Perhaps because every passing Trainer asked about it after seeing the scene, the villagers had long since grown accustomed to explaining it.
"Our village places great faith in Xatu's divinations. And Xatu's prophecies are extremely accurate. Listening to its predictions has been a tradition in our village for several hundred years."
That was how the villager explained it.
Silas immediately caught the key point in his words.
"For several hundred years? You mean the Xatu performing the divinations has never changed?"
If that were true, just how old would that Xatu be?
Although a Pokémon's strength wasn't directly proportional to its age, for Psychic-types especially, the longer they lived, the stronger their psychic power generally became.
Their bodies might weaken or age, limiting sustained output, but the psychic power itself undeniably accumulated over time.
"Of course not," the villager hurriedly waved his hands. "But the oldest Xatu currently performing divinations is said to be around eighty or ninety years old."
"I see."
Silas and Brock nodded in understanding.
Even so, a Xatu living that long was still quite astonishing.
Ninetales from earlier had seemed energetic despite being over two hundred years old, but in reality, even Pokémon only lived somewhat longer than humans in most cases.
The old saying "Ninetales live a thousand years, Wartortle ten thousand" was enough to show how unusually long-lived those species were.
Aside from those exceptions, even Absol living beyond one hundred years old had already been classified by humans as a long-lived Pokémon and specifically noted in the Pokédex.
Generally speaking, a healthy Pokémon without major injuries or illnesses had a lifespan not too different from humans, sometimes even shorter.
From that perspective, Blaziken's earlier worries really weren't very necessary.
Assuming everything went smoothly, Trainer and Pokémon would probably pass away not too far apart from each other.
Great strength could slow aging to a certain extent, but it could not grant immortality.
In the Pokémon world, only the so-called Legendary Pokémon, beings that were essentially embodiments of natural laws could truly possess the near-broken ability known as eternal life.
That was also why almost every household in the Pokémon world treated Pokémon as family members; their lifespans generally aligned closely with humans'.
Take Fighting-type Pokémon, the species most similar to humans, as an example.
If a person began training a Machop at sixteen years old and eventually reached seventy or eighty years old, becoming frail with age, then Machoke or Machamp would usually be in much the same state, either suffering from bad joints or weakened legs.
Many Fighting-type dojos gradually declined for precisely this reason.
After all, both the dojo master and their Pokémon inevitably weakened over time, while raising a truly outstanding successor was incredibly difficult.
A style like Silas' own "Invisible Slash Style," which could continuously develop and thrive across generations, was extremely rare.
Of course, there were still Pokémon species with absurdly long lifespans, Ghost-types, for example, aside from Ninetales and Wartortle.
Humans still hadn't figured out exactly how long Ghost-types could live, but it was certain that they weren't truly immortal; they simply possessed outrageously long lifespans.
After all, their "food" consisted of things like human emotions and souls. Living longer than normal seemed perfectly reasonable.
Just as Brock was preparing to ask more questions with great interest, the villager suddenly became excited.
He quickly returned to his seat, staring intently across the canyon without blinking.
Xatu's divination was beginning.
Several Xatu flew out from a cave on the opposite side of the canyon before landing atop a stone platform.
Immediately afterward, a middle-aged woman emerged from the cave and stepped onto the platform.
"Everyone, today's divination is about to begin, so please prepare yourselves.
Now then, let us divine today's weather. What kind of weather will today bring?"
After speaking, the woman turned toward the Xatu.
The Xatu gazed at the sky briefly before flapping their wings in a series of gestures.
"This is Pokémon semaphore?"
Thanks to his mastery of obscure knowledge, Silas quickly understood the meaning behind the Xatu's movements.
"Roughly speaking sunny turning cloudy, but no rain?"
"You can understand that?" Brock stared with his mouth wide open in shock.
Honestly, he didn't even know something called Pokémon semaphore existed.
Silas nodded.
"A little bit."
He pinched his thumb and index finger together slightly to indicate "just a little."
"This kind of communication method is usually used more often during sea voyages. On land, the only example I know is that the Pidgey courier shops have their own Pokémon semaphore system."
He casually explained.
Most forms of communication including spoken language, primarily relied on memory.
As long as you could memorize them, you could usually use them.
That happened to suit Silas perfectly.
Back during his school days, he had learned quite a few strange bits of knowledge like this while spending time in the library. It wasn't difficult for him anyway.
At that moment, the middle-aged woman above finally spoke again.
"Today will be sunny, not cloudy. Even if clouds appear, it will not rain, so there is no need to bring umbrellas."
Brock nodded slightly.
"So the information gets interpreted and refined afterward. No wonder the accuracy is so high."
"The shrine maiden is very impressive," the villager proudly lifted his chin. "But this young Trainer here is also the only person in recent years capable of understanding Xatu's divination directly."
He looked toward Silas.
At first, the villager hadn't believed Silas' interpretation, but the shrine maiden's explanation ended up nearly identical.
To him, that was an incredibly impressive skill.
"A shrine maiden, huh…"
Silas found the title pleasantly old-fashioned, very fitting for Johto's traditions.
The five Kimono Girls of Ecruteak City could technically be considered a similar kind of profession as well, though they served Ho-Oh, making them much higher-status.
The villagers gradually dispersed and returned to their nearby homes.
No rain meant another busy workday ahead.
"That's it?" Brock sounded disappointed.
The villager looked at him strangely.
"Of course. Unless some major event is about to happen, Xatu only predicts the weather."
Still unwilling to give up, Brock asked.
"Then has the Xatu here ever predicted any major events?"
"The great flood from long ago. But only the shrine maiden knows the exact details. We villagers only know that such a prophecy exists."
The villager was starting to sound impatient. He pointed toward the shrine maiden preparing to leave the platform above.
"If you want details, go ask the shrine maiden yourself. I need to get back to work."
With that, he departed the canyon together with his family.
Silas felt as though Brock's entire body had turned gray from disappointment.
Patting his friend's shoulder, he laughed.
"That's normal. The map already mentioned this place, didn't it?"
"I thought every place we visited would have exciting experiences"
Having never traveled far from home before, Brock looked rather dejected.
Silas burst into laughter.
"No way. Boring moments are the normal part of traveling. How could every single place have some major event happening?"
Neither he nor Brock was Ash or Conan.
There was no way disasters or world-changing events would happen everywhere they went.
If every Trainer's life were that "eventful," the Pokémon world would've become complete chaos long ago.
"Come on, let's go ask the shrine maiden about the prophecy."
Silas suggested with interest.
He was genuinely curious about a prophecy that had supposedly lasted nearly a century.
Xatu possessed very unusual habits.
After silently watching the rising morning sun and offering prayers, they would remain nearly motionless for the entire day.
People believed Xatu stayed still because it had foreseen terrifying events yet to occur in the future.
Many regions even had legends claiming that Xatu's right eye could see the future while its left eye could see the past.
But a prophecy spanning such a ridiculously long timeframe was still incredibly rare.
The two quickly climbed up to the high platform overlooking the canyon.
The woman known as the shrine maiden was currently feeding the Xatu.
Silas took a quick glance.
The yellow stripes around its waist numbered only two.
A female Xatu.
(Males had three.)
The humanoid Xatu's body was entirely green. Its white wings were folded together in front of its chest, making the patterns on its body resemble red eyes. Two long red feathers extended from the back of its head.
From appearance alone, it truly did possess the aura of a prophet.
Brock stepped forward and explained why they had come.
Silas silently complained to himself from the side.
"So it absolutely has to be a young and pretty older-sister type, huh? Brock really is picky."
"Ah-choo!"
Brock suddenly sneezed in the middle of speaking with the shrine maiden.
"S-Sorry, excuse me." His face reddened slightly.
The shrine maiden didn't mind.
"The prophecy about the flood that was from a very long time ago. Back then, it was still my grandmother who served as the shrine maiden responsible for communicating with Xatu." She gently stroked the motionless Xatu beside her. "It should be true, though. After all, neither it nor its predecessors have ever made mistakes when predicting the weather."
"Did the prophecy mention roughly when the flood would happen?" Brock asked.
The shrine maiden shook her head.
"It only said it would occur roughly one hundred years later. By now there should be around seven or eight years remaining."
"Seven or eight years…"
Brock instantly looked dejected.
In his mind, by then he would already have become the Gym Leader of Pewter Gym and wouldn't be able to travel anymore, meaning he'd never personally witness whether the prophecy came true.
Silas calculated the timeline silently.
Could this be another event Ash would eventually run into?
Even though he didn't remember seeing any related anime episodes, with timing and circumstances like this, Ash would probably end up involved somehow.
After all, he was basically the world's protagonist.
The shrine maiden continued speaking.
"I do believe the flood will come. But divination has never existed to provide people with solutions.
Divination exists to give people courage. It may be accurate, or it may not, but people who rely entirely on prophecy will eventually be led around by prophecy itself.
Everyone's life should be decided by themselves.
Although Xatu possesses the power to foresee the future, it does not possess the power to change the future.
The reason it remains motionless is likely because, even though it can see the future, the future it sees may not be one it desires."
"That's surprisingly philosophical," Brock sighed in admiration.
Silas agreed wholeheartedly.
He had never truly believed in things like "a predetermined future."
Even after Sabrina had displayed similar abilities before, he still believed she had most likely mistaken him for someone else.
Or rather, the "Silas" she saw in the future probably wasn't truly him.
The possibilities of the future weren't something any human or Pokémon could clearly define.
For example, in the future Ash would experience the Celebi incident and meet a young Professor Oak. But was it because of that event that Ash eventually met Pikachu, or was he always destined to meet Pikachu anyway?
That was an unknowable and unprovable question.
There was no real point discussing it.
The future others saw was not necessarily the future one would ultimately experience. Only after personally living through events could anything truly become fixed.
Lost in thought, Silas suddenly grinned.
"A future without a future isn't the future I want something like that, I guess?"
"What are you smiling about?" Brock asked curiously.
"Just remembered something funny." Silas shrugged casually.
He quickly changed the subject.
"But right now, aren't the villagers here being led around by these prophecies?"
The shrine maiden's smile stiffened slightly.
"There's nothing we can really do about it.
The prophecy of the coming flood weighs heavily on everyone's minds. As long as it hasn't happened yet, the villagers cannot separate their lives from Xatu."
She herself hoped the villagers would stop relying so heavily on Xatu's predictions, but if they did and the flood actually occurred, things would become disastrous.
"They trust Xatu's prophecy so much that they refuse to relocate," Brock quickly understood. "They believe Xatu's predictions will help guide them to safety."
It wasn't exactly wrong thinking, but it definitely lacked initiative.
"I've tried persuading them before, but our people have lived here for generations. Leaving is simply too difficult."
The shrine maiden looked toward Xatu, a trace of confusion visible in her eyes.
Perhaps only when the flood truly arrived would things finally change.
"Enough about that. Would you two like Xatu to take a look at your futures?"
She smiled gently.
Both Silas and Brock politely declined.
A future with no real meaning was better left unknown.
The two soon departed the area.
As it watched Silas and Brock disappear into the distance, the Xatu very rarely moved its head slightly.
"One person's future is filled with endless possibilities, while the other's future is both fixed and endlessly variable?" the shrine maiden interpreted its meaning. "Looks like you really are getting old if you're making confused prophecies like that."
In the past, Xatu only ever gave two kinds of predictions.
One was a fixed future, usually belonging to ordinary people.
The other was a future filled with many possibilities, usually belonging to famous or extraordinary individuals.
But a mixture of both had never appeared before.
Although the shrine maiden deeply trusted Xatu, she still suspected this was simply a symptom of old age and confusion.
After that brief movement, Xatu returned to its perfectly motionless state once more, leaving nobody able to understand exactly what it had seen.
...
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