Chapter 362: Reshiram (Two-in-One)
Rio followed Kalita’s mother into the deepest underground cavern of the castle. As Doredo had described, it was a labyrinth of crystalline veins, with bottomless abysses below—one misstep could be fatal.
Rio, Kalita, and her mother walked for about ten minutes. Then, a loud crack echoed through the cavern. They looked around—and when they refocused, their positions had shifted. Rio stood alone on one crystalline vein, while Kalita and her mother were on another.
Seeing this, Rio raised an eyebrow and smiled. It meant Reshiram had chosen him to awaken it.
"How did you get over there? When did that happen?" Kalita was shocked to see Rio on a different path.
"No idea." Rio played dumb, scratching his head.
"Could it be like Doredo’s case—Rio has been chosen by Reshiram?" Kalita’s mother thought of her son’s experience.
"I’ll go ahead, then." Rio waved goodbye and followed his crystalline vein.
After about five or six minutes, a voice echoed in Rio’s mind.
"Do you have it?"
"The courage to face the truth?"
The voice made Rio pause. "Reshiram?" he muttered, looking around.
Just then, the crystal behind him shattered, forcing him to move faster. He reached the end of the vein—a dark cavern. As he entered, a sphere burst into flames, floating up and illuminating the space.
"What is your truth?" The voice returned.
Rio looked at the sphere and said seriously: "I don’t want Victini to die. I want to take it to the sea—so it no longer has to endure a thousand years of solitude."
His words ignited the sphere like a spark. Flames spread outward, and from them emerged a great dragon—Reshiram. It let out a thunderous roar.
[Pokémon: Reshiram]
[Level: 90 (19881 days until next level)
[Talent: Legendary]
[Friendship: 0]
[Ability 1: Turboblaze]
[Gender: —]
[Moves: Dragon Breath (140%), Ancient Power (140%), Fire Fang (140%), Noble Roar (140%), Slash (140%), Crunch (140%), Zen Headbutt (140%), Dragon Pulse (140%), Flamethrower (140%), Fusion Flare (140%), Hyper Voice (140%), Fire Blast (140%), Imprison (140%), Outrage (140%), Blue Flare (140%), Body Press (140%), Body Slam (140%), Breaking Swipe (140%), Flame Charge (140%), Flare Blitz (140%), Heat Crash (140%)...]
[Description: A legendary Mythical Pokémon with the power to burn the world to ashes with fire. It aids those who seek to build a world of truth. When its tail burns, the heat it generates drives atmospheric movement, altering the world’s weather. ]
Rio smiled. Then Reshiram’s voice returned: "Your courage is real." It acknowledged him.
"I think so too." Rio’s smile widened. Now it was time to deal with Zekrom.
"Come." Reshiram lowered itself, signaling Rio to climb on. Rio mounted it, and Reshiram spread its wings and shot out of the cavern, blasting through the rock with a burst of flame.
Outside, Zekrom was still dominating—tossing Kalita’s mother’s Golurk around. A single Dragon Breath nearly finished it. But then Reshiram appeared, and Zekrom froze—it hadn’t expected its rival to show up.
Reshiram was satisfied by Zekrom’s reaction. "Reeeesh~" — Idiot, your dad is here.
Just then, Gengar’s voice echoed in Rio’s mind: "Quick, quick! Release Old Ghost! I’ve been working my tail off for you these past two days—if you don’t let me out for this big moment, how can you face me?" Gengar was practically vibrating with excitement.
"The three Sinnoh idiots can sit this one out, but if Old Ghost doesn’t participate, this gang beating will lose its soul! Do you understand, Rio?"
Rio laughed and released Gengar from its Luxury Ball. "You’re not losing your mind, kid." Gengar gave him a thumbs-up.
"Since you’re out, put everyone to sleep—this battle can’t be witnessed." Rio gave Gengar a task. He planned to capture Zekrom, but in broad daylight, that couldn’t be seen. Better to make everyone sleep.
"Leave it to me!" Gengar was unusually cooperative—as long as it got to join the gang beating.
Meanwhile, Zekrom attacked Reshiram with its signature move—Fusion Bolt. Reshiram countered with Fusion Flare. The collision created a massive shockwave that forced Kalita and Doredo to shut their eyes.
"Little Zekrom, wait for your Ghost Daddy to come deal with you!" Gengar taunted, then dissolved into mist that spread over the castle and town. Everyone caught in it—human or Pokémon—fell unconscious.
Rio, seated on Reshiram, pulled out three colored stones and a blue orb—the items to summon the Sinnoh Three and Kyogre.
About eight seconds later, Giratina arrived first, bursting from the sea. Then Dialga and Palkia appeared through dimensional rifts. Kyogre, sensing Rio’s call, was swimming as fast as it could—to borrow a classic phrase: "Kyogre was riding her horse on the way."
The sudden appearance of the Sinnoh Three shocked Reshiram and Zekrom, who had been mid-battle. Why were the Sinnoh Three here? Was this war?
"Reshiram, don’t panic—they’re my Pokémon. They’re here to help you." Rio patted Reshiram’s head.
Reshiram turned in shock. "Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina are your Pokémon?" Its voice was filled with disbelief.
"Yes." Rio nodded.
"Then why do you need me?" Reshiram couldn’t understand. With that kind of power, it could just grab Zekrom and be done with it.
"Simple—if I didn’t awaken you, how could I capture you?" Rio crossed his arms and dropped the act. "If you hadn’t chosen me, I’d have had the Sinnoh Three, Gengar, Kyogre, and Rayquazar gang up on both you and Zekrom. But since you chose me, only Zekrom gets beaten."
Reshiram fell silent. It had awakened several times over the ages and chosen many humans with noble goals. But this human was the most arrogant it had ever met. Yet, he had the power to back it up.
"What? Regretting following me already?" Rio raised an eyebrow. "If you are, you can always switch to Zekrom’s side. Then you can face Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Kyogre, Gengar—and maybe even Rayquazar."
"No, no—no regrets. Not at all." Reshiram was smart enough to know when to back down. It had pride, but it wasn’t stupid enough to join Zekrom and get beaten up alongside it. If it did that, it would have to wonder if its long slumber had dulled its mind.
"Good. Once Zekrom is down, I’ll throw a ball at you." Rio patted Reshiram’s head approvingly.
Reshiram didn’t truly belong to him yet—and neither did Zekrom belong to Doredo. They hadn’t been caught in Poké Balls, only bound by word.
Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina saw Rio riding Reshiram and exchanged disappointed glances—they’d lost one target. Then they surrounded Zekrom. Zekrom panicked.
"Zekrom~" — What are you doing?! This is Unova!
Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina exchanged wicked grins.
"Dialga~" — What do you think? We’re here to beat you up.
"Enough talk! Just fight!" Gengar, having put everyone to sleep, charged in and threw a Shadow Ball at Zekrom.
Zekrom was annoyed—any trash could mess with it now? It countered with Thunderbolt. But to its shock, the Shadow Ball matched its attack.
"Zekrom~" — How is this possible?!
"Dialga~" — There’s a lot you don’t know. Dialga tossed an Aura Sphere, and the gang beating began.
Five regional guardian-level legendaries—Giratina, Dialga, Palkia, Gengar, and Reshiram—took turns beating up Zekrom. It had no chance to fight back. Even Reshiram, Zekrom’s millennia-old rival, felt a twinge of pity—but then remembered that if it didn’t join in, it would be on the receiving end. Better the other guy than me.
Meanwhile, Kyogre was still on its way.
"Kyogre might miss the whole battle at this rate." Rio muttered. No sooner had he said that than the worst happened.
"I surrender! I surrender!" Zekrom’s voice echoed in Rio’s mind. It had figured out that the Sinnoh Three and Gengar all answered to the human on Reshiram’s back.
"Alright, stop." Rio called off the assault. The others reluctantly withdrew.
"Surrendering means being captured by me—becoming my Pokémon." Rio flew Reshiram over to Zekrom.
"Become your Pokémon?" Zekrom hesitated.
"What, not happy with that? Then we keep beating you—and Kyogre’s about to arrive." Rio smiled, glancing down at the ground. The Dragon Vein was already in chaos—if they didn’t fix it soon, it would cause a world crisis.
"Zekrom, where’s your pride? If I were you, I wouldn’t agree." Dialga taunted telepathically.
Zekrom shot Dialga a glare and said: "Throw the ball. I’ll go with you."
"Great—I like a Pokémon who knows when to give in." Rio smiled approvingly. Zekrom was smarter than Dialga, Kyogre, and the others, who all made demands about beating up other legends before agreeing to be captured.