At the Tree of Beginning
Paul sat at the edge of the great "Tree" occasionally gazing into the distance, at times glancing down at his Rotom Phone as it processed information.
The Kanto region was far larger than he had anticipated, and New Island was far more concealed than he expected.
Even with Rotom's highly advanced scanning capabilities, it was still tirelessly analyzing, processing, and mapping out possible coordinates where New Island might exist.
Behind him, Paul had released all his Pokémon. They were now happily playing together with Mew.
Unlike the mischievous and headstrong little Mew he had encountered in his original world, this one was obedient, eager to communicate, and more importantly willing to share. Very quickly, it had bonded with Paul's Pokémon.
While this Mew was slightly weaker than the other one Paul knew, inside the Tree of Beginning, as long as nothing disrupted the Tree itself, Mew still possessed enough power to easily overpower Paul's team.
Rather than simply playing, Paul's Pokémon were actively learning from Mew—observing its abilities, studying its techniques, and absorbing valuable experience to strengthen themselves.
Though Mew couldn't fully explain every technique, its psychic power allowed it to directly share sensations and insights, enabling Paul's team to rapidly gain understanding.
And so, after spending some time here, Paul's Pokémon had all seen a noticeable increase in their "experience bars."
After a while, the enthusiastic attention from so many Pokémon eventually tired Mew out. It teleported next to Paul, lay down lazily, and looked up at him with a cheerful grin.
"What exactly is the purpose of the Tree of Beginning?" Paul finally asked, placing his Rotom Phone aside and turning to Mew.
In his own world, the Tree of Beginning and Mew played a critical role in maintaining stability and balance. If either were destroyed, it would threaten the entire world. But Paul found it hard to imagine that the same applied here in the anime world.
If Mew and the Tree here wielded enough power to destabilize the world simply by being harmed, wouldn't this world always be on the brink of collapse?
"Mew?"
Mew paused to think, then used its psychic powers to create a projection in the sky.
The first image showed ancient armored warriors battling alongside Pokémon. In the midst of their conflict, the Tree of Beginning emitted mysterious waves, calming both sides and restoring peace.
The vision shifted to scenes of Pokémon battles being interrupted and healed by the Tree's life energy. Another scene displayed the Tree sheltering ancient fossil Pokémon species long extinct elsewhere but still living safely within the Tree.
"That's all?" Paul frowned. "If the Tree of Beginning were to be destroyed, would it really cause an irreversible global catastrophe?"
"Mew…"
Mew shook its head after thinking for a moment.
While the destruction of the Tree would indeed cause severe local ecological damage spanning thousands of kilometers, it wouldn't truly endanger the entire world.
The Tree's real purpose lay elsewhere—
The projection changed again. This time, it revealed a special hollow chamber within the Tree—a void filled with countless floating bubbles. Each bubble was connected to a unique spatial node somewhere across the world.
In theory, with sufficient power and knowledge, one could use these tree bubbles to travel to virtually any location on the planet.
As Mew poured more psychic energy into the projection, the perspective zoomed out. The Tree of Beginning itself came into view, followed by a full view of the Kanto region, then the entire planet… and still the view continued to zoom outward.
Soon, the starry universe appeared.
Eventually, an external boundary emerged—a cosmic membrane resembling a bubble enveloping the world itself, just like the bubbles inside the Tree.
And floating within the void beyond were countless other such bubbles—hundreds, thousands, perhaps tens of thousands and their numbers kept growing.
In the end, it seemed that each world was itself nothing more than a tree bubble.
They were loosely connected, but the connections were faint and elusive.
Whether there existed a larger overarching World Tree or a true Temple of Origin beyond these countless bubbles remained unknown. Even with Mew's immense power, it could only glimpse a fraction of this infinite multiverse.
"Mew~"
Mew enlarged part of the projection to reveal its own tree bubble alongside several adjacent bubbles. With a gentle wave of its tiny hand, it drew a glowing line connecting two bubbles, indicating a potential passageway between them.
"So… if one had enough power, it's possible to travel between worlds through the Tree of Beginning?"
Paul's eyes lit up as he finally understood.
The Tree of Beginning wasn't just a source of healing or protection, it also served as a locator and gateway, marking the coordinates of its world.
With sufficient strength, one could absolutely traverse worlds by utilizing the Tree.
"Mew~"
Mew nodded while happily munching on a berry it somehow produced out of thin air.
"Can you take me to other worlds?" Paul asked, his gaze intense.
"Mew?"
Mew froze for a second, then shook its head vigorously while still hugging its berry, meowing rapidly.
If it could do that, Paul wouldn't even be sitting here—it would have already sent him back to his own world!
"I see… it's not that simple."
Paul nodded thoughtfully. Of course it wouldn't be that easy to freely jump between worlds and remain there long-term. There must be serious restrictions. That's why his Arc-modified Rotom Phone was still so valuable.
"Rotom, if we can record this world's coordinates, could we eventually perform targeted world jumps once we've gathered enough energy?"
Paul proposed the idea.
Even in the Pokémon multiverse, worlds varied in strength. The anime world was by comparison, a "lower-tier" world.
His home world was somewhat more advanced—superior versions, greater development, faster growth but still not top-tier.
Nonetheless, even in lower-tier worlds, certain Pokémon possessed terrifying innate potential.
Once he grew strong enough, he could enter powerful worlds, catch Pokémon with exceptional potential, and raise them to new heights.
For example:
In any Pokémon world, Mewtwo was unquestionably one of the most gifted Pokémon.
If he couldn't capture one from a higher-tier world, then finding a weaker variant to raise himself would be ideal.
Or perhaps the Kyurem that could freely shift forms in the movies—it surely had extraordinary genetic potential.
Even Arceus' fragments varied greatly in power; if he grew strong enough, obtaining weaker shards to cultivate would also be viable.
Of course, these were only ideas for now—whether they could actually be achieved was still unknown.
"…Roto~ I believe it's possible, Trainer." Rotom finally answered after recovering from data overload.
Its image appeared dizzy on the screen, evidence of how taxing this wide-range search was.
"However, recording coordinates requires assistance from unique beings of this world, or immense power to forcibly imprint the location. At my current level and system permissions, I still can't forcibly record world coordinates."
Rotom sounded slightly frustrated.
Even after considerable effort, it had only recently reached an Honor Rank equivalent—far from the strength of an Elite level AI necessary for forceful coordinate recording.
"Could you help us record them? If you do, I'll send more Pokémon or toys for you to play with."
Paul bargained with Mew.
"Mew~"
Finishing the last bite of its berry, Mew nodded and raised its tiny paw, summoning a glowing orb that floated toward the Rotom Phone.
"World coordinates detected. Recording… Recording…"
The message flashed across the screen. With a soft ding, special code began scrolling rapidly across the device.
"World coordinate successfully recorded. Once energy reserves are fully charged, traversal to this coordinate will become available."
"World Coordinate Function unlocked. Current recorded coordinates: 3."
"Trainer may assign labels. Upon traversal, select from existing coordinates or unknown worlds."
"Rotom will continue gathering data. Trainer may review or customize notes."
With that, Rotom's display faded, leaving the phone to work autonomously.
"Three coordinates?"
Paul reviewed the data and found that aside from his original world and the current anime world, there was one peculiar unfamiliar coordinate.
After some thought, he realized it was most likely from Hisui—the Pokémon Legends: Arceus world where he had first been summoned.
Since the Rotom Phone had been modified by Arceus itself, it naturally retained the coordinates of that area.
After labeling the worlds as Anime and Hisui, Paul set the device aside, letting Rotom continue its research.
"Do you only have three Regis here?" Paul suddenly asked, curious.
For a place as significant as the Tree of Beginning, having only three Legendary Titans seemed lacking. In his own world, there were five.
"Mew~"
Mew sighed with surprising human-like expression. The projection shifted once more.
Deep inside the Tree of Beginning, Regigigas—the Titan King was shown forging the original trio: Registeel, Regirock, and Regice using rare materials.
As time passed, the trio of titans took form under Regigigas' hands and became the guardians of the Tree.
However, when Regigigas attempted to create Regieleki and Regidrago using Electrum Crystals and Dragon Energy Cores, a problem arose.
It wasn't that Regigigas lacked the knowledge to create these two new guardians, it simply ran out of materials.
Electrum Crystals and Dragon Energy Cores were exceedingly rare. Crafting Regieleki and Regidrago with even decent innate potential was virtually impossible without sufficient resources. Even if Regigigas forced their creation, they would only end up as defective versions with serious flaws in their abilities.
In the end, Regigigas had no choice but to abandon its efforts and fell into slumber, transforming itself into a mysterious orb within the Tree of Beginning.
The projection ended there.
"Mew~"
Mew looked somewhat disappointed. Due to the lack of resources during the original creation, both it and the Tree of Beginning were left without at least two additional guardians.
Where most people would feel regret over Regigigas' failure, Paul reacted quite differently. His eyes gleamed with fervor as he stared at Mew.
"Since the creation failed, those leftover materials aren't of any use anymore, are they?"
Paul asked.
He knew full well how precious Electrum Crystals and Dragon Energy Cores were, far rarer even than the elemental Plates themselves.
These materials were entirely natural, infused with extraordinary power. Even if a Pokémon didn't know how to properly harness their energy, simply consuming them bit by bit would steadily strengthen its body.
Over the course of centuries, wild Pokémon had already gradually depleted most of the Electrum Crystals and Dragon Energy Cores in existence. Whatever little remained was pitifully lacking, nowhere near the sizable quantity Regigigas once had to attempt crafting even defective versions.
Frankly speaking, if his Electivire and Garchomp could consume those small piles of crystals, they might not only enhance their talents, undergo physical mutations, or purify their bloodlines—but at the very least, they would experience a dramatic spike in level and strength.
"Mew~"
Mew widened its big eyes at Paul, filled with suspicion and disdain.
Naïve it might be, but it wasn't foolish.
How could something so precious materials that nearly birthed two additional Regi Guardians—be casually given away?
Even though they were merely materials, not actual Pokémon, they were still Mew's most treasured possessions.
Giving them away so easily? Impossible!
"As a token of appreciation, I'll offer you this."
Paul opened his backpack, pulling out a hidden compartment filled with various treats—candies, cookies, snacks of all flavors—everything one could imagine. Instantly, Mew's attention was completely drawn in.
Ever since Paul had first crossed into the Tree of Beginning in an alternate world, he had prepared a stockpile of exquisite delicious snacks, hoping to one day meet Mew again and bribe it into becoming a sparring partner.
He hadn't expected that while he didn't meet the Mew he originally intended to, he was now putting his stash to use on this world's version of Mew.
"Mew!"
Do you think you can trade all my most precious treasures for a few snacks? Do you take me for a fool? Hmph!
Mew's expression grew increasingly serious as it stared at Paul's offer of snacks.
With a final snort, it turned sharply and flew straight into the hollow of the Tree of Beginning, pretending to ignore Paul completely.
Paul remained unmoved, quietly watching the direction where Mew disappeared.
Before long, Mew re-emerged from the tree hollow, this time accompanied by two enormous pink energy bubbles, each containing a cluster of dark crimson and golden-yellow energy crystals.
"Mew~"
With a proud little snort, Mew floated forward, slapped both bubbles down before Paul and without hesitation dove headfirst into the pile of snacks, eyes sparkling like stars.
Mew didn't really care for Paul's offer, it simply enjoyed sharing with others... sometimes.
Oh! New candies I've never seen before… Mmm, so tasty! And these cookies aren't bad either!
Mew~ Wonderful!
"Not bad at all." Paul smiled.
After all, who wouldn't appreciate a generous Pokémon?
Especially when it was generous with things that weren't its own.
As Paul gazed at the two energy bubbles containing the Electrum Crystals and Dragon Energy Cores, his lips curled slightly upward.
Perhaps, someday when his Garchomp and Electivire became powerful enough, these crystals might no longer offer much benefit.
But for now, they were priceless.
The moment the crystals appeared, both Electivire and Garchomp had grown visibly restless.
Were it not for Paul and Mew's presence, the two partners would have long since pounced and devoured the materials on the spot.
Unable to digest?
Impossible.
For the sake of becoming stronger, even if they couldn't digest it, they'd force it down regardless.
Electivire, after all, was a devourer of electricity—it had already swallowed two elemental Plates, and still carried a third one inside its body.
Garchomp, while lacking Electivire's stone-devouring feats, was a Dragon/Ground-type with a stomach strong enough to handle ores and metals. Consuming these crystals would pose no problem.
If it's edible, then eat it. That's all.
Even the rest of Paul's team couldn't help but glance enviously at the crystals.
Seriously, what's with these two? How do they always get their hands on such absurd things to eat?
We want to cheat and power-up too! Can't we get some premium prize?
(End of Chapter)
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