He raised his eyes and saw that green, unknown creature in Naoki's palm.
Calyrex was slightly stunned: "That is?"
"This little guy?" Naoki answered with a smile. "This is Softie."
"Softie?" Calyrex's face showed surprise.
"The new name I gave it!" As Naoki spoke, he took out some snacks that Pokemon liked from the cupboard, trying to feed them to Softie.
But that green clump of cells didn't eat; it instinctively burrowed into Naoki's palm, seeming very nervous.
Seeing this, Naoki wasn't surprised.
Because Zygarde's cells had no self‑will. They might not need to eat like other Pokemon; they only needed to absorb some Natural Energy, or sunlight and water, to survive.
He thought it over carefully, then set Softie on the windowsill, placing a piece of snack and a small saucer of water beside it.
The cell lay there motionless, only blinking once in a while, as if observing this place.
No one knew how much time had passed before Softie seemed to run out of energy.
Only then did it slowly crawl a short distance to the snack, open its tiny mouth, and instinctively begin to eat.
At the same time, in the Kalos Region, inside Terminus Cave.
Zygarde, through its cells, had witnessed everything it encountered.
That human carried a dense aura of Natural Energy. Was that presence from before emanating from him?
Zygarde was deeply puzzled. Could that person be a human chosen by the ecosystem?
And when it saw that human actually give its cell the name "Softie," the entire Pokemon fell silent.
Softie…
It was Zygarde, the Guardian of order. How could it be called that name?!
"No. I know far too little. I need to continue monitoring for a while longer before I can reach a conclusion."
The green glow in Terminus Cave gradually sank into stillness as Zygarde continued overseeing the outside world's ecosystem.
*
Hoenn Region.
Inside a huge volcano, Steven looked with a grave expression at the slim man opposite him, who had a head of red hair, wore black‑rimmed glasses, and exuded an air of calm composure from head to toe.
Fiery red magma flowed slowly, and on the surrounding Ground lay many humans dressed in Team Magma uniforms and Pokemon such as Poochyena.
The wounds on their bodies all testified to how fierce a battle had just taken place here.
"Why do you insist on stopping me?" Maxie asked in a calm tone. "Everything I do is solely to expand the landmass and increase the living space for humans and Pokemon. Whether for humans or Pokemon, that would bring tremendous benefit."
Behind him, a massive Pokemon covered in crimson armor plates lay with its eyes tightly shut, slumbering in the magma.
Steven's expression was extremely serious as he tried to stop this extremist man:
"That will only destroy the balance of this world! It will plunge the land into endless Inferno! When that happens, both humans and Pokemon will be severely affected!"
"Hmph, even if you are the Champion, you cannot stop me. Look!" Maxie spread his arms wide, as if presenting the Pokemon behind him to Steven. "Look at this slumbering Super Ancient Pokemon, Groudon—how beautiful it is! I've waited so long for this day to come! No one can stop me!"
Steven furrowed his brow and tightened his grip on the Poke Ball in his hand. Beside him, Metagross stood firmly, guarding him.
At Maxie's side, a Camerupt was lightly tapping the Ground with its hooves, looking ready to charge at any moment.
A great battle was on the verge of erupting!
An identical scene was playing out in the seafloor cavern.
Archie let out a feverish laugh:
"Hoo‑hahaha… I really pity you! You went to all this trouble to follow me here, but now… no one can stop us! No one! Even without the Treasure Pearl, we can awaken Kyogre!"
Wallace cast an elegant glance at the slumbering Kyogre.
He curled his lips slightly and said softly, "Looks like I won't be able to make it back to Sootopolis City before dark today. I wonder how things are going on Steven's side… But Milotic, we absolutely cannot let that guy down, can we?"
"Mii!"
With a melodious cry, the Milotic at Wallace's side shot forward fiercely in Archie's direction.