To celebrate the end of the year and the upcoming New Year, I'll be running a promo: 40% OFF WITH CODE 97167. If you've wanted to check out the advanced chapters and Patreon exclusive novel, now's your chance! Promo ends on January 1st 2026 11:59pm AEDT!
---------------------
After harvesting some spicy Herba Mystica and seeds from Tatsugiri's cave, Aiden's main purpose for coming to Casseroya Lake was successfully accomplished.
Anyway, he didn't have much immediate need for the spicy Herba Mystica—only Miraidon and Arven's Mabostiff needed a bit. So taking some seeds home for Ogerpon to cultivate slowly was also quite good.
As for Tatsugiri and Dondozo...
Although they had only interacted for a short time, Aiden could tell they were basically the decision-makers of this Casseroya Lake.
Unlike the environments where other Titans lived, ordinary people rarely came to Casseroya Lake—this was Pokémon territory.
Therefore, Aiden wouldn't drive them away like he had done with Kingler before.
Since the nearby Pokémon had no objections, maintaining the current order was beneficial for everyone.
Aiden's group quickly left Tatsugiri's territory tactfully.
Now that they had obtained the Herba Mystica, the next main event was naturally—the picnic~
...
At a certain open space on the upper level of the Casseroya Falls, a picnic blanket was filled with humans and Pokémon.
After transmigrating, Aiden had repeatedly tried making various dishes.
In this process, he gradually understood a very harsh reality.
He seemed to have no talent for cooking at all.
However, the Paldean sandwich—which required no real skill and only needed ingredients neatly arranged on bread—was something he made with great enthusiasm.
Without a doubt, most of this came from his own effort and sweat—the Herba Mystica was just auxiliary!
In short, Lance and Clair had indeed come at the right time.
Compared to the previously used Herba Mysticas, the final spicy Herba Mystica was clearly much more dominant in effect, and thus the taste seemed exceptionally good.
Even though Aiden had tried to reduce the dosage as much as possible, when he handed the first experimental sandwich to Miraidon, Miraidon quickly cried out from the pain stimulation far exceeding that of capsaicin.
However, even though its mouth felt like a battlefield and its tongue embarrassingly hung out, Miraidon still didn't give up on taming this unruly sandwich, making him stare in surprise at the scene.
Was the effect really that exaggerated?
With Miraidon as a warning example, other Pokémon clearly hesitated for a moment when receiving sandwiches from Aiden.
However, the desire for delicious food easily overcame their fragile fears.
"Oger!!!"
Ogerpon, with its mask off, took a light bite, then immediately let out a scream.
Although it wasn't wearing its Hearthflame Mask, its mouth quickly shot out a large ball of flame like a circus performance.
Logically speaking, Ogerpon, whose personality was locked as "fear of loneliness," should like spicy flavors...
Even it couldn't accept this terrifying spiciness, yet Miraidon had somehow forced itself not to spit out the sandwich. After half a minute of mental and oral warfare, it finally convinced its body organs to swallow it down.
Aiden immediately realized—
He seemed to have misunderstood Miraidon just now.
To avoid wasting food, it actually struggled to this extent?
Damn—you just might be terrifyingly persistent...
"Veee!"
The naturally timid Sylveon had never been very accepting of spicy flavors. Seeing Ogerpon defeated by the spicy Herba Mystica, it decisively chose to follow its heart, shrinking into Aiden's arms and shaking its head repeatedly.
Compared to battle, this fiery sandwich that looked like a hell demon was much more terrifying!
Aiden was quite helpless at the sight.
However, besides Miraidon, the other Pokémon really didn't have to eat the spicy Herba Mystica.
If Sylveon was unwilling, he could just make a regular sandwich for it.
"Luca..."
Lucario stood straight on the ground, seemingly pondering life.
Spiciness was actually a pain sensation—so Ogerpon's reaction had been so intense.
But precisely because of this, perhaps this spicy sandwich was intentionally set by the trainer as a test for itself?
If it couldn't even endure this bit of spicy Herba Mystica, its willpower was clearly insufficient!
Thinking this, Lucario subconsciously looked at the man in red and black cape beside it.
Compared to its own hesitation, this human who had a good relationship with the trainer clearly had much stronger willpower. After eating an entire sandwich, he could still maintain a blank expression and remain as still as a mountain.
Indeed, the willpower of the strong was terrifying!
Aiden also noticed Lucario's admiring gaze, subconsciously looking at Lance sitting beside him.
After casually taking and eating a sandwich earlier, he hadn't made any sound since...
As expected of Elite Four member Lance who strove for strength throughout his life—even at such times he maintained his perfect image?
But upon closer inspection, Aiden suddenly realized:
Lance wasn't showing strong endurance at all—he was practically having a near-death experience!
His eyes were almost out of focus—maybe he was already seeing his great-great-grandmother?!
"Truly suffering for the sake of maintaining face."
Clair beside him helplessly shook her head.
...
The small picnic interlude quickly ended, but Aiden didn't rush to leave.
Both Lance and Clair had become interested in nearby Pokémon, so they went in different directions, hoping to encounter an interesting dragon Pokémon by luck.
As for Aiden himself, he stayed near the Casseroya Falls, planning to verify something very important for Bagon.
According to the Pokédex records, besides physical development, Bagon had another somewhat confusing evolution condition.
It needed to establish "confidence that it could actually fly" to complete its evolution.
This was also why Bagon sought high places and enjoyed high-altitude falling—even this behavior was engraved in their DNA.
Aiden vaguely felt this might be the opportunity for Bagon's evolution.
And the best place to verify this was precisely the huge Casseroya Falls before them.
Even with Bagon's hard iron skull, falling from too high carried certain risks.
But with the landing water as cushion, the situation would be much better.
That Frigibax that had floated down earlier—clearly an old hand at this—was the best proof.
Therefore, this was the perfect location for Bagon to train its flying!
As Aiden thought this, he took out the Tera Orb from his pocket.
Unfortunately, he hadn't thought of this before coming—if he had brought more Tera Shards, giving Bagon a Tera Flying type as double insurance would have been even better.
Tera Flying couldn't make Pokémon actually learn to fly, but at least it could let them experience what the Flying type felt like.
For Bagon, whose evolution was Salamence, it might actually be quite useful.
As for other Pokémon that also wanted to learn to fly...
The effect was probably relatively limited.
When Bagon noticed it was at the top of the waterfall with a very exaggerated height difference below, its face quickly showed excitement.
If not for Aiden grabbing its little hand, this little one would have immediately performed a "leap of faith" without hesitation.
The other Dragonite in Lance's possession had also been temporarily borrowed by Aiden and was now waiting quietly below the waterfall for Bagon to jump down.
Before Miraidon mastered flying skills, Aiden really didn't have anyone to serve as a reference for Bagon, so he had to temporarily borrow external help.
Just as Aiden had expected, the moment he released his hand, Bagon's eyes immediately lit up as it quickly walked to the waterfall's edge with unrecognizable steps.
Then, without any hesitation—even with obvious joy on its face—Bagon suddenly stepped forward, rushing downward with the water flow.
"Syl..."
Sylveon watched the excited Bagon, momentarily speechless.
"Tsk, this little one has much more courage than you."
Aiden smiled slightly, stroking Sylveon's head.
In a sense, this little one that liked jumping off cliffs was quite brave.
Jumping from such a high place—forget about Sylveon, he himself would definitely not dare to do it either.
With its personality and performance since childhood, its signature move after evolution would probably be Take Down...
Hmm, that did fit Salamence's positioning quite well.
Just as Aiden was thinking this, he suddenly noticed a sonic boom cutting through the air from the horizon, causing him to subconsciously look up.
Then he immediately froze in place.
Today was a cloudless good weather day, so everything in the sky was within his sight.
A slender figure covered in dark blue-black with golden patterns was directly above them, now diving straight downward at a terrifying speed.
Due to its extreme speed, a loud booming sound immediately followed its path, even leaving a long white contrail in the air.
With just one glance, Aiden recognized this creature.
Black Rayquaza—one of his old acquaintances that occasionally appeared within his line of sight...
However, this time its target didn't seem to be him.
But the falling Bagon.
Such obvious movement caused many Pokémon in Casseroya Lake to surface. Upon discovering the source of the sound, they immediately panicked and dived back underwater.
Even the usually laid-back Slowpoke reacted after a slight delay, immediately jumping headfirst into the lake water.
Even the somewhat distant Lance and Clair immediately noticed this "uninvited guest" and quickly fell into shock.
This black Rayquaza was clearly the same one they had seen during the Dragon-type Master Tournament!
At that time, it had already shown an unusual relationship with Aiden—this time it didn't even bother to hide it.
Lance's eyes quickly revealed a trace of shock.
Rayquaza was the legendary controller of the sky in Hoenn legend—and Aiden, who had gained its favor...
Without a doubt, he would definitely become an extraordinary Dragon Master in the future!
However, Lance's focus wasn't actually here.
Compared to other dragon Pokémon he had seen in Casseroya Lake, Rayquaza truly had that dragon-like aura. Though its name didn't contain "dragon," it looked the most like a dragon.
That's right—Rayquaza was the true dragon!
As for the black Rayquaza that had drawn the attention of all nearby creatures upon its appearance, the reason for its sudden arrival here was actually quite simple...
Its massive body slashed through the Casseroya Falls like lightning, its agile figure diving straight downward. Only when it reached the same height as Bagon—who was about to touch the water surface—did it suddenly turn.
While steadily catching Bagon, its body twisted ninety degrees like a Snake game, brushing against the water surface to complete a directional change without creating a single water splash.
The Dragonite that had originally served as safety officer stood frozen in place, only reacting after quite some time, clapping its hands foolishly.
That mid-air drifting maneuver was definitely a perfect score—a perfect performance!
------------------------------------------------------
40+ Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)