Chapter 918: Little Pidove

The sky was just beginning to lighten.

N and the Pokémon gazed at the dawn sky, their faces filled with contented smiles.

A bountiful harvest.

Worth rejoicing at any time.

Especially these wild Pokémon that had endured so much hardship.

For them, nothing mattered more than filling their bellies.

Solrock wagged its tail like a puppy, its face caked in dirt, staring at the mountain of fruits and vegetables piled beside the path, brimming with pride.

"Awooo~"

"Yes, an unprecedented miracle has occurred!"

N crouched and scooped up the pitch-black soil.

Not long ago, this soil had been yellow, so loose that the moment he gripped it, it would slowly slip through his fingers.

Who could have imagined that after just one night, it had become so heavy and dense?

As if vibrant life were about to burst forth.

"Aww!"

"Hehe!"

The Pokémon shouted and called out; though not all understood what had happened last night, the change in their environment was unmistakable.

Among them, Grass-type Pokémon had the loudest voices.

Those skilled at drawing nourishment from earth and plants had enjoyed their first top-tier "buffet" in ages.

No longer did they need to strain through daylight photosynthesis until their leaves withered.

This soil, so impossibly fertile, didn't even exist in their homelands!

Many Ground- and Rock-type Pokémon that could eat soil joined in with wild approval.

Feast!

The joy of hardship finally ending filled the entire park.

In the fields, beneath the great trees, beside the ponds.

Everywhere, groups of wild Pokémon lay bloated from overeating.

In every nest, piles of their frantic night's spoils had accumulated.

Some Pokémon with hoarding instincts had already begun digging their umpteenth storage chamber.

The legendary gluttons—Snorlax—had ballooned from a mere "slim" 300 kilograms to five, even six hundred!

Each one lay on its back, snoring thunderously, resembling little hills.

Such binge-eating was not uncommon.

At this rate, obesity would become the park's new problem.

Of course.

Those seizing new territory were equally numerous.

In the past, when food was scarce and the environment poor, having a cave to live in was already a luxury—wild Pokémon had no choice but to settle for whatever they could get.

Now, with lush green trees and thick foliage everywhere, clear zones marked out, how could they not rush to turn from tenants into landlords?

There was no help for it.

Wild Pokémon had only three simple desires—

Eat, reproduce, claim territory.

And claiming territory often meant fighting—a process that satisfied many Pokémon with strong battle instincts.

The park was full of aggressive types.

Many of them came from gangs in Huang Tie Town or even Team Shadow; even after shedding their bad habits, their combat prowess remained unmatched.

Those slightly weaker in any aspect couldn't withstand them for long.

To put it bluntly:

The wild Pokémon now residing on Bai Yin Mountain were the work of these battle-hungry types.

If you ask whether N intervenes…

Of course he does.

But only to a limited extent.

First, territorial disputes and population expansion are natural to Pokémon—how could N, who revered freedom and unrestrained life, interfere?

Second, most of the displaced wild Pokémon left the park willingly; N tried to persuade them to stay, but they were stubborn, insisting on following the natural rule that the defeated must retreat.

N regarded Pokémon as friends—he would never force them.

But this meant he had to divert resources to send people to care for those who had left.

Until All All Baimu returned last time.

He took up this burden.

The past repeated itself.

Whether N learned from it, no one knew—but the volunteers certainly had.

They worked alongside many wild Pokémon who had volunteered to help, preventing one conflict after another.

They calmed the restless wild Pokémon.

Without them, N would have spent all night resolving disputes among Pokémon.

He's only human.

Even with his immense charm, with so many Pokémon in the park, it was impossible for everything to be perfectly harmonious, with not a single fight.

Temporary suppression could only bring fleeting peace.

The wild nature of these Pokémon guaranteed that a great battle would eventually come.

More Pokémon would leave this park—either willingly or by force.

Even to humans, the northeastern region of Ourei was vast enough for them to live comfortably.

But to wild Pokémon who longed for freedom, it was still too crowded, too stifling.

As the mountain's lord, Bonsly, had thought when he first came to the park.

Once, they had no choice.

Now, they did.

Yet.

The "savior" who gave Pokémon this choice—

The Legendary King of Abundance, Reiguan Wang, had already set off on his journey home before dawn broke.

Even when Helena pleaded with him, saying N wished for all the park's Pokémon to worship him,

Reiguan Wang did not turn back.

He departed with the grace of "having finished his task, he swept his robes and vanished, hiding his name and form."

But this was because he had fully abandoned faith.

For Reiguan Wang, the power drawn from Snowy and Spirit Horses was enough to handle any situation now.

Faith…

Too unstable.

With fewer than a hundred followers, Reiguan Wang had no spirit left to spread his worship.

Even if All All Baimu was curious how much stronger Reiguan Wang would become if the entire world became his devout believer.

—

Back at Bai Yin Mountain.

The three-headed Dragon had barely landed.

The night-long awake giants immediately swarmed around him.

Reiguan Wang stood outside the circle, yet showed no annoyance.

After all, his relationship with All All Baimu's other Pokémon… you could only say it was neither distant nor close.

Aloof personality?

No.

Actually, he was just bad at socializing.

Even Snowy and Spirit Horse had become his friends only after he defeated them—and they chose to submit.

Spotting Snowy, bored and chewing on anything in the grass, Reiguan Wang hurried over to show concern.

Snowy's back was icy, but its heart was warm toward him.

In contrast, Spirit Horse was like air—indifferent to him and to itself.

Reiguan Wang couldn't understand why it was so moody.

Back with All All Baimu.

He was surrounded not because he was especially popular… though that was part of it; everyone's gaze was fixed on the crown and scepter he brought back.

Bonsly and the others had seen the world—they knew what these two items symbolized.

Even if they didn't, just looking at Reiguan Wang's head gave them a good idea.

"Geng~"

The shiny Gengar carefully placed the crown on its head, then proudly showed it off to the other Pokémon, flashing its bright white fangs.

Gyarados held the scepter, thinking of a long-eared rabbit it had once seen online, hopping with a flower stick.

Perhaps it too…

No.

This thing is too long.

After a simple try at spinning the scepter, Gyarados awkwardly realized it didn't match its height.

It had originally planned to record a short video holding this gorgeous scepter!

Yesterday's Swords Dance in the Flower Field had already surpassed ten thousand views; though still far from trending, Gyarados was satisfied.

It especially loved reading comments praising its cuteness and beauty.

It made it feel popular—

Even though, in reality, Gyarados truly was extremely popular.

Its former loneliness in the ecological park had been one of the driving forces behind its participation in the Brilliant Contest and its creation of a secondary account to post blogs.

"Kichido~"

Gyarados handed the scepter to the Alakazam beside it.

Alakazam admired it thoroughly, then passed it to the Shiny Milotic, whose eyes sparkled at the sight of gems.

Logically, liking shiny things should be a bird's instinct.

Yet Milotic, as a water serpent, inexplicably developed this habit.

All the gems it had once received from Haunter were taken and hoarded by it.

No one knew where it hid them…

After all the Pokémon had played with the crown and scepter, All All Baimu told them this was a gift from N to Regieleki.

He turned to look for Regieleki.

But the little Crowned Deer had vanished, along with the Froslass.

The Spiritomb was still there.

It knelt and lay sprawled in the grass, its expression saying, "I'm exhausted."

"... Alright."

All All Baimu reluctantly withdrew his gaze, thinking this was a chance to help the "newcomer" Regieleki integrate into the team.

They'd have to live together for decades ahead.

But the script didn't follow his plan—what then? Rely on time to settle things?

He glanced at the half-invisible Dragapult.

About team atmosphere.

Dragapult had always been on the fringes—who could blame it, hiding away every day?

Yet now, when it joined the group, it didn't seem out of place at all.

Bonsly and the others treated Dragapult kindly; even Dreepy rarely bared its teeth at it.

That was a sign of closeness!

All All Baimu finally came to terms with it.

If they were distant, let them be. There was no need to force integration—even Ash's Pokémon didn't all get along.

"I'm going to sleep."

He waved his hand to disperse the surrounding Pokémon and slipped into his tent for a nap.

At the same moment.

Regieleki rode Froslass straight toward the western coast.

It stopped solemnly atop a tall mountain, gazing up at the terrifying dark clouds drifting from the horizon, and the two massive shadows faintly visible within them.

"Who are you?"

Regieleki sent a psychic pulse toward the clouds.

On its return to Platinum Mountain, it had suddenly sensed a powerful psychic force circling above.

It had assumed Hu Pa was responsible, but after descending, realized it was wrong.

The source of the psychic energy was the sea.

So—

Regieleki traced it back to its origin.

Finally, it discovered a vast expanse of ominous clouds drifting toward Platinum Mountain.

The two giant birds faintly visible within were undoubtedly the source of the psychic energy.

It sensed neither goodwill nor malice from them.

But if they intended to do something to Platinum Mountain, creating such a terrifying weather phenomenon was effortless.

Regieleki intended to probe their intentions.

Inside the clouds.

The grown-up Lugia looked down at Regieleki below.

It had never seen this Pokémon before, but could sense its immense power from its aura.

Did it seem hostile?

"Chiruu—"

The youthful Lugia, full of mischief, was promptly smacked on the head by its mother's wing.

Lugia watched the green grass sprout beneath Froslass's hooves; its sharp mind suspected Regieleki was a rescue force All All Baimu had summoned.

"Chiruu~~"

It burst through the storm clouds, landing before Regieleki with its massive form, and let out a low call.

Regieleki: "I've come to Platinum Mountain to visit old friends… you two are Lugia?"

Lugia responded; the young Lugia landed behind it, blinking curiously.

On the flight back to Oure.

All All Baimu had once mentioned to Regieleki that he had rescued three Legendary Pokémon similar to it—named Lugia.

It hadn't paid much attention then, only retaining a faint impression.

Only after using "Past Vision" to carefully review did it recognize the storm-bringing giant bird before it as the Lugia All All Baimu had described.

Regieleki suddenly felt grateful neither side had attacked rashly.

"I am Regieleki, bound by promise with All All Baimu to bring abundance to this land."

It recounted its origin; beneath it, Froslass reared and neighed.

"Hee-luuu~!"

"Chiruu—"

Lugia and its offspring spread their wings and took to the sky, calling in reply.

The two sides greeted each other warmly.

A potential disaster was turned to nothing.

Interestingly,

if this meeting were the opening of some movie, they would surely have fought—starting from a small misunderstanding, escalating into a major one.

Minor disputes turning into major conflicts.

Fortunately, they were all rational Pokémon, and all had some regard for this land, rather than "I'll do whatever I want."

"Go your way."

Regieleki decided that since it had come out, it might as well wander a bit, and added, as if reminding: "If All All Baimu asks, say I've gone on a journey—I'll return before sunset! Thank you!"

Saying this,

it tugged the reins, and Froslass galloped northward.

The young Lugia watched Regieleki's retreating figure fly far away, and chirped happily.

It found this strange-speaking Pokémon interesting.

Lugia was also curious where All All Baimu had found Regieleki—how impressive, leaving flowers with every step.

Then,

they returned into the clouds and continued flying toward Platinum Mountain.

"Chiruu—"

"Chiruu~"

Whale calls echoed endlessly.

Rain fell like fine threads, soaking the newly born grass and flowers.

This heavy rain was a gift visiting All All Baimu.

—

BOOM!!

Flashing lightning illuminated the field.

All All Baimu jolted awake at the thunderclap beside his ear, sitting up sharply and feeling a wave of damp air rush over him.

It… rained?

He listened to the pattering rain outside, and the faint smell of burnt odor filled his nostrils.

The smell was familiar.

It was the scorched grass beneath Regieleki as it absorbed electricity.

All All Baimu pulled back the tent flap.

Sure enough, on a rock dozens of meters away, he saw a cheerful, hopping yellow lightbulb.

But his gaze quickly shifted to the small Lugia resting on the other side.

This weak Electric-type Pokémon hadn't fled far; instead, it cautiously poked its head toward Regieleki, testing the boundaries of danger.

"Little Silver! Where's your mom?"

All All Baimu spoke, successfully drawing Little Lugia's attention.

It decisively abandoned the flickering lightbulb, chirped happily, and launched a Sky Drop at him!

"Chiruu—"

Know that this thing is over three meters long and charges like a miniature Dragonite.

All All Baimu had just woken up and, caught off guard, was pinned beneath it, unable to move.

Fortunately, he was born with supernatural strength and didn't end up on the ground like a cat.

After a long while.

He barely rolled over, flipped onto his back, and pinned Little Lugia, gripping its wriggling neck.

"Chir~ Chiruu~"

"Stop! Cut it out! How did you get so mischievous!? Puberty?"

The scene looked like he was murdering Little Lugia in the rain at night—but it was obvious who was about to be killed.

Lugia's love is too profound; ordinary people simply can't handle it.

Just as All All Baimu considered activating his shock rod, Little Lugia's mother finally arrived like a hero.

"Chiruu!"

Thwack!

A single clean wing strike instantly turned the hyperactive Little Lugia into a timid worm.

All All Baimu gasped for breath, nearly shouted "Mom!" in excitement.

He held it in.