I'm the Owner of the Pokémon Day Care In the World of Pokémon
Chapter 1487: Ash and Lugia

Chapter 1487: Ash and Lugia

Little Hoopa had been extremely scared at first, but after hearing Ash’s voice, it suddenly calmed down. The longer it spent with Ash, the more it came to trust him.

Little Hoopa poked its head out from Ash’s arms and gave him a small nod. Then, under the astonished gaze of the surrounding passengers, it took out its Summoning Ring, opened a spatial portal, and dove into it with Ash.

But the passengers didn’t stay surprised for long, because the airship’s vibrations grew more and more intense, as if it could crash at any moment. Panic had already broken out inside the cabin. Although the flight attendants did their best to calm everyone down, it was clearly ineffective.

Through the Summoning Ring, Ash and Hoopa reappeared outside the airship. They hadn’t used the ring to escape far away, because doing so might have provoked Big Hoopa into attacking the airship—something that would spell disaster for everyone onboard.

As soon as Big Hoopa saw Ash and Little Hoopa appear, it burst into a wild grin.

"Hoopa is here again! This time, Hoopa won’t let you get away!"

This time, Big Hoopa hadn’t come alone—it had brought a helper: a terrifying and ferocious Hydreigon.

It turned out that during its time wandering outside, Big Hoopa had made some bad friends, and this Hydreigon was one of them.

Facing two powerful enemies, Ash wasn’t fazed at all. He even made a silly face at them and mocked, "Stop bragging. ’Won’t let us go’? Do you really think you’ve got what it takes? You’d win first place in a big talk contest, that’s for sure!"

Big Hoopa screamed in frustration from Ash’s taunt. Seeing that he’d provoked it enough, Ash decided not to push his luck and quickly said to Little Hoopa, "Let’s get out of here!"

Little Hoopa immediately pulled out its Summoning Ring again and leapt into it with Ash.

Big Hoopa, seeing the two escape, roared in fury: "Trying to run? No way!" It also pulled out its own Summoning Ring and chased after them with Hydreigon in tow.

Because of a mysterious connection between Big Hoopa and Little Hoopa, Little Hoopa couldn’t escape from Big Hoopa just by teleporting away—it would always be able to sense where they went.

This time, Little Hoopa and Ash suddenly reappeared over an open stretch of ocean. As expected, Big Hoopa and Hydreigon quickly followed.

Ash hadn’t expected Big Hoopa to catch up so quickly, but realizing there was no escape, he turned to Little Hoopa and said, "Can you try to summon some help? Otherwise, we won’t be able to beat them!"

"Got it!"

Little Hoopa raised its Summoning Ring, eyes flashing rapidly, sweat beading on its forehead in panic. For a moment, it had no idea who to summon for help.

The spatial portal inside the ring opened to a blank white void—no one emerged for quite a while.

Seeing this, Big Hoopa laughed wildly: "Can’t find a helper? Hahaha... then you’d better give up and surrender now!"

Because Big Hoopa had previously gone too far under Ariana’s influence, it could no longer summon helpers itself. Naturally, it assumed that Little Hoopa was in the same situation.

Gritting its teeth in frustration, Little Hoopa decided to summon any Pokémon—whatever came out would have to do.

It flung the Summoning Ring high into the sky, where it rapidly grew larger. Suddenly, a white Pokémon emerged from the glowing portal.

"Lugia~!"

As the entire Pokémon revealed itself before them, a wave of powerful pressure swept across the area, instantly freezing the expression on Big Hoopa’s face.

The summoned Pokémon... was Lugia!

It turned out that Little Hoopa had, by chance, brought Ash near the Orange Islands, and since Lugia happened to be there, it was summoned on the spot!

Back during the incident where Gilruta attempted to capture the three Legendary Birds, Ash had helped Lugia and the trio, so Lugia recognized Ash. Upon seeing him now, Lugia gave a friendly nod, then turned its gaze toward Big Hoopa.

Big Hoopa had originally considered running away right then and there, but it just couldn’t swallow the idea. It figured that even with a 2-on-1 situation, it might not necessarily lose.

The Hydreigon beside it was a level 100 Pokémon—otherwise, it wouldn’t have been chosen as a partner. Sure, a level 100 Pokémon couldn’t beat a Tier 1 Legendary Pokémon, but with Big Hoopa providing backup, they might stand a chance.

Indeed, Big Hoopa had no intention of charging in itself. It planned to use Hydreigon as the frontliner. As for Little Hoopa? Big Hoopa didn’t even consider it a threat. In its eyes, Little Hoopa was nothing more than a cowardly weakling.

No one knew what sort of benefit Big Hoopa had promised Hydreigon, but that Hydreigon actually charged at Lugia without fear of death, unleashing a wave of Dark Pulse toward it.

Lugia flapped its wings and effortlessly dodged the Dark Pulse, countering with a powerful Ice Beam.

But Big Hoopa had prepared for this. It threw out its Summoning Ring, which instantly expanded and hovered in front of Hydreigon, diverting Lugia’s Ice Beam away.

The next second, a spatial portal opened behind Lugia, and the Ice Beam shot back out from it, blasting Lugia right in the back and freezing a large chunk of ice onto it.

"Lugia~"

Lugia let out a pained cry as a flicker of anger began to show in its eyes.

Seeing this, Big Hoopa laughed arrogantly again. It knew it couldn’t defeat Lugia in a head-on fight, but with its Summoning Rings acting like cheat codes, even a tier-one god could suffer if caught off guard.

Ash, seeing this, quickly said to Little Hoopa, "Hoopa, go help Lugia!"

Little Hoopa hesitated nervously, "I... I don’t think I can..."

Ash encouraged him, "You can. I know you can do it."

After spending so much time with Ash, Little Hoopa had indeed been affected by him. It gathered its courage and said, "Yes! I can do it!"

With that, it quickly flew to Lugia’s back. Just as Hydreigon launched a Triple Attack at Lugia, Little Hoopa used its own Summoning Ring to redirect the move—but instead of sending it back to Hydreigon, it redirected it toward Big Hoopa.

Big Hoopa had become very alert. Detecting the spatial disturbance behind it, it quickly dodged to the side—but it was still a bit too slow. The Triple Attack grazed its shoulder. Fortunately, the move’s secondary effect wasn’t triggered.

Little Hoopa’s intervention made Big Hoopa furious. At the same time, Hydreigon began to fall behind in its battle against Lugia.

Seeing that Big Hoopa’s situation was looking worse and worse, Little Hoopa grew more confident and gradually stopped hesitating. Although it didn’t have as many Summoning Rings as Big Hoopa, with a tier-one god like Lugia by its side, it felt like it could do anything.

Lugia used Dragon Rush to dive at Hydreigon. Big Hoopa hastily threw out a Summoning Ring and teleported Hydreigon to another location.

But sharp-eyed Little Hoopa quickly threw out another Summoning Ring as well, and Lugia, surging with unstoppable momentum, dove right into it.

On the other end, just as Hydreigon reappeared from Big Hoopa’s ring, Little Hoopa’s ring opened right behind it. Lugia, wrapped in wind and power, shot out and slammed directly into Hydreigon.

"Rooaargh!"

Hydreigon let out a miserable cry and plummeted straight into the ocean. With a loud splash, it vanished from sight.

Seeing this, Big Hoopa panicked. In desperation, it hurled all four of its Summoning Rings into the air.

Immediately, Pokémon after Pokémon flew out of the rings: Gyarados, Octillery, Mantine, Sharpedo, Pelipper, Pidgeot, Fearow, Crobat...

In no time, the sky and the sea were swarming with Pokémon, thick and oppressive like a dark stormcloud.

These Pokémon varied in level—some were pseudo-Elite level, some were Elite level, and some were even Champion level...

Unlike the Hydreigon that had willingly helped Big Hoopa, these Pokémon had all appeared under the control of the Summoning Rings. Their power levels were far inferior to Big Hoopa’s, so even if they were somewhat prepared, they couldn’t break free from the control.

Big Hoopa didn’t expect these Pokémon to be able to do anything significant to Lugia anyway—its goal was only to stall Lugia for time.

After Little Hoopa explained things, Lugia understood the situation these summoned Pokémon were in. It realized they were innocent and didn’t want to harm them seriously. Because of this, Big Hoopa’s plan to stall Lugia actually succeeded for a time.

But Lugia was the Guardian of the Seas. Was it really without countermeasures in such a situation?

"Lugia~"

Lugia raised its head and let out a resonant roar. A mysterious wave of sound rippled outward in all directions. Before long, one water-type Pokémon after another surfaced from the sea—Gyarados, Blastoise, Feraligatr, Dewgong, Lapras, Cloyster...

Though these water-type Pokémon weren’t as individually powerful as those summoned by Big Hoopa, their sheer numbers were many times greater.

A massive battle between the two sides erupted. The battlefield became complete chaos, with all kinds of moves flying everywhere. Amid the confusion, Big Hoopa attempted to slip away, but Lugia quickly noticed.

Just as Big Hoopa was diving into one of its Summoning Rings to escape, Lugia launched an Aeroblast at it. Big Hoopa did manage to flee—but one of its Summoning Rings was knocked away.

Seeing this, Little Hoopa quickly took out one of its own Summoning Rings and reached into it. Its hand emerged from a spatial portal directly above the falling Summoning Ring—and it grabbed it tightly.

Just as the portal was closing, Big Hoopa caught a glimpse of this scene. It glared at Little Hoopa with deep frustration and resentment—but there was nothing it could do.

This was the classic case of "those with virtue gain support; those without lose allies." If Big Hoopa hadn’t committed evil alongside Ariana before, it wouldn’t have ended up unable to find even a single Legendary level ally.

As soon as Big Hoopa disappeared, all the Pokémon that had been under its control immediately recovered, and for a moment, they were all completely confused.

Meanwhile, Little Hoopa was so excited as it clutched the Summoning Ring it had snatched from Big Hoopa.

The Summoning Rings were the source of their power. The reason it had always lost to Big Hoopa before was simply because it didn’t have as many Summoning Rings in hand as Big Hoopa did.

There were a total of six Summoning Rings. Originally, Little Hoopa had two, and Big Hoopa had four. That was also why Big Hoopa could always locate Little Hoopa, but Little Hoopa could never sense Big Hoopa’s presence—its power had been constantly suppressed by Big Hoopa.

But now, things were different. The number of Summoning Rings they each held was equal.

Holding the newly obtained Summoning Ring, Little Hoopa happily tossed it into the air. Then, a blue light flashed in its eyes, and the Summoning Ring instantly enlarged before precisely looping around its neck, then shrinking back to its normal size.

In that very moment, Little Hoopa seemed to sense the direction in which Big Hoopa had escaped. It immediately flew over to Ash and told him the news.

After hearing this, Ash was overjoyed. He thought that maybe this time, he could do something. After all, a thief can be vigilant for a thousand days, but a householder cannot guard against a thief for a thousand days. They couldn’t just keep waiting around to be attacked by Big Hoopa again and again! _{free\we\bnov(e)(l).com}

So it would be better to strike first!

However, he knew he still needed to think this through carefully. Without a detailed plan, capturing Big Hoopa would not be easy—and this wasn’t something he could accomplish alone.

After Big Hoopa fled, the Pokémon it left behind became a new problem. Ash and Lugia had to communicate through wild gestures and expressions, and in the end, Lugia agreed to take responsibility for arranging those Pokémon.

Meanwhile, Lugia also spotted the Hydreigon that had been blasted into the sea earlier. The Hydreigon had completely lost the ability to battle and had been floating unconscious on the surface of the water for who knew how long.

Looking at this powerful Hydreigon, Lugia wasn’t quite sure how to handle it. After thinking for a moment, it called out to Ash twice.

It took Ash a while to understand what Lugia meant. Surprised, he asked, "You want me to catch it?"

Lugia nodded.

Ash said with some hesitation, "But I don’t think it will listen to me..."

Lugia responded that Ash could at least store it for now, and they could slowly work on earning its trust later.

Ash still looked troubled and said, "But I don’t think a regular Poké Ball can hold it."

Lugia thought about it, then opened its mouth and spat out a silver Poké Ball with an ancient design. It gently floated the Poké Ball into Ash’s hands.

This Poké Ball had been crafted long, long ago by a master from the Bell Tower using one of Lugia’s own feathers. That master had passed away many years ago, and this one-of-a-kind Poké Ball had become part of Lugia’s personal collection.

Of course, Lugia didn’t tell Ash any of this—though even if it did, Ash probably wouldn’t have understood.

As expected, with this Poké Ball, Ash was able to successfully capture Hydreigon.

Seeing that everything was finally settled, Lugia bid farewell to Ash and the Pokémon, then disappeared over the surface of the sea not long after.

"All right, let’s head out too."

At this moment, Ash already knew where he was. Although he wasn’t entirely sure of the exact location, he had a rough idea and could find his way.

Little Hoopa carried Ash as they floated over the sea, drifting and drifting for who knows how long, until they finally saw an island. From a distance, the rooftops of houses could be seen peeking out from beneath the canopy of the trees.

Seeing the island, Ash shouted in excitement, "It’s Tangelo Island—let’s go over there!"

As someone who had once challenged the Orange League and emerged victorious, there was no way Ash wouldn’t recognize Tangelo Island. This had been the final stop during his Orange League challenge—it was the location of the Tangelo Gym.