Chapter 737: The Truth of the Wish-Granting Power
Day one.
Under Diancie's lead.
Jirachi played very happily on the Nebel Plateau.
The Pokémon of the plateau were like a group of pure-hearted children. When everyone gathered together, even if it was their first day meeting, they could become friends and play together.
And when night fell.
Jirachi wanted to hear a song.
So Diancie hummed an unknown tune for it to listen to.
Early the next morning.
Volcanion saw her carrying Jirachi to the river, patiently rubbing Jirachi's small face, and couldn't help but grin:
"That girl Diancie, could she be treating Jirachi as her own child?"
"Child is an exaggeration, Diancie can't even take care of herself properly, it's more like a younger sibling," Kazuya casually responded, and then added,
"Previously, when Jirachi was still inside the crystal, Diancie seemed to be able to sense its presence. To Diancie, it's as if she watched Jirachi be 'born'."
Diancie being able to perceive Jirachi inside the crystal.
Might be based on her own special perception of ores.
A crystal was equivalent to a type of ore.
And Diancie was the Princess of the Diamond Domain, so she could pierce through the crystal to "see" Jirachi inside.
Having said that.
His gaze shifted.
Looking at the golden egg on Volcanion's back.
Probably because having it stuck to His leg hindered movement somewhat, Volcanion was now carrying Magearna on His back.
"Speaking of which, we don't seem to have any need to escort Jirachi back, right? Can't it go back on its own? I don't really want to go out..."
Volcanion sighed.
Ever since going to Mount Carefree back then, He had developed a distaste for going out.
Especially after Magearna's arrival.
Because the golden egg stuck to Him made movement inconvenient, He was even more unwilling to go out.
Of course.
The reason for saying this at this moment.
Was probably still because Volcanion felt there was no reason to help Jirachi.
Their relationship was completely unfamiliar to begin with.
Volcanion wasn't the enthusiastic type who liked to meddle in other people's business either.
Making Him go out for Jirachi's sake was truly stepping right on His landmine.
If Kazuya hadn't already agreed to it.
He would have been too lazy to go.
"For Volcanion, there's indeed no need to go out of your way to help Jirachi, but I hope to get Jirachi's help, so I have to help it first."
Kazuya smiled and shook his head.
The actual situation was naturally more than just this.
If no one helped escort Jirachi back to its hometown, then this little guy would probably have a really hard time getting back on its own.
First, Jirachi was a bit clumsy.
It couldn't remember exactly where its hometown was located or which way to go.
Even with Teleport, it wouldn't know where to teleport to.
Second, one had to mention Jirachi's bizarre fighting style.
To put it bluntly.
In the real world.
Jirachi was a one-hit-KO style Pokémon.
One move, and the outcome is decided.
Solve the enemy in one move and win, or fail to solve the enemy in one move and die.
This was equivalent to the Ultimate Weapon.
Unleash all the energy in its body with one move, and then immediately become useless.
Jirachi was exactly like this.
During these seven days it was awake, the energy inside its body each day was quite limited.
Limited to the extent that just realizing a small wish requiring two Teleports would make it immediately feel drowsy.
Only on the seventh day, after using the True Eye to absorb the energy of the Millennium Comet, would its body have enough abundance to support it fighting for a slightly longer period.
This was also the key reason why Jirachi couldn't return to its hometown on its own.
With this little guy's pitiful appearance.
On the road, it would definitely encounter more than one or two Pokémon wanting to hunt it.
But Jirachi only had the chance to attack once; after attacking, it would feel sleepy and fall asleep, and then it would be entirely at the mercy of others.
If they didn't help Jirachi return to its hometown.
Then this little guy might really never make it back.
It was quite pitiful.
So Kazuya also wanted to help it.
"I see, in that case, it really can't be helped."
Volcanion nodded.
Since Kazuya needed to borrow Jirachi's power, there was nothing that could be done.
For Kazuya's needs.
Volcanion would give His full support and safely escort Jirachi back to its hometown.
Once Diancie was done washing up.
Jirachi, chilled by the river water, also immediately perked up.
"Master, Master~ Are we setting off?"
Diancie hopped and skipped over in front of Kazuya.
Jirachi flew by her side like a little follower.
"Mhm, it's time to set off, let's head east first."
Kazuya looked up at the sky.
Although during the day, the comet in the sky was almost invisible.
But for Kazuya, it wasn't a problem.
He could see the direction the comet was heading was southeast, and the Pokémon Village was in the southeast of the Kalos continent. Perhaps this could also be considered a kind of guidance for Jirachi.
"Let's go!"
"Let's go!"
The two little ones raised their hands high and cheered, looking elated.
Kazuya smiled slightly upon seeing this.
Then his expression gradually grew quiet again.
The happier they were now.
The sadder the ending might be.
After all, Jirachi was known as the "Wishing Star of Seven Nights", and could only awaken for seven days every millennium.
This meant that even if Diancie went to the Pokémon Village to play with Jirachi in the future, she probably wouldn't be able to meet an awake Jirachi, unless she waited a thousand years.
This was not an easy amount of time to wait.
Kazuya had also wondered if there was a way for Jirachi to bypass this millennium-long slumber.
Theoretically speaking.
He felt it was possible.
Although in the many existing Pokémon fan works, Jirachi basically couldn't escape the fate of eventually falling into a deep sleep.
But Kazuya believed Jirachi's thousand-year slumber had patterns to follow and loopholes to exploit.
However, as for the specifics.
He would only know after trying it seven days from now.
Continuing eastward all the way.
It was midsummer.
Yet on the morning of the third day, they trespassed into a snowy forest.
This was one of the few places in the Kalos region where it snowed all year round. Three thousand years later, it would be called Snowbelle City, the location of the Kalos region's Ice-type Gym.
The current Snowbelle City had not yet been established.
However, there was already a small human village here; it seemed to be a human settlement within the borders of the Montagne Kingdom.
This place wasn't bad.
The number of Magical Beasts in this world of ice and snow was low, and they were conspicuous.
If Magical Beasts appeared, humans could immediately sense something was wrong and deal with it.
The four Pokémon didn't enter it, but decisively chose to detour around it.
Diancie and Jirachi, the two little ones, didn't care.
They were carefree.
They just went around playing everywhere along the way.
And Volcanion, ever since the Ultimate Weapon incident, had an extremely poor attitude towards humans, already starting to show signs of that future species discrimination. Naturally, He wouldn't actively appear in the sight of humans.
Kazuya also couldn't be bothered to communicate much with the people of the Magical Beast era.
There was no meaning to it.
It was impossible for them to know of the existence of a hidden place like the Pokémon Village.
"I remember the Pokémon Village is... in the dense forest southwest of Snowbelle City, we have to change direction."
After bypassing the human village, Kazuya began to change direction.
This was his marching plan to begin with.
First come near the past Snowbelle City to confirm the location and direction, and then follow the forest all the way southwest to find the location of the Pokémon Village.
Continuing forward.
Volcanion curiously spoke up and asked Kazuya:
"What is this thing you need Jirachi's help with? Does this little thing have that kind of ability?"
He cast a suspicious glance at Jirachi.
Having known it for three days now.
Volcanion truly couldn't see anything special about Jirachi.
At most, when chasing and playing with Diancie, it would occasionally show off a few tricks with Teleportation.
But to Volcanion, this was nothing.
After all, Kazuya had told Him.
Teleport wasn't considered a particularly difficult move to learn for Psychic-type Pokémon.
Therefore.
Volcanion truly couldn't imagine.
What exactly was there that the current Kazuya couldn't do, but Jirachi could help him do?
"Don't underestimate that child, that child is a Mythical Pokémon."
Kazuya grinned.
"Another Mythical Pokémon? Counting Magearna, there are already four of us, this Mythical Pokémon title is really cheap."
Volcanion sneered.
When He first heard the concept of a Mythical Pokémon back then.
He even thought He was pretty amazing.
But later, the twin Gods of Kalos appeared, Diancie and Magearna appeared one after another, and He couldn't even defeat Kazuya, so He discovered that this title of a Mythical Pokémon was all thunder and no rain.
Sensing His thoughts, Kazuya couldn't help but smile and shake his head.
Perhaps.
In the three thousand years to come.
The four Mythical Pokémon present would be all the Mythical Pokémon Volcanion would ever meet.
At most, He might encounter Mew darting around everywhere, or Celebi traveling through time...
But the probability wasn't very high.
However, even if he told Volcanion this now, this guy probably wouldn't believe it much.
"So, what is that little guy's exclusive ability? The three of us can't help you, but it can?"
Volcanion's voice carried a hint of dissatisfaction.
"It's the ability to 'grant wishes'."
Kazuya revealed a subtle smile.
Although there was a smile on his face, the emotion in his eyes couldn't be called optimistic.
After all, Jirachi's ability was truly very troublesome.
The "Earth Monster" Groudon.
The "Sea Monster" Kyogre.
The former came from the Pokémon world in the movie.
The latter came from the Pokémon world in the manga.
These were all evil products erroneously born from Jirachi's wish-granting ability.
Possessing the power to absorb all energy in a short period of time and destroy everything around them, it was actually somewhat similar to Yveltal's Oblivion Wing.
But inherently different.
Oblivion Wing used destructive energy to destroy other energies, primarily life energy.
But the monsters absorbed other energies for their own use; as for whether they could absorb destructive energy, it was uncertain, perhaps their own other energies would be destroyed by the destructive energy.
Although in the movie.
The Earth Monster Groudon was instantly killed by Jirachi's signature move, Doom Desire, looking completely unthreatening.
But that didn't mean the Earth Monster was weak.
The most terrifying part about the monster was its growth potential.
As it absorbed more energy, it would become correspondingly more powerful.
Perhaps when it was just born, it only had the ability of a lower-tier Champion, but after absorbing the energy of a continent, it might become a primary God; this could also be considered extremely terrifying.
No matter what.
The Earth Monster Groudon.
Was at least a character that could make an appearance in the movie's OP.
It couldn't be underestimated.
Even now, Kazuya was still deliberating on how to make the wish when the time came, so as to smoothly complete the wish without creating a mess of things.
If a monster Meowscarada was truly created.
Even if they had four Mythical Pokémon on their side, it would probably take some effort to resolve.
"Grant wishes?! We're all Mythical Pokémon, why is its ability so strong?!"
Volcanion's eyes widened.
In His heart, He felt it was extremely unfair.
"Strong, huh..."
Kazuya muttered, then shook his head, and more or less told Volcanion the truth about Jirachi's wish-granting ability.
The more powerful the strength, the greater the price it often foreshadowed.
Energy consumption, a thousand-year slumber, evil monsters...
These could all be considered massive, visible side effects of Jirachi's wish-granting ability.
These side effects even outweighed the benefits the wish-granting power could bring.
This was the truth of the wish-granting power.
Volcanion might not have such powerful strength, but everything He controlled belonged to Him, with no possibility of His power going out of control.
"So, what kind of wish do you actually have that requires relying on such dangerous power to fulfill?"
"...I want to find my daughter."
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