“I’m back!!”
Boom!
Golurk came crashing down outside the Pokémon Center with bags and packages hanging all over its enormous body like some overworked delivery Pokémon.
Aiden, meanwhile, cheerfully waved at Nurse Joy, who was standing by the entrance.
“Your conquering hero has returned!”
“Welcome back.”
Joy greeted him with her usual gentle smile, and Audino beside her did the same.
“Although now that I think about it, Jenny told me you were all running away from home.
Why are you back before it’s even dark?”
Aiden’s smile froze.
“Slander!
She’s slandering me!”
“Spriga!
Spriga!”
“Sni!
Sni!”
Sprigatito and Snivy, freshly released from their Poké Balls, immediately backed him up.
This was all part of that wicked Officer Jenny’s conspiracy!
Aiden even slapped Golurk’s arm as though presenting the mountain of luggage hanging from it as irrefutable evidence.
“We just thought you and Audino work so hard every day, Sis Joy, so we went out to buy a few things as a token of our appreciation.”
Sprigatito and Snivy nodded vigorously.
Exactly.
They absolutely had not fled because they had destroyed Joy’s figurine and were trying to escape responsibility.
Everything they had done came from the purest, most heartfelt gratitude.
If there were only one word that could describe their feelings toward Joy, it would be—
Loyalty!
“That awful woman is clearly trying to drive a wedge between the deep bond we share!”
“Meow!”
“Sni!”
Watching the three of them put on their little performance, Joy—who already knew the truth—had to fight to keep herself from laughing.
Especially when she noticed Officer Jenny sneaking up behind Aiden.
“You’re dead, kid.
Not even the Champion could save you today.
I said what I said!”
Jenny had come rushing over after receiving reports of a gigantic Pokémon flying above the city, only to arrive just in time to hear Aiden badmouthing her.
“Oh, crap—”
Aiden didn’t even get the chance to run.
Jenny smoothly hooked an arm around his neck and dragged him backward, expressing her outrage in the most direct possible manner.
‘I gave you all that stuff, and this is how you talk about me behind my back?!’
“Sis, I’m sorry!
I wasn’t talking about you—”
While the two of them wrestled around, Joy laughed softly before beckoning toward Sprigatito, Snivy, and the newly arrived Golurk.
“You three must have had a tiring day.
Come on, I’ll give you a checkup and get you treated.”
The two smaller Pokémon and one very large one all turned toward Aiden.
“Go ahead.
Never turn down a free medical checkup!”
Joy puffed out her cheeks slightly.
“Oh, honestly.
You two used to be so close to me, but ever since Aiden showed up, you even need his permission before I can examine you.”
Sprigatito and Snivy immediately hurried over.
“Meow~”
“Sni~”
Both began shamelessly acting cute in apology.
“All right, all right.
I know you still love me too.”
Joy had only been teasing them in the first place, and she happily scooped the two smaller Pokémon into her arms.
Then she looked up at Golurk.
“Sorry, but the front door is a little too small for you.
Come around to the back with me instead.”
“Gooo—”
Aiden, still fighting for his life in Jenny’s grip, noticed what was happening and managed to toss Golurk’s Heavy Ball over.
“Golurk seems to have been asleep in those ruins for a really long time!
Sis Joy, could you give it an extra-thorough examination?”
Snivy expertly caught the ball with a vine and handed it to Joy.
“Of course.”
The moment Joy heard that Golurk might have been dormant for an extremely long period, her expression became much more serious.
According to current research, Golett and Golurk were believed to be artificial Pokémon created by an ancient civilization with technology far beyond what historians would normally expect from that era.
Their original purpose was thought to have been protecting both humans and Pokémon.
They had little dependence on ordinary food, instead relying primarily on a mysterious form of energy stored within their bodies.
Because of that, one theory proposed that a Golurk surviving from ancient times into the modern era without any means of replenishing that energy might eventually exhaust its internal reserves.
So when Joy heard that this Golurk had apparently spent an unknown amount of time sleeping inside an ancient ruin, she immediately treated the situation seriously.
“Audino, we’ve got work to do!”
“Audino!”
Joy and Audino hurried away with Golurk, leaving Jenny to finally loosen her hold on Aiden.
She watched them disappear with a trace of concern.
“Golurk’s going to be okay, right?”
“It’ll be fine.”
Unlike Jenny and Joy, Aiden looked completely relaxed despite still being trapped against Jenny after their scuffle.
“I know intuition isn’t exactly scientific, but the moment I saw Golurk, I could tell it was healthy.”
As it turned out, his instincts were right.
After Joy conducted a thorough examination from top to bottom, there was only one real problem.
“How in the world did you manage to catch a Pokémon this strong?!”
Aiden stared at the report she handed him.
He was wondering exactly the same thing.
‘Did I seriously catch this thing by throwing Poké Balls at it while using two unevolved Pokémon?’
According to the examination, Golurk’s energy level corresponded to approximately Level 56.
That wasn’t quite at the level of an elite Gym Leader’s strongest Pokémon, but for an average Gym Leader, a Pokémon of this caliber would already qualify as an exceptionally valuable battle-ready team member.
And that wasn’t even the most impressive part.
Golurk knew an enormous number of moves.
Signal Beam, Hammer Arm, Earthquake, Flash Cannon, Rain Dance, High Horsepower, Shadow Punch, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch…
With such a broad movepool, Golurk had enough versatility to earn a place even among the primary teams of high-level Gym Leaders, and potentially compete at an Elite Four standard depending on how it was trained.
Yet when Aiden had encountered it in the ruins, this absurdly powerful Pokémon had used nothing but Signal Beam.
And it had only targeted him.
The more Aiden thought about it, the more convinced he became that there could only be one explanation.
He looked up at Golurk with a deeply self-satisfied smile.
“Golurk, you bastard…
You took one look at my handsome face the moment you woke up and decided you wanted me as your Trainer, didn’t you?”
Golurk: “…”
The silent guardian offered no answer whatsoever.