Selena was busy in the kitchen, with Emboar assisting her.
"Hmm~"
"No need to help, I've been good at cooking since I was little. Want to try some later?"
Emboar tasted a few bites of the sandwiches and cake she made, its eyes lighting up as if it had a clever plan in mind.
"Should we send some to Carl?" Selena asked.
Emboar shook its head, indicating Carl had already eaten dinner and was likely meditating now, so it was best not to disturb him. With that, it swiftly devoured the remaining food.
Selena didn't quite understand but figured Carl probably didn't need dinner anymore.
Meanwhile, Carl was feeling quite hungry.
"Sigh, I didn't even have dinner..."
He had planned to pick up Selena, which derailed his dinner plans. In hindsight, he should have taken her out to eat, instead of lying awake hungry now.
Ever since his aura powers awakened, his appetite had grown significantly, and skipping a meal left him feeling famished.
"Never mind, I won't train tonight, let's just sleep."
But his growling stomach made it impossible to sleep.
"This is too tough..."
Next door, Selena lay on her bed after a bath, tossing and turning.
The room was comfortable, but she suddenly realized that she and Carl were the only ones in the entire villa.
If he really had any intentions, could she resist?
Selena lay awake, her mind racing. Carl, the gym leader, seemed nice enough, surely he wouldn't do anything, right? She murmured to herself, then shook her head, "But what if..."
Her Fennekin snuggled in her arms, warm and reassuring. "You'll protect me tonight," she whispered, gently stroking its head as her eyelids grew heavier, finally drifting into a peaceful sleep.
---
At the crack of dawn, Carl was awakened by his hunger. His stomach was growling fiercely, and he rubbed it with resignation. "I laughed at Selena's hunger last night, and now look at me."
He quickly freshened up and hurried downstairs, only to find the dining table empty. Strange, where was breakfast? Emboar usually had it ready by now.
After a quick search in the kitchen, not even a crumb was to be found. Carl frowned and briskly walked to the backyard. Emboar was in charge of breakfast for all the Pokémon, and if those little ones went hungry, chaos would ensue.
But as he reached the backyard, he froze—Emboar was comfortably lying on a blanket under a tree, lazily scratching itself and scrolling through a phone, humming happily.
Carl, exasperated, slapped its backside. "Where's my breakfast?"
Emboar startled, glanced at him leisurely, and said, "Weren't you full of energy last night? I had someone deliver ingredients for takeout, why not try making breakfast yourself?"
Carl was speechless.
Is this pig teasing me on purpose? It must be!
I'm never stepping into the kitchen again, you handle it. To fill his stomach, Carl had to swallow his pride.
"Nope!" Emboar shook its head defiantly.
Veins popped on Carl's forehead. Just as he was about to lose his temper, Emboar added, "Selena's cooking is delicious. I'm waiting for her to make breakfast. If you can't wait, go eat out."
Letting a guest cook? Carl frowned.
"Who can match her skills? Compared to hers, my cooking is pig slop."
Carl had no retort. Of course, it was pig slop coming from a pig.
Fine. Seeing Emboar was determined to be lazy, Carl let it slide. Consider it Selena's room and board.
"I'm heading to the back mountain. Let me know when Selena wakes up!"
With no breakfast in sight, Carl decided to do something enjoyable. He wanted to check on the golden treasure that had brought him to this world.
"Go on, go on," Emboar waved a paw dismissively without looking back.
Carl rolled his eyes and started up the stone steps of the mountain. This small mountain was a legacy from his grandfather. It wasn't tall but covered a decent area.
Wild Pokémon like Rattata and Pidgey could be seen all around, often coming to Carl's for food. The higher he climbed, the fewer Pokémon there were.
After passing through a bamboo grove, the view opened up to a field of flowers blooming out of season.
Carl navigated to the center of the flower field with practiced ease. There lay a small three-meter-wide patch of earth, at its center was a thin crack about ten centimeters long.
"Drip—"
Carl skillfully produced a silver needle from his belt, pricked his finger lightly, and flicked a drop of blood into the crack. As the blood soaked in, the ground seemed to come alive, eagerly absorbing the droplet, bursting forth with a dazzling green light.
The ground trembled, the crack widened, and four jade-like sprouts broke through, quickly growing taller than Carl. Their crystalline branches shimmered in the morning light, and these were just the seedlings.
The saplings shot out four beams of light, three hovering before him, the fourth merging into his body. As his strength and mental acuity surged, a torrent of information flooded his mind.
Jackpot! Carl nearly jumped for joy. This miraculous sapling before him, called the World Tree, was the very cause of his journey from Earth to this world.
It wasn't like the legendary tree of beginnings in the Pokémon world—a crystalline life form coexisting with Mew, protected by titans like Regigigas. Carl thought "Pokémon Origin Tree" would be a more apt name.
But this was the true World Tree, akin to the egg that birthed Arceus, existing since before the universe. The Pokémon world was Arceus's creation, while this world was birthed by the World Tree.
Now that the two worlds had merged, the reborn World Tree recognized Carl as its master, giving him the confidence to abandon university for a gym leader's career—though to others it might seem foolish.
Talent? In the past, Carl was merely average.
He spent a year raising Torchic into Blaziken, reaching high-level potential, considered top-tier among trainers. It would have been easy to place in the top three at the Fairfield High School League, and with luck, break into the top ten at the Havenport High School League. That could secure him a place at a prestigious Pokémon university, possibly even one of the top ten. After graduation, a professional trainer status awaited him, maybe even elite level.
The true transformation came a month ago with a fateful encounter. After crossing over and laying his grandfather to rest, Carl planted the World Tree seed in the back mountain, receiving a starter pack.
Inside were two Pokémon eggs that hatched into a unique Cubchoo after seven days. This Pokémon was special, capable of evolving into two forms and undergoing Gigantamax.
There were also two ability seeds, awakening his psychic and aura powers. Though not on par with Sabrina's psychic prowess or Ash's aura, they were far superior to any ordinary person.
The most significant was a crystalline fruit he dubbed the Champion's Quality Fruit. After Blaziken consumed it, its potential rose to champion level, its strength leaping to elite. Without it, Carl would never have become a gym leader.
Carl discovered he could perceive various auras within Pokémon through the blend of his psychic and aura abilities. After a month of observation, he confirmed these auras corresponded to a Pokémon's potential, talent, strength, personality, and bond. This gave him a more comprehensive understanding than the Pokédex, akin to an appraisal skill in games.
Within a ten-meter radius of the World Tree seed, he had created a special domain. Here, a Pokémon's injuries and stamina could recover instantly, and only Carl could enter. For him, this safe haven was more valuable than its healing abilities—even Arceus couldn't breach it, though Carl had no plans to test that.
These unique abilities were only part of why he chose to become a gym leader. The key reason was that the World Tree seed, recognizing him, required a daily drop of his blood to grow, like some sort of contract. As the World Tree matured, it promised rewards akin to starter packs.
Starting from its seedling stage, each drop of blood could randomly yield precious items: skill fruits more potent than TMs, items usable by both Pokémon and humans, shards of the Arceus Plates or the Punishment Pot, fruits to enhance potential, rare treasures, or even gateways to secret realms.