"Magearna."
Cain called softly.
Clack... clack...
As if it had heard the voice, that metallic Pokéball-shaped sphere cracked open just a slit, revealing a pair of red eyes.
Magearna saw the smile on Cain's face.
He looked like someone very friendly.
However, Magearna couldn't sense Cain's inner self.
That struck it as very strange.
The Soul-Heart possessed a very special ability: the power to perceive the feelings, thoughts, and physical condition of other Pokémon or humans.
If a Pokémon was injured, Magearna could feel its pain and suffering, and would try its best to help.
That was Magearna's nature: gentle in character and fond of caring for Pokémon.
Knowing this ability in advance, Cain had taken precautions.
With a power similar to aura, he could use his psychic abilities to block Magearna's perception.
With curious eyes, she slowly shifted her gaze toward the other Pokémon.
Upon seeing Slowking, Honchkrow, and Florges, her expression turned to surprise and joy.
They all radiated positive emotions, and it seemed they had a strong bond with the human before her; the relationship between them was very close.
To Magearna, someone who could make his Pokémon develop such feelings could not possibly be a bad person.
Her impression of Cain improved instantly.
As for having been carried in Honchkrow's claws, she had completely forgotten about that.
She slowly poked her head out of the metallic sphere. Seeing Cain's calm and steady expression, she relaxed a little more.
Then her eyes fell upon Tyranitar and Aggron, both injured, and she immediately showed an expression full of compassion.
She quickly stood up, stretched out her metallic arms, and moved closer, attempting to heal them with her moves.
That was Magearna's personality.
Seeing her behavior, Cain didn't know how to put his feelings into words.
He had thought he would be cold enough to control her directly and extract the Soul-Heart from her body for study.
But faced with such pure kindness, he found himself unable to go to such extremes.
That also proved that, at the very least, he wasn't completely heartless: he still retained much of his humanity.
Tyranitar and Aggron, seeing Magearna's anxious expression, didn't know how to react.
Especially Aggron, who even blushed when he noticed Magearna's closeness.
Though the metallic color of his skin made it hard to tell, Cain and Tyranitar noticed it.
Poof!
Magearna stretched out both hands before Tyranitar and Aggron, and suddenly they turned into two bouquets of flowers.
The two were stunned for a moment.
Then, they smiled happily.
Sensing the genuine joy in their hearts, Magearna also revealed a satisfied expression.
But immediately, her eyes turned toward the sleeping Volcanion on the ground.
He had some wounds, but was recovering quickly.
That was thanks to Florges' Grassy Terrain, prepared beforehand to prevent Magearna from forming a bad impression.
Now, Volcanion's injuries were nearly healed.
Magearna gazed at him, sleeping soundly. She didn't understand why he was there, but with her kind heart, she didn't want to wake him.
"It's been so long since I've seen him sleep so well... Let him sleep a little more."
What she didn't know was that Volcanion was sleeping with such peace and sweetness precisely because he was dreaming of her.
Just as Cain was about to communicate with Magearna, one of his Pokéballs began to glow with a pink light.
Holding it in his hand, Cain's eyes lit up with joy.
Carbink's Pokéball!
After so much waiting, was it finally completing its mutation?
He threw the Pokéball and released Carbink.
At that moment, it no longer looked like an ordinary Carbink.
First were the colors of its diamonds: they had all turned a rosy hue. Second, its figure.
Normally, Carbink were short and round, but this one looked slender and elongated.
Cain's system showed in the progress bar that the mutation had reached 99.9%.
That surprised him somewhat.
Although Carbink's mutation had been progressing quickly, before arriving in Kalos the record had only been around 80%.
Now it had suddenly leapt to 99.9%!
Only 0.1% remained to complete it.
Magearna's eyes lit up at the rosy glow radiating from Carbink.
She had never seen such a beautiful diamond.
It was every girl's dream to possess a jewel like that.
Moreover, she could sense that her Soul-Heart was establishing some kind of connection with Carbink.
Cain noticed it too.
Using his psychic vision, he could see a bond forming between Magearna's Soul-Heart and Carbink.
A mysterious energy filled with vitality was flowing into Carbink's body.
Vital energy!
The Soul-Heart was formed from a massive concentration of life energy, and Fairy-type energy, in essence, could also be considered life energy.
Magearna, being Steel and Fairy type, was the perfect embodiment of this.
And now, without meaning to, she was transmitting Fairy energy to Carbink.
A small horn, the size of a thumb, began to form and float above Carbink.
Magearna's energy was channeled into that horn, which then transferred it inside Carbink.
"Xerneas's Horn!"
Seeing that structure, Cain's eyes shone with an indescribable light.
Could Xerneas be connected to all of this?
He suddenly recalled that strange feeling of being watched moments before.
Could it have had something to do with Xerneas?
As Magearna's energy flowed, Carbink's body began to transform.
A rosy radiance burst from Carbink, spreading like a faint mist that did not dissipate, slowly enveloping it.
Florges moved to Cain's side, watching Magearna and Carbink with deep interest.
As a Fairy-type Pokémon, she could sense the immense concentration of Fairy energy that both radiated.
It was even denser than what she herself possessed, and she had already reached Intermediate Elite level.
Magearna was only level 50, and Carbink hadn't even reached level 40.
Even so, they emanated incomparable Fairy power.
The system was monitoring Carbink's mutation in real time.
All they could do was wait in silence: as soon as the mutation was complete, it would become Diancie!
He didn't know if it would be the first Diancie in this world.
But for Cain, its appearance meant a great deal.
It could completely transform the strategy of his Pokémon team.
(End of chapter)