“Gacha…”
Excadrill froze completely in place.
Staring at the giant serpentine creature that had suddenly emerged from the lake, its mind went entirely blank.
It couldn’t understand why, even though this was supposed to be its very first time seeing this giant snake, an inexplicable chill swept through its chest—a feeling as if it had been thoroughly crushed by this exact presence not too long ago.
Zygarde looked down at the oversized mole before it.
Once it confirmed that its intimidation had been effectively communicated, it slowly retracted its aura.
Then, through telepathy, its voice resounded directly within Excadrill’s mind:
“How did you get here?”
“Gacha?!”
Excadrill’s pupils shrank to pinpricks.
It hadn’t expected this giant monster to actually speak!
However, it was not the kind of Pokémon to yield easily.
A true powerhouse should swing its drills at even stronger opponents—that was its creed!
Never backing down before tasting true defeat was the principle it lived by.
Since Weibai had sent it here, he must want it to defeat this giant snake with its own hands.
It was going to prove itself!
Its usually simple brain suddenly seemed to experience an epiphany.
Excadrill felt it finally understood Weibai’s true intention: he wanted it to prove its power right here and now.
“Hmm?”
Zygarde tilted its head slightly, puzzled as to why the creature’s aura had suddenly shifted.
The next moment, it watched as Excadrill raised both arms, clapped its steel blades tightly together with a sharp metallic clang, and leapt straight into the air!
[Excadrill has challenged Zygarde!]
[Excadrill strikes first!
Here it comes!]
[Holy crap, Drill Run landed a direct hit!]
“Attending physician, don’t throw!
That’s my 100 Legend Points!
I didn’t send you over just to come back in less than ten minutes!”
Staring at the notifications flashing before his eyes, Weibai nearly collapsed to his knees to pray to the heavens.
Squishy, curled up in his pocket, was startled by his sudden outburst…
Perspective shifted back to Terminus Cave.
Zygarde had no time to react before Excadrill’s Drill Run slammed solidly into its head.
Although it dealt only an infinitesimal amount of damage, the impact momentarily threw Zygarde off balance.
Its massive body crashed heavily into the lake, sending up a massive spray of water and rippling waves.
“Gacha!”
Excadrill stood proudly by the lakeside, raising both arms high to declare its victory.
As expected, an opponent of this level was far too easy.
Was there an opponent with actual skill and real stats?
Oh, brother, there sure was.
The very second after it declared victory, the ground beneath its feet shook violently.
Web-like cracks burst open across the terrain, emitting blinding green rays of light from the fissures before detonating with a thunderous roar!
*BOOM—!*
Before Excadrill could even react, a fierce shockwave launched it high into the air.
It crashed heavily onto the ground.
Over the lake, Zygarde’s figure reemerged.
By now, any previous composure was gone.
Being provoked again and again…
as the saying went, the “Z” could not be disgraced!
“Listen here, you little rat!
Do you really think I’m some sweet-tempered Pokémon?
I’m a green dragon, not a green-shelled turtle!” You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Zygarde didn’t bother keeping up appearances anymore.
As a Core, its intelligence was on par with humans, and every Zygarde Core had a distinct personality.
It just so happened to be the one with the worst temper among them all.
Normally, it chose to nest at home and avoid going out simply because it feared bumping into some idiots and accidentally blasting a few holes through the Kalos region.
*BOOM!
BOOM!*
Explosions resounded endlessly inside Terminus Cave.
Zygarde intentionally controlled the power of its moves, treating Excadrill like a game of Whack-A-Mole as it bombarded the Pokémon with Land’s Wrath over and over again.
No matter how loudly Excadrill squealed, Zygarde turned a deaf ear, thoroughly enjoying the cathartic bliss of chasing someone down with divine ground power.
Ah~ just playing around~
“Gacha…”
Excadrill clutched its head and rolled continuously across the ground.
At this moment, it finally realized that this giant snake’s power was identical to the Squishy that had beaten it up last night.
This was definitely Weibai’s deliberate retaliation because it had chased him down with Earth Power yesterday!
A warrior could be killed, but not humiliated!
Finally, like a candle flickering in the wind, Excadrill’s inner fighting spirit was completely ignited.
Even if it ended up paralyzed here today, it would use its last remaining strength to blast him with Earth Power!
“Gacha!”
*I’ll take you down with me—!*
Excadrill unleashed its most practiced Earth Power, head-on against Zygarde’s Land’s Wrath.
However, this “pinnacle showdown” between them was destined to have no other audience.
…
A long time later.
Weibai, who had gone numb to the point of no longer paying attention to the continuous notifications, was using his phone to draft a future plan for his Gym.
Of course, this was just a tentative version subject to future adjustments.
His Gym style was destined to make him the brightest star in the night of Lumiose City.
“Done.
Next up is the school…”
Weibai pulled out his student ID card, intending to visit Étoile Academy in the afternoon.
Whether he attended classes didn’t matter; the main goal was to advertise and recruit a few students to test the waters.
The school was filled with energetic students who cared deeply about prestige.
Moreover, he hadn’t forgotten the Intel refreshed today: students from Blueberry Academy in the Unova region were about to arrive at Étoile Academy for an off-campus study program.
This was undoubtedly a fantastic promotional opportunity.
After all, Blueberry Academy was famous for focusing on training Pokémon Trainers and battling.
Although it had been established less than five years ago, its reputation and teaching quality were by no means inferior to Paldea’s Naranja Academy.
With these preparations made, he calculated the time and realized that nearly an hour had passed since the “Path of Nurturing” was activated.
“So durable?
It hasn’t returned yet?”
Curious, he reopened the Path of Nurturing event log.
The previous text quickly appeared before his eyes.
[Excadrill and Zygarde engaged in a hearty battle, standing tall through dozens of turns.]
[Excadrill’s posture and conviction while using Earth Power earned Zygarde’s appreciation as a newfound comrade—namely, that blasting opponents with divine earth power feels awesome.]
[Influenced by the divine order and natural power contained in the lake, Excadrill recovered from all injuries.
It forgot its mastered move Earth Power and learned Land’s Wrath!]
“Huh?
What the heck?!”
Weibai rubbed his eyes, completely dumbfounded.
What on earth was going on?
He recognized every single word, but why did it look so absurd when put together? This story is hosted at g.com.
Excadrill battled Zygarde for dozens of turns without falling?
It even earned the legendary Pokémon’s appreciation due to a shared hobby?
And in the end, it actually forgot the Special Attack move Earth Power and instead learned the Physical move Land’s Wrath?!
I ask you, is this Excadrill of yours even legal?!
Answer me!
Land’s Wrath!
That was clearly Zygarde’s signature move!
Although it was somewhat considered a Physical variant of Earth Power…
and Zygarde had many signature moves, with Land’s Wrath being relatively underwhelming among them to the point that almost no one ran it in battles.
But this was blatantly defying logic!
How could it learn a Legendary Pokémon’s signature move?
This wasn’t a Smeargle using Sketch!
Just think about it—if it could learn Land’s Wrath today, it might learn Thousand Arrows tomorrow, and maybe even Groudon’s Precipice Blades wouldn’t be out of reach.
At this moment, Weibai finally realized how terrifying the Path of Nurturing feature was.
Making a Pokémon master moves it was fundamentally incapable of learning was something even top-tier Breeders couldn’t achieve.
If they really could do that, Garchomp wouldn’t be unable to learn Dragon Dance to this day.
Just as Weibai was reeling in shock from the sheer power of this module, a flash of white light erupted.
Having finished its “pinnacle match” with Zygarde, Excadrill finally returned to its faithful Gym.
“Kyu~”
Squishy seemed to sense something.
It jumped out of Weibai’s pocket and landed on Excadrill.
It felt a strange sense of familiarity, but after thinking for a long time, it couldn’t remember what it was.
At this moment, Excadrill regained its senses and looked around dazed, finding itself back in the living room.
It was as if everything that had happened before was truly just a dream.
Having been healed by Zygarde, the clone merging back into the main body upon returning to reality naturally felt no fatigue whatsoever.
Right now, it was actually thrilled because it could clearly feel its strength rising.
“Gacha!”
Excadrill was immensely satisfied.
It even felt a sliver of guilt for doubting Weibai earlier.
The human truly possessed a channel to make it stronger, though as for the process…
it had to admit, this opponent was indeed a bit troublesome.
Well, just a little.
Too bad it was all virtual.
Excadrill had no idea that it had actually traveled through space to the distant Terminus Cave.
It simply assumed that this was some unknown special ability of Weibai’s, allowing it to increase its strength in a dreamlike world.
Humans…
were truly terrifying creatures.
“???”
Weibai was full of question marks.
He felt that the way Excadrill looked at him was a bit off.
Had it been beaten stupid?
Meanwhile, inside the now peaceful Terminus Cave.
Zygarde stood quietly above the lake, gazing at the spot where Excadrill had vanished into thin air.
After a long silence, an indescribable feeling arose in its heart.
It mobilised its cells scattered across the Kalos region to conduct a search, but it couldn’t find a single trace of the creature.
Logically speaking, such a situation should be completely impossible.
However, these unusual signs made it realize that this world seemed to be undergoing changes that even it could not perceive.
“Perhaps…
it is time to take a walk outside.”