Boom!!

A surging column of water slammed into Infernape’s body, blasting it against the barrier at the edge of the arena. It toppled over, dazed with spiraling eyes.

The audience outside the ring swallowed nervously.

“Is it over? That’s it?”

“I heard Teacher Lu shout ‘use Water Gun,’ and then nothing else happened.”

Infernape’s trainer had intended to forfeit, but then remembered this was a rare opportunity to learn. Gritting his teeth, he sent out his Bisharp.

Lu Ye recalled Blastoise and sent out Pupitar.

A week’s worth of hunger-driven fury condensed into a fierce gust that Pupitar unleashed, charging headlong at the Bisharp like a silver bullet launched through the air!

The commentator said, “The Fighting-type move Strength is four times effective against Bisharp! Let’s see how it responds—oh, there’s no response;

Bisharp was one-shotted.”

“Let’s congratulate this year’s festival champion!”

Residents of Ein Doach erupted in enthusiastic cheers.

Mayor Momendo presented Lu Ye with a golden leaf. Gripping Lu Ye’s hands with both of his, he smiled:

“It’s an honor to have you in Ein Doach. Besides the prize money, we’d like to offer an additional appearance fee. Please accept it.”

“Oh, you flatter me.”

Lu Ye accepted the golden leaf with a courteous nod and said seriously:

“Actually, my main reason for coming was to investigate the Light Stone sealed in the Sword of the Land.”

The mayor nodded. “I’ve gotten a general understanding of what happened in Twinleaf City… Please allow me to first speak with the inhabitants tied to the castle, then I’ll take you to the fortress.”

“Before that, you’re welcome to enjoy the festival in town,” the mayor added with a smile.

“All right, thank you.”

“Nimi~”

Seeing Lu Ye turn and walk in that direction, Victini hurriedly hid so he wouldn’t be noticed.

Tilting its head and watching him walk toward the park, Victini tapped its chin thoughtfully, then carefully followed at Lu Ye’s side.

“Nimi~”

There was a different kind of victory vibration about him.

Compared to any trainer Victini had seen before, this one’s was much stronger.

He and his Pokémon must have a steadfast hunger for victory.

Victini floated slowly in the air, peering down at the black-haired young man. Its black-and-white eyes glittered with curiosity.

**

Lu Ye met up in the park with a crestfallen Ash.

“Lost?” Lu Ye asked, already knowing the answer.

Ash sighed and sat on a park bench, propping his chin on his hand.

“Seriously, Pikachu shouldn’t have lost to that guy…”

Lu Ye looked at Pikachu, who was sliding down the park slide and then looking up at Lu Ye with an innocent expression: “Pika…”

Pikachu, here we go again!

Pikachu from the Unova region could act so convincingly that even Snivy could lose—practically flawless theatrics.

Lu Ye pulled out the Poké Balls for Togepi and Pupitar and pressed their buttons. Two red beams shot out as he said:

“Don’t be discouraged. There’s a more important mission waiting for you.”

“What mission?”

Togepi chirped and darted to the slide. Pikachu scooped it up onto the steps and barely helped it climb to the top, then Togepi happily slid down.

“Chajidu~ヾ(◍°∇°◍)ﾉﾞ”

Lu Ye had intended to say “one-on-one with Kyurem,” but changed his mind and instead said:

“Capture the Team Plasma fugitives and save the Unova region!”

Ash was easily pumped up. His passion reignited, he clenched his fist and declared, “I’m ready!”

Pupitar sat gloomily in the sandpit, squatting among the dug-up sand and staring at the sky at a 45° angle.

When I was only six and a half months old, I wanted to eat, to love, to turn into a cloud that flickers across the sky…

Ash: “What’s wrong with Pupitar?”

Lu Ye: “The growing pains.”

There were quite a few wild Pokémon in the park.

Foam Squirrel, Deerling, and Lileep, for example.

They curiously watched Sylveon—pure white and graceful with flowing ribbons—and their cheeks quietly flushed.

She’s so pretty… it made the little ones feel a bit inferior.

Sylveon lazily let out a yawn, glancing sideways at those ‘experience points,’ which made the little ones shiver in fear.

Intending to scare them off, Sylveon lazily flicked her ribbons, looked up at the blue sky and white clouds, then used a ribbon to pluck a Pecha Berry from a bush before drifting away from the shrubbery.

Sylveon turned back and told the little ones:

“Bu-bii~” (If you want tree berries, you can come over. Don’t be afraid of me.)

The little ones exchanged looks and finally chose Foam Squirrel to speak to Sylveon:

“Li~” (We didn’t mean the tree berries. We just… just think you’re very beautiful… super cute.)

Sylveon blinked her deep blue eyes. A shy smile flashed across her face for a moment, then she quickly returned to her usual aloof expression.

"Bu-bii! (〝▼皿▼)" (Alright then, you can leave now.)

The little ones nodded vigorously and scattered into the grass of the park.

Sylveon raised her head proudly, stepped forward on her long limbs, and came to sit beside Lu Ye on the bench, tugging gently at his sleeve with a ribbon.

“What’s up?”

Lu Ye looked down and saw Sylveon offering him a fresh, plump Pecha Berry.

“Bu-bii~” (For you to eat.)

“Thank you.”

Lu Ye smiled, massaging Sylveon’s small head, then looked up and asked:

“Haunter, did you bring Rotom’s oven?”

“Gengarrr! (￣▽￣)／” Haunter nodded carelessly.

Lu Ye and Haunter chuckled together, then suddenly turned their heads. Light flared from their eyes toward the Rotom Pokédex, which was preparing to sneak away.

Rotom froze in shock: “Roto~Σ(°△°|||)︴”

Even legendary kitchenware gets exhausted from overtime, Roto!

Rotom wanted to object, glancing at Haunter and Teacher Lu’s expressions—

“Beep…cannot understand, Roto~o(TヘTo)”

Q: How many steps are there to make fresh macarons?

A: Take out the oven, put in fresh Pecha Berries and Rotom, then let time do the rest.

Aside from macarons, Lu Ye was preparing tree-berry pies, small cakes, and other sweets.

Of course, he couldn’t skip the necessary tools;

whisks and other utensils were all stuffed into DoremiA-ghost’s extradimensional pocket.

Giratina didn’t know why someone would stuff all sorts of odd things into the Reversed World.

But once he remembered the peculiar trainer and Haunter, he felt relieved.

After half an hour of hustle and bustle, Master Lu pulled out freshly baked, brightly colored macarons.

Ash and Pikachu both swallowed hard at once.

“It smells so good…”

Lu Ye looked sideways. “Sylveon and her little friends get theirs first, then it’ll be your turn.”

“Bu-bii…•́ω•̀)¿¿¿” Sylveon tilted her head slightly.

“They’re just wild Pokémon from the park,” Lu Ye said quietly.

For some reason, Sylveon felt a little bashful and raised her head proudly:

“Bu-bii! o(´^｀)o”

Ash’s outstretched hand froze in midair. He scratched his head and gave an awkward laugh: “Heh heh, I’m not going to eat that much, really.”

“Pika-chu~” Pikachu mirrored the motion, scratching his head and sticking out his tongue.

Trainers and Pokémon truly do tend to grow more alike…

Lu Ye rubbed his chin and pulled out a pink, peach-flavored macaron for Sylveon.

“Bu-bii~” Sylveon nibbled it delicately, eyes closing in bliss, little pink bubbles popping around her body.

“The blue macaron is bitter—berry fruit flavor… this one is sour—grape flavor, that one is spicy—eggplant fruit flavor…”

“Oh, this macaron is made with Chesto Berries. That one’s mine,” Teacher Lu said.

The little ones gathered around the foldable white table, tasting various flavors of macarons, the scene brimming with happiness.

“Sa-ji…(இωஇ)” Pupitar crouched alone in the sandpit, looking melancholy.

The joys and sorrows among Pokémon are not the same;

they just seemed noisy to me.

Lu Ye bit into a macaron and found only air—his little round tart had vanished from his hand.

Lu Ye: ?

Did someone use Trick or Thief?!

“That was my favorite Chesto Berry flavor!”

Gritting his teeth, Lu Ye actively released the Power of Transcendence. A white beam formed into a radar sweep, scanning outward from his body.

An active release is naturally more effective than a passive one.

When the scan detected an abnormal glimmer, the little thief hurriedly revealed itself, clutching its cheeks with both hands.

It looked like it had choked on the macaron;

only after swallowing did it breathe a sigh of relief.

“Nimi~”

“Victini?” Ash’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Nimi!”

Victini made a V-sign with its hand, put its hands on its hips with a wink, flew back to the table, and snatched another macaron to enjoy. Its cheeks glowed with blissful rosy color.

The little sweet was simply marvelous, nimi~!

“Hey, that’s stealing—stop it!” Ash shouted.

“Nimi~”

Victini clutched the macaron in its mouth and went invisible in a panic. Only when it reached the treetop did it finally relax.

Victini sat on the branch, about to savor the macaron, when a voice behind it made it jump.

“Macarons are nothing special.”

“Nimi~! ∑(ﾟДﾟノ)ノ”

Darkrai emerged from the shadows beneath the tree’s shade, reaching into a jar and stuffing an energy cube into his mouth, muffled as he said:

“This is the real top-tier flavor.”

“Nimi!”

Victini hugged its macaron protectively and glared angrily at Darkrai.

Macarons are delicious!

Darkrai puffed up and glared back at the little one.

“Energy cube!”

The two mythical Pokémon—one old, one small—glared at each other like two stubborn children, both turning their backs in a sulk as if to ignore the other.

Lu Ye watched this scene and twitched the corner of his mouth.

You two are just too childish…

Now Lu Ye understood why Ash lost the opening battle of the movie: the aura Lu Ye emitted during battle had attracted Victini.

He looked up at the little V on the treetop and rubbed his chin.

Little V is pretty cute.

While the two mythical Pokémon were still pouting, Mayor Momendo arrived at the park to invite Teacher Lu to speak about the Sword of the Land.

Lu Ye remembered that Victini had lived in Ein Doach and couldn’t leave due to an ancient barrier.

This unexpected encounter might just be a small detour on his journey.

Teacher Lu had intended to bid Victini farewell, but Victini flew over and stayed by Lu Ye’s side.

“Nimi~” Victini nudged his finger and bowed its head.

I just ate your little sweet—sorry~

“That’s called a macaron, by the way,” Lu Ye said with a smile. “It’s fine—eat as many as you like. There are plenty of tree berries.”

Victini slowly widened its eyes, a light blooming in them. It made a V-sign with its fingers and gave a cheeky grin:

“Nimi~!”

**

Led by the mayor, Lu Ye and the others walked toward the cross-sword-shaped castle.

He glanced at Victini floating at his side, happily tasting a macaron.

Something stirred in Lu Ye’s mind, and he asked the mayor:

“Do you know how far Giant Chasm is from here?”

“Not very far… I remember it’s next to Lacunosa Town, that cave with the monster rumors, right? Lacunosa Town is about half an hour from here,” the mayor replied with a smile.

Lu Ye’s expression grew complicated.

Sure enough, you can’t really hide forever.

A mere Kyurem might be a fifty-fifty against Darkrai, and with a little sweet trick you might even coax Victini into using support moves.

But the barrier surrounding the castle is a big problem.

Lu Ye examined the shimmering barrier veiling the sky.

A sudden dragon-like roar came from afar.

Immediately, the ground began to tremble, the vibration clearly affecting the barrier;

the light membrane rippled in circular waves!

“E-earthquake?” the mayor said in a panic.

Soon the tremor subsided, but a brilliant white beam burst from the base of the castle, as if responding to the dragon’s roar!

“That’s the Light Stone sealing Reshiram!” the mayor said.

“Let’s go, Ash.”

Lu Ye put on his fingerless gloves and narrowed his eyes. “Perhaps we should go see Reshiram first.”

He still couldn’t be sure whether Reshiram was friend or foe.

Lu Ye looked back at Victini, who watched the castle anxiously.

“Will you come with us, Victini?”

Victini paused for a moment, then forcefully nodded. Its blue eyes flashed with light.

“Nimi!”

…