I'm the Owner of the Pokémon Day Care In the World of Pokémon
Chapter 1482: Madness

Chapter 1482: Madness

Affected by those crimson pupils, Absol was instantly forced out of its precognitive state, and its entire body bristled with raised fur.

Seeing Absol’s alarmed expression, Yuga quickly walked over and asked, "What’s wrong? Are you okay?"

Absol shook its head and told Yuga that it seemed to have seen Deoxys within that mass of dark clouds.

"Deoxys?" Yuga said in surprise. "Is it the Deoxys we know?"

Absol nodded, but it added that something seemed wrong with Deoxys; otherwise, it wouldn’t have reacted to its presence that way.

Before Yuga could respond, Chimecho hurriedly flew over, anxiously asking about Deoxys.

Deoxys had once helped reconstruct Chimecho’s body, and the two shared a deep bond. Now that Chimecho heard Deoxys was in trouble, how could it not be worried?

If it had been another Pokémon, Yuga might have kept his distance. But since it was Deoxys—who had helped him many times—he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

So he said to Chimecho, "Alright, I’ll take you to see what’s going on."

Chimecho immediately perked up with joy.

Yuga then instructed Dusknoir, Aegislash, and the other Pokémon to guard the ghost ship, while he himself rode on Lapras, bringing along Nana, Florges, Lunala, and Chimecho, flying toward that mass of dark clouds.

Lapras flew at full speed, and before long, Yuga and the others arrived at the churning storm clouds. Just as Absol had said, Deoxys was indeed there—and not just one, but two of them.

Back when Deoxys had left Yuga, it had taken with it the Deoxys core that had no body, intending to search for a way to restore its form. Now it seemed it had succeeded.

But something was clearly wrong with the two Deoxys. The one Yuga knew had a very gentle personality—nothing like the violent and aggressive beings he now saw before him.

"Screeeech—!"

A sharp cry pierced the sky from within the storm, and countless golden bolts of lightning crackled chaotically within the clouds, striking directly at the two Deoxys.

"Screeeech—!"

Another cry followed, and a bird-shaped Pokémon shining with golden light burst from the clouds, its sharp eyes locked on the Deoxys.

It was someone Yuga "knew" well—Zapdos, the one with a long-standing grudge against Dragonite and her mother.

Logically, Zapdos should have been living peacefully on the island with the giant Milotic and the others. Why would it show up here?

Yuga quickly realized the reason.

Another massive wave surged out of the ocean, crashing toward the two Deoxys in the sky. Riding atop that tidal wave was a small blue Pokémon—Manaphy.

It was hard to imagine that a creature no bigger than a kitten could so easily summon a tsunami. But now Yuga understood—the giant waves they had faced earlier had all been caused by Manaphy.

Clearly, Zapdos’s presence here was also due to Manaphy.

As far as Yuga knew, the giant Milotic protected Manaphy. Now that Zapdos was living alongside them, their appearance together was no surprise.

As the wave came crashing toward Deoxys, their figures flickered rapidly and reappeared behind the wave, causing it to miss its mark.

Unlike the light drizzle falling around the ghost ship, the rain beneath the storm cloud was a torrential downpour—obviously also Manaphy’s doing.

Amid the rain, Zapdos unleashed a Thunder attack at the Deoxys, and with nowhere to run, both were struck squarely by the lightning bolts, letting out pained cries.

In the rain, Thunder never misses!

Seeing Deoxys get hurt, Chimecho grew frantic and tried to rush forward to help, but Yuga stopped it.

"Hold on. Something’s clearly wrong with Deoxys right now."

At that moment, Zapdos, with its sharp gaze, noticed Yuga’s presence and immediately called out to him from afar, beckoning him to come help.

With that cry, Manaphy also became aware of their group.

Yuga urged Lapras to move a bit closer to the battlefield and, together with Chimecho, attempted to communicate with Deoxys. However, Deoxys acted as if it didn’t see them at all—as if it didn’t recognize them—and simply continued attacking Zapdos and Manaphy relentlessly.

Zapdos shouted angrily, "What are you waiting for? Can’t you see they’ve gone berserk?! Come help already!"

Left with no choice, Yuga had to command his Pokémon to assist. Chimecho was reluctant to attack Deoxys, but Yuga advised, "Only by subduing Deoxys first can we figure out what’s happened to them."

Yuga released Nana and Florges from their Poké Balls and summoned Lunala from the shadow space. He instructed them, "Go help Zapdos and Manaphy."

The three Pokémon responded promptly. Nana used her psychic power to levitate herself and flew forward, evolving into her Mega form mid-air. Florges leapt onto Lunala’s back.

Watching the two Deoxys overwhelm Zapdos and Manaphy in battle, Yuga was full of doubt.

Back then, Deoxys (now referred to as Deoxys-1) had been severely damaged by Rayquaza’s Outrage attack, which had shattered its body and weakened it significantly. Though it later recovered, its strength had dropped considerably and it was no longer as powerful as before.

Likewise, the other Deoxys, which had previously existed only as a core (now referred to as Deoxys-2), even if its body had been restored, shouldn’t have such overwhelming strength either.

But now, both of them were far stronger than Yuga remembered—stronger even than before Deoxys-1 lost its body. Could this be what people mean when they say "evil forms gain triple strength"?

With Nana, Florges, and Lunala joining the fray, the battle shifted dramatically.

Deoxys-1 used Teleport to appear behind Zapdos and launched its signature move, Psycho Boost, aiming to slam into it. But Nana also used Teleport and appeared just in time, striking Deoxys-1 with a dazzling Dazzling Gleam.

Deoxys-1 reacted quickly, instantly switching from its Normal Forme to Defense Forme to absorb the attack, then shifted to Speed Forme and rapidly retreated.

Nana gave chase, flying swiftly after it.

Seeing it had almost been ambushed, Zapdos furiously followed as well.

On the other side, Deoxys-2 was struck by a Shadow Ball from Manaphy, which blasted off half its shoulder. But in just an instant, thanks to Recover, it healed back to perfect condition.

During the entire process, Deoxys-2 showed no sign of pain and remained expressionless. It used Teleport to reappear behind Manaphy and began charging an Zap Cannon to launch at it.

Zapdos and Manaphy had been struggling, largely due to the Deoxys pair’s erratic and unpredictable speed.

It helped that both Deoxys were acting disoriented and failed to coordinate. Otherwise, the battle might have already been lost.

Just as Deoxys-2 was about to unleash its Zap Cannon, a jet-black beam of energy struck it with precision. The Zap Cannon exploded in its hand, blasting a hole in its own chest.

The black beam was Lunala’s signature move, Moongeist Beam.

But Deoxys’s recovery ability was so powerful that in a blink, the wound disappeared under the effect of Recover.

As Deoxys-2 was about to rise again, a thick piece of seaweed suddenly surged out from the ocean, wrapping around its leg and yanking it downward.

It tried to form a Shadow Ball to break the vine, but several more seaweed tendrils shot up, binding its arms, legs, waist, and neck.

Strands and strands of underwater seaweed climbed along the earlier vines, and in no time at all, Deoxys-2 was tightly bound.

Unbeknownst to them, the entire sea around them had been dyed green by Florges’s Grassy Terrain. While it healed Manaphy and Zapdos, it also nourished a massive bloom of thriving marine plants.

Countless underwater seaweeds swayed with the current, channeling immense amounts of Grass-type energy outward. It was a truly magnificent sight.

Deoxys-2 struggled, trying to break free from the seaweed, but the vines began to glow with a faint green light, tightening even further around its body.

Deoxys-2, seeing that brute force couldn’t free it from the seaweed, suddenly had its eyes flash intensely with a strong purple light. Accompanied by a crisp cracking sound, all the seaweed around it suddenly exploded, snapping into pieces and falling back into the sea.

Deoxys-2 continued to ascend rapidly. Lunala used Teleport to appear in front of it with Florges, and immediately cast a Dazzling Gleam straight at it from above.

Boom!

Deoxys-2 fell straight down into the sea. Countless strands of seaweed reappeared and began to bind it once again, wrapping around it layer after layer, and in the blink of an eye, it was tied up like a rice dumpling.

It tried to break free, but there were simply too many vines entangling it, and for the moment, it couldn’t succeed.

Lunala Teleported once more, appearing right in front of Deoxys-2. Its gaze suddenly locked onto Deoxys-2’s eyes, and a strange wave of psychic energy shot out from Lunala’s pupils.

It was Hypnosis!

Although Deoxys-2 had become significantly stronger for unknown reasons, it still wasn’t strong enough to resist a sleep-inducing move from a Legendary Pokémon like Lunala.

Before long, Deoxys-2 had fallen into a deep slumber.

On the other side, Deoxys-1 was also being overwhelmed by the combined assault of Zapdos, Nana, and Manaphy.

Deoxys-1 shifted into Attack Form and used Psycho Boost to charge toward Zapdos. Zapdos flapped its wings frantically to dodge, but Nana had already used Teleport to appear in front of it, raising a Light Screen with her psychic power to block Deoxys-1’s attack.

Since receiving the white stone from Aerodactyl, Nana had trained diligently. Now, not only could she Mega Evolve on her own, but her strength had also grown immensely.

Nana was knocked back a bit by the impact but wasn’t seriously hurt. Zapdos then fired a Thunder Wave, striking Deoxys-1 and instantly paralyzing it.

Deoxys-1 tried to use Teleport but failed due to the paralysis. At that moment, a Shadow Ball from Manaphy slammed into it, knocking it down from midair.

Nana used Teleport again to appear in front of it and caught it in her arms. Deoxys-1 instinctively tried to struggle, but it was helpless under the effects of paralysis.

As the two Pokémon locked eyes, Nana’s psychic power began to forcefully invade. Deoxys-1’s mind was clearly unstable, and after resisting briefly, it began to retreat mentally.

Plop~

Both Pokémon fell into the sea together. Manaphy immediately swam over, trying to rescue Nana, but suddenly Nana burst out of the sea, carrying Deoxys-1 with her.

By that time, Deoxys-2 had already fallen into a deep sleep. Nana’s Hypnosis had succeeded.

Nana landed on Lunala’s back with Deoxys-1 in tow, visibly exhausted. Putting a mythical Pokémon to sleep wasn’t nearly as easy for her as it was for Lunala.

Yuga also landed on Lunala’s back together with Lapras. Seeing Nana looking exhausted, he immediately asked with concern, "Are you okay?"

Nana shook her head. "I’m fine, just a bit drained. I’ll be okay after some rest."

Only then did Yuga feel relieved.

Chimecho came over right away and began examining Deoxys’ bodies. However, aside from some minor injuries sustained during the earlier battle, they seemed to be otherwise unharmed.

Manaphy, riding on Zapdos’ back, also flew over to express thanks. But Yuga shook his head and said, "No need to thank us. We know Deoxys. Seeing them like this, there’s no way we could just stand by and do nothing."

"By the way," Yuga asked again, "do you guys know what happened to the two of them? Why did they become like this?"

Zapdos and Manaphy shook their heads in unison, indicating they didn’t know either. Then they explained how they had encountered Deoxys to Yuga and the others.

It turned out that Manaphy had gone out on a routine patrol—this was part of its duties. The Milotic group had been worried about Manaphy going alone, so they asked Zapdos to accompany it.

Zapdos, now living on their island, figured that acting as a bodyguard wasn’t too much to ask, so it agreed and went along.

The two Pokémon had been traveling together for several days, crossing from one part of the sea to another, and everything had been peaceful. But while passing over this particular stretch of sea, the two Deoxys suddenly fell from the sky, unconscious, and landed straight into the ocean.

Manaphy, always warmhearted, immediately rescued them. But unexpectedly, these two Pokémon seemed to have problems in their heads—once they regained consciousness, they went berserk and began attacking Manaphy and Zapdos without hesitation.

Soon they realized that something was clearly wrong with the two Deoxys; it wasn’t like they were acting of their own will.

In order to prevent them from harming other Pokémon, Manaphy and Zapdos decided to subdue them.

However, they had underestimated the strength of the two Deoxys. Not only did they fail to take them down quickly, but the battlefield also expanded more and more, affecting many areas—until they eventually encountered Yuga and the others.

After hearing Manaphy and Zapdos’ account, Yuga furrowed his brow and said, "Looks like we won’t know the cause until they wake up."

He then invited Zapdos and Manaphy to rest on the Ghost Ship for the time being while they waited for the two Deoxys to regain consciousness.

But he had miscalculated. The two Deoxys did indeed wake up after a while, but their minds were still unclear, and they tried to go on a rampage again—so Nana and the others had to knock them out once more.

Yuga, after all, wasn’t a Pokémon doctor, and he couldn’t determine what was wrong with them just by looking. So in the end, he could only discuss with Primarina about temporarily giving up on searching for her kin and instead heading home first to treat the two Deoxys.

Primarina was very understanding. Knowing that the situation was urgent, she readily agreed to return home with Yuga for now. As for her family...

Maybe when the tribe migrates again next year, they’ll meet once more. They should pass through here again...