Pokémon: Who let him leave Pallet Town?

Chapter 404 The Moltres Engage in a Fierce Battle

In the blink of an eye, Natsume arrived at the starting point of the fire-lighting ceremony, as indicated on the notice.

Following the map, Natsume walked to the other side of the mountainside.

The area is covered by forests, with only one narrow path leading through it.

The moment he stepped into the forest, Natsume frowned strangely.

"it's wired?"

He turned his head and looked around.

Everything here, from the trees to the rocks and soil, gives Natsume a feeling of great vitality.
No, "full of life" is not an accurate adjective.

Living things, that is, the feeling of living things.

The trees are fine, but...
Natsume picked up a bit of soil and rolled it into a mud ball in his hand.

His keen senses made him think he heard a faint wail.

After watching for a while, Natsume flicked the mud ball away and continued walking into the distance, soon arriving at the fire-lighting point.

Because the fire-passing ceremony was held much earlier than planned, there weren't many people here.

As soon as he got close, Natsume heard a quarrel.

"What do you mean I'm holding you back? I got to Silver Mountain before you!"

"Oh? My Eevee can already master Gigantamax, can you?"

Ash and Gary stood by the roadside, arguing with each other.

The few staff members scattered around them turned their heads and looked at the two of them strangely.

Natsume stepped forward and threw a brick at each of them.

"What?"

The two men, holding bricks, looked at Natsume with a puzzled expression.

"Aren't you going to fight?"

"Who, who wants to fight him? How childish!"

Xiao Mao tilted his head to the side.

"I consider any argument that doesn't aim to fight as flirting."

Natsume slapped one of them to quell the argument, then looked around and asked:
"Is this place so... monotonous?"

Natsume's voice was full of doubt.

He was certain that he had arrived at the fire-lighting point.

But the surroundings were empty, and as far as the eye could see, there was only a warehouse not far ahead.

Some staff members are rushing to the warehouse.

“Well, we’ve already asked around, and this place doesn’t look like the starting point for the torch relay,” Xiao Mao said, scratching his head.

It's so dilapidated. Such a ceremonial pre-Games event as the torch relay started from a run-down little warehouse.

The stark contrast with the Quartz Conference constantly assaulted their senses.

"Haha, because this place only looks dilapidated now, but it used to be very luxurious."

A clear voice rang out from behind.

The three turned around and saw a young man dressed in a monk's robe.

The other person was holding a petal-shaped cake, which they had already eaten half of.

"Uncle, who are you?"

Xiao Mao's gaze unconsciously fell on the flower petal cake in the other person's hand.

He was urged by Professor Oak early in the morning to come here, and he didn't even have time to eat breakfast.

"I am from the temple above, and the sacred flame is kept by us."

As the young man spoke, he pointed to a temple on the mountain.

"Sacred Flame, is there Moltres's flame here too?" Ash asked curiously, taking out the Moltres feather he had obtained at the Indigo League.

The monk stared at the feather for a long time, then finally shook his head slightly and said:

"No, the sacred flame we use at the Silver Tournament was passed down from the Phoenix King."

"Ho-Oh!?" Ash and Gary exclaimed at the same time.

"Legend has it that a fierce war took place here long ago, and many Pokémon died," Natsume's voice rang out.

From the moment he discovered the anomaly in the forest, he instinctively began searching the Alliance's database.

Sure enough, he found some clues.

"Later, Ho-Oh's great fire destroyed this place, and the Pokémon and plants miraculously revived."

The introduction was very short, and even the sudden appearance of Ho-Oh felt very abrupt to Natsume.

“This gentleman is quite right; we do indeed have such a legend here.”

"The sacred fire that is passed on is the fire that was preserved from the great fire that Ho-Oh suffered."

After he finished speaking, two loud bangs sounded behind everyone.

Looking back, two staff members stood at the warehouse entrance, setting off two small fireworks as if celebrating the company's opening.

"What is this for?"

The three were puzzled, but then the warehouse door suddenly opened.

A person dressed in sportswear, holding a torch aloft, ran out.

Suddenly, Natsume realized that what had just happened was the beginning of the fire-linking ceremony.
"Is this so lacking in prestige?!"

Xiao Mao pointed incredulously at the torchbearer.

Not only was there no television station to visit or broadcast the event live, but there was also only one torchbearer.

"That's always been the case. We strictly prohibit large-scale activities here. Just keep quiet and make sure the ceremony is done properly."

The monk looked at Ash and Gary with a strange expression.

Natsume remained silent.

No wonder that every year during other Silver League tournaments, the TV broadcasts focus on the visiting Moltres during the pre-tournament activities, and after all that, there's really nothing else to report.

"I'm going to take the Ibrahimovic players to training."

Everyone felt bored and dispersed.

"Stab~"

A red light flashed, and Zapdos appeared, its eggshell atop its shell.

Natsume patted the other person's head and pointed to the torchbearer not far away, saying:

"This journey isn't long, you'll definitely be able to keep up."

In an instant, Zapdos's sharp eyes were fixed on the flickering flames.

It nodded to Natsume and eagerly chased after him.

Where is the finish line?

The monk was about to turn back when Natsume stopped him.

“That’s our temple.” The other person pointed to the temple not far away as if it were a matter of course.

Natsume remained silent and instantly arrived at the temple, which was only a dozen minutes away from the warehouse.

There were many reporters carrying cameras around the temple.

Seeing this, Natsume's lips twitched.

At least a reporter's report was arranged at the finish line.

But Natsume still felt it was a bit of a joke. Even if he ran from here to the foot of the mountain and then to the temple, it would only take half a day at most, which was nothing compared to the long run that took several days at the Quartz Conference.

However, reality is always more magical than imagination.

The torchbearer jogged to the fork in the road, turned his head, and instead of running downhill, ran straight towards the temple. "?" Natsume was full of questions.

Just then, the monk returned to the temple, casually took out a small firework, and set it off with a "bang" as a welcome.

The torchbearer swept past Natsume, without even a trace of sweat odor on him.

He planted the torch in the shrine in the very center of the temple.

During this historic moment, the surrounding reporters remained as steady as mountains, not even lifting the camera covers.

"Wait a minute, your fire-passing ceremony is just a few kilometers of running, and it's over in less than ten minutes?"

Natsume was greatly shocked.

This is way too hasty.

Even Zapdos, which was running behind the Firelinker, stood blankly at the temple entrance, its round eyes staring helplessly at the torch placed in the shrine.

"Yes, it's always been like this," the monk waved his hand.

"Then let's go."

Natsume picked up Zapdos and turned to leave.

He dared not let Zapdos absorb the competitive fire here; if he did, he might end up with a second middle-part hairstyle.

As soon as I stepped out of the temple gate, a wave of heat suddenly rolled out behind me.

"Cannes!!"

"Gah~"

Several bird calls rang out, even the Zapdos in Natsume's arms was stirred.

It leaped out of Natsume's embrace, braced itself on its two paws, stretched its neck, and strained to call out towards the temple behind it.

"what happened?"

Natsume turned around in surprise and saw a monk fleeing in panic, a torchbearer.

In stark contrast, there were countless eager reporters rushing forward with cameras in hand.

"Here they come! I told you Mt. Silver had the most Moltres!"

"They're arguing again! They're arguing again!"

The flashlight clicked, and through the towering flames, Natsume could see the situation inside.

Three firebirds descended from the sky, fiercely vying for the torch inside the shrine.

The first molten bird, with a ring of golden feathers around its neck, fiercely rammed its head against the two molten birds on either side, its long beak aimed straight for the torch.

"Cannes!"

The second firebird, its wings shimmering with golden flames, easily destabilized its opponent with a gentle flap of its wings. With a flick of its wings, it gathered its torch and prepared to fly into the sky.

However, the third Moltres wouldn't let it have its way. Golden feathers swayed on its rear end, like a turbocharged high-speed engine, and in an instant, it was on top of the Moltres.

"boom!"

The torch was crushed by the pressure of Mount Tai, lost control, and was swept into the sky by the airflow.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

Three golden flames shot into the sky, crisscrossing in the air as they vied for control of the torch.

Zapdos was jumping up and down in a panic, and Natsume patted its head.

"Don't rush, wait for the right opportunity."

A hint of surprise flashed in Natsume's eyes.

It seems the Victory Flame produced by the Silver Tournament is of pretty high quality, as it actually attracted three Moltres.

Moreover, these three firebirds are all of a very high level.

LV80, LV82, LV83
"Sir, could you please move aside?"

A reporter, carrying a camera, excitedly approached Natsume.

"Three of them actually came this year, that's big news."

He excitedly muttered to himself:
"Such a great vantage point, I..."

Before he could finish speaking, a ball of flame fell and hit his camera.

"Ahhhh!"

Natsume waved his hand to help him put out the fire.

"Thank you."

"You guys should leave now."

Natsume frowned, his gaze fixed on the three firebirds in the sky.

When these three guys fight over something, they completely disregard their surroundings.

Balls of flame fell downwards, igniting the forest below.

Only after hearing Natsume's advice did the reporter belatedly realize what was happening.

Many things around were ignited by the scattered flames!

Just as Natsume was about to throw the ball to stop the attack, a loud shout rang out:
"Come on, Kuailong!"

A shooting star streaked across the sky.

"It's Mr. Du!"

The reporters, who had originally planned to leave, turned back again.

Lance commanded Dragonite to try and stop the three Moltres, but they were all knocked back.

Natsume shook his head slightly and released Loletta.

But he was embarrassed to discover that he had forgotten to repair the converter box.

"Go! Flame Kick!"

Another loud shout rang out.
Below the crossing, a turkey, in a flying kick posture, shot out from the ground like a rocket, heading straight for the three firebirds.

"Stab~"

A flash of white light, and Magia Blaziken appears, its Flame Kick becoming twice as powerful and its speed even faster.

"boom!"

Although this super turkey was impressive, the difference in level was too great, and it was shot down by three Moltres in just a few exchanges.

"Natsume, what are you standing there for?"

The sound of crossing echoed in the sky.

Natsume abandoned his idea of ​​manually creating the conversion box, and with a flash of red light, the figure of the Great Dragonite appeared.

However, not far away, two more bright cries rang out.

Turning my head, I saw the figures of the fourth and fifth Moltres.

"How come there are so many this year!?"

The surrounding reporters were amazed.

Natsume frowned slightly and took out a small Dynamax well.

In the sky, Wataru frowned, and a shiny Mega Evolution Key appeared in his hand.

However, before the two could make a move, a loud whooshing sound rang out.

"boom!"

A thick line of fire came from the top of Silver Mountain, and the platinum flames, with unparalleled majesty, exploded directly in the center of the three firebirds!

A scream rang out, and the three firebirds plummeted into the forest like kites with broken strings.

The two late-arriving firebirds were so frightened that their feathers popped open, and they flapped their wings frantically, fleeing Silver Mountain without looking back.

(End of this chapter)