and flew toward Route 105, where Regice was sealed.
Route 105 lay between Petalburg City and Dewford Town. Five hours after leaving Route 120, Rio arrived. He spent over three hours scouring the sea before spotting an unusual island—small, but with a prominent cave. The cave’s entrance gate was already open.
Rio and Charizard entered. Like the other two ruins, a long descending staircase awaited them. After about ten minutes, they reached the end—and once again, a stone wall inscribed with Braille.
Rio approached the wall and traced the Braille:
"Stand still."
"Wait two minutes."
"The wall will circle here."
Rio murmured the words, then raised an eyebrow. "So I just stand here and wait two minutes?"
Following the instruction, he stood still and counted the time in his head. Sure enough, just as the two-minute mark approached, the chamber began to shake. The stationary walls rumbled and began to rotate.