Chapter 352: "Let's Move Xerneas Back to World Tree Park!"
With Yveltal unconscious, Mammon had no reason to worry about his own safety and walked over to Xerneas.
"Xerneas, hello. It's a genuine honor to meet you."
Mammon greeted it with real courtesy.
"Hello, human~ Thank you so much for stopping Yveltal."
Xerneas was equally gracious, its telepathic voice carrying a gentle, feminine quality — you could tell, just from the tone alone, that whoever spoke this way had a genuinely tender temperament.
Clearly, Xerneas held a fair amount of goodwill toward Mammon — after all, someone capable of stopping Yveltal's rampage surely couldn't be a bad person.
"Thank you. I'm a little embarrassed, honestly — I still got here a bit too late."
Mammon remained fairly modest about it.
"Don't dwell on that. You've already done wonderfully," Xerneas said, glancing at Mega Mewtwo Y. A genuinely powerful human.
Xerneas could sense the immense strength coiled within Mega Mewtwo Y — power that even surpassed Yveltal's own. Given its own nature as a Fairy-type Legendary, and having been locked in this endless back-and-forth with Yveltal for who-knows-how-many years, Xerneas was naturally quite sensitive to Dark-type energy.
"This place... how truly pitiful~"
Xerneas surveyed the surroundings, letting out a soft, weary sigh.
Being as compassionate as it was, every time it encountered a scene of "death" like this — lives drained by Yveltal — it couldn't help but feel a deep pang of pity.
But what could it actually do about it? It had no way to predict when Yveltal would wake, so every single time, all it could do was rush over as quickly as possible once Yveltal had already stirred.
And every single time, it arrived just one step too late.
"Human, what is your name?"
Xerneas turned its gentle gaze toward Mammon.
"Mammon. You can just call me Mammon."
Mammon said with a smile.
"Alright, Mammon. I can sense that you are a truly exceptional human — you carry so very much weight upon your shoulders."
Xerneas's telepathic voice carried a note of genuine wonder. As the legendary Xerneas, it was profoundly sensitive to "life" itself, and it could sense the extraordinarily vibrant life force radiating from the human before it.
Well — put simply, that meant he had a great many powerful Pokémon of his own.
This was something Xerneas had never encountered before.
Which gave Xerneas an idea worth pursuing.
"Thank you."
"So I'd like to ask a favor of you, Mammon. I believe this is something only you could accomplish," Xerneas said, making its request.
"Could you tell me what it is?" Mammon raised an eyebrow.
Xerneas actually had a request to make? Now Mammon was genuinely curious.
"I have always believed 'life' to be the single most precious thing in this world — nothing else can ever replace it."
Xerneas slowly raised its head, its gentle telepathic voice taking on a distant, ethereal quality.
Mammon nodded quietly. Well, of course. Life is life — without it, isn't everything just a handful of dust in the end?
"What is the meaning of life, exactly? Even I cannot truly define it. Across my long, long existence, I have witnessed so much — especially among humans."
Xerneas continued, unhurried.
"Some say the meaning of life lies in finding something you love, and striving toward it."
"Some say the meaning of life lies in ceaseless learning, becoming a better version of yourself."
"Some say the meaning of life lies in leaving behind some unique mark on the world, so as not to have lived in vain."
"And some say the meaning of life lies in the pursuit of truth, understanding the very nature of existence itself."
Xerneas gazed off into the distance — this deer, its body glowing softly with rainbow-hued light, radiated a genuinely beautiful, radiant presence.
"I have come, gradually, to understand the true weight of that word, 'life.' Every human, every Pokémon, every tree, even the smallest, most insignificant flower or blade of grass — each of them pours everything they have into telling the story of their own existence."
"I can see each of their 'lives' shimmering with their own dazzling light. Life is, in that sense, always this beautiful, and always this unique."
"But not every living thing respects 'life' in return."
Xerneas lowered its gaze to Yveltal on the ground, its eyes carrying a complexity neither Mammon nor Caitlin could fully read.
"I love life. I love every living thing. I don't simply wish to bear witness to it — I only hope that every living being might have the chance to live out the fullness of their own existence."
"Because their lives are not long. Their lives are brief — but to them, personally, that brief life may still burn with genuine intensity and brilliance."
"But then, it appeared."
Xerneas let out a quiet sigh.
"Yveltal..." Caitlin murmured the name softly.
"Yes. Yveltal. It is 'death' itself, the one who steals away every life it touches. I couldn't understand, at first, why it needed to strip life away so cruelly. To protect those innocent lives, I pleaded with it, and I've fought it too, for the sake of those lives."
"But... eventually, I came to understand that I cannot change its will. It will never understand the meaning of 'life,' nor will it ever grasp how precious life truly is."
"All it knows is to take, mercilessly, endlessly. That has always been true, from beginning to end."
How long, exactly, had this gone on — its endless entanglement with Yveltal?
Xerneas could no longer even recall. It didn't feel exhausted by it, though — because it understood the value of "life" too well. As long as it was saving those lives, it would never grow tired.
But every single time it witnessed these colorless, drained-away lives, Xerneas felt real grief, real heartache. Even if it could restore their "life" once more, the terror and pain of that moment when their life was stripped away could never truly be undone.
The suffering itself always remained.
"So..." Mammon began to understand Xerneas's intent.
"We cannot break free of this cycle. But you, Mammon — you could."
"You want me to catch Yveltal?"
"That's right. You have the ability to do it, Mammon," Xerneas nodded.
"Yveltal was born for destruction. I cannot change its will, because within its 'life,' there exists nothing but death and destruction."
"But you could break that 'chain.' You could step directly into its life, Mammon. You are capable of that."
Xerneas addressed him with genuine seriousness.
"Is that so?" Mammon looked at Yveltal, pretending to mull it over.
"I know this is difficult, and dangerous too. But of every human I have ever encountered, you are the only one capable of doing this, Mammon."
Xerneas understood full well this was no simple task — arguably, a genuinely significant risk. Yveltal really was too dangerous — if it were caught and someday went berserk again, what then?
But Xerneas still swallowed its pride and made the request of Mammon anyway, because to Xerneas, this genuinely felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Catching Yveltal, letting it experience some meaning beyond mere death and destruction — this was a rare chance to genuinely change Yveltal's will.
"I understand. If this is something only I can do, then I'm willing to accept it."
Mammon considered it for a moment, then answered Xerneas with a smile.
"Thank you, Mammon." A genuinely warm, human-like smile spread across Xerneas's face, its telepathic voice brimming with sincere gratitude.
"Think nothing of it — this is for the sake of the world, after all. Though, Xerneas, I actually have a favor or two to ask of you as well."
"As long as it's within my power, I will help."
Xerneas had no objection at all, offering the promise readily.
After all, in Xerneas's view, Mammon had just agreed to shoulder a genuinely dangerous task on its behalf.
"Well, it's like this — I recently met Diancie... hm? Yveltal's awake."
Mammon pulled out a Poké Ball, just about to explain Diancie's situation.
Yveltal was slowly coming to — apparently still a little dazed from the earlier hoof-stomp to the head courtesy of Xerneas.
But before it could fully regain its senses, a hoof suddenly filled its entire field of vision, rapidly growing larger.
THUD!
"You can go on, Mammon."
Xerneas had stomped Yveltal unconscious once more, its gentle telepathic tone not shifting in the slightest.
Caitlin: (○—○)
This...
Caitlin glanced at Yveltal, unconscious once again, then back at Xerneas.
Is this... normal?
"Diancie's kingdom, the Diamond Domain, lost its Eternal Diamond. She needs to create a new one, or her kingdom won't be able to sustain its ability to survive."
"So she's been searching for you this whole time, hoping you might be able to help her."
Mammon opened the Poké Ball, and Diancie appeared beside him.
Diancie looked at the legendary Xerneas with a mix of nervousness and genuine excitement.
"I see. I'd be happy to help."
Xerneas didn't hesitate for even a moment — as long as it was for the sake of preserving life, Xerneas was always happy to lend a hand. And it more or less understood exactly what Diancie needed.
The rainbow-colored antlers atop Xerneas's head flickered with a soft, radiant light, the glow drifting gently toward Diancie.
Diancie couldn't help closing her eyes, letting out a soft, contented hum.
This was Xerneas sharing its own life force. Diancie's inability to create the Eternal Diamond had simply come down to her not being strong enough — and by directly sharing a portion of its life force, Xerneas elevated the very essence of Diancie's vitality, lifting her capabilities enough to finally accomplish it.
This was exactly what made Xerneas so genuinely formidable — its ability to directly share its own life force with other living things.
A genuinely, absurdly overpowered ability.
Before long, the light around Xerneas gradually faded.
"There. That should do it."
Xerneas's gentle telepathic voice rang out.
"Diancie, how does that feel?" Mammon asked her.
Diancie tried it out, and a beautiful pink diamond materialized in front of her — her face immediately lighting up with pure joy.
"It actually worked! Thank you so much, Xerneas!"
Diancie bowed deeply to Xerneas, her clear telepathic voice brimming with gratitude.
Originally, any diamond she managed to create simply couldn't be sustained long-term — but now, Diancie could tell with total certainty her diamonds would never fade away again.
She could genuinely, finally do this.
"Mammon~ I can do it now!" Diancie turned to Mammon, thrilled and elated.
"Wonderful." Mammon returned the smile.
"Is there anything else you need help with, Mammon?"
Xerneas's voice remained just as gentle as ever — to it, sharing a bit of life force just now had been an entirely trivial thing.
"Yes, actually — there is one more thing I'd like your help with."
Mammon understood Xerneas's intentions well enough — once it finished helping him, Xerneas would surely go on to share the rest of its life force entirely, restoring this lifeless, devastated land back to health.
And right after that, it would transform into the Tree of Life and fall into dormancy, recovering the vitality it had spent.
Yeah — Mammon had already made up his mind. Once Xerneas transformed into the Tree of Life, he'd move it straight back to World Tree Park.
Surely Mew and Regigigas would be thrilled to have Xerneas there too.
How could such a gentle, radiant deer be left out here, exposed to wind and rain?
It belonged at World Tree Park!
Let Erika and the others take good care of it — plenty of watering, plenty of fertilizer, help Xerneas grow even more vibrant and full!
And it could take its little naps under the Tree of Life whenever it liked, too. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
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