"Since arriving at Crown Tundra, you’ve been quiet and not very active. Sothing on your mind?"
Johan didn’t imdiately enter Split-Decision Ruins. Instead, while taking a brief rest outside, he pulled Regieleki over and asked, knowing full well what was troubling it.
"Regi..."
Regieleki responded softly, its signal lights flashing.
As an ancient giant, Regieleki had inherited Regigigas’s honesty, straightforwardness, and single-mindedness, while also inheriting Regigigas’s hardworking nature.
To put it in simpler terms, it was a stubborn simpleton, even more naive than Tyranitar.
But this didn’t an Regieleki had no thoughts or feelings of its own.
It’s just that...
Regieleki didn’t know how to express itself or how to put its feelings into words.
But as a "Pokémon psychologist," if Johan couldn’t see this much, he wouldn’t deserve to be a teacher.
He could sense it.
Regieleki was probably hesitant, unsure whether it should return to slumber within the ruins.
The reason could naturally be blad on Johan and his Pokémon.
It was precisely because of their ti together that Regieleki had experienced a bond it had never felt before, a feeling... of making friends.
This was sothing Regieleki had never experienced.
But instinct told it that this "thing" didn’t belong to it. Its duty was to guard these ruins, even though it didn’t know what was actually inside them.
Because of this, Regieleki was confused. It didn’t even know that what it was feeling right now was called "distress."
"Shall we go in?" Johan said.
"Regi..." Regieleki nodded honestly.
Regieleki didn’t understand its own hesitation, but Johan did.
So he felt it was better to let Regieleki make the final choice when it truly faced that mont, following its heart.
Choice?
Johan was startled.
He looked up at the ancient ruins’ entrance.
"Split-Decision Ruins..."
Rumble rumble—
The moss and vine-covered door slowly opened, dust mixed with a decaying sll rushing toward them.
"Cough cough, cough cough cough..." Flint waved his arms, trying to dispel the dust.
"Regi..."
Regieleki stepped inside, its signal lights beginning to flash at an extrely rapid rate.
"What a huge ruin."
After entering the ruins, Flint exclaid in amazent.
This ruin was built inside a mountain, as if most of the mountain had been hollowed out. The space inside was enormous, with traces of brick construction everywhere, sowhat like... the hollow internal structure of a pyramid.
However, this ruin had one major characteristic.
With the entrance as the center, it was divided almost equally into two parts, left and right.
Whether in color, decoration, or structure, there were obvious differences.
More importantly, at the far end opposite them, beside a passage leading to unknown depths, there were clear symbols of signal lights belonging to Regieleki and another ancient giant.
Split-Decision Ruins—the true aning of "split-decision" referred to choosing between the Electric Regi, Regieleki, and the Dragon Regi, Regidrago.
"This ruin..." Flint suddenly realized and exclaid: "It’s sowhat similar to the structure of Snowpoint Temple!"
Johan didn’t bother with Flint’s exclamations.
Since they were both resting places for ancient giants, being similar was quite normal.
He looked at Regieleki standing motionless, its signal lights flashing even faster.
After hesitating briefly, Johan still said:
"Regieleki, if you’re willing, you can continue traveling with us."
"Regi... Regi... Regieleki..."
Regieleki seed not to hear Johan’s words, just repeating over and over—stay, leave, stay, leave...
That stance.
Was just like a computer with poor processing power crashing directly, stuck in an infinite loop.
It had frozen.
Johan’s mouth twitched.
"Oowoo..."
Ninetales approached Johan, its tail naturally wrapping around his arm as it softly called out.
"What is it?"
eting Ninetales’s light blue crystalline eyes, Johan was slightly stunned.
Ninetales’s voice remained gentle, but what it said left Johan standing there in a daze.
Simply translated, what Ninetales said was...
Johan’s willingness to respect Pokémon’s self-determination was certainly good, but that applied to Pokémon with strong self-awareness, like Gengar, Urshifu, and Ceruledge.
But for Pokémon with weaker self-awareness or naturally gentle personalities, it... couldn’t entirely be considered a good thing.
Just like Ninetales itself.
Back when it was curled up in that garbage pile, timid and frightened, scared by the slightest sound, it wasn’t until after several encounters with Johan that it finally made the decision.
Only heaven knew how anxious it had been when making that decision.
So even after going ho with Johan, it spent most of its ti curled up under beds and cabinets, slowly opening its heart bit by bit.
Therefore... sotis, as a trainer, as a friend, there really was no need to let Pokémon make every decision themselves.
When you clearly knew their inner thoughts but they were hesitating due to external factors, why not...
Help them make the decision!
Wasn’t this also what friends should do?
Trainers respected Pokémon’s choices, but Pokémon... would also respect their trainer’s decisions, wouldn’t they?
Giving too much freedom might actually give Pokémon the feeling that... "however you choose is fine with , I don’t care."
A feeling of not being valued.
He hadn’t even truly invited Regieleki.
After listening to Ninetales’s explanation and adding his own understanding... Johan slapped his forehead.
"Really, I was obsessing."
Only knowing to give Pokémon enough respect and recognition, but forgetting that as a trainer, as a friend... sotis you could be "selfish."
"Thank you, Ninetales." Johan crouched down to stroke Ninetales’s head, saying softly.
"Oowoo~"
Ninetales closed its eyes, nuzzling Johan’s palm in return.
Zzzzt—
Suddenly, a golden arc of light lit up within the ruins.
"Battery at one hundred and five percent, Rotom!"
The Rotom Pokédex, which had just touched Regieleki, suddenly beca brighter, with its battery display showing overcharge.
Hmm?
"Regi... Regi..." Regieleki seed oblivious, just continuously muttering.
"Ka-kaah?"
Gengar approached, wanting to shake Regieleki, but then—
Zzzzt!
As soon as its hand touched Regieleki, another golden arc flashed, and Gengar quickly withdrew its hand.
"Huff—huff—"
It kept blowing on its palm.
Got shocked!
It had been a long ti since Regieleki had shocked it.
Sensing sothing wrong with Regieleki, Gengar waved its hand in front of it but got no response.
It looked at Johan and shrugged.
"Ka-kaah~"
Oh no, the electric pillar really crashed.
Johan’s cheek twitched.
Regieleki, you’re not even as good as Windows XP.
Sighing lightly, Johan stepped forward and called softly:
"Regieleki?"
But Regieleki still didn’t respond. Even when Johan tried to communicate using his aura, all he could sense was extrely chaotic thoughts.
This made Johan feel sowhat guilty.
Would it be stuck crashing here forever?
Suddenly.
Rumble rumble—
The entire ruin began shaking violently, and a roar ca from deep within the ruins.
"Regi——!!"
Johan quickly looked at Flint.
At this mont, Flint was standing in front of the passage leading to the depths, also looking at Johan with a bewildered expression.
Johan held his forehead, gesturing toward Flint’s hand.
There it was, his hand resting on the sculpture on the right side of the door.
Flint had already made a choice.
"Drago!!!"
A chanical roar, accompanied by the buzzing of flashing signal lights, rapidly echoed from within the passage.
Then.
A huge black shadow, like a gaping maw, lunged toward Flint.
"Get out of the way!" Johan shouted.
"Ku!"
Fortunately, Infernape reacted much faster than Flint at this mont, tackling him aside with a flying leap.
Bang!!
The ferocious maw snapped shut with a heart-stopping sound.
It was clearly a massive, ferocious black dragon head!
"The sculpture ca alive?" Flint said in shock.
But then the dragon head slowly separated, revealing a dark red orb with serrated patterns, and at its very center flashed a dangerous crimson signal light!
This was the other Regi in Split-Decision Ruins, the Dragon Regi, Regidrago!
"This couldn’t be another ancient giant, could it?"
Seeing Regidrago reveal its true form, Flint swallowed and said.
"Obviously."
"Draaa!! ˙(`)˙"
Dragonite flew out from behind Johan, wings trembling slightly, looking eager to fight.
A Dragon-type Pokémon!
Although it didn’t look much like a dragon—no, more accurately, it looked like just a dragon head—that rich Dragon-type energy that even made Dragonite gasp was unmistakably real.
Johan glanced at Dragonite and, after brief hesitation, didn’t stop it.
Regidrago was the only Regi that Regigigas hadn’t completed making, yet could rival the other four Regis, or even possibly be stronger!
Legend said.
In ancient tis, the Colossal Pokémon Regigigas tried to use the purest "Dragon Orb" Dragon-type energy to create its greatest helper, which was Regidrago.
However, during the creation process, Regigigas didn’t expect the "Dragon Orb" consumption to far exceed its expectations. The "Dragon Orb" it had prepared only managed to create a head.
But even so, Regidrago’s abilities satisfied Regigigas.
At that ti, ancient people feared that one day Regidrago’s entire body would be completed, so they sealed Regidrago away.
It could be said that Regidrago was the only Regi among all the Regis that still had enormous potential for growth.
Even without completing its body, Regidrago was extrely powerful, especially with its ability—Dragon’s Maw!
[Dragon’s Maw: Pokémon with this ability have their Dragon-type moves’ power increased by 50%!]
You should know that Regieleki, which was as famous as Regidrago, had a similar ability called "Transistor," but its effect was far inferior to "Dragon’s Maw."
[Transistor: Pokémon with this ability have their Electric-type moves’ power increased by 30% (nerfed from 50% to 30% in Generation IX, so annoying)]
Both were exclusive abilities, both enhanced type-specific move power, yet there was a 20% difference!
Regidrago’s signal lights buzzed incessantly, its gaze sweeping over them. Originally targeting Flint who had triggered the chanism, but after seeing Dragonite fly out... its attention was imdiately captured.
A battle between Dragon-type Pokémon!
"Regi——"
Regidrago made chanical sounds.
On its already dark red crystal core, surging dark purple Dragon-type energy arose, as if countless dragons of various forms were churning within.
Because Regigigas used "Dragon Orbs" condensed by nurous Dragon-type Pokémon over long periods when creating Regidrago, it was said to have mastered all Dragon-type Pokémon abilities.
It was precisely due to this "Dragon Orb’s" existence that so many Dragon-type Pokémon inhabited this Three-Point Pass.
Then Regidrago’s originally separated upper and lower jaws quickly closed, leaving only its open mouth, like a dragon head preparing to breathe.
Buzz buzz buzz—
The gathering of energy and the buzzing of signal lights intertwined, and everyone could feel the intense threat emanating from Regidrago.
Johan’s expression beca serious, his deanor stern. Without reservation, he imdiately extended his aura power.
At the sa ti, he quickly gave commands.
"Dragonite, use Extre Speed to dodge—you can’t take this attack!"
Can’t take it.
Because what Regidrago was currently using was its signature move "Dragon Energy."
[Dragon Energy: The move’s power decreases as the user’s HP decreases!]
This was equivalent to the Fire-type ultimate move "Eruption" and Water-type ultimate move "Water Spout"—a Dragon-type move with maximum power reaching 150!
More powerful than Outrage and Draco teor.
Undoubtedly, having just appeared, Regidrago was in perfect condition, so Dragon Energy’s power was at its maximum.
Combined with the boost from its "Dragon’s Maw" ability...
"Drago!!"
The black dragon maw opened wide, and an incredibly terrifying dragon breath accompanied by surging energy poured out.
"Draaa!!"
When facing Dragon-type Pokémon, Dragonite was competitive, but in battle, it wouldn’t ignore Johan’s commands because of this.
So before Dragon Energy’s impact could reach it, Dragonite’s body imdiately turned into white light, disappearing from Regidrago’s sight at extre speed.
Boom!!
The missed energy blast struck within the ruins, imdiately producing a massive roar, making the entire ruin seem to tremble.
"Dragon Rush!" Johan swept his hand forward.
After Dragonite dodged Regidrago’s attack and flew into midair, its wings suddenly flapped, and equally surging blue-purple energy poured from its body, forming a dragon coat that attached to it.
The giant dragon tore through the air, charging toward Regidrago with fierce montum.
Facing Dragonite’s Dragon Rush impact, Regidrago didn’t dodge or evade, directly swinging its lower jaw to et it.
Dragon Claw!
Bang!!
The collision between two powerful forces imdiately produced a massive shockwave, forcing Flint, Johan, and all the Pokémon to retreat.
"Regi!"
But with Regidrago’s low shout.
Boom—
Dragonite’s massive form was sent flying backward, crashing solidly into the ruin’s wall and leaving a clearly outlined crater.
Seeing this, Johan couldn’t help but frown.
Such powerful strength...
Dragon Rush against Dragon Claw, yet Dragon Claw had the absolute advantage...
Rustle rustle rustle—
Debris kept falling as the injured Dragonite slapped the wall and flew up again.
Regidrago wasn’t idle either, imdiately closing and opening its mouth again, roaring out another intensely hot Dragon Energy.
As if it had been sleeping for an extrely long ti and had endless energy to unleash.
Dragonite suppressed its pain and quickly flapped its wings, flying rapidly along the ruin’s walls as Dragon Energy’s energy blast pursued it closely.
Johan watched the battle with a stern face, his aura and eyes both focused intently on the combat situation.
Dragonite’s advantage was speed.
"Now!" Seeing the mont when Regidrago’s Dragon Energy blast weakened, Johan shouted without hesitation:
"Dragonite, Outrage!"
Outrage, activate!
Roar!!
A fierce dark red airflow suddenly rose around Dragonite, and bloodshot veins filled its eyes.
But under Johan’s aura’s soothing and its own adaptation during this period, it imdiately suppressed the restless anger in its heart. Folding its wings and then spreading them again, its flight trajectory made a direct 90-degree turn!
Riding along Dragon Energy’s energy blast, it charged directly at Regidrago!
Regidrago naturally noticed Dragonite’s movent and felt the intense threat emanating from it, imdiately turning its dragon head and trying to use the remaining impact of Dragon Energy to knock it away.
But Dragonite and Johan’s movents were faster.
"One more ti, Extre Speed!"
Flint, hiding in the corner, clicked his tongue. "Teacher Johan’s signature move—using moves during Outrage. As they say... small rage isn’t really rage, small boost isn’t really boost..."
Infernape shot its trainer an annoyed look.
You caused this ss, yet you’re making others clean up after you, still talking about "small boost isn’t really boost."
It wanted to fight too!
Even when stealing opponents you could fall behind...
What use are you?!
Boom!!
Dragonite crashed solidly into Regidrago, sending it flying hard.
"Draaa!"
Gently wiping the corner of its mouth, abandoning its usual gentle little fat dragon image, Dragonite showed a fierce smile.
This made them even.
"Regi——"
But obviously Regidrago wouldn’t lose its fighting ability from just one attack.
You should know that Regidrago’s greatest advantage was its extrely thick "HP bar"!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
Just as it fell from the wall, countless scales shot out from Regidrago’s body, almost completely covering its surroundings.
Scale Shot!
No matter how fast Dragonite was, it couldn’t dodge such dense Scale Shot.
"Dragonite, Twister!"
Whoosh—
Wings stirred up a hurricane that caught the densely fired scales in the wind.
"Watch out! Dodge!" Johan suddenly shouted.
But the next second.
Roar—
A ferocious dragon head burst through the swirling tornado, directly biting the Dragonite that couldn’t dodge in ti!
Although Scale Shot lowered Regidrago’s defense, it also increased its speed.
What surprised Johan was that this Regidrago... unexpectedly had decent battle experience.
Bang!!
The ferocious maw bit down on Dragonite, and no matter how it struggled, it couldn’t break free quickly.
Buzz—
Suddenly.
Surging Dragon-type energy began flowing within the dragon’s mouth!
Another Dragon Energy!
At such close range, if Regidrago unleashed Dragon Energy, Dragonite would have a hard ti avoiding serious injury.
But Johan and Dragonite didn’t panic.
The more critical the mont, the more important it was to stay calm.
"Air Slash!"
"Draaa!!"
Although Dragonite’s body was bitten, its wings weren’t.
Its seemingly small wings suddenly flapped, imdiately slashing out two sharp bright white Air Slashes that struck Regidrago.
Interrupt the casting!
Regidrago briefly entered a "flinched" state, freezing in place.
Dragonite took this opportunity to forcefully pry open the black dragon head’s upper and lower jaws, showing a smile similar to Johan’s.
"Draco teor!"
"Draaa!!"
Dragonite took a deep breath and, facing Regidrago’s dark red body within the dragon maw, spat out the most scorching teor shower.
Usually Draco teor would be spat toward the sky, then fall as scattered teors, but this ti... like Dragon Energy, it was at such close range!
But what surprised Johan and Dragonite again was that Regidrago, which had been in a "flinched" state, actually woke up halfway through.
Its seven signal lights flashed frantically, and a terrifying dark red airflow rose as Regidrago’s aura suddenly beca more violent.
Outrage!
It actually used Outrage to forcefully break free from the "flinched" state’s limitations!
Boom——!!!
A massive roar accompanied by swirling dust and the ruin’s violent shaking, Regidrago and Dragonite flew backward from the smoke on opposite sides, crashing hard into the ruin’s walls once again.
"Truly worthy of being the Dragon Regi..." Johan couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
Dragonite’s strength in normal state could rival that of ordinary Champion-level main Pokémon, and after activating "Outrage state," it definitely wouldn’t be inferior to ordinary Champion ace Pokémon’s strength, possibly even stronger.
Even so, at such close range, with double type effectiveness, a full-power Draco teor still didn’t KO Regidrago.
Its HP was truly maxed out.
"Draaa..."
Dragonite staggered as it pulled itself from the wall.
Looking at Regidrago, which was also slowly rising, it felt no annoyance but rather... great satisfaction.
Very satisfied!
This was what a dragon should be like, this was the opponent it valued!
"Ku..."
Flint’s Infernape looked serious and earnest, its eyes burning with misty firelight, its fighting spirit high and rising.
So frustrating—it didn’t get to participate in such a battle!
Thinking this made it even more annoyed as it glared at its trainer Flint again.
But it discovered that Flint was even more excited than it was, grabbing Infernape by the neck and shaking it vigorously.
"Infernape, did you see? It’s fired up—Teacher Johan’s Dragonite, and Teacher Johan’s surging battle desire, how long has it been since we’ve seen this..."
Hearing this, Infernape nodded.
On this point, it completely agreed with Flint.
That’s right, Dragonite’s fighting spirit was completely ignited.
And it brought out Teacher Johan’s battle desire too.
Although he had aura and their mutual bond as foundation, at this mont, Johan felt like he was commanding ga Gengar and ga Tyranitar in battle.
Had Dragonite really learned sothing from studying that "Seven-Colored teor"?
"Draaa!!!"
Dragonite suddenly flapped its wings and rose, its eyes full of surging fighting spirit, Dragon-type energy continuously erging from its body, blue-purple and dark red intertwining, as if even its size had expanded sowhat.
At the sa ti.
Regidrago on the opposite side was truly expanding in size.
Its form visibly grew larger, gradually recovering from its original two-ter height to the size that ancient giants should possess.
"Regi——!!"
Unlike Dragonite, which had Johan helping suppress Outrage’s negative effects, having activated Outrage earlier, it was currently in an extrely violent, frenzied state.
Crimson signal lights flashed as it locked onto Dragonite again.
And Dragonite faced it fearlessly, directly confronting Regidrago’s overwhelming ancient aura.
"Drago!!!"
Regidrago swung its arms, using its dragon upper jaw as claws, tearing toward Dragonite.
Johan’s eyes narrowed, his voice stern as he swept his hand and shouted:
"Dragonite, Dragon Ascent!"
"Draaa!!"
Wrapped in an aura of intertwining blue-purple and dark red, Dragonite suddenly flew to the very top of the ruin’s do.
The next mont.
It beca an arrow.
Diving straight down!
Riding alongside Regidrago’s swinging dragon upper jaw, it unhesitatingly crashed into its body.
Boom!!
A muffled explosion rang out as the ruin groaned.
"Again!" Johan half-closed his eyes, taking in most of the already deteriorating ruin.
Bang!!
Dragonite had originally learned so basics of Dragon Ascent from Rayquaza, plus Rayquaza’s personal teaching and learning from the "Dragon Ascent" scroll inheritance.
If not a perfect replication of Rayquaza’s Dragon Ascent, at least... like Tyranitar’s simulated Precipice Blades, the power wasn’t weak.
More importantly.
Speed!
Although Regidrago beca more powerful after enlarging, its agility... was greatly reduced.
In Flint’s view, he could only see—
Around the massive Regidrago, blue-purple and dark red intertwining arcs of light constantly flashed and appeared. Each appearance was inevitably accompanied by violent impact and collision sounds.
The entire ruin swayed under these collisions.
"Tea-Teacher Johan, if this continues, this ruin will be destroyed!" Flint shouted.
Destroyed?
Perfect if it’s destroyed!
Then the crashed Regieleki wouldn’t have to make a choice!
"Dragonite, the final one—Dragon Ascent!"
Johan’s aura power burst forth as Dragonite flapped its wings. The originally sowhat dim dark red airflow surged again.
Outrage!
A straight arrow cut through the gray ruin. A violent roar accompanied the ruin’s wailing and the heavy sound of Regidrago’s body hitting the ground.
This battle ca to an end!
"Draaa..."
The aura around Dragonite completely dissipated as it staggered out of the rubble, covered in bruises but breathing heavily. Yet Dragonite was grinning widely, very happy.
That was a satisfying fight.
Especially, a satisfying flight!
However, just as it took one step...
Bang—
It accidentally stepped into empty space and took a tumble.
"Draaa!"
Fortunately it was just a fall. Dragonite patted its round belly and stood up again, then...
Bang—
Tripped over a rock again.
Johan: "..."
He quickly stepped forward, taking out spray to treat Dragonite while saying:
"Stop walking."
He was really afraid Dragonite would be fine during battle but get knocked out by tripping after the battle ended.
"Draaa~(ˊˋ)"
Dragonite flapped its small wings and sat down obediently, accepting Johan’s treatnt, grimacing in pain while unable to stop being happy.
Receiving Johan’s treatnt after a satisfying battle was also a kind of enjoynt~ Dragonite thought happily.
Rumble rumble—
Suddenly the ruin erupted with violent roaring as large chunks of stone bricks crashed down.
"Teacher Johan, the ruin is collapsing!" Flint quickly shouted.
Johan didn’t hesitate, taking out a Poké Ball to recall the crashed Regieleki, while the little ones all ran to his side protectively. Only the massive Regidrago remained collapsed in the rubble.
After brief consideration, he threw a blue-gray Heavy Ball at Regidrago.
The unconscious and defeated Regidrago couldn’t struggle. The Heavy Ball shook a few tis, its light flashed, then made a "click" sound.
Gengar picked up the Heavy Ball and quickly followed Johan and the others out of the ruins.
Rumble——!!
A massive crash.
The earth trembled.
Wild Pokémon throughout Three-Point Pass all looked toward Split-Decision Ruins.
And outside Split-Decision Ruins, both Flint and Johan watched this scene.
"Teacher Johan, did you smash the ruins?" Flint stared wide-eyed, his expression exaggerated.
Johan shot him an annoyed look.
"In broad daylight, how are you wrongfully accusing people?"
"?" Flint pointed at himself, looking at Infernape beside him with crossed arms, his expression seeming to ask "who did I wrongfully accuse?"
Johan said calmly:
"Obviously it was Regidrago that smashed it. Dragonite was just defending itself."
"That works too?"
Flint expressed his "admiration."
But thinking back carefully, he found...
It really was Regidrago that smashed it when it enlarged and fell into Outrage’s side effects. Dragonite... at most just left two craters of different depths in the ruin’s walls.
Then he heard Johan say:
"Actually, it’s not necessarily bad that this ’prison’ was destroyed."
"Prison?" Flint was stunned.
"Split-Decision Ruins"—nominally called ruins, but weren’t they actually a "prison" built by ancient people who feared Regidrago and Regieleki’s power?
The ruins themselves weren’t actually guarding anything. The murals on the ruin walls only described so things that Regidrago and Regieleki had done in ancient tis—dangerous things that frightened humans.
The truthfulness of these events was questionable, but Regieleki and Regidrago, these two "honest guys," were completely imprisoned in these ruins.
This was what he had discovered after entering the ruins.
With it destroyed, Regieleki no longer had to hesitate.
Split-Decision Ruins’ multiple choice question?
Now it beca a single choice.
It’s just that throwing a Poké Ball to save and capture Regidrago had now beco a problem.
Because Regidrago had also beco a single choice.
Using Regieleki’s "appetite" as reference, Regidrago was probably... also a big eater.
Johan rubbed his temples with so headache.
Maybe he should get the League to pay so money to "adopt" Regidrago?
He couldn’t possibly...
Raise them both himself, could he?
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