Off to the side, the other Pokémon—and Cynthia as well—had also stopped in their tracks at the sight, turning questioning gazes his way.
Elias, for the moment, forgot to answer.
For a simple reason—the system notification had just chimed.
[Achievement Unlocked: The Creator's Gaze. Effect: Permanently increases Luck by 10%.]
[Note: Carrying this achievement may attract a certain Pokémon.]
The instant the achievement popped up, Elias's thoughts sank a little—but it wasn't entirely unexpected.
If anything could give him that feeling from just now, it could only be Arceus.
He just didn't know whether the reason for that gaze was because he'd gone to see Regigigas…
Or… whether there was some other factor.
Fortunately, even after all this time, nothing substantial had happened.
That gaze from earlier hadn't even lingered—maybe it hadn't even noticed him at all.
Thinking that, the tension in his nerves eased just slightly.
In that case… he'd actually profited, hadn't he?
After all, a permanent buff was hardly something you saw every day.
It's just…
System, what does that note mean?
What kind of Pokémon does it mean I might attract?
Staring at the line under the description, Elias frowned and asked directly.
[System is updating. Please inquire later… 89%…]
Seeing the words that popped up, Elias's expression darkened without meaning to.
He really should have expected it—this damned system could never be counted on when it mattered.
Who knew when it had decided to start updating; it hadn't even bothered to tell him.
At least, by the looks of it, it was almost done.
With a quiet sigh, Elias closed the system panel.
And the moment he opened his eyes—several faces were right there, far too close.
Realizing Elias hadn't answered for so long, all the Pokémon had picked up that something was wrong.
They had circled back, looking at him in Gardevoir's arms with concern in their eyes.
"Lati? (Are you too tired?)"
"Did you run into something back in the passage?"
"Your mental state doesn't look so great…"
"Mew! (Gardevoir, what did you do!)"
As they spoke, a few of them were gently rubbing restorative skills into his body, their voices full of guesses.
Only… it was Mew's guess that suddenly made Gardevoir's fist tighten.
She shot Mew a glare—if she weren't still supporting Elias, there'd already be a few lumps on that pink head.
Closing the panel and seeing this scene, Elias suddenly felt like not getting up at all.
Whether it was Gardevoir's soft warmth, or the comfort of those healing moves, it was hard to resist.
In the end, he still waved his hand, signaling the others to step back for now.
Once he stood, he let out a breath, his state already tuned back to its best.
"I'm fine, I was just thinking about something."
Meeting all those concerned gazes, Elias explained with a gentle voice.
Once they were sure he was alright, everyone present finally breathed easier.
"Elias, are you planning to leave Hisui?"
Cynthia's timely question came from the side.
What she'd seen just now… it didn't feel like he'd just been "thinking."
Given how many unknown factors there still were on the Hisui continent, she thought it best they leave sooner.
At that, Elias considered for a moment before saying:
"Mm. Probably in the next few days."
"I'll check around—see if, besides Irida, anyone else wants to visit the modern era."
With most of what needed doing in Hisui already complete, once the system finished updating, Elias planned to head back.
Only… just as that thought surfaced, the system's inbox icon gave a small shake.
[Host, don't go back yet!]
Even mid-update, the system had sent him this message.
---
Meanwhile — Kalos Region, Lumiose City.
In the city center, the Prism Tower—once a landmark—was now battered and broken.
The aftershocks from Dialga and Palkia's battle had damaged buildings throughout the area.
And yet, strangely enough, the gloom among the residents wasn't over their homes.
Instead, everyone was talking about that day's attack on Dialga and Palkia.
"I saw it with my own eyes—those two Pokémon looked like they'd been hit by something, then suddenly tumbled into a rift in space-time."
"Not only that—there was some shadow following after them, diving right in too."
"Was it some legendary Trainer? Or a Pokémon?"
"…"
Talk like this filled every street and alley of Lumiose City.
Crossing the street, Diantha heard nothing but discussion of the event.
Though several days had passed—and even though Cynthia had told her she didn't need to come—as Champion, she had still rushed back to Kalos.
Things were just as she'd heard—resolved with ease.
Aside from the central district's damage, the city had escaped major harm.
Casualties were even kept to single digits.
To the rest of the world, this was nothing short of astonishing.
Two top-tier legendary Pokémon had appeared—and been brought under control in such a short time.
Rumors were everywhere that Kalos must have some kind of ultimate weapon.
But Diantha knew—this almost certainly had to do with that close friend of hers.
And yet…
Several days had gone by, and it was like the woman had vanished—no messages, no calls returned.
To the point that people over in Sinnoh had started asking her to "hand their Champion back."
"She didn't really fall into the space-time rift, did she?"
Diantha thought with a deepening frown.
Her mind had never been this tangled before.
Even now, she didn't know what method Cynthia had used to halt a disaster that should have been unstoppable.
With her strength… even summoning another ten Garchomp shouldn't have been enough, right?
Beep beep—
Just then, Diantha felt her phone buzz twice.
When she glanced at it, she saw two new messages—both from senders that made her blink in surprise.
[Diantha, I heard you had sightings of the space-time dragons over there—how's Cynthia and the others?] — from Lance.
[Sorry to intrude. I heard Lumiose City was attacked—could you tell me how Cynthia and the others are doing?] — from Steven.
Two Champions from different regions, both asking her about another region's Champion—Diantha couldn't help being a little taken aback.
Since when were these three so close?
After a moment's thought, she still replied:
[I can't get in touch with her right now—she seems to have disappeared. I'm worried too.]
Almost immediately, replies came back:
[Disappeared again?!]
The wording from both was identical—even down to the punctuation.
Diantha: ?
---
Um, hello everyone! The translator wanted me to let you know that they're really sorry for focusing too much on one translation and neglecting the others lately. To make up for it, they're giving you two extra chapters today and tomorrow! They hope you'll accept this as their sincere apology.
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