Chapter 293: Pokémon Grand Convention

Thump thump thump!

Marvelous Soda is rich in complex and subtle flavors, but its dominant taste is sweet and spicy, due to the high sweetness of Lomei fruit, which carries a hint of bitterness, and the extremely high spiciness of Mizhi fruit, which is slightly astringent.

The Pokémon happily drank this mysterious juice!

Growth increased dramatically!

In the game, this drink is sold at a juice shop on Autumn Avenue in Cyllage City, Kalos Region—of course, this soda juice must be custom-made to produce.

“Eating Lo-mei fruits regularly might boost your resistance to Fairy-type moves; Fairy-type has a significant advantage over Fighting, Dragon, and Dark types. Qun’er and Poliwhirl are at a disadvantage against Fairy-type Pokémon, so you should eat more Lo-mei fruits from now on.”

“Aow?” Poliwhirl had no concept of Fairy-type, but it recalled that in its own era, there had indeed been a ferocious Pokémon it struggled to handle—something that looked like

Poliwhirl growled low, trying to describe the Pokémon’s appearance; Guang Tai read Poliwhirl’s language and formed a guess.

But now, there’s a more convenient way.

“Let me read your memories.”

Guang Tai gently placed his hand on Poliwhirl’s crystal; the blue crystal glowed faintly, and ancient memories began unfolding before Guang Tai’s eyes.

Reading a Pokémon’s memory.

This is the power of memory!

A lush primeval forest, ancient trees thickly wrapped in moss, wild and rampant growth of unnamed ancient fruits—and within the ancient forest lurked countless ferocious predators.

It was an ambush.

Poliwhirl growled, hunting some ancient Pokémon; among Pokémon, predator-prey relationships existed, though not always obvious—sometimes, ferocious wild Pokémon would act this way, and in the ancient forest, such things were commonplace.

Though fruit was available to feed all Pokémon, a food chain still existed among them.

The black Pokémon with flapping wings hovered midair, watching Poliwhirl with a mocking gaze; in the night sky, without sunlight, the ancient activation of Paradox species could not trigger.

But this Pokémon could see movements clearly at night; it and Poliwhirl clashed while hunting another Pokémon, and as moonlight gathered, a “Moonlight Power” appeared above its head, revealing its form clearly!

Long body fur, a bright red Fear Pearl hanging around its neck, crimson eyes—it looked at first glance like a giant ancient Misdreavus.

“So it’s Wingull.”

Wingull, known as the ancient Misdreavus, has no relation to Misdreavus but is kin to Aerodactyl. It is said to be the spirit of a Pterosaur turned into a Ghost-type Pokémon, extremely violent and combative, and one of the rarest Ghost+Fairy types.

“So that’s ancient Fairy. This Wingull is huge. And then—you fought it recklessly, lost your prey, and your battle was—”

Crack!

A thick bolt of lightning appeared; in the memory, Guang Tai saw a Pokémon resembling a thunder dragon—its arrival caused both Poliwhirl and Wingull to flee.

“Aow~” Poliwhirl’s cry scattered the memory from Guang Tai’s eyes.

Failed hunts happen all the time—don’t worry about it!

Aren’t there ancient Peach-Peach fruits to eat? The primeval forest’s bounty is incredibly rich!

Sometimes, ferocious Pokémon attack each other over resources, launching endless, senseless battles—this is common!

“Theoretically, ancient times should’ve been survival of the fittest, but because of the abundance of fruit, it seemed more like picking fights for no reason.”

Some ancient fruits would continuously spawn based on the power of ancient Pokémon.

In the anime, Juniper revived a Tirtouga—and accidentally revived ancient fruits along with it; those fruits reacted to Tirtouga’s cries, growing faster the louder it shouted, even producing fruit instantly.

“Haaow~”

After eating and drinking their fill, Poliwhirl grew drowsy, looking forward to its next battle, lying on the ground, smacking its lips, eyes growing hazy.

Perhaps because it slept too long in the Forest of Connection, it has now mastered the divine skill of falling asleep instantly upon lying down—this sleeping technique rivals Ash’s Snorlax.

Alright, wake me when it’s dinner time!

“Yat.”

Turtwig stared at Poliwhirl’s open-mouthed sleep; since earlier, it had sensed a power emanating from Poliwhirl—likely ancient energy, making its own EX power grow active.

Since gaining EX power, Turtwig had been pondering.

This power enhances life force and move strength, boosting vitality to an extreme level, increasing physical power, and significantly strengthening all moves.

That means—if vitality is raised to an extreme level, does that imply

“Yat (Big Dragon, don’t sleep—I have a question!)”

Turtwig’s voice woke Poliwhirl, who looked at its mobile kitchen chef with confusion.

When Turtwig asked what the special wild power on Poliwhirl’s body was, Poliwhirl blinked, then

Sunny Day!

“Woo!”

“Dore~”

“Mera.”

Using Sunny Day indoors was like throwing a flash grenade—each Pokémon reacted differently to the weather condition.

Qun’er was delighted, as she was a Lily, so sunlight helped her grow well; Pyroar, being Fire-type, naturally loved sunny weather; though it wanted to actively change the weather, Pyroar sensed now wasn’t the time to “show its face,” so it quietly enjoyed the warmth by its fingertips.

But Leafeon was uncomfortable.

The blue-haired puppy stuck out its tongue, feeling the temperature rise, ears drooping; it walked straight to Shieldon and used Shieldon’s large shield as shade.

“Don’t set weather indoors—hey, are you demonstrating something to Turtwig?”

“Hmm, a nature?”

Guang Tai heard Poliwhirl’s low growl—because Sunny Day had appeared, Poliwhirl’s nature triggered!

Ancient Activation: When carrying Drive Energy or when the weather is Sunny Day, the highest non-HP stat increases by 30%; if that stat is Speed, it increases by 50%!

This is the wild power from ancient times!

By using this power in response to changing weather and environment, it can activate in unexpected situations!

Turtwig nodded slowly—it felt its own EX Time-Shift power surging and leaping within, for when it first gained the power, it was night, so it felt nothing; now, under sunny weather, the sensation came instantly.

This is!

Green energy surged over Turtwig’s massive body, strengthening plants, sprouting tender new leaves, its back’s green hue deepening visibly!

The ancient EX power enhanced Turtwig’s vitality, triggering an anomaly under sunny weather—allowing it to actively activate its nature, “Overgrow,” in Sunny Day conditions!

“Aow?!”

Poliwhirl’s drowsiness vanished instantly; it stared in disbelief at Turtwig. Among the Pokémon, Poliwhirl was most familiar with Turtwig and Qun’er—but .!

You never said you had “Ancient Activation” too!

So you’re my hometown buddy?

“Yat (No, but thanks!)”

Turtwig grasped the key—it was Sunny Day. Guang Tai and the other Pokémon were also drawn to this strange change.

Though each had gained different powers—some from the cosmos, some from ancient times, some from dreams, some from wave energy—but how to use these powers depended on the Pokémon’s own thoughts!

Shieldon was the first to jump up and cheer!

Oh! No wonder, Turtwig!

Back in the Divine Capital, when you trained with Regirock, you already showed creativity second only to mine!

With my Trainer’s help, I turned my Rapid Strike into a cancelable technique, refined my Sacred Sword into three ultimate moves, shaped my Psychic Blade into a sharp psychic net, and made my Shadow Sneak even more dishonorable.

Now you’re walking the same path as me? That’s great!

“Hmm, Sunny Day and Overgrow… makes sense. Sunlight shining on plants does make them flourish. With ancient power, now I can maintain peak strength under sunny conditions.”

“Speaking of which, Qun’er is the same—her Vitality nature makes accuracy unreliable, but through carving work, she improved accuracy, allowing her to stay at peak form.”

“There are still many ideas to explore regarding natures and moves. I recall—”

Guang Tai suddenly remembered Diamond from the Special Episodes.

That Diamond’s counterpart had a unique idea—he improved Leaf Blade into “My Own Unique Leaf Blade,” training to control the number of leaves fired; by limiting it to one leaf, that Turtwig could accelerate that single leaf to maximum speed!

This was a unique move developed to counter fast opponents!

“And perhaps, through further power enhancement or special training, one could retain two natures simultaneously.”

Isn’t there a real-world example? Regieleki!

When Regieleki appears riding a horse, it displays “possesses two natures simultaneously!”

Guang Tai’s suggestion delighted the Pokémon; they began asking Turtwig and Shieldon for advice, trying to develop more tricks—even Moomoo and Axew, who didn’t belong to Guang Tai, joined the discussion.

Deoxys: [If acquiring a valuable item of the same type, perhaps the nature’s power can be further enhanced—Overgrow’s energy might be amplified even further… I once heard these words from museum curators in my dreams. Though it was a nightmare, I heard them clearly. They were famous Trainers, deeply studying natures.]

Deoxys possessed vast knowledge—some from museums before it was born, some from Professor Rowan’s exchanges, and some brought from the cosmos.

Guang Tai: “Indeed. I know a special Charmander whose Blaze nature is stronger than others’. Besides intense training and external gifts, the bond between Trainer and Pokémon can strengthen natures.”

Entei: “An interesting idea. If so, my nature could also—”

The phantom Entei’s nature was unknown—likely because Xiao Mei didn’t understand Entei, so she imagined its nature as “?”; the true Entei possesses two natures: Pressure and Inner Focus.

But reportedly, the Three Sacred Beasts had an unimplemented original dream nature—Entei’s original dream nature was… Flame Body!

“Here, want to try?”

Guang Tai opened a box from his bag, wearing gloves to remove a glowing hot coal.

“You remember—I gave this coal to the real Entei, and to that ancient Blaziken.”

“Mmm… this is the coal from back then—it boosts Fire-type move power.” The phantom Entei bit the coal; a powerful flame surged within it!

The Entei born from dreams now truly revealed its “Original Dream Nature”!

“Pyroar, use ‘Ember’ on Entei.”

Guang Tai commanded Pyroar, who immediately perked up, ready to unleash a full attack—until Guang Tai stopped it: “Don’t go all out. Just a little flame.”

“Mera.” Pyroar looked disappointed, but it couldn’t blast too hard—if it set the house on fire, that’d be bad.

This house doesn’t look as sturdy as ancient cities.

Shh! A spark shot toward Entei—but was instantly absorbed by it.

"So that's it! Your new ability is 'Fire Attraction'!"

Of course it's not pressure! After all, it came from the Dream World! And since it didn't keep up with the update, it's not psychic power either!

"Congratulations! This is a power entirely different from the true Emboar—Fire Attraction can absorb flames and boost the power of Fire-type moves. While traveling outdoors, it will also attract Fire-type Pokémon."

Discussions about abilities and moves grew increasingly lively; the Pokémon shared their various insights and ideas, tossing out wild thoughts one after another, eager to turn these fantasies into reality and beginning to draft practical plans.

Though they are still traveling, journeys must eventually end—then they could put these plans into action. Of course, battling others during travel is also the perfect moment to turn ideas into reality.

They even began discussing Guang Tai’s abilities, since Psychic power is also a kind of “move power,” after all!

"You have divine power too?" Emboar looked at Guang Tai with some surprise.

"Hmm, I learned Psychic in Ancient City, but it’s weak—useful as an attack only if I catch a Trainer off guard."

"That’s fine. Pokémon battle Pokémon, and Trainers battle Trainers too—wait, I won’t let Xiao Mei fight, so if the opposing Trainer tries that, I’ll knock them out first."

That's not a bad idea—after all, this kind of situation isn't a formal match.

Guang Tai chatted with Emboar about divine power, and only after a while realized he had unconsciously joined the Pokémon’s heated discussion about moves.

"So much time has passed? Let’s prepare dinner!"

The hotel isn’t far from Fanba Market; Guang Tai took Shieldon, Lucario, and Qun’er Miss to buy more ingredients, and upon returning, began cooking—of course, no cooking is complete without—

"Rotom, come out and become an oven!"

"Hehe... Eek (no way)!"

Rotom had thought something fun was coming, but hearing “become an oven,” it remembered its previous low-quality form and began twitching in midair, refusing to transform—until Guang Tai held up a brand-new oven:

"This is an imported product from Fanba Market—unlike the defective ones from R9. I checked it; the quality’s quite good."

Team Galactic doesn’t only sell defective goods—they’re a legitimate home appliance company. Guang Tai guessed the defective items were prototype models made by Mewtwo, meant to be dumped on gullible buyers—but second and third batches naturally had much better quality, though at higher prices.

Poor quality control causing losses to sellers is common in the market.

"Heh?"

Rotom carefully inspected the electric oven, then zipped inside in a flash—its form shifted into Heating Rotom, and this time, instead of showing discomfort, it floated happily in midair!

This new body feels great!

Guang Tai prepared baked goods in the room, and soon, fresh batches of baked treats emerged!

These baked goods were learned from the Rat Chef’s techniques at San Yao Restaurant, inspired by snacks from Pokémon Sleep and Pokémon Brilliant Stars.

【Food: San Yao Energy Cake Roll! — Attracts Water, Fire, and Grass-type Pokémon, boosts health, slightly enhances physical stamina.】

【Food: Chikorita Aromatic Bread Bite! — Attracts all Pokémon, heals the spirit, restores fatigue.】

【Food: Unorthodox Corn Tiramisu! — Attracts Ground, Grass, and Dragon-type Pokémon, strengthens trust and affection.】

【Food: Wish Apple Pie! — Attracts all Pokémon, boosts confidence, enhances growth rate.】

'Heating Rotom completed repetitive tasks and gained substantial experience and growth.'

'Acquired Knowledge: Super Heating — Reduces heating and baking time, enhances aroma and flavor of baked foods, boosts Fire-type power.'

【Learned Move: Will-O-Wisp!】

(End of Chapter)