Chapter 375: Dawn, I've Got a Big Surprise for You Tomorrow
Mammon was left fairly speechless by what Terapagos had said.
Some other power had changed Terapagos's ability?
Only a handful of Pokémon in the entire Pokémon world wielded power over space-time.
Celebi was one. Palkia and Giratina sort of counted too. Neither of them had authority over time, but as members of the Creation Trio, all three of them dabbled in space-time to some degree.
Compared to Dialga, though, Palkia and Giratina only dabbled. They could never rewind or travel through time at will the way Dialga could.
Celebi couldn't possibly interfere with Terapagos's ability, because the gap between them was far too wide. Palkia and Giratina couldn't either; their power over time wasn't nearly enough.
As for Dialga, set aside whether it even had the power to warp Stellar Terapagos's space-time travel without its Origin Forme. Even if it did, at the time it had been under Evil Hoopa's control, just like Stellar Terapagos.
That left only one candidate: a certain Alpaca, who had been peeping at the time.
"But why would it do that?"
That was what puzzled Mammon. Whether he ended up in Kalos three thousand years ago or in the Hisui era, it made no real difference to him.
The battle had been going the way it had been going. Dragon God Kyurem was about to finish off Complete Zygarde, and once Kyurem had its claws free, even if Mammon hadn't come back yet, Evil Hoopa and the others still couldn't have gotten their hands on Confined Hoopa.
The outcome had been set. Even if Arceus was leaning toward Mammon's side, it had no reason to offer that kind of pointless "assistance."
If anything, the point was that Arceus wanted Mammon to go to Hisui!
"Did it want me to find out about Akari ahead of time?"
Mammon was all but certain of it. He had landed in Hisui in the Crimson Mirelands, not far from Wusi's hut at all.
And Volo just happened to be in the area at that exact time.
"Tch~ Talk about playing favorites."
The more he thought about it, the more Mammon couldn't help shaking his head and laughing softly.
That's right. It really was favoritism. Blatant favoritism.
Dialga, and maybe this world's Arceus too, had probably both foreseen the future, which was why they were both showing Akari such "favoritism."
Is this what it looks like when the world itself dotes on you?
"Huh? What'd you say, Mammon?"
The tipsy little turtle looked up in confusion.
"Nothing. You little rascal, go easy on the drinking from now on." Mammon tapped the little turtle's head, amused.
Still, Terapagos seemed to hold its liquor pretty well.
"Heh heh~ That fruit wine smelled so good."
Terapagos gave a goofy, strangely human grin.
"And I'm not drunk, you know. Hoopa and the others are such lightweights."
It swung its little head, very pleased with itself.
It had a point. Confined Hoopa was too drunk to fly straight, and Jirachi, Victini, and the rest had flopped over belly-up and passed out.
The fruit wine wasn't strong, but they'd drunk a lot of it.
Mammon had seen it with his own eyes: a wooden cask this big, and Confined Hoopa and the others had nearly polished it off.
Meray's heartbreak wasn't unjustified.
"Sure, sure, you're amazing~" Mammon laughed. Like Confined Hoopa and the others, Terapagos gave off the feeling of a kid at heart.
It really was pretty cute.
"So, little turtle, tell me. Can you actually send me and Dawn back to Hisui or not? This is really important to me."
"Mmm~"
Terapagos tilted its head and looked at Mammon, a mysterious light glimmering faintly in its eyes.
"I think so. I can see the 'threads' on you, Mammon. There are lots and lots of them. As long as I can find the thread to that Hisui place you're talking about, I can send you there."
A moment later, Terapagos raised its head and declared it with total confidence.
"But Mammon, my ability has a time limit, okay? With two people, you might get even less time than you had over there today. And it depends on whether Dawn has a 'thread' too."
The "threads" Terapagos talked about were just shorthand so Mammon could follow.
They could be understood as threads of cause and effect. Only when there was a causal thread between the person being sent and the corresponding person on the other end could Terapagos use its ability to send its target through space-time.
That was one of the big differences between Terapagos and Dialga.
Dialga's time travel had no such limitation.
"Then can you bring Akari over to our era instead?"
Mammon had thought of an easier way.
After all, in the story of Scarlet and Violet, Terapagos had brought the past Sada to the Crystal Pool. That meant that, as long as the conditions were met, it could summon someone from the past straight into the present.
"As long as there's a 'thread,' yep~"
Terapagos blinked its big eyes.
"All right. Got it."
With that confirmed, Mammon scooped up the cute, tiny little turtle, completely unable to hide his smile.
This was exactly why he loved little guys like Terapagos, who could fight and were adorable.
Terapagos really was tiny. In its Normal Form, it was only 0.2 meters, and even in its Terastal Form, only 0.3 meters.
In its Stellar Form, going by what he'd seen today, its size shot up to about 2 meters.
Even so, next to other top-tier Legendaries, Terapagos's size was downright pocket-sized.
But just as Mammon always said, battles between Pokémon had never been about sheer size.
Take the Alpaca. It was under 4 meters tall, and that didn't stop it from being invincible in heaven and on earth.
"Ge-sss~"
With Mammon holding it and rubbing its chin, Terapagos went completely limp, closed its eyes, and let out a soft, contented cry, enjoying itself immensely.
"And Terastallization just got a lot more convenient, too."
Mammon glanced down at the Terapagos in his arms, the corners of his mouth rising.
Terastallization was an enhancement system with enormous tactical value. With Terapagos, he could gradually roll it out across Team Rocket.
Because Terapagos was the Source of Terastallization!
Every instance of Terastallization originated from Terapagos, just as Dynamaxing originated from Eternatus.
Dynamaxing, in fact, was strictly tied to location. It required a Power Spot, and then a Dynamax Band to channel the Dynamax energy and Dynamax the Pokémon inside a Poké Ball.
So Dynamaxing had the strictest limitations of any enhancement method. But it really was strong. Even with its time limit, it was extremely powerful.
Terastallization was different. As long as you had a Tera Orb full of Terastal energy, you could use it anywhere.
But that was exactly the problem. Outside Paldea and the depths of Area Zero, a Tera Orb was a single-use consumable.
There was simply nowhere to recharge the Terastal energy inside it. In Paldea, Pokémon Centers recharged Tera Orbs for free, and some environments rich in Terastal energy would top them up automatically.
So in other regions, Terastallization had no real strategic value.
But now that Mammon had Terapagos, that changed.
All he needed was for Terapagos to create a few items that could keep Tera Orbs recharged, and that would be that.
It was the same with Eternatus. As the source of Dynamaxing, if you could catch Eternatus, you could have it set up Power Spots anywhere. Then Dynamaxing wouldn't be tied to a region at all.
Terapagos and Eternatus were the very sources of these two enhancement methods. Without them, there would be no Terastallization and no Dynamaxing. From that, you could see the pattern.
In fact, as things stood, every enhancement method had a traceable origin.
Z-Power, the Ultra energy that activated Z-Moves, had been brought to Alola from Ultra Space by Solgaleo and Lunala in Alola's ancient histories.
But those two probably weren't the source of Z-Power. The source was most likely Necrozma, given that Necrozma could Ultra Burst, or else Ultra Space as a whole.
As for Mega Evolution, according to Professor Sycamore's research in the story, Mega Stones were most likely special stones, such as Evolution Stones, that had been bathed in the energy of Xerneas and Yveltal when the Ultimate Weapon fired.
If that theory turned out to be true, Mega Evolution was, in a sense, the least prestigious of the four enhancements.
But from a practical standpoint, Mega Evolution was absolutely the most useful of the four.
It wasn't limited by region, it boosted a Pokémon's strength in a very direct way, and it carried real tactical weight for a main team.
So in the real world, Mega Evolution was just too useful.
Dynamax and Terastallization each had their strengths and weaknesses, but both were extremely powerful enhancements. Dynamax nearly doubled a Pokémon's HP for a short time and let it use powerful Max Moves while it lasted.
Terastallization could change a Pokémon's type outright. Its strategic value was practically unmatched: it could flip a type disadvantage into an advantage and boost move power, which amounted to an increase in strength in its own right.
As for Z-Moves...
Well. Z-Moves came with a cringey dance.
After sitting out in the breeze for a while, Mammon carried Terapagos back to the house. The moment he stepped inside, he raised an eyebrow.
Serena and Platinum were both fast asleep, one on the sofa and one on the soft rug.
From the looks of it, Serena, the one on the rug, had rolled off the sofa.
As for Caitlin, Mammon glanced into the bedroom. She was sleeping peacefully too, breathing evenly.
Baraz had prepared this house, which had only two bedrooms and a living room. Serena and Platinum hadn't taken the other bedroom, probably because they'd meant to leave it for Mammon.
"I told you all to go easy, and you still got like this on a little fruit wine."
Mammon found it pretty funny. None of the three had actually drunk much, maybe two cups each, and they'd stopped as soon as they started feeling a little dizzy.
It was their first time drinking, though, so their tolerance really wasn't much.
Mammon walked over and first tugged Serena's skirt back down properly.
Serena turned out to be a pretty wary sleeper.
As if she sensed someone approaching, she snapped her eyes open, then saw through the blur that it was Mammon, and her gaze went hazy again.
To her, Mammon was clearly someone she could trust completely.
"Mr. Mammon, you're back..."
Her voice was soft and gentle, like she was talking in her sleep.
"Yeah. Don't sleep on the floor, you'll catch a cold."
Mammon lifted her gently, one arm around her back and the other under her knees.
Serena was clearly still half-asleep. Feeling herself lifted, she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.
Heavy with sleep, she couldn't quite keep her eyes open.
"Mm..."
Before long, Serena leaned her head against Mammon's chest and dozed off again.
Mammon carried Serena into the bedroom and set her down carefully on the bed, then went back to the living room and picked up Platinum.
Like Serena, the girl was a wary sleeper. As soon as Mammon came close, her pretty brows furrowed. She didn't open her eyes, but her cute nose sniffed the air, and then her brows relaxed.
Mammon lifted her in a princess carry as well. Platinum settled naturally and peacefully against his chest, even nuzzled him a little, a smile on her face.
He laid Platinum down next to Serena, but didn't leave right away. He sat beside the bed for a while and watched Platinum's sleeping face, lost in thoughts of his own.
"Mr. Mammon... so amazing~"
A few minutes later, hearing the young Berlitz heiress murmur in her sleep, Mammon shook his head with a laugh.
He got up, tucked the blankets over both girls, and walked out of the room.
"Good night."
Here's hoping you can handle tomorrow's big surprise, Dawn~
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