Just as relief washed over everyone and their eyes drifted to Jirachi, Lin Feng instead turned toward Victini.
"Vic...ni..."
(Do I have to go back?)
Victini could feel the halo's pull growing stronger. Its small body twisted nervously in the light.
"Yes. When Jirachi falls asleep, the halo will call you back."
Lin Feng nodded gently. Watching the Millennium Comet carve across the night sky eased his heart just a little.
He took out a storage capsule.
"Do you want to come back again?"
"Vic...ni..."
Victini looked up at Jirachi in the sky, then at Mew, finally lowering its eyes to the shimmering ring around it. The uncertainty in them was clear.
It wanted to stay. Here, it had friends, laughter, warmth, and a human who baked soft round cakes every day.
But reality pulled in the opposite direction.
It had no way to return freely.
The thought made it curl into itself, speechless, staring at Lin Feng in confusion.
"It is alright." Lin Feng spoke softly. "This is Dreamwater. It is better to drink it back at Ein Dock. But remember something: dreams are wonderful, yet falling too deep into them is dangerous."
He placed the bottle in Victini's hands.
"This capsule is from the Eastern Storage Facility. Inside are lots of round cakes I made ahead of time. Tap it lightly and one will pop out. They are sealed, so as long as you do not eat too quickly, they will last."
Victini lifted its head, tears shimmering.
"Alright. No more lecturing."
Lin Feng smiled faintly, putting the capsule gently into its arms.
It had only been here for two days, but Victini had already carved a place in his heart. Sweet, mischievous, and kind.
Soon, Victini would return to Ein Dock, where Ash would eventually meet it. Lin Feng wondered whether Victini would sneak away with Ash's cakes too.
"Vic...ni..."
Victini looked down at the items in its hands. Words failed it.
Up in the sky, the Millennium Comet was nearing its highest arc.
Jirachi had finished absorbing energy. Its true eye glowed faintly.
When it opened its eyes, the first thing it saw was Mew flying beside it.
"Mew?"
Mew's eyes lit up.
"Ji...ra..."
Jirachi nuzzled against Mew, already sleepy.
Still, it whispered softly, as if afraid its voice would fade too soon.
"Ji...ra..."
"Mew..."
Mew nodded and gazed into Jirachi's drowsy eyes.
"Lin Feng said you will be able to enter dreams. Visit mine often."
"Ji...ra…"
Jirachi hugged Mew tightly and nodded with all its strength.
Mew chattered on, voice quick and excited, imagining the future.
"When the time comes, no matter where you want to go, I will take you. There are so many strong, strange Pokémon out there that you have never seen."
Jirachi listened with all its heart, though its eyelids were falling like heavy curtains.
It patted Mew lightly.
"One year will pass fast. When I wake up, we will find Victini and travel everywhere together. We will meet so many Pokémon along the way."
Hope glimmered in its eyes. A future full of first experiences, sights, and laughter.
Jirachi drifted down like a little feather bird and landed before Lin Feng.
"Lin Feng... I am getting sleepy."
"I know."
Lin Feng's voice was warm, though faintly aching.
Jirachi struggled to keep its eyes open.
"These seven days... I was really happy. You all gave me so much good food..."
"You were a good child. When you wake, I will cook you something even better."
Lin Feng stroked its body gently.
"Ji...ra... Qin Shu is leaving tomorrow, right?"
Jirachi's mind was already blurred, its thoughts jumbled.
"Yes. She said she is leaving in the morning." Lin Feng replied.
"I haven't said goodbye to her... I wanted to go with her... to see the world outside..."
"It is alright. Tonight, visit her in her dreams. Say goodbye there. Later, keep visiting her dreams, see what she experiences each day."
"Do not miss me too much. I will visit you in your dreams..."
The moon peeked through the comet's glow. Dim, but steady.
Jirachi's body shone a soft gold, slowly shrinking into a perfectly round stone.
It floated upward, then gently descended to the earth.
At that same moment, Victini felt the halo's pull tighten. With one last trembling look, it vanished into the shining ring.
The instant Jirachi touched the ground, it melted into it like a raindrop into the ocean.
A pulse of green light rippled outward from the orchard.
Flowers nearing wither bloomed anew. Young fruits swelled plump overnight.
Not just Lin Feng's orchard.
All around Wutong City, fields and wild groves revived in an instant.
Farmers would wake tomorrow to find late autumn behaving like spring, crops ripened despite the cold.
In the garden, silence clung like frost.
Someone finally spoke.
"Lin Feng!"
Qin Shu came running, cheerful as ever, her voice crisp.
She stepped inside and froze.
Everyone's faces looked wrong. Heavy. Tender. Sad.
"Oh... what happened?" she asked softly.
Lin Feng turned to her.
"What is it?"
"I leave tomorrow morning, and I thought I might not have time to say goodbye. So I wanted to say it tonight instead."
Her eyes darted around.
"Where is Jirachi?"
Lin Feng paused.
"It is asleep."
"Already? So early? I wanted to tell it goodbye... Well, tell it for me then. I will play with it when I get back!"
Flustered, she left quickly, feeling she had interrupted something important.
Lin Feng watched her go and exhaled.
"Alright, everyone. Bedtime. Let us see whose dream Jirachi visits tonight."
Mew flew toward the house. Alolan Vulpix and the Eevees followed, then Serperior, Steenee and the others.
Only Blaziken lingered, staring at the half-eaten rice ball.
Lin Feng sat beside it.
"Alright. I will stay with you. We eat first, then sleep."
"Chamo..."
…
Ein Dock
Victini returned through the fading portal and reached for it desperately as it vanished. Too late.
It looked down. In its hands were a drink bottle and the capsule.
Victini flew to the highest pillar overlooking the city lights. Ein Dock glimmered warmly below.
It remembered Lin Feng's warning, though longing still tugged painfully inside its chest.
"Vic...ni..."
It finished the drink. The lights slowly dimmed. Victini drifted into sleep.
Morning came. Evening followed.
Children laughing. Pokémon roaring. Street vendors setting up stalls at dawn.
Wind passing. Water rushing. Leaves falling.
None of it touched Victini's slumber.
Time flowed like water.
Sometimes it smiled, at peace.
Sometimes it wept silently.
Other times fear and confusion twisted its face.
Until at last its expression softened, like a traveler setting down their burdens.
Victini opened its eyes.
Snowflakes drifted down from the pale winter sky. They melted as soon as they touched its warm skin.
"Vic...ni..."
Victini wiped away the dried tear marks on its cheeks, took out a cake from the capsule, and ate quietly.
It wandered to the edge of Ein Dock's barrier and pressed its hand to the ancient stone pillar.
A surge of power built inside it.
A massive V-shaped flame burst forth.
Boom.
The guardian pillar shattered.
The barrier flickered and vanished.
Victini looked back one last time at the peaceful city, eyes reluctant.
Then it flew upward.
It did not know how long it had slept.
But it knew one thing:
It could not live inside dreams forever.