Beneath his mask, Jacob's face was burning red. Memories of his past kept flooding back, and he had an uncomfortable feeling that as he became more famous, this storyteller might continue recounting this embarrassing incident for the rest of his life.
Raya, standing beside him, was covering her mouth as she laughed, her eyes curved into cheerful crescents as she blinked at Jacob teasingly.
Jacob hadn't expected that something that had happened a year ago would be publicly broadcast like this today.
"Champion Xia, were you really that impressive back then?"
"Just bragging and complete nonsense. Let's go—is there anywhere else you'd like to visit? Let's go see it."
...
Raya departed from Starlight City the following day.
A few days later, his sister-in-law, Addison, successfully gave birth to a healthy baby boy for the Xia family, weighing 6.6 jin—an auspicious number indeed.
Maximus and his daughter also made a special trip from the Capital to Starlight City, bringing gifts to visit the Xia family. After staying one night, they hurried back to the Capital.
Because of Maximus's presence throughout the visit, Nina and Jacob didn't find any opportunity for a private date, which left Jacob filled with considerable regret.
After remaining in Starlight City for two more days, Jacob also returned to the Water Secret Realm in Magic City to continue training his Pokémon.
...
In this fulfilling lifestyle, time flew by remarkably quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was already late August, with only a few days remaining until the university term began.
Jacob was also preparing to leave the Water Secret Realm and head to League University to register for classes.
Before his departure, Raya suddenly approached Jacob with an unusually serious expression: "Jacob, the God's Coffin has confirmed my official member position. Priest number thirteen, with the code name Dream."
"Congratulations." Jacob replied somewhat perfunctorily, as he truly wasn't very interested in God's Coffin matters.
Seeing Jacob's obvious lack of interest, Raya's brow furrowed slightly as she crossed her arms over her chest, which inadvertently accentuated her graceful figure: "Alright, I know you're not interested in God's Coffin affairs. Let me tell you something important instead. After becoming an official member of the God's Coffin, I gained access to considerable internal information. Two pieces of information in particular might prove useful to you."
"What secrets?" Jacob asked with genuine curiosity.
"Secrets concerning two Secret Realms." Raya began explaining: "One secret involves the Water City, and the other concerns the Guardian Islands."
"What are those?" Jacob asked, confused.
He had never heard of either the Water City or the Guardian Islands and had absolutely no idea what they were.
"The Water City is a legend. It is said that in the ocean between China and the Sakura Region, there once stood a massive island, and on that island was a city called Alto Mare."
"However, two thousand years ago, the Water City of Alto Mare vanished overnight. Some suspected a devastating tsunami had swallowed Alto Mare entirely, but people within the God's Coffin discovered through extensive investigation that things were not nearly that simple."
"The Water City of Alto Mare very likely transformed into a Secret Realm overnight, along with the surrounding sea area."
"A Secret Realm? Alto Mare?"
Jacob pondered these two names carefully, especially Alto Mare, which sounded exceptionally familiar to him. After silently repeating the name several times, a flash of recognition suddenly sparked in his eyes!
Alto Mare?!
Many people might be unfamiliar with the name Alto Mare, but if it were referred to as the Water Capital, many people would likely have some recollection.
The guardians of the Water Capital—Latias and Latios.
...
Raya continued her explanation: "The members of the God's Coffin love to explore various Secret Realms, searching for traces of core energy sources and Legendary Pokémon. They have also been investigating the legend of the Water City extensively, consulting various historical ancient texts, and deducing from fragmented passages in ancient documents that Alto Mare should have formed an entire Secret Realm along with the surrounding ocean area."
"And then?" Perhaps because it involved Latios and Latias, Jacob asked somewhat impatiently.
"The God's Coffin members have already pinpointed the specific location of the Water Capital Alto Mare, and they have also detected spatial fluctuations in that area, but they still cannot find a way to actually enter the Water Capital Alto Mare." Raya said with a serious tone: "They speculate that the Water Capital Alto Mare must be sealed somehow, and to enter the Secret Realm, there must be a key—a specific key to unlock the seal."
Jacob's pupils constricted sharply. Raya's words made him immediately think of the Soul Dew currently stored in his spatial inventory.
If anything could serve as the key to unlocking the seal of the Water Capital Alto Mare Secret Realm, then the Soul Dew was undoubtedly the most likely candidate.
Just as Jacob was deep in thought, Raya's voice rang out once more.
"You can go explore it when you have free time. If you can successfully claim this Secret Realm, then you'll have a perfect place to settle your Gigantamax Lapras." Raya's eyes gleamed with interest as she continued: "After all, the ocean is Lapras's true home territory. In the vast expanse of the ocean, very few Pokémon would be a match for Gigantamax Lapras."
"I understand." Jacob nodded thoughtfully, a contemplative expression on his face as he pondered the matter of the Water City Secret Realm. He asked with a slight frown: "If I really do manage to unlock the seal of the Water City Secret Realm, how much of a chance do you think I have of actually claiming this Secret Realm?"
"Very difficult." Raya thought carefully for a moment before responding: "First, Alto Mare's location lies between China and the Sakura Region, technically belonging to our country's territorial waters, but the Sakura Region will absolutely not relinquish their claim easily."
"The true ownership will ultimately have to be decided through battle."
"Second, the God's Coffin is also eyeing this Secret Realm with great interest, because it is rumored that the Legendary Pokémon Latios and Latias exist within this Secret Realm."
"Finally, even when the Pokémon Association expends tremendous effort to resolve these two major problems, do you honestly think the association will simply hand this Secret Realm over to you for free, even if you have signed an agreement with them?"
...
Listening to Raya's thorough analysis, Jacob couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
"Alright then, tell me about the second secret regarding the Guardian Islands."
"The Guardian Islands is a Secret Realm located in the Pacific Ocean, also known as the Alola Region. It consists of four large islands. It is said that each large island has a Legendary Pokémon serving as its guardian. However, this Secret Realm is also in a sealed state currently, and the God's Coffin members have been trying every possible method to break through the seal."
The Alola Region?
Jacob stroked his chin thoughtfully, and his heart suddenly stirred with realization.
Since the Alto Mare Secret Realm and the Alola Secret Realm both existed, was it possible that other Secret Realms from different regions also existed?
"Are there only these two secrets?" Jacob asked.
"Certainly not." Raya replied: "Besides these two, there are many other rumored secrets like Sky Pillar and the Underwater Cavern, but I think those are somewhat unrealistic, so I didn't bother mentioning them."
"Alright." Jacob nodded in acknowledgment: "If I have time available, I will go explore the Water Capital Alto Mare. Is there anything else you need to tell me?"
"There's one more thing. Regarding the candidates for the organization I mentioned to you last time—have you given it more thought?" Raya asked.
"Not yet." Jacob said with a troubled frown.
There were only a handful of people he could genuinely trust.
First, his older brother and father were currently completely absorbed in caring for the newborn baby and had absolutely no time for anything else.
That troublemaker Kyle was certainly trustworthy, but he had an incredibly big mouth and couldn't keep secrets.
Nina would be a suitable candidate, but for some inexplicable reason, Jacob felt that putting Nina and Raya together would be an extremely poor decision.
After thinking it over repeatedly, Jacob actually only thought of one viable person—Amelia.
Although Amelia's current strength wasn't particularly impressive, as long as she managed to capture a Gigantamax Pokémon, her strength could instantly rise to a terrifying level.
"In that case, I'll recommend two people to you. As for whether you actually let them join, you can decide for yourself."
"Who are they?"
"Zion and Layne."