Approaching noon, Aiden realized that the gym was facing a serious crisis.
The ingredients he had stockpiled from Los Platos last time were almost used up!
In the Paldea region, humans and Pokémon share the same staple food — a highly versatile, DIY-style sandwich.
You can buy ready-made sandwiches and ingredients from stores.
Although as someone who came from his past life in China, he wasn't quite used to eating this stuff every meal, after several failed attempts at cooking on his own, he had resigned himself to it.
Even a master of bizarre cuisine like him couldn't possibly mess up making a dish that required almost no skill — just piling ingredients onto slices of bread.
Skillfully sprinkling a bunch of ingredients such as crab sticks, ham slices, and cheese slices onto the bread, while pressing down the top slice of bread, Aiden silently pondered:
When playing Scarlet/Violet games in his previous life, he wanted to complain: how could the protagonist not even know how to plate this? Could it really be that hard to put the other one on?
Even he couldn't replicate the shape of the architectural sandwich...
"Eee~"
"Ri!"
Hmm, this sandwich has strength!
Dividing the prepared sandwich into three portions, watching Eevee and Riolu devour it hungrily, Aiden quickly made a decision —
Go to Los Platos again in the afternoon to stock up on supplies!
...
After returning from Los Platos, with two large bags of ingredients in hand, Aiden looked around while walking along Poco Path.
Unlike other regions, the boundaries between areas in the Paldea region are very vague, and there are rarely roads with fixed names like this.
Both ends of Poco Path connect to Los Platos and a lighthouse-like building.
That is the famous Lighthouse Research Institute known throughout the Paldea region, jointly owned by regional professors Sada and Turo.
And now, after the major incident in Area Zero, the only one still living here should be that little Batman (Paldean version), right?
Wait a minute, it seems I'm not much better than Arven...
Aiden, who suddenly got hurt by his own joke, immediately stopped giggling.
Judging from the tightly closed doors and dusty windows, Arven probably hasn't recovered from his grief yet, just like his original self before the crossover.
Aiden shook his head silently.
Although the occurrence of this accident undoubtedly had something to do with the overambition of the professor couple, their child Arven was clearly also a victim like his original self.
I hope he can recover soon and evolve into the sunny and cheerful boy from the game.
After walking along Poco Path for a while, Aiden soon noticed that something seemed off nearby.
There should have been at least some wild Pokémon like Fletchling or Tarountula along the road. On his way to Los Platos, he even saw a startled Tandemaus because of his appearance.
But when he returned, they had all disappeared.
Something was definitely wrong.
Sensing the ominous sign, Aiden immediately took out a Poké Ball from his pocket.
Fortunately, he knew that trouble could easily arise in the Pokémon world, so he brought Riolu with him when he went out.
A flash of red light later, Riolu appeared, instantly frowning as it looked into the distance.
While inside the Poké Ball, it vaguely sensed many Pokémon's aura. Although most of them weren't particularly strong, their numbers gave them an overwhelming advantage.
Moreover, there were several creatures with very strange aura energy, definitely beings it had never encountered before.
So it decided to warn its trainer with actions, you absolutely must avoid a direct fight!
Thinking of this, Riolu immediately retreated three steps backward, shielding Aiden in front.
"..."
Helplessly looking at Riolu hiding behind him, clutching his thigh, Aiden sighed silently.
"You're really unreliable."
I thought bringing you would make me feel safer, but instead, you chickened out at a time like this...
As expected of a Careful Natured Pokémon.
Well, there shouldn't be any threatening Pokémon around here anyway, might as well consider it a walk for Riolu.
With this thought, Aiden didn't go far before quickly finding the culprit behind the disappearance of nearby wild Pokémon.
A group of Houndour were baring their teeth around the entrance of a certain cave, seemingly confronting other Pokémon.
Houndour, a Dark Type Pokémon.
Like the Mightyena that chased Professor Birch around the village in Hoenn, both are canine-type Pokémon with Dark Types.
They are also common minions of many villainous organizations.
To be honest, the Pokémon world does lack a secondary classification invented by players from his past life, as the habits of quite a few Pokémon are similar.
For example, canine-type Pokémon prefer to fight in groups, feline-type Pokémon tend to be fairly aloof, and cotton-related Pokémon are mostly rage-inducing…
Houndour have a very strong sense of territory; it's likely that other Pokémon intruded into their cave, causing this upheaval.
"As long as I quietly pass by, they shouldn't react."
Thinking this, Aiden carefully passed by the cave along the roadside, inadvertently glancing at the scene outside the cave below.
Then, he was instantly dumbfounded.
Surrounded by Houndour were two much larger Pokémon.
One of them was a very common Mabosstiff in the Paldea region, although it usually wouldn't appear around here.
Its body obviously had several severe injuries, and it could only droop its head helplessly in the face of the barking Houndour, seemingly too weak to even speak.
If it were just this one Mabosstiff, perhaps Aiden wouldn't think much about it.
But next to the Mabosstiff, there was another peculiar creature.
It stood upright, exuding a metallic texture that didn't match flesh-and-blood beings.
Its blue-purple body, elastic tail wrapped with gushing electricity, and a pair of V-shaped horns on its head arrogantly surveyed the surrounding Houndour, who were too scared to approach.
Although the powerful engine on its chest had gone out, making it look like a dyed Cyclizar, Aiden still blurted out its name —
"Miraidon!"
His gaze was somewhat complex.
What's it like to bump into a legendary Pokémon while out?
One of the Paradox Duo, mentioned multiple times in ancient texts, the Iron Serpent, were all names given to this unknown existence by people.
At the same time, it was also one of the cover Legendaries of the game Pokémon Scarlet/Violet.
According to the game's Pokédex, Miraidon was said to have turned the earth to ashes with lightning.
Undoubtedly, it was a deity with immense power.
Of course, only Aiden, as a time traveler, knew...
This Miraidon shouldn't exist in this era—it was a paradox Pokémon forcibly summoned to the present by the Area Zero time machine, a future being!
Moreover, this Miraidon most likely had no combat ability at all, relying solely on its imposing presence to fool these Houndour...
Staring at the proud figure on the beach below, Aiden fell into deep thought.
Was it due to the butterfly effect caused by his appearance?
A key plotline that should have been triggered by the game's protagonist Florian/Juliana two years later seemed to be unfolding prematurely before his eyes…
—
A/N:
Actually, the author also likes Koraidon, but when it comes to choosing a mount, he instantly picked Miraidon, which has more of a tech feel...
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