After a few minutes, Delphox finally started to calm down.
She sprawled on top of Elias, buried her head against his chest, and then—like she'd fallen asleep—slowly went still.
In truth, aside from those first ten seconds or so, Delphox had already realized it wasn't a dream.
Dreams didn't feel this vivid.
Dreams didn't have sound.
And besides… if this were her dream, Elias would've stopped resisting by now.
Since it wasn't a dream, there was only one possibility left—
He'd come for her.
The thought sent a joy she couldn't hold back spilling through her chest.
She didn't know how long it had been, but Elias was fine—and he'd come to find her.
That was enough.
Still…
The way he'd left her behind before—going off to do something dangerous alone—still made her furious.
So she'd sunk her teeth into his neck and left several bite marks.
The kind you could tell at a glance were made by a fox.
She'd even used psychic power to make them last a few days.
If Diancie and that Gardevoir saw them, they'd probably get so mad smoke would come out of their heads, right?
Delphox thought smugly.
Only when Delphox finally stopped moving did Elias let out a slow breath.
If she kept pawing at him, he really was going to end up stripped.
Looking at the motionless Delphox, he still smiled faintly and reached up to rub her fox head.
Ignoring the earlier… incident… Delphox was still as well-behaved as ever.
"Delphox. Time to get up."
He kept gently kneading her soft fur as he tried the words.
At his voice, Delphox's body twitched slightly.
But that was all. She still had no intention of getting up.
"Diancie's run into trouble too. We need to go help."
This time, Delphox twitched harder.
Hearing Diancie was in trouble, she wavered—half ready to rise.
She still wanted to go show off the bite marks. Diancie couldn't go and get hurt…
But if she got up that easily, wouldn't she look like a pushover?
As if seeing straight through her, Elias sighed.
"When I woke up, you were the first one I came to find. Diancie hasn't even seen me yet."
Sure enough, that one sentence instantly restored Delphox's inner balance.
She shifted, then slid off him.
"Whu… (Elias, my head was all woozy just now.)"
She let out a soft whine, acting as if she had no idea why she'd been lying there refusing to move.
Elias's eyelid twitched. For some reason, he had the distinct feeling she'd gotten noticeably smarter after waking up.
"Feeling better now?"
He still used the Power of Viridian, pressing lightly at her forehead.
Delphox nodded, wearing a blissed-out expression.
"Xerosic. Where are Lysandre and the others? We're heading back."
Elias led Delphox over and spoke calmly.
What puzzled him was Alain, who'd looked so fired up earlier, now had a blank stare, like he'd been hit with Hypnosis.
If he had to compare it… it looked a lot like Gary had after battling him back then.
What, did something break his spirit?
Elias withdrew his gaze, mildly confused.
"Y-Yes, Mr. Elias. I'll—"
BOOM!
Xerosic had barely started when a dull explosion rumbled in the distance.
All of them flinched and turned toward the sound.
Far off at the edge of the sky, a thin plume of smoke was just barely visible.
But it was so distant that even with psychokinesis, Elias couldn't make out any details.
"That's where Lysandre and the others are?" Elias asked, then looked to Xerosic.
Xerosic wiped the sweat at his temple and nodded stiffly.
"Y-Yes."
Elias frowned.
From what Xerosic had described, their plan today was to capture Yveltal and then activate the Ultimate Weapon.
Judging by that commotion… they'd probably already engaged Yveltal.
As one of the few people who'd fought that destroyer up close, Elias knew exactly how troublesome its power could be.
Even if today's Diancie was nothing like she used to be, it'd still be hard to take Yveltal down without making a scene.
If they let it keep escalating…
It might end with Zygarde stepping in again.
"That won't do."
Elias narrowed his eyes, roughly gauging the distance to the smoke.
Getting there quickly would be hard.
"Do either of you have a device to contact Lysandre?" Elias turned to Xerosic and Alain.
Xerosic's expression went awkward.
In the rush, he'd overlooked it completely.
And Alain still looked dazed—clearly not someone who was wearing one.
With a quiet sigh, Elias looked away and considered other options.
Two seconds later…
He released a thread of Life Energy again—but this time, he poured it into the tree beside him.
Green radiance sank into the trunk, and the tree shot up a little taller.
Elias focused, trying to see if he could call Xerneas out.
According to Xerosic, she should be awake right now.
And with his blessing still inside her body, she should be extremely sensitive to his Life Energy.
Elias held his concentration, calling her again and again. Delphox stood nearby, guarding him obediently.
Facing Charizard's fierce glare, she even waved her wand menacingly, silently warning it to behave.
Finally…
The fourth time Elias murmured Xerneas's name, a cool, intelligent woman's voice—tinged with shock—rang out beside his ear.
"It's you?!"
In one corner of the forest, Xerneas's eyes widened.
Just now, she'd suddenly felt her mind sway.
And the grass, the flowers, the trees—everything around her—had passed her a message: someone was looking for her.
As the Life Pokémon, everything in the forest could be her eyes.
Especially while she was awake—this was effortless.
But what startled her was that the one searching for her could make the plants carry messages, too.
How?
Driven by curiosity, Xerneas spared a sliver of attention and cast her vision toward the place that person was.
Sure enough, the moment her awareness arrived, she heard a soft whisper of her name.
But…
For some reason, it felt familiar.
Not just the voice—she'd heard that cadence before, too.
Peering through the trees, she narrowed her eyes.
And then she saw the figure who'd left a deep impression on her years ago.
His blessing was still inside her, pulsing strong.
But—hadn't she bitten his neck clean through?!