Chapter 643: Simulator Update

"Totem! The totem is glowing!"

Hu Pa stared at the Thousand Worlds Bracelet in shock.

The thing normally only lit up when the residents of the Valley of Creation channeled their power, and right now Gulis was clearly making no move at all.

What was going on?

The Barza siblings wore expressions much like Hu Pa's.

The two whipped their heads around to look at All Baimu, who stood in place without moving. He was slightly dazed, then quickly came back to himself and asked, "What's wrong?"

It wasn't his doing?

Mei Mei Yali turned back to look at Gulis. "Ceng Zufu—"

"Shh."

A gentle smile spilled from the corner of Gulis's mouth as he said slowly, "The Valley of Creation is welcoming its guests. Listen carefully—you must feel its voice with your heart."

Whoosh—

A nameless wind blew in.

The treetops nearby rustled, the golden wheat fields trembled in the breeze, the river beneath the bridge gurgled along, a flock of Spearow chirped and chattered as they flew over their heads, and many wild Pokémon poked their heads out in curiosity.

Peace. Tranquility.

A warm atmosphere welled up in everyone's hearts.

Barza and Ji Meiya each raised a hand; ribbons of colored light rose from their palms and formed a vortex, like the rhythm of life itself.

"Nature… it's so alive!"

"An unprecedented feeling!"

They exchanged glances, some startled, some delighted.

The Valley of Creation's power, though originating from Arceus, is in essence a resonance with nature that grants corresponding strength; after practice, one can even directly wield Arceus's source of life—the Plates.

The Punishment Jar was something Gulis had created by borrowing the life-sources of Water, Fire, and Ground.

When necessary, one could also borrow the elemental power of Pokémon.

Hu Pa circled the ribbons of light in the two's hands, shouting excitedly, "Amazing! Amazing! Hu Pa can feel it too!"

"All right, don't neglect our guests."

Gulis patted the siblings on the shoulder, then said to Hu Pa, "You too. The guests have been invited to visit, and as hosts we must look after them properly."

"Properly?"

Hu Pa tilted its head, and on a sudden whim tried to summon something with its gold rings—but then realized Gulis was right beside it, and sheepishly laughed and gave up.

It wouldn't dare play any pranks in front of that one.

Barza and Ji Meiya also came back to themselves, a little embarrassed: "Sorry, All Baimu, this sudden situation, you see…"

"It's fine. We're all so close by now—saying things like that would just be too formal."

All Baimu waved a hand.

The group then made their way into the town.

But as they walked, he kept glancing at the familiar line of Chinese characters in the corner of his vision—

【Simulator updating…】

That's right.

The moment the Thousand Worlds Bracelet lit up, the simulator that had originally sat in the corner of his vision no bigger than a grain of rice suddenly popped out, informing him that he had won the regional tournament and met the conditions for an update.

Then it automatically began updating.

This surprised All Baimu greatly.

Though every transmigration in the Pokémon world was basically inseparable from Arceus, the simulator was somehow connected to that one too!

Why?

Why had that one not only made him transmigrate, but also given him a simulator—a cheat device for raising Pokémon?

Did it need him to save the world?

All Baimu recalled the plot from the anime—with Ash around, there really wasn't much for him to do!

Liberate Ecruteak?

But honestly, that whole thing didn't really have that much to do with him either. The main force was the Rescue Team; how many years had Master Liu Ge, Floop, Yamask, and Yamask's dad spent planning it?

He was just one member among them.

All Baimu's thoughts drifted, and he began to look forward to what the simulator would look like after the update—would it raise the probability of rare talents appearing?

That would be great!

The more orange talents, the higher the rewards, and the sooner his paper-stats would be invincible. Once everyone was level ninety, why not have a go at Ash and Pikachu with their bonds maxed out!

"Lord Gulis!"

"Gulis!"

"Ji Meiya's back! And Hu Pa! Come, come—grandma just made fresh donuts!"

"Barza, your family has a guest? Whoa! What a handsome young fellow!"

"That person… is that All Baimu?"

One voice after another suddenly rang out.

All Baimu came back to himself and suddenly realized they had entered the town. He could see plenty of men, women, and children in Mediterranean dress, among them a few young people about the same age as the Barza siblings, eyes shining as they looked this way.

From their vaguely familiar faces, he judged these to be the siblings' childhood playmates.

"Kupo! Pete! Luca!"

Ji Meiya ran over excitedly and took one of the girls' hands. "How come you're back too? Didn't everyone go out to train?"

It wasn't only the siblings who had left the Valley of Creation back then—several of their little friends had also, by unspoken agreement, chosen to head out and train.

They only just came back recently, and there's already no trace of him!

"The new year is almost here, so naturally we had to come back and see."

Luka said casually, then excitedly squeezed her hand and whispered, "That's Baimu, right? I'm not seeing things, am I?"

Mei Mei Yali saw Luka in such a state and knew the latter was also a fan of Baimu. She smiled and nodded, "Of course you're not seeing things!"

"It really is him! But how could he show up in Carlos? He only just won the tournament championship yesterday—ah! Hu Pa!" the tall, thin boy named Kepu exclaimed in surprise.

The chubby Pete beside him raised his fist and said fiercely, "I really want to battle him! Though I definitely can't win!"

Mei Mei Yali said with amusement, "Why don't you just challenge him directly? He'd definitely agree."

"Really?"

The two boys' eyes lit up, their heads pressing close together as they leaned in.

Mei Mei Yali leaned her upper body back and raised her hand, "Of course it's true! Calm down, you two!"

At that moment, Hu Pa suddenly appeared between them, let out a mischievous giggle, then summoned a large ball of water to douse the two, "Kepu! Pete! Cool it!"

Swoosh—

The two boys, physically cooled down, looked utterly defeated.

"Hu Pa... you really..."

They had grown up playing with Hu Pa since childhood and had been pranked more than once or twice, so they weren't angry—just utterly speechless.

Elsewhere.

Led by Guris and Barza, All Baimu arrived at their home.

The interior, as always, was in the standard French Mediterranean style—carpets and tablecloths covered in elaborate patterns, walls dominated by azure blue and pristine white.

Though there didn't seem to be many windows from outside, the interior lighting was surprisingly good.

He was seated on a soft cushion, with the still-smiling Guris across from him.

Meanwhile.

A pink, fragrant-scented Aromatisse brought over a bright silver teapot and teacups.

"Fuwa~"

"Leave it to me."

Barza took them and brewed a cup of strangely fragrant strong tea.

"Thanks, but aren't you going to go catch up with your long-lost companions?"

All Baimu took a sip and felt that after a brief bitterness, an immediately rising pleasant sweetness emerged, with a wondrous fragrance drifting between his lips and teeth.

He smiled and said, "It won't hurt to wait a little. How's the flower tea unique to this place?"

"Not bad."

All Baimu offered praise, then shifted his gaze to Guris across from him and asked softly, "I'm not one for beating around the bush, so forgive me for being blunt—what did you invite me here for?"

"Hehehehe, no need to be nervous, child."

Guris sipped the strong tea delicately, his eyes narrowing to slits in the rising steam, "I'm merely helping pass along a message."

"Pass along a message?"

"Yes." The old man with grizzled beard and hair nodded and asked in a magnetic voice, "'Are you happy?'"

'Are you happy?'

All Baimu understood—this was the message Guris had been entrusted to deliver.

And the one who had asked him to deliver it... was undoubtedly, apart from Arceus, whose avatars spanned the multiverse and watched over all people and Pokémon, basically no other possibility.

He said decisively, "Very happy. I cherish and am content with my current life."

Though life in the Orei region at first had him a bit overwhelmed, after the Liberation Battle, everything became different.

All his beautiful aspirations for the Pokémon world had been fulfilled in this past half-year-plus of traveling.

"That's good."

Guris's smile remained, but he said no more.

All Baimu, who had waited a long time without hearing the next words, was slightly stunned, "Nothing else?"

"Nothing else. The only message to pass along was that one sentence."

Guris shook his head, sipped the fragrant tea delicately once more, then rose and said, "Excuse me for a moment. You young people chat among yourselves. Don't be reserved—treat this place as your own home."

All Baimu neither agreed nor disagreed, thinking that Arceus had simply called him over to ask how he was doing...

That's not right.

Was it to come over and update the simulator?

He suddenly realized that everything about him had been anticipated by Arceus, including the fact that he would only come to the Valley of Creation after winning the tournament championship.

Hiss.

It felt a bit strange, but not too bad.

All Baimu thought of Mei Ya Li or Ji Meiya, who had also been arranged by Arceus and transmigrated to the Hisui region.

One of these two, after resolving the spacetime rift in the Hisui region, passed Arceus's trial through the Treasure of the Town provided by the Arceus phone, and ultimately won the other's favor, with an avatar accompanying them at all times.

Did he have such a chance?

He considered whether he would have the ability to defeat the anime version of Arceus—

Without technology, basically impossible.

In terms of Pokémon battles, the power of a first-tier god and large legendary beasts was transcendent; only a small number of second-tier gods and small-to-medium legendary beasts could be defeated and captured.

What a shame.

He sighed inwardly, then self-deprecatingly thought he was being too greedy—having the simulator already counted as tremendous luck.

Barza listened to the two's conversation in a fog, not figuring out who had asked Ceng Zufu to pass along a message, or whether it was being passed to All Baimu.

The two of them probably hadn't met before this, right?

Suddenly.

A noisy commotion came from outside the door.

It was Hu Pa and Mei Mei Yali returning, along with several other young people.

The moment they entered, they asked about Guris's whereabouts, then immediately crowded around All Baimu, excitedly chatting with him.

The latter once again experienced how far his own fame had spread, and with a smile he responded and accepted the battle invitation.

Because he was curious whether the people from the Valley of Creation could apply their power in battle.

Hu Pa took two sips of flower tea, then began clamoring noisily for donuts; Mei Mei Yali couldn't win against it and could only go out to buy them, and the rest of the group followed along upon seeing this.

Balza originally didn't want to go, but was dragged off by his two childhood friends.

The room was suddenly left with only All Baimu and the returned Guris.

Seeing no one around, he gathered his courage and asked: "Did you just go contact Arceus?"

"That's right."

Guris actually affirmed this answer, smiling lightly: "Our clan has possessed the ability to communicate with Arceus since the ancient past; it's just that most of the time it slumbers peacefully beyond the world.

"Fortunately, influenced by something unknown these past two years, Arceus has awakened from its slumber. So having me help is also something that happened only recently."

"Did it… give any response?"

"It didn't—child, don't worry, this isn't an interrogation. The moment you spoke the words, it had already heard them."

"Then why did you still—?"

"Being heard is one matter; entrusting the task is another." Guris slowly sat down.

All Baimu heard this and could only give up the idea of using Guris as a bridge to speak with Arceus, replying: "I understand."

He was very curious about Guris and the power he wielded, so he took the initiative to bring up a topic.

Guris frankly stated that while the source of this power certainly came from Arceus, it also required them to continuously resonate with nature.

Relying on words alone wouldn't make it clear.

As for the powers All Baimu deliberately mentioned, such as Dragon Heart and Soul Heart, Guris also said this world was vast, and he was nothing more than an old man nearing the end of his days, far from possessing the knowledge to unravel every mystery in the world.

"One can only say this power originating from the spirit differs according to the inner differences of each person and each Pokémon. Just like how every one of us looks the same yet is different."

Guris said softly.

Individual differences, huh…

All Baimu fell silent, unsure how to judge it.

So he changed the subject: "Since I've known Hu Pa, I've often asked it to help me travel all over the world, but not every time do I have a proper reason. If I casually ask it to use its power like this, will it cause Hu Pa to repeat past mistakes in the future?"

Most of the time he had legitimate reasons when seeking Hu Pa out, but occasionally he would also come calling because of personal matters.

The conversation with Zero Unit not long ago also made All Baimu realize he might have a tendency to overuse Hu Pa's ability, and thus he wanted to get an answer from Guris.

"Before answering that question, I too have a question."

Guris said: "What do you think the meaning of punishment is?"

All Baimu answered: "Not abusing the power of the rings?"

The old man nodded, then shook his head: "Yes, and no. On one hand, I sealed Hu Pa's power because it used the rings without restraint, taking anything it wanted, reducing all things into existences it could obtain whenever it desired.

"On the other hand, it treated the rings as the whole world. The rings may seem to connect everywhere, but they made its vision narrow, making it easy to be directed by those with ill intent."

Guris said softly: "If every problem stemmed from the rings, I could have completely sealed the rings' power. But the real problem lies with Hu Pa itself—it is a child who doesn't know good from evil and can't tell truth from falsehood. Restraining its destructive power so it cannot act willfully helps its inner growth."

All Baimu: "So…"

Guris smiled peacefully, "Power is merely power. Hu Pa used the rings for your sake; to it, this is simply a kind of friendly help. How could one speak of repeating past mistakes?

"But whether you yourself will be affected by it depends on you. Don't forget the rings are vast, yet also small; there is gain only with loss. These things require you to consider for yourself."

He nodded half-understandingly.

Beep.

A light sound came by his ear; the simulator's update had finished.

On the selection interface, a "Exchange" function had suddenly appeared.

All Baimu was stunned for a moment, glanced at Guris across from him calmly stroking Aromatisse, and naturally raised his hand to tap open that function.

He suddenly saw three lines of small text displayed above.

【Move Exchange】, 【Level Exchange】, 【Talent Exchange】.