Pokemon: Farm Story-Chapter 176: Chi-Yu – The Unshakable Dark History Returns

From the shadows, Gallade suddenly emerged, slashing down with his gleaming golden Sacred Sword toward the flame-wreathed Chi-Yu.

The scene looked like something straight out of a fairy tale—like a valiant hero smiting an evil foe.

And in a sense, that wasn't entirely wrong.

To the Pokémon whose homes had been destroyed, Chi-Yu was undoubtedly the villain.

And the one who came to strike down evil must, by definition, be justice.

No matter the reason, the one who hunts evil will always be seen as righteous.

Even if that justice eventually gives birth to a greater evil.

"Mmgh!"

The sudden appearance of Gallade did startle Chi-Yu for a moment.

But only for a moment. After all, in its long life, this wasn't the first time it had been ganged up on.

It had seen even bloodier, more brutal battlefields.

This was just one more sneak attack in a long line of them.

From the very first moment the battle began, Chi-Yu had used its fearsome flames to create a battlefield suited to its style.

And in this sea of fire, landing a direct hit on it wouldn't be easy.

All it had to do was flick its tail like a fish in water and—

Wait, what?

Just as it was about to dodge, Chi-Yu was shocked to realize that some fragments of stealth rock had somehow latched onto its body—piercing it like nails into joints.

Its body felt rigid, movements that were once effortless now incredibly difficult.

Although it broke free in just a split second—

Gallade's strike had already arrived.

The razor-sharp Sacred Sword tore through the wall of fire, honing in on Chi-Yu's hiding spot and slashing down with precision.

The gleaming blade left a glaring wound on Chi-Yu's body.

Last time, when Gallade fought Ting-Lu, his attacks barely left a scratch.

This time, though, Chi-Yu's defenses were clearly far inferior to Ting-Lu's.

Not to mention Gallade had been training hard lately.

Don't underestimate us peaceful fishing enthusiasts!

If you interrupt my relaxing lifestyle—I won't show mercy!

Chi-Yu hadn't even recovered from the blow, still plummeting toward the ground, when a massive thorned club entered its field of vision.

With a howling gust, the club—larger than Ogerpon himself—smashed into Chi-Yu's skull.

For a brief moment, Chi-Yu's world just... shut down.

Picture? Gone. Sound? Gone. Everything? Gone.

If this were a video game, the player would be cursing out the dev team right now.

Unfortunately for Chi-Yu, its brain was mid-crash.

This was only the second time it had ever been beaten this badly.

The first time? The day it was sealed away.

For a legendary Pokémon born powerful, Chi-Yu's combat experience was... well, let's just say "sparse."

It had spent its life steamrolling weaklings—so mind-numbingly boring, so oppressively easy—that it couldn't breathe.

So Chi-Yu decided to step out of its comfort zone. Try something new. Challenge itself.

And it got sealed away for its troubles.

What can you say?

Sometimes, self-awareness is a virtue. Staying in your comfort zone isn't always a bad thing.

Trailing a tail of flame like a mobile suit re-entering the atmosphere, Chi-Yu crashed to the ground.

It barely managed to crack open its eyes after landing.

The throbbing pain across its face made it nearly impossible to think.

Most creatures, when a blow comes straight at their face, instinctively shut their eyes.

They just freeze and brace for impact.

Chi-Yu was a bit better than that.

It kept its eyes open—and watched itself get smacked in the face.

Better than most. But only just.

You bastards... I'll burn you all to ashes!

Flames flickered wildly around Chi-Yu's body, ready to erupt like a volcano.

And then—a shadow silently loomed overhead.

A heavy foot, coated in dense, earthy energy, came crashing down.

Stomping Tantrum.

Die! freēwēbηovel.c૦m

Scarlet fury surged through Chi-Yu's pupils.

Ting-Lu showed no mercy as he stomped Chi-Yu into the ground.

No one likes being played with like a toy.

It's like every top-lane main in a MOBA who dreams of punching the idiot who picked a marksman top.

The kind you fight in person.

"Furr!"

As they landed, Shiny Furret let out an indignant cry at Ogerpon, who'd come down beside him.

Didn't we agree to charge in together?!

You used me as a stepping stone!

I didn't even get a hit in!

Furret was not happy that his debut attack had whiffed completely.

"Mmmah!"

Don't worry about the details. Just tell me—wasn't that move cool as hell?

Swinging his thorned club with flair, Ogerpon was still relishing the impact of the strike.

That feel... yeah, that felt right.

Way better than smacking Ting-Lu.

Gotta find another chance to whack him a couple more times later.

To that end, Ogerpon began trying to calm Shiny Furret down.

He was decently fast, sure.

But just looking at those stubby little legs, it was clear that hitting a flying, fire-wreathed Chi-Yu wasn't going to be easy.

That's why he needed a partner.

And Shiny Furret was the one Ogerpon had chosen.

He wasn't great at handling other people's emotions, but this time, he didn't have a choice.

In this moment, Ogerpon felt like he finally understood how Natsume must feel all the time.

This kid's a nightmare to deal with.

While softly coaxing Shiny Furret, Ogerpon quietly complained in his head.

Sometimes, the best way to make a brat realize how annoying they are is to let them experience it firsthand—from someone else.

But right now, the one suffering the most wasn't Ogerpon.

It wasn't even Shiny Furret.

It was Persian, squatting silently at the edge of the battlefield.

Silently watching the scene unfold on the field, Persian stood still, expressionless and silent.

If its memory served correctly, wasn't it supposed to be the one leading the charge?

It glanced at Gallade, who had vanished the moment its strike landed, then at Ogerpon—revving beside its rider, the twitchy Kamen Rider Ogerpon.

And at Ting-Lu, stomping the ground furiously in an effort to vent its rage.

Persian considered saying something, but ultimately kept its mouth shut.

Forget it. As long as they're happy.

Sometimes Persian really didn't understand why others were so eager to steal its job.

Were they... seriously that into working?

Persian truly couldn't wrap its head around that kind of grindset.

Could it be they were just a bunch of violence junkies?

It glanced at Ogerpon and the soft pink fur of the shiny Furret.

Persian silently confirmed its own theory.

Yep. All of them—absolute maniacs.

There really weren't many normal ones on the farm.

Aside from itself, maybe Butterfree was halfway decent.

That guy had already entered his comfy retirement phase—so enviable.

Persian openly admitted its jealousy toward Butterfree's current role as the farm's honorary security detail.

All he had to do every day was stroll around, eat, drink, and chill.

And when bored, he could use his dirty little movepool to smack around the newbies.

"Wooo—"

Suddenly, a furious roar erupted.

A searing red glow flared beneath Ting-Lu's feet.

With the glow came intense flames—like a volcano on the brink of eruption.

In the blink of an eye, the explosion arrived.

Inferno.

An actual sea of fire surged across the field.

Trees turned to ash. The ground melted.

The sky itself seemed to redden under the blistering heat.

From the ground, even the Pokémon couldn't make out what the sky originally looked like.

The air distorted in the heat, twisting into bizarre, nauseating mirages.

"Furr!"

The shiny Furret, having whisked Ogerpon away from the blast zone just in time, stared back at the sea of flames with lingering dread, watching as Chi-Yu emerged from the inferno.

That was close. Nearly got my tail barbecued.

Though it always chased bulkier muscles, Furret was still pretty fond of its pink, fluffy fur.

Losing a patch to burns? That'd be heartbreaking.

Even as they retreated, Ogerpon and Shiny Furret kept flinging random moves back toward Chi-Yu, disrupting it.

Not that it made much difference.

It was more like saying, I'm still here, punk. Come at me!

"Wooo!"

Chi-Yu emerged from beneath Ting-Lu's feet, its body wreathed in flame.

Perhaps fueled by anger, the flames were burning hotter than ever.

For Pokémon, emotion could be a quantifiable source of power.

A passionate state could even allow one to overcome opponents with stronger base stats.

Even bonds—intangible as they sounded—functioned the same.

Just look at Return and Frustration.

Both moves scaled with friendship levels.

One hit harder the closer the bond. The other, the more distant the bond, the more pain it brought.

As long as you didn't hover somewhere awkwardly in the middle.

Fueled by rage, Chi-Yu felt more powerful than ever before.

It had never imagined it could unleash something so overwhelmingly destructive.

The first time it went all-out, Chi-Yu felt a strange, almost euphoric joy.

Every cell in its body was singing.

Like a machine finally able to go full throttle, every part, every bolt trembled in anticipation.

But as the raging flames surged, Ting-Lu slowly lowered its head.

The ancient bronze cauldron atop its back pulsed with energy.

In the next moment, a black shockwave exploded outward in every direction.

Ruination!

A signature move—exclusive to the Treasures of Ruin.

Only those four could use it.

At least, that's how the games framed it.

If you really wanted to get technical...

Mew and Arceus could probably pull it off too.

In theory, Mew could use every move.

Though even Mew itself probably didn't know half the moves it could learn.

And Arceus...

Let's not even get started. Let's just take a moment to worship Hisui's great deity.

Had he not seen that majestic being with his own eyes, Natsume might've joked about it being a glorified llama.

But ever since arriving in this world and witnessing that indescribably grand figure—

Yeah, not funny anymore.

Like how people trash talk their teachers or bosses behind their backs...

But the second they're standing face-to-face? Nothing but obedient smiles.

That's life, after all.

"Wooo!"

Chi-Yu cried out in pain as it took the full brunt of Ruination.

It wasn't exactly a tank.

After the barrage it had just endured, its condition was far from great—and now it took a direct hit from that?

It was in rough shape, no question.

But so what?

A savage glint flashed in its eyes as it fired back with a Ruination of its own, aimed straight at Ting-Lu.

Even Ogerpon and Shiny Furret were caught in the blast radius.

This kind of move was completely unbalanced—pure chaos.

Sure, in the real world there were limits like "too big a gap in strength means it fails."

But those who could truly outclass Chi-Yu?

They were at the very top—handfuls at most.

Even most Legendaries would take some kind of hit.

Its fiery tail swept behind it like a burning banner.

An all-consuming wave of fire burst forth, forcing Gallade to teleport away in retreat.

The searing light and heat condensed into a blazing fireball and launched at Ogerpon and shiny Furret.

Flare Blitz!

Chi-Yu was going full kamikaze now.

Didn't matter if it got hurt in the process.

It wasn't that it didn't care—it was just too far gone in its fury to think straight.

Only one thought echoed in its mind:

Take one down with me. Anyone. Doesn't matter who.

Old friend? Childhood buddy? Ant or elephant?

If it was in Chi-Yu's sights, it would get scorched.

"Fwoosh—!"

A sharp wind tore through the air.

Out of nowhere, Persian—the one originally supposed to lead—burst from some unknown corner.

Its speed was so great that Chi-Yu couldn't even react.

Gleaming claws shot from its paws.

In the next instant, they slashed through the flames and struck Chi-Yu's head.

Boom—

Time seemed to freeze.

Through gaps in the fire, Gallade clearly saw Persian's paw press into Chi-Yu's skull—visibly warping it.

To be precise, Chi-Yu's skull started to dent inward, bit by bit.

Then came a shockwave so strong it could be seen with the naked eye.

Staring at Chi-Yu—its eyes bulging like some oversized aquarium pet—Gallade felt a sudden, absurd urge to laugh.

This guy didn't look like a Treasure of Ruin anymore.

More like a clown from a circus.

But the humor faded as Gallade's gaze shifted to the molten earth below.

No matter how pitiful or ridiculous Chi-Yu looked now...

The things it had done were real.

Even if this was some kind of reincarnation, the sins of the past hadn't just vanished.

Those who had died were still dead.

Those still alive were left broken, their homes shattered.

Gallade didn't know whether Natsume would choose to capture this one.

But if he did—

Would it end up being another case like with Ting-Lu, where they'd have to put in a lot of effort helping rebuild everything?

Who knew.

Natsume just had those oddly awkward moments sometimes.

Like—even knowing that it wasn't really his responsibility, he'd still think, "Maybe I should go see if there's anything I can do."

Not because anyone asked him to.

Just because he wanted to. Because he thought it was the right thing to do.

"Boom—!"

The struck Chi-Yu once again turned into a shooting star, crashing straight into the ground.

No—this time, it was more like a flaming tennis ball being slammed with everything they had.

Its misshapen body wobbled back into the air a few seconds after impact.

That hit clearly did some real damage.

But Persian didn't look like it planned to stop.

The moment it landed lightly, it launched itself again without pause—like a white arrow, it shot straight toward Chi-Yu.

Dodging? Kiting?

Not necessary!

Persian's plan was simple: if I beat you down before you get the chance to kite me, then dodging doesn't even matter!

But Chi-Yu's reflexes were fast too.

Even though its head was a mess, in that instant, it acted on pure instinct and made the right call.

The dull flames cloaking its body suddenly contracted—and then erupted outward all at once.

At the same time, it shot straight up into the sky.

Strictly speaking, Chi-Yu couldn't fly. It could only float.

But with the flames boosting it, its speed didn't lose out to any of the true flying Pokémon.

Chi-Yu Rocket successfully blasted out of the encirclement and soared into the sky.

It shook its head hard, trying to clear its mind.

But no matter what it did, its vision stayed blurry.

Was it just blurry?

Or had the blow to the head made it start hallucinating?

Why was there... a bird?

In its foggy state, Chi-Yu stared at the figure in front of it—wide-eyed, face-to-face with a Corviknight—and thought blankly.

Wait a second.

A bird?

Chi-Yu blinked and snapped back just a bit.

There was a bird here, out of nowhere. That couldn't be good!

But before it could react—

A sharp voice rang out from behind the Corviknight.

"Garde!"

Get it down here!

The next second, that all-too-familiar wave of gravity hit it.

Just minutes ago, Chi-Yu had experienced this exact same force.

That sneak attack from earlier—it was that bastard again!

On reflex, the fiery energy within it surged out again.

For a Legendary of Chi-Yu's level, standard moves and abilities didn't hold much meaning anymore.

If it wanted, it could probably use its flames to put on a Waterfall show for everyone.

And in this unexpected ambush, it instinctively fell back on what came most naturally: flood the field with fire.

In the past, that was more than enough to deal with countless pests who overestimated themselves.

Cleaning up small fry? Chi-Yu was a pro at it.

Maybe it could roast that dumb-looking bird, too?

As it plummeted downward, Chi-Yu barely managed to glance toward the Corviknight.

But its hopeful fantasy was immediately shattered by a glowing green barrier.

And then—right there, peeking out from behind the bird's back—a human waved at it.

That guy! It was that guy stirring everything up!

In that instant, Chi-Yu knew exactly who was behind this ambush.

It had to be that human—him, and all these annoying Pokémon he brought with him!

"It looks pretty pissed off,"

Natsume said, sitting on the Corviknight's back as he glanced toward the Gardevoir beside him.

There was a touch of regret in his voice.

"So young... and already so hot-tempered."

Wait, what? This one's a millennia-old Legend?

Never mind then.

These ancient geezers—no one really knew what went on in their heads.

For all we knew, it could be plotting a rebellion against Arceus or something.

Back on the ground, Chi-Yu slammed into the earth again, and this time, it was truly enraged.

It burned to incinerate every enemy in sight.

From high above, Natsume had a perfect view of the battlefield below.

Ting-Lu might've been huge and a bit slow, not a great matchup in a one-on-one.

But in the chaos of a brawl like this, Ting-Lu had become something Chi-Yu couldn't afford to ignore.

If it did, that big guy would just walk straight through the explosions and flames and land a massive hit right in its face.

As for the rest of the team—

Persian had completely ditched its usual assassin-like combat style.

Faced with roaring flames, it didn't back down even a bit.

Even when the fire blocked its path, it just charged straight in—like a berserker, as if to say: either you kill me here, or I'm taking you with me.

Meanwhile, Gallade stuck to the real assassin's creed.

Land a strike, vanish without a trace.

Even if the hit didn't connect, there was no hesitation in making a clean getaway.

Their fighting styles?

Let's just say—

One's a classic assassin.

The other's more like an "internet assassin."

Yeah. Something like that.

As for Ogerpon, riding on that shiny Furret of his?

Honestly looked more like a kid out on a field trip.

Finally, after wave after wave of attacks, Chi-Yu—already worn out from breaking free earlier—collapsed in defeat.

Its eyes were filled with unwilling rage.

Losing was painful enough.

But the worst part?

The final blow had come from that dumbass kid riding a donkey.

Chi-Yu had the sinking feeling this would go down as one of the most humiliating moments of its entire life.

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