"Uh… just kidding."
Seeing Sun retreat with a face full of terror, Axel also realized that fighting Sun right now would be a bit like bullying him.
His Litten was only level 15, and Tauros's level was not impressive either.
Even if those two teamed up, they still could not beat either Gible or Gholdengo.
As for his other Pokémon, better not even mention them. Axel was afraid Sun's two little partners would be scared silly by the rest of his Pokémon.
"Let's fight again later when you're stronger. By then I'll use a newly trained partner."
Sun hugged Litten tightly and shook his head like crazy.
Axel sighed helplessly, "I won't let you fight for nothing. I'll give you one thousand per match."
"Hm?", Sun's eyes lit up.
"Not just one thousand, I'll cover the medical fees too."
Sun immediately put Litten down and thumped his chest with his right fist, "I'd die ten thousand times for you, my lord!"
Axel: "..."
This guy was just born in the wrong region. If he were placed somewhere with generally higher combat strength, plus that hard work trait of his, no matter what, he would be a main character type.
"Pay is in place, even gods get wrecked!"
["Master, we've asked around on Buzzwole's side,"] At this moment, Gardevoir's voice suddenly came through.
Axel quickly waved at Sun, getting back to business.
"Are there any other rifts elsewhere in the Ultra Wormhole?"
Gardevoir shook her head, ["Buzzwole actually isn't very sure either. He was just sleeping on the grassland when he suddenly saw a light."]
["Luckily, he usually likes showing off his muscles, so there are almost no other Ultra Beasts around him. That's why only he came over."]
["According to Regirock's deduction, only one rift can open at a time. The next one will take a while before it opens."]
"Oh?", Axel looked at Regirock with some surprise. He did not expect it to be this capable, even able to deduce something like this.
'If this thing went to Aurient to handle middle and high school entrance exams, it could probably precisely add five hundred points to all its fans' scores.'
"Well done," Axel gave Regirock a thumbs up, "If there's nothing else, go back and help Eva with her research. We'll handle things here for now."
"Mm… if Eva asks, just say we went to visit the Aether Paradise."
'Aether Paradise?'
Hearing those four words, Sun seemed as if some keyword had been triggered.
"My lord, would you like to come to my town as a guest for a few days?", Sun wanted to see whether Axel really knew the secrets of the Aether Paradise.
Ever since he could remember things, he had known that his family's island had been bought by the Aether Foundation.
But why it was bought, and the details behind it, he knew absolutely nothing.
Sun felt that only after knowing some of the details would it be easier to take his grandfather's island back.
Sensing Sun's thoughts a little, Axel smacked his lips, 'This world's Sun was indeed more mature than the one in the special chapter.'
The Sun in the special chapter seemed to never think about these things at all, only burying his head in making money.
In the end, when he took one hundred million League Coins to look for Faba, he was mercilessly mocked.
Of course, it was also possible that he had been deliberately avoiding this issue all along, unwilling to think about what would come after.
Unfortunately, Axel was still busy saving the world right now.
"Let's talk about it when there's a chance later. I'll come find you then, and we can spar a few—"
Before Axel could finish speaking, Regirock beside him suddenly flashed a few times, projecting a light image.
The image showed Eva. She was anxiously staring at some kind of screen, her tone uneasy.
["Axel, didn't you ask me to look for the Aether Foundation's passage?"]
["Just now, the entire Aether Foundation disappeared out of thin air!"]
"Disappeared?", Axel was also stunned for a moment. There were quite a few ways to make an island disappear. Kyogre and Palkia could both do it.
But… Axel had not heard of anything wrong happening in the Hoenn region, and Palkia had already turned into a well behaved little dragon. There was no way it would dare cause trouble at a time like this.
A ridiculous thought appeared in Axel's mind, 'The Aether Foundation could not have run into the Ultra Wormhole, right?'
Of course, Axel was just thinking about it. This was the least likely thing to happen.
Faba had been operating within the Aether Foundation for many years. His goal was nothing more than ruling the Pokémon world. How could he possibly run into the Ultra Wormhole?
Sun beside him also panicked. All these years, he had been working hard to make money just to buy the island back.
And now this was great. The island was just gone?
Sun stood there in a daze for quite a while before barely coming back to his senses, "Mr. Axel, what do we do now?"
Axel also felt a bit of a headache. He had thought this would be a crushing victory, but after arriving, it turned into a game of hide and seek.
"What else can we do. Since we happen to have time now, let's go check out your town first."
Axel felt that since the Aether Foundation chose to hide, it definitely would not hide in an easy to find place.
And Sun just happened to be the main character of this region. If his lucky protagonist trait was triggered, maybe they could stumble upon some clues.
At the same time, Axel sent a text message to Tabitha from Team Magma, asking her to keep an eye out for any news about Kyogre.
Very quickly, a soft and sticky voice came from the other side.
["Lord God, you finally remembered me. If you have time—"]
Before she could finish, Rotom had already been kicked flying by Pheromosa.
Gardevoir smiled lightly, ["So cool!"]
Rotom: "..."
'Master, I'm begging for money for you online. Please hurry up and switch to a normal phone.'
———
Led by Sun, Axel and his group soon appeared in a small town.
The houses in this town all looked very tropical. Most of them were made entirely of wood, with a layer of unknown thatch covering the roofs.
A few houses were slightly larger, but even those rarely used bricks.
"Sir, this is my home. Professor Kukui also lives here."
"Later I need to deliver the Bug type Pokémon I caught to Professor Kukui and collect today's pay."
"Would you like to come visit Professor Kukui with me? If you go, Kukui might get happy and give me a bit more money!"
"Let's go together."
If Axel remembered correctly, Professor Kukui also researched Z Power.
If he could combine the teachings of Kukui, the Pokémon Sun and Moon Research Lab, and the island kahunas, he might be able to master Z Moves more smoothly.
"Great, then let's go to the Kukui Research Lab together."
At the mention of making money, Sun's mood clearly lifted. He strode forward, running toward another part of the town against the damp, soft breeze.
Axel followed behind Sun and vaguely heard him call out a reminder.
"Oh right, Mr. Axel, there's a really violent battle maniac in that lab. He practically starts fighting the moment you make eye contact. You absolutely must not pay attention to that girl Selene."
Hearing this name, Axel could not help but freeze for a moment.
'Wait, wasn't Selene the one who ended Team Rainbow Rocket? Why is she here?'
'According to the setting, shouldn't Sun's partner be Moon?'
[🎉 Shoutout to Kaustup, Gonzalo, Tiago and Roger for joining patreon. Thank you very much.🤗]