Chapter 252: Finding the Dream Tree!

Water Dragon, Grass Ultra, Fire Bug.

Guang Tai looked at his three old companions and suddenly realized their types could perfectly form a starter trio.

Farther away, many Pokémon appeared, curiously watching Guang Tai, the “Master of the Sky Island”; some had witnessed his challenge at the Divine Capital Ruins and were excited, chattering among themselves about what had happened.

After calming the Blaziken, it couldn’t wait to tell Guang Tai about its “studies” over these many days!

That that!

Blaziken wriggled excitedly!

It learned much in Ancient City—the Fire Pokémon hidden underground was powerful, and that room held an incredible aura: strong, radiant, like the sun’s blazing, luminous power!

The Fire Pokémon said those were ancient spiritual energies, detectable only by Pokémon and psychics!

Then it taught me how to fire-bake special pottery; through baking, I mastered a unique ancient flame technique!

“Are those ancient pottery pieces from the final room?”

In the game, the final room where you catch the Fire Pokémon features fantastical, ancient-style sun murals; the Fire Pokémon stands before them, surrounded by many pottery jars.

“Mera!”

Blaziken said those jars also held special power—just touching them restores vitality, as if leftover fragments from ancient firing, called “Vitality Jars.”

As it spoke, it shot out whooshing flames, weaving them through the air into different shapes, controlling their temperature; under Guang Tai and the other Pokémon’s gaze, the flames it breathed began changing colors!

Controlling flame temperature to produce different hues—that was the ancient fire technique; the Pokémon’s astonished cries delighted Blaziken, and proudly it continued demonstrating its learned fire moves:

Deep blue flames erupted from its five antennae!

“That’s Will-O-Wisp.”

A powerful white flame burst from its body, shooting straight into the sky, its extreme heat drawing attention!

“That’s Overheat!”

It blew a whirlwind of scorching air, sweeping outward!

“That’s Heat Wave!”

Blaziken was overjoyed—it learned these moves from the Fire Pokémon and could now freely control the flames it breathed!

The Fire Pokémon had one more ultimate move, but Blaziken hadn’t learned it yet—called “Flame Dance”—it seemed incredibly powerful!

That’s fine; Guang Tai had Arceus’s statue, which lets Pokémon learn post-evolution moves early, though only one at a time, and the skill is randomly selected—Flame Dance, while not the strongest, has a special effect; it should still be within Arceus Statue’s learning range, right?

Hmm? But thinking carefully, the Fire Pokémon has many other powerful moves—Flare Blitz, Hurricane, Body Slam, Flamethrower; excluding Body Slam, which is a bit risky, learning any of the others isn’t a waste.

What’s the point of a Bug-type using Body Slam when its Attack stat is only 60?

“I’ll bring you back from deep within Ancient City soon.”

Guang Tai stroked Blaziken, thinking about the news concerning Ancient City.

Completely buried under shifting sands, its interior labyrinthine; even in the game, finding the Fire Pokémon’s Sun Room isn’t easy, and one misstep means total loss—let alone in reality, where Ancient City’s depths are pitch-black, impossible to navigate without a Pokémon that knows a light move.

That’s why Guang Tai hadn’t gone to Ancient City—not just because entry is hard, but exit is even harder.

And now, from Blaziken’s account, Ancient City still holds ancient spiritual energies; perhaps the city’s terrifying maze exists because those ancient spirits still wander within.

And besides the Fire Pokémon, the castle likely holds

“Mera!”

Blaziken said it once secretly slipped out from the castle’s deepest chamber and saw a group of strange one-eyed giant birds, covered in bizarre patterns!

They attacked it—until the Fire Pokémon drove them off!

“Giant birds? They’re Symbolic Birds—they’re guardians of Ancient City, suspected to be artificial Pokémon.”

Artificial Pokémon, especially those crafted by ancients, aren’t rare; nearly every region has a few, some clearly man-made, none natural.

Kanto has Mewtwo, Hoenn has Claydol and Graveler, Sinnoh has Copperajah and Bronzong, Unova has Symbolic Birds, Mudkip, and Mudsdale.

“I should thank that Fire Pokémon properly—perhaps it has a wish preventing it from leaving Ancient City? If it needs anything… I’ll help.”

As for a gift—charcoal is needed by all Fire-type Pokémon; I’ll give it that as thanks.

Far from the Divine Capital and City, acquiring Oakwood is hard, but cheap charcoal is plentiful—though inferior to what I’ve burned myself.

Or… buy a “Fire Orb” from the market?

Poison Orbs and Fire Orbs are expensive but purchasable; they’re not as rare as Life Orbs.

But for truly high-quality ones, you must search and explore specific locations—these orbs are super-crystals of natural energy.

Or, craft a high-quality orb using Release Gem—requires only a blazing Fire-type material, like Fire Crystal or Volcano Stone—but upon reflection, acquiring either is no easier than obtaining a Fire Orb.

“Good thing the Fire Pokémon took you in—now we’ll meet in reality soon. Does the Fire Pokémon know the way out of Ancient City? Maybe it can help you escape?”

Guang Tai hoped the Fire Pokémon, familiar with Ancient City, could help—but Blaziken said the Fire Pokémon never goes to the upper levels; legend says a strange Pokémon dwells in the middle and upper layers, hoarding power, preventing the Fire Pokémon from ascending.

To escape Ancient City, you must defeat that Pokémon—it has only an upper body, its lower half a cloud, according to the Fire Pokémon.

“A Pokémon hiding in sand, dwelling in the upper-middle layers of Ancient City, hoarding power, with a cloud for a lower half…?!”

Isn’t this the scene from the Pokémon Generations anime?!

The Pokémon sharing the city with the Fire Pokémon is…

“Landorus!”

The legendary god of farmland, with shrines dedicated to it across several Unova locations!

Landorus’s ability is Sand Force—yes, during sandstorms, Rock, Steel, and Ground-type moves gain 30% power!

Landorus absorbs wind and lightning, converting them into special energy to nourish the earth and awaken all life!

Pokémon shrines also hold power, summoning the corresponding Pokémon; besides the three Cloud Pokémon, Landorus roams between Unova and Sinnoh, and compared to Tornadus and Thundurus, it’s the most reasonable.

But no matter how reasonable, it’s still a Pokémon—if its territory is invaded, it will likely attack violently. In the anime, Landorus was once summoned by the Reality Mirror; it lost its calmness from the Three Cloud Islands and joined the other two in attacking Ash and his friends.

As one of the Weather Gods, though symbolizing abundance, it lurks in deserts, silently gathering the power of harvest—it is the ancient deity buried within Ancient City.

Theoretically, its power peaks during autumn, the season of abundance.

Now, it is autumn.

Landorus’s power should reach its annual peak; if someone prays for abundance, it will appear.

By the same logic, the two Weather Gods representing lightning and storm will also begin roaming around autumn.

“Hmm, I’m confident I can defeat Landorus, but I must consider Ancient City’s labyrinthine maze… If I can find the Dream Tree, I might avoid battle entirely.”

The Dream World has another exit—now that I think of it, Wave Water never mentioned the most important thing in the Dream World.

Prepare for both possibilities!

“Wave Water, have you seen the Dream Tree?”

“Aow? (What’s that?)”

Wave Water blinked, revealing clear stupidity and a touch of confusion.

Ah—of course!

Wave Water always said it lived in a deep forest—that’s the Connected Forest—but it arrived there without passing through the Dream Tree!

That means, due to spacetime fluctuations, Wave Water woke from the Dream World and appeared directly in the Connected Forest!

It skipped the “sacrifice” ritual at the Dream Tree!

Normally, Pokémon in the Dream World must pass through the treehole altar beneath the Dream Tree to reach reality—offer a dream fruit, then travel to the Connected World; that’s the Dream World’s rule!

“Then let’s go find this Dream Tree! Its power might help us too.”

But even so, finding the Dream Tree across different Sky Islands isn’t easy—at least, all the Pokémon here claim they’ve never seen such a thing.

“Treehole… treehole… hey? Treehole?”

“The white treehole in White Forest?”

Guang Tai suddenly remembered a place possibly linked to the Dream Tree—White Forest, which also has a giant tree with a treehole; though its interior is an artificial challenge facility, perhaps the treehole itself is natural?

Conveniently, I need to visit White Forest to find Adik’s trail—that’s his third known location.

He must have discovered something; perhaps his disappearance is connected to the Dream Tree—even though his final destination was Driftveil City.

“In short, sacrificing to the Dream Tree lets you cross spacetime to reach the Connected Forest, right?”

“Crowned King, are you going to the Connected Forest too?”

“I have no such intention. The Dream World is fine. Besides, in my current state, even if I went to the Connected Forest with you, I’d only be a burden.”

“Friend, I await your arrival in Galar! Still, I’m reluctant to return to reality—wait until you master linking Dream and Reality, then awaken me. I can’t bear to leave these fields.”

Crowned King used telekinesis to pour water over its head to soothe burns, while munching on golden radishes.

The vegetables here are large and delicious; after tending these fields so long, there are radiant vegetables everywhere—while Crowned Snowfield? Barren soil everywhere, and the true Radiant Flower hasn’t even been planted yet!

“The goal isn’t complete—how can you wake so easily? Don’t abandon our dream—keep sleeping!”

“Of course, I have no such thought—but another Pokémon might reach the Dream Tree. Actually, I meant to ask you this: how does one enter the Connected Forest? Aside from Wave Water, no other Pokémon has any idea.”

Crowned King pointed toward the training labyrinth: “That thing inside the labyrinth calls itself…”

“Infernape. But I’m fake.”

A rough voice echoed from the labyrinth; a Pokémon wreathed in flame, lion-like and majestic, stepped out.

“Long time no see, human.”

“You’re… the Phantom Infernape from the Crystal Tower! Ah—you’ve entered the Dream World!”

Guang Tai recognized the Pokémon!

The Phantom Infernape nodded: “Yes. For a long time, I’ve heard Mei’s calls; whenever she dreams, I form within her dreams. But one day, I suddenly found myself in a strange place—a canyon-like world, entirely black and white, devoid of color.”

“I kept walking through the canyon, and somehow, unexpectedly, I arrived here—in this Dream World.”

A black-and-white world?

Guang Tai was startled.

Though Phantom Infernape was born from Mei’s dream, the Sinnoh and Unova regions are far apart—how could Phantom Infernape cross through Unova’s Underworld to reach the Dream Sky Island?

Are dreams from different regions connected?

“I heard the other Pokémon say that waking from a dream brings you back to reality, but I have no physical body in reality, and the true Emboar’s dream isn’t connected to me.”

“I was born from Mei’s dream.”

“But when I learned that you were the owner of this dream island and workshop, I thought maybe you, strange human, might have a way—and Reiguanwang told me the same.”

“The Dream Tree you mentioned—what exactly is it?”

Guang Tai: “It’s a vital entity in the Dream World. By planting Dream Fruit and offering them to the Dream Tree, a Pokémon can appear in the Linking Forest. But even reaching the Linking Forest isn’t reality—it’s another dimension, opposite to the real world.”

“However, once inside the Linking World, using a special device to capture you can bring you from the Linking Forest into reality. We’re currently developing this device and have already made breakthrough progress.”

The Phantom Emboar brightened instantly and nodded: “Then I’ll take on the task of finding the Dream Tree. I’ll find a way to travel to other floating islands in search of it.”

“If only I could become a real thing…”

Of course, the Phantom Emboar’s fate is to return to Mei’s side, but Guang Tai sighed inwardly—another divine beast girl is about to appear?

The starter Pokémon is a secondary deity: the Phantom Emboar. Its power rivals that of the true Emboar, and under certain conditions, it may even be stronger.

“Don’t worry—I’ll help you.”

Guang Tai made a promise to the Phantom Emboar!

On the other side, Reiguanwang gazed at the silent Deoxys, who had been observing this dream world.

“Hmm. You… give me a strange feeling.”

I’ve never been to this new world before—it’s amazing. The world within dreams is nothing like the nightmares I once had. Here, everything feels kind, accepting, embracing all. A strange emotion has arisen in my heart.

【I came here from the radiant stars.】

“From between the stars? Hmm… there was once another being like that… yes, yes…”

Reiguanwang’s massive brain spun rapidly—he remembered who had used this trait!

Right—it was that colossal poison dragon that fell from the sky!

“Don’t fixate on this detail. Rayquaza and Kyogre were also once celestial visitors.”

Guang Tai knew exactly which Pokémon Reiguanwang was thinking of.

Ultima, the meteor-borne poison-type dragon, brought darkness, energy, and Gigantamax to Galar.

“I never imagined… those two legendary dragons also came from the cosmos!”

“Yes. They were once a single Pokémon, but both lost their past memories. My new companion, Deoxys, is a brand-new life from the cosmos—born from a radiant heavenly realm utterly different from ours. It traveled for eons through space, yearning for its own birth.”

Guang Tai introduced Deoxys to Reiguanwang, while on the other side, Leolu, Blaziken, and Wailord began playing together!

Mao Xiaogou finally met the two other companions Guang Tai kept talking about—and they both seemed incredibly powerful!

Blaziken’s fire control technique had just made Mao Xiaogou’s eyes gleam. Under Blaziken and Wailord’s puzzled stares, Mao Xiaogou raised one finger!

“Ah, can you do that again? That move just now! I want to learn it too!”

Please!

“Meila?”

Blaziken, confused, demonstrated the flame technique again—and the next moment, Leolu used self-suggestion!

Then imitated!

Flames erupted between Leolu’s paws, perfectly replicating Blaziken’s precise fire control. Blaziken was stunned—tiny hands facing off, eyes sparkling, it spat phosphorescent fire again.

This time, Leolu replicated it perfectly.

“Wahoo!” Blaziken wanted to clap—but its hands couldn’t touch, so it wriggled in place to show its joy!

Leolu, after imitation, gained a slight insight into Blaziken’s control technique. Fire control could also be applied to Wave and Fluctuation—Leolu was thrilled, thanked Blaziken, and said its technique was incredibly useful!

“Aow!” Wailord also got excited, spraying steam into the sky, then glancing at Leolu.

How about it? This move is mine—can you do it too?

“Aow! (No problem!)”

After watching, Leolu gathered Wave energy and swiftly used the same “steam” technique!

Splash! The steam spread across the sky, forming a rainbow!

The three Pokémon communicated through moves, quickly deepening their bond and friendship—in no time, they were playing together.

Meanwhile, Reiguanwang was asking Deoxys about Ultima.

You both came from the cosmos… though the cosmos is vast, maybe you encountered it during your travels?

【That kind of massive meteor is indeed a traveler of the cosmos. Its form appears as a colossal comet, but the one you speak of existed twenty thousand years ago—I hadn’t been born yet.】

【I once heard fragments of its legend in the Radiant Realm. It’s said this colossal dragon-comet originates from the Infinite Realm, carrying one-third of the cosmos’s stars to crash into a world, swallowing all existence. It is said to have been born from Aether, Sky, and Void.】

【You actually fought and defeated it in ancient times, carrying other Pokémon with you? Reiguanwang, your power is immense—truly worthy of the title King of Ancient Galar! It leaves me utterly awestruck! You protected this world, allowing it to endure—you are the true king.】

“Hmm! Not that great! It was just my duty! Hehehe…” Reiguanwang, flattered, forgot it was still in its weak state and laughed carelessly.

But so what? At least I was once mighty!

Now? I trust the wisdom of future generations!

Look at this cosmic friend—this upright, kind warrior of light—his words struck straight to my heart!

“By the way, Deoxys!”

Guang Tai suddenly asked Deoxys: “When you fire your moves, can you make this gesture?”

He formed his hands into a cross shape.

【Hmm… it looks unusual. I’ll try it.】

Deoxys pondered—it found Guang Tai’s suggestion intriguing.

So… which move should I use this gesture for?

(End of Chapter)