The affairs of the dream world had come to an end for now, and Hikaru’s planned journey to Unova had to be brought forward. He began recalculating his schedule and realized he now urgently needed a more stable way to enter the dream realm consistently.

Originally, the plan had been to visit Mr. Iron in Johto first, then attend an art exhibition in Paldea, and by year’s end, travel to meet with Drayden. The timeline had been quite generous—until the Unova trip was added. Now it was a bit tight.

Thankfully, the transportation system in the Pokémon world was highly developed. Before leaving the dream, Mewtwo offered to teleport Hikaru directly to the Olivine City port, saving him considerable travel time.

The land of Shinto was too remote—a sanctuary forgotten by the world of humans and Pokémon. Without any long-distance flying Pokémon in his team, traveling by land would have taken ages. Charizard flight services from Blackthorn City were a good option, but this was even better.

Also, from Mewtwo, Hikaru learned something else—Ash Ketchum existed in this world too. Apparently, they had crossed paths once in Johto, and his companions were similar to those in the movies.

However, the events of Hoenn had concluded two years ago. Due to the world’s fusion effect, Ash’s journey had deviated from the anime. He likely had minimal to no interaction with Team Magma or Team Aqua. At most, he might’ve encountered a few remnants.

In the manga, even after the villainous teams were defeated, splinter cells continued operating. After all, these were extremist environmental groups. As long as people existed who believed in their ideals, these groups would never be truly gone.

Meeting Ash in the Pokémon world was always a treat. Hikaru looked forward to it with growing anticipation.

That said, Ash’s travel speed remained a complete mystery. Realistically, even a streamlined gym challenge should take six months per region. Multiply that by eight, and that’s four years. But Ash? He seemed to finish a region in just two to three months. It made no sense.

Not to mention… even after all these regions, he never seemed to age. The flow of time across the entire world seemed frozen with him.

Maybe that’s the reason why all the protagonists had similarly youthful appearances—because of Ash’s influence. And if that was the case, all the better!

Don’t scoff—this guy’s literally connected to Arceus.

“Ash is the true god of time.

If time has a deity, then it’s him.

The god of space? That’s definitely Ingo from the Hisui era.

Dialga and Palkia? Forget them—they can’t compare.”

“Just don’t finish your journey too fast, Ash. I still want to experience a few movie plots with you.”

After all, the Legendary Items from the movies were always enticing. Without Ash acting as the plot catalyst, getting your hands on them was far more complicated. But the past was the past. Mewtwo’s Return and Lugia’s Awakening were already long over.

Besides, some characters in those stories probably didn’t have their problems solved by Ash in this world. The original protagonists of those storylines were still active, after all. Even the Clear Cliff event was missing Giovanni here—proof that this world’s history had deviated quite a bit!

“Yuu~!”

Doublade had been bragging ever since waking up.

You guys totally missed out!

New Pokémon, new buildings, Aura moves, boom! Even Miss Lilligant, who was also training with Aura, was super envious.

Then Doublade tried to rope Grotle into its nonsense, saying it would teach him the “ancient kingdom’s secret art!”

Thanks to premium meals, rare medicine, and the protection of the Guard Stone, Grotle had grown faster, stronger, and sturdier than ever. Now, paired with Bullet Seed, he was practically a walking turret. Doublade earnestly explained how to combo:

“Start with any random charging move.

Fire it off—then backstep twice.

Immediately switch to Bullet Seed and unleash it continuously!

Two minutes to master this ancient art of war—you too can be unstoppable!”

Grotle: “…?”

This sounds cool, but… Bullet Seed has random hit counts. You can’t control how many seeds get fired…

“Yuu~!”

Doublade patted his shell.

You’ll get it with practice! Back in the day, the king’s servant Maractus used to fight like this. Even Pin Missile worked the same way—always max hits!

“Let me guess… your Maractus had the illegal Ability Skill Link?” Hikaru mused.

“Looks like your old king was a magician too.”

Doublade: “???”

But this didn’t surprise Hikaru. After all, he had a Drought Larvesta. The Pokémon world was filled with mysterious powers. Some Pokémon were even naturally born with illegal Abilities—like Ash’s Rockruff, who had the Own Tempo Ability that shouldn’t even exist in nature!

Grotle looked conflicted.

The technique sounded amazing… but it felt a little off.

Doublade immediately countered:

“At first, I scoffed too. But if you don’t learn a few life-saving combos, how will you protect yourself and your sweet newbie friends? This is the true way of the knight.”

Hikaru chimed in support. “There’s nothing wrong with using technique. This world is full of unique cases—Grotle, you are already one-of-a-kind.”

Just look at Ash’s Pokémon—Counter Shield, Reversal Barrier, and all kinds of made-up moves that Professor Oak couldn’t even find in the records. Gym Leaders and Champions started copying them!

The double-revenge Counter… Decidueye’s disguise outfit… Feather Dance Substitution… which of these were legal?

Lilligant perked up. Doublade’s words inspired her.

She had been fusing dance styles into graceful battle techniques. What if she went further?

Combining Leaf Blade with Close Combat? And then adding Icy Spin or Clear Mist?

Hikaru burst out laughing.

Lilligant was about to invent combo chains—hit once and trap your opponent in an endless air juggle!

Morning passed quickly. The Pokémon all dove into their training. Over the next few days, Hikaru completed all the items Steven had requested. A new batch of tools was finished, granting Hikaru even more abilities.

The forest Pokémon brought materials and hidden treasures. Steven and Regirock went on a mining spree and couldn’t stop. Gekkou delivered a haul from the mountains: Sky Blue Jade—one of the three unique Hisuian jades—and a pile of sparkling rare bones. As a reward, Hikaru gave it a Rare Candy.

“Specialist Series – Three Key Items”:

Cursed Spade: Combine with Soul Sand to craft Sandygast, boosts Ghost Pokémon growth. If the holder faints after contact, the opponent’s last move’s PP becomes 0.

Silk Scarf: Boosts Normal-type move power by 20%.

Indigo Chiffon: Boosts Dragon-type Atk and Sp. Atk.

Heavenly Mantle: Increases Dragon-type move PP.

Dragon Veil: Raises Evasion by 2 stages in fog.

Dragon Powder: Raises Defense and Sp. Def for Dragon-types.

Purple Chiffon: Boosts Ghost-type Atk and Def.

Shadow Gem: Raises Speed of Ghost-types in fog.

Most items were focused on training rather than battle—but one gave Hikaru pause:

Phantom Cloak. Originally exclusive to Dragonite, it had been generalized to all Dragon-types here. A dusty yellow cloak that caused Dragon Pokémon to recover HP when hit by Ice-type moves.

Blessed are the Dragon-types with 4x Ice weakness!

This thing would sell like hotcakes among Dragon Tamers!

Hikaru also visited the Obsidian Ruins, where the Steel Giant continued refining flame-forging techniques. Hikaru melted some iron to forge a Black Iron Ball, and using his knowledge of Choice Specs, crafted:

Black Glasses – boosts Dark-type move power by 20%.

Wise Glasses – boosts special move power by 10%.

Due to a lack of “glasses crafting proficiency,” these lenses were instead empowered by crystal and polishing methods. They increased precision and gently purified the mind.

This made Hikaru frown a bit—especially while holding the Black Glasses.

Dark-types draw strength from malicious energy—that’s how they scare Ghost-types.

But if the glasses purify the wearer’s heart… wouldn’t that weaken them?

Justice through darkness?

Regirock’s Trading Post had tons of new goods. Rock-types had settled in the Rocky Ruins as miners and collectors. They found special plants to decorate the market:

Smoky Yam

Hopnut Berry

Swordsdance Shroom

Critical Truffle

Sticky Shroom

All in pristine condition.

Geodude said they found them in a swampy wetland near a frozen shrine.

That shrine? None other than Regice’s Iceberg Ruins.

To get these crucial cooking materials, Hikaru planned to visit the shrine soon—and officially befriend Regice, completing the Legendary Titans trio.

Rock, Steel, and Ice—the three essential crafting resources—would then be fully secured.

After that, Hikaru took time to read Cyrus’s mechanical handbook.

Oddly, just skimming a few pages enlightened him to mechanical principles he’d never grasped before—things that had previously eluded him now clicked into place.

[Gained: “Cyrus’s Advanced Mechanics Knowledge”!]

[Bonus: “Cyrus’s Mechanical Insights”!]

[Bonus: “Wave Signal Theory”!]

[Gained: “Precision Engineering” — Allows handcrafting of intricate machine parts. Your part accuracy +100%!]

(End of Chapter)

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep