“GAAAH! (Hey! You tree-planting mantis! We’ve got a pest problem over here! Come handle it!)”

Giratina was stunned as it watched the apples “run away,” its expression turning serious. It had once observed how human farmers dealt with pests while peering into the real world. If this wasn’t stopped immediately, all the apples it had painstakingly grown would be devoured by these bugs!

In the distance, Scizor was diligently planting trees. Hearing Giratina’s call, it tilted its head in confusion and pointed at itself:

“Hass? Ha! (You want me to deal with the pests? But I am a bug!)”

It had never heard of a bug-type being asked to deal with other bugs. But Scizor flapped its wings and clanked forward with heavy steps toward the rolling apples, fixing its gaze on one in particular and striking with Metal Claw!

It caught one of the fleeing apples—still green!

“Crriiik!”

The apple let out a panicked squeal. Scizor was startled as two large eyes popped out of the apple and locked onto its own—and then the apple screamed!

A faint ghostly aura suddenly burst forth, making Scizor jump!

“Gah? (Was that… Astonish!?)”

Watching the caught green apple use that move, Giratina was equally surprised.

Could these bugs have been born under the influence of the Distortion World’s power? That was definitely a Ghost-type move just now.

“Hass?” Scizor, now annoyed, grabbed the creature’s “tail” protruding from the apple and started pulling.

“Crriiik! Crriiik!” The bug hiding inside the apple panicked, its big eyes showing pain and desperation. It pleaded with Scizor not to yank it out! Its cries attracted the attention of the other rolling apples, who all hopped over and started bombarding Scizor with Astonish, making it glance around in all directions.

Hey! These little things were ganging up on it!

Scizor raised both of its clawed pincers and held them beside its head. Suddenly, a terrifying aura emanated from it. The apples, trying to scare Scizor, were now being intimidated themselves. They scattered in all directions—some even fainting on the spot!

Scizor had lifted its pincers, which had patterns resembling eyeballs, making it look like it had three heads. It was a well-known intimidation technique. Pokémon with weak hearts were especially vulnerable to it—some might even faint just from fear!

The green apple’s eyes went dull, and tears welled up in them.

Nooo… don’t hurt my apple!

Scizor looked down at the tearful green apple and suddenly lost all desire to fight.

It felt like it was bullying something tiny and weak. Honestly, it wouldn’t even bat an eye at creatures like this in the wild.

“Gaaah…” Giratina, after observing these “bugs” for a while, finally noticed something different.

They didn’t seem like pests. More like… Pokémon?

But they still ate its apples!

Giratina didn’t recognize these odd creatures, so it decided to consult Hikaru. It called out through their soul connection:

[What do you do if your apple trees have pests? These things look like Pokémon, but I’ve never seen them. What should I do with them?]

The soul-call quickly received a response.

“Pokémon that live inside apples? Could they be… Applin?”

[Applin? So they are pests? Should I remove them from the apples?]

“No, no. Applin is a kind of Pokémon that’s born inside apples. It spends its whole life in the apple, eating the fruit flesh as it grows. In fact, it secretes fluids that strengthen the apple’s skin and prevent rot. If it loses its apple, it’ll start to dry out and weaken—maybe even die.”

“Although ordinary pests can be dealt with using bug spray, Applin actually helps apple trees grow. It has an Ability called Ripening, which can make berries ripen quickly and even double their effects.”

[THAT good?!]

Upon hearing that, Giratina’s opinion on the apple-chomping bugs shifted immediately.

“Oh, but it also has an Ability called Gluttony. That one causes it to eat berries early, which can be a bit annoying. But I can fix that by feeding them more Pokéblocks.”

“Plus, they can learn a move called Recycle, letting them regrow consumed berries. Though it’s rare for Applin to know that move, I’ve got a way to teach them all—just need Celebi’s statue.”

Giratina was thrilled! It looked over the pile of collapsed Applin on the ground and started considering letting them stay and help grow trees.

“GAAAH! (No need to deal with them anymore. Turns out they’re special Pokémon. Scizor, release it!)”

“Hass…” Scizor reluctantly opened its pincers, dropping the green Applin with a thud.

The other Applin immediately rushed over, sheltering the green one among the apple pile. But every single one of them trembled as they glanced at Scizor and Giratina—

What terrifying monsters!

“Gaaah…”

(I am Giratina, the ruler of this world—this is the Distortion World, also known as the Reverse World. Why are you living in the apples I planted?)

(Those apples belong to me. You ate them without my permission and caused me great trouble.)

Giratina’s words instantly triggered panic in the Applin, who trembled and responded:

“Crriiik crriiik!?”

(We don’t know! We just woke up already inside the apples! Please don’t eat us!)

Huh? Pokémon that naturally spawned?

Giratina was utterly confused.

How could that happen? The Reverse World wasn’t like the real world with Arceus watching over it!

“Hass…” Scizor chimed in then, saying the feeling it had when pulling their tails wasn’t quite right…

They didn’t seem like Bug-types.

Now Giratina was even more confused.

Not Bug-types? Then… Grass-types?

“Applin is a Grass and Dragon-type Pokémon,” Hikaru’s soul-voice echoed again.

At last, Giratina understood where they had come from!

Most Grass-types had plant-like traits. Which meant… these little things may have existed as some kind of form on the apple trees themselves. Then, after being stimulated by Hikaru’s Pokémon, they were born when the apples formed—and immediately dove inside.

The strange texture when Scizor touched them…

Was because they were DRAGONS?!

What kind of dragon looks like that?!

“GAAAHHH~!”

In mid-air, Giratina twisted its body in disbelief and then addressed the Applin:

(Since you’ve entered the Distortion World, why not stay here? I’m cultivating high-quality apples, and it seems you have the power to make them ripen faster. I want to borrow that ability.)

(Work for me. In exchange, I’ll share the delicious apples we grow. Let’s turn this place into an apple orchard!)

The Applin looked at each other and started chirping in discussion.

Green Apple: “Crriiik (This giant monster seems like a Demon King… it looks vicious)~”

Red Apple A: “Crriiik (Are we being kidnapped? I don’t want to be eaten…)~”

Red Apple B: “Crriiik! (We’re gonna be forced to work for this Demon King! If we don’t want to get eaten, we’d better offer him apples as tribute!)”

Red Apple C: “Crriiik… (But the apples here taste really good. If we get to eat them every day, I guess working’s not so bad…)”

That last remark got unanimous agreement from the group.

Sure, the monster looked scary—and so did that humanoid with three heads—but these apples were delicious!

Even when unripe, they were bursting with flavor. Fully ripe? They’d be heavenly!

For the sake of those apples… we accept!

Besides, we’ve got nowhere else to go!

(End of Chapter)

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep