CHAPTER 1503: THE CURSED TORTERRA

Seeing that Celebi had really returned, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief and warmly welcomed Yuga into the village.

Celebi flew out from Yuga’s arms and disappeared from everyone’s sight in the blink of an eye. At that moment, Nana suddenly came out of her Poké Ball on her own, left a sentence—"I’m going to check too"—and then teleported after Celebi.

Yuga was invited into the village chief’s home. The villagers brought out all kinds of local specialties to treat him, letting Yuga truly experience what it meant to be warmly welcomed and surrounded by simple, honest people.

Although this village couldn’t exactly be called cut off from the world, it was indeed rarely visited by outsiders. Likewise, few villagers ever left. Akai was currently the only person in the village who maintained regular communication with the outside world.

After the warm hospitality, the village chief said to Akai, "Akai, take Mr. Shimizu around the area. Even though our countryside may not have anything particularly special, we must not neglect our guest."

The village chief was the oldest and most respected person in the village. He was so old that his teeth were nearly all gone, yet he looked very healthy and spoke in a clear and orderly manner.

"Understood, Chief."

Akai responded promptly. In fact, the village chief was Akai’s great-uncle—he and Akai’s grandfather were biological brothers, but Akai’s grandfather had passed away early.

Led by Akai, Yuga began strolling around the village. Every villager they encountered warmly and kindly greeted them. Yuga could genuinely feel the honest and peaceful nature of this place.

The village was named "Gathering Village," and just as the name implied, the village made its living by gathering various materials from the forest—whether it be berries or medicinal herbs, they were all items the villagers gathered.

Thanks to the protection of the Forest God, this forest was rich in resources. It was warm like spring all year round, and various berries and medicinal herbs were never in short supply.

Because of this, even though the villagers didn’t engage in typical forms of production, they could still live very abundantly. Naturally, they also had no desire to leave the village.

The village joined the League seventy years ago, and all the rangers assigned to this forest had always come from this very village.

While strolling around, Yuga noticed that the trees around the village were full of fruits, and some villagers were up in the trees picking berries with baskets strapped to their backs.

However, what puzzled him was that, even though another direction also had trees full of fruit, no one seemed to go over there. So he asked about it.

"Why does no one go over there? Aren’t the fruits even more plentiful in that area?"

Akai didn’t hide anything and explained, "That area is a forbidden zone of the village. No one is allowed to go there."

Yuga was quite surprised—he didn’t expect a place like this to have something like a forbidden zone—so he asked, "Is it really okay to just tell me that?"

Akai shook his head and said, "It’s fine. By the way, would you like to go see it? I can take you there."

Yuga was even more surprised upon hearing that. "Isn’t it supposed to be a forbidden zone? I can go?"

Akai smiled and explained, "Actually, it just means that villagers and outside adventurers aren’t allowed near. As a forest ranger, my job is to keep an eye on the so-called forbidden zone—I go there every day. Taking you to have a look isn’t a big deal."

Yuga became curious after hearing that and said, "Then I’d like to take a look."

Akai responded with a helpless smile, "I just hope you won’t be disappointed after seeing it. Honestly, there’s nothing particularly special about the forbidden zone."

Sure enough, just as Akai had said, the forbidden zone really wasn’t anything special. It just had more lush trees and more bountiful fruits. The scenery was indeed beautiful, but it didn’t match Yuga’s expectation of what a "forbidden zone" should be at all.

However, many wild Pokémon lived here. Because food was abundant, all of them looked shiny and healthy.

Yuga couldn’t help but laugh and said, "So what’s the point of having this forbidden zone?"

"I don’t know either," Akai shook his head and said. "The forbidden zone has been here since before I was born. Although it’s not anything special, both the village and the League seem to take it very seriously. Aside from rangers like me who guard the place, even the village chief rarely comes here."

"Maybe the village chief knows something." Akai paused for a moment and then added.

"Is it okay for me to be here?"

Akai hesitated for a moment and then said, "It should be fine. You’re also someone from the League. In terms of identity, you’re no different from me. There’s no reason I can come and you can’t."

Yuga thought about it and felt that made sense, so he didn’t say anything more.

"Let’s walk a bit farther in." Saying that, Akai continued leading Yuga deeper into the area.

From a distance, Yuga saw a wooden wall partially covered by trees. Though he was curious, seeing that Akai was leading him there, he didn’t rush to ask questions.

It was only after they got closer that he realized this wooden wall was actually formed by many massive living trees intertwining and growing together. It stood over four meters tall.

Yuga suspected that it was built using the power of Pokémon. For example, Celebi could easily accomplish something like that.

"Isn’t it spectacular?" Akai asked.

Indeed, Yuga nodded.

"I was also amazed the first time I saw it," Akai said with a smile. "Let’s go up and take a look."

Akai led Yuga up the wooden wall. There was a ladder on the side, carved manually into the trunk of the massive trees.

After climbing to the top of the wooden wall, Yuga saw a vast forest spreading out behind it. Countless trees swayed their crowns in the breeze, like a sea of forests.

Looking at this scene, Yuga felt his heart and mind open up significantly.

Akai explained, "This wooden wall is actually the boundary between the forest, the village, and the outside world. I think the existence of the forbidden zone is meant to protect this forest—or perhaps to protect the Forest God."

Yuga nodded, thinking Akai made a lot of sense.

"Mr. Shimizu, look—that’s where the Forest God lives," Akai said, pointing at the most prominent giant tree in the forest.

Yuga had actually already noticed that giant tree, simply because it was so massive. It was far larger than normal trees, and even though it stood far away from the wooden wall, it still stood out at first glance.

He just hadn’t expected that to be where Celebi lived.

So Celebi should be back by now, right?

However, just then, the wooden wall suddenly began to shake violently. The tremors almost made Yuga and Akai lose their balance.

No, to be precise, it wasn’t the wooden wall shaking—it was the earth itself. Just as Yuga grabbed the wall and regained his footing, he noticed cracks appearing in the ground. Countless trees fell as a result, and the Pokémon living in the forest fled in terror. The sky was filled with birds startled into flight.

"What on earth is happening? An earthquake?" Akai said in shock.

But just as he finished speaking, a thunderous roar echoed through the sky.

"Rooaar~"

Immediately afterward, a gigantic head emerged from the crack in the earth, followed by the panicked cries of Celebi.

"Celebi~ Celebi~ Celebi~"

Celebi’s clear and piercing cry echoed through every corner of the forest. It was guiding the Pokémon to take shelter.

"Wha... What is that?"

Looking at the enormous head roaring at the sky, Akai was so shocked he lost the ability to think.

"T-That... That looks like a Torterra."

...

[ Torterra (Enraged Form) ]

Type: Grass, Ground

Ability: Overgrow

Gender: Male

Potential: Unknown

Level: Unknown

Moves: Tackle, Withdraw, Bite, Razor Leaf, Synthesis, Crunch, Leaf Storm, Absorb, Mega Drain, Giga Drain, Earthquake, Wood Hammer, Energy Ball, Rock Tomb, Stealth Rock, Stone Edge, Stomp, Rock Slide, Grassy Terrain, Frenzy Plant, Grass Pledge, Earth Power.

...

This was indeed a Torterra, and not just any Torterra—it was one that had reach a Legendary level. The Legendary Aura emanating from it was thick and overwhelming, far more terrifying than even Celebi, the Forest God.

What was more important was that the giant tree where Celebi resided was actually the tree growing on the back of this enormous Torterra.

But what did "Enraged Form" mean? Yuga truly didn’t understand. Where had the resentment come from out of nowhere?

As the earth trembled continuously, more than half of Torterra’s body had already emerged from the ground. Every time its enormous claws moved, the ground would shake violently again, and more and more fissures would appear in the earth.

The earth veins were being severely damaged.

The abnormalities in the forest naturally triggered chaos in the Gathering Village. The villagers all turned to look in the direction of the forbidden area, and the village chief also came out trembling on his cane.

The forest could no longer hide the massive Torterra. Its enormous and terrifying head was now plainly visible, searing its image into everyone’s eyes.

"Village Chief, what’s going on?"

"Village Chief, what is that? It’s so terrifying!"

The villagers surrounded him one after another, their faces filled with fear as they questioned the village chief.

"Forest God, Forest God... It must be because something happened to the Forest God a while back. Now it can no longer suppress it!" the village chief kept muttering to himself.

While Torterra was rampaging and destroying the forest, Yuga noticed from afar that Celebi and Nana had teamed up to launch an attack against it.

At that moment, Yuga finally understood that the forbidden zone and the wooden wall were not meant to protect the forest and Celebi—they were meant to seal off that terrifying Torterra!

With a serious expression, Yuga said to Akai, "Go and evacuate the villagers. Take them to a safe place. I’ll go check over there."

Akai didn’t object. "Then please be careful."

Yuga nodded, released Dragonite, mounted it, and in the blink of an eye, disappeared from Akai’s sight. As he flew, he thought to himself: The Pokémon I had prepared for Giovanni might have to be used on this Torterra today.

When Akai returned to the village, the village chief had already begun organizing everyone to evacuate. He quickly joined in to help and also sent an emergency message to the Ranger Headquarters, requesting support.

At the same time, under Akai’s questioning, the village chief finally revealed the origin of that enormous Torterra.

This Torterra dated back to when the Sinnoh League had just been established. At that time, the president of the Sinnoh League and the champion were the same person, and this Torterra was that person’s Pokémon.

In the Pokémon League, the League President was a civil position and, in most cases, not a Trainer. But during the early days of the Sinnoh League, due to a lack of talent, it was common for one person to hold both roles.

The successful establishment of the Sinnoh League owed much to the first League Chairman—his contributions were immense. He was a powerful Trainer, and wherever he went, people submitted before him.

However, no matter how great a person is, they are still prone to mistakes. In his later years, this Chairman, misled by malicious individuals, began to purge dissenters on a massive scale, plunging the early Sinnoh League into chaos.

As he grew older, his thinking became increasingly extreme. Eventually, he even considered using Celebi’s power to extend his own life.

Naturally, the others in the League were unwilling to let him succeed. The Forest God at the time wasn’t the current Celebi, but together, that Celebi and the rest of the League joined forces to depose the now-mad Chairman.

The final battle took place right here, and it was a brutal fight. In the chaos, the man was killed—this had never been the plan; the original intention had only been to place him under house arrest.

At that point, things were already beyond redemption. Torterra, having lost its master, went berserk and ended up devouring Celebi.

The forest was Celebi’s domain, so of course Celebi wouldn’t fall so easily—but it was seriously wounded, and part of its power was stolen by Torterra.

In its extreme hatred, Celebi placed a curse upon Torterra. Torterra, consumed by that power of hatred, lost its sanity from then on.

At the same time, due to the loss of power, the Celebi of that time lost the title of Forest God. Not long after, it left Sinnoh—no one knows where it went.

By the time a new Forest God was born, Torterra had already grown immensely powerful due to the imbalance of power. The League, together with the new Forest God, sealed it away.

In other regions, the Forest Gods typically roam the land. Only the Celebi of Sinnoh had a fixed residence and rarely left it more than three to five times a year. The reason was precisely because it needed to use its own power to suppress Torterra.

However, this time Celebi had been captured by Team Rocket, and a portion of its power was extracted. Having been born later, it was already not as strong as the previous Forest God. Now it could no longer suppress Torterra.

Akai’s clan were actually descendants of that first Chairman. Remaining here was both to guard Torterra and to atone for the mistakes of their ancestor.

As time passed, most villagers had forgotten their origins, and the story of the village’s history had become a mix of unreliable rumors.

However, the village had always maintained communication with the League, which was why there had always been someone serving as a ranger.

After hearing all this from the village chief, Akai was completely stunned.

On the other side, Yuga had already successfully reached Torterra’s side. Only now, seeing it at such close range, did Yuga truly grasp the size of this Torterra.

It was enormous!

And that immense size came with an overwhelming sense of pressure, enough to make one’s heart pound. Facing it, Yuga felt as if he were confronting a Tier 1 Legendary Pokémon—ordinary Tier 2 legendaries or Mythical Pokémon simply couldn’t compare.

At this point, Torterra had completely emerged from the earth. Its enormous body lay sprawled across the forest like a vast mountain range.

Beneath it, the forest had already been devastated beyond recognition.

"Roooar~"

Seeing Yuga and Dragonite, Torterra suddenly stretched its neck forward and opened its pitch-black, massive jaws to bite at them. Fortunately, Dragonite reacted quickly, dodging with a flash while carrying Yuga, disappearing from where they had been.

Torterra snapped at empty air.

Torterra’s massive size meant its movements weren’t very agile. It was like a human trying to swat at a fly.

To Torterra, Yuga and Dragonite were just that—flies and mosquitoes.