Chapter 237: The Shiny Beauty of Nimbasa

At the Castelia Gallery the next day, there were some new exhibits.

Quite eye-catching, and making many people stop and stay, was the blank reserved seat next to Gym Leader Burgh's original Volcarona work, which was finally filled, but the author of the new painting was not Burgh.

That work, which seemed to have walked out of mythology, wrapped in vast yellow sand and the historical atmosphere of crossing time, was framed in the most conspicuous place in the gallery.

Some artists in Unova were also watching here, because the gallery had entered many new works this time, so artists who wanted to gain inspiration had already arrived in Castelia, but they didn't expect to see even more shocking new works.

The identity of the painter was not disclosed, just a strange code name, but some artists living in Castelia had already inquired about some strange news through their connections. Yesterday... Gym Leader Burgh had a relatively special Gym battle.

The Castelia Gym is not only a Gym, but also one of the artistic holy places. This work was indeed transported out of the Castelia Gym, and there was only one challenger yesterday.

"Initially, the Pokémon that sowed fire to humans was Larvesta."

"The worship of the sun was formed because of this."

"What kind of profound influence do Pokémon have on human history..."

"Although Volcarona is known as the sun itself, Larvesta, as its larva, is the Pokémon that truly created Unova."

"Human history is the history of Pokémon."

"If we lose Pokémon, what else do we have? That is equivalent to abandoning our emotions and souls."

Such remarks spread among the people. Artists were high in spirits, vividly expressing their views to other audiences. Every artist's focus was different.

Of course, the philosophical speculation in the work can indeed make people think deeply and arouse discussion and response, but the most important thing is that the color application of this work is really wonderful.

Natural, as if reaching out, the surface of this painting would ripple and wave, and then pull people into a distant ancient world.

"I seem to have entered such a world, a world that is all black and white without color. The only ones who have colors are the people living in that world, and the buildings and such are very empty..."

"Haha, that's probably your nightmare after your artistic inspiration dried up. Sometimes nightmares also appear in Unova. Do you know a Pokémon called Musharna? Although it seems rarely sighted, whether it actually exists is also a mystery."

"Ah, it is said that it always floats in the air and will appear at the pillows of Pokémon and people suffering from nightmares in the middle of the night to eat that nightmare. If the dream is eaten by Musharna, you won't remember the content of the dream when you wake up..."

"Then I must have never met it, because my memory of that black-and-white world is very clear. Actually, it doesn't look like a dream..."

In the discussions of the artists, some truths of the world were revealed. However, neither the artists nor certain special audiences hidden in the crowd realized the real point hidden in these words.

A green-haired young man wearing a baseball cap also appeared at the exhibition.

He had been to Nimbasa City before and returned to Castelia today. He just heard that the person hadn't left yet, so he thought of coming to the Castelia Gallery to relax.

N looked up in front of the Larvesta painting, silently staring at the work. His gaze was blurred, and his spirit gradually became trance-like. There seemed to be a magical power crossing time on the painting, and some faint echoes rippled in his ears, making him obsessed, and he didn't know where those sounds came from.

The scene depicted in the painting made N yearn for it.

The first Pokémon ignited fire for humans, people and Larvesta cooperated with each other, and built the oldest and largest city on the land of Unova. It was also the most prosperous place, history was born like this, and civilization and culture began to spread.

Legends are ethereal, but the ruins of the Ancient City were truly excavated, so the history of Unova dates back thousands of years. According to the investigation records of the Nacrene Museum, it is said that until 2500 years ago, the Ancient City was still in a prosperous period.

"Yeah... Pokémon can abandon humans, but humans cannot leave Pokémon. Too few people know this, but what is this work trying to convey to everyone?"

"Is this a refutation of Team Plasma's philosophy, or a counterattack against my own actions?"

"But the past world depicted in the painting is really beautiful... there are not so many humans who hurt Pokémon... But, if time continues to advance, humans will begin to use Pokémon for war. This is recorded by history."

"Exhibiting this work is correct. More people will realize the relationship between humans and Pokémon from the work. Perhaps the relationship between humans and Pokémon will be improved because of this... Unfortunately, those who do all kinds of evil will not come to see this work."

"Emphasizing the history created by humans and Pokémon supporting each other... hmm."

N suddenly became trance-like.

He suddenly remembered his carefree childhood accompanied by Pokémon. Before being "adopted" by Ghetsis, Darmanitan, Woobat, and Zorua were the Pokémon that accompanied him.

That time had become distant. Since being adopted and living in that magnificent underground castle, his ears could only hear the painful cries of Pokémon. The hatred and pain of those friends who had been hurt by humans filled his heart, making his memories of the most distant era gradually blur and dissipate.

And now, for some reason, they have reappeared, and they have become extremely clear!

Ah! Yes, humans and Pokémon support each other. Promoting this philosophy is the correct one!

Instead of simply separating people and Pokémon who understand each other, if either side is lost, the subsequent history will collapse, and it will no longer be the history that people are familiar with and want to continue living for...

He also had a childhood accompanied by Pokémon supporting each other. Even living in the forest and in nature, at that time, he also felt that the future was beautiful.

What is the outside world like? He was so curious in the past.

And later, what he felt was all hatred and malice.

N suddenly pressed his hat brim, his breathing a bit rapid. The artists and tourists around him who were immersed in their own memories noticed the change in N's state and asked with concern if he was okay and if he needed to go to the medical center of the Pokémon Center to rest.

Even the other Pokémon in the art exhibition were the same. They felt that N gave them a wonderful feeling, just like half a kind. This natural sense of closeness made the Pokémon's first impression of him better, so they would pay more attention.

"Thank you, I'm fine."

N touched the hat of a Smeargle, apologized to the art master beside him, indicating that he just thought of some exciting things, so his breathing gradually stabilized. After taking a last look at the painting, N came to the other "newly added works".

These two works, and the painting of "Initial Fire", came from the same person.

But N's mind was thinking about the loss of composure just now. He was a bit dazed, and even shed tears unconsciously. People on the side thought he was moved by art.

"Strange, who am I shedding tears for? Clearly no Pokémon has been hurt, the people here are also very peaceful and friendly, the voices of Pokémon are all happy, and I, just recalled some strange childhood memories..."

"Why do I want to cry, why exactly, is this a new formula... I don't understand."

Although N was shedding tears unconsciously, his expression was full of doubt. He wiped his tears and began to look at the other exhibited works seriously.

One of them is a statue. Like that painting, the ancient atmosphere came to his face. Although it was marked as an antique imitation, it seemed that this sculpture had really experienced a bizarre era.

Work name: Hero and Repentance.

This is a key point that attracts N. However, the hero on this is not the Black and White Prince in the Unova founding legend, and has nothing to do with truth and ideals, but it is still two characters.

What is depicted here are two people from the distant Sinnoh region. One of them is marked as an ancient hero of Sinnoh, and the other is marked as the first repenter who lost history.

If it were an ordinary sculptor, he would probably treat these two people as different sides of one person. This is also a common technique in artistic creation, but N feels it is not like this.

This is mainly because this work emphasizes that these are two characters, born in different eras, who did opposite things, left different legends, and extended completely contradictory history.

"Sinnoh's Hero... Once, there was a hero. The hero led ten Pokémon and launched a challenge to Sinnoh. In that great battle, humans proved their strength. Sinnoh recognized human strength and returned to a world that did not belong to the human world."

"The Repenter of Veilstone..."

"Ya! You are curious about this work, right!" Burgh suddenly appeared beside N: "If you don't mind, let me explain to you what this sculpture is describing!"

"This was learned from the creator. It is ancient history from the distant Sinnoh region. It is said that it is also a little-known legend in Sinnoh, because this history is almost lost... and that hero is the same."

"The creator of the sculpture said that this sculpture represents the history of choice. People who watch the sculpture, if they are in a period of confusion or choice, can slightly help people temporarily break away from inherent concepts and observe themselves and the world from a new perspective."

"It sounds incredible, and I don't know if it's true or false, but when watching the sculpture, I can indeed feel a magical, invisible power, or perhaps it's my illusion."

N looked at Burgh curiously. The other party didn't recognize him, which is a matter of course. As the leader of Team Plasma, it is impossible to walk around and be on the news. When he talked to Xiang Guangtai, he also waited until Officer Jenny finished dealing with things before showing up.

N: "I am indeed very curious, has the hero's story also been lost?"

Burgh: "Yes, and this sculpture, the hero on the left stands, raises the sword with a scabbard in his hand, and makes a challenging posture. Beside him are the phantoms of Pokémon, and the repenter on the right is kneeling on one knee, with a broken sword inserted in the soil in front of him, like a loser, with nothing empty beside him."

"This is an asymmetrical large statue."

"It is said that this image on the right is a mythological character from Veilstone City in the Sinnoh region, and also a person whose history is almost lost. He left no name."

"In an era long ago, an era older than the hero on the left, a young man got a sword. He used that sword to indiscriminately catch Pokémon as food everywhere."

"Those he couldn't finish, he threw away directly. After a year, he could no longer catch food. Pokémon completely lost their traces."

"This young man went through a journey of mountains and rivers and finally found the Pokémon."

"He asked: Why don't you appear anymore?"

"That Pokémon replied quietly: You once wielded a sharp blade to hurt my companions. So we must also use sharp teeth and claws to hurt your companions."

"Don't blame us, to protect our companions, this is a last resort."

"The young man roared: Since I had this sword, I actually forgot that you are also living lives."

"I swear not to do such barbaric things anymore, and this sword will have no use. So I hope to pray for your forgiveness."

"The young man threw the sword to the ground, and the sword body broke in response. The Pokémon looked and disappeared without a trace."

After hearing this, N was slightly touched.

People who hurt Pokémon... although they are people from the distant past, they are unforgivable, but this person took the initiative to recognize his mistake, and that sword is not just a sword, but a symbol of harm in the myth story.

However, the Pokémon did not forgive him in the end, so...

Burgh: "If humans and Pokémon are hostile to each other, they will only hurt each other, and if they support each other, not only will history be born, even the gods in mythology can be defeated. Although I don't know what the word 'Sinnoh' in the Sinnoh region means, the creator told me that it is the code name of a god."

N: "Pokémon called gods... The giant dragon in the founding legend also has a similar title."

Burgh laughed: "Yes, perhaps it is indeed a Pokémon, or it may be some kind of spiritual totem established by the people of the ancient Sinnoh region, just like our Unova's worship of Larvesta, the sun, and the giant dragon."

"A long time later, the hero on the left appeared. Just as I said at the beginning, he challenged the god named Sinnoh. Since then, humans and Pokémon have understood each other again, past mistakes have been made up for, lost history has turned into dust, and a new era has begun like this."

N understood the meaning expressed by this statue. This has been explained in detail in Gym Leader Burgh's explanation.

This is also a statue against Team Plasma, and it uses myths and stories from other regions. Two different ancient people represent the progression of history and the change in the relationship between humans and Pokémon.

"I heard..." Gym Leader Burgh also looked at the statue in a daze: "On the other side of the distant sea, the characters of Sinnoh, Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn all evolved from the voices of Pokémon."

N gradually opened his eyes wide.

Burgh also scratched his face: "To be honest, I also think it's incredible, but that creator told me that the regions over there have already done research on this and made some achievements, and he showed me some answers."

"Pokémon can understand human language, but humans cannot understand the language of Pokémon. The original characters were created by imitating the image of a certain Pokémon. From the calls of Pokémon, combined with those images, words were formed, so that people could begin to communicate with each other."

"The answer is, it's not that Pokémon understood human language, but that human language itself comes from them."

"Hmm, that creator also said he had seen a Meowth that could speak human language. To be honest, I think this is simply like a fantasy, but that creator... in short, I unconditionally believe him. I think this Meowth might really exist."

"A Meowth that can speak human language, if put in the academic world, it might become a major research and topic, and even become a philosophical proposition. But think carefully, some Pokémon can talk to us with telepathy. Doesn't this also mean that they can actually learn our language?"

"And, they learn very fast."

"Ah! Excuse me! What I want to express is that humans themselves are inseparable from Pokémon. From the moment we were born, we were already in a relationship of one heart and one body. Hurting Pokémon is equivalent to hurting ourselves. This is what this statue wants to convey. From characters to civilization, from the past to the future."

"And in our Unova, characters may be slightly different from other regions, but the overall historical development direction should be similar."

N nodded. He stared at the statue with an extremely serious expression. After Burgh's narration, he unexpectedly found that he had a deeper, and hazy but incomparably real special feeling for this statue.

Afterwards, the memories of his childhood flashed back in his heart again. This time, compared with it, there were some strange words that his foster father Ghetsis had said, which made many questions arise in N's heart.

These questions will turn into unsolvable formulas.

"Oh... really wonderful! This is the first time I've seen this kind of clothing."

Burgh heard a familiar voice, and he turned his head...

"Ya! You are... here! You came so fast!"

Burgh was very surprised, because among the tourists appearing in the exhibition area, it was actually... although she had a simple disguise to hide her true face, how could Burgh not recognize her!

This is his colleague, and also the Gym Leader of a big city next door, Elesa!

The shiny beauty of Nimbasa City, a teenage model famous all over the world!

She is both a Gym Leader and a fashion model and idol. She is especially supported by young women. Advertisements of her as a model are decorated everywhere in the city, and she appears on TV every day, but in fact, she is a shy girl who is not good at expressing her will and interacting with people.

In order to vent the accumulated pressure, she chose Pokémon battles and ended up gaining the strength to become a Gym Leader. And, in fact, she has a hobby of collecting electric toys and plush toys.

Elesa's arrival was recommended by Burgh!

"Of course, as a model, I also pay great attention to observation... I will pay attention to the latest clothing and styling at any time, so as not to miss the fashion trend. If the Castelia Gallery has new special exhibits, and it's still the exhibits you recommended, Burgh, then I must come once."

"But this is not a vacation. I have to rush back to Nimbasa City before night."

Burgh is not only a well-known artist in Unova, he is also a fashion designer.

Burgh's representative Pokémon, Sewaddle and Leavanny, are loved by fashion designers as mascots because they can make clothes with leaves. For Burgh, they are also good helpers in his work.

And where were those designed clothes used... Of course, on Elesa in Nimbasa City!

The young girl wearing a trench coat, a wide-brimmed hat, and a mask looked at the special clothing in front of her, and at the same time, she also glanced at N who was thinking on the side.

The temperament on this person is very prominent even in the crowd, standing out from the crowd. Is this the reason why Burgh pays attention to him?

It does indeed exude a feeling of compassion for the world invisibly, but after watching that sculpture, this temperament seems to have converged.

"You seem to have been here for a long time!"

Burgh suddenly realized that this beautiful girl probably didn't just arrive.

Elesa: "I also want to see other art exhibits. Seeing you explaining to guests, I didn't disturb you."

"Then, the design concept of this clothing is..."

Burgh: "Dragon. Clothing made of the dreamy fabric 'Dragon Fabric'."

"According to what the creator said, people who watch this clothing display may pick up the beliefs that were abandoned in the past."

"This is clothing made based on the twin dragons in the Unova founding legend. To be honest, I was also startled when I saw it. It seems that it can also increase intimacy with Pokémon and convey heart?"

Burgh's words also made N, who was thinking on the side, look up.

Elesa: "It looks a bit like the design style of that Kalos designer Valerie... It's not a completely modern urban trend style, but a bit retro-ism."

"The name of this clothing is EX·Black and White Intertwined."

The clothing designed by Miss Valerie of Kalos is also highly respected in the modeling world. That young girl is already a celebrity in the fashion world, but because her design style doesn't quite match Unova, and Unova is far away from Kalos, although there were close exchanges in the past, they are not frequent in recent years, so Elesa has never met that girl named Valerie.

But she buys magazines and such every issue.

Burgh: "For the shiny and active Nimbasa City, clothing designed based on history might be a bit heavy."

Elesa looked at the exhibit silently, but the corners of her mouth gradually hooked up:

"No, I am very interested in putting it on and trying it out. So, Burgh, has your Leavanny made the 'replica' of this dress?"

"There happens to be a fashion show recently... Not bad, I feel this will become a new fashion trend."

"Turn around and help me introduce that artist? Ah... speaking of which, the newly appointed Psychic Elite Four sent me a good thing. Do you feel that my emotions have become cheerful? Hmm, those unstable factors have been excluded."

"It's a very strange big-headed doll. Although it's a bit funny, it's still quite cute after looking at it for a long time."

Burgh: "That's really a coincidence. He has some things to do and has temporarily left Castelia City. Next time we meet..."

And when the two didn't pay attention, N left quietly.

Nimbasa, huh... The next propaganda location for Team Plasma is Nimbasa. Although it is an entertainment city, it has facilities like the Battle Subway for crazy battles... facilities that constantly hurt Pokémon.

But... the goal of this event is just routine propaganda. With the failure experience in Castelia City, the propaganda in Nimbasa City, Driftveil City, and Mistralton City needs to be a little careful. Then, it is best to let Sage Rood do this, his persuasiveness is the highest.

"I want to go to the Battle Subway." N said to himself.

It's not that he wants to destroy the Battle Subway. Team Plasma can't do such large-scale destruction now.

It's just that N suddenly planned to go and take a look, just take a look, and listen to the voices of the Pokémon there.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 238 =====