Chapter 227:
"Hmm..."
Amidst the brilliant starry sky, Rayquaza slowly opened its eyes. It flexed its claws slightly, and a large chunk of the meteoroid beneath it broke off. It grabbed the piece and stuffed it into its mouth.
After chewing, the rock fragment vanished.
"Roooaar..." (How long have I been asleep?)
The shiny Rayquaza stirred the energy within its body, a flicker of doubt crossing its mind. Then, it looked down at the azure planet below. A familiar energy flickered at a certain point.
"Roooaar..." (Why is it taking my form?)
As the Pokémon guardian of the skies, it could sense that someone was borrowing its power—and it was that little cat... Mew, always full of energy, roaming the world. Who knows what it was playing at now.
Rayquaza thought to itself. It had lived for ages, yet still spent every day wandering. It really should have its symbiotic connection to the Tree of Life revoked.
Too bad it lacked both the power and authority to do so.
It paused, not intending to seek out Mew, and closed its eyes again. But after a while, it realized it had slept too long and couldn't fall back asleep. Well, if I can't sleep, I might as well take a look.
...
"In short, Mew is a Pokémon that can transform into any Pokémon" Hayashi Kaede explained in the garden. "And the Rayquaza it transformed into is the guardian of the skies. As you saw, it's powerful and impressive."
The towering Rayquaza had now returned to its original form. Under the curious and expectant gazes of everyone, it began transforming into their likenesses. One moment there was an extra Alcremie, the next a Pidgeotto, then an Eevee—eliciting surprised exclamations from the crowd.
After Mew's transformation show ended, Hayashi Kaede brought over the Tree of Life tea.
"Alright, have some tea. Time for bed…"
As he said this, he felt a slight internal contradiction: serving tea at night, then telling everyone to sleep.
Luckily, none of the Pokémon overthought it. Having eaten macarons and played for so long, they eagerly drank the tea.
Hayashi Kaede looked at them expectantly. "Did anyone learn any new moves?"
The Eevees looked at each other and shook their heads. Blaziken shook its head, and Alolan Vulpix did the same.
Finally, Hayashi Kaede's gaze landed on an Alcremie with a red strawberry decoration. It timidly raised its hand and released a small Aura Sphere.
"Alcremie?" (Is this it?)
"Gasp…"
Seeing the Alcremie release an Aura Sphere, Hayashi Kaede drew in a sharp breath. He recognized this Alcremie—it had used Blue Flare and Dazzling Gleam last time. Which meant this luck-based event had blessed it again.
"Yes, yes! Alcremie, you have such great luck!"
Hayashi Kaede couldn't help but pick it up.
[Pokémon: Alcremie]
[Gender: Female]
[Ability: Sweet Veil]
[Potential: Purple]
[IVs: …]
[Level: 22–25]
[Moves: Decorate, Sweet Scent, Aromatic Mist, Play Nice, Metronome, Aura Sphere…]
[Description: Received the blessing of the Tree of Life and possesses the power of Aura.]
"Alcremie?"
The Alcremie felt lighter after drinking the tea, its perception of the surrounding world clearer. Naturally, after Hayashi Kaede asked, it used the move.
"Alcremie?"
"Alcremie!"
Before Hayashi Kaede could fully celebrate, another Alcremie poked its head out, seemingly having learned the move as well. A matcha-flavored Alcremie gathered an Aura Sphere above its head, followed immediately by a salt-snow-flavored Alcremie.
"Gasp…"
Hayashi Kaede made another contribution to global warming. He hadn't expected that, in the end, the ones favored by the Tree of Life would be these little cuties.
The other Alcremies, who hadn't yet comprehended Aura, looked on with what seemed like envy. They weren't truly concerned with Aura itself, but learning the move clearly made Hayashi Kaede happy. Misinterpreting their looks, he comforted them: "It's alright. There are still more Tree of Life tea leaves. Everyone will eventually learn this move."
As for the source of the leaves? Naturally, he'd get them from Mew, who arrived punctually at every mealtime.
Mew, having entertained so many Pokémon today, was feeling happy, until a sudden chill ran down its spine. Unaware of why, it cheerfully returned to playing with Jirachi.
Seeing this, Hayashi Kaede felt more confident. Having so many Pokémon try the tea gave him a rough expectation of how difficult it was to obtain the power of Aura. Now it seemed the probability this time was at least three times higher than last. Knowing this, his mindset became calmer. He'd eventually obtain Aura—it was just a matter of time.
"Serperior…"
Then Serperior's voice sounded again. Its tail, glowing cyan, began gathering energy into a sphere. The energy shimmered with cyan and blue patterns.
Hayashi Kaede was stunned. He didn't understand why Serperior would suddenly use Energy Ball. But the next moment, as Serperior channeled its energy, the cyan light shimmered with blue streaks—as if a power had fused into it.
Hayashi Kaede's eyes lit up. This was Aura. Serperior had comprehended it and immediately infused it into the Energy Ball.
Aura Sphere normally never misses until its energy is depleted. Serperior had innovatively infused Aura into it, creating an Energy Ball that would never miss—combining precision and creativity.
"Serperior…"
Hayashi Kaede was astonished as he watched Serperior's performance.