"S-Syleve?!!"
When the nine-colored tree suddenly uprooted itself, Sylveon was genuinely frightened.
Its trainer didn't say this thing was alive!
Moreover, this was way too ridiculous—how did a tree suddenly turn into a Pokémon—
Sylveon was dumbfounded, staring blankly at the giant deer propping its body up from the ground, revealing its vigorous limbs stained with mud.
The ancient tree full of life energy that made it feel warm earlier turned out to be the antlers of the nine-colored deer.
"Is this— the God of Life, Xerneas?"
Steven was also stunned. While silently comparing the size difference between it and his own Metagross in his mind, he sighed with emotion.
"The probability of running into Legendary Pokémon when with Aiden is terrifyingly high!"
"I just stepped out, and I've already bumped into the once-in-a-millennium Diancie, and the legendary God of Life of Kalos—"
[Humans, why have you come here?]
Xerneas didn't open its mouth. After casually sweeping its gaze over the few people below, an ancient voice full of vicissitudes immediately rang in the minds of all the humans and Pokémon present.
"Lord Xerneas! It is I who has been looking for you!"
Diancie bounced forward, looking up at the giant deer with expectant eyes.
"Please defeat the awakened Yveltal and let the Kalos leylines return to peace!"
Xerneas didn't reply after hearing this, but instead carefully observed the cute rock sprite in front of it for a good while.
A trace of reminiscence flashed through its eyes.
[Before I knew it, a thousand years have already passed—]
[It is time to fulfill my duty once again.]
After Xerneas's telepathy came through, the somewhat nervous Diancie breathed a slight sigh of relief.
It looked like the task of this trip would be completed very easily~
Xerneas closed its eyes, and the intertwining crown of antlers on its head suddenly shone with light, appearing extremely eye-catching in the lush forest.
"It's deploying its Fairy Aura to counter Yveltal's Dark Aura."
Out of occupational habit, Aiden softly provided commentary from the side, while glancing at Diancie, who was still standing there dumbfounded.
"Its aura is full of vigorous life energy; Fairy-type Pokémon will benefit greatly from absorbing it."
Compared to the naive Diancie, his own well-informed Sylveon was obviously much shrewder. The moment Xerneas released its aura, it narrowed its eyes and fully immersed itself in experiencing this surging life energy.
Let alone Pokémon, even if humans absorbed a little, it could prolong their lives—
Probably?
Seeing that Diancie finally realized it, Aiden also followed suit and took a few deep breaths.
He didn't know if it was a psychological effect, but his whole body really did feel quite a bit more comfortable—hey, even his arms felt stronger.
If that's the case, Sylveon and Diancie's strength would probably increase quite a bit too, right?
This Xerneas was such an honest and kind god; its temper was really good.
Aiden glanced at the group next to him who were all immersed in experiencing the Fairy Aura shared by the X Deer, and suddenly felt emotional.
If all other Legendary Pokémon were as friendly as it, he felt like the vast majority of crises in this world wouldn't even exist.
However, even in the Pokémon world, the "balance of Yin and Yang" holds true.
If there is a Legendary Pokémon willing to selflessly share its own energy, then in that same region, there must exist another demon pill with double the trouble-making capacity.
I'm talking about you, Yveltal!
The passive ability of the Y Bird was the exact opposite of the X Deer; it directly used its Dark Aura to indiscriminately absorb the energy of all surrounding life.
Now that Xerneas was awake, it probably wouldn't stay well-behaved for long.
While Aiden was thinking, Xerneas, who was using its Fairy Aura to sense the surrounding environment, suddenly frowned.
[Yveltal has disappeared.]
[Could it have already awakened ahead of time and gone elsewhere to drain energy?]
[Humans, can you answer my question?]
Aiden looked up at the confused Xerneas and shook his head.
No wonder the X Deer felt strange.
Under normal circumstances, it must be the first to wake up and release the Fairy Aura, otherwise this entire forest would have been sucked dry by it.
Rather than calling them enemies, it was better to say that the underlying logic left behind by Arceus was just like this.
The X Deer releases aura, the Y Bird absorbs aura; in a sense, these two were actually quite balanced.
Once it was fed its fill, it would directly go back to sleep for another thousand years, and the X Deer could also accumulate power for the next cycle, perfectly completing a closed loop.
Of course, if the two of them fought too fiercely and the ecosystem really couldn't hold on, there was also Zygarde, which could merge into a Gundam at any time to protect Kalos as a fallback.
But now, Yveltal, which should have been sleeping in Allearth Forest, had suddenly disappeared. This matter was even more terrifying than it awakening early.
Because the original order had been disrupted.
This might have only happened once three thousand years ago, when AZ created the Ultimate Weapon and almost wiped the entire Kalos region off the map—
"No, it shouldn't be awake yet."
"But I have already confirmed its exact location. If you are ready—"
Aiden paused, then looked at little Hoopa next to Ansha before continuing.
"It can use a magical power that crosses space and time to send the soon-to-awaken Yveltal back to Allearth Forest."
"When the time comes, we will help you defeat Yveltal."
"Hoopa is super strong, just leave it to Hoopa~"
Little Hoopa patted its chest and took off an interdimensional ring from its horn.
Xerneas thought for a moment, then shook its head.
[No, you do not understand its power.]
[It is dangerous, so leave it to me. Only I can resist its Dark Aura.]
Aiden hadn't expected that at this time, the first thing Xerneas considered was actually the safety of them, the "ordinary people."
As expected of the God of Life, you're so gentle!
Aiden smiled at it, then stepped forward past Sylveon, reaching out to rest a hand on Xerneas's foreleg.
"Please believe me, we absolutely have the qualifications to be your assistance."
"After all, this is also Arceus's arrangement~"
He said the second sentence very quietly, and after speaking, he didn't forget to look up and blink repeatedly at Xerneas.
Receiving the hint, Xerneas closed its eyes again.
When it sensed that familiar aura within Aiden, it finally stopped hesitating.
I see, so he is an envoy recognized by the Creator——
No wonder he knows so much intel.
[Then, I'll leave it in your hands.]
Xerneas nodded, its eyes immediately becoming quite serious.
[However, please be sure to stay within the range of my Fairy Aura; this power can protect you from Yveltal's influence.]
"We will." Steven said with a smile.
"Alright, alright, next up is Hoopa's performance time~"
Little Hoopa revealed a wicked smile, impatiently reaching its hand into the ring.
As long as it knew the general location of the target, its interdimensional ring could not only traverse space, but even time and other dimensions could be easily reached!
However, after its hand reached into the interdimensional ring connecting space and time, it suddenly realized a problem—right now, Yveltal was still just a cocoon, so Hoopa reaching in could only feel a bird egg that was as hard and heavy as a stone.
With its strength, it seemed a bit unable to lift it—
"Hoopa—!"
Hoopa thought for a moment, suddenly retracted its hand, and let out a loud shout.
Following this roar, little Hoopa's body immediately swelled up a lot, quickly transforming into a giant phantom about the same height as the X Deer.
"This is— Hoopa Unbound???"
Steven's expression management immediately failed, and he looked at Aiden in shock.
However, seeing that the other party didn't react much and was instead waiting with interest for Hoopa to perform, Steven felt a bit relieved.
Since Aiden wasn't panicking, it should be fine.
"Hehe, this way Hoopa has endless strength!"
Even though it had temporarily transformed into Unbound Hoopa, its tone when speaking still carried a bit of childishness, which was quite distinct from the "Hoopa Unbound" from before.
Hoopa, with its six arms extended, firmly grasped the interdimensional ring, forcefully stretching it open to about the same size as its own body, before sticking its entire body into the interdimensional hole.
This time, it succeeded.
When that strange stone egg held in Hoopa's arms appeared, the originally calming Fairy Aura was immediately disrupted.
Another visible blood-red aura expanded outward with the stone egg as the center, actually quickly forming a stalemate against Xerneas's aura.
Affected by the Dark Aura, the green grass and trees beneath and behind Hoopa withered instantly, as if a haze was shrouding the surroundings.
"Hoopa, put it down quickly!"
Ansha subconsciously frowned; she was a bit worried that Hoopa would be affected by this power.
"Got it~"
Hoopa smiled naively, casually tossing the stone egg aside, and quickly transformed back into little Hoopa to hide behind Ansha.
As an eternal cosmic wanderer with an endless lifespan, its life energy was so vigorous it couldn't be used up.
Even a mere sliver of its evil thoughts had maxed-out durability, let alone its main body which had recovered all its power?
But, Ansha was worried about it after all, so it'd just listen to her~
"What a terrifying aura—"
Steven looked grave, staring intently at the stone egg constantly emitting an ominous aura.
Is that the God of Death, Yveltal?
No wonder it was seen as a disaster that posed a massive threat to the entire Kalos region.
[Yveltal is about to awaken, quickly get behind me!]
When a crack appeared on the stone egg, everyone simultaneously heard an urgent telepathic message, and then Xerneas moved.
It slowly stepped forward, each time it touched the ground causing a slight tremor.
At the same time, it also forced the Dark Aura ahead to retreat slightly.
Seemingly sensing the energy of its nemesis, the top of the already cracking stone cocoon suddenly split open a narrow slit.
In the darkness, a crimson eye suddenly opened, and then a pair of blood-red wings stretched out from the slit and unfolded, appearing before everyone's eyes like the letter "Y."
"Screech—!"
A sharp and frantic bird cry rang out. The originally hard stone egg shed a few layers of its surface, gradually gaining color.
It was Yveltal—
Facing the symbol of death from such a close distance, even Aiden felt an invisible pressure in his heart.
Centered on the God of Death, that Dark Aura was crazily eroding the Fairy Aura released by Xerneas.
A thousand years had passed since its last awakening; this time it seemed to plan to replenish the energy lost over the millennium in one breath, so its gaze also became extremely aggressive.
And its primary target was naturally its nemesis, Xerneas, right in front of it!
"Screech—!"
Yveltal spread its wings, let out a provocative cry, and directly condensed a concentrated Dark Aura, shooting it towards Xerneas!
Oblivion Wing—
Yveltal's exclusive move, which could convert the damage dealt into life force and absorb it back into its body, quickly replenishing the stamina it had depleted over the years.
Aiden narrowed his eyes; seeing that crimson beam about to shoot over, he still didn't dodge or evade.
Because Xerneas had already lowered its head, releasing a strong energy exuding cold air from its antlers, transforming into an aurora beam that collided with it.
Although the two energies canceled each other out, Xerneas was staggered by the recoil, taking several consecutive steps back before barely stabilizing its footing.
As expected, Xerneas's power still couldn't be fully unleashed!
Aiden shook his head, silently taking out a Poké Ball from his pocket, and spoke at the same time: "Xerneas, just focus on using Geomancy with peace of mind, we'll take over here and stall for a while."
Hearing his words, Xerneas was taken aback, then nodded cleanly.
[Alright, I'll leave it to you.]
After speaking, the X Deer immediately crouched down, closed its eyes, and began to feel the power from the earth.
"Screech—!"
As old rivals, the moment Xerneas assumed this posture, Yveltal knew it had to interrupt it.
Its combat power was originally only slightly stronger than Xerneas by a sliver; if it gave it the chance to accumulate power and strengthen itself, what the hell was the point of fighting!
It immediately flapped its wings again, and another oppressive crimson beam sped over.
However, this time Xerneas didn't react at all, didn't even open its eyes, still maintaining its previous posture.
Because it believed in the Creator's judgment.
If this was His chosen envoy, then he must possess the strength to match his courage!
"Go, Miraidon!"
"Use Thunder to block the attack!"
After Aiden threw the long-prepared Poké Ball, Miraidon, who had been slacking off for a while, made its shining appearance very reluctantly.
"Krao!"
Although it still didn't have much motivation, Miraidon immediately channeled electricity, bringing down a bolt of lightning from the sky that sliced the beam in half.
"Metagross, Flash Cannon!"
"Hoopa, Psychic!"
"I'll help too!"
The blue-white beam fired by Metagross, the invisible psychic flow driven by Hoopa, and the Diamond Storm created out of thin air by Diancie attacked simultaneously, forcing Yveltal to flap its wings and fly up to dodge.
It had just woken up and hadn't absorbed much stamina yet, so it couldn't afford to consume more.
But—
Normally, shouldn't it be fighting to the death with Xerneas, until both sides were exhausted and fell asleep?
Aren't there a bit too many helpers on the other side this time!
Other than that little guy made of rocks, it didn't recognize a single one—
Yveltal narrowed its eyes, revealing a fierce look.
Since you've come, don't blame me for being ruthless!
"Screech—!"
Taking advantage of the opening where Xerneas couldn't protect them, Yveltal quickly gathered its power, preparing to launch another attack.
However, right at this moment—
"Xerneas, open your mouth!"
A human below suddenly revealed a smile, taking out a large handful of red leaves from his pocket.
Yveltal instinctively shivered.
Why did it feel a chill down its back—
Could it be some underhanded trick!
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