Chapter 356: Ambush! Revived Ancient Pokémon!?

The viewers in the livestream had a fairly good idea of how strong Chen Mo's Pokémon were.

The strange Pokémon summoned by the Aura Crystals might have looked numerous, but countless people believed that as long as Chen Mo went all out, they wouldn't pose much of a problem.

But...

"They're way too weak!"

Zhou Yichuan stared at the dark-red Pokémon that burst like balloons at the slightest touch, his face filled with confusion.

"Judging from Pikachu and the others' movements, Xiao Mo must have made these arrangements before deciding to break the World-Origin Tree's seal. Clearly, he anticipated that an attack would occur."

"Could this be the World-Origin Tree's defense mechanism? But isn't this way too weak?"

Zhou Yichuan was utterly baffled.

Judging from the strength displayed by these dark-red Pokémon, forget Chen Mo, who was publicly recognized as the number-one Trainer— even some of the weakest rookie Trainers who had made it into the Pikachu Cup's main tournament could probably deal with them effortlessly.

Just as countless viewers in the livestream were filled with question marks, Chen Mo's voice slowly came through the screen.

"You're probably all wondering about this, but there's no need to doubt it. This is indeed one of the World-Origin Tree's defensive mechanisms."

"Speaking of which, I wonder if everyone still remembers what I explained earlier. One of the main functions of Aura Ore is similar to the 'white blood cells' in the human body. They devour bacteria that enter the World-Origin Tree. And right now, they're doing exactly that."

"These dark-red Pokémon summoned by the Aura Ore didn't appear for the sake of fighting. They're here to devour me, the human who has entered."

"And once they touch me, no matter how strong Pikachu and the others are, I'm afraid they won't be able to save me."

"That's right. Ordinary Pokémon aren't the targets of these summoned dark-red Pokémon. In this entire pursuit, from beginning to end, I'm the only one in danger."

Chen Mo spoke with remarkable calmness.

But the viewers in the livestream immediately realized how serious the situation was.

The dark-red Pokémon before them might be extremely weak, shattering at the slightest touch, but there were simply too many of them. On top of that, they weren't slow.

As long as even one Pokémon broke through the defensive formation surrounding Chen Mo, he would be in serious danger.

For a time, the livestream chat quieted considerably.

Countless viewers watched the overwhelming swarm of dark-red Pokémon and silently broke into a cold sweat for Chen Mo.

Yet.

Chen Mo himself wasn't the slightest bit flustered. His heart was as calm as still water.

Just as his Pokémon were willing to trust him, Chen Mo had always trusted Pikachu and the others in return.

Soon.

As they slowly moved forward, Chen Mo noticed that fewer and fewer dark-red Pokémon were emerging from the Aura Ore.

[They're incredible! Pikachu and the others coordinate so well. And Zoroark just joined Teacher Mo's team, yet it can already work perfectly with Pikachu and the others, covering every blind spot. The coordination and rotation are just beautiful!]

[Do you understand the gold standard of the world's number-one Trainer!?]

[Hahaha, these dark-red Pokémon look like they've been beaten into submission. Looks like the World-Origin Tree's defense mechanism isn't much of a threat to Teacher Mo.]

The viewers relaxed after seeing this.

But as Chen Mo looked at the Aura Crystals flashing with strange light around him, a vague sense of unease suddenly arose in his heart.

The Aura Crystals were clearly still active.

So why were fewer and fewer dark-red Pokémon being summoned?

Something unusual was bound to be happening.

Chen Mo continued releasing his Aura and observing his surroundings. At the same time, he gave Gengar behind him a meaningful look, signaling that if anything happened, it should immediately put down the camera and come help.

And then.

Using the Aura Staff to expand his field of perception, Chen Mo suddenly noticed that some of the crystals not far away were leaking a dark-red liquid that was slowly seeping into the ground.

With ordinary vision, it was impossible to see what was happening.

But under the perception of Aura, Chen Mo clearly saw a pile of bones buried beneath the soil where the dark-red liquid had seeped.

As the bones were enveloped by the dark-red liquid, an astonishing scene unfolded before Chen Mo's eyes.

The pile of bones began trembling slightly.

Beneath the soil, they rapidly reassembled themselves.

As the dark-red liquid disappeared, points of red light began to emerge, and the bones visibly started regaining the flesh they had possessed in life.

"Stop!"

Chen Mo lowered his voice, his expression grave.

The Pokémon immediately stopped without hesitation.

At that very moment.

The countless viewers in the livestream also noticed that the few remaining dark-red Pokémon weren't recklessly charging toward Chen Mo as they had before.

Instead, they seemed to dissolve, turning into pools of liquid that seeped into the earth.

Rumble...

A low tremor shook the ground.

Then, roughly ten meters away from Chen Mo, the earth suddenly exploded.

Soil flew in every direction as a thin figure leaped high into the air. Under the red glow released by the World-Origin Tree, the sharp scythes on its arms shimmered with an ominous light.

"Kabu!"

Filled with murderous intent, the blades shot toward Chen Mo.

However.

At that very moment.

Another Pokémon moved even faster.

Pikachu's tiny yellow body seemed to transform into a golden bolt of lightning as it sprinted forward.

There wasn't the slightest trace of fear on its face.

Its eyes locked onto the descending blade, and as it leaped into the air, it raised its lightning-bolt-shaped tail.

"Pika!"

Its gleaming Iron Tail collided with the scythe.

Sparks flew everywhere.

In the clash, Pikachu overwhelmed the attacker with sheer strength and sent it flying.

Bang!

The tremendous impact sent the attacker crashing heavily into the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.

The lightning-fast ambush had ended almost as quickly as a shooting star.

Many viewers in the livestream stared blankly at the scene, unable to process what had just happened.

[Holy crap, this Pokémon is sneaky as hell! It actually launched an attack from underground! That's downright shameless! Thankfully, Teacher Mo has X-ray vision thanks to being an Aura Guardian and made Pikachu and the others stop in advance. Otherwise, he really might have been caught off guard!]

[Wait, didn't Teacher Mo say that given the current state of the secret realm, it would be extremely difficult for any Pokémon to survive?]

[Exactly. I already found Zoroark strange enough. How did another living Pokémon suddenly appear?]

[Wait! Look closely! Isn't that a Kabutops!?]

Among the dark-red Pokémon that had attacked Chen Mo earlier, there had been all sorts of ancient Pokémon.

Moreover, the fossil army from the battle against Hydreigon in Viridian Forest had left a deep impression on many viewers.

So when Gengar adjusted the camera and focused on the Pokémon resembling a trilobite struggling to rise from the ground, many people immediately recognized it as a Kabutops.

"Fossil Pokémon really did appear..."

Zhou Yichuan's thoughts raced.

"Could it be like what happened in Viridian Forest? Could there be a group of fossil Pokémon sleeping beneath the World-Origin Tree as well?"

The thought had barely arisen when Chen Mo seemed to have heard Zhou Yichuan's thoughts through the screen and quickly explained.

"There probably aren't any fossil Pokémon still alive beneath the World-Origin Tree."

"Not alive?"

Zhou Yichuan froze.

Immediately afterward.

He noticed the livestream camera being adjusted again under Gengar's control.

The next second, Zhou Yichuan saw an unmistakable pile of bones on the ground being enveloped by the dark-red liquid leaking from the Aura Ore.

"This is!?"

"You can all see it, right?"

Chen Mo calmly watched as a Kabuto was resurrected by the dark-red liquid.

"That Kabutops from earlier came from the same process."

The entire livestream erupted.

But Chen Mo's heart wasn't nearly as calm as his expression suggested.

This was ridiculous!

Chen Mo certainly didn't remember anything like this happening in Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew.

This was making things much harder for him!

Still.

Chen Mo had encountered far too many things he didn't understand.

Fossil Pokémon were already a category of Pokémon that could be resurrected in the games. Although the games required human technology to accomplish it, the movie Pokémon Heroes had also shown a villain temporarily resurrecting a Kabutops and Aerodactyl with the mysterious power of the Soul Dew.

Chen Mo guessed that the current situation was probably similar to what had happened in Pokémon Heroes.

After all, in terms of mystery and power, the World-Origin Tree certainly wouldn't be inferior to the Soul Dew protected by Latios and Latias.

"This is troublesome."

With the Aura amplified by the staff, Chen Mo could clearly sense the ground in the distance trembling slightly.

Many resurrected fossil Pokémon were approaching.

At the same time.

More and more fossil Pokémon were emerging from the ground nearby.

The situation was completely different now.

These weren't the dark-red Pokémon that shattered at the slightest touch.

With this many fossil Pokémon, Chen Mo's group would probably have to use nearly all their trump cards to deal with them.

"Looks like we have no choice..."

Before attempting to break the World-Origin Tree's seal, Chen Mo had made plenty of contingency plans.

There hadn't been one specifically for resurrected fossil Pokémon, but considering that the three pillars guarding the World-Origin Tree might appear, Chen Mo had prepared another plan:

If they couldn't win, they would run.

"Jirachi!"

Chen Mo called out to the little star floating in the sky.

Jirachi immediately understood.

Psychic-type energy began surging around its body.

At the same time, Pikachu and the other Pokémon moved closer to Chen Mo, forming a small circle around him.

"Jira!"

(Everyone, be careful!)

With Jirachi's warning, the countless fossil Pokémon rapidly approaching suddenly saw Chen Mo and the others enveloped in a brilliant light.

The next second.

They disappeared from the spot.

Teleport!

——

Splash, splash—

A head suddenly emerged from a filthy pool of water.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Chen Mo spat out the dirty water he had accidentally swallowed.

Soon.

Pikachu, Gible, Zoroark, and the other Pokémon surfaced from the murky pool one after another.

"Jira, jira!"

(I'm sorry, I'm sorry!)

Seeing how miserable her companions looked, Jirachi was filled with guilt and repeatedly apologized to Chen Mo, Pikachu, and the others.

"It's not your fault. Cough, cough, cough. Jirachi, you got us out of the fossil army's encirclement. This little thing isn't worth worrying about."

Chen Mo quickly swam to shore and comforted Jirachi.

Over the past several thousand years, Jirachi had only been awake for a handful of days.

So although it was a Psychic-type Pokémon, it wasn't particularly proficient at using its own moves.

That was also why, when the Clefairy had prayed to it in the mountains outside Greenfield Town, Jirachi had given the Clefairy tribe anything that resembled an Evolution Stone.

It couldn't precisely use Teleport to select only the Moon Stones the Clefairy needed, nor could it accurately transport Chen Mo and the other Pokémon to an ideal location.

"But our luck seems pretty good. Jirachi, you did great!"

After using Jirachi's psychic powers to clean himself up again, Chen Mo looked upward.

They had apparently been transported to the very base of the World-Origin Tree.

Next, they should only need to keep going upward.

As usual, Chen Mo used the staff to extend his Aura outward.

And then.

All the Pokémon surrounding Chen Mo simultaneously sensed something unusual coming from above.

"Pika!"

Pikachu shouted.

Chen Mo instinctively looked up.

A tremendously thick orange-red beam of light suddenly descended from above with the force of thunder.

Before Chen Mo could react, a dark silhouette flashed past.

It grabbed Chen Mo and then instantly moved him to the side.

BOOM!

Under the impact of the beam, the spot where Chen Mo and the Pokémon had been standing exploded instantly, forming a crater roughly three to four meters in diameter.

"Thank you, Zoroark."

Chen Mo thanked the dark silhouette as it slowly set him down.

Then he stared at the crater, his brows furrowing.

"Hyper Beam..."

Having a deep impression of the move, Chen Mo recognized it immediately.

"GRAAAAH!"

A thunderous roar suddenly came from above.

Then.

As a violent gust of wind swept through the area, Chen Mo saw an enormous and intensely imposing beast slowly fly out from a cavern above.

Its blue eyes swept across the ground.

Before long, they locked onto the only human present—Chen Mo.

"That's..."

Watching the livestream, Zhou Yichuan instantly recognized the newly emerged Pokémon.

It was another familiar face from Viridian Forest.

Aerodactyl.

And then.

Zhou Yichuan noticed something unusual.

"Huh? No, that's not right! Why does this Aerodactyl have so many stones growing on its body!?"

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