Yuga and the others quietly watched the pool, not knowing how much time had passed, when suddenly Iris pointed at the pool and shouted: "Look, aren't the eggs in the pool changing?"
Yuga and Seiryu turned their eyes toward the pool, and indeed they discovered that the Pokémon eggs lying inside were beginning to shed that stone-like dull and dim coloration, and slowly were turning bright and vivid again.
"The Pokémon eggs are really being revived…" Seiryu muttered to himself in disbelief.
The shock in Yuga's heart was no less than his. He too stared at the pool in astonishment: this was simply a miracle, it could even be said to be a divine miracle!
Next Yuga and the other two fixed their gazes on those Pokémon eggs inside the pool without blinking, observing their changes, not daring to utter even a single word, afraid that they might disturb these little lives that were slowly "awakening."
At the same time Yuga and the others also discovered that as the Pokémon eggs became more and more lively, the liquid energy within the pool that was soaking the eggs began to decrease more and more, and furthermore the Dragon Crystal Stone that was releasing the liquid energy was also turning paler and paler in color.
Finally, with a "crack" sound, a fissure appeared upon the surface of the Dragon Crystal Stone.
Seeing this scene, Yuga and the others were at last certain that as the Pokémon eggs were gradually being "brought back to life," this treasure that had once helped the Dragon Clan to nurture countless Dragon-type Pokémon was about to be destroyed once and for all.
Yet this was something unavoidable. Though this Dragon Crystal Stone was a treasure, for Jirachi, these little lives left behind by the Dragon Clan were far more important. They represented the final continuation of those Dragon Clan who had once lived in the Dragon Ruins.
No one knew how much more time passed, but the golden liquid energy within the pool had already been completely absorbed by the Pokémon eggs, and the outer shells of the eggs had become no different from ordinary Pokémon eggs. Yuga could even sense the vigorous rhythm of life inside them.
And at this moment, that Dragon Crystal Stone had already completely shattered into small white stones the size of fists, and Jirachi lay weakly at the center of the fragments.
At the very last moment, those shattered fragments of the Dragon Crystal Stone suddenly transformed into glimmering points of light, and at the same time floated toward Seiryu and Iris.
Seiryu and Iris, not knowing why, were so frightened that they repeatedly stepped back.
At this time Jirachi's weak voice came: "Absorb those light spots. That is the Dragon Crystal Stone's final gift to the descendants of the Dragon Clan."
Hearing this, Iris and Seiryu stopped their retreating movements, allowing the light spots to slowly enter their bodies.
As the light spots entered their bodies, Iris and Seiryu clearly felt a powerful current surge through them, and very quickly it stirred their respective powers of Dragon Tamer and Dragon Force into motion together.
Finally the two forces fused, and Iris and Seiryu both felt that their special abilities had increased by more than double. Unable to help it, expressions of excitement appeared upon both of their faces.
Yuga, watching from the side, was left speechless. So in the end, am I the only one who is not a descendant of the Dragon Clan, left to just stand here and watch, huh!
After Iris and Seiryu's fusion was finished, Jirachi's voice once again came: "My strength has already been exhausted, and I am about to once more fall into slumber. If I am to awaken again, I am afraid it will not be until the next millennium…"
Because of weakness, Jirachi paused before continuing: "What I meant when I asked you for help was that I wanted to entrust these little ones to you, hoping you can take good care of them…"
Upon hearing this, Yuga unconsciously activated the Insight skill to look toward those Pokémon eggs.
As the final remnants of the Dragon Clan, and as the lives that Jirachi had spent such effort to revive, these Pokémon eggs were naturally not ordinary. In fact, they could be said to be the most precious legacy left by the Dragon Clan.
Sure enough, under the Insight skill, the potential of each of the hundred or so Pokémon eggs appeared before him, and Yuga was astonished to discover that their potential were unbelievably high. The lowest among them was of blue potential, more than ten were of indigo potential, and among them one had a blue aura that was already nearly on the verge of transforming into purple.
It was just a pity—it was only a little bit short.
Although inwardly Yuga was deeply shocked, outwardly not a trace of change showed upon his face. He maintained a very calm demeanor. I too am a person who has seen the great world—what is such a small scene to me?
"Don't worry. Leave these little ones to us!" Yuga was the first to promise.
Iris and Seiryu also quickly nodded in agreement.
Of course, the three of Yuga would not refuse Jirachi's proposal. They were not fools, and even without the Insight skill, both Iris and Seiryu could guess that these Pokémon eggs were definitely not ordinary.
Hearing the firm and solemn promises of Yuga and the other two, Jirachi smiled with relief. As a Psychic-type mythical Pokémon, it could clearly sense the subtle emotional fluctuations of Yuga and the others, and it knew that the three people before it were trustworthy.
Moreover, through its earlier observations, Jirachi knew that the eldest among the three was obviously acquainted with Giratina. Jirachi still trusted Giratina's character, and anyone who could be regarded by Giratina with special consideration would certainly not be someone unworthy.
Jirachi then spoke again: "After I fall into slumber, hand me over to Giratina, and ask it to place me somewhere within the Distortion World."
Upon hearing this, the three of Yuga once again nodded.
When Jirachi had finished giving its instructions, its body once again emitted a glow, and the ribbons on its body slowly wrapped around it. Immediately after, it transformed into a deep violet-colored stone.
By the time Giratina returned, Jirachi had already fallen into slumber. It only saw the stone that was Jirachi's transformed form, and Yuga and the others relayed Jirachi's request to it.
Without the slightest hesitation, Giratina agreed. Stretching out its head, a golden beam of light shot out from its mouth, shining upon the stone into which Jirachi had transformed, and then the stone followed the golden glow and entered Giratina's mouth.
After Yuga and the others left, Giratina would seek out a hidden location within the Distortion World to place Jirachi.
In the Distortion World, there were no other living beings, and Jirachi could peacefully spend a thousand years there, waiting for the Millennium Comet to once again pass through the Pokémon world.
Next came the problem of distributing the more than one hundred Pokémon eggs.
The three of them counted once, and there were exactly one hundred and forty Pokémon eggs—not one more, not one less. But with three people, the distribution could not be perfectly equal. After all, Pokémon eggs could not be cut open and divided.
After a round of discussion, the three finally decided upon a distribution plan.
Since Seiryu and Iris had both already received the gift from the Dragon Crystal Stone, while Yuga had not gained anything, Yuga would take a little advantage in the distribution of the Pokémon eggs.
Out of the one hundred and forty Pokémon eggs: Seiryu would receive forty, Iris would receive forty, and Yuga would receive sixty.
To be honest, this distribution plan made both Seiryu and Iris feel a little pained in their hearts, but what could they do? Not to mention that they had already received benefits before, Yuga was also the leader of this exploration mission, and it was he who had discovered the ruins in cooperation with the Verdanturf City Police Department.
If not for Yuga, they would not even have had the chance to explore the ruins.
This distribution plan was already very fair. The two silently consoled themselves in their hearts.
The League had already said that all gains from this exploration of the Dragon Ruins would belong entirely to them, so these Pokémon eggs did not need to be handed over.
Once the distribution plan was settled, Seiryu and Iris exchanged a glance, and then Seiryu said: "Mr. Shimizu, you do the division."
For Seiryu and Iris, who did not know that Yuga had the Insight skill, it made no difference who divided the Pokémon eggs.
Yuga was not only their senior, but also the leader of this mission. As long as one's brain was not broken, no one would try to seize the task of dividing the Pokémon eggs right in front of their senior and leader. Naturally, the opportunity was handed over to Yuga.
Even someone as big-hearted and straightforward as Iris still had this much social sense, let alone someone as delicate-minded as Seiryu.
Smiling, Yuga looked at the two and said: "You really want me to divide them? No regrets?"
Seiryu and Iris nodded without the slightest hesitation.
Yuga naturally did not decline: "Alright then, as long as you won't regret it."
Since the two had entrusted the task of dividing the Pokémon eggs to him, Yuga naturally would not let the opportunity to gain some advantage slip by. Of course, he did not go too far either.
There were a total of eleven Pokémon eggs of blue aptitude. Yuga gave three each to Seiryu and Iris, and kept five for himself.
There was no helping it. Since eleven could not be evenly divided, the extra ones naturally were kept by Yuga for himself.
Of course, that one which was almost at the level of violet aptitude was also, as a matter of course, taken into Yuga's possession.
Iris and Seiryu did not have the slightest objection to the Pokémon eggs Yuga divided, and after the division was complete, they carefully began placing the Pokémon eggs into their space backpacks.
Yuga was no exception, but he secretly transferred his share into the system space, since that place was much safer.
Since they had come to explore the ruins, all three had prepared space backpacks in advance, and storing dozens of Pokémon eggs presented no pressure at all.
"Since the ruins have already been fully explored, it is time for us to leave," Yuga said after storing away the Pokémon eggs.
This exploration of the ruins had yielded rich rewards for everyone, but at the same time, it also left them with many doubts: how did the Dragon Clan of the Dragon Ruins disappear? Why did Jirachi and Giratina avoid speaking of this matter?
And also… in the ancient times… how did the Legendary Pokémon disappear? Was the disappearance of the Dragon Clan related to this?
It was just a pity that these questions could not be answered within the ruins.
After deciding to leave, the three of Yuga bid farewell to Giratina.
In fact, if Yuga wanted convenience, he could have requested Giratina to directly send him to Hoenn from the Distortion World.
Inside the Distortion World, for Giratina, reaching any location was only a matter of thought, and then it could enter the real world at the corresponding place with ease. It was extremely convenient.
But unfortunately, outside the ruins, in Ram's Horn Village, there were still three people waiting for Yuga to deal with, so he had no choice but to return with Seiryu and Iris.
Although Seiryu and Iris could also handle those three people, he, after all, was the leader. If he were to throw all the responsibility onto his juniors, it would seem rather irresponsible.
However, when the three of them returned to the previous entrance, they discovered that the vortex through which they had entered had disappeared.
Since Jirachi had withdrawn the power of the Millennium Comet and the ruins had returned fully into the Distortion World, the passage established by the power of the Millennium Comet had naturally vanished as well.
Thus, the three had no choice but to request Giratina to send them out.
Not to mention anyone else's influence, but Yuga's face still carried weight in front of Giratina, after all, Giratina had taken advantage of Yuga's Ghost Sea more than a few times.
On the river surface outside of Ram's Horn Village, a pitch-black vortex suddenly appeared. Fortunately, at this moment, there were no passersby nearby, otherwise they would have been scared to death.
The three of Yuga each rode on their flying Pokémon and flew out of the vortex (Yuga was carried out by Gengar), and the vortex then slowly disappeared.
After landing on the shore, Iris looked around, confirmed it was indeed the place where they had entered the ruins, and let out a long breath of relief as she said:
"Finally, we are out!"
At the same time, in Ram's Horn Village, that so-called "family of three" was discussing matters inside their house.
The man pretending to be the father said: "Recently, that Gyarados has been getting more and more violent. I don't know if something has happened in the ruins below."
It turned out that in the few days Yuga and the others had been gone, the three had made several attempts to explore the ruins again. Unfortunately, the entrance to the ruins had disappeared, and the Gyarados guarding it had become extremely violent. Whenever they entered the river, they would be violently attacked, so until now, they still did not know the situation inside the cave where the entrance to the ruins was located.
"It can't be, right? With that Gyarados guarding, how could anything happen to the ruins!" said the woman pretending to be the mother.
"Could it be related to those three people who suddenly disappeared? No matter how I look at those three, they all seemed suspicious, and now they suddenly left without a sound…" said the young man pretending to be the son.
"Impossible!" the man pretending to be the father suddenly interrupted the young man's words. "The location of the ruins was personally told to me by the Master. There is no way anyone else could know!"
When speaking of the Master, a look of worship appeared in the man's eyes. He hoped that one day he could also become like the Master, to possess a long and everlasting life!
As long as he did the Master's bidding well, one day the Master would surely fulfill his wish.
"But…"
The woman and the young man wanted to say something more, but they were rudely cut off by the man.
"Enough, stop talking about those three people's affairs. Tonight we will go explore the ruins again!"
As for the long-delayed Lax, the man no longer held any hope. He worried that something had gone wrong with Lax, and so he was extremely eager to resolve the matter of the ruins.
Since the Remnants of the Dragon Clan could not come, he could only force his way in!
On the other side, Yuga and the other two were preparing to leave from the riverbank when suddenly the water surface churned violently, and a ferocious huge head emerged.
It was the Gyarados!
Yuga and the others had nearly forgotten about this fellow.
When it saw Yuga and the three, Gyarados was extremely angry. It had only let them into the ruins, so how had the entrance to the ruins suddenly disappeared?
Just as Gyarados was about to act, Gengar's psychic power already suppressed it so it could not move.
Yuga soothed it, saying: "Don't get agitated…"
Then Yuga told Gyarados about everything that had happened inside the ruins, and only then did Gyarados calm down. Since the ruins no longer existed, it no longer had to guard this place.
"Gyarados, what are your plans from now on? Would you like to leave together with us?" Yuga intended to coax Gyarados, since after all, this was a powerful Elite level Pokémon.
However, things turned out contrary to his wishes. Gyarados did indeed agree to go with them, but the one it chose to follow was not the more powerful Yuga, but Iris.
This Gyarados carried very strong Dragon-type blood, so it could sense the special abilities within Iris and Seiryu.
But between the two of them, Iris's special ability was clearly much stronger than Seiryu's, so Gyarados naturally chose Iris.
After Gyarados chose Iris, Seiryu looked at her with eyes full of envy. To be followed by an Elite level Pokémon—what an honor that was!
Iris herself was also endlessly overjoyed!
Although Yuga was a bit disappointed, he still expressed his congratulations to Iris. As a senior, he had to show at least a little magnanimity.