Chapter 585: The Greatest Reward
After choosing his successor, the current Groudon did not cling to the power of a Legendary. He passed the authority to the Sandslash that very day.
Immediately, Arthur watched as the Sandslash's form began to change rapidly!
Its brown back spikes gradually turned a vibrant crimson, merging into the skin to become a complete armor of scales.
Its hind legs became thicker and stronger, its tail flattened out, and its claws and forelimbs gradually fused into one.
His entire body was transforming into the image of Groudon!
This was different from Pokémon evolution, which was enveloped in white light and completed in an instant. Sandslash's transition to Groudon was gradual, with his body changing bit by bit and energy erupting little by little. The entire process was completely visible!
"Is this the transformation of a Legendary?"
Arthur muttered to himself.
If certain Pokémon scholars saw this scene, they would probably scream with excitement.
It was simply incredible!
This was a natural wonder that humans had never witnessed in its entirety!
Unfortunately, the only human present to witness this was Arthur.
After the previous conspiracy was exposed, the Legendaries would certainly not allow humans to interfere with Groudon's succession again. Scholars, doctors, all had to stand aside.
Only Arthur, the undeniably good person who had risked his life to stop Groudon, was allowed to stay and watch.
This experience alone was enough to make countless contemporary Pokémon scholars and research masters lose sleep with envy.
As the Legendary power continued to transfer, the current Groudon's size shrank continuously. Eventually, his body even began to fade in color, and his posture began to change.
Arthur immediately realized something.
Sure enough, a dozen minutes later, the current Groudon seemed to shed a layer of outer skin, completely changing its appearance!
He turned into an old and aged Excadrill.
"So when a Legendary passes on its power, it reverts to the form of its original Seed."
Arthur realized he seemed to have witnessed a law of nature.
If this discovery were published, it would surely become an important milestone in the history of Pokémon research, right?
In just a dozen minutes, the appearances of the two Pokémon before him had undergone earth-shaking changes!
The Sandslash had grown into a crimson beast over ten feet tall!
While the original Groudon had collapsed into a hunched, elderly Excadrill, standing only about five feet tall.
The transfer of Legendary power was complete!
A new Groudon was born!
The former Groudon, now an Excadrill, looked at his successor with a smile, vibrating the air to speak with his last bit of power: "Child, remember, the duty of a Legendary is to protect Pokémon and the balance of nature. Do not follow the example of the Time and Space Dragons of the past, abandoning responsibility for personal vendettas. Nor should you emulate the Yveltal of the past, hating humans excessively.
"You are the guardian of this desert, the guardian of the earth. Protecting this place is enough. This world no longer needs us to worry too much. This is fine.
"Just this is fine..."
As he spoke, Excadrill's voice grew lower and lower.
Stripped of the Legendary power, Excadrill's lifespan could not withstand the erosion of thousands of years.
Now that he was no longer Groudon, his life had inevitably entered its final countdown.
Watching this scene, Arthur felt a mix of sorrow, nostalgia, and emotion.
The passing of a life that had existed for a thousand years inevitably stirred some feelings.
And Arthur saw many things in Groudon's departure that he hadn't noticed before, such as—
Actually, not all Legendaries are stubborn creatures.
The former Groudon's dying words, "This world no longer needs us to worry too much," clearly showed that he had seen the changing times and accepted the fact that humans had replaced them as the planet's dominant force.
This was completely different from the era Arthur was familiar with two hundred years ago, proving that Legendaries were also advancing with the times.
It wasn't just humans who were changed by the tide of the times, but also these long-lived creatures.
Ho-Oh seemed to sense part of his emotional change and suddenly spoke.
"I sense that your wariness towards us has decreased."
Arthur smiled. "If all new generation Legendaries are like Groudon, my wariness would indeed decrease a lot."
But then Rayquaza suddenly roared angrily, "Human, keep dreaming!!"
"?"
"Do you expect every new Legendary to rely on you like this silly boy? You are delusional!"
"Uh..."
Arthur realized Rayquaza might have misunderstood something.
But Rayquaza's words reminded him.
Arthur turned his head and looked, only to find that even though his form had changed, his height had grown, and his aura was completely different, the new Groudon—formerly the Sandslash—still looked at him with trust and closeness.
The authority of a Legendary was just a power; it couldn't change a Pokémon's thoughts and memories.
Otherwise, the previous generation of Legendaries wouldn't have had idiots like Dialga and Palkia who abandoned their missions just to fight.
Then, the new Groudon waved his hand and generously threw another ball of Origin Fire into Lina's energy cocoon nearby.
This was the third Legendary gift Lina had received in a short time!
"Hey! What are you doing?! You haven't gotten used to your new power yet, don't waste your Origin Fire!"
Seeing this new Groudon being so naive and sweet, Rayquaza, who had just lectured Arthur, felt like cracking apart...
Are you deliberately undermining me?!
Believe it or not, I'll use Air Lock on you right now?!
Rayquaza was furious, but the new Groudon just scratched his head foolishly, his movements as honest and simple as when he was a Sandslash.
"Arthur and Little Lapras are my friends. That Charizard is too."
Rayquaza trembled with rage.
"You, you, you! Sigh..."
Seeing this, Arthur and his Pokémon all smiled.
Especially Little Lapras, who smiled the happiest.
She was happy not because she took advantage of Groudon, but because her hard-earned good friend hadn't forgotten her even after changing his appearance~
It's a pity he's become tall and big, so I can't carry him out to sea to play anymore.
Groudon, who still couldn't fly after generations of inheritance, could only express regret.
And Arthur gradually began to realize: perhaps his greatest reward from this desert trip, besides retrieving the little dragonfly and Old Tyranitar, wasn't the Sacred Fire Feather, not the Meteorite Shard, nor the prize money for first place on the points leaderboard and the dozen-fold return on his bet.
But the friendship of a Groudon!
This was the friendship of a major Legendary!
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