"Sorry, Axel. I cannot do it right now. I am quite busy at the moment.", sighed Absol.
"Huh, what do you mean by that? Don't you want to come home?", asked Axel.
"It is not like that. Come inside first and we will dicuss. It is cold outside.".
Absol gave them a warm gesture and all of them inside. The cave was filled with various color of lights. Axel noticed that there were some weird crystals that were lighting the cave.
The cave was very big and Absol was the only living being around here except for them. There were a lot of dead bodies of Pokemons lying around. Some of them were in king rank while most of them were in pseudo-king rank.
"It took me some time to understand the power of dark-type cores but when I did, I just could not believe how powerful they really were. The abilities that the dark core granted me or would grant me could be very powerful.
I have been using these dead Pokemon bodies for an experiment. If I were to succeed in this experiment of mine, I would become really powerful. That is why I cannot come to you right now."
Axel didn't even ask what sort of experiment Absol was doing right now. Before, it was cute and innocent and now it was experimenting on the dead bodies of Pokemons. Such a massive change!!! Axel clearly didn't expect it.
He thoughtaboutochanginge the topic and asked Absol, "How is Tauros doing right now? You guys do meet, don't you?"
"Oh yes, we do meet and he is also super busy right now. He had created a herd for himself. He is now their leader and he is planning to challenge the current herd leader.", said Absol.
"But the current herd leader is too powerful for Tauros. It is at least a master rank Poekmon.", said Red. He knew about the current leader. He had met with it before.
"Yes, that is why brother is training his herd members. He is training them in secret. He had also acquired new powers and he is also very strong. And he likes to call himself Ronan now. He had given that name to himself.", said Absol.
When they came to meet Axel before, there was not much time to discuss about this. So, Axel had no idea.
Axel had not even seen their status page for quite a long time. It turned out that when his Pokemons, who were not near him, ranked up, he could not see their status page until he met them.
'These 2 have totally changed. Tauros.. I mean Ronan has created a herd and Absol is doing some questionable experiments? What happened to them? Did I make a mistake by leaving them alone? Don't they miss me and others now? I need to find out.', thought Axel.
"Ok, why don't we meet with Ronan now? I have not seen it for quite a long time.", proposed Axel and Absol agreed to it.
They went out of the cave and Red's Alakazam teleported them near Tauros. Axel appeared out of nowhere and the herd that were doing their own things got surprised by their sudden appearance.
They got ready to fight but when they saw Absol, they relaxed and started to go their own thing. Some of the younger ones were excited to meet these new fellows. They had heard that the leader also had a trainer and seeing 2 humans, their curiosity rose.
Finally, Axel walked and came near Tauros. He could see that the herd was not made of Tauros. Most of them were Bouffalants and there were also other types of Pokemons.
Just what kind of herd was it raising?
After seeing Axel, Tauros came running towards him and gave him a nudge.
"Boss, why are you here? Did something bad happen?", asked Tauros.
"No and why do you think something bad happened?", asked Axel.
Absol also asked the same thing.
'It looks like they have become arrogant. I need to teach them a lesson.', thought Axel. But Axel didn't want to humiliate Tauros in front of his herd. So, he let this matter go.
Axel, Tauros and Absol talked for hours and they shared their story. Axel was specially interested about the spirit that Tauros had that was slowly making it powerful. He didn't know that such a thing could be possible in the Pokemon world.
But he realized that Tauros was still a tier 1 king rank Pokemon but it was very close to reaching tier 2 king rank.
"Don't underestimate him. Even if I am a tier 2 king-rank Pokemon, I don't have the confidence to win against him. He is very powerful. Besides, I could only reach tier 2 king rank because of my special abilities.", remarked Absol.
Tauros puffed its chest looking proud.
It was finally time for Axel to convince Absol. He could already tell that Tauros could not come with him for some time. But Absol could.
"Absol, the reason why I wanted you back is cause I need your help. Meg has now reached tier 3 king rank and it is trying to learn a new move….."
Axel explained Nidoking's situation to Absol. While meeting last time, Absol had told him about the new move that it had been training on. The new move was similar to what Nidoking was trying to accomplish. So, he thought of asking Absol for help.
"I know that you are at a critical juncture of your experiment but I can also tell that you are stuck and have hit a roadblock. So, why don't you come with me and train with Nidoking for 3 months? After 3 months you can return here again. You might get a new inspiration while helping it and those dead bodies would not decay in 3 months.", proposed Axel.
Those were the dead bodies of pseudo-king rank and king-rank Pokemons. They had a lot of residual life and they would not decay in a short period of time.
Axel also said that if Nidoking could not reach pseudo-champion rank in these 3 months, then the tide battle was going to be hard.
"Brother, why don't you go? You are always alone in that cave. It is nice to have a new place.", suggested Tauros.
"But what about your safety? Axel, if I go, and something happens to Ronan, I will not be able to forgive myself.", said Absol.
"Don't worry. Magnus will stay with Ronan and it will take care of Ronan. Besides, I also care about Ronan. You don't have to tell me such an obvious thing."
Even though the old tribe of Tauros had not noticed Ronan creating this new tribe cause they were far from here, there might be a chance that they would find out. At that time, Tauros and his herd would be in trouble. It was risky to live there right now but they had no choice.
With that, Absol agreed to go with them. This was good news. Axel had yet to realize this because he always considered Tauros and Absol as kids but they had become strong enough to support him when he needed.
Axel talked to Tauros for the entire afternoon. He also got to know Tauro's 2 friends, Rob and Bob, and what they were planning for the future.
"Yes, all of you can come and join me in the forest near my home. I will be happy to welcome all of you. But it looks like you guys cannot migrate right now, right?", asked Axel.
Tauros and its team had planned to shift their entire herd to the forest near Hakone City. But they could not do that because of the tree. The story of the Royal Oak tree and Prince Oak tree was really different and not something that he had expected to hear.
So, unless, they pass some sort of test, they cannot migrate and it might even take a year to do that.
Yet, Axel was not in a hurry. He had decided that he would meet with Tauros and Absol at regular intervals now. He wanted them to feel that they were not alone in all this. He was there to support them.
"So, your plan is to pass this test of the tree and shift the entire herd to my place. Then you guys will train and become strong enough to challenge the leader of the herd of Tauros that lives here. You want to overtake them.", said Axel understanding the situation.
"Yes. Almost all of the members of my herd had some sort of bad experience with them and even though I don't have any bad experience with them, I will have to deal with them."
"I have no problem with that and if you want, I will help you on this mission too. We are a family. Do remember that. But I want something from you too.
Then you return home with your herd, your herd will not only be responsible for guarding the city but they should also participate in future tide battles that I fight."
"I have no problem with that. I am actually eager to help you, boss.", replied Tauros.
After the brief reunion, it was finally time for Axel and Absol to go home.
SWISSSS
###
"You are getting there. Don't worry. It will take time. I have to say that you have made some remarkable progress in just half a day. If you keep up the progress, you might reach my level in just a few months.
But how are you able to progress so fast?"
"Oh, it must be due to my 'Poison manipulation'"
"I must learn that move, anyhow."
"Haha, you will get there, don't worry."
Suddenly, Nidoking felt an aura that it was oddly familiar with. It had not felt this aura for a long time but the aura was similar yet it was so different. It was stronger than it remembered but it was also… darker. Yet, it could not point whose aura it really was.
Finally, it was, and recognized, who it really was.
"It has been some time, Uncle Meg.", said Absol with a smile.
It was really awkward to hear Absol speak because the last time they talked, it was not a king-rank Pokemon.
"It has been some time, Absol. Have you returned from your journey?", asked Nidoking.
"No, Axel wanted me to teach you something."
"You are going to help me on this?", asked Nidoking clearly not believing Absol.
"Yes, I have changed a lot since the last time I met you."
"Absol has changed and it has also researched on the new move that you are trying to learn.", said Axel as he came from behind.
"Of course, you have poison core and it has dark core. So, all of the things will not be similar. But you will get an idea of how to perfect your new move.", continued Axel.
Nidoking, Toxtricity, and Absol started to discuss the move 'Poison run'. Axel had not expected that mastering a move would be so hard.
But he was growing. They were growing and that was what mattered the most.
Now, Axel had some free time to think about his other Pokemons.