Chapter 241: Power from the Universe

"Awoo?!"

Riolu was the first to sense this super-powerful Aura.

Even compared to the Tree of Connecting, the King's Aura of Xiang Guangtai's Aegislash, or the strange Aura from the undersea ruins—the cosmic fluctuations rising up were unlike anything it had ever felt before!

This was even more true for Lilligant, who had previously trained her Aura under Giratina. She felt a boundless, vast fluctuation singing with joy in the sky and within nature; an incredible light gradually began to overflow from her body.

Riolu looked at this "older sister" in astonishment, then suddenly remembered something and pointed at Lilligant's forehead!

It was the flower!

The fluctuation radiating from Lilligant was not ordinary Aura; it was the same power that remained on that floral crown!

In other words, the Star Flower was born from the floral crowns of Pokémon like Lilligant!

"Could it be power from the universe or the Celestial Realm? That's right, in the world where Arceus slumbers, that place is the Heaven as perceived by mortals."

In the theatrical film, the Michina people's Space-Time Altar demonstrated this: that massive golden dimension was the Celestial world where Arceus slept. It might be within the universe, or perhaps outside of it.

"Stars falling from the firmament are like the power of stars descending from Heaven to the mortal world. Even the birth, appearance, and naming of those Pokémon associated with stars hold unique significance."

The cosmic fluctuations radiating from the Trial Rock were indeed becoming more intense. This scene stunned the few trainers nearby; they had been hammering this Trial Rock day and night, yet they had never seen such a spectacle!

"Hey kid, what did you do!"

Kentaro clenched his fists, wearing an expression that said, "My life is complete": "The Trial Rock is actually reacting this strongly—could it really be alive?!"

"Ah, there have been legends that the Trial Rock is a massive meteorite from the universe, but after all, they are just legends. Local experts and scholars once investigated it and felt this stone was very strange..."

Xiang Guangtai's expression was also strange.

Some things in the Pokémon world are truly bizarre.

If it were known that the Trial Rock might be an object from beyond the sky, normally one would protect it. Yet, they still allowed those martial artists to beat it. Were they trying to collect data from this "striking"?

Thinking about it this way, perhaps one of the martial artists present was actually a researcher in disguise.

Researchers in the Pokémon world are not weaklings; they exercise while conducting research, and it's not impossible for them to be muscle-bound giants, villainous bosses, or even find time to win a League Championship.

It really is a case of "take off the clothes, and enter the 'guess who I am' segment."

The floral crown on Lilligant's head seemed to be activated as well, absorbing the cosmic Aura from the Trial Rock. After achieving resonance to a certain extent, it granted Lilligant extraordinary abilities.

Bang! The places on the Trial Rock that had been struck by Lilligant and Riolu began to crack, and it shattered even further!

A large amount of extraterrestrial stone fell to the ground with a clatter!

【Star Power (Vstar): Power shared by Arceus from Heaven to Pokémon in the universe! In terms of composition, this energy is similar to the power of the "King." Those who are not acknowledged cannot manifest this power. That said, aside from Arceus's envoys and those who have truly achieved great feats, no one can activate this power.】

【Description: The Celestial power that fell to the Pokémon world with a cosmic meteorite thousands of years ago. It is a power that was brought into this world alongside the Tao Dragons and fell into slumber. It has established connections with the local Dream World, the Black and White World, and the Entralink World, sharing its power with these ancient realms.】

【"The Dream King's Floral Crown" has gained a brand-new ability.】

【Effect: Heart Mending: When in the dreamscape and nature, it makes people's dreams active. If one possesses special power (such as psychic power, Aura, spiritual power, or fighting spirit), the "feedback" obtained from the world will increase, and these energies can be shared briefly.】

【The gaps in dreams are also the gaps in hearts. If a human heart wavers, the power one originally possessed cannot be exerted. For this reason, an ancient King wove this floral crown with dream flowers to soothe hearts.】

【Hisuian Lilligant's Star Power: Star Fragrance—You can obtain power from other Grass-type Pokémon; each one increases your stats by 10% and restores your vitality. —You can establish an Aura link with nature.】

【Riolu's Star Power: Star Aura—Amplifies all your power, making the damage dealt to the opponent ×1.2. If the opponent has stat-boosting effects, your Aura-type moves deal an additional 50% damage. —You can establish an Aura link with the stars.】

Now it makes sense.

Xiang Guangtai understood; this was the power possessed only by certain Pokémon in the Pokémon Trading Card Game, and it was indeed the great power of Arceus from Heaven.

And coincidentally, on the list of Pokémon sharing this power, Hisuian Lilligant and Lucario were two of them!

Likewise, in the universe of the Pokémon world, the stars possess power. Not to mention the meteorites containing various powers that have appeared in the main games, minerals like Sun Stones and Moon Stones alone are enough to show how strong the power contained in the universe is.

And in the Ruby/Sapphire and Sun/Moon chapters, there even appeared beings from the distant universe who mastered the power known as Star Pulse—which is the Bond Phenomenon and O-Powers that appeared in the XY chapter.

"Celestial power, cosmic virus, meteorite power, Bond Phenomenon, O-Powers, solar energy, lunar energy, Millennium Comet, Star Power, Star Pulse, Ultra Aura, Mega Evolution, Dynamax..."

Looking at it this way, the power from the universe has long been inseparable from the Pokémon world.

With the development of the era, the Pokémon world view will sooner or later expand into the universe. Perhaps the next work, or even the stages of subsequent works, will be set on the home planets of extraterrestrial Pokémon like Clefairy, Deoxys, Solrock, Beheeyem, Jirachi, Eternatus, Solgaleo, Lunala, and the Tao Trio.

At this moment, the Star Power Lilligant obtained is equivalent to a Grass-type "General" ability? However, it doesn't strictly require teammates to be defeated; one can even utilize the opponent's Pokémon.

And the floral crown's ability makes Lilligant a special energy amplifier, which complements Torterra's "signal base station" perfectly.

Beings who master different energies—are these the Kings of ancient humans or Pokémon?

Speaking of which, those ancient legendary Kings really each had their own unique skills.

The King of the Kingdom of the Earth could control victory energy and Victini, as well as the flow of Dragon Veins;

The hero of Sinnoh, though not a King, received blessings that surpassed ordinary Kings;

The ancient Sea People of the Sea Temple built a Sea Temple that gained power from the ocean;

The ancient King of Unova obtained Truth and Ideals, and perhaps even received help from dreams, giants, and the universe.

The King of Almia turned directly into a Heart Crystal.

The Queen of Cameron Palace—she had no power, but she had an Aura Guardian.

The ancient King of Kalos, AZ, created the Ultimate Weapon and is still alive today.

The gluttonous King of Galar is currently chewing on a carrot.

Ah... the most disgraceful one is probably the King of Pokélantis, who tried to seal Ho-Oh but was sealed into a ball by Ho-Oh instead.

"A-a-awoo?!"

Unlike Lilligant, who was accustomed to seeing all kinds of magical powers, Riolu was not yet used to such "encounters." It felt its Aura surging outward in an exaggerated posture. If the Entralink Aura during the last "infiltrating connection" was ancient and long-lasting, then this Aura was exaggerated, vast, and extremely active!

"Woo!" The little blue puppy clenched its paws, concentrating all its power to control the overflowing Aura!

The right paw condensed green Aura—that was the Entralink Aura.

The left paw condensed golden Aura—that was the cosmic Aura.

Then, its body radiated blue Aura—that was its own Aura!

This powerful force left its newly made good friend, Timburr, dumbfounded. It looked at Lilligant, then at Riolu, its eyes full of confusion.

Eh? The power of this stone... I strike this stone every day, why haven't I seen such strong feedback?

Saying this, it used Rock Smash again, but only knocked off a small piece of Star Piece.

"Dore."

Seeing Timburr's disappointed expression, Lilligant reached out a leaf toward it. Timburr's face turned red instantly; it stood its timber upright, wiped its hands, and clumsily touched Lilligant's leaf like an apprentice knight.

Afterward, a powerful force was transmitted into its body!

Whoosh! A powerful force surged over Timburr; Aura, nature, and the universe—countless voices resonated, doubling its Fighting-type energy. Then, Timburr looked at the Trial Rock, its eyes filled with awe and understanding.

Having hammered this boulder for so long, it heard the stone's voice for the first time.

So that was it; the process of attacking the stone was resonating with the Trial Rock. That great power would share some of itself with the Pokémon engaging in combat, and thus, the Pokémon nourished by this stone would become even stronger!

"Perhaps this boulder is also a Pokémon that has yet to be born."

Xiang Guangtai smiled, causing Timburr to suddenly lift its head.

Yes, that is indeed possible!

Pokémon are most sensitive to the birth and existence of life. After this guess was voiced, the other Pokémon nearby began to whisper to each other, and Kentaro hurriedly squatted down to check on Timburr:

"Hey, Timburr, are you okay!"

"Oh!"

Timburr raised its arms and flexed its muscles, indicating that it was in excellent condition and felt like it was about to evolve...

Swish! The light of evolution lit up on Timburr's body!

"Ah, it evolved?! Eh, why did it hold it back?"

Under Kentaro's happy yet bewildered gaze, Timburr seemed to have pressed the B button itself to cancel the evolution, forcibly holding back the process with "Endure," just as Dawn's Piplup had once done.

Now was not the time to evolve; its strength was not yet strong enough! For the first time, Timburr understood what the trial of the Trial Rock meant.

If it could grasp the true meaning of the trial and continue to hammer this stone with its weak body, then after it evolved, it would grow to a realm stronger than other Pokémon of the same species!

However, although it interrupted the evolution, Timburr didn't gain nothing; it learned a brand-new move—the strongest strike unleashed by gathering all its breath!

Focus Punch!

"Oh oh! Such great power! You actually learned Focus Punch!"

"What exactly happened just now? I still don't understand."

It wasn't just Kentaro; in fact, the other martial artists watching the changes in the Trial Rock from afar were also clueless. Brains filled with muscles couldn't understand the power and fluctuations of nature.

"It's nothing. This Trial Rock might be a special meteorite from beyond the sky. It is a life form we cannot understand, but it gives generous gifts to every Fighting-type Pokémon."

"I just happened to have a power that could awaken it, the mystery of rock... although I am not an expert in the Rock type."

"Oh, so you're a Psychic! No wonder you could make the rock react!"

Kentaro suddenly realized. He actually didn't understand anything about the "mystery of rock," but those were just terms Psychics used for their special abilities.

"Simply put, it's a psychic power related to rocks, right!"

Xiang Guangtai nodded: "Something like that."

"Then that's really lucky! I mean you, me, and this stone!" Kentaro put his hands on his hips: "To be able to meet a Psychic related to rocks, and then be able to activate the power of the Trial Stone—I actually have the honor to see this scene and experience it personally. This must be Heaven's reward for my hard training!"

"Eh, I've met many Psychics! Sometimes Psychics and martial artists form tacit partners! A pair of travelers once came from a distant region, and their partner name was 'The Wise and The Strong'!"

"Kid! I think highly of you! Do you want to form a trainer partnership with me!"

Kentaro was quite excited now. Although he was still a rookie in martial arts and far from being a strong person, the Psychic in front of him was a genuine wise man!

"No, I still have many things to do, and I am not a trainer specialized in combat."

"Ah, is that so? Then that's really a pity..." Kentaro was quite disappointed: "But the journey of training won't always be smooth sailing; life is full of passersby... But regardless, thank you for helping my Pokémon!"

Timburr also raised its arm, jumped up, and fist-bumped Kentaro.

"Anyway, this stone is very powerful; we've known that for a long time, so it won't change in the future! Since you said it will give gifts to martial artists, then we must let it see our bond and strength!"

"Oh oh oh! From now on, hammer the Trial Rock a thousand times every day! Every strike must carry our heart; I'm burning up!"

Timburr was also burning up!

It wanted to obtain the rock's gift again with its own strength, not from the sharing of that beautiful Queen!

Hmm, if it could become a strong person in the future, and if it had the honor to meet again... should it consider proposing? The other party looked like it was in the Human-Like Egg Group...

"My Lilligant is a form from an ancient region. Although she looks human-like, she is actually in the Grass Egg Group."

"Ah, so it's not the Human-Like Group? But I don't know about Egg Groups; I just think she is very beautiful, even more beautiful than my first love..."

The conversation between Xiang Guangtai and Kentaro completely shattered Timburr's dream.

Crack.

Pl... Plant Group?!

How is that possible! Such an obvious human physique, such an elegant posture—no matter how you look at it, it should be the Human-Like Group!

You mean the object of my secret love, such a beautiful goddess, is actually a plant that looks like a human?

She looks like a human, walks like a human, and has the posture of a human when attacking. She also has joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness like a human—how is she not a human!

Who, who exactly classified this Egg Group? Which human professor classified such an incomprehensible Egg Group!

Eeya! Heartbreak power one million horsepower, Focus Blast Punch!

Far away in the Johto region, Professor Elm couldn't help but shiver.

Egg Group classification is obviously something only professionals can do; what does a little Pokémon like you know!

(End of chapter)