Rika left with all sorts of thoughts swirling in her mind.
She said that, to rediscover the original spark that drove her to travel in the first place, she wanted to raise some weaker Pokémon as well, meaning she planned to start from scratch and train up a brand-new batch of Pokémon.
Honestly, that was a very good idea.
Training a new team always brings fresh gains with every step of growth. Among the important figures across the generations, besides the widely known Blue, Nemona is also one of those who often raises new Pokémon.
At Brassius's invitation, Hikaru rested in Artazon. The two of them talked all night, discussing all kinds of artistic viewpoints and arguments. It wasn't until around two in the morning that Brassius finally, reluctantly, took his leave.
"If Hassel were here too, then your views and those of the art seniors would definitely inspire him in a major way!"
"It's such a pity. This art festival was something Hassel and I promoted together, and even your visit was part of that, but Hassel can't come here in person."
The League's damned overtime system made Brassius rant for quite a while longer. In the end, he could only shake his head, sigh, and leave.
"Maybe we'll run into him at the academy or somewhere else. Or, well… when the League interviews us for coverage? In any case, there'll be plenty of chances to meet Hassel."
Hassel had even given him advice back when they met at the shop. He was a fairly familiar "regular customer" type of acquaintance, just like Raifort, so they would definitely see each other again.
After all, everyone was a working stiff.
After Brassius left, Hikaru turned on the C-Gear, looking around the inside and outside of the room, and at the companions sleeping inside their Poké Balls.
They looked very comfortable. Some were even grinning foolishly, as if they had all entered the world of dreams.
"Loto-kun, activate the C-Gear's Dream Link!"
Uh, Rotom had basically become part of the C-Gear. As an Electric/Ghost-type, it didn't need sleep at all.
"Heehee~"
With that familiar laughter, pink mist swallowed his vision. His thoughts shifted from clear, to muddled, then clear again.
When Hikaru opened his eyes, he had successfully logged into the Dream World using the C-Gear's functions!
The familiar ceiling.
It was the dream workshop.
"Hah. The Dream World, long time no see… Well, actually, it hasn't been that long."
After all, it wasn't like he'd been offline for a whole year. He hadn't even been away from Unova for very long!
Pushing open the door in the dream, the thriving Dream Sky Island returned to view, planted with all kinds of vegetables. Hikaru gazed into the distance of the island. The boundary of this massive sky island was already indistinct, and in the surrounding skies, countless different islands were connected by rainbow bridges.
More and more Pokémon were weaving through the fields of radiant vegetables, while Skyla's Swanna flapped its wings as if directing the work.
These radiant vegetables weren't just for selling. The Pokémon ate them too. They were their food supply.
Back in Mistralton City, the vegetables planted there often got chomped by passing wild Pokémon. The local growers had even complained about it in-game.
"Char-ca-det!"
Compared to the other partners, who were already quite familiar with the Dream World, Charcadet was entering this wondrous place for the first time!
The flames in its eyes leapt, but they carried a hint of confusion. This harmonious, thriving scene had never existed in its world at all!
And it wasn't the only one that hadn't entered the Dream World before.
"Stop, stop it! I-I'm not bamboo! N-no, I am bamboo, but don't chop me!"
That shy, incoherent voice was unmistakable at once: Kaguya-ojou-sama.
That steel beauty, because she looked far too much like a bamboo shoot, was being surrounded by a group of wild Pokémon. They were trying to treat her "thrusters" as bamboo stalks and chop them down.
Thankfully, Aegislash floated over in time to rescue her, avoiding a fight. Well… "fight" wasn't quite the right word. It would have been Kaguya-ojou-sama getting beaten up one-sidedly.
But for her, attacks at that level wouldn't cause any physical harm at all. After all, even the Kartana couldn't cut her open!
And Kartana had things to say too.
Our Attack is 181! How much Attack do you guys even have? What "Unova monkey" are you supposed to be, trying to output damage? Can you even hit?
"Welcome to the Pokémon Dream World! This is an other-dimension you can only stumble into while dreaming, a time-space where Pokémon dreams and ideals converge!"
Hikaru explained to the confused Charcadet, "This is one of Unova's legends."
"This is a place where Pokémon can realize their dreams or rest. If you're tired, then play to your heart's content here."
Right. It wasn't just Charcadet that felt lost.
Chien-Pao was also utterly baffled!
Where had it ever seen anything like this? It had been sealed for a thousand years, trapped in a lightless place, and then suddenly arrived in a world full of laughter and joy. It almost thought it had died and gone to heaven.
But after Hikaru explained, it finally understood.
A "Dream World"… It didn't really get it, but it was an isekai you could enter just by dreaming?
Damn, reincarnating into another world was that advanced now?
"Who else hasn't seen the Dream World before… Genesect?"
Considering Genesect was a Pokémon from three hundred million years ago, back then even the Entralink hadn't come into being. The Dream World surely didn't exist, either.
So it was perfectly normal that the big bug had never seen this place.
Though…
"Fu-fu!"
A breeze swept over the fields. High above the vegetable plots, a group of Pokémon were riding a transforming Genesect, flying around excitedly.
And Genesect didn't react with any aggression at all. Its state had long since stabilized, and it understood how the world worked now. It wasn't like that red "leader unit" that went around attacking everyone.
Another one that hadn't seen the Dream World before was Aerodactyl.
Even though Aerodactyl had gone out to roam freely, it had still entered this world too. It also seemed to adapt quickly. Right now, it was flying back and forth around the sky islands, letting out excited, spirited roars.
As if it had already claimed the Dream World's skies as its territory.
Near the farmland, Torterra and Lilligant were discussing the quality of those vegetables and Berries. Victini and Walking Wake hugged Berries and kept scarfing them down, unable to stop eating even in a dream.
Deoxys rested in the meditation maze, while Riolu trained in the cultivation maze.
Larvesta gathered a group of sun-loving Pokémon, and the lot of them were sunbathing together.
Archaludon was staring at passing Roggenrola and Boldore, as if it had certain thoughts about them.
Iron Valiant was near the flower fields. It seemed to have fallen in love with tending blossoms. When it saw Hikaru, it waved from afar.
Gimmighoul… Hikaru watched that thing control its chest as it bounced around, apparently searching for "rich" Pokémon.
"Oh, perfect timing."
Entei's voice sounded. It paced over from not far away and looked at the bewildered Charcadet.
"As for teaching Sacred Fire, I've worked out a few things. We can test it in the Dream World right now, yes?"
Hikaru was surprised. "So quickly? As expected of Doctor Hale's counterpart."
"Hmph. You could say that's one advantage of being a fake." Entei nodded slightly, a bit proud of that point, and then looked at Charcadet.
"You don't look like you plan to rest. You look like you want to train…"
"Char-ca!" Charcadet nodded. It was still confused about this world and didn't know what it should do. Was it really fine to just rest?
Actually, it had already noticed the entrances to two maze caverns in the distance. It could sense Riolu inside one entrance, and the Warrior of Light inside the other.
Charcadet pointed at the cultivation maze. Entei nodded faintly. "Then go train in the maze."
But Entei didn't leave immediately. Instead, it looked at Hikaru.
"Just as Lilligant said, Calyrex isn't here. It went fishing on a new sky island. You should go see it."
"Because some new guests have arrived as well…"
"That Mewtwo we've met before. She came in too. The smoke you gave her helped her successfully enter this world."
"And… that Giratina who calls itself the master of the Reverse World is here too. I haven't met it myself, but it looks no different from that pale-silver dragon."
"How did Giratina get in?" Hikaru asked with interest.
That old dragon should be managing the Reverse World properly. How was it logging into the Dream World network from across the ocean?
Was the Entralink signal really that good now?
"Is Kyurem here?" Hikaru asked.
Entei turned and pointed to a frigid sky island in the distance. "On that island. Thick fog covers the area near it. That gray dragon is in there, but it doesn't like coming out."
"At this moment, it should be awake. There are no Pokémon inside that sky island."
Entei left with Charcadet. The little knight's heart thumped wildly, tense and thrilled.
Receiving a legendary weapon and technique was a necessary step on the path to becoming a hero!
As they passed the gathering place of Fire-type Pokémon, Entei casually grabbed Larvesta too. The little bug let out an unhappy "fu-fu"!
Hey! I don't want to learn Sacred Fire! It's not even useful for me!
"Even if it isn't useful, you still need to learn it. Sacred Fire is not a simple thing. It has the power to scorch all things, but it also possesses the power to grant new life to all things."
"It might even help you comprehend other techniques because of it. If Sacred Fire isn't useful to you, then the process of learning it might help you master Blue Flare."
That was only Entei's thinking.
Blue Flare was Reshiram's signature move. It was the essence of ancient knowledge, Reshiram's true flame. In theory, that was power only Reshiram possessed.
But since the White Dragon could bestow ancient knowledge upon humans, could Blue Flare also be learned and mastered?
There were even more special moves. Like that ancient Entei's "Flame Guard," Victini's "Victory Fire — V-Heat" and "Searing Shot," Heatran's "Magma Storm," and the rare move "Eruption," which only scarce Pokémon could master.
"Entei's started acting like a wizard!"
Watching Entei bring the little knight and the little bug into the maze, Hikaru thought that he still hadn't started "doing magic" and modifying his Pokémon yet. Meanwhile, this Mirage Entei had already started doing its old job.
But when it came to "magic," this guy really was a professional.
The Emperor of the Crystal Tower wasn't a hollow title.
"Pao-pao! What are you doing? Don't use Ice-type moves on the farmland! You'll get mobbed!"
Hikaru shifted his gaze and saw Chien-Pao skulking near the fields. He was honestly worried it would summon a Blizzard just for fun. Plenty of Pokémon nearby were already watching it warily.
After a thousand years sealed away, Chien-Pao's head was basically full of two things: causing trouble and making mischief. It probably had no experience getting along with other Pokémon. If it messed up, the vegetables here would suffer.
So Hikaru warned it not to mess around. Chien-Pao drooped its ears, looking like a scolded kitten.
"Pao~"
Got it, got it. I won't use Blizzard!
"Icicle Crash isn't allowed either!"
"Pao~"
Chien-Pao stretched, flicked its tail, and put away its urge to cause trouble. It began patrolling around the farm. Before long, a strange singing voice caught its attention.
"That's… Meloetta!"
Hikaru saw that on an open patch of ground where many Pokémon were gathered, the Mythical songstress was singing loudly. The Pokémon around her listened as if intoxicated.
Hikaru waved at Meloetta.
After all, she was his "teammate." He hadn't expected she'd run into the Dream World too, and even found this special sky island!
"Melo~!"
Meloetta hadn't expected to see Hikaru here either. After thinking a little, she immediately understood.
So the owner of that workshop was the guitarist from the band.
She was very happy. Friends meeting again was a rare bond of fate. She wanted to invite him to play together right away, but she was still singing right now, and besides…
The guitarist looked like he had work to do.
Then she would wait and find him later.
On Hikaru's side, he first planned to do some maintenance for Zekrom.
The Dragon Stone in the Dream World was still in its original spot, untouched. After all, it was a Legendary Dragon's "dream." Hikaru found the Dark Stone placed inside the house and felt the somewhat weakened Dragon-type power within it. He realized that even in the Dream World, Zekrom was still in a "resting" state.
After having its power siphoned by Kyurem once, it would enter a rather long rest period. The Light Stone was the same.
[It's you. You finally entered the Dream World. I couldn't wait anymore. Hurry up and start the maintenance.]
[I always feel like Kyurem really puts his back into it when he siphons me.]
Zekrom's consciousness gradually awakened and began complaining about some trivial matters from the trip to Giant Chasm.
Giant Chasm wasn't as quiet as it had imagined. It was actually pretty lively. Even though Kyurem stayed in the deepest part of the cave, the outside was full of Pokémon moving around, and those Clefairy often came in to touch the meteorites.
That atmosphere wasn't bad. At least it was far better than the environment in Relic Castle.
Also, Kyurem was considering whether it should choose its own hero.
Of course, that wasn't out of any need to build a "world of nothingness." It was simply because Kyurem was worried that the isekai-reincarnated guy might come back again.
"Choosing partners is the correct choice too. The enemy will return. Preparing early, just in case, makes sense."
There were also space-time rifts that held the Tao Trio, and those rifts connected to different parallel worlds. Some were even just outright other worlds.
But what was strange was this: even if it was a parallel world or another world, even if the Tao Trio no longer had a "hero," they still split?
Of course, the main reason was simply that Game Freak didn't plan to actually create the "Original Dragon," right?
Considering that in Pokémon Masters EX, Ghetsis somehow "picked up" an Ice Dragon from who-knows-where…
"Well, I do have a few candidates I can recommend. Hm…"
The recommended people were naturally Unova's original protagonists. Whether it was Hilda or Hilbert, or Rosa and Nate, as original protagonists they were bound to grow into extremely powerful, exaggerated heights.
Of course, who to pick would ultimately be Kyurem's decision.
"Recently, the Dream World seems to have changed a bit. I'm considering whether to activate a special plan…"
Hikaru told Zekrom about the Dream-Sky Gauntlet. The Black Dragon was startled. It hadn't expected something like that.
But then, on second thought, it felt excellent!
[Not bad! Let Legendary Pokémon team up with different people in dreams and fight battles. That way, we can judge who better fits our requirements.]
[Whether for Kyurem or for us, it's an excellent way to choose a hero.]
Some Legendary Pokémon didn't want a trainer, like Hoenn's three super-ancients, but the Tao Trio was very enthusiastic about finding a partner.
So they were extremely proactive about this.
[I'll tell Kyurem. No… I'll wake up a bit right now and go tell him this. Heh. A husk that sat in the cave for thousands of years has become a little more proactive after obtaining our energy.]
"That's only natural. After merging with your power, Kyurem will change."
That's what the Pokédex says.
"In an ancient secret legend, it is said like this."
"White Kyurem can use the energy of Fire and Ice. It has already seen that a true world between Pokémon and humans will come, and it tries to protect that future."
"Black Kyurem can use the energy of Electricity and Ice. Legend says it battles to protect the ideal world between Pokémon and humans that will be realized in the future."
[There's a legend like that? Even I didn't know. Say, this should be our first fusion. Where did that legend come from?]
"Yeah. Where did it come from? Maybe it came from another faraway world. In a very distant world, there's an extremely powerful Kyurem that can see the tracks of fate and things in the future, guarding a palace of glaciers. After obtaining your energy, the Kyurem on our side seems able to do similar things now."
"That's why it started deciding to move around."
Zekrom felt that Hikaru always knew secrets that even Legendary Pokémon themselves did not know.
Truly worthy of being the human of legend.
But there was a question.
[In that faraway world, we also split?]
"Yeah. In every world, it seems you always end up splitting."
After setting down the Dark Stone, Hikaru greeted his companions and headed toward Calyrex's new sky island.
Just as Lilligant had said.
The area around this sky island was water everywhere, like an ocean covering the entire island and its borders, falling like waterfalls into the boundless dream-void.
"Hello. We meet again."
Suddenly, a clear female voice rang out. Hikaru turned to look.
It was Mewtwo (Subject Two).
Hikaru said, "So? Is the Dream World interesting?"
Goddess Mewtwo said, "Of course. This is such a wonderful place, practically an ideal paradise far removed from the mortal world."
Here, she felt indescribably comfortable. Unfortunately, although the Dream World was another dimension, most Pokémon appeared in a spiritual form. If it could truly connect to reality…
"Of course it can connect. It's just not time yet."
Hikaru saw through her thoughts.
"I'm looking forward to it. Now I've seen it. Everything you said is real. It's just that… I still haven't seen Subject One here. Everyone says it hasn't appeared for a long time. I'm worried. I heard it went to a distant archipelago called Paradise Lost?"
"It won't encounter any danger, right?"
Hikaru shook his head. "I don't know for sure yet. But with its abilities, it should be fine for now. It's probably disguising itself as a human and going undercover?"
Mewtwo's account also hadn't sent any messages for a while.
But that was understandable. First, Oblivia's signal was bad. Second, it was searching for the important Golden Armor, so it was probably infiltrating some organization.
"I saw the statue it left behind. Originally, I wanted to meet the girl called 'Ai,' but I couldn't summon her. As expected, that belongs only to its memories…"
Chatting with Goddess Mewtwo as they moved forward together—
"Why are there coconut trees everywhere on this island?"
From far away, Hikaru saw the enormous Giratina. In its Altered Forme, it stared at the lake's surface. Strange scenes reflected in the water. Even in the Dream World, it still didn't forget to spy on the real world.
"Long time no see, Giratina! You got into the Dream World too."
Hikaru greeted his contracted dragon. Well, it wasn't truly "long time no see."
When they fought that pale-silver dragon, Giratina had watched too, and had expressed its dissatisfaction with the ruler of the spirit realm.
"Graaah!"
Giratina roared: [The Dream World's power has strengthened! So I and my friends came in too! You did well in Unova! I share in your honor!]
The master of the Reverse World was in an excellent mood. After all, defeating the isekai time-space trio, helping create the three great Orbs, going to the future and the past—these strange experiences had made Giratina, who had been watching the "monitor," shout in excitement.
[Let me play with that Red Chain sometime.]
"Hey, no way."
[So stingy.]
Giratina was only running its mouth. It didn't really think it could take the Red Chain. Still, it was amazed.
[I didn't expect you to actually forge that thing. I only remember that in history there was… but I've never seen anyone truly create it through forging.]
"No. You'll see it soon enough. How are things in Sinnoh?"
Team Galactic would build the Red Chain with high technology. Forging it was still a bit too primitive.
[That organization with the same name as the ancient Galaxy Team seems to be showing traces, but what does that have to do with me? They want to catch Dialga and Palkia. As long as those two hide properly, that's fine.]
Giratina stayed aloof. Even though it had gained new power and gained recognition from its godfather, that didn't mean its relationship with those two had improved.
Hikaru thought that in various parallel worlds—whether anime or games—Giratina's relationship with the time-space duo was already fairly decent, and at least in certain crises they would fight side by side.
But if it was the Pokémon Adventures world, then it would be a complete disaster. Because in that world, Giratina wasn't banished by Arceus.
It was done by the time-space duo.
[However, there is one more matter, related to the Reverse World.]
[I feel that recently, strange humans have been researching the Reverse World's power. When I transport objects from the real world, I always discover those spying things!]
"Humans researching the Reverse World… I understand."
It was probably time for those two professors from the movie to appear.
They had been researching the Reverse World for years. It was impressive, honestly. Cynthia couldn't uncover detailed information about the Reverse World, yet those two had basically figured it all out. One of them even tried to seize Giratina's authority. It was the first incident to give a detailed depiction of this kind of content.
Even though Ash was still traveling in Johto and hadn't reached Sinnoh to trigger that movie… it wasn't far anymore.
At most, about a year. The travel time of the AG era (Hoenn) and the DP era (Sinnoh) together was roughly one year.
"Professor Newton Graceland and Zero… I don't have a good way to deal with the latter for now. I know nothing about his Reverse World research."
"In any case, be careful. If any strange machines appear in the Reverse World, destroy them immediately."
"From the wreckage, we might be able to analyze something."
Professor Newton Graceland didn't have malicious intent, but Zero was a movie villain.
"Giratina and the Sky Warrior…"
Hikaru murmured, and then looked at Calyrex, who was blinking in confusion.
"Calyrex, everyone says you're fishing here. Are you planning to activate a fishery here?"
"Mm. Not quite." Calyrex nodded its big head and raised a small hand to greet Hikaru.
"This ocean-like island only appeared not long ago. Because it was said there is a very powerful 'shark' here, and Pokémon in the homeland have been attacked, so I came to handle it."
"But she keeps hiding in the water and won't come out. She also uses other fish Pokémon to confuse things. I am attempting…"
"Mm~ A fishery would be nice too, but is there a Pokémon that can be eaten for meat casually without getting hurt…"
Hikaru said, "Yes! Since you mentioned that, I have to bring up a fish that can fling its own meat off!"
Goddess Mewtwo said, "How could there be a Pokémon that throws off its own flesh… That's simply unbelievable…"
Calyrex said, "Mm! Right, right, listen to me. I feel my power has been rising nonstop lately! The radiant vegetables must be selling very well, right?"
While they were talking, deep within the sea, a pair of emerald-green eyes opened.
A certain Pokémon, violet all over, like a shark yet also like a mermaid, watched Hikaru appear—and its eyes immediately lit up.
At last, I've been waiting for you. It's you!
However, that Giratina…
The "mermaid" remained underwater, quietly listening to the conversation on shore.
[Hold on, Calyrex, Subject Two. Those can wait. First…] Giratina's big head leaned in close, looking at Hikaru. [Scizor is taking care of the fossil Pokémon. The Applin group's output is also extremely high.]
[But after you left, a new friend came to the Reverse World. She has always wanted to meet you. She also watched everything with us, from start to finish, as you did those things in Unova.]
[Something precious of hers was damaged. I want to ask you a favor. Please help repair it.]
"Who?"
Hikaru was confused. Giratina turned its head, and from the dense forest of this sky island, a small figure gradually walked out.
She looked like a little human girl who hadn't grown up yet.
She peeked out nervously from behind the trees, wearing a somewhat damaged and dulled sinister mask.
Hikaru blinked. Beyond surprise, he was completely baffled.
"…Ogerpon?"
What was going on?
"Giratina, did you steal an apple tree and steal your way all the way to Kitakami?"
(End of Chapter)
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