"Mew." Little Riolu took a sip of tea. "What's so surprising about that? I go wherever I feel like going. In the old days, I might have visited a different house every day just to freeload a meal."
Little Riolu did not care about Cynthia's shock.
Although Mew now frequently stayed beside Grey while disguised as a Riolu, things had been very different in the past. Back then, it openly traveled in its real form and visited different households every day for free food.
Unfortunately, Team Rocket had become increasingly active, while Pokémon hunters continued to appear one after another. As a result, Mew no longer liked showing itself in public.
Team Rocket members and Pokémon hunters were no threat to Mew, but they were like mosquitoes that never stopped buzzing around its ears. They were incredibly irritating.
Mew could defeat them easily, but dealing with them repeatedly became tiresome.
That was why Mew had rarely appeared before other people in recent years.
"Grey, you truly never stop surprising me. I can't even imagine how many Pokémon you know," Cynthia said with an unusually solemn expression.
"Not that many. I know Palkia and Dialga, for example," Grey casually replied.
Cynthia stared at him.
"Palkia and Dialga? You know them too?!"
This time, Cynthia was genuinely stunned.
Mew disguising itself as a Riolu was understandable. Cynthia was not particularly obsessed with Mew, so she had merely thought Grey was extraordinarily fortunate.
Palkia and Dialga were entirely different.
They were Sinnoh's Legendary Pokémon, the Pokémon that governed space and time.
As an archaeologist, Cynthia understood exactly what those two Pokémon represented.
She had searched for them for years without finding anything, yet now she was sitting at a dinner table listening to Grey casually announce that he knew them.
Wasn't this situation far too ridiculous?
"Yeah, I met them because of something that happened before. Why? Do you want to see them? I can ask whether they're free sometime. You can only meet one at a time, though. If both of them show up, I'm worried they'll start fighting. Alternatively, the next time they decide to beat up Giratina, I could bring you along to broaden your horizons."
Grey took several bites of food and swallowed before continuing.
"I can't guarantee your safety, though. I wouldn't be able to leave the portal open for long, or you might get caught in the shock waves from their battle."
After hearing that, Cynthia became so stunned that she stopped eating entirely.
Did Grey understand how significant this was for Sinnoh, or rather, for archaeology throughout the entire world?
Sinnoh was considered the birthplace of the world, partly because Arceus and the three Pokémon associated with it, Palkia, Dialga, and Giratina, were connected to the region.
Unlike Legendary Pokémon such as Rayquaza, Ho-Oh, and Reshiram, which left traces that could be followed within the physical world, Palkia, Dialga, and Giratina possessed independent dimensions of their own.
The Spatial World, the Temporal World, and the Distortion World.
Finding them was extraordinarily difficult.
That was why Cynthia had reacted so strongly to Grey's casual revelation.
"What's wrong? Those two idiots might normally be difficult to meet, but it isn't as though they're completely unreachable. Come on, stop staring and eat more. Sabrina went to the trouble of cooking this."
Grey coughed several times, finally drawing Cynthia back to reality.
At that moment, Cynthia felt nothing but genuine admiration for Grey.
She then looked toward Caitlin with an expression that practically screamed praise for finding such an incredible future husband.
What blond outsider from Kanto?
Grey was clearly Sinnoh's own future son-in-law!
Caitlin, you know I've always been your greatest supporter. I've supported your relationship from the very beginning.
Noticing Cynthia's expression, Caitlin covered her mouth and giggled while delicately eating her meal.
She had not seen Cynthia make an expression like that in a very long time.
Ever since becoming Sinnoh's Champion, Cynthia normally carried herself as though everything was under control.
The only exception had been when she first met Grey and looked as though a Tepig had trampled something precious to her.
Now, however, her attitude was completely different.
Caitlin could tell that Cynthia had truly accepted Grey.
They would probably get along much better from now on.
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the meal.
Cynthia enjoyed it most of all.
She had learned information about three major Legendary Pokémon, Palkia, Dialga, and Giratina, and all of it was directly connected to Grey.
Just thinking about it made every bite taste better.
Forget one bowl. She could have eaten five!
I, Cynthia, have an amazing best friend!
My best friend's future husband is incredibly capable!
After dinner, Grey sat on the couch and watched television.
Naturally, he was watching a recorded broadcast of the Orange League Winner's Cup.
It was the first trophy Ash had truly won.
Ash's team was not vastly different from before, but he had made several adjustments.
His roster consisted of Pikachu, Gengar, Lapras, Snorlax, Charizard, and Aerodactyl.
Honestly, that lineup made Grey feel even more strongly that Ash truly had the makings of the Pokémon world's chosen hero.
Ash had successfully won the match with a score of six to one.
After watching the recording, Grey sent Ash a message to congratulate him.
[Dojo Annihilape: Ash, congratulations on winning the championship! Come visit the dojo whenever you have time.]
[Future Pokémon Master: Wow! Grey is finally online! I'll probably be staying in the Orange Islands for the next few days, so it might be a while before I can go back.]
[Dojo Annihilape: I see. I'll be leaving again soon, so we might miss each other.]
[Future Pokémon Master: That's too bad. If I managed to meet you, I definitely would've challenged you to a proper battle!]
[Dojo Annihilape: No problem. After you've traveled through a few more regions, I'll have a full six-on-six battle with you.]
[Future Pokémon Master: All right! It's a promise, Grey. You can't go back on your word!]
[Dojo Annihilape: Absolutely. By the way, since you're already in the Orange Islands, you should visit Shamouti Island. Lugia is there. Meeting it might teach you something.]
Now that Ash had reached the Orange Islands, Grey naturally did not want him to miss the story involving Lugia.
Even though Grey had already beaten those three feathered idiots into submission, Ash still needed to meet Lugia.
Besides Lugia, Kyogre had recently moved there as well.
This was also an opportunity for Ash, the Pokémon world's chosen protagonist, to broaden his horizons ahead of schedule.
In a sense, Ash was one of Grey's apprentices traveling out in the world.
As his teacher, Grey ought to give his student opportunities to see remarkable things.
[Future Pokémon Master: Huh? Lugia? What's that?]
Grey fell silent.
All right, it was understandable that Ash did not know about Lugia.
[Dojo Annihilape: Lugia is a Legendary Pokémon. A Legendary Pokémon from Hoenn named Kyogre also recently moved to Shamouti Island, so you'll definitely see something incredible.]
[Future Pokémon Master: Wow! There are Legendary Pokémon there?! Grey, how did you learn about that?]
[Dojo Annihilape: I simply know them. It's nothing worth mentioning.]
[Future Pokémon Master: Thumbs-up.jpg]
After finishing his conversation with Ash, Grey glanced to the side and noticed that Cynthia seemed unable to sit still.
"Cynthia, just tell me whatever you want to say. It's fine."
Seeing Grey act as though nothing had happened made Cynthia feel slightly guilty for all the unflattering things she had previously thought about him.
The same conclusion still applied.
From this day onward, Grey was no longer some blond outsider from Kanto.
Sinnoh was effectively part of Grey's extended family now, and the entire region would serve as his strongest supporter!
If the League Council were guaranteed to approve it, Cynthia would have gladly handed her position as Champion over to Grey.
Unfortunately, that probably was not possible.
If Grey could become Sinnoh's Champion as well, it would truly be a double celebration.
Of course, if Grey heard those thoughts, he would probably accuse Cynthia of having wanted to abandon the Champion position for years. She could dump the entire mess on him and happily run away to focus on archaeology.
"Grey, I wanted to ask how close you are to Palkia and Dialga."
Cynthia was extremely curious about his relationship with them.
They were apparently even willing to bring Grey along when they went to attack Giratina.
"Well..."
Grey considered the question for a moment before answering solemnly.
"I suppose you could say we share the kind of bond forged in life-or-death situations."
Cynthia stared at him again.
She truly had not expected every sentence Grey spoke to shock her more than the last.
A bond forged through life-or-death situations was, in some ways, even stronger than the bond between close relatives.
That relationship was unbreakable!
"Then, when would it be convenient for me to speak with them?"
Cynthia swallowed, her eyes filled with unprecedented anticipation.
Every archaeologist dreamed of such an opportunity.
She could speak directly with the two dragons that governed space and time!
Wouldn't that allow her to ask them about countless mysteries from the past?
"I'll ask them for you."
Grey called Little Riolu over and asked it to contact Palkia and Dialga. He wanted to know when they might be available and under what circumstances Cynthia could visit them.
"Mew." Little Riolu nodded. "Leave it to me. I'll ask them right now."
Little Riolu took out a leaf from the Tree of Beginning and infused it with psychic power. The leaf immediately began glowing with blue-green light.
"Mew. Palkia, Dialga, this is Mew. Respond if you can hear me. Respond if you can hear me."
After a brief wait, Little Riolu received an answer.
Crack!
The space in front of Little Riolu suddenly split open, forming a hole. Palkia stuck its head through the opening and grinned.
"What's up, buddy?"
"Mew." Little Riolu was unsurprised by Palkia's speed. "You're as fast as ever. Where's Dialga?"
It would have been stranger if the ruler of space had arrived slowly.
"Dialga will probably take a while. It's searching for a weak point in the Distortion World and trying to figure out when we can break through."
Palkia curled its lip. It was already impatient to invade Giratina's territory and give it a beating.
However, its explanation left Grey and Little Riolu speechless.
The Pokémon that governed space had arrived immediately, while the Pokémon that governed time was responsible for finding a way through another dimension.
Wasn't there something terribly wrong with that arrangement?
Couldn't they switch jobs?
"Don't pay too much attention to minor details," Palkia said with a cough. "In any case, I'm not calling Dialga."
Palkia absolutely refused to summon Dialga.
Although the two of them were currently united in their plan to deal with Giratina, they remained constant rivals in everyday matters.
Neither was willing to acknowledge the other as superior.
Whenever time failed to show up, space naturally reigned supreme. Palkia would make the entire world understand that space was the greatest power of all!
"That's easy enough. I'll call it."
Grey had become highly skilled at calling in Pokémon whenever he needed help.
He placed one hand against Hoopa's golden ring and used Aura to contact Hoopa Unbound, which was somewhere far away.
"Hoopa, help me open a portal to Dialga. You only need to create an opening. Don't drag it through."
"Hohoho! I never expected an absurdly durable human like you to ask me for help. Very well! The great Hoopa will handle this tiny favor for you!"
Hoopa Unbound grinned and laughed loudly.
In the next instant, a golden ring appeared beside Palkia's spatial opening.
Dialga stuck its head through the center of the ring and greeted Grey and Little Riolu.
"I was so busy working that I lost track of time. Why did you call me?"
"Nothing serious. I only wanted to ask when you're planning to deal with Giratina," Grey casually replied.
"That's difficult. I still haven't found an effective way inside. My current plan is to search through the past and identify a period when the boundary of the Distortion World was weakest. Then Palkia can slowly wear away at that weak point. It must not move too quickly, or Giratina might notice what we're doing."
Dialga had been searching for quite some time but had yet to discover a useful opening.
Palkia's preferred plan was much simpler. It wanted to invade the Distortion World directly, ignore every possible consequence, and beat Giratina senseless before worrying about anything else.
"Forget that matter for now," Dialga said. "Why did you call us, Grey? Do you need our help with something else?"
Dialga temporarily set its own work aside and gave Grey's request priority.
"It isn't exactly something I need. The woman standing over there has a few questions she wants to ask you."
Grey pointed toward Cynthia.
Cynthia smiled and greeted Palkia and Dialga.
Her smile nearly frightened both Legendary Pokémon into immediately fleeing the dojo.
"Volo?! You're still alive?!"
"Holy crap! And now you're dressed as a woman?!"
Cynthia blinked.
Volo?
That name sounded strangely familiar.
"You might have the wrong person," Grey said with a cough. "Cynthia is still very young. She isn't the person you're thinking of."
Grey knew who Volo was, and he knew Volo was connected to Cynthia's ancestry. He immediately understood that Palkia and Dialga had seen Cynthia's appearance and mistaken her for him.
Palkia and Dialga exchanged looks before carefully sensing the Aura surrounding Cynthia.
It was different from that man's.
Only then did they sigh in relief.
If it truly had been Volo, Palkia guaranteed that even if it had to demolish the entire Fighting Dojo, it would still beat him senseless!
//Check out my P@tre0n for 30 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810.