Seeing Duraludon's silly, proud grin, Axel quickly explained:
"Senior, listen, this is all a misunderstanding."
"I know~", A faint blush swept across Lacey's cheeks, her gaze lowered, her breathing unconsciously softening a little.
Her light-purple bangs fell just right, covering her slightly flushed face.
"Sometimes, misunderstandings can also be quite beautiful~"
"This milk tea… I heard it tastes better when two people share it. Since you're leaving today, how about the two of us try it together?"
Seeing Lacey's expectant eyes, Axel could only shut his eyes helplessly.
It was over, there was no way to explain this clearly.
Just as Axel was thinking about how to clarify, an unusual sensation brushed across his lips.
A straw was already at his mouth.
And the other straw was already between Lacey's lips.
"Gulp~", Axel subconsciously drank a sip, and the corners of Lacey's rosy lips curved upward in a small smile.
"Let's go, good brother. Now I'll take you to the treasure vault!"
Axel: "..."
Fine. Anyway, things hadn't gotten to the point where they couldn't be explained away.
It was just sharing a drink. Back then, he and Teacher Briar had done the same thing, it didn't necessarily mean anything ambiguous.
Time would wash this away, absolutely.
———
Inside the space where the Dark Stone and Light Stone fused, Zekrom, Reshiram, and Rayquaza froze.
The item they had prepared to remove the barrier between Zekrom and Reshiram, just gone?
"Big Brother Rayquaza, maybe you should send Duraludon out again?"
Right now none of them had emerged yet, and Axel only had Duraludon outside.
Aside from letting Duraludon make another run, there really wasn't any other solution.
But buying milk tea again definitely wouldn't work. It might get snatched once more.
The black dragon thought for a moment, "How about this time, let's have Duraludon bring back a token?"
The white dragon's eyes lit up, "Yes! In fact, maybe having the milk tea stolen wasn't such a bad thing. I was just feeling that two dragons drinking from the same cup was a bit hard to accept."
"Since we're both in orb form now, why not buy us two identical pendants?"
"White Dragon!", Hearing Reshiram say he couldn't accept sharing milk tea, Zekrom immediately roared.
"It's already good enough that I don't mind you, now you're disgusted by me?"
Reshiram sneered, "Unconvinced? Want to argue it out?"
"Argue then!"
Watching the two dragons start bickering again, Rayquaza sighed helplessly, his dignified voice once again transmitting into Duraludon's mind.
"My great general…"
———
Lacey and Axel walked inside the Terrarium, heading toward the central area.
All along the way, Lacey's mouth hardly stopped moving. Every time they passed a special-looking building, she chattered non-stop, explaining things to Axel.
Meanwhile, Duraludon followed not far behind, constantly glancing around as if searching for something.
"Axel, there's a souvenir shop over there, want to check it out together?"
"Better not," Axel shook his head. He had noticed that shop the very first time he came to the dome.
At first, he thought since he was already here, he should buy some souvenirs to take back.
But after going inside, he realized something was off.
Everything here required Blueberry Points.
Judging by how a normal type gem only cost 10 Blueberry Points, the prices in this shop were hundreds of times higher than outside.
Leaving the smiling hostess behind, Axel decisively left.
He wasn't against giving Lacey a gift before leaving. After all, she had provided him some intel about the polar region at the start.
Otherwise, he might not have found Glastrier so easily.
But the things here were simply too expensive. Just as Axel was about to lead Lacey away, he suddenly heard a familiar dragon roar from inside the shop.
Looking again, Duraludon was gone.
Axel: "..."
'When did that guy sneak into the shop?'
'Should've recalled the brat earlier!'
Before Axel could even sigh, Lacey's delicate laughter rang out.
"Looks like Duraludon also wants to get you a souvenir to take home!"
She tugged Axel's sleeve, pulling him toward the shop, while explaining, "Although the things here aren't cheap, they're all collectible items."
"Everything inside is crafted with Tera Crystals, and many even contain objects passed down from ancient times."
"Let's see what Duraludon picked. I'll buy it for you as thanks for the milk tea."
As they chatted, the two reached the shop entrance.
Axel sighed helplessly. Since they were already here…
After all, from the ranking battles these days, he had saved up some Blueberry Points. Spending them before leaving wouldn't be so bad.
"Senior Lacey, so this Duraludon is your Pokémon?", The hostess smiled professionally, her voice warm as spring breeze, "This little one is very cute, and it has excellent taste."
"The moment it came in, it picked out our shop's prized treasure, a very historic item."
Hearing the words prized treasure, Axel instinctively looked at what Duraludon was holding.
It was two Poké Balls sealed in Tera Crystals.
One was wrapped in pink Fairy-type Tera crystal, the other in purple Dragon-type Tera crystal.
The two Tera crystals were identical in design, and even the Poké Balls inside were exactly the same. Both relics of the same era.
"These two Poké Balls wrapped in Tera crystal are naturally formed, steeped in history."
"If you were to bring them to Shippo City's museum, you might even obtain new fossil Pokémon."
Axel's heart was stirred, and his gaze fell to the nearby price tag.
Instantly, a string of nines nearly blinded his eyes.
One… two… a full five digits.
99,999 Blueberry Points, equivalent to a solid twenty million Alliance coins.
Axel immediately calmed down, taking the "souvenirs" from Duraludon's hands, intending to return them to the clerk.
Just then, a familiar yet deeply unfamiliar voice rang in Axel's mind.
["Yes, I want this thing!"]
Rayquaza's consciousness roared wildly, its terrifying aura crushing both the black dragon and white dragon back into the corners of their orbs.
That purple Dragon-type Tera-wrapped ball, it was his old Poké Ball.
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