However, Caitlin's psychic power didn't so much as ripple.
The instant her emotions flared, a warm sunlight poured over her.
Hostility and rising embarrassment drained away. A gentle languor washed through her body, dropping Caitlin from fever pitch into a drowsy, lazy calm.
She even let out a little yawn—and then realized that ever since her mental state improved, she hadn't really been that sleepy.
"Mm… what did you do? Sunlight… I can't get fired up at all."
With a shadowed look, Caitlin suddenly had the delicate air of a sickly beauty.
Hikaru handed her the sphere in his palm. "This? A power that lets life coexist in harmony and avoids conflict—a field that condenses 'Light.'"
Huh? Strongest psychic?
Gone—poof!
"Take it away!" Caitlin hurriedly waved him off; at last she pursed her lips, quite displeased. "I've gone listless again… what a despicable kind of 'psychic' power."
No matter how strong a force is, if you can't throw a punch it's useless. It was Caitlin's first time encountering a special power that could smooth out her emotional surges. Getting stonewalled so suddenly left her out of sorts.
"I'll remember this. Hmph… forcing a lady into such an awkward state… I'll pay you back double next time."
She jotted a name into her little revenge notebook. The blonde beauty swayed on her feet. "I—I'm so sleepy…"
"The files are… in the next room… haaah~" Caitlin gave a huge yawn. "Why is this like being hit with Hypnosis…"
Hikaru could only smile wryly. "Ojou-sama, please rest first."
He hadn't expected the Light to affect a psychic like Caitlin this way—Rangers had been fine touching it.
Maybe it had to do with where a psychic's power comes from—after all, it's "emotional energy."
With the last of her strength, Caitlin teleported to the sofa and curled up—on her side, arms and legs drawn tight to her body. She slipped quickly into a dream. Before long, a faint smile bloomed; she slept quietly atop the warm sheets.
Her body fully relaxed. Her breathing sounded softly in the still room.
As if the whole world had nothing to do with her in this moment.
"Looks like she's having a good dream."
Maybe it was the blessing of that starry Darkrai—Hikaru could now enter the nightmare realm and even faintly sense the tenor of others' dreams.
It was a curious sensation, likely the special perception of Pokémon of dream and moon.
"Ah, whoops… fell asleep too fast. I don't even know Caitlin's measurements."
Gothitelle drifted over, levitated tea across with psychic power, and whispered by Hikaru's ear for a bit.
"I see. Understood. Thank you."
"Hee-hee~"
Gothitelle smiled: think nothing of it.
As one of her lady's "butlers," with Shilan-sama away, she was handling many things—dressing Ojou-sama included. Of course she knew such particulars by heart.
Next step: get Ojou-sama back to her soft bed—sleeping on the sofa wouldn't do. Psychic light welled in Gothitelle's eyes.
Psychic power is awfully convenient for daily life.
[Help, me?]
Seeing that Hikaru was finally getting to work, Iron Valiant offered to assist. Hikaru thought for a moment: her analysis and computation would be genuinely useful in fashionmaking.
Would it be overkill, though?
"A digital fashion designer… sounds pretty great, actually."
"Mmm~"
Caitlin slowly surfaced from her dream with a soft little murmur, eyelids fluttering open.
That nap felt wonderful. It had been a long time since she'd had such a fresh, pleasant dream.
There seemed to be many people—blue sky, green grass, Pokémon everywhere. A far wind stirred the blades; people chatted happily and rested beneath the trees. But what did they say?
She couldn't recall, only that it felt happy.
"How nice… a place I can never quite reach."
Savoring the aftertaste of the dream, Caitlin thought of how, from birth as the eldest daughter of a psychic family, she'd been confined to a castle, forbidden to go anywhere. Her frequent lapses of control had added yet another shackle.
After coming to Unova, that invisible shackle finally began to crack. The wondrous goods from a faraway land helped her erase it completely.
Caitlin hugged the plush by her pillow—the big-headed Calyrex doll looked adorably blank.
Quiet, tranquil—comfort for the soul. Nothing to worry about.
Only when Gothitelle came to her bedside did Caitlin remember—there was something important left to do.
Then she saw the outfit cradled in Gothitelle's arms.
A set of clothing steeped in fantasy and wistfulness, with a distinctively unique artistic style.
"It feels like it'll look great on… but isn't the black palette a bit like Shauntal's? Mm… still, a change of flavor now and then is nice. Hehe… let's try it now."
"Gothitelle, please help me dress."
"And where's Tenchou? Honestly… a butler not waiting at the door? How unreliable."
On the other side, Hikaru had already finished crafting the Divine Raiment.
Using Plates, the Orb of Release, and various high-grade materials, the final product took shape before his eyes.
[Mythic Artifact: EX Arceus Set!]
[Description: A special raiment blessed by Arceus. It can only be crafted with specific techniques and materials, and only the rightful wearer can don it.]
[Effect: Mythic Amplification — Maximizes the bond power between Trainer and Pokémon; a luminous ring of the corresponding type will manifest behind the wearer.]
With the Divine Raiment complete, Arceus's commission could be considered fulfilled. The Orb of Release was consumed far less than expected.
At the same time, he used the Plates again to weave a new mythic textile—"Earth Cloth." Since Cynthia's specialties are Ground and Dragon, this matched the Arceus-set typings in Pokémon Masters EX, making Earth Cloth a must.
"A gacha 'Masters' outfit… in this world, likely only Cynthia-san could wear it."
[Work, perfectly complete! New move, recorded!]
Iron Valiant had been deeply involved in both Caitlin's bespoke piece and Cynthia-san's Divine Raiment, analyzing and logging throughout.
She found "fashion"—these beautiful clothes—fascinating. In the future metropolis she hailed from, there was barely any need to wear clothing at all.
『Iron Valiant has completed a task, gaining experience and growth.』
『Gained Lore: Digital Design — Efficiently design apparel of all kinds, precisely render aesthetic intent, support real-time cloth simulation and model fitting; ideal for fine tailoring.』
『Iron Valiant learned Skill Swap!』
Hikaru chuckled. "Now you really are design software."
[?]
[Praise me.]
She tilted her head, expecting her reward; Hikaru patted her as usual.
"Good job. Creating beautiful things with devotion and care—fashion can soothe the heart. I love both pieces this time. Perfectly executed. Without question, they're your masterpieces."
[Thank you!]
Basked in her daily praise, Iron Valiant was delighted. Seeing Hikaru turn to study Caitlin's copied documents, she tiptoed away to quietly keep recording, in high spirits.
Two Poké Balls clicked; Aegislash and Riolu leapt out.
For research into the undersea ruins, he needed reliable partners. Aegislash had lived in ancient kingdoms and knew their designs and mechanisms; Riolu could sense the aura within ruins—very useful for entering the Abyssal Ruins.
After that, at Undella Bay, he'd need Walking Wake to learn Dive.
Dive wasn't listed among Generation IX TMs since HMs had been retired, but in truth most Water-types could still learn that old HM move.
Hikaru only had one Water-type on hand—Walking Wake. It had never dived into the deep sea, so it needed a bit of training. But as an ancient species, diving and hunting were instincts; training should go smoothly.
"Riolu, can you feel the call of the undersea ruins?"
Riolu closed its eyes and felt for the surrounding aura.
The ocean's force surged. Its aura flowed down into the far seabed, trying to connect with the ruins below.
[Brave one, enter by your own strength.]
"Wau—oo."
Riolu opened its eyes and relayed the aura's message to Hikaru, then spread its paws.
That's what the waveguiding said.
"So we'll have to take the mechanism route." Hikaru pondered.
The Abyssal Ruins were rigged against tomb raiders. Before you even entered, an invisible force began to push you out of the water. If you didn't find the right path within the time limit, you'd be warped out of the depths.
"…These files include some stories."
In the games, the Abyssal Ruins research notes were given to the protagonist by Vio. After Neo Team Plasma fell, Vio, left with no way out, claimed he wanted to atone.
He'd found a trove of the ruins' research in Ghetsis's lab and told the protagonist how to decipher the text within.
What unresolved tale did this seabed tomb leave in Unova's legends…?
"It looks like gibberish at first glance—but if you look closely…"
"Ancients read their script backwards."
"A great king slumbers within the ruins."
"If the king has descendants…"
"They may yet receive a special power."
Ghetsis had a deep grasp of Unova's history and myths; perhaps that was what birthed his ambition—to "make Harmonia great again and rule Unova."
These notes held thorough hypotheses about the Abyssal Ruins' location, secrets, and legends—and even several theoretical methods of opening the place.
They also contained a systematic study and partial translation of the script. Even so, after all his effort, Ghetsis had only cracked some of it.
Unova's ancient letters differed significantly from Unown glyphs. Clearly, Ghetsis himself had once entered the ruins and recorded many inscriptions. He then devoted himself to decoding their meanings.
[Acquired: Ancient Script Knowledge (Unova)!]
[Description: A complete knowledge set deciphered from Ghetsis's notes. You can read Unova's ancient characters and convert them accordingly. Only those who can read the text can proceed correctly within the Abyssal Ruins!]
"Ciphers, clues… Without these notes, you'd never read them."
Come to think of it, in Black/White, the Abyssal Ruins text wasn't translated at all—players on the internet cracked it themselves. But in Black 2/White 2, Ghetsis suddenly whipped out "his" research.
Mystery solved. He snatched the players' credit. How upsetting.
There were many inscribed stones in the Abyssal Ruins. Even Hikaru couldn't remember all their contents—only that the stones with writing were red.
Red, square stones.
"What 'main text of history'—besides Plates and ancient crowns, is One Piece down here too?"
And the interior of the ruins was a maze, complete with expulsion traps. In a 2.5D view you could already get dizzy; going in yourself would make it even harder to find the right path.
Moral of the story: a person without a sense of direction cannot be king.
"Fuaaah~ Tenchou, you're really into that reading."
Hikaru glanced over. "Ah, the gothic dress suits you."
Caitlin drifted to the doorway in her pristine new attire, adorable as a brand-new doll. She lifted a pale hand and tapped on the doorframe.
"I'm very satisfied. It's gorgeous. But don't forget—there's still another art piece."
"And since you've read my notes, you'll be serving me for a few days."
Hikaru passed the folder to Aegislash, then turned to ask her,
"Very well. What does Ojou-sama require right now?"
"Mm…" Caitlin thought a moment, then smiled. "I'm hungry. Let's start with food."
"I want your desserts—like the ones you made back at the Striaton Restaurant."
(End of Chapter)
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