The guardians of Water Metropolis — Latias and Latios.
Their mission: to keep the city from sinking into chaos.
Every few years,
Latias and Latios would rotate members to recharge the Soul Dew.
It was a time when they grew rather weak.
Latias didn't know why she'd run away that day.
Embarrassment, maybe?
She'd been secretly drawing someone, gotten caught, and fled in shame.
But over the past few days, she'd hidden invisibly in the sky, watching Lin Yu and Riolu face strong opponent after opponent.
Her blood boiled with excitement.
She wasn't even there…
yet it felt like she was fighting alongside them.
To her, the Pokémon down below were absurdly weak.
"Here. This is your painting. It's really good."
Lin Yu tried his best to smile gently.
He must have scared her last time.
"Mmm~"
Latias carefully took the painting, unable to believe she'd get it back.
She'd lived in Water Metropolis for years, and drawing was her only hobby —
capturing the city's scenery.
She'd thought this human would be angry.
But he wasn't.
"By the way, what's your name?"
Lin Yu frowned slightly. Her voice was clear and soft, like water… but she didn't seem to speak normally.
Still, with his Aura Power always active, he could understand her perfectly.
"Mmm…" (Dira…)
"Alright, Dira."
Lin Yu pulled out a Psychic-type Energy Cube and handed it to Kirlia, gently patting its head.
Kirlia purred happily.
[Joy Conversion]
This was how he maximized his golden Entry.
Frogadier loved showing off and being cool in front of people.
Kirlia loved snuggling close to him.
Charmeleon and Riolu felt joy from training, battling, and growing stronger.
So even now, this Entry still gave him 30–50 Entry Coins every day.
"Mmm~"
The sweet scent of the Energy Cube drifted over.
Latias stared eagerly at Lin Yu.
"Huh? You want this?"
With Aura Power always on, he understood her wish at once.
Could humans eat Pokémon food?
They could.
But the taste was different from human food, and Energy Cubes held too much raw energy.
Normally, only Normal-type ones were safe for humans.
Other types had too much elemental power — they could mess up internal organs.
"Mmm~"
Latias nodded hard.
She could tell this cube smelled amazing.
Without thinking, she let her own psychic power flow out.
"You're a psychic user?"
Sensing the shift in the air,
Lin Yu was shocked.
So far, he'd met Aura Power, Green Aura…
and now a psychic user.
Was he some kind of special-power magnet?
"Mmm~" (Yes~)
"Alright then, here you go."
If she was a psychic, it made sense she'd crave Psychic-type Energy Cubes.
"Mmm~"
Latias could feel this Energy Cube would be great for her.
Her Soul Dew
was almost ready to be recharged.
Once that was done, she'd be weak for a long time.
If she had lots of this food then…
her recovery would speed up a lot!
Decision made!
Once she finished recharging the Soul Dew,
she was going with this human.
Too bad Lin Yu had no idea
that the psychic girl in front of him was actually a Latias!
"Mmm~" (This is for you~)
Latias held out a bright red scale.
Lin Yu froze.
He took it instinctively and checked it.
[Latias's Scale of Wrath — S+ Rank Secret Treasure]
A shed dragon scale from Latias.
When held by Psychic-type or Dragon-type Pokémon:
+20% (Elite Four tier) to 30% Special Attack!
"No, no, this is way too valuable."
Lin Yu panicked.
Latias!
A Legendary Pokémon!
This was a scale shed from her body.
A treasure like this gave such a huge boost even to Pokémon below Elite Four tier!
On the market, it was priceless — you couldn't buy it even if you wanted to.
Just like Articuno's original molted feathers,
this dragon scale was irreplaceable.
"Mmm~" (I trade this for food~)
Latias didn't think she was losing out at all.
"It's just a few Energy Cubes…"
"Mmm!" (I want LOTS!)
Latias said seriously.
She leaned almost against Lin Yu. She really, really liked his aura.
Lin Yu stepped back slightly and glanced at Kirlia.
Kirlia immediately got protective, staring warily at Latias.
Lin Yu could only shrug helplessly.
"Fine. Give me some way to contact you, and you can come to me for as many Energy Cubes as you want from now on!"
(✧ω✧) "Mmm~" (Yay! Unlimited food…)
And then…
she vanished right in front of Lin Yu.
Psychic power — Teleport!
Lin Yu: "???"
He couldn't shake the feeling
that he'd been talking not to a human…
but to a Pokémon.
They said psychic users had weird personalities.
Sabrina in the anime was like that —
turning people into dolls just to find friends.
This one must be the same.
Looking at the scale in his hand, Lin Yu removed Kirlia's Mind Band
and replaced it with the dragon scale.
As a boosting treasure,
the Mind Band was outdated now.
At Gym tier, it only gave Kirlia a 5% boost at most.
Better to switch to the scale.
"Kirl?" (What's this?)
Kirlia looked up curiously. It could feel its energy rising again.
After Lin Yu explained the scale's effect,
Kirlia felt a little guilty.
It should have shared its food earlier.
"It's okay. She's a psychic user. She'll find us again. I'll just make extra Energy Cubes for now."
It wasn't hard for him — in fact, it was easy.
He just needed enough materials.
But Psychic-type berries and treasures were expensive.
Rare things were always pricey.
Not everyone had a Psychic-type Pokémon.
Ah, whatever.
"Everyone finished eating?"
"Froga."
"Ri-o."
If anyone had gained the most from this Provincial Tournament, it was definitely Riolu.
[Pokémon: Riolu]
[Ability: Prankster]
[Gender: Male]
[Talent: Champion-tier]
[Level: 17]
[Moves: Mega Punch, Extreme Speed, High Jump Kick, Ice Punch, Aura Sphere, Karate Chop, Brick Break, Sonic Punch...]
[Equipped Entries: Fighting Master (Fixed), Combat Leech, Kaioken, Hidden Force Stack]
Coincidentally, he still hadn't opened today's Entry…