The next day.
Fang Yuan left Azure Mountain, left the Kanto region.
He also bid farewell to Mashaduo.
Next, it was time to retrieve the Tablet.
Destination, the Orange Archipelago.
However, to get the Tablet… it seemed he needed to find Lugia first?
Didn't Moltres, that big rascal, say that if the climate of the Orange Archipelago is now out of balance, it would require both Ho-Oh and Lugia to jointly control the ocean currents and air currents, and then, along with their efforts as the Three Divine Birds, to rebalance it all?
"Lugia should be in the seas around the Orange Archipelago."
"Certainly easier to find than Ho-Oh."
"Forget it, let's go back and ask Moltres one more time."
Aboard Dragonite, Fang Yuan muttered to himself.
And Dragonite's gaze was filled with determination.
The Orange Archipelago, Sea God Lugia!
In order to catch up in strength with Milotic, it had decided to confront Lugia today, to challenge it...!
Its power was very similar to that of Lugia, and with the pressure brought about by Lugia, it was sure to break through!
Nobody better try to stop it.
"No one is stopping you," Fang Yuan rolled his eyes.
.........
It took Fang Yuan about three days to find Ho-Oh, which was about what he had expected.
And three days for Moltres was like the blink of an eye.
Just as Moltres had finally settled down to practice after Fang Yuan left, "buzz," Fang Yuan and his party had teleported back to Moltres's abode.
"Moltres—"
Boom!
At Fang Yuan's call, Moltres flew out of the magma, huffing and puffing, glaring at Fang Yuan.
"Chirp————"
What's going on, how come they're back so soon after leaving??
"I want to ask you, do you know where Lugia is?"
"Didn't you go looking for Ho-Oh first?" Moltres asked through Mind Induction.
Sure enough, they didn't find it, huh.
Ho-Oh has many nesting places and its whereabouts are the most mysterious; Moltres had casually mentioned one close to the Orange Archipelago, so it would be normal for Fang Yuan not to find it.
"Ho-Oh… I've already found it."
"Not only that, but I successfully passed the trial set by the Guide of Shadows, Mashaduo, and the Three Sacred Beasts, then fought a battle with Ho-Oh, and ultimately gained its approval to become the Brave of the Rainbow. I can summon Ho-Oh at any time now, and the only one left is Lugia."
"You need to cooperate…" Fang Yuan stared at the rascal bird.
Moltres: ???
Moltres: Σ(°△°|||)︴
What???
Just three days… What exactly have you done???
The Brave of the Rainbow, are you kidding me?
Moltres stared at Fang Yuan with wide eyes and an open beak, looking straight at him.
Fang Yuan, calm and collected, quickly asserted that he even felt like becoming the Silver Hero… though, that doesn't seem to exist, does it?
......
A moment later.
Fang Yuan left Fire Island.
He had already learned from Moltres how to find Lugia.
Although Lugia primarily operates in the waters of the Orange Archipelago, it doesn't always stay there.
Compared to the Three Divine Birds, its range of activity is much broader, potentially appearing in any sea around the world.
So finding Lugia wasn't going to be any easier than finding Ho-Oh.
But like Fang Yuan could summon Ho-Oh with the Rainbow Feather, Moltres also told Fang Yuan of a way to quickly summon Lugia.
In the center of the three islands of Fire, Ice, and Thunder, on Asia Island, there lies a Temple.
At the same time, a group of humans lives there.
The ancestors of these humans and Lugia, as well as the Three Divine Birds, had together guarded the Orange Archipelago, and they knew how to summon Lugia.
The Stele in the Asia Island Temple passed down through the ages reads:
The gods of Fire, Thunder, and Ice, are all sacred and inviolable.
If the taboo is violated, it will stir the wrath of heaven and earth and steer the world towards the path of destruction.
At this time, only excellent Trainers in cooperation with Lugia could quell the wrath of the Three Divine Birds.
And the method to make Lugia appear was by playing the Song of Lugia with the Sea Sound Flute.
This legend had been passed down for a long time, eventually even evolving into the famous Festival of Legends on Asia Island.
Whenever the festival day arrived, the island's inhabitants would enact the stories from the legend as part of the celebration, with the hereditary Festival Saintess playing the Song of Lugia on the Sea Sound Flute.
However, for the people now living on Asia Island, this was merely a legend, and few took it as the truth.
The festival had even become a means of developing the tourism industry, merely going through the motions.
But Moltres knew that with the Song of Lugia and the Sea Sound Flute, if one were sincere, it was really possible to summon Lugia.
This was the method it recommended to Fang Yuan.
"Speaking of which, isn't the Festival of Legends on Asia Island exactly where the story of the Birth of Lugia begins?"
Sitting cross-legged on Dragonite, Fang Yuan suddenly thought.
"Rotom, how many days are left until the Festival of Legends on Asia Island? Look it up."
Fang Yuan's gaze was serious. Now that he was in the Orange Archipelago, whoever that movie's antagonist was, he wouldn't let them succeed this time.
The Orange Archipelago would be protected by him!
......
Asia Island.
As the cultural center of the Orange Archipelago, the number of visitors here was no less than that of Citrus Island, Little Orange Island, and other large islands.
The town here, though it had a modern flair, also retained its original traditions, appearing very quaint.
"Mewtwo, help me find that... what's it called... flute."
"It can summon Lugia, so it should be very special and easy to find!"
After entering the island, Fang Yuan directly asked Mewtwo for help, since its Confusion could directly envelop the island.
Mewtwo, sitting cross-legged and meditating in subspace, raised an eyebrow and, after a moment of silence, said, "It's in a place called the Datiji hut."
"As expected of you, Dream!" Fang Yuan praised.
"But then again, even if we could borrow the Sea Sound Flute, we don't seem to know how to play the Song of Lugia..."
However, halfway through his thought, Fang Yuan suddenly realized a troubling issue.
"Bwoo!" Eevee wagged its tail.
Eevee's point was that they could just ask any Festival Saintess for a little tutoring, paying her if necessary.
"That's true!"
Fang Yuan fist-bumped his palm. The residents of the island treated the "sacred festival" as a means to attract tourists and develop the tourism industry, so surely they wouldn't be so inflexibly traditional.
Ha ha, no wonder Lugia doesn't appear anymore.
At this moment.
Datiji hut.
A beautiful woman dressed in modern clothing, out of place among the island residents donned in traditional attire, was casually explaining the festival procedures to three tourists while eating fruit.
These three were Xiaozhi, Misty, and Brock.
Xiaozhi was also pleasantly surprised, because as soon as the three of them arrived at the island, they were chosen as "lucky tourists" and had the honor to participate in the festival. Misty and Brock thought it might be a scam at first, but it turned out to be true.
Festival Saintess Flora explained nonchalantly, "In short, the content of the festival is that a Trainer, meaning you, Xiaozhi, will play the role of the legendary controller. You'll go to Fire Island, Ice Island, and Thunder Island to retrieve three glass beads and bring them here. Then, I'll play the flute to signify the end of the festival."
"That's the simple process, just memorize it and then we'll perform it on the day of the festival~"
"But why Xiaozhi?" Misty eyed the so-called Saintess discontentedly.
Festive Saintess Flora looked at Xiaozhi and said, "I'm not sure why our predecessors chose him. Maybe there are not many outside Trainers who are willing to run around the islands back and forth. How's your physical strength, Xiaozhi?"
"If you're not up for it, there's still time to switch."
Xiaozhi said, "Not that I'm bragging..."
"Pika—" Pikachu zapped Xiaozhi to affirm that he was fine, hinting at his Electric Tempering Body.
"Phew..." Xiaozhi exhaled a puff of white smoke and said, "See?"
Xiaozhi actually found the festival quite interesting. They came to the island to watch the festival, and now being able to participate in it was even better. A little fatigue was not a big deal.
Pikachu thought the same, seeing it as a rare opportunity to practice acting...
"Suit yourselves," Misty shrugged.
"It's actually not bad," Brock said with a smile.
While the four of them were rehearsing with gusto, suddenly, a voice that Xiaozhi and the others found familiar came from nearby.
"Xiaozhi... Are you guys here too?" Fang Yuan had just come by and saw Xiaozhi and his friends. He couldn't help being surprised and thought, according to the plot, they shouldn't be here at this time. Never mind, it must be because of him. But looking at this, Xiaozhi still got chosen to play the Trainer fighting alongside Lugia in the legend, right?
Such luck... Fang Yuan couldn't help but lament.
"Envious."
"Brother Fang Yuan??"
At the same time, Xiaozhi and his friends were also surprised to see Fang Yuan.
After the battle with Lt. Surge, Fang Yuan had disappeared on Citrus Island, and Xiaozhi and the others remembered that a lot of people were looking for Fang Yuan, including the Heavenly King Ke Na.
Now, the missing person had finally returned?