HxH : Pokemon Master-Chapter 399: Cynthia!
Hunter Headquarters.
This was originally Team Rocket’s headquarters, but after renovations, it became a much larger underground facility.
It also served as the true foundation of the Hunter Dojo.
Outsiders had no idea such a massive base was hidden underground in the outskirts of Viridian City.
President’s Office.
The "President" naturally referred to Akira.
Akira treated the Hunter Dojo as a version of the Hunter Association in a certain sense. It could also be understood as a branch of the Hunter Association he established in the Pokémon world. Therefore, he had others address him as "President" to avoid strange titles.
Terms like Boss or Owner were relatively normal, but more peculiar ones included Big Boss, Great King...
Akira sat at his desk, arms crossed as he looked at Red before him.
"So, you’ve completely developed your Aura Ability now?"
Red adjusted his cap, revealing his signature bright smile. "That’s right, my Aura Ability has been completely successful."
After a period of training, Red became deeply immersed in Nen cultivation and developed his own unique Aura Ability.
[Fighter] and [Maverick].
[Fighter]
Effect One: Whenever entering a combat state, both himself and his Pokémon receive varying degrees of enhancement.
Effect Two: Can create a domain where all allied combatants within receive boosts.
Effect Three: Possesses a "sit-up" ability—both himself and his Pokémon can stand up to continue fighting even after being defeated multiple times. Each "sit-up" provides varying degrees of improvement.
[Maverick]
Effect One: The user’s mind and soul remain unaffected by external influences, immune to harm and control.
Effect Two: Prone to encountering incidents, but always manages to turn danger into opportunity and gain rewards.
Two powerful abilities in total. However, the former is considered an active ability, while the latter is passive.
Overall, Akira felt that Red’s two Aura Abilities were quite broken.
Not to mention anything else, just the ability comparable to Luffy’s "Sit-ups" from One Piece was incredibly overpowered.
An opponent that’s almost impossible to defeat. And after being knocked down, they can get back up and even strengthen themselves. Even Kaido couldn’t withstand such a terrifying existence.
Currently, Red’s growth rate is very fast, having already reached S-tier.
Moreover, the rate of improvement hasn’t slowed down much. Judging by this, his upper limit is at least SSS-tier.
Akira wasn’t surprised by this.
After all, Red is the protagonist of the Pokémon world—metaphorically speaking, someone blessed with great fortune.
It would be surprising if his potential didn’t reach SSS-tier.
So far, he has confirmed two individuals with SSS-tier potential under his wing.
One is Red, and the other is Giovanni.
The former goes without saying, while the latter, as the top antagonist in the Pokémon world, also possesses extremely high potential.
Compared to these two, others are slightly inferior.
But they still have the possibility of reaching SSS-tier strength, though it would be relatively more difficult.
Akira is very satisfied with the current development of his faction.
At this rate, he can confront the Alliance at any time.
He is naturally aware of the Alliance’s investigations into the Hunter Dojo. They’ve come several times, both openly and covertly. He chose to accept the sugar-coated bullets and send the real ones back.
He also gladly accepted the talents sent by the Alliance as spies.
They successfully became loyal subordinates of the Hunter Dojo.
Thoroughly illustrating the idiom "meat buns thrown at a dog—gone for good."
For a time, under some bizarre circumstances, the Hunter Dojo continued to develop at an extremely rapid pace.
.....
Ecruteak City, also known as Enju City.
It is a quiet, solemn historical city in the Johto region, located in the northern part of the continent.
About seven hundred years ago, two towers were built in Ecruteak City, standing east and west.
These towers were constructed to symbolize the friendship between humans and Pokémon, offering magnificent views from their tops.
The eastern tower was used to awaken Pokémon, while the western tower allowed them to rest.
Ho-Oh resides at the top of the eastern Bell Tower.
Like all major cities in the Pokémon world, Ecruteak City has a Gym, and winning there earns the Phantom Badge.
On the streets.
A bald, middle-aged tour guide led a group of over a dozen tourists, explaining the history to them.
"Ahem, everyone, take a good look. What appears before you is the famous—Bell Tower."
"Legend says Lugia once resided here. But when the tower collapsed, Lugia flew away to the Whirl Islands. Then Ho-Oh, who lived in the Bell Tower, also flew away from there, searching far and wide for trainers with pure hearts. This is how the legend of the Rainbow Hero came to be."
"And in the great fire, three unknown Pokémon perished. Before leaving, Ho-Oh revived these three Pokémon, giving rise to the legendary Suicune, Entei, and Raikou."
The bald tour guide quickly ushered everyone to a nearby stall. "Speaking of which, I’m sure everyone is curious about the legendary trio of Suicune. Here we have authentic clay statues of the three gods, reasonably priced—buy now while supplies last!"
The tour guide’s earnings didn’t just come from the tour group.
They also encouraged tourists to purchase "local specialties" and received kickbacks from these sales.
Within the tour group, Akira wore casual clothes, eating local specialty meatballs while watching the bald guide with great interest.
He silently conversed with Ho-Oh in his heart.
"Your deeds continue to be sung by later generations."
Ho-Oh showed a bitter expression.
What use was having deeds sung about? Who could imagine that the legendary Ho-Oh was now controlled in someone’s hands?
"You don’t need to be sad," Akira continued. "Soon enough, another you will appear."
Akira took a bite of his snack, his words carrying hidden meaning.
Since arriving here, he had gained another incubation bar. And it was similarly progressing slowly—this was the mark of a First-Class God.
Combined with the location being Ecruteak City, it was obvious which Pokémon this corresponded to.
Ho-Oh was stunned, then felt a surge of unease in its heart.
Even in its current state, was it going to be used to create another version of itself?
Ho-Oh felt truly helpless. It understood clearly that as long as it behaved obediently, Akira wouldn’t do anything to harm it.
But the appearance of a "Fake Ho-Oh" would lower its status even further. Because it would no longer be unique, but replaceable.
So from now on, it would have to be even more careful and diligent in carrying out Akira’s orders.
Yes, it referred to the other self that would soon appear as [Fake Ho-Oh].
This was one of the few remaining prides it could hold onto.
It simply couldn’t bring itself to acknowledge another creature as Ho-Oh. In its view, the term "Ho-Oh" should be exclusive to itself.
Akira paid no mind to Ho-Oh’s internal monologue, instead glancing sideways at the clay figurines on the vendor’s stall.
Most of them were the Legendary Beasts.
Suicune, Entei, and Raikou—these were Ho-Oh’s three enforcers.
A thought occurred to Akira, and he asked inwardly.
"You should be able to send messages to Suicune and the others, right? For example, if I asked you to gather them now, could you do it?"
Ho-Oh nodded. "Of course. We share a mental connection, so I can relay any matters to them this way."
Naturally, it didn’t inform Suicune and the others about its current predicament.
Ho-Oh becoming a prisoner... It really didn’t want its subordinates to know about such a thing.
Akira understood. Being able to command them at will was enough. He didn’t have The Legendary Beasts under his control yet, but now, through Ho-Oh, he effectively held sway over them.
He wasn’t in a hurry to have Ho-Oh summon Suicune and the others. To him now, The Legendary Beasts weren’t significant combat assets—hardly worth mentioning.
It was better to let them continue fulfilling their duties, maintaining the environment across the world.
After all, he already saw this world as his. Even if it wasn’t yet, it certainly would be in the future.
After walking with the tour group for a while, a bored Akira decided to break away and explore on his own.
But then he saw the pedestrian street ahead crowded with people, packed tightly in layers.
Anyone unaware might think there was some gossip or a traffic accident inside.
Akira raised an eyebrow, his consciousness imperceptibly enveloping the entire pedestrian street.
After reaching SS+, he no longer needed to use [Aura Sphere] to probe his surroundings. A single thought was all it took.
[Aura Sphere] relied on extending his Aura outward.
Consciousness didn’t require such hassle—this was a sign of an exceptionally powerful soul. It was equivalent to divine sense in a cultivation world.
Akira’s expression turned slightly odd.
Because he had spotted an "acquaintance."
Approaching the crowd, others subconsciously made way for him.
They didn’t even find it strange, as if yielding to Akira was a natural instinct. His field of view suddenly cleared.
Then, what appeared before Akira was an ice cream stall.
And standing in front of that ice cream stall was a tall, golden-haired beauty.
The woman wore a black trench coat that accentuated her height advantage.
With delicate features and fair complexion, her mature face showed a hint of indecision, creating a striking contrast from the inside out.
Sure enough.
It was Lady Cynthia, the "Cabbage Sister."
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End, Thank you for reading this story!
