At the Pokémon Center platform in Los Platos
"Teacher Azure, these two Pokémon are severely injured and may need to stay here for about three days."
"Let them rest in the healing device during this period, and come back to pick them up after Friday."
The Nurse Joy who frequently appeared in Aiden's live stream frowned as she looked at Mabostiff lying in its Poké Ball and another Pokémon whose name she didn't know. Her eyes clearly showed pity.
"Thank you very much, Nurse Joy!"
Aiden sighed in relief while also feeling a sense of admiration.
This seemingly ordinary healing device truly was the deepest hidden technology in the Pokémon world; it was completely unscientific...
In fact, whether in the anime or games, regardless of how severe the Pokémon's injuries were, the treatment time rarely exceeded a day.
Classic Pokémon logic.
And this time, Miraidon and Mabostiff had to stay inside for a full three days, which from another perspective indicated how critical their situation was.
For Aiden's gratitude, Nurse Joy from Los Platos only shook her head.
"Teacher Azure, although the healing devices at the Pokémon Center work well for most injuries..."
"These two Pokémon must have been hurt by an extremely powerful Pokémon. Even if their external wounds heal, the internal injuries are hard to mend. Unfortunately, we currently don't have a good solution for that."
"I'm sorry!"
Nurse Joy immediately apologized but was stopped by Aiden waving his hands.
"Don't say that, Nurse Joy."
"Being able to temporarily address their injuries has already been a big help. We'll figure out what to do next."
After saying that, Aiden pointed to Arven, who had been silently standing behind him.
...
"Mr. Aiden, thank you very much for saving Mabostiff and Miraidon."
On the way home from Los Platos, after a long silence, Arven, who seemed to want to say something for a long time, finally gathered the courage to speak with a slightly flushed face.
"And... I'm very sorry!"
Arven suddenly stopped and bowed deeply at almost a ninety-degree angle to Aiden.
From the moment he recognized this man as "Teacher Aiden," the Gym Leader of Sunlight Gym spoken of by Nemona, Arven's heart had been tormented.
On one hand, Aiden was clearly Mabostiff's savior.
For Arven, Mabostiff was the only family he had left in this world. If he lost it, he might completely collapse.
On the other hand, the tragedy of Aiden's family was almost entirely due to his parents, Drs. Sada and Turo.
If they hadn't stubbornly ventured into the depths of Area Zero without adequate safety preparations, the accident six months ago would never have happened.
Neither Aiden nor Arven would have lost their parents.
Under these dual factors, Arven's heart suffered immensely throughout the journey.
"... The person who should apologize isn't you."
Aiden sighed and instinctively reached out to ruffle Arven's soft hair.
From his various actions along the way, Aiden could roughly guess what he was thinking.
Just like in the game, Arven was indeed a thoughtful and kind-hearted child.
Regarding this matter, Aiden didn't intend to forgive those stubborn doctors on behalf of anyone affected by the incident. In fact, no one should have the right to do so.
However, in this matter, Arven was also a victim, and it wasn't his fault.
Therefore, Aiden wouldn't look at this child with any prejudice.
"Eh?"
Receiving an unexpected response, Arven looked up in confusion and noticed Aiden's sincere gaze.
"Rather than dwelling on these thoughts, let's focus on finding a solution to heal those two Pokémon."
"The Pokémon that injured them, you must have some clue, right, Arven?"
"Uh... It's likely the power of Pokémon from different timelines."
After a brief thought, Arven quickly came up with an answer.
Of course, although Aiden actively asked Arven, he actually knew even more details than Arven did.
The only mishap in Area Zero this time was caused by the couple using the "time machine" again to summon Pokémon from different timelines.
Using the power of the time machine is like drawing cards; the first draw yielded a docile Miraidon, definitely an SSR.
But trying to draw another card was essentially gambling with their lives.
As it turned out, the couple gambled and lost.
Not only was their research base destroyed, but many dangerous paradox Pokémon were released.
This directly led to Area Zero being sealed off once again.
"Yes, if they are Pokémon from the past and future, perhaps the two books left at home might have methods to treat their injuries!"
After being guided by Aiden's question, Arven muttered a few more sentences to himself and quickly arrived at an answer.
The two books he referred to were the beloved "Scarlet/Violet Books" of the two doctors.
These books were written by Hage, a royal explorer from 200 years ago, detailing his wondrous experiences inside Area Zero and documenting many Pokémon that simply don't exist in Paldea.
But because the records were so bizarre, most people regarded them as mere tales.
Only those two super fans treated them as treasures, exploring Area Zero based on the book's content and leaving behind precious handwritten copies.
"Mr. Aiden, I need to go home and find notes on treating Mabostiff's injuries!"
After bidding farewell to Aiden, Arven hurriedly ran back to the Lighthouse Research Lab.
Watching him leave, Aiden sighed silently.
Sure enough, there was no escaping triggering the main quest.
Or rather, from the moment he saw Miraidon, Aiden had roughly guessed the development of subsequent events.
The main storyline of Scarlet/Violet differed from previous games. Besides the highly free exploration, there were simultaneously three distinct main quests that players needed to advance in the first playthrough.
"Victory Road": Challenging gyms to obtain eight badges for the opportunity to challenge the Elite Four and the Champion;
"★ Starfall Street ★": Accepting commissions from mysterious figures to defeat and disband the delinquent student group Team Star;
And...
"To treat Arven's Mabostiff's injuries and reawaken Miraidon's strength, embark on a journey to find secret seasonings—"The Path of Legends."
Just as Aiden was pondering the legitimacy of his protagonist treatment, the system, which had been silent for several days, appeared before him.
[Returning to age 18, you've already gotten on track as a Gym Leader and started your performance.]
[Meanwhile, another issue that has troubled you across two lifetimes has surfaced—]
[What exactly happened in Area Zero two years ago that led to it being sealed for two years until a certain young champion cleaned up the mess?]
[To enter Area Zero, besides having sufficient strength, more clues might be hidden within that Pokémon which shouldn't exist in the current timeline.]
[Main Quest "Path of Legends" has been updated.]
[Current Task: Collect Secret Seasonings to awaken Miraidon's peak form. (Current progress 0/5)]
[Reward: Random golden item *1 (total 5 times), "Poké-Chef's Secret Recipes: Simple Recipes Anyone Can Learn!" (Automatically awarded upon task completion)]
"Sss—"
Aiden suddenly realized that this mission was something he absolutely had to accept.
The items weren't important.
If he had the Poké-Chef's Secret Recipes, his cooking skills might still have hope of improvement!
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