It was exactly like that. Professor Oak explained, "After the last incident, I made sure to send Carl an SOS message before the crash, and it worked out well. We were rescued."
Cynthia raised an eyebrow. "Did he respond to you?"
Professor Oak nodded. "He said that all I had to do was shout 'Hoopa is the best' to get free."
"Hoopa?" Cynthia pondered, resting her chin on her hand. "That name rings a bell."
Professor Oak stood up, leaning on the table. "I think I've heard it somewhere too. Sounds like the name of a creature."
"But let's put that aside for now," Professor Oak said seriously. "The real issue is how to handle the news from Fairview City. Carl specifically asked us not to mention him to avoid any trouble."
Everyone understood. This mysterious figure was definitely not someone to disturb lightly. They began earnestly discussing strategies to handle the situation.
Meanwhile, on the waters of Fairfield, a ripple of space distortion briefly appeared but soon faded away.
Carl, who was resting, suddenly opened his eyes. "Was that… just my imagination?"
He carefully sensed the area around him but found nothing unusual. With a chuckle, he shook his head and closed his eyes again. In a place like this, the appearance of a legendary creature was unlikely.
Little did he know, in the woods by the river, Zygarde's canine form was quietly celebrating. "Luckily, I wasn't noticed. I can't believe this ruin is here. It seems those two are about to face off."
It quietly retreated, glancing northeast with a plan in mind. "Now, just to wait for the show in seven days."
Time flew by.
Mewtwo put down a book she was reading and counting the days, realized she had been staying at Carl's house for seven days. Over this time, she gained new insights into life, society, and values.
She adjusted her glasses and looked at the empty chair beside her.
"Taken by Lillie again?" She shook her head and picked up another book to continue reading.
Downstairs in the living room, Lillie was excitedly putting makeup on a "magical doll," with the blush particularly striking.
"Nazia, Caitlin, how does it look?" she asked eagerly, holding up the doll with anticipation.
The two paused for a moment.
"Lillie, makeup isn't really your thing," Nazia said bluntly, her expression more lively than usual.
"It's not quite there," Caitlin added in agreement.
Lillie wilted instantly. "Is Serena the only one who can do makeup?"
The two didn't respond. They were naturally beautiful and never used makeup, but Serena was different—she excelled not only in cooking but also in style, able to enhance her aura with just a touch.
Nazia and Caitlin practiced in private too, though they wouldn't admit it out of pride. Meanwhile, Lillie clearly lacked the knack, and every attempt ended in failure, with the poor "magical doll" as her test subject.
Lillie sighed. "Looks like I'm not cut out for this, just like with cooking lessons from Carl."
Nazia and Caitlin couldn't help but laugh, recalling Carl's mishap with making soup over the past week.
One evening, Carl suddenly announced he wanted to learn soup-making from Serena. Everyone found it strange that this lazybones suddenly wanted to cook. Only Serena and the Blaziken had a peculiar expression.
Once Carl presented his first pot of soup, they understood why. It was unfit to be called food!
For the following seven days, Carl practiced diligently, but always ended up causing laughter. Nazia tried it, and with Serena's guidance, succeeded quickly. Caitlin picked it up in no time too. This left Carl feeling defeated, vowing never to enter the kitchen again.
"Talent truly is a thing," Lillie mused.
Nazia and Caitlin nodded in agreement. Their psychic abilities were testament to that.
"I'm not practicing anymore, or I'll turn into a Poochyena," Lillie said in frustration. She picked up the magical doll. "Time for a bath, no more modeling for you."
The doll felt miserable: You have no idea what I've endured these past seven days!
"Huh?" Lillie called from the bathroom. "I haven't turned on the water, so why is the doll's face wet?"
Nazia and Caitlin exchanged a glance.
"Should we tell her the truth?" Caitlin whispered.
Nazia shook her head. "No, let's spare its dignity."
"True, Lillie doesn't know it's the real Mew, and Mew won't reveal itself either. After all, it's a noble legendary Pokémon."
"We'll pretend we don't know as well." Nazia said seriously. "Some things are best left unspoken."
It was Carl's arrangement. Although they were close to Carl, Mew's personality was unpredictable, and who knew what might happen? Carl had mentioned before how hard it was to gauge Mew's temperament.
"Has Carl gone hiking again?"
"Early morning hikes are nice, he knows how to enjoy life."
"Indeed, who knew he had such a hobby?"
"Wow!"
Caitlin's image of the "cultured" Carl was shattered as he stood grumbling before the World Tree.
For six consecutive days, the log-in system seemed to toy with him.
After receiving the recipe for Dynamax Soup and seeds for Dynamax Mushrooms on the first day, his luck plummeted: a Moon Stone on the second day, a Dragon Fang on the third, Never-Melt Ice on the fourth, an Aerodactyl Fossil on the fifth, and a Thunderbolt Skill Crystal on the sixth.
On the seventh day, he got a MEGA Evolution Crystal.
These items were rare in the market, but now easily accessible for Carl. The rewards from the Kanto League included many similar items. Aerodactyl? He could catch one directly in the Great Valley to save trouble. The only unique item was the Skill Crystal, a specialty of the World Tree.
He thought his luck had turned around yesterday, only to be disappointed today.
[MEGA Evolution Crystal: Enables a Pokémon to gain a MEGA evolution form]
On the surface, it seemed valuable. For instance, Dragonite couldn't MEGA evolve, but with this, it could match Salamence and others, making Dragon Master Lance envious.
But there was a catch: a MEGA evolution required a matching MEGA Stone. In the real world, Dragonite didn't have a MEGA form, and thus no specific MEGA Stone. This meant he needed to find an arbitrary MEGA Stone and somehow convert it into a Dragonite-specific one.
Two steps were required to create a Super Dragonite, making it far more complicated than the straightforward power of the Bond Crystal.
Carl suddenly realized his previous thinking was too limited. With a stone capable of MEGA evolution in hand, why not consider using it on legendary Pokémon that couldn't MEGA evolve? Legendary birds, legendary titans—if they knew about such a treasure, they'd surely come knocking.
Humming a tune in good spirits, he turned to leave. As he stepped out of the garden, he heard a massive explosion from the southwest. Looking up, the sky was filled with dark clouds, lightning, and thunder.
Could a new secret realm be appearing? Carl stopped in his tracks, surprised.
Meanwhile, on a high mountain, the Zygarde core, codenamed Number Ten, watched the unfolding events with excitement. As a guardian of order, it swiftly contacted its scattered companions around the world. Countless green lights shot out from various locations, converging on the scene.