Chapter 125: The Little Demon King

The night was still long.

Only five hours had passed from the moment he entered the Team Rocket base to the bombing of the Viridian Gym.

After parting ways with Lance, Poplar originally intended to push straight through Viridian Forest in one go. However, as the exhilarating thrill of destroying the Viridian Gym faded away, a wave of exhaustion suddenly surged over him.

Poplar yawned. Entei, having emerged from its Poké Ball, noticed this, stepped over to his side, and lowered its body slightly.

Poplar paused. Entei silently met his gaze with its majestic golden eyes.

Pointing to himself uncertainly, Poplar asked, "Are you offering for me to ride on your back?"

Entei gave a gentle nod with its large, fluffy head.

Its trial had been successfully passed by this chosen Hero of the Rainbow.

With eyes wide in disbelief, Poplar stared silently at Entei for a moment.

Then he realized that his recent actions—including taking the Cubone back home—must have earned Entei's approval.

With that thought, Poplar no longer hesitated. He grabbed onto Entei's spine and climbed up.

According to the Pokédex, Entei stood at two point one meters tall, but this particular Entei probably reached at least two point five meters.

Its back was very spacious, easily capable of accommodating a ten-year-old human child.

Smoke-like white manes brushed gently against Poplar's cheek, and a warmth reminiscent of sunlight drifted past on the breeze.

Once he was seated securely, Entei slowly rose to its feet and began walking in the direction of Pewter City.

Entei's pace was neither fast nor slow, and combined with its warm, soft fur, it made Poplar feel even sleepier.

He yawned, buried his face into Entei's mane, and began replaying the day's events in his mind.

Team Rocket, Giovanni, Pokémon vivisection, the chaotic Kanto League...

By comparison, his beloved Hoenn was so much better!

The adorable Team Magma and Team Aqua, along with Steven who was obsessed with rare stones, and the local Gym Leaders and Frontier Brains—they were all his own people.

He decided then and there that once this matter was over, he would immediately return to the Hoenn region!

Thinking of the people and Pokémon in Hoenn, a softer feeling bloomed within Poplar.

Steven, Slowking, Professor Birch...

Taking out his Pokédex, Poplar looked at the messages Steven had sent him begging for stones, and a sudden impulse to bring Steven back a souvenir crossed his mind.

Ah... Mount Moon was just like Meteor Falls; it was rich in all kinds of rocks and stones.

Poplar's body slowly relaxed, and lulled by the soft, warm environment beneath him, he drifted off to sleep before he knew it.

Seeming to realize that the human on its back had fallen asleep, Entei's footsteps grew very light.

To Entei, who loved protecting weak and vulnerable wild Pokémon, their Hero of the Rainbow was also someone who needed protection.

Although it had lived its entire life in the wild, Entei understood humans to a certain extent.

In the human world, this Hero of the Rainbow was still very much in the stage of an ungrown cub.

The universal traits of a cub: weak, lacking combat capability, and naive.

At this thought, a trace of tenderness flickered within Entei's majestic eyes.

Yet, almost immediately, it recalled the scene of Poplar angrily ordering that bird Pokémon to demolish a human building.

Entei: "..."

From the looks of it, their baby hero didn't seem all that weak.

However, feeling the steady rhythm of the breathing against its back, Entei pushed the thought out of its mind.

Very well-behaved when not angry, but turning into a little demon king when provoked.

What an endearing personality!

Such a thought suddenly popped into Entei's heart.

...

Early the next morning, when Poplar opened his eyes, he found himself hugging Entei's head.

He blinked in surprise, quickly realizing that he had slept on Entei's back the entire night.

Feeling quite embarrassed, Poplar rolled off Entei's back and slid to the ground. As soon as his feet touched the earth, he saw the human city standing beneath the hillside.

Pewter City had arrived.

And that meant the time for parting had come.

Poplar stood frozen for a moment before turning to look at Entei.

Entei seemed to have carried him all night; seeing him dismount, it simply lay down on its side in the grass like a giant cat to rest.

Witnessing this, Poplar was deeply moved.

What an incredible Entei!

"Are you leaving now?" Poplar asked.

Hearing the question, Entei nodded.

Although it didn't want to leave so soon, as one of the legendary beasts and the bearer of Ho-Oh's sacred flame, it still had its own mission to fulfill.

However, Entei looked earnestly at Poplar.

At that moment, a deep, majestic voice echoed directly within his mind:

"Do not worry. When you are in need of help, I will come to your side."

Telepathy!

Poplar was stunned.

So the legendary beasts could use telepathy? Then why hadn't Suicune spoken to him before?

Still, this was obviously not the time to dwell on that.

Since Entei was leaving, he released his Pokémon and personally prepared a breakfast for it.

Entei was gracious enough to eat every last bite.

After the meal, it leapt up onto the hillside, its majestic mane fluttering in the wind as it looked down at him.

Poplar ran over, gave Entei a hug, and offered a sincere word of thanks.

If not for Entei, yesterday's situation truly wouldn't have been resolved so easily.

After all, there was only one feather, but so many Pokémon had been subjected to experiments.

Entei blinked, then lowered its head slightly, pressing it gently against Poplar's shoulder.

The human and the legendary beast touched briefly before parting.

Poplar stepped back, returning to Gengar and the others.

Entei lifted its head, its gaze turning majestic once more.

It turned around and galloped away into the forest, vanishing from Poplar's sight in the blink of an eye.

"We should get moving, too." Poplar withdrew his gaze and looked down from the hillside toward Pewter City below.

"Charmander!" Charmander responded enthusiastically.

Before setting off, however, Poplar felt it necessary to test Charmander's special ability.

"Charmander?" Seeing his trainer's gaze fixed on him, Charmander let out a puzzled cry.

"Do you feel like anything is different about your body compared to before?"

Poplar sat down beside Gengar, and together, they all turned their attention to Charmander.

Hearing the question, Charmander looked quite happy: "Charmander!"

Gengar looked at Charmander with pity and translated, "It says, 'It doesn't hurt anymore!'"

Compared to Axew, who had been easily fooled previously, this little dragon was truly pitiful.

Gengar had also seen what it looked like soaked in that strange liquid; just looking at it had made Gengar feel how agonizing it must have been.

Fortunately, with him and Poplar around, Charmander would never have to go through anything like that again!

"Gengar!" Gengar flashed a kindly, reassuring smile at Charmander.

Listening to Gengar's translation, Poplar felt quite a complicated mix of emotions.

When it said "before," it probably meant its body before being captured, rather than its body before undergoing the vivisection experiments...