Who needs a girlfriend when you have Pokémon?

Chi Yansong did not show particular disappointment at the two cadres' defeat, as it was indeed within his expectations.

Before long, a series of light footsteps approached from afar. He, who had been staring at the crater, knew that the most crucial moment had arrived.

“Well…” He turned around, looked at the figures appearing from the mountain path, and smiled, “Thank you for your hard work, everyone…”

"...It really was you guys who did this."

As soon as Asha saw the scene, she immediately understood eight or nine parts of it. Sure enough, the strangeness of Chimney Mountain was due to the Lava Team, but this was actually a good thing.

Over there, the stolen meteorite is placed in that strange device. If nothing unexpected happens, as long as the device is destroyed and the meteorite is retrieved, everything so far will be settled.

Since that's the case, there's no need for any more nonsense. Asha took a deep breath and quickly got into position...

Chapter 162 Eating Lemons, It's Got It!

Upon noticing the strange, enormous machine behind Crimson Flame Pine and the meteorite placed inside it, Aysa immediately understood.

As long as the machinery is destroyed and the meteorite is retrieved, all the previous setbacks can be made up for.

Once Asha was certain of this, she immediately roused herself and quickly got into position.

However, just as she was about to rush forward and start the attack, Chi Yansong's voice came.

"...Isn't it beautiful, Chimney Mountain?"

"what?"

Perhaps not expecting the other party to say that at this time, Asha was stunned for a moment. She even wondered if she had misheard. Why would this man chat with her at this time?

However, her reaction was quick. Camelback and Coalossal, one on the left and one on the right, each unleashed a powerful fire breath at the same time!

Unlike the Fire Goose, who unleashed their fireballs as a powerful burst of flame, Asha's Fire Camel and Coal Turtle simultaneously spewed forth blazing, golden-red flames. The two flames merged into a single, surging, towering wave of fire...

Whether it was in the Meteor Falls cave or just now when facing the elite members of the Fire Village and the Lava Team, I was unable to give it my all for various reasons.

She couldn't use her full strength in the large cave due to the environment, and she had to conserve her power to deal with the Crimson Flame Pine. So now, she finally has the opportunity to unleash her full abilities.

This was her true skill. After completely freeing herself from restraints, she unleashed a terrifying firepower that could instantly melt rocks into magma, relentlessly blasting towards the Crimson Flame Pine.

To be honest, with that powerful blast that could instantly melt rocks, if it actually hit a person, they would probably be charred and burned to a crisp. But Asha didn't think that the culprit in front of her would be unable to withstand even an attack of that magnitude.

Her primary target was the constantly operating machine behind Crimson Flame Pine.

"...I know Chimney Hill is beautiful, of course I know that. I grew up in this mountain, how could I not understand? But what are you guys doing in someone else's place of important memories?!"

Aysa's voice was clearly angry, which was to be expected, as Fire-type Pokémon are inherently short-tempered, so trainers who are good at controlling Fire-type Pokémon usually have two extreme personalities.

Either you are calm and collected enough to complement your Pokémon and use a calm mind to control the raging flames...

Or you can simply get fired up with Pokémon, basically saying "Let's get this fired up!"... Let's all burn it out together and that's it.

Asha's personality clearly leans towards the latter, and more importantly, as Asha herself said, Chimney Hill is a place of important memories for her.

She trained in the mountains with her grandfather since she was a child. She had walked up and down the mountains countless times, and she knew them like the backyard of her own home. She had left countless drops of sweat and tears on this land.

But whether it's sweat or tears, they are irreplaceable and precious memories. And now, the Lava Team has caused such a commotion in Chimney Mountain, and even plans to completely destroy the environment of Chimney Mountain.

After all, according to Luo Wei's previous analysis and speculation, the Earth God is sealed beneath Chimney Mountain, which is the origin of Chimney Mountain's special terrain. So, if the sleeping Earth God is really awakened, what will happen to this dormant active volcano? It's a matter that doesn't even need to be thought about.

The murals in the caves of the Wudou Town ruins have clearly explained all of this with extremely simple strokes. Of course, in fact, there is no need for these murals, because this is a legend known to everyone in this land!

Facing Aysa's all-out attack, Crimson Pine remained quite calm. He gently adjusted his glasses with one hand and threw a Poké Ball with the other...

With such a simple action, Luo Wei noticed that something was embedded in the frame of his glasses. As that thing emitted a seven-colored, neon-like light, the seven-colored neon light continuously gathered within the Poké Ball he casually tossed...

...The next second, a Pokémon carrying a volcano appeared. Its appearance was at least 70% similar to Asha's Camerupt, but it was much larger. The two humps on its back had merged into a huge volcano.

"Mega evolution!"

Not long ago, the miraculous power that Higana of the Meteor Dwellers had once displayed was unexpectedly shown here by Crimson Pine.

The Cameroon that had completed its Mega Evolution snorted, and two streams of flames shot out from its nostrils. Immediately afterward, the volcano behind it churned, and the raging flames mixed with magma erupted into a fountain!

Boiling magma was spewed into the sky and then crashed down quickly under the force of gravity. The flames spewing from the fire-breathing camel's nose collided with the combined fire of the two Asha, and for a moment they were evenly matched!

Meanwhile, the fiery meteors hurtling down were all heading towards Luo Wei's direction...

"...Okay, no wonder you're so relaxed."

Without a doubt, Crimson Pine's trump card is his Mega Fire-Breathing Camel. In terms of strength, the power he is currently displaying is even greater than that of Sigana.

Higana is a true Meteorite, the rightful inheritor of the power of Mega Evolution, while Crimson Pine is not a Meteorite; she merely possesses the ability to Mega Evolution.

However, it seems that the power of Mega Evolution is not exclusive to the Meteor Dwellers. In fact, in the hands of Crimson Pine, it appears to be even stronger than that of Higanbana.

"Do you think we're acting recklessly without any preparation? I'm not entirely sure where that guy Shui Wutong got the Meteor People to cooperate with him, but I have my own channels to obtain this power..."

"Haha, this has really surprised me. The Alliance hasn't even fully grasped the power of Mega Evolution yet. So, how did you obtain this power? Let me guess..."

While raising his hand to command Gardevoir and Sylveon to retaliate with Psychic, Luo Wei held the Z-Crystal in his hand...

Indeed, there's no need to hold back now; he can fight with all his might.

But before that, there's still that intriguing question: through what channels did Crimson Pine obtain the data on Mega Evolution...?

At that moment, Luo Wei smiled and voiced a possibility...

"...Let me guess, your partner is Mrs. Rosamune, the president of the Ether Foundation, right?"

"!"

Chapter 163 The Villain's Reason for Causing Trouble

Although in the game, after the Meteor Dweller Hiljuna revealed the secret of Mega Evolution and cooperated with the League, this power was made available to more trainers, to the point that later on, even a random random person could Mega Evolve.

However, at this moment, Mega Evolution is still a relatively rare ability. The League has not yet mastered its essence, and only Higanbana, as a member of the Meteor Dwellers, is the rightful inheritor.

So how did Crimson Pine acquire this power, which even the Alliance couldn't fully control?

The answer becomes clear with a simple process of elimination, since there aren't many options available.

In this world, the organizations that can rival the League in intelligence gathering and technological capabilities, aside from Team Rocket which is now probably defunct, are Silver Corporation, which developed a series of items such as the Poké Ball, Ghost Lens, and Exp. Share; Devon Corporation, which developed Pokémon Navigator; and...

...The Ether Foundation!

By combining the context and making a simple association, the answer becomes quite obvious.

"Your partner is Mrs. Rosamune of the Ether Foundation, right?"

"Ha ha……"

Crimson Flame Pine neither admitted nor denied it; his attitude was essentially an admission of Luo Wei's guess.

"?!"

Upon hearing this, Lillie's expression became even more subtle. Of course, she knew that her mother had been secretly causing trouble, but she never expected that even Team Lava was colluding with her.

"...Let's leave that aside for now."

Loew gripped the Z-Crystal tightly, unleashing her ultimate power and channeling it all into Gardevoir. She immediately activated her Psychic Field, an incredible aura spreading out beneath everyone's feet, instantly enveloping the entire space in a faint purple light.

"Oh, so this is your trump card? It can even coexist with the realm of gods, interesting~"

In Pokémon battles, the "battle field" is also an important factor. Since the concept of "weather" was introduced, various weather teams have always been a hot topic in battles.

After that, the concept of attribute-based terrain was introduced, making the combat environment even more complex.

Thanks to the power of the Earth God, the entire Chimney Mountain and even a large area of ​​the surrounding towns were bathed in the effect of a clear sky.

Moreover, this is different from the weather effects of ordinary Pokémon, because it is the embodiment of "god" or concept, and the weather changes it causes cannot be altered by the power of ordinary Pokémon.

Even if you put a hundred rain-bringing Pokémon here, it wouldn't cover up the clear sky called by the Earth God. And this is only a portion of the Earth God's power leaking out; it's not his true strength at all.

In such a situation, it's impossible to win by seizing the weather. Unless the god of the sea or the god of the sky can descend, with the abilities that Luo Wei possesses, the only way is to set up an attribute field to allow the two forces to coexist temporarily.

"However, even if one can coexist with the realm of gods, it is impossible to match the sharpness of a god, let alone surpass me who is about to wield the power of a god!"

It's not entirely wrong for Crimson Flame Pine to call this sunny day "the realm of the gods," but to be honest, Luo Wei felt an urge to laugh.

Compared to the scenes depicted in the murals of the caves in the ruins of Wudou Town, the scene before us is merely a small-scale skirmish, because in reality, the power of the Earth God has not awakened at all; this is not a true divine realm at all…

"The realm of gods, is it really only this level... It's not even close to the true realm of gods. You really don't know what's good for you..."

This is not sarcasm, but rather an illustration of a self-evident fact: the other party is attempting to awaken the gods and harness their power for their own use.

but……

"...The wild Pokémon in this Chimney Mountain had already retreated to a safe place before that."

Redflame Pine raised his head and spoke calmly. His words conveniently resolved Rowe and Aysa's doubts: why were there not a single wild Pokémon to be seen here, even though they should have been roaming the area… But…

"And then, what are you trying to say?"

"The instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm is inherent in living beings. These Pokémon sensed the power of the god about to awaken, and therefore instinctively felt threatened..."

"..."

For a moment, Luo Wei actually understood what he was about to say...

"...However, we humans are different. Compared to Pokémon, our power is so weak. If we followed normal natural evolution, there would be no place for us humans in this world."

That's true. It's as rare as having ordinary animals in the Pokémon world. Logically, with Pokémon around, ordinary creatures wouldn't have a niche to survive.

To put it extremely, let alone ordinary creatures, even humans shouldn't have a place to survive in the Pokémon world.

Humans are weaker than Pokémon in every aspect, even in their most prized area of ​​intelligence. Most Pokémon possess intelligence comparable to humans, and some are even ridiculously clever.

For example, Alakazam is designed to have computing power stronger than a supercomputer, and its IQ is an absurdly high 5000...

While the numbers on this encyclopedia, like many other settings, shouldn't be taken too seriously, even if they're not as outrageous as 5000, they're definitely enough to crush most ordinary people.

Given these circumstances, why should humanity still have a place on this land?

This is because the God of Creation bestowed upon humankind a unique power when He created this world…

"...That's curiosity and creativity! The instinct of living beings is to seek advantage and avoid harm. When they see a force that threatens them, they will choose to run away. But we humans are different. We are curious, we try to master it, and we try to turn a force that could threaten us into a part that we can control!"

Just as Lowell said before, the world of Pokémon is too "gentle". It is a world with such a surplus of productivity that ordinary people can live a peaceful and uneventful life without doing anything.

Because things are going too smoothly, if a villain really wants to cause trouble, it's usually not due to some deep-seated economic dispute. The motivation behind most villains' actions simply doesn't exist in this world.

Therefore, if these villains want to cause trouble, it must be because they are pursuing something of a higher level.

When one is no longer satisfied with a normal, affluent life, one will want to reverse everything that dissatisfies one's shortcomings, even the underlying laws of the world itself.