The extraordinary phenomenon immediately drew the attention of every Pokémon present.
Nearly all of the Pokémon living within the Tree of Beginning turned their eyes toward the glowing Serperior.
"Mew?"
The first to look confused was Mew.
It stared blankly at the scene unfolding before it.
Lin Feng was equally stunned.
Everything happening before him had completely exceeded his understanding.
However, he quickly regained his senses.
"Serperior?"
Serperior didn't answer.
A blue-green radiance poured over its body, enveloping it in a brilliant aura of life.
Its entire figure seemed to shine with a sacred light.
Unable to get a response, Lin Feng immediately turned toward Mew.
"Mew? What's happening?"
He activated the Eye of Insight.
"Mew! Mew~!!"
Mew sounded unusually excited.
But the moment the Eye of Insight opened...
Lin Feng could no longer pay attention to what it was saying.
Because...
His own expression had become even more dramatic.
He was utterly stunned.
Pokémon: Serperior
Gender: Female
Type: Grass
Ability: Contrary (+)
Potential: Divine
Individual Values:
HP: 31 (+2)
Attack: 28 (+1)
Special Attack: 31 (+2)
Defense: 31 (+1)
Special Defense: 28 (+2)
Speed: 31 (+3)
Strength: Level 71-74
Moves: Vine Whip, Leech Seed, Glare, Aura Sphere, Grassy Terrain...
Description: Accepted the Origin of the Tree of Beginning.
Affection: 100
Happiness: 70
The description was astonishingly brief.
Yet the information it contained...
Along with every change on Serperior's status panel...
Made Lin Feng's eyelids twitch.
Its Potential had risen all the way to the Divine Rank.
Its Individual Values had increased as well.
Even more frightening...
They still seemed to possess room for further growth toward perfection.
Compared to that...
The increase in its level was actually the least important change.
The phrase "Accepted the Origin of the Tree of Beginning" was what truly mattered.
After recovering from his shock, Lin Feng received Mew's explanation.
It confirmed exactly what he suspected.
In other words...
At this very moment...
The Tree of Beginning had chosen to entrust Serperior with a responsibility similar to Mew's.
Naturally...
Such responsibility came with extraordinary rewards.
The reward...
Was a symbiotic connection with the Tree of Beginning itself.
Serperior now possessed Divine Potential.
And from this day forward...
As long as nothing happened to the Tree of Beginning...
Nothing would happen to Serperior either.
Yet one question immediately appeared in Lin Feng's mind.
Why Serperior?
Compared to countless other Pokémon...
It was, by all appearances, nothing particularly special.
If the Tree wanted someone capable of nurturing life...
Surely there were better choices.
Xerneas...
The Pokémon of Life.
Or Calyrex, with its legendary bond to nature.
Even setting Legendary Pokémon aside...
There were countless powerful Grass-type Pokémon throughout the world.
So...
Why Serperior?
Just then...
A strand of Aura quietly flowed toward him.
It came from Serperior.
Within the blue-green radiance, Serperior slowly opened its eyes.
It smiled gently.
It had heard Lin Feng calling for it.
Through the Aura Serperior transmitted...
Lin Feng finally learned the answer.
The Peach Berry Tree.
That miraculous tree they had cultivated.
At the same time...
He also understood the Tree of Beginning's reasoning.
The Tree of Beginning bore the immense responsibility entrusted to it by Arceus.
It sustained the vitality of the entire world.
But...
The world was unimaginably vast.
If all of that burden rested upon one being alone...
The risk would be enormous.
For countless years...
The Tree had stood silently in this place.
It had witnessed humans leading Pokémon into war.
It had watched Pokémon wage endless battles against one another.
Conflict...
Violence...
War...
The flames had never truly disappeared.
Had no one intervened...
Those flames would eventually have reached even the Tree itself.
Because of that...
The Tree had long worried about one possibility.
If one day something happened to it...
Wouldn't the vitality of the entire world disappear as well?
But now...
It had witnessed the limitless potential hidden within the Peach Berry Tree cultivated by Serperior.
Even separated by an immeasurable distance...
After Serperior obtained Aura through its mysterious method...
The Tree of Beginning had been able to sense everything.
Every day...
It sensed Serperior casting Grassy Terrain throughout the orchards and berry fields.
It sensed every plant under Serperior's care.
The pure...
Refreshing...
Natural energy nourished every living plant.
And that Peach Berry Tree...
A tree seemingly capable of growing forever...
Perhaps...
One day...
Such a being could truly nurture an entirely new world.
Of course...
That remained a possibility for the distant future.
For now...
The Tree of Beginning was merely testing that possibility.
That was Lin Feng's conclusion.
There was another important point.
The relationship between Serperior and the Tree of Beginning...
Was fundamentally different from the bond shared between Mew and the Tree.
Simply put...
It resembled the relationship between an elder and a younger generation.
The Tree was supporting Serperior.
Guiding it.
Helping it grow.
Serperior received countless benefits...
Yet...
For now...
It bore none of the Tree's responsibilities.
Even if something happened to the Tree of Beginning...
Serperior would not be harmed.
Learning all of this...
Lin Feng stood frozen.
He was shocked.
And deeply confused.
Ever since planting the Peach Berry Tree...
His greatest hope had simply been that it would someday bear gigantic fruit...
Fruit he could transform into extraordinary dishes.
Never...
Not even once...
Had he imagined someone would tell him...
That the tree might one day become capable of inheriting the role of the Tree of Beginning itself.
Wait a second...
The Tree of Beginning was a colossal rock-based lifeform.
The Peach Berry Tree...
Was literally just a tree he had planted.
And now...
Serperior's Potential had reached the Divine Rank.
Didn't that mean...
Its future achievements might eventually rival those of Legendary Pokémon?
The radiance continued growing brighter.
Every Pokémon surrounding Lin Feng stared unblinkingly at Serperior.
Among them...
Lugia's eyes were the widest.
Wait...
What exactly...
Just happened?
It could clearly sense it.
The ordinary Grass-type Pokémon before it...
Had just undergone an unbelievable miracle.
The pillar of light shot into the heavens.
Its brilliance spread across the entire sky.
The phenomenon wasn't visible only here.
Far away...
At Cameron Palace...
Where the Aura Guardian candidate tournament was currently taking place...
Every battle came to an abrupt halt.
Everyone instinctively turned toward the Tree of Beginning.
Queen Irene also stared blankly in that direction.
Could it be...
Had the legendary event happened once again?
Had something gone wrong with the Tree of Beginning?
She couldn't know.
Access to the Tree of Beginning was strictly forbidden.
All she could do...
Was silently pray...
That nothing had happened.
Gradually...
The dazzling light faded.
Within the Tree of Beginning...
The expressions of every Pokémon slowly shifted from shock...
To curiosity.
They gazed at Serperior...
Now surrounded by a soft emerald glow...
Eager to discover what had changed.
Lin Feng looked at Serperior as well.
At first glance...
It seemed exactly the same.
Yet somehow...
It also felt completely different.
Unable to suppress his curiosity...
He activated the Eye of Insight once more.
------------------------------
Love the story? Show your support and unlock early access to new chapters by joining me on Patreon! and if we hit every 250 Power Stones, a bonus chapter drops!
[email protected]/_tey
Change @ to a.