Chapter 537: Meloetta's Thank-You Gift
Chapter 537: Meloetta's Thank-You Gift
"Damn it, not a single person can keep an eye on him! Find him, find him!"
In N's Castle, the headquarters of Team Plasma, Kwekis was in a fit of rage.
To be honest, this was the first time the members of Team Plasma had seen Kwekis lose his temper to such an extent.
The reason for his anger was simple: their "King," N, had gone missing again.
The last time N had disappeared, Kwekis hadn't reacted so fiercely.
But what they didn't know was that N's disappearance this time held a completely different significance for Team Plasma compared to the previous occasion.
Just as they were planning to use N as a scapegoat, he went missing.
Currently, with Team Plasma's resources stretched thin and the Unova Region preparing to host the Youth Master World Championship, the team had a brief respite.
However, before the Youth Master World Championship concluded, Team Plasma had to find a scapegoat, or they would face an even more relentless pursuit from the Unova League!
"Yes!"
The members of Team Plasma left to carry out their orders.
They had no doubts about finding the "King."
After all, for ordinary members of Team Plasma, the "King" was their true leader.
"Don't put all your eggs in one basket."
After the members of Team Plasma left, Kwekis realized he couldn't rely solely on N.
He needed to find a way to make the Unova League hesitate to take drastic action against Team Plasma.
He turned his attention to Akroma, who was immersed in his research.
Akroma, with his satellite-like headgear, slowly lifted his head and smiled.
"I have a research direction in mind."
He turned his tablet, displaying an electronic archive of ancient literature that Team Plasma had copied during their siege of the Seven Treasures Museum.
This literature described the Submarine Ruins and the Revelation Mirror, a legendary item capable of altering and controlling the Three Cloud Gods of the Unova Region. This could potentially aid Akroma in his research on strengthening and controlling Pokemon.
"Hngga!! (▼⊿▼)"
Gastly, wearing a Geni swimming cap and triangular glasses, stood on the beach with his hands on his hips, ready to dive into the sea.
Beside him were the Martial Bear Master, wearing swimming goggles, the tense Menas, and the laid-back Seahare.
Jinghe had changed into an Alolan-style beach outfit and stood nearby, raising his hand.
The next moment—
"Let's go!"
At Jinghe's command, Gastly dove into the sea first.
With the protection of the Geni swimming cap, who could stop him?
However—
Splash!
The Martial Bear Master swam in a standard freestyle stroke, surpassing Gastly under his watchful gaze.
The Martial Bear Master even raised his eyebrows at Gastly twice.
"Hngga!"
Gastly was furious.
But just as he was about to exert more effort, he saw the water ahead part, and the graceful Menas leaped out of the water, accompanied by sparkling water droplets, forming a beautiful arc.
So fast?
It's okay, it's okay. At least I'm faster than Seahare, Gastly reassured himself.
Splash!
The sound of the waves came again, this time from behind. Seahare, riding the waves, caught up and surpassed Gastly, even causing him to flip over twice in the water.
Gastly: '.'
He surfaced, angrily removing the Geni swimming cap from his head.
Liar! It's all a lie!
The seller of the swimming cap claimed it would grant me power comparable to Geni's!" Gastly muttered to himself.
Gastly's eyes spun, but instead of giving up, he came up with a new idea.
On the beach, Herona and Gardelia lay under a parasol, smiling as they watched the swimming competition.
Jinghe's expression was also quite speechless.
Gastly insisted on competing in a swimming race against three Water-type Pokemon; wasn't he asking for trouble?
Meloetta, having recovered from her fever, seemed even more excited than Gastly as she cheered him on from the beach.
"Yo-ki yo-ki~~"
Tyrogue joined in the cheering.
"It looks like Gastly is going to lose," Gardelia teased.
Jinghe glanced at Gardelia, who was as tall as Lucario, and said, "You're underestimating Gastly."
"Can Gastly really swim faster than Menas and Seahare?" Gardelia asked skeptically.
"Hoo~~"
The Sharpedo, wearing sunglasses from who knows where, lay on the beach, sunbathing.
Gastly couldn't swim faster than them, but he had plenty of tricks up his sleeve.
Even Sharpedo knew Gastly's personality.
In the distance, near the finishing point at the reef, Menas and Seahare were neck and neck, with the Martial Bear Master slightly behind. But Gastly was nowhere to be seen.
However—
Just as Menas and Seahare were about to reach the reef—
"Hngga!!"
Gastly let out a strange cry, broke through the water's surface, and stood on the reef with his hands on his hips, laughing triumphantly.
"Huh?" Gardelia was taken aback.
Herona smiled, her eyes curving, and explained, "Gastly used Shadow Assault."
"Cheating!" Gardelia's eyes widened slightly.
"It's not like we said you can't use moves," Jinghe teased, mimicking Gardelia's tone.
Gardelia was furious. Seahare had used Surf!
Sharpedo had a "I knew it" expression. It was a good thing he didn't stubbornly join the swimming competition with Gastly; how could they compete against someone who was cheating?
"Melo!"
"Yo-ki!"
The strongest cheerleaders, Meloetta and Tyrogue, cheered for Gastly.
Jinghe and the others had plenty of fun moments like this swimming competition during their stay in Ripple Town.
After all, with a "big brother" like Gastly leading the way, their lives were filled with indispensable joy and many hilarious moments.
Overall, laughter prevailed over the shouts of training.
However, in Jinghe's opinion, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Despite his greater enthusiasm for guiding the little ones, he always encouraged their training, and they often surprised him with their unique talents.
As for Meloetta, after recovering, it didn't leave immediately. Perhaps it was due to Jinghe's rescue or the joy of Gramps, which made it stay for a while.
But as a gesture of "gratitude," Meloetta quietly left for most of the day.
When it returned, it held an ancient-looking box, covered in dirt.
Even Meloetta's body and face were slightly soiled.
"Were you digging?"
This was Tyrogue's favorite activity.
Tyrogue tilted its head curiously.
"Why didn't you call me for digging?"
Meloetta seemed delighted, spinning in the air as if dancing, then smilingly approached Jinghe and handed him the box.
"What's this?"
Jinghe opened the box, puzzled.
The box seemed to be made of wood or stone, its material was strange mix.
But what was inside made Tyrogue's eyes widen.
"Wow!"
The little one didn't know what it was, but it smelled delicious, and it couldn't help but swallow.
"Hmm?"
Gramps curiously leaned in.
"This pattern," Herona noticed the pattern on the box. After dusting it off, the pattern became clearer.
"Do you recognize it?"
As a mythology scholar, Herona's knowledge wasn't limited to Sinnoh's myths; she also studied Unova. Recently, she had borrowed Xatu's Gene Wedge for research.
"Hmm," Herona nodded slightly, observing closely for a moment before saying, "It seems like some kind of ritual offering to the earth."
"Sacrifice to the earth?"
Jinghe seemed to realize something, looking at Meloetta with a strange expression.
Others might not know much about Meloetta's past, but Jinghe did. It was closely connected to Unova's Three Cloud Gods.
Not only was it related to the Revelation Mirror, an item that could change the forms of the Three Cloud Gods, but Meloetta was also one of the few Pokemon that could calm them.
Land Cloud, Cyclone Cloud, and Thunder Cloud—Cyclone Cloud and Thunder Cloud would fight whenever they met, while Land Cloud often mediated.
But sometimes, they would quarrel.
That's when Meloetta's song was needed to soothe them.
This so-called "sacrifice to the earth" box might be an ancient offering from Unova's residents to Land Cloud.
Or perhaps it belonged to Land Cloud itself?
"Meloetta, Meloetta," Meloetta nodded repeatedly, then gestured with her small hands, indicating that this was a gift for Jinghe.
As for who could use it, it was obvious. Tyrogue was already jumping around, eager to try it.
"I also seem to sense the power of the earth within it," Gardelia said, closing her eyes for a moment.
It was a Legendary Item belonging to Land Cloud!
Meloetta had brought it as a gift.
Land Cloud, also known as the "World's First Bug," was a Ground and Flying type Pokemon, but in battles, it often carried the Bug-type Swift Return, which allowed it to switch and use Intimidate, a highly beneficial strategy.
This earned it the nickname "Bug-type."
Jinghe suspected that in the original work, Ibuki's "Storm Plan" primarily targeted Land Cloud.
After all, the Ground-type Land Cloud matched Ibuki's "Earth Ibuki" identity, and the Bug-type aligned with Ibuki's strongest Pokemon, Beedrill.
Ahem.
"Will it be okay?" Jinghe asked Meloetta cautiously.
"Meloetta, Meloetta," Meloetta approached Jinghe, her small hands on his cheeks, then rubbed against him affectionately.
Alright.
It had already brought such a precious item; it would be hurtful to refuse.
Under Tyrogue's eager gaze, Jinghe handed the yellowish object that resembled both a stone and a mud clump to Tyrogue.
"Wow!"
Tyrogue immediately cheered, its little feet tapping in excitement.
But Jinghe's expression held a hint of apprehension.
The little one had already obtained a fragment of the Earth Tablet, and now it had the Land Stone, a Legendary Item belonging to Land Cloud.
Would it be able to move a mountain with a single stomp in the future?
Watching its constantly tapping little feet, Jinghe couldn't shake the feeling that the next step might cause the ground to suddenly collapse.
Fortunately, this didn't happen.
But he made a firm decision.
From now on, Tyrogue must not use any moves freely at home!
As for now, if the ground collapsed, so be it. Gardelia could afford it.
"Although Tyrogue's final evolution, Baniras, is a Dark and Rock type Pokemon, I feel its Ground-type moves won't be weak in the future," Jinghe thought.
As long as it stood on the earth, it wouldn't be defeated! After all, it had obtained fragments of the Earth Tablet and the Land Stone.
But thinking that it was still a Tyrogue, Jinghe felt a headache coming on.
If it evolved soon, it might need even more food.
If it didn't evolve soon, the more it stored, the more it would need to eat in the future.
He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
In the end, Jinghe decided to let nature take its course.
If necessary, he would use all the prize money from the Junior Master World Championship to buy food for Tyrogue!
Jinghe's enthusiasm for the prize money soared!
(End of Chapter)
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