Chapter 258:
Hayashi Kaede stood frozen for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh.
Seriously, who would drink this?!
Psychic power decreasing and friendship dropping after drinking it? What kind of cursed wine was this?
But then, his eyes lit up as a thought struck him.
The change in the Grepa Berry Wine was just one example.
Did that mean any food or drink brought into the Reverse World and back would have its effects inverted?
That was actually valuable information.
Although most of Kaede's dishes now had positive effects, there were always a few with undesirable outcomes that made him want to complain.
For example, the water infused with energy from the Nether Stone touched by Darkrai's power had the effect of causing nightmares.
If he took that kind of water through the Reverse World, would it become water that gave pleasant dreams?
But then again, it seemed Giratina wasn't as hot-tempered as he'd imagined.
Even though its gaze had been terrifying, it had returned the empty barrel after drinking his wine—showing at least some courtesy.
"So it's not all bad news," Kaede thought, glancing at the shadowy spot where Giratina had vanished.
By now, he had a vague idea of why Giratina had left so quickly.
As the ruler and maintainer of the Reverse World, it couldn't stay away from its realm for long.
In the neighboring dimensions, the deities of Space and Time watched over the real world.
Every time Giratina entered the real world, the gods of Time and Space would surely sense it, right?
He imagined the scene vividly:
Palkia, asleep for ages, suddenly jolted awake the moment Giratina appeared in the real world.
It hurriedly got up—only for Giratina to return to the Reverse World immediately.
Just as Palkia sighed in relief and prepared to go back to sleep…
Before it could even close its eyes, Giratina popped out again.
That must have left Palkia utterly annoyed.
What are you doing, going in and out like that?!
Honestly, after realizing Giratina wasn't as unreasonable as he'd thought, Kaede's desire to "please Giratina for rewards" grew stronger.
"But before that, I need to prepare dishes that Dragon-type and Ghost-type Pokémon would like," Kaede murmured to himself.
Last time with Rayquaza had been far too sudden; he'd had no time to prepare at all.
Just then, Gardevoir entered the barn, still holding the strawberry Alcremie.
"Gardevoir?" (Did you find the Pokémon that stole the Grepa Berry Wine?)
Kaede nodded helplessly. "Found it, but… it's incredibly powerful, and I haven't figured out its personality yet."
"Gardevoir…"
Gardevoir nodded calmly, not particularly surprised.
Any Pokémon that could steal the wine right under its nose had to be strong.
But since it had chosen to drink the Grepa Berry Wine, Gardevoir wasn't too worried—it knew the effects.
Seeing Gardevoir holding Alcremie, Kaede asked, "What are you two up to?"
"Gardevoir." *(Taking it to the forest to practice Metronome.)*
Kaede's eyes lit up. "Perfect! I'll come along and watch."
This little one had used Metronome three times before—and twice, it had managed to mimic the signature moves of Legendary Pokémon.
He suspected its luck stat might already be maxed out.
He couldn't resist going to see it in action.
Gardevoir placed a hand on its Trainer's shoulder. In an instant, they teleported to the edge of the forest near the river.
BAM!
No sooner had they arrived than a loud impact echoed in Kaede's ears.
Looking closer, he saw Dragonite and Blaziken facing off across the river.
They had clearly set boundaries for their battle—Dragonite wasn't allowed to fly too high.
One rule was to prevent Blaziken's flames from reaching the forest, and the other was to limit Dragonite's aerial advantage.
The air in the immediate area was noticeably hotter.
Glancing up, the sun shone as brightly as a summer day—Blaziken had used Sunny Day.
Even so, Blaziken was panting heavily as it stared down Dragonite.
Within the confined space, it couldn't fully utilize its speed advantage. Moreover, Kaede had arranged this training with Dragonite specifically to sharpen Blaziken's combat instincts, so evading wasn't an option.
Taking a deep breath, Blaziken reignited the flames around its fists, activated Flame Charge, and lunged at Dragonite.
Facing Blaziken's fiery assault, Dragonite stayed calm, gathering energy into its Dragon Claw. When Blaziken's Fire Punch struck, Dragonite firmly blocked it.
On the opposite bank, an old man sat with a fishing rod, watching the battle with quiet admiration.
He muttered to himself, "Kaede's Pokémon are getting stronger and stronger. I hardly see him battle, so how are they improving this quickly?"
The old man, Yoshio, was genuinely puzzled.
He'd only ever seen the Combusken jogging through the forest in the mornings—and before long, it had evolved into Blaziken.
And now it was already this powerful?
That was way too fast!
"Uncle Yoshio!" Kaede called out.
"Hey!" Yoshio looked over, cheerfully set down his fishing rod, gave the water's surface a pat—and a Gyarados emerged from the river.
He stepped onto its back and rode over. "Kaede, my boy…"
Kaede blinked in surprise. "Uncle Yoshio, when did you catch a Gyarados?"
Yoshio had lived in Aogiri Town for years.
Kaede knew all his Pokémon—three in total: a Lucario, a Venusaur, and a Mismagius.
Lucario patrolled the forest, Venusaur preferred sunbathing beside Yoshio in summer, and Mismagius… Kaede hadn't seen since he was a child.
So where had this Gyarados come from?
"This… well, how should I put it?" Yoshio looked at Gyarados awkwardly.
"This was originally a Magikarp from this very river. You know how I like fishing when I'm bored, Kaede? For a while, I kept hooking the same one."
"Then one day, I couldn't help but give it a kick—and who knew it would evolve right there and then?"
"After that, it just refused to leave. When I finally caught it, I found out it had often gone hungry in the wild. Even after evolving, it's still terrified of starving…."
"Uh…" Kaede's expression turned equally awkward.
Food on a fishing hook lured a Gyarados?
Wait, no—it lured a Magikarp on the verge of evolution.
Magikarp: I evolved because you wouldn't let me eat the bait?!
Kaede couldn't help but laugh inwardly.
So Magikarp really did need "a good kick" to evolve?
Uncle Yoshio clearly had no choice but to accept this clingy Gyarados, but he quickly changed the subject. "You came to watch their battle?"
Kaede nodded and took the Alcremie from Gardevoir. "Mostly here for a little test. My Alcremie learned Metronome, so I wanted to see what kind of moves it can pull off…"
"An Alcremie that knows Metronome? That's rare." Yoshio looked at the Alcremie in amazement, then sighed nostalgically. "Back in my younger days, I once challenged the Pokémon League Conference with my Venusaur."
"During one match, I faced a Trainer with a Togekiss that also knew Metronome."
"My Venusaur had hit it with Toxic, and the battlefield effect happened to be Grassy Terrain. With the healing advantage, I thought victory was certain."
"I still remember the opponent's expression—it was so conflicted."
"Then he ordered Togekiss to use Metronome. I didn't understand why he hesitated at the time."
"It used Metronome three times while on the verge of fainting. I wondered, what move could it possibly pull off?"
"But on the last try… it used Overheat."
Yoshio smiled faintly at the memory.
Back then, he'd been young and arrogant. "With Toxic damage ticking, terrain advantage, and Razor Leaf ready to finish it—there was no way I could lose."
But then Togekiss waved its wings and unleashed Overheat, nearly knocking out Venusaur in one hit, he was stunned.
Then came disbelief.
Seriously? It actually pulled a powerful Fire-type move out of three Metronome attempts?
Followed by frustration.
A sure-win battle overturned by sheer luck.
But now, all he could do was laugh at the memory.
"When you get old, you start to reminisce," he chuckled. "Anyway, since you want to test Copycat, you'll need a target. How about my Gyarados?"
"This… might not be appropriate," Kaede hesitated, though he appreciated Yoshio's kindness.
He'd originally planned for Gardevoir to oversee Alcremie's practice—because his Alcremie's Metronome was… a little unusual.
"It's fine," Yoshio said, smiling at the small Alcremie. "Such a tiny thing—what move could it possibly copy?"
He even turned to Gyarados. "Right, Gyarados?"
Gyarados opened its massive jaws, gave Alcremie a brief glance, and nodded casually.
"Well… alright then."
Seeing Yoshio's insistence, Kaede didn't want to refuse.
He looked at Gyarados in the water.
Gyaradks level is around 25 to 27. Slightly higher than Alcremie.*
It should be fine.
After reassuring himself, Kaede looked down at Alcremie, who seemed nervous on its first "trip far from home," and said gently, "Just like before—use Metronome."
Pointing at the Gyarados, he added, "Aim at it."
"Alcremie …"
The strawberry Alcremie looked timidly at Gyarados, nodded weakly, and began channeling energy.
Under Yoshio's kindly smile, a dark cloud began to form in the sky.
The smile froze on his face.
Within the thundercloud, lightning flashed wildly—and then, under Gyarados's bewildered gaze, a powerful thunderbolt struck it square on.
"Gya…!"
A numbing jolt ran through its body. Gyarados was instantly paralyzed and collapsed into the river.
Gardevoir quickly used Psychic to lift it out of the water before it could be hurt further.
"Alcremie!"
Alcremie stared up at the thundercloud, wide-eyed in disbelief.
It had defeated that huge dragon in one hit!
Kaede immediately focused on Gyarados.
Using his Veridian Power to check its condition, he sighed in relief—it wasn't seriously injured.
He took a Full Heal from his storage capsule, sprayed it over Gyarados, and infused a trace of Veridian Power.
Within moments, the burns had mostly healed.
Uncle Yoshio, still recovering from shock, stared in disbelief. "Kaede, is your Full Heal that effective?"
Then, still stunned, he asked, "Was that… Thunder?"
"Um… probably, yes," Kaede admitted, glancing at the dissipating thundercloud.
He gave an awkward smile. "Sorry, Uncle Yoshio. I didn't expect it to use a move like that. I think Gardevoir should handle the tests from now on."
Seriously, Gyarados—a Water and Flying type.
Thunder, a super-effective Electric-type move.
No wonder it went down in one hit.
"It's fine, it's fine. I've still got Venusaur. Your Alcremie's luck is something else—pulling a super-effective move right away," Yoshio said with a laugh, recalling Gyarados and releasing Venusaur instead. He explained the situation briefly to it.
Venusaur glanced at Alcremie, then nodded.
Yoshio grinned. "I refuse to believe I'll lose to Metronome my whole life!"
"This…" Kaede hesitated.
"Come on now, no backing out!"
"…Alright then."
Kaede looked up at the familiar Venusaur. The flower on its back stood nearly two meters tall, its body broad and powerful.
Its energy level was around 61 to 64.
"As expected of the Venusaur that competed in the League Conference in its youth," Kaede thought. "This time, it should be fine."
He looked down at the Alcremie in his arms.
"One more time?"
"Alcremie~"
Emboldened by its earlier success, the strawberry Alcremie quickly used Metronome again.
In an instant, a pillar of blazing, jagged rock erupted from the ground—