Chapter 226

"Did Alder-sama ever mention a certain forest to you?" Hikaru asked.

Altano thought for a moment.

"I think it was the Central Forest. There are a lot of strange legends around that area, but we rangers do have people stationed nearby. Nothing particularly unusual has ever been found. In the end, most legends are just that—legends."

"But Champion Alder never specifically told me what he was searching for."

Hikaru frowned slightly and reached out mentally to the Tree of Connection.

"Has Alder found you?"

"Did the C Device experiment succeed?"

It wasn't too surprising that they'd keep Podansui a secret—after all, it might easily be mistaken for the legendary dragon.

However, the Tree of Connection gave a firm denial.

[Note 1: No! No! Traveling across worlds isn't a simple matter. People from the Inner World can enter other worlds if they have strong enough desires—but once they lose their tether to reality, they will return to the Inner World.]

[Note 2: People from the Surface World cannot enter the Inner World without strong willpower, nor can they enter the Connection World. In theory, only the C Device in development can allow you to move freely between worlds. However, in some special cases, people from the Surface World can fall into the Inner World—or into someone else's world. These events usually don't last long, and the person will only remember it as a strange dream.]

[Note 3: The hearts of Unova's people are fragmented. The Tree of Connection is not all-knowing and can only offer limited guidance.]

[Note 4: There's a chance that Champion Alder accidentally fell into another world—or perhaps, that part of reality simply vanished.]

[Note 5: Important! The Tree of Connection cannot detect the true nature of residents of the Inner World. When people from the Surface World enter the Inner World, their appearance, identity, language, emotions, and even personality will shift. The same applies in reverse.]

[Note 6: What few know is this—entering the Inner World from the Connection World causes a dramatic change in identity. This applies to all who pass through.]

[Someone may be an elementary school student in reality—but become a baseball player in the Inner World. Or a man might become a girl.]

[Note 7: The dreams and ideals of people and Pokémon swirl like whirlpools and converge—creating a world just as real, yet different from the reality we know.]

[Connection Task: Search for signs of Alder.]

[Reward: 10 × Release Orbs, 1 × Ideal Energy, 1 × Truth Energy.]

[Description: The Champion of Unova has vanished! That's a big deal—without the Champion to guide them, the heroes can't step onto the stage of the future! Team Plasma's disruption of people's hearts will only worsen! (Even if Alder didn't exactly do a whole lot on a daily basis...)]

Falling back into the Inner World from the Surface World... I see, it's the resident system.

The resident system only exists in Pokémon Black/White.

In Black City and White Forest, each resident has an affection score. The game starts a timer, and the affection score drops by 5 points per day. Battling them raises it by 5. If their affection reaches 0, they disappear—returning to the Inner World.

Those people came from the Inner World into the Surface World.

"...Is something wrong?" Altano asked, noticing Hikaru had been silent for some time.

Snapping out of his daze, Hikaru smiled. "It's nothing. I was just thinking over a few things."

"I came to Unova to look for Champion Alder. We had a promise between us. I'll go check out the places you marked—thank you."

"Not at all!" Altano breathed a sigh of relief. Hikaru's expression had looked so strange for a moment, he thought the psychic had overexerted himself and was suffering from mental fatigue.

Two Pokémon were still unclaimed. Altano offered to escort them to their original cities, but Hikaru declined, saying he was already heading that way himself.

Nurse Joy stepped in with a sympathetic look.

"We've already reached out to the Pokémon Centers in Mistralton City and Opelucid City to find the trainers for these two Pokémon. Unfortunately, no one has come to claim them so far."

"Although you say they came from those cities, it's quite possible their trainers released them and then either moved away or left the region altogether."

"We've also looked through data from other cities. We did find a few trainers with vaguely similar records, but they all denied ever releasing these Pokémon."

Maybe the trainers left out of guilt. Maybe they moved on. Maybe... they simply didn't want the Pokémon anymore.

Whatever the reason, the truth remained: their trainers were nowhere to be found.

"I'll be staying in Unova for a while longer," Altano said, offering his contact info. "I'll be reporting back to the Ranger Union about what we've found regarding the Blue Crystal—it's been bothering me."

"If they've lost their trainers, returning to nature is also a good choice. That's how I see it. But if they'd rather follow you—that would be a wonderful thing."

Having regained his confidence, the former Chief Ranger struck a stylish pose, waved goodbye to Hikari and Ahti, and left the Pokémon Center with a bright smile.

Meanwhile, Riolu had figured out that Ahti didn't mean any harm. Still, her behavior was baffling to the little pup—so it resolutely refused any attempts to pet it.

Nope!

The blue pup waved its paws politely but firmly to block all affection from the eccentric Gym Leader, endlessly rebuffing her abstract attempts at "playing with the puppy."

Thankfully, Altano's departure caught Ahti's attention, sparing Riolu from further emotional trauma.

Humans... really have some strange quirks.

"Wow, he's really bounced back! Is that psychic power?" Ahti asked, impressed by Altano's change and now even more intrigued by Hikaru.

Then her eyes caught sight of the medal in Miss Himawari's hand.

That ancient aura?!

Ahti's eyes widened slightly—it looked familiar. Like something she'd seen at an art exhibit or maybe in a gallery...

Wait. Wasn't this the same feeling she got from that unnamed ancient sculpture?

"You mentioned you were a craftsman... this medal—"

Ahti's mind leapt to a wild possibility.

Could it be—that ancient, masterfully-crafted sculpture was made by the very person standing in front of her?!

It sounded too incredible to be true... but then again, such is the nature of fate.

"Ahti-san," Hikaru said. "Thank you for bringing Altano here. Thanks to you, I've gotten some very important clues."

"Right?" Ahti grinned. "Well, in return, you should totally challenge Mistralton Gym!"

"Oh, and about that sculpture—you've got a real gift. I've got a selfish request... could I have one of those medals?"

Even Ahti herself found it amusing. As a Gym Leader, she was used to handing out badges—not asking others for medals. But hey, they weren't so different, right?

"Of course," Hikaru replied generously, handing over one of the last remaining medals.

Ahti inspected it closely. She was now 80% sure.

"...Are you free tomorrow?" she suddenly asked. "If you are, would you do me the honor of joining me at the Mistralton Gallery?"

The gallery was just nearby, within the Fashion Street where Hikaru currently resided.

"There are many works by Unova's finest artists on display there. I often discuss creative ideas with visitors to the Gym or Gallery... I want to show you something."

"And if I'm not mistaken... that ancient sculpture I saw in Nacrene City—that was your work, wasn't it?!"

Ahti's tone rose with excitement.

"That sculpture... it was filled with an ancient, timeless beauty. And then there was that strange Trevenant statue that beat mine at the last art expo... that one must've been inspired by the ancient piece, right?!"

"I'm sure—if artists across Unova saw that original sculpture, it would spark a huge retro revival!"

Her eyes were practically burning as she stared at Hikaru.

"Ancient sculpture...? Sounds like quite a valuable relic," said Miss Himawari.

"It absolutely is, my beautiful lady!" Ahti declared. "If you saw it with your own eyes, you'd understand—it's a masterpiece that transcends time!"

She pulled out a photograph from her coat. Miss Himawari was visibly shocked. Even through just a photo, the ancient aura of the statue could be felt—it seemed to pierce time itself.

"Amazing..."

"Right?! Even a picture carries that presence! The craftsmanship is beyond normal..."

Ahti turned to Hikaru again, eyes glowing.

"That was something I sold to Monsieur Bourgeois," Hikaru replied casually. "Just an early piece."

And it was true—if he carved it now, he could do much, much better.

Hearing that, Ahti felt like a boulder had landed in her heart—and then erupted like a volcano of inspiration. Her trip back from Nacrene City had felt disappointing, but now? Now it was absolutely worth it!

"Then it's settled! Tomorrow at 1PM—we'll meet at the Mistralton Gallery!"

With that, Ahti danced out of the Pokémon Center in a whirlwind of strange artistic energy, leaving Hikaru once again reflecting on how truly abstract artists could be.

"Ahti-san seemed really happy... Well then, I'll take my leave too!" (I think I was wrong here, it's Bourgh not Ahti)

Miss Himawari carefully packed the medals away, saying the children would be thrilled to receive them. Her proud Unfezant walked beside her, the Tranquill glanced back a few times, cooing lightly.

It was saying goodbye—to the Deerling and Axew.

Now that some of the lost Pokémon had found their homes again, the ones who remained seemed a little lonely. It was like being the last kid waiting at school after all the other parents had picked up their children.

"Well then... come with me for now."

Hikaru gently stored away the final two Poké Balls. Their home happened to be the same destination he was heading toward.

By the time he left the Pokémon Center and returned home, it was already evening. Nari had spent the whole day glued to Aegislash learning new things and happily said goodbye before heading off.

"From Skyarrow Bridge to Pinwheel Forest, then Nacrene City, followed by Striaton..."

"From Mistralton to Lacunosa, then east to the Dreamyard and White Forest."

"From Lacunosa west to Charizard Bridge, then to Icirrus..."

These were important locations from the game, though in the game you couldn't fly there—real life had no such restriction.

Hikaru decided to head to Pinwheel Forest first—it was the closest.

After visiting Nacrene and Striaton, he'd return to Mistralton and move toward Lacunosa. East or west—it didn't matter. Eventually, he'd reach Opelucid and the Abyssal Ruins.

He especially wanted to visit Nacrene because Alder had stayed there. Now that he thought about it, Nacrene had a strong connection to the dream world.

Zitan.

She was a furniture designer struggling to create anything beautiful. When the player visited the dream world, Zitan would ask them about furniture that could only be seen in dreams—and in return, she gave rare Dream World items.

Also, the Dragon Stone excavated from the ancient castle had once been housed in the Nacrene Museum—though it likely wasn't there yet.

And then there was Uxie.

The yellow legendary mushroom who once gave humanity knowledge. After the Heart Cavern arc, Uxie would appear in front of Nacrene Museum. That city held Unova's most ancient history and lore.

The legendary Pokémon of Sinnoh had appeared in Unova before—because the two regions, though distant, were spiritually connected through the Heart Cavern, an extradimensional space linking them.

"Speaking of which... there's a special item that only exists in Unova."

Composite Metal.

The evolution item for Duraludon, allowing it to evolve into Archaludon. It's a multi-layered forged alloy, purely a product of modern industry, and only available in the Blueberry Academy version.

Could it have effects on other Steel-types...? If it's a multi-layered forged alloy, the "taste" should be pretty good?

"Ah, nighttime in Mistralton is peaceful... time to craft a few items."

Just as Hikaru was about to get to work, the Blue Crystal pendant around his neck began to glow faintly!

Aegislash and Riolu instantly became alert.

The aura sensed malice. The spirit sensed hostile intent. Aegislash's single eye darted around, and its shadow suddenly stretched—sliding under the door!

"Hmm—!"

Something outside flickered in the darkness. Aegislash's sneak attack hit, and the intruder retreated in a panic!

Riolu flung the door open and dashed outside, using Aura to scan for hostile presence. The malicious signal was fading—it had been injured by Aegislash's strike.

On the ground were scraps of cloth—and what looked like the remains of a machine.

[Item: Surveillance Robot Remnants (modeled after Woobat).]

[Description: A disguised surveillance robot used by Team Plasma to monitor certain individuals. Its camouflage is almost flawless to the naked eye, and it has advanced wireless signal transmission technology. Owner: The Dark Triad.]

[Note: Perhaps the radio technology from Team Galactic could be used to reverse-engineer Team Plasma's systems.]

(End of Chapter)

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