Chapter 99: Chapter 99
Upon leaving the cave, Cynthia found Leafeon lying beside the entrance.
She crouched and gently stroked Leafeon’s head.
Cynthia also had an Eevee evolution, although hers was a Glaceon.
"Thank you for guiding me here today. I learned a great deal."
"Would you like me to take you to Mike and the others?"
Leafeon felt the hand stroking her back.
It was a little rough, and Cynthia’s technique wasn’t as good as Mike’s, but it was still comfortable in a different way.
Leafeon narrowed her eyes and shook her head.
"All right. Then I’ll leave first. I’ll come visit you again next time."
"Leaf—"
Cynthia stood and climbed onto Garchomp’s back and they shot into the sky.
After watching Cynthia disappear, Leafeon returned to the forest.
...
In the Forest of Illusion, Mike was still troubled by the mystery of Stantler.
"Tell me, how does an entire species of Pokémon forget its own signature move?"
Mike sat on the blanket, tapping the ground with his thin bamboo staff as he lectured the herd standing before him.
He couldn’t understand how a Pokémon species could lose a technique unique to its own kind.
Normally, species-specific moves were either learned naturally after reaching a certain age or taught by older members of the group.
He had never heard of another species like Stantler, whose entire population had seemingly lost knowledge of its own signature move.
Whoosh—
Something tore through the air.
The wind lifted Mike’s hair before letting it fall again.
He turned and saw Cynthia jumping down from Garchomp’s back.
"Cynthia? You’re back already?" Mike asked in surprise.
Cynthia stared at the Stantler obediently standing in punishment before him.
She looked confused.
’Is he... scolding an entire Stantler herd?’
"Why are you raising your heads? Did I tell you that you could look up?"
Mike narrowed his eyes and struck the ground sharply with the bamboo staff.
The entire herd immediately lowered their heads.
"I didn’t realize you were capable of something like this," Cynthia remarked as she approached the blanket.
"Gengar and the others beat them into submission."
Mike looked toward her.
"Did you discover anything at the ruins?"
Cynthia nodded.
"Yes. I found another section that had been buried, as well as the missing half of the tablet. I’ll send you the photographs."
Mike’s eyes lit up.
He immediately took out his tablet.
"Sit down for a moment."
He spoke without raising his head.
Glameow stood and surrendered her place to Cynthia before climbing onto Mike’s lap and settling there instead.
Cynthia sat sideways on the blanket, leaving her legs stretched beyond its edge.
She looked curiously at Glameow hiding against Mike.
"Does Glameow seem afraid of me?"
At the question, Glameow pressed herself farther into Mike’s arms.
Mike stroked her head.
"She was hurt by humans before, so she dislikes people now. Even I’m rarely allowed to approach her."
Cynthia nodded.
So that was the reason.
She looked at the Glameow nestled in Mike’s embrace, and her eyes curved slightly.
When a Pokémon encountered danger, it instinctively fled into the arms of the person it trusted most.
Glameow clearly adored Mike.
Mike rested the tablet on his legs.
With one hand, he stroked Glameow. With the other, he scrolled through Cynthia’s photographs.
The pictures were somewhat blurry, but that was understandable.
Not everyone possessed a camera modified by the system.
’Hisuian Samurott?’
’Hisuian Sneasel and Sneasler?’
’Hisuian Braviary?’
’Hisuian Voltorb and Electrode?’
’And the Pokémon those people are riding... Wyrdeer?’
So the murals depicted daily life in a village from the Hisui era.
Mike studied each image carefully while Cynthia sat silently beside him without interrupting.
She noticed Gengar staring at her curiously and offered him a polite smile.
Gengar immediately grinned.
He took a walnut from his arms, cracked it open, and handed the kernel to Cynthia.
Cynthia accepted it, then glanced at the bag of walnuts Gengar had produced.
A flicker of confusion entered her eyes.
Why did those walnuts look suspiciously similar to the bag she had given Professor Rowan not long ago?
"Thank you."
Cynthia quietly thanked him.
Gengar waved generously.
He had only borrowed them anyway.
Then he turned toward Garchomp and offered her two bags of potato chips.
Garchomp nodded with satisfaction, tore both bags open, and poured the contents into her mouth.
Watching her finish an entire bag in a single bite, Gengar’s mouth dropped open.
Σ(°▽°|||)︴
’So bold!’
Mike reached the photograph of the completed tablet and enlarged it.
Enamorus and Landorus floated in the sky, gazing down at the ground.
Below them, villagers sang and danced around a bonfire. Flourishing fields surrounded them, and many women held infants in their arms.
’A ceremony celebrating the harvest?’
’And... there are an awful lot of babies.’
Mike noticed the writing recorded on the restored section and carefully began reading it aloud.
"After the two gods appeared, whenever storm and thunder descended upon this land to wreak havoc, they would appear and join forces to drive them away."
Cynthia’s brows furrowed when she heard Mike reading the inscription.
She stared at him.
"After the thunder and storms, the land was left devastated. Crops were destroyed, livestock were lost, and homes collapsed... Perhaps the gods heard our cries, for together they bestowed miracles upon us..."
"The yellow god granted a miracle. For the following years, the soil became fertile and the crops flourished."
"The pink god granted her blessing. Livestock multiplied rapidly, and even the number of children born within the village increased."
"Under the village chief’s guidance, we gave these two deities the titles ’God of the Fields’ and ’Herald of Spring’..."
So this inscription recorded the origins of Landorus and Enamorus’s titles?
Mike raised his head and fell into thought.
"You... can read that writing?"
Cynthia’s voice pulled him back.
Mike turned and found her staring at him curiously.
He nodded lightly.
"I’m very interested in ancient myths and legends, so I taught myself a little."
The corner of Cynthia’s mouth twitched.
’Taught yourself?’
’You taught yourself enough to read the inscription word for word?’
’And that pronunciation sounds completely authentic...’
"Could you share what the inscription says?" Cynthia asked.
Mike nodded without hesitation, then looked at her in confusion.
"You can’t read it?"
"Aren’t you a mythological historian?"
Cynthia: "..."
"My research focuses more heavily on myths and legends themselves," she explained.
"But isn’t this also mythology?"
Mike looked genuinely puzzled.
"Aren’t myths simply events caused by Legendary Pokémon that humans later embellished with religious meaning?"
"The Forces of Nature are considered Legendary Pokémon in Unova, aren’t they?"
"They may not compare with Sinnoh’s legends of the deities of time and space, the Distortion World, or the creator of the universe, but they still belong to mythology."
Cynthia’s silver-gray pupils trembled slightly.
"You also know about Sinnoh’s legends?"
"Just a little," Mike answered.
Cynthia: "..."
She had the distinct feeling that nothing Mike said could be trusted.
He definitely knew far more than "a little."
"So, could you tell me what the inscription says?" Cynthia repeated.
Mike nodded quickly.
"Of course. Follow the writing, and I’ll translate it for you."
Cynthia leaned closer to Mike and looked at the ancient inscription on the screen.
Mike’s voice sounded beside her ear.
"A terrible drought descended from the heavens..."
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