Divine Plan? But I'm a Pokémon trainer.

Chapter 452 Shadows of the Past
Places with tragic histories are often haunted, but the Bell Tower is Ho-Oh's residence, so it shouldn't be so easy for such phenomena to occur there.

After a short rest at the Pokémon Center, Link and the Fire Fox arrived at the tower that had been destroyed by fire in the middle of the night.

The Bell Tower used to have ten floors, but after that fire, only the four floors above ground and the basement remained.

There was also a chance that the Zhu family planned to repair the tower and restore it to its former glory.

Ultimately, people believed that it was best to leave things as they were until Ho-Oh reappeared and showed acceptance of humans and Pokémon.

Upon entering the charred tower, the strange aroma emanating from the burned wooden structure wafts over, instantly bringing a sense of tranquility.

Instead, the occasional screams coming from above were quite a downer... It's easy for naive trainers who don't believe in superstitions to wander into places like this.

The fire fox looked around, puzzled by the charred tower itself.

Since this place was originally Ho-Oh's residence, why did it catch fire after being struck by lightning during a rainstorm?

It had witnessed Ho-Oh's "superpower" in a battle. With such a level of superpower, it could withstand fire and even face the Infinity Cannon without getting hurt.

Given the Fire Fox's understanding of Ho-Oh, it's unlikely it would stand idly by and watch humans or elves perish in the flames.

"Ho-Oh is indeed a wanderer, spending the whole year touring Kanto and Johto. But that was 150 years ago. Legend has it that there are deviations in the inheritance process. Perhaps Ho-Oh had already left the Bell Tower for some reason before that."

The fact that the clock tower was struck by lightning 150 years ago and burned down was simply a consequence of that event.

Although Link had asked San Gou about what happened back then, he still felt that he hadn't pieced together the whole story.

Fire Fox felt that both Ho-Oh and Enju were too stubborn. Wouldn't it be better to just talk things out face to face, like Eki-Pon from Kitakami Village?

"Sometimes, even if you want to say something, you don't know where to start. But I think it's coming soon. Maybe the opportunity for Ho-Oh, Lugia, and humans to reconcile is just around the corner."

"Fu?"

For example, the Sea Bell in the trainer's hand. Should we go to the Bell Tower to summon Lugia first thing tomorrow morning?
"Forget it, I really don't like the bottom team. Even if I could bring Lugia, Taleborg, Giratina and Eternatus into the team, it would still be very difficult."

Link has unexpectedly obtained 2.5 pieces of the puzzle, but playing with it is just torturing himself.

Isn't it much cleaner to break through with a coordinated, brute-force attack?
We can make up for any shortcomings with the powerful impact of faith!

The fox seemed thoughtful; that wasn't what it meant at all...

As the man and the fox ventured deeper into the charred tower, the surrounding light grew increasingly dim.

The moonlight overhead shone through the burned tower, casting a silvery glow, but it appeared extremely dim due to the dark and gloomy atmosphere that filled the charred tower.

Strictly speaking, this is not the habitat of Ghost-type Pokémon like Gastly; in fact, there are quite a few Koffings here.

Link and his fox walked for a long time, but only saw Pokémon like Koffing, Rattata, and Zubat.

If those rookie trainers hadn't been hallucinating from inhaling too much gas, there probably would have been some supernatural phenomenon here.

The fire fox, however, felt nothing and detected nothing unusual.

A dark aura continued to gather, making those who walked within it feel increasingly cold.

"Fu~"

In this kind of lighting, you can't see anything clearly; let's illuminate the surroundings first.

However, it's best to be cautious about using fire in this wooden structure; it's better to let the electric dragon out.

Link nodded and sent out the electric dragon, using the orb on its tail to bring in bright light.

The gloomy atmosphere within the charred tower, cast by shadows under the moonlight, vanished instantly, even giving one a sense of refreshment. The electric dragon's lightning was nothing special, so does whether it's haunted depend on the lighting? For example, is it more likely to be haunted during a blood moon when there's no light?

Just as he was beginning to have doubts, something that had been lingering inside the charred tower was revealed by the electric dragon's illumination.

It was the shadow of an unknown creature, churning like a black mist under the light.

It has no physical form, no origin, but exists independently in the world as a simple shadow.

It looks like a shadow creature similar to Marshall, but it is a completely different being.

Is this the ghost that the scorched tower has been causing lately?
"Fu!"

The fire fox immediately activated its "miracle eye," intending to see through the other party's true form.

However, even with the perspective of energy, the shadow still exists independently.

Before the fire fox could even figure out its true form, the shadow launched its attack first.

A swift bolt of lightning was unleashed, shooting towards the humans who had unexpectedly appeared there.

However, the electric dragon next to Link raised its tail and acted as a "lightning rod," absorbing the opponent's electricity.

It's clearly a demon, yet it possesses electric-attribute moves. Could it be Rotom?

"You guys keep fighting, I'll observe the situation."

Link immediately pulled out his Pokédex: "Porygon, can you tell what kind of Pokémon this is just by its appearance?"

The Porygon in the encyclopedia immediately compared the shadowy figure shrouded in black mist with all the data in the database, but found no identical creature.

It can only determine that the opponent is a four-legged beast-type Pokémon, and the electric-type moves it uses are exceptionally intense.

"A four-legged beast-type, Electric-type. I remember Jolteon, Pikachu, Raikou, Electivire, and Boltmouth, but none of them look quite right. Could it be some kind of unknown Pokémon?"

But Link's guess soon became more and more certain due to the battle between the fire fox and the electric dragon and the shadow creature.

The suddenly appearing shadow was a four-legged beast, with exceptionally strong electricity, a very tall body, powerful limbs, a long neck, strong aggression, and a cloak-like mane of fur.

Its true form is the ancient species of Thunder God—the Mighty Thunder Drum!

Why did this elf's shadow appear inside the charred tower?

Even if it's haunted, it's too absurd. Could it be that there are fossils of a prehistoric, dead Meng Lei Gu here?

"Fire Fox, watch out for its 'Lightning Strike', which is similar to 'Surprise Attack'."

"Fu!"

After testing the waters, the Fire Fox used "Mental Power" to immobilize the unidentified shadowy figure.

Although the sudden appearance of the "ghost" was indeed somewhat unexpected, it was still far weaker than the ghost, so it wouldn't cause any panic.

So... do trainers know what kind of Pokémon has no data in its Pokédex?

"A four-legged beast, skilled in lightning, appearing in the Burnt Tower—don't you think it has many similarities to Raikou from Ho-Oh's guard?"

Upon hearing this, Porygon immediately objected: "Based on the assessment, the mysterious shadow is significantly different from the Raikou that Ash caught."

"Yes, because it's not the real Thunder God, but a 'ghost' associated with him."

(End of this chapter)