After finally settling a major matter, the first thing Aiden did when he returned to Sunbeam Gym after a busy day was—
Directly empty his brain and sleep dead to the world, regardless of everything else.
Staying up all night itself requires a lot of sleep to recover energy, not to mention Aiden had maintained alertness throughout, organizing all information along the way at high intensity.
While protecting the students, he also had to guard against Nemona and Red doing anything out of line—
Finally fighting a big battle against the Paradise Protection Protocol at the Area Zero Research Institute.
Any single one of these would be tiring enough, yet all these things were compressed into a single day.
Even Aiden couldn't withstand such mental consumption.
So when he returned to his room and had a big dream, then opened his eyes again—
Good news: it was still bright outside.
Bad news: it was still morning.
Half-sitting in bed, squinting through the curtains, Aiden quickly came to a conclusion.
Did he sleep for a day and night?
But—
When he was that tired, did he really have the energy to pull the curtains?
Aiden was a bit puzzled, but he usually didn't care about insignificant details.
It had been so long since he slept this well!
After quickly changing into home clothes, he stretched and felt unprecedentedly refreshed.
However, when he pushed open the door and was preparing to go to the bathroom for a simple wash-up—
He suddenly froze.
"Syl~"
Sylveon was as usual, sitting curled up lazily on the sofa.
Though foxes are canids, most of Sylveon's behavioral displays were more like a tsundere cat.
No, that's not the point!
The point was the hand resting on its back, gently rubbing from time to time.
Aiden's gaze followed the arm upward, quickly locking onto that flawless profile.
Cynthia?
So she hadn't left—
These days should be workdays, right?
Aiden was initially slightly stunned, but then thinking it was Cynthia, it instantly felt very reasonable.
You've suffered, Lucian!
You are Sinnoh's most important pillar. I hereby declare you Sinnoh League's Larry!
"Syl!"
The sound of the door opening quickly attracted Sylveon and Cynthia's attention.
The originally lazy Sylveon immediately leaped up from the sofa, stepping gracefully to Aiden's side, curiously sniffing carefully.
This seemed to be its way of expressing concern?
Aiden squinted his eyes, smiled dotingly, bent down to pick it up in his arms, and walked toward Cynthia.
He had slept for a day and night—this should have shocked even her too, right?
"You finally woke up, Aiden."
After Aiden sat down beside her, Cynthia suddenly extended three fingers and waved them before him.
"Can you still see clearly how many this is?"
"I'm exhausted from overwork, not hungover—"
Aiden helplessly retorted, but still quickly extended his right hand and made the same gesture.
"After all, there's a saying that sleeping too long and waking up makes you forget some things, so it must be taken seriously."
"But can memories that have already been forgotten be recalled?"
"That's true—"
Cynthia blinked, lowering her forehead to ponder this question.
Seeing her somehow suddenly fall into "ice cream choice difficulty syndrome," Aiden could only helplessly support his forehead.
Once Cynthia fell into this state, it would be half an hour at shortest, half a day at longest, entering focus mode.
So it was better not to disturb her.
Better wash up first!
10 AM.
Aiden, fully recovered, sat at the Gym entrance, staring straight at the useless dragon lying on the big cat cushion, and couldn't help but begin thinking—
Where was my big, handsome Miraidon?
How did it immediately revert to its original form the moment it returned to the Gym?
Bring out your dignity and aura as a Legendary Pokémon, stop slacking off already!
"Graaah?"
——
Seemingly sensing Aiden's gaze, Miraidon confusedly raised its head and made eye contact with him.
Miraidon: What you lookin' at?
"Nothing, just pondering a question."
Aiden smiled and patted its steel head, suddenly taking out a special Poké Ball from his pocket and displaying it before Miraidon.
"This Koraidon, your defeated opponent—how should we handle it?"
Of course, find a—
Wait.
If it was kept at the Gym, paired with Miraidon on the left and right, serving as our Gym's door guardians would be nice.
But they would probably both have some objections—
At least Miraidon's objections seemed quite large.
"Graaah?!"
Hearing Aiden's words, Miraidon was immediately no longer sleepy, directly jumping up from a standstill and landing lightly.
Koraidon? Staying at the Gym?
Looking at Aiden's expression that didn't seem to be joking, Miraidon immediately began seriously considering whether it was still too late to run away from home now?
Miraidon's weak personality successfully took over, warily watching the Poké Ball in Aiden's hand.
Communicating with that muscle-head who solves problems with violence at every turn and probably has nothing but muscles in its brain would be too exhausting.
If it had to live with it, it might as well run away now!
Wait—why should I be afraid of it?
Miraidon suddenly froze, then reacted.
Didn't it just lose to me? It should be the one afraid!
That's right, why should I be the one to leave!
"Graaah!"
Having the experience of defeating the opponent before, Miraidon naturally felt it should be the boss of the household.
Just one more little brother—that's fine then!
"You agree?"
"Then I'll release it~"
Aiden raised an eyebrow, and seeing Miraidon nod, lightly pressed the Poké Ball button.
"GROOOAR!!!"
Koraidon, which had recovered quite a bit of strength in the Poké Ball, immediately let out a startlingly powerful roar upon appearing.
At the same time, it also focused its attention completely on Miraidon and Aiden beside it, assuming a vigilant defensive posture, slowly retreating step by step.
According to ancient species' concepts, they only respected strength, theoretically only submitting to those stronger who had defeated them.
But Koraidon and Miraidon were old rivals—naturally, they couldn't truly submit to each other from the heart.
Even if it luckily won once last time, it was only 1:1, a draw!
So, wanting it to submit just like this was impossible!
Koraidon's gaze was extremely sharp, even carrying some disdain when looking at Miraidon.
After all, it was a powerhouse and wouldn't bow and scrape like that one, being controlled by a weak human!
That AI only temporarily cooperated with it using the Time Machine's rules to control some Paradox species!
I'd rather die than follow in Miraidon's footsteps!
This was what Koraidon originally thought.
But soon—
Its loud roar just now had alerted the other Pokémon in the Gym.
"Pon?"
Ogerpon wearing the Wellspring Mask poked its head out from the nearby garden first.
Though the opponent didn't seem hostile, Koraidon still immediately sensed a powerful aura, and two beads of cold sweat immediately formed on its forehead.
Counting Miraidon, that was only two Pokémon—
Couldn't stop it!
It was preparing to move backward bit by bit to a safe distance, but suddenly felt a chill on its back, so subconsciously turned to look.
"Luca?"
A Lucario had somehow appeared behind it, confusedly patting its back.
Seemingly feeling the sturdiness of its body.
(T/N: Gotta give the dawg that sturdy pat)
When?!
Koraidon completely hadn't sensed the opponent's presence, which meant—if it really wanted to make a move against it, it would have already succeeded with a sneak attack just now!
More cold sweat appeared on Koraidon's forehead.
Three—with desperate effort, it wasn't impossible to fight!
But the escape route was already blocked—it would probably have to focus on breaking through in one direction.
And the easiest one to beat among them should be its defeated opponent Miraidon!
Can't stay here anymore, or if more Pokémon appear, it would be even harder to escape!
Thinking this, Koraidon no longer hesitated, immediately about to step out and pounce on Miraidon first.
And at this moment.
"Syl?"
The Gym door was suddenly pushed open, and Sylveon immediately poked out from behind the door, confusedly looking at Koraidon beside Lucario.
The one making noise just now should be this guy, right?
Although it didn't know why the opponent from before was also brought back by the trainer—
But since it came to the Gym, it should be a companion.
So Sylveon no longer cared about its previous noise, approaching the opponent with graceful steps step by step.
However, with every step it took forward, Koraidon's expression became paler, and soon it was visibly sweating profusely—
The two Pokémon that appeared before were strong, but not to the extent of giving it extremely outrageous oppressive pressure.
But this seemingly cute, plainly unremarkable Pokémon with no combat power at first glance somehow gave it a nearly "bloodline suppression" suffocating feeling.
Can't win, absolutely can't win!
Why is it still walking toward me? Does it already find me annoying and want to teach me a lesson first???
Don't come over!
Forced by the situation, Koraidon immediately made a decision—a great man can bend and stretch!
Today it would submit first, and find a chance to get back at them later!
"Grooah—"
Koraidon quickly let out a low growl representing submission, lowering its proud body and putting its posture at the lowest.
"Roar——!"
By the time Salamence, moving on all fours like a big lizard, ran over from the inn beside the Gym to watch the excitement upon hearing the commotion, it could only see Koraidon already prostrate on the ground, incomparably obedient.
"Syl~"
Sylveon was extending the ribbon-like feelers from its neck, gently rubbing Koraidon's head on behalf of its hands.
"Graaah—"
This left Miraidon nearby almost speechless.
This guy, it seemed like it was about to attack me just now, but after I secretly prepared to counterattack at any time, it suddenly gave up.
But, this was fine too.
Even as transportation vehicles, there was a family hierarchy!
Clearly, the newly arrived Koraidon's status in the household was much lower than its own.
That was enough!
Miraidon nodded in satisfaction and quickly resumed its previous lazy appearance, directly falling back onto its soft cat cushion for an afternoon nap.
"That Pokémon, should be Miraidon's ancient species counterpart, right?"
Cynthia also came outside soon, sitting beside Aiden and looking with interest at Koraidon "friendly interacting" with Sylveon.
"Yes, it's called Koraidon."
Aiden nodded, then added a sentence.
"However, Paradox species only resemble some modern Pokémon in appearance—the specific connection isn't really clear yet."
"And don't look at them—each one more embarrassing than the last, but they are genuine Legendary Pokémon."
"Legendary Pokémon?"
Cynthia blinked, seeming somewhat incredulous.
But in Aiden's view, this was normal.
Sinnoh was from an older era, not understanding the aesthetics and logic of their new-generation Pokémon was perfectly normal.
He still had a sleeping Legendary Pokémon hidden in his pocket!
Speaking of which, had he unknowingly achieved the "rare achievement" of packing all three of Paldea's cover Legendaries and taking them home?
Looking at Koraidon being furiously rubbed on the head by Sylveon, Aiden belatedly discovered this.
Adding in the other not-quite-legal Pokémon at home—
Do I still have any "ordinary Pokémon" at home?
Moreover, with the addition of the sleeping little turtle and Koraidon, had the Legendary Pokémon content in his household increased again?
Right, there was also Flutter Mane sleeping in his shadow!
Aiden touched the ground with both hands, quickly merging into the shadow beneath his feet, and when he raised them again, he was already holding a peacefully sleeping perm Misdreavus.
"Almost forgot, there's also you little fellow."
Aiden raised it high, displaying it to Cynthia beside him.
"This Paradox species is called Flutter Mane. I don't know if this one is special, but it seems to have no hostility toward humans and is quite affectionate."
Cynthia reached out to take it, examining it curiously.
"It really does resemble Misdreavus, and should also be a Ghost-type Pokémon, right?"
"Yes, it's Misdreavus's ancient species."
Aiden nodded.
"Doesn't it feel magical? Ghost-type Pokémon have nearly infinite lifespans, so under normal circumstances their appearance shouldn't change significantly over time."
"But between Misdreavus and its ancient species, there's a very obvious difference—even the typing has changed."
"No one knows what the reason is."
After Aiden finished speaking, Cynthia looked at Flutter Mane's cute sleeping face for a while longer, then suddenly remarked: "Yes, until now we still have much unknown about our understanding of Pokémon."
"Not to mention the distant future and past—even the present has many mysteries waiting to be answered."
"For example, the ancient Gengar and ancient Alakazam once discovered in Kanto, and very rare Shiny Pokémon with changed body colors."
"But as long as we can maintain our love for Pokémon and continue exploring deeply—"
When Cynthia spoke, there seemed to be light in her eyes.
"Perhaps one day, we will completely understand these magical creatures called Pokémon and get along with them forever."
"The appearances of those future species might also be the result of their mutual adaptation with humans?"
"Who knows."
Aiden responded noncommittally.
Originally he was preparing to continue chatting with Cynthia after so long, but just as he was about to speak, the Rotom Phone in his pocket suddenly rang.
Opening it to look, it was actually an unknown call from the Unova region—
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