154: Chapter 154 Lei Gong Enters Silver Mountain Despite His Injuries

Raikou headed north.

The black scar stretching from its shoulder to its chest was still glowing.

The wound came from the Abyss Army's encirclement, and black blood had embedded itself into the very depths of its thunder.

With every stride, the lightning had to pass by the black scar, only to be torn apart and forcibly suppressed back into its body.

Wind and snow swirled chaotically along the mountain path.

Raikou stepped past the dim lamps outside Ecruteak City, past the ice pits on the edge of Mahogany Town, and past the temporary medicine sheds beside the evacuation lines of Goldenrod City.

It saw an old man kneeling at the entrance of a shrine, saw Black Flag Soldiers distributing medicine to children, and saw remnants of the Old League changing into civilian clothes, hiding in dark alleys to avoid patrols.

Johto had become a strange place.

Calamity was saving people.

The gods were silent.

Human flags pressed over the shrine eaves, and carts of medicine and grain drove into streets that were once reserved only for priests.

Carrying this chaos, Raikou charged into the wind and snow at the foot of Mt. Silver.

Halfway up the mountain, a figure stood in the snow.

The Red brim of his hat was pulled very low, and his black jacket was covered in white frost. Pikachu crouched on his shoulder, its tail slightly raised, tiny arcs of electricity dancing on the tips of its fur.

Red.

Raikou stopped, and a ring of blue light exploded in the snow beneath its claws.

It was a sacred beast under Ho-Oh, the embodiment of Johto's thunder. It had always answered humans with running and thunder.

Red did not approach either.

He looked at the black scar on Raikou's chest, took a small medical device from his backpack, placed it on the snow, and then stepped back half a pace.

Pikachu jumped down from his shoulder, walked to the device, and tapped it lightly with its tail.

A stable current lit up.

Clean, gentle, like a thin golden thread.

Raikou's pupils constricted slightly.

There was no command, no contract, and no scent of ritual in that electricity. It was simply a partner giving its own electricity to another injured thunder-type creature.

Raikou took a step forward.

The medical device treated the flesh wounds, smoking slightly when it touched the black scar. Pikachu's current, however, briefly stabilized the wound, and the thunder rampaging inside Raikou finally caught its breath.

In the wind and snow, Red crouched down.

He did not ask questions.

Raikou stared at him for a long time, then lowered its head, projecting the images it had seen into the snow.

As the lightning fell, intermittent images emerged on the snowy surface.

A black throne.

Calamity Entei transformed by black fire.

Suicune running while injured on the Lake of Rage.

Pale fire atop the Bell Tower.

And Lynn standing in front of the Abyss Army.

Pikachu's ears slowly perked up.

Red finished watching all the images and stood in the snow for a long time, silent. He did not cry out for justice, nor did he make any grand promises; he simply brushed the snow off his hat brim and turned back toward the cave.

The cave was very simple.

An old sleeping bag, a worn-out backpack, a few Poké Balls, and a Pokédex that rarely connected to the network. Dried wood brought back by Venusaur was piled by the wall, footprints from training remained on the ground, and shallow scratches from Charizard's claws hung on the rock wall.

Red picked up the first Poké Ball.

At that moment, the wind and snow outside stopped briefly.

Raikou stood at the cave entrance, watching this human clip the Poké Balls back onto his belt, one by one.

Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder.

The wind and snow pressed down once again.

On Mt. Silver, the person who had been silent for too long began to descend the mountain.

Raikou followed behind to the side.

The first village at the foot of Mt. Silver saw Red first.

The wooden sign at the village entrance was half-buried in snow, and the chimneys of a few houses were still smoking. The villagers had heard the sound of the snowmobile and had already hidden in their cellars; it was only when they saw the Red hat and Pikachu through the cracks that someone gathered the courage to open the door.

An old man walked out with a cane, clutching a crumpled photograph in his hand.

The photo was of his grandson, wearing a trainer's jacket and carrying an old travel bag before he went missing.

The old man did not cry.

He simply handed the photo to Red, his fingers frozen purple.

"They said the child went to the League training camp."

The young officer beside the snowmobile lowered his head and handed over another list.

The child's name was on it.

Behind it was written: Indigo Plateau experiment transfer, lost contact.

Red took the list, his gaze lingering for a long time.

Pikachu stood at his feet, its tail drooping.

Raikou looked at the old man, then toward the Black Flag Soldiers in the distance. The soldiers were adding wooden covers to the village well, and another person was handing a medicine kit to the village doctor. The Black Flag brought fear, but also evidence and medicine.

The villagers stepped out of their houses in increasing numbers.

Some cursed Lynn, some cursed the League, and some stared blankly at the black scar on Raikou's chest. A little girl holding a cracked ceramic bowl asked Red timidly: "Will you bring the children back?"

Red crouched down and took the empty bowl.

He said: "I will go see."

These four words were very light, yet they made the surroundings go quiet.

The young officer led the way, and the snowmobile drove toward the temporary camp at the foot of the mountain.

Three rows of tents were set up in the camp. The first row held the wounded, the second held evidence, and the third held several Old League transport guards. When Red walked in, a rescued Nidoran was taking medicine by the cage, still bearing experimental needle marks on its back. The young trainer next to it had a broken arm and immediately wanted to stand up upon seeing Red, but was pressed back onto the bed by a military doctor.

"Don't move."

Red walked to the bedside.

The boy's face was pale, but his eyes lit up.

"Mr. Red... will you fight Lynn?"

Everyone in the tent looked over.

Red looked at his arm, wrapped in bandages, and then at the experimental Pokémon sleeping in another bed.

"I will first figure out who deserves to be fought."

The boy was stunned.

Raikou stood outside the tent, wind and snow falling on its back, the black scar on its chest flickering.

It had thought it was bringing Red to see a human tyrant.

But along the way, all Red saw were bad debts, wounds, medicine kits, grain carts, and the bones hidden by the Old League.

When night fell, Red left the camp.

The young officer handed him a pass.

"The next point is the Goldenrod City temporary tribunal. After that, it's the Ecruteak City ledger wall and the Mahogany Town containment room."

Red accepted the pass.

"Lead the way."

Pikachu jumped back onto his shoulder.

Raikou followed to the side, its pace much slower.

The snow on Mt. Silver fell all the way down.

With every step Red took, the old era of Johto was dragged out a little further.

As soon as they walked out of the cave, the sound of engines came from the foot of the mountain.

Three Abyss snowmobiles drove through the wind and snow, with Black Flags hanging on the front, and two rows of armed soldiers sitting in the carriages. The lead officer saw Red from afar, immediately raised his hand, and the convoy stopped at the corner of the mountain road.

The soldiers raised their guns.

Pikachu crouched low.

Raikou's fur bristled, and electricity danced chaotically in the black scar.

Red raised his hand and pressed down on Pikachu.

The snowmobile door opened, and a young officer jumped down, his boots sinking halfway into the snow. He saw Raikou, then saw the Poké Balls on Red's belt, his expression changing several times before he finally lowered his gun.

"Mr. Red."

He handed over a sealed box.

The lid opened, and inside were three things.

An Indigo Plateau trial record.

A stack of photos of missing trainers.

And a blood-stained Old League badge.

"His Majesty Lynn said that before you go down the mountain, you should see these first."

Red took the photos.

The first was a corpse pit.

The second was the remains of white lab coats.

The third was the rescued experimental Pokémon.

The fourth was Lance signing his name with his head bowed at the Indigo Plateau tribunal.

The wind and snow blew across the corners of the paper, and the photos trembled slightly.

Red's finger paused on that old badge.

After a long time, he put the photos away.

"Lead the way."

The officer was stunned for a moment.

Red raised his eyes, his voice very light.

"I want to see it with my own eyes."

Raikou stood behind him, the black scar on its chest lighting up again.

This time, it did not run toward the Bell Tower.

The Goldenrod City temporary tribunal was noisier than Red had imagined.

A wooden platform was set up in the center of the square, and it was crowded with people below. Some held portraits of missing loved ones, some clutched compensation slips from the Old League, and others wore metal tags picked up from the ruins of the laboratory on their chests. Three recorders sat on the stage, with two rows of Black Flag Soldiers standing beside them.

The first person pushed onto the stage was an Old League logistics officer.

He was wearing a washed-out civilian jacket, but a military watch still remained on his wrist. The recorder read out warehouse numbers, transport routes, and lists of the missing, and people below immediately called out the names of their children.

The logistics officer's knees went weak, and he tried to shrink back.

Red stood at the edge of the crowd, watching quietly.

He saw that Lynn's rules were very brutal.

Admit it, hand over the names, live.

Lie, get dragged behind the stage.

Behind the stage were Gengar, interrogators, and a row of blank confessions that had already been signed.

Pikachu let out a low cry.

Red stroked its head.

"Finish watching first."

The second person to take the stage was the manager of the priest's mansion.

He handed over a bunch of keys and confessed to two underground warehouses. Half an hour later, Black Flag Soldiers carried potions, old ledgers, and a few pieces of children's clothing out of the warehouses. The crowd erupted again, and a thin man rushed up to grab the clothes, only to fall to his knees and wail after being stopped by soldiers.

Red gripped the pass tightly.

Raikou stood behind him, its gaze also gradually changing.

It had once thought this land was merely being trampled by a tyrant.

Now, it saw that the tyrant was also dragging the dirty bones of the old era beneath his feet.

In the evening, Red left Goldenrod City.

The next direction was Ecruteak City.

At the intersection, a Black Flag convoy was preparing to depart. The vehicles were loaded with medicine, grain, evidence boxes, and three escorted Old League officials. The young officer saw Red and voluntarily cleared a path.

"His Majesty Lynn is waiting for you in Ecruteak City."

Red looked up at the grey light in the distance.

Raikou's wound was glowing in the wind.

Pikachu stood on his shoulder, its tail raised.

"Let's go."

When this was said, the convoy started.

The person who had been silent for too long on Mt. Silver officially entered the Johto battlefield.

It followed the human, walking toward the world below the mountain controlled by the Black Flag.