Chapter 561: Hope

"Puh-lai-qi—"

Seeing Seeing Kapu mobilized energy, attempting to generate Purifying Water between its hands capable of driving away the pollution.

But the already dead nature of Akala Island could no longer respond to it, and the sea, the source of its energy, had been thoroughly polluted.

As a guardian deity intimately connected with nature, Seeing Seeing Kapu was already in a terribly poor state, let alone having old injuries accumulated from before that had yet to heal.

In an instant, it could not even condense a single drop of the "Clear Water that Purifies All Filth," which it had once been able to casually turn into a downpour.

It had even lost the ability to cross the thoroughly polluted sea to seek help from its colleagues, whose status was unknown.

Seeing Seeing Kapu's eyes, once overflowing with compassion, now looked at the dying little one before it with immense anxiety; Seeing Seeing Kapu was completely panicked.

To it, the little one was a miracle, was hope, was the sole remaining continuation in this ruined Akala Island.

Yet now it could do nothing.

And in Seeing Seeing Kapu's arms, Popplio called out weakly a few times, as if to comfort Seeing Seeing Kapu, extending a small pink tongue to gently lick its cheek.

Just as Seeing Seeing Kapu fell into helplessness, a sound of hurried footsteps disrupted its thoughts.

It seemed like a human and a Pokémon.

But how could there possibly be humans treading on Akala Island now? Seeing Seeing Kapu was slightly stunned, suddenly recalling that not long ago it had refused the help of another version of itself because it no longer trusted humans.

Had the other party still sent people over? Unable to think too much, Seeing Seeing Kapu gritted its teeth, gave a gentle, instructive call to Popplio, and generated a thin layer of water bubbles, slightly thin but sufficient to isolate it from the polluted beach.

Immediately, disregarding Popplio's calls, Seeing Seeing Kapu turned and jumped into the polluted sea without hesitation.

Since these were people sent by another version of itself, perhaps there was a way to save the little one now.

And with the protection of its shell, the pollution would not cause it any harm for the time being.

It still could not fully trust humans at the moment; if not for Popplio's condition being so extremely critical—

As Seeing Seeing Kapu sank into the sea, Luo Mu and Luxray, having received the signal, rushed over.

Besides Popplio wrapped in the water bubbles, they did not miss the fleeting black shadow of Seeing Seeing Kapu.

"Meow-ao!"

Luxray turned its head to look at Luo Mu, as if reminding him.

Luo Mu nodded to it, "I saw it too, but—"

His voice paused; Luo Mu looked again at Popplio, whose condition was obviously not good, and said in a low voice, "The most urgent matter is to treat it first."

Only after Luo Mu and Luxray had walked far away did Seeing Seeing Kapu raise its head from the ocean, which was like sewage.

Staring at the direction they had left, Seeing Seeing Kapu was slightly stunned.

It remembered, that direction seemed to lead to the Ruins of Hope?

Finding the Ruins of Hope still took some effort for Luo Mu.

After all, it was a different Ping Xing Shi Jie; even if the general framework was the same, the development of various different events would lead to differences in details.

Fortunately, relying on Luxray's X-ray vision, Luo Mu still found a cave entrance completely buried by mountain rocks in a place that did not look like its original form.

With a few punches from Swampert, the piled-up giant rocks shattered completely, exposing the original passage.

Luo Mu walked straight into this passage, buried for who knows how long; after a few turns, he saw the familiar altar of the Ruins of Hope.

It was just that all the beautiful and gorgeous corals were gone; the pool surrounding the altar, originally clear to the bottom, was quite turbid, making it impossible to see below, but the pollution was at least not as severe as the black sea outside.

Only the altar, passed down for who knows how long, maintained its original appearance.

Compared to the Sun Disc/Moon Disc altars exposed outdoors, it seemed the Ruins of Hope were actually preserved better.

Handing the already unconscious Popplio to Swampert to hold first, Luo Mu took a portable inflatable small pool and a pump from his backpack; after quickly inflating it with a few strokes, he spoke to it: "Fill the pool with Water Gun."

Swampert nodded gently, took a deep breath, and under Luo Mu's help, carefully removed its breathing mask, aiming at the pool to spray out a large amount of clear water generated from water-type energy within its body; in a short while, it filled this not-large inflatable small pool.

After doing all this, Swampert, following Luo Mu's instructions, did not dare to breathe the outside air any longer and immediately put the mask back on.

On Luo Mu's side, he placed Popplio, which showed obvious signs of dehydration, with skin that should have been moist being quite dry, and accompanied by symptoms of malnutrition, environmental infection, poisoning, and more, into this relatively clear pool.

During the diagnosis, Luo Mu also discovered something quite surprising.

This Popplio should have hatched from a Pokémon egg only a few days ago.

Its frailty and congenital malnourishment looked far worse than little Eevee was back then.

He was willing to bet that this Popplio might not have touched the water bodies that should serve as its "habitat" even once since birth.

Rather, the fact that Popplio could hatch and be born in such an environment on Akala Island could already be completely counted as a miracle.

Perhaps this had some connection with that black shadow suspected to be Seeing Seeing Kapu.

Just when encountering such difficult cases, neither Shaymin nor Lei Guan Wang was by his side, and Victini, who could provide some energy to Popplio, was also not there.

Relying solely on the existing crude environment and his own third-rate medical skills to treat Popplio, to put it bluntly, Luo Mu felt the possibility was almost zero.

But fortunately, he was always prepared.

Luo Mu rummaged through his backpack and successfully found a tube of literally colorful potion prepared in advance.

The colors of the five secret spices, the colors of various herbs mixed together and made inside Sister Shuckle's shell, plus the appropriate amount of life energy injected into it by Lei Guan Wang.

Luo Mu called this five-in-one potion "Life No. 1"; although it was not enough to directly revive life like the photographer Ho-Oh's "Sacred Ash," nor could it share eternal life like Xerneas.

But as long as one was not dead, most congenital and acquired problems could be solved; at the very least, it could keep one alive.

"Help me hold it."

Luo Mu looked at Swampert, while Luxray nearby wagged its tail and chose to stand guard near the passage Leading to Outside.

This place (Akala Island) was very weird; it had to be safe at all times.

Swampert's broad palms, which could easily shatter rocks, carefully supported Popplio's frail body; as if afraid of crushing it, it controlled even the slightest force with extreme caution.

Such was its personality; even if it was somewhat dull usually, at critical moments it was quite careful and reliable.

A smile appeared on Luo Mu's face hidden behind the mask; he carefully opened Popplio's tightly shut, pale mouth and, with relatively skilled movements, poured all of "Life No. 1" into it.

Luo Mu himself had tasted a small bit of the flavor of "Life No. 1"; how to say it, although the taste was not just bitter, its effect was good!

Yet such a potion seemed to become some kind of fairy wine in Popplio's mouth; even with its consciousness blurred, it instinctively hugged the potion bottle and Luo Mu's hand with its front limbs and began to savor it with gusto.

From time to time, it even smacked its lips. Watching this made Luo Mu furrow his brows.

It wasn't dissatisfaction, but simply a touch of worry.

Drinking such an undeniably foul-tasting potion with such relish—could there be a problem with its sense of taste?

Or perhaps this was the "first meal" since its birth a few days ago? When starving to that extent, anything would taste delicious.

The medicinal effects would still take some time to manifest, and considering that self-repairing the body during this process also required energy, Luo Mu fed the Popplio a little Tapu Tapu Moumou milk, but not too much, lest its newly formed stomach be unable to bear it.

After finishing these tasks, nearly an hour had passed since he entered the Other Shore Ruins.

Even unable to distinguish day from night, the exhaustion generated by a day of rushing about still made him feel sleepy.

Looking at the Popplio's round nose, which was gradually returning to its original pink hue, one couldn't help but marvel at the tenacity of Pokémon life—or rather, at just how tenacious this particular Popplio's vitality was.

As a Pokémon born in such an environment, it inevitably possessed qualities different from the norm; otherwise, it likely would have turned into a dead egg before even having time to hatch.

The follow-up treatment plan would depend on how its recovery progressed.

Observing the Popplio's condition and pondering briefly, Luo Mu made a decision.

Taking a shrunken Dive Ball, typically prepared for Water-type Pokémon, from his satchel, he enlarged it while silently thinking to himself.

"The Dive Ball not only provides a pure environment more suitable for the Popplio but also contains devices to maintain life stability; a temporary capture should be acceptable to Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini."

Gently touching the Popplio's nose with the Dive Ball, the Poké Ball instantly opened, and the Popplio transformed into a red beam of light, merging into it.

Since the Popplio was already in a critical state with blurred consciousness, the capture required virtually no effort.

The Dive Ball didn't even bother to shake once; it directly flashed three stars and emitted a "Ding-dong" sound, indicating the capture was complete.

Seeing this, Luo Mu and the Swampert exchanged a glance, both letting out a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the Dive Ball he brought could still recognize Pokémon from the Ping Xing Shi Jie, ensuring the Popplio would at least have a stable environment for recovery.

Having tentatively resolved the issue with the Popplio and feeling that he probably needed some rest, Luo Mu took out a portable sleeping bag, intending to lie down on the ground and sleep for a while.

Before sleeping, he placed the Poké Balls belonging to his Luxray, Swampert, and Dragonite beside him, telling them that after taking shifts to guard the surroundings, it would be better for them to enter their Poké Balls to rest.

As for the Milotic and the mother Dragonite, Luo Mu did not intend to have them stand guard for the night.

The mother Dragonite suffered from certain mental issues to some degree, and in this environment, Luo Mu worried it might suddenly run off wildly.

As for the Milotic, since it had evolved only a short time ago, its strength and constitution were inferior to those of the Luxray and the others; even though its previous form was the highly adaptable Feebas, Luo Mu did not want to expose it casually to such an environment—

Even though the conditions within the Other Shore Ruins were far better than those outside.

Just before his consciousness faded, Luo Mu took one last look at the murky pool of water near the altar.

A line of text had been flashing continuously ever since he began treating the Popplio.

【Island Guardian Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini is observing you】

As expected, the birth of the Popplio was inextricably linked to this world's Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini.

Luo Mu had a dream.

In the dream, he seemed trapped in an immensely pitch-black space.

The eggshell protecting him, influenced by the external environment, had instead become a cage trapping him.

Barring any unexpected developments, he would likely remain trapped inside the eggshell and die once his nutrients were exhausted.

But at that moment, a pair of warm hands suddenly embraced him—or rather, the Pokémon egg.

Even through the eggshell, which had been completely sealed by the environmental influence, he could clearly sense the eyes of their owner, filled with surprise, excitement, and affection.

With a sound like a shell tightly closing, the world grew even darker.

Yet this time, the darkness brought him an unprecedented warmth, just like returning to a mother's embrace.

A melodious song of the merfolk echoed in his ears; strangely, he seemed to understand its meaning.

Extremely monotonous, repeating four characters—

"You are hope."

His consciousness gradually returned; having received sufficient rest, his mind quickly became clear.

Luo Mu opened his eyes and met a pair of light blue eyes quietly gazing at him.

The owner of those eyes had long, light blue hair and was curled inside a swordfish-head-shaped shell adorned with white and light blue patterns, resembling a mermaid.

It was precisely the Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini who had not appeared before.

And it was even a shiny variant.

Could it be that the dream he just had was made for him by Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini?

Although his mind was clear, Luo Mu, still slightly unable to wrap his head around the current situation, looked confused at the Luxray lying nearby, hoping for an explanation.

Judging by the Luxray's demeanor, it was clearly not surprised by Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini's presence here, suggesting it had already engaged in some form of communication with the guardian.

However, the other party's sudden appearance was truly beyond his expectations.

Given that Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini, who never much liked humans, had experienced incidents like those on Poni Island, he had prepared himself for the possibility that the guardian would not appear unless the source of the problem was resolved.

"Ka-xi."

In response to Luo Mu's awakening, Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini blinked, choosing to retreat slightly so that Luo Mu could wriggle out of his sleeping bag.

Wriggling out of the sleeping bag like a caterpillar without changing expression, Luo Mu shamelessly asked Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini, "Did you come to visit the Popplio?"

"Ka-pu—"

Just as Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini was about to nod, the Luxray beside it suddenly stood up, alertly gazing toward the other end of the tunnel.

"Meow-ao!"

A warning cry rang out from the Luxray's mouth.

Seeing Seeing Kapu Fini also seemed to belatedly perceive a certain aura, its expression changing instantly.

From the other end of the tunnel, a heavy, eerie footsteps unlike those of any ordinary creature drew ever closer to the Other Shore Ruins.

(End of Chapter)