Chapter 115 ⇾ The Mysterious Song of Milotic and Brionne

"Milotic, may I examine your body? I might be able to find out what's wrong with your voice." Cole asked, looking at it.

Milotic gave him a surprised look, "You know how to treat illnesses?"

Cole shook his head, "No, but if I can help identify the problem, you could come with me to the human world. The Nurse Joys there are excellent Pokémon doctors — they might be able to heal your voice."

Milotic didn't respond. Truth be told, it didn't want to go to the human world or interact with humans.

"You can examine me first." It said after a long hesitation, "You might not even find what's wrong."

"Alright." Cole nodded, walked to its side, and placed his hand on its neck, "I apologize for the intrusion."

He guided his Special Ability energy to gradually enter Milotic's body. The energy flowed along its energy circuits, carefully examining its internal condition.

As Cole examined Milotic's body, the Special Ability energy flowing inside felt so soothing that it began purring, its body completely relaxing by the edge of the pool.

Nearby, Mismagius watched the human kid with a skeptical expression — is this really a medical examination? Is this how examinations usually go? I'm not that naive!

Since Milotic's problem was in its throat, Cole focused his examination there. Soon, he discovered something unusual.

Milotic's energy circuits were incredibly complex — perhaps the most intricate of any normal Pokémon he had encountered. Its internal source energy flowed like an endless river. However, when this river reached the throat area, there was a break in the flow, indicating broken energy circuits.

When Cole tried to touch the broken area with his Special Ability energy, Milotic let out a sudden cry.

"Milo!!!" — That hurts!

Startled by the cry, he instinctively withdrew his Special Ability energy.

Milotic's cry attracted the attention of other nearby Pokémon. Thinking Cole had harmed it, they angrily gathered around, ready to tear him apart if he had hurt Milotic.

"What did you just do to me? It felt so good at first — why did it suddenly hurt so much?" Milotic wasn't angry, just confused.

Cole replied, "I think I've found the cause of your voice problems, but I'm not sure yet if I can treat it."

"Really?" Milotic asked excitedly.

"Yes." Cole nodded.

"Then try it quickly!" Milotic urged, motioning for the gathered Pokémon to disperse.

Cole said hesitantly, "The process might be very painful..."

Milotic shrugged off his concern, "I was just caught off guard before. Go ahead this time — I'll endure it."

"Alright, I'll try again." Cole nodded, then turned to Daisy, "Mom, come help me."

After hearing his explanation, Daisy nodded and took her position.

Cole once again channeled his Special Ability energy into Milotic's body, reaching the throat area and grasping the broken energy circuits. He noticed Milotic's brows tightly furrow as sweat formed on its forehead.

"Milotic, if you can't handle it, you must tell me. Don't try to endure it." He said quickly.

Unfortunately, Cole hadn't brought any anesthetic, and Heliolisk's power difference with Milotic was too great for Thunder Wave to be effective — otherwise, it wouldn't have to endure such pain.

Milotic nodded at his words. Actually, this level of pain wasn't much for it.

Seeing that it was truly okay, Cole continued using his Special Ability energy to pull the broken energy circuits together, joining the ends.

"Mom, you can start now!"

At that moment, Daisy used Heal Pulse on Milotic's neck area. With just one pulse, the broken energy circuit began to heal partially.

"It's working! Keep going!"

Hearing his words, both Milotic and Mismagius were overjoyed.

A single Heal Pulse couldn't completely heal a broken energy circuit. Cole had to continuously use his Special Ability energy to keep the broken parts integrated, preventing them from growing chaotically.

He couldn't release the Special Ability energy until the area was completely healed — if he did, the healed portions would break again, wasting all his efforts and Milotic's suffering.

Time passed minute by minute as sweat formed on Cole's forehead. This was delicate work — if he didn't properly integrate the broken areas before using Heal Pulse, it would only worsen Milotic's energy circuits.

As darkness fell, son and mother had only managed to heal one circuit. The energy circuits in Milotic's throat were tiny and complex, intertwined with each other, with multiple breaks. Healing them all would likely take more than a day or two.

Withdrawing his Special Ability energy, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked Milotic, "How do you feel?"

"Milo~ Milo~"

Milotic raised its head and called out twice. Though its voice still sounded hoarse to others, it could clearly feel that its throat felt much better, the congested feeling significantly reduced.

"It worked, it really worked!" It said happily.

Though the treatment process was painful, compared to never being able to sing again, this pain meant nothing at all.

"Milotic, if I can completely heal your throat, would you be willing to go see Ember?" Cole asked again.

Hearing his words, Milotic lowered its head in silence. It didn't want to go to the human world or see Ember. It knew exactly why that woman was looking for it.

Surely that one's headache was acting up again, wanting it to sing and ease the pain! Such pride — not coming personally but sending others to ask. Still causing trouble for others as always.

Seeing Milotic's delayed response, Cole continued, "I don't want to pressure you, but one of my Pokémon has a problem and needs something that Sister Ember has to recover."

He then told Milotic about Hatterene's situation. This was somewhat appealing to sympathy, but he had no choice but to try this strategy.

"Or if you have such a treasure yourself that you could trade with me, I won't ask you to see Ember."

Milotic shook its head — how could a Water-type Pokémon possibly have a Fairy-type treasure!

But thinking about how Cole had come all this way to treat his own Pokémon, it couldn't help but feel sympathetic.

Finally, gritting its teeth, it said, "Fine! As long as you heal my throat, I might as well go see that one!"

"Really? That's wonderful, thank you!" Cole was overjoyed to hear this.

As darkness fell, he set up a tent by the pool, released all his Pokémon, and began preparing dinner.

The local Pokémon were all very friendly toward his team, as long as they didn't harm Milotic, and soon everyone was playing together.

Chikorita somehow found itself mingling with the Sawsbuck — Cole had to intervene before it accidentally gave away the leaf on its head.

Brionne dove into the pool where several Dratini gathered, captivated by its boastful tales. Kricketune, surprisingly, chimed in from the shore, leaving everyone dumbfounded.

The tales grew more outlandish — claims of punching the Forces of Nature and tail-slapping the Legendary Birds. The naive Dratini believed every word, eagerly asking Brionne about these over-the-top battle experiences.

Meanwhile, the ever-curious Larvitar attempted to climb the cliff to investigate the Wattrel and Kilowattrel nests, only to retreat with a head full of pecking marks from angry Wattrel.

Gyarados simply lounged by the pool, while Daisy, Carbink, and Heliolisk helped Cole with the chores.

Not being much of a cook, Cole settled for instant food. Midway through his meal, a Swablu flew over and perched on his thigh, eyeing his instant noodles with curiosity.

Cole picked up a few strands and asked, "Would you like to try some?"

"Swa~ Swab~"

Swablu nodded eagerly, intrigued by this strange new food it had never seen before.

Cole smiled and held the noodles to its beak, "Here, today I'll let you taste a human delicacy!"

Swablu slurped up the noodles, but its face immediately scrunched up as it started gagging.

"Swab~ Swab~" — How can this taste so awful!

Cole couldn't help but laugh at its reaction to the instant noodles.

Indignant at his amusement, Swablu flew onto his head and pecked away, leaving him with as many bumps as Larvitar.

Cole rubbed his aching head, took out a can of Pokémon food, poured out a piece and offered it, "Try this instead."

Swablu refused, afraid he would give it something terrible again.

Cole smiled and said, "This is different from before. Look at Brionne, Larvitar, and the others — aren't they eating the same thing?"

Swablu glanced at Brionne and the others, and seeing they were indeed eating food similar to what he was holding, it finally took the food hesitantly from his hand and swallowed it.

This time Cole wasn't tricking it — the little cube was truly delicious, and Swablu's button eyes squinted with pleasure.

After dinner, he spread his padded jacket on the grass and lay down, gazing at the moon hanging in the sky. He wondered what hidden mysteries this place held to maintain such warm climate.

Just then, Brionne began to sing, with Kricketune instinctively providing accompaniment. Tonight's performance must have been exceptional, as Chatot couldn't resist joining in as backup vocals for Brionne.

Attracted by the singing, Pokémon gathered around, especially the Altaria and Swablu — nearly all of them came, drawn by their love of beautiful songs. Some Altaria and Swablu couldn't help but sing along with Brionne, particularly one enthusiastic Swablu that seemed to be friends with the one Cole knew.

At some point, Milotic surfaced from the bottom of the pool, floating quietly on the water's surface, listening to Brionne and the other Pokémon singing together.

Lulled by their singing, Cole gradually drifted off to sleep.

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The next morning when Cole woke up, Brionne was already awake while the other Pokémon still slept.

Though it was usually quite hardworking and waking up early wasn't unusual, he was surprised to find it by the lake, deep in conversation with Milotic. As he approached, he could faintly hear Brionne humming a tune.

"What are you two doing?" Cole asked curiously.

Seeing him, Brionne excitedly bounded over, jumping straight into his arms.

"Bri~ Bri~" — Cole, you're awake! Milotic was just teaching me how to sing!

It said excitedly.

"Really? What did Milotic teach you?" Cole asked with an exaggerated surprised expression.

Brionne giggled at his reaction but wouldn't reveal what Milotic had taught it.

"I won't tell you — I'll sing it for you once I've learned it."

Though Cole was curious, he went along with it, "Alright then, I'll wait in anticipation."

Being personally taught by a master like Milotic would certainly improve Brionne's singing abilities.

After breakfast, Cole and Daisy resumed treating Milotic. Having learned from yesterday's experience, Cole managed to heal two broken energy circuits at once. Milotic could feel its voice improving even more.

That night, Brionne sang again. This time, Swablu brought another Swablu to join the group, and they performed backup vocals alongside Chatot.

The new Swablu wasn't just a friend — it was actually Swablu's cousin. However, since the Altaria tribe didn't emphasize blood relations, they didn't use special terms for relatives.

According to Swablu, its cousin's greatest dream was to leave the island and sing in the outside world. After hearing Brionne perform, Swablu had eagerly introduced its cousin.

Unlike its outgoing cousin, this Swablu was rather shy. However, its voice was more melodious, and it harmonized beautifully with Chatot. If Brionne's band needed a new member, this Swablu would be perfect.

But would this Swablu's family allow it to leave the island?

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