Chapter 241: The Power from the Cosmos

“Aww?!”

Lillipup was the first to sense this overwhelmingly powerful aura.

Even compared to the King’s Aura from the Linking Tree and Guang Tai’s Shieldon, or the strange auras from the underwater ruins—the cosmic fluctuations rising now were unlike anything it had ever felt before!

Miss Qun, who had once trained her aura beside Giratina, felt it even more acutely: a boundless, expansive resonance sang joyfully in the sky and through nature, and an incredible light slowly spilled from her body.

Lillipup stared in shock at this “older sister,” then suddenly remembered something and pointed at Miss Qun’s forehead!

It’s a flower!

The aura radiating from Miss Qun wasn’t ordinary aura—it was the same power as the one lingering on that crown!

That means the Star Flower was born from the crowns of Pokémon like Miss Qun!

“Could it be… that the power from the cosmos or heaven itself? Yes—in Arceus’s slumbering world, that place is precisely what mortals call heaven.”

In the movie, the Mijenn people’s Time Device showed this clearly: that vast golden dimension was Arceus’s slumbering heavenly realm—it may lie within the cosmos, or beyond it.

“Stars fell from the heavens, as if the power of stars descended from heaven to the mortal world—even Pokémon tied to stars have origins, forms, and names carrying unique meaning.”

The cosmic aura radiating from the Trial Rock had grown even fiercer—this sight stunned the nearby trainers, who had pounded this rock day and night but had never seen such a scene!

“Hey, kid, what did you do?!”

Kenta clenched his fists, wearing an expression of “I’ve lived a full life”: “The Trial Rock reacted this strongly? Could it really be alive?!”

“There’s a legend that the Trial Rock is a giant meteor from space, but it’s just a legend—local experts have investigated and found the stone strange.”

Guang Tai’s expression was strange too.

Some things in the Pokémon world are truly odd.

If everyone knew the Trial Rock might be an extraterrestrial object, logically it should’ve been protected—but instead, fighters are allowed to beat it daily. Are they collecting data from this “striking”?

If you think about it, one of the fighters here might be a researcher in disguise.

Pokémon world researchers aren’t frail scholars—they train while researching, some are even muscle-bound giants, villainous bosses, or even take time off to win League Championships.

Just take off the clothes, and you’re in “guess who I am” mode.

The crown on Miss Qun’s head seemed to activate, drawing cosmic aura from the Trial Rock, achieving resonance—and granting Miss Qun extraordinary power.

Boom! The spots shattered by Miss Qun and Lillipup began cracking violently, then shattered further!

Large chunks of extraterrestrial stone rained down with a clatter!

【Star Power (Vstar): The power shared by Arceus in heaven with Pokémon across the cosmos! In composition, this energy resembles the power of “Kings.” Those not recognized cannot manifest it. Yet, apart from Arceus’s emissaries and those who achieved great deeds, no one can activate this power.】

【Description: A heavenly power from millennia ago, carried into this world alongside the Dao Dragon God via a cosmic meteor and slumbering ever since. It connected with the native Dream World, Black-White World, and Linking World, sharing its power with these ancient realms.】

【“The Crown of Dreams” has gained a new ability.】

【Effect: Heart’s Mending: In dreams and nature, people’s aspirations become more vibrant. If one wields special power (e.g., Psychic, Aura, Spirit Power, Ki), the “feedback” drawn from the world increases, allowing brief sharing of this energy.】

【The cracks in dreams are cracks in the heart. When the heart wavers, one’s power cannot manifest. Thus, an ancient king wove this crown from dreams’ flowers to soothe the soul.】

【Shin-Crown Qun’s Star Power: Star Fragrance—You gain power from other Grass-type Pokémon, each boosting your power by 10% and restoring your vitality. —You can form an Aura link with nature.】

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

Now I understand.

Guang Tai understood: this was the power possessed by only certain Pokémon in the Pokémon card game—truly the heavenly might of Arceus.

And coincidentally, among the Pokémon granted this power, Miss Qun and Lillipup were two of them!

Likewise, in the Pokémon world’s cosmos, stars themselves hold power. Not to mention the meteorites in mainline games imbued with various energies—just the Sun Stone and Moon Stone alone prove how potent cosmic forces are.

In Ruby/Sapphire and Sun/Moon, even extraterrestrial beings from distant universes appeared, wielding a power called Star Pulse—the same as the Bonding Power and O Power from the XY series.

“Heavenly Might, Cosmic Virus, Meteor Power, Bonding Power, O Power, Solar Energy, Lunar Energy, Millennium Comet, Star Power, Star Pulse, Ultimate Aura, Mega Evolution, Gigantamax.”

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

As eras progress, the Pokémon world’s lore will inevitably expand into the cosmos—perhaps the next game, or later entries, will be set on the homeworlds of foreign Pokémon like Pichu, Deoxys, Solrock, Wobbuffet, Jirachi, Eternatus, Solgaleo, Lunala, and the Three Dao Dragons.

The Star Power Miss Qun gained is like the “General” trait for Grass-types? But it doesn’t require teammates to be defeated—even lets you use opponents’ Pokémon.

And the crown’s ability made Miss Qun a special energy amplifier—perfectly complementing Torterra’s “Signal Tower.”

Those who wield different energies—were they the ancient humans or Pokémon kings?

Now that you mention it, the ancient legends’ kings really each had their own unique talents.

The king of the Land of Earth controlled Victory Energy and Bisharp, and the flow of Dragon Veins;

The Sinnoh hero wasn’t a king, yet received blessings surpassing even royal ones;

The ancient Water People of the Sea Temple built a temple beneath the sea to draw power from the ocean;

The ancient king of Unova gained Truth and Ideal—and possibly even help from dreams, giants, and the cosmos.

The king of Almia transformed into a Heart Crystal.

The queen of Ornate City had no power—but she had an Aura Warrior.

The ancient king of Kalos, AZ, created the ultimate weapon—and he’s still alive.

The Great King of Galar is munching on radishes.

Ah… the most embarrassing was probably the king of Pokéland, who tried to seal away Moltres—only to be sealed into a ball by Moltres instead.

“Aww?!”

Unlike Miss Qun, who was used to strange powers, Lillipup hadn’t grown accustomed to such “fortunes.” He felt his aura surging outward in an exaggerated manner—where the Linking Aura from his last “link-in” had been ancient and slow, this aura was extravagant, vast, and wildly alive!

“Woo!” The blue-haired pup clenched his fists, gathering all his strength to control the overflowing aura!

His right paw gathered green aura—that was Linking Aura.

His left paw gathered golden aura—that was Cosmic Aura.

Then, his body radiated blue aura—that was his own Aura!

This immense power left his new friend, Carrymin, utterly stunned—it looked from Miss Qun to Lillipup, eyes full of confusion.

Huh? The power of this rock… I’ve pounded it every day—why have I never seen such a strong feedback?

Saying that, it used Rock Smash again—but only chipped off a tiny fragment of star-stone.

“Dore.”

Seeing Carrymin’s disappointed expression, Miss Qun extended a leaf toward it. Carrymin’s face flushed red, stood the wood upright, wiped its hands clumsily, then touched Miss Qun’s leaf like a novice knight.

Then, a powerful force surged into it!

Whoosh! Carrymin’s body glowed with immense power—Aura, nature, cosmos—countless voices resonated, doubling its Fighting-type energy. Then, Carrymin looked at the Trial Rock, its eyes filled with awe and understanding.

After pounding this giant rock for so long, it heard the rock’s voice for the first time.

So this was it—the act of striking the rock was resonance with the Trial Rock. The great power would share a portion with the Fighting Pokémon striking it, making Pokémon nurtured by this rock grow stronger!

“Perhaps… this giant rock is also a Pokémon yet to be born.”

Guang Tai smiled, causing Carrymin to look up suddenly.

Yes—it’s possible!

Pokémon are most sensitive to the birth and existence of life. After this guess was spoken, the other Pokémon nearby began whispering among themselves. Kenta crouched down and patted Carrymin all over:

“Hey, Carrymin, are you okay?!”

“Oh!”

Carrymin raised its arm, flexed its muscles, signaling it was in peak condition—feeling ready to evolve any moment.

Shhh! Carrymin’s body glowed with evolution light!

“Ah, it evolved?! Wait, why did it just… stop?!”

Under Kenta’s mix of joy and confusion, Carrymin pressed a “B button” in its mind, suppressing its evolution—just like Ash’s Piplup once did.

Now isn’t the time to evolve—my strength isn’t enough yet! For the first time, Carrymin understood the true meaning of the Trial Rock’s trial.

If I grasp the essence of this trial and keep pounding this rock with my weak body, after evolution I’ll surpass all others of my kind!

But though it halted evolution, Carrymin didn’t come away empty—it learned a new move: the ultimate strike, gathering all its energy!

True Qi Punch!

“Oh! Such immense power! You learned True Qi Punch?!”

“What exactly just happened? I still don’t get it.”

Not just Kenta—even the other trainers watching the Trial Rock’s changes were baffled. Their brains, packed with muscle, couldn’t comprehend natural forces or auras.

“Nothing much. This Trial Rock might be a special meteor from beyond space—a lifeform we can’t understand. But it generously grants gifts to every Fighting-type Pokémon.”

“I just happened to have a power that awakens it. The mystery of rocks… though I’m no expert in Rock-type.”

“Oh! So you’re a Psychic user! No wonder the rock reacted!”

Kenta suddenly understood—he didn’t know anything about “rock mysteries,” but those were just Psychic users’ way of describing their special abilities.

“In short, it’s just Psychic power related to rocks, right?!”

Guang Tai nodded: “Something like that.”

“What luck! I mean, luck for you, for me, and for this rock!” Kenta crossed his arms: “To meet a Psychic user connected to rocks, to awaken the Trial Rock’s power, to witness and experience this myself—this must be heaven’s reward for my hard training!”

“Hey, I’ve met plenty of Psychics! Sometimes they team up with Fighters as perfect partners! Once, travelers from a faraway land came—a pair called ‘The Sage and the Strong!’”

“Kid! I really like you! Want to team up as a Trainer pair?!”

Kenta was thrilled—he was still a Fighting novice, far from strong, but this Psychic user was a true Sage!

“No, I have many things to do, and I’m not a battle-focused Trainer.”

“Ah, I see… that’s too bad,” Kenta said, disappointed: “But the training journey is never smooth—life is full of passing travelers… Still, thank you for helping my Pokémon!”

Carrymin raised its arm and jumped to bump fists with Kenta.

“Anyway, this rock is incredibly powerful—we’ve always known that, so nothing changes! If you say it gives gifts to Fighters, then we’ll show it our bond and strength!”

“Ohhh! From now on, we’ll strike the Trial Rock a thousand times a day! Each hit will carry our hearts—I’m fired up!”

Carrymin was fired up too!

It wanted to regain the gift of stone through its own strength, not through the queen’s generosity!

Hmm, if I ever become strong myself, and if we meet again, should I consider proposing? She looks like a Human-Like Egg Group.

“My Miss Qun’er is a regional form from an ancient area; though she appears humanoid, she is actually a Plant Egg Group.”

“Ah, so she’s not Human-Like? But I don’t know much about Egg Groups—I just think she’s beautiful, more beautiful than my first love.”

The conversation between Guang Tai and Jian Tailang completely shattered the porter's dream.

Crack.

Pla…Plant Group?!

Impossible! Such obvious human form, such elegant posture—she’s clearly Human-Like!

You’re saying my beloved, this beautiful goddess, is actually a plant that looks like a human?

She looks like a human, walks like a human, fights like a human, feels joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness like a human—why isn’t she human?!

Who on earth drew these Egg Group classifications? Which human doctor made such absurd Egg Group divisions?!

Eeyaa! One million horsepower of heartbreak power—Qi Explosion Fist!

Dr. Kōki in the Kanto region involuntarily shivered.

Egg Group classifications are for professionals—you’re just a little Pokémon, what do you know?!

(End of Chapter)