Bai Chen suppressed the excitement in his heart.
Whether he could truly become a Lord of Calamity was still an open question.
For now, the priority was figuring out how Zinogre and Kirin could properly control their power.
Learning Natural Force did not require Zinogre to enter a dormant state.
Bai Chen asked,
"Try it. See if you can regulate your Lightning Sovereign ability."
Zinogre nodded and activated the Natural Force he had just learned.
Bai Chen simultaneously opened his Natural Vision, closely observing the changes in ambient energy.
He immediately noticed that the rate at which natural energy was transforming had slowed.
Roughly speaking, it dropped from 100 to about 70.
"Now try speeding up the formation of the thunderstorm."
Zinogre complied.
"As expected," Bai Chen muttered,
"The storm formation rate has increased significantly."
That confirmed it.
Bai Chen granted Natural Force to Kirin as well and said,
"You two go practice. Focus on learning how to control large-scale calamities as soon as possible."
For them, Natural Force was not especially useful outside disaster control.
Whenever they appeared, the surrounding natural energy automatically converted to Electric-type energy. Any technique released through Natural Force would inevitably be Electric-type as well.
For that reason, Natural Force was a secondary skill for them—there was no need to waste skill proficiency upgrades on it.
Zinogre nodded and led Kirin toward the western side of the island.
Zinogre's diligence rivaled Bai Chen's own.
Once a training plan was set, he executed it relentlessly, without supervision.
After the two departed, Bai Chen headed to the temporary camp on the eastern side.
In the short time he had spent testing skills, Tinkatuff, with Indeedee's help, had already cleared a space and completed lightning protection measures.
As long as Zinogre and Kirin didn't deliberately target the camp, it was relatively safe.
Watching Indeedee, Tinkatuff, and Cosmog working together, Bai Chen chose not to interrupt.
He sent Nergigante off to practice Aura techniques, while he himself resumed training in blade control.
At present, wielding one great blade effortlessly was no problem—but controlling two simultaneously was still far beyond him.
As he trained, Bai Chen continued thinking about skills that alter the body.
"I always thought only innate skills like Elder Dragon Blood could transform the body," he mused.
"But now even active skills like Lightning Sovereign are capable of bodily modification."
The logic behind innate skills was straightforward.
Before obtaining Elder Dragon Blood, Bai Chen couldn't learn Dragon-type techniques like Dragon Pulse.
After acquiring it, his body evolved, allowing him to master most Dragon-type abilities.
Now, Zinogre had expanded that logic.
If active skills could also reshape the body, the possibilities became enormous.
Of course, low-rarity active skills showed almost no bodily impact.
Techniques like Quick Attack or Protect produced negligible changes.
"Control over calamities has immense tactical value," Bai Chen thought.
"Against Elder Dragon–class opponents, I could reshape the battlefield into my own domain."
For example, when fighting a storm-wielding Elder Dragon like Kushala Daora, creating a Lightning Domain could suppress its abilities.
"If Natural Force's rarity increases," Bai Chen reasoned,
"I might eventually gain the ability to control disasters myself."
Zinogre's calamity powers and Natural Force were fundamentally derived from the same principle: manipulating natural energy.
Based on his understanding of the system, Bai Chen knew his direction was correct.
The only remaining obstacle was one thing—
To create an elemental calamity, the body must possess the corresponding elemental organs.
That was something Bai Chen still lacked.
"The path is clear. The problem is execution."
Time passed quietly amid training and contemplation.
In the blink of an eye, morning arrived—the day Bai Chen was scheduled to depart with Ash and the others.
Bai Chen used Cosmog to teleport to Laverre City.
This time, he only brought Nergigante, Indeedee, and Cosmog with him.
The other four partners had critical tasks and would temporarily remain behind.
With Cosmog's interregional teleportation, their absence posed no issue.
When Bai Chen arrived at the meeting point, the four were already waiting.
He glanced over them, pausing briefly on the Pikachu on Ash's shoulder.
Just one day had passed, yet Pikachu had already reached Level 49.
"So one of his team leveled up overnight," Bai Chen noted.
"That growth rate really is absurd."
He looked away and asked Ash,
"Ash, didn't you have a Fletchinder yesterday?"
"Yeah."
"Could I borrow it for a bit?"
Ash didn't hesitate. He handed over the Poké Ball before asking,
"What do you need it for?"
Bai Chen released Fletchinder and explained,
"It has the Flame Body ability. That speeds up egg incubation. I'd like it to help hatch one of my partners."
"Oh, I see."
Ash turned to Fletchinder. "Please help out."
"Fletch!"
Fletchinder readily agreed.
Indeedee beckoned and opened her backpack.
Fletchinder climbed inside, its body emitting a warm golden glow.
The Valstrax egg trembled slightly.
It was clearly comfortable.
Bonnie stepped closer and pointed at the other backpack containing the Velkhana egg.
"Doesn't that egg need Flame Body too?"
"This one's special," Indeedee replied.
"It needs extremely low temperatures. Flame Body would actually slow its hatching."
She opened the bag slightly.
A chill spilled out.
Inside were Never-Melt Ice and a Dragon Orb, purchased earlier by Lusamine to provide both cold and life energy.
"Incredible," Clemont murmured.
"Using cold to hatch an egg…"
With preparations complete, the group was ready to depart.
"To Anistar City!" Ash shouted enthusiastically, already starting to walk.
Bai Chen stared at them and quickly stopped them.
"You're planning to walk there?"
Ash blinked. "Yeah."
"Do you realize it's nearly 500 kilometers from Laverre City to Anistar City?"
"If everything goes well, we should get there in about 30 days."
Thirty days.
Bai Chen had intended to train Ash's Froakie into Greninja and uncover the secrets of Bond Phenomenon—
—but not over a month of daily travel.
"You want to challenge the Anistar Gym as soon as possible, right?" Bai Chen asked.
"Of course!"
"Then this is easy."
Bai Chen raised his hand. Cyan psychic light flashed in his eyes.
Before anyone could react, they were lifted off the ground.
"W–We're flying!" Bonnie squealed.
Ash stared at Bai Chen in awe.
"Is this your power?"
"Yes."
Serena felt a growing sense of mystery around him.
"Let's go," Bai Chen said calmly.
"To Anistar City."
He carried them through the sky, flying for two full hours, covering over 100 kilometers.
Only when Indeedee needed rest did Bai Chen descend into an open clearing.
"Let's camp here for the day," Bai Chen said.
"We'll train, then head to Dendemille Town tomorrow."
He had planned to go straight to Anistar City, but Serena needed to stop at Dendemille Town for the TriPokalon.
It lay directly along the route.
Everyone readily agreed.
Travel time converted into training time—no one would complain.
Indeedee handled camp setup.
Bai Chen called Ash over.
"Ash, you and Froakie—come with me."
They moved to an empty clearing.
Ash, brimming with excitement, assumed a battle was coming.
"Are we battling?"
"Not yet," Bai Chen said.
"Once Froakie evolves, then we fight."
"It's a promise!"
"A promise," Bai Chen echoed.
Once your Greninja awakens Bond Phenomenon, he thought,
even if you don't challenge me, I'll challenge you.
"Ash," Bai Chen continued,
"Both you and Froakie have tremendous potential—but you haven't tapped into it."
"Potential?"
"Especially you. You have strong Aura talent."
Ash stared at his hands in disbelief.
Given the current timeline, he had never encountered Aura Guardians or Legendary Pokémon.
Naturally, he didn't know this yet.
"Um… Mr. Bai," Ash asked awkwardly,
"What exactly is Aura?"
Bai Chen nearly choked.
You look shocked, yet you don't even know what Aura is?
Suppressing the urge to sigh, he explained patiently:
"You've heard of the move Aura Sphere, right?"
"Of course!"
"If you train your Aura, you can fire Aura Spheres yourself—just like Pokémon."
"You're kidding!" Ash's eyes lit up.
Bai Chen demonstrated, forming an Aura Sphere and blasting a distant tree in half.
Ash and Froakie stared in stunned silence.
"I know your dream is to become a Pokémon Master," Bai Chen said.
"You might think this doesn't matter much—"
"THAT'S AWESOME!" Ash yelled.
"I can really do that?!"
Bai Chen fell silent.
This kid was way more excited than expected.
"Yes," he said.
"And more importantly, mastering Aura will let you synchronize with your Pokémon—dramatically improving battle efficiency."
That was the key to the Bond Phenomenon.
Ash's expression shifted from excitement to focus.
"Come here," Bai Chen said.
"I'll guide you."
He removed his glove and pressed a finger to Ash's forehead.
Ultimate Psyche activated.
Aura flowed into Ash's body, awakening his dormant power.
BOOM.
A shockwave burst outward, rustling grass and trees.
Froakie stared in awe.
Ash opened his eyes, exhilarated.
"That feeling… was that Aura?"
"Yes," Bai Chen said.
"Your talent is real. Don't waste it."
"I'll train hard!" Ash promised.
"I'll guide you two more times," Bai Chen said.
"Remember the sensation. With diligence, you'll see massive growth in three or four months."
Half an hour later, Bai Chen returned alone to camp.
Serena asked,
"Where's Ash?"
"He's training with Froakie. He'll be back soon."
She nodded and offered him a cupcake.
Bai Chen removed his helmet and accepted.
Bonnie stared at his face and asked seriously,
"Mr. Bai, are you sure you don't want to become a celebrity?"
"No," Bai Chen answered firmly.
"What a loss for the world…"
Clemont looked up from his gadgets.
"Then what's your dream, Mr. Bai?"
"Dreams are vague," Bai Chen replied calmly.
"I have a goal—to challenge Arceus."
The three couldn't comprehend it.
Wasn't that a dream?
Bai Chen changed the subject.
"You're from Lumiose City, right?"
They nodded.
"Could you take Cosmog there for me?"
Bonnie's eyes sparkled.
"Teleportation?! Can I go home and grab some things?"
"Of course."
Cosmog read Clemont's memories and teleported the siblings away.
And just like that—
Only Bai Chen and Serena remained at the camp.
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