“Here, take these back.” Entei used telekinesis to move the two pieces of charcoal back toward Hikaru, but Hikaru waved his hand.

“No, keep them. They’re a gift.”

“This Scorching Charcoal was made with a unique burning technique. When held by a Fire-type Pokémon, it helps unlock their potential.”

“Oh?” Entei’s eyes lit up slightly. “No wonder my power surged when I got that charcoal before. It’s definitely not ordinary… But is it really okay to give it away just like that?”

“It’s fine. As long as I’ve got oak wood, I can make more. Consider it a greeting gift.” Hikaru smiled, then glanced at Suicune apologetically. “I don’t have anything on hand to enhance Water-type Pokémon right now, but I’ll bring you something good when I make one.”

Among the three Legendary Beasts, Suicune wasn’t really an offensive Pokémon. It was more of a tank-type, with incredibly high defenses and HP. So if you were going to give Suicune a gift, honestly, “leftovers” might be more appropriate.

To Entei’s surprise, Suicune—who he remembered usually didn’t accept gifts from humans—actually smiled.

“Interesting gift. I’ll look forward to it.”

Entei blinked. “Wait, is this also part of the test? Testing his crafting skills?”

“No, I’m just simply looking forward to it,” Suicune said with a sly smile, the corners of its mouth slightly curled. “And don’t forget our agreement at Ecruteak City.”

“And the Rainbow Trial… If you have time, start the journey.”

“Hold on. I might not have any Water-type enhancing items, but—” Hikaru rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a golden, shining apple.

“A Golden Apple!”

“This is…?” Suicune sniffed it, its eyes full of curiosity.

If we were playing jokes here, the apple should have an inscription that says “To the Most Beautiful Pokémon.” But in truth, even among all Pokémon, Suicune was known for its beauty. Saying it was beautiful wouldn’t be wrong at all.

“A Golden Apple cultivated in the Reverse World. It can be stored for a long time without rotting. When eaten during hunger, it immediately satisfies the eater, boosts all base stats, removes any status conditions, and fully heals HP lost from damage.”

Suicune’s eyes sharpened instantly.

This… this was the real deal!

There’s no way ordinary forests produced this kind of fruit. Cultivated in the Reverse World? Where was that?

How had it never heard of such a world? And—wait—it wasn’t even referred to as a “region,” but as a “world!”

“You’re a truly mysterious human.”

Whether it was the Victini that had been summoned from an ancient world, or this Golden Apple from the Reverse World—when had “world” become a concept just casually thrown around like a neighborhood?

Suicune and Entei exchanged glances. Entei had wanted that apple too, but it had already received a pair of Scorching Charcoals.

When the phantom Entei vanished, its charcoal had been left behind. Unlike Victini, which had taken its charcoal with it upon disappearing.

“I’ll prepare more Golden Apples next time. You’ll get one too,” Hikaru promised.

“Wait, you have more of these?!” Entei’s eyes flickered with confusion. It had assumed that such a rare fruit was the result of a long and arduous adventure—a treasure. But the way Hikaru talked, it was like he could get them whenever he wanted. Were these things just lying around in that Reverse World!?

“Oh, right, you wouldn’t know.”

Even though there was another set of shiny-colored Ho-Oh Guardians in Sinnoh’s Crown City, news of Giratina and the Reverse World wasn’t exactly common knowledge.

Even in the anime’s information-happy world, the professor who researched the Reverse World had spent years in secret investigation just to barely enter it.

Hikaru casually invited Suicune and Entei to visit the Reverse World, saying the ruler and residents there would be glad to meet them. Suicune and Entei gave each other a serious look—this would require more thought.

But in any case… thanks for the Golden Apple!

Suicune nodded. “Then I’ll accept it with gratitude.”

Entei looked past the broken wall at the distant sky. Because the crystal had vanished and the Unown had been driven away, the crystallization phenomenon covering this land was rapidly receding. The horizon was beginning to glow with the light of dawn.

Grass swayed gently, life returning to the land. Between two dark green mountains in the distance, a golden sun slowly rose, spilling its warm light across the earth.

“It’s time for us to go too. Thank you for your answers.”

“Wait a second—” Suicune rolled up the Golden Apple with its ribbon-like mane and stored it in the misty fur on its back. Then, the crystal on its forehead began to emit a soft glow as it stared at Doublade, sending out a strange psychic communication.

The wind began to rise.

Whooosh!

With a gust that wasn’t quite a storm, Suicune turned, and together with Entei, leapt into the air, disappearing into the clouds and mist.

Doublade stood there, wrapped in the north wind. Its two eyes blinked as it uncertainly patted its scabbard with its ribbon.

“Yowuu~ Pu!”

Just now, that Legendary Pokémon named Suicune had taught it a new move!

Whoosh!

Doublade spun rapidly, creating dozens of swirling air currents on either side of its sheath. It drew its blades in a crisscross slash, sending those wind swirls slicing through the air—razor-sharp wind blades crashed into the distant ground!

This was Air Slash! A Flying-type move that could even cut through the sky. It had a 30% chance to make opponents flinch!

The Blessing of the North Wind. Suicune, upon appearing, would always stir the northern wind—it was the incarnation of the North Wind itself.

Suicune wasn’t just a master of Water- and Ice-type moves. When it came to Flying-type wind-based techniques, it was also highly proficient—Air Slash, Gust, Tailwind, and Ice-type moves like Icy Wind and Blizzard.

“They’re gone…” Ash and the others stared blankly at the sky where the two Legendary Beasts had vanished.

Misty, however, could barely hold herself back.

Her question had been interrupted by the Legendary Beasts earlier, but now she could finally ask again!

“Leaf? I don’t know her.”

Though he said that, Hikaru did know her.

That was the female protagonist from FireRed/LeafGreen! Because of the Special Manga adaptation, she was often mistaken for Blue, but in truth, she was created based on Blue’s design and a gender-flipped Red.

In terms of strength, she was on par with Red and Green—a definite regional champion-level Trainer!

The Kanto trio: Red, Green, and Blue… and Leaf! A trio of four, just like how the Elite Four sometimes has five members. Totally normal.

“You want to buy more battle items? No problem! Though I’ve been a bit busy lately.” Hikaru stroked his chin, putting on a mock thoughtful expression.

“Ah, I see. So Professor Oak introduced them to Green, and Green introduced them to Leaf. What an honor to have my tools praised by such renowned Trainers!”

“You’re calling them ‘Mr.’ and ‘Ms.’… No need to be so formal.” Misty laughed. “You’re probably older than us, right?”

“Also, after hearing about Leaf, I kind of want to buy some battle gear too! I know I introduced myself before, but let me do it properly now.”

“I’m Misty, current Gym Leader of Cerulean City. I’m traveling to become the world’s greatest Water-type Trainer! My sisters are watching over the Gym for now, but honestly, they’re not very reliable…”

Though it wasn’t obvious at first glance, Misty was a bit of a “battle maniac” too—just not as intense as Ash, who challenged everyone he met.

In the games, Misty was the only one in Cerulean City who could beat every Trainer on Route 25. NPCs described her as “a Trainer constantly growing stronger, training where Water-type Pokémon gather.” She even said once, “When I get strong enough, I’ll go on a journey too.”

So in this version of the world, Misty had probably been defeated in succession by Red, Green, Leaf, and possibly even Blue, before finally meeting Ash. That was likely what made her decide to get stronger and hit the road.

Apparently, Gym Leaders could lose their rank after a certain number of defeats? If that’s the case, then the Kanto Gyms must’ve gone through a collective humiliation a few years back!

A string of official losses, with a record deep in the red—rated 3.0 stars.

Still, if everyone lost, then technically nobody did. The Indigo League couldn’t just shut down every Gym. Then there’d be no one left to run things.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have any Water-type enhancing items at the moment…”

Misty quickly waved her hands, a bit embarrassed. “Actually, I was going to ask if you had anything like a Mystic Water… but then I heard you say you didn’t have anything for Water-types when you were talking to Suicune… So now I’m kind of…”

“Don’t worry,” Hikaru smiled reassuringly. “While power is important for victory, it’s not the only factor. Not every Pokémon is suited to power-boosting items.”

“So, which of your Pokémon do you want to strengthen? I guarantee these tools will work wonders. I’ll even give you a discount.”

He pulled out a variety of items, dazzling Misty with the options.

Ash, who had been holding back, finally couldn’t help himself and rushed over.

“What, what?! Battle gear?!”

“Yep! Mr. Hikaru here makes items that are really popular with top-tier Trainers. That charcoal he gave to Charizard was a special one too. Entei even took a pair! Look—Charizard still has it in its claws.”

Misty pointed toward Charizard, who was still holding a piece of the Scorching Charcoal.

Despite all his experiences, Ash—like most Trainers—never really thought about battling with held items. Most just carried berries. The idea of battling with specialized gear was something only Gym Leaders, elite Trainers, or Champions did.

Part of the reason was also that these items were hard to come by. Many were awarded as prizes in tournaments.

Once, in a competition at the Whirl Islands, the winner received a Mystic Water—a Water-type enhancing item. The recipient was called the “Hero of the Sea.”

At this rate, everyone’s a hero!

Oh, and in those islands was a special orb called the Soul of the Ocean, held by the priestess who hosted the tournament. It could bestow a special blessing—letting the chosen Trainer communicate with all Water-type Pokémon.

“By the way, Ash, did you ever pass the Rainbow Trial?” Hikaru asked while sorting through his items.

“Huh? You mean the time I battled Ho-Oh on Mt. Tensei?”

Ash recalled one of his many adventures. Misty and Brock didn’t react much—they clearly already knew about it.

That made sense. By now, the Ash of this world had likely told Erika about that journey before heading to Ecruteak. And with the Rainbow Wing in his possession, no one would question his legitimacy.

Misty quickly jumped in to cut off Ash before he went off on a wild tangent.

“I-I want to strengthen Starmie—”

“Kwaa!”

A Poké Ball suddenly burst open on its own, and a dopey-looking yellow Psyduck popped out!

Everyone: “…”

“Ah, so it’s Psyduck,” Hikaru nodded.

“No! It ran out on its own again!” Misty’s face flushed with frustration. Even in this world, Psyduck had found Misty and become her Pokémon—no change in its personality at all!

The infamous Duck God strikes again!

“Don’t be mad. Your Psyduck has strong psychic power, doesn’t it? I can feel it… even though it’s not a Psychic-type.”

Hikaru remembered Psyduck’s gimmick—once the headache hit its limit, it would unleash terrifying psychic power. Even though Misty’s Psyduck couldn’t swim and only knew Water Gun as a Water-type move, it could use Confusion freely, and it was even more powerful than most actual Psychic-types!

“This is the Psychic Bracelet. With it, you’ll be able to—cough—strengthen your psychic abilities. And this one—this is the Psychic Glass Whistle. It boosts Psychic-type move power and enhances psychic control. Take it.”

“Huh? But I don’t have psychic powers…”

“Exactly. The bracelet is for Psyduck.”

Hikaru slid the bracelet onto Psyduck’s arm. The duck blinked at the fancy accessory—then its eyes lit up!

“Kwaa!” Psyduck cheered, spinning around happily.

“See? He loves it.” Hikaru patted Psyduck on the head.

With these tools, Duck God’s psychic powers would be even stronger!

“That’s just because he’s a sucker for freebies…” Misty muttered, covering her face.

“As for Starmie, its best item would be the Eviolite. But that’s rare. This’ll work instead: Choice Specs. They drastically boost special attack, but lock you into one move. It’s great for Pokémon like Starmie or Starmie’s evolution.”

Hikaru handed over a uniquely shaped yellow pair of glasses, then scanned the area.

Wait… Where was Team Rocket?

Uh-oh. Just when he was about to secure the tech—poof, gone?

Who was going to cover the gap in his green tech now!?

(End of Chapter)

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep