Monday.
As usual, early-rising Teacher Aiden had already washed up and entered the kitchen, beginning his busy yet fulfilling day.
When it was just him, Eevee, and Riolu, three meals a day were easily handled. But as the gym's popularity grew, so did the number of Pokémon residing there.
In the kitchen, Aiden's hands quickly shaped rice balls while he hummed a gentle melody from his previous life.
Preparing breakfast for the whole family took much more time than before.
However, for Aiden, it was still a mix of pain and joy.
He had always been interested in cooking and initially tried making various home-cooked meals edible for both humans and Pokémon.
Unfortunately, he simply had no talent for it. The appearance of his dishes was so bizarre that even the greedy Miraidon would flee at the sight.
In a way, he could be considered someone capable of scaring away legendary Pokémon single-handedly...
Logically speaking, cooking should be an objective skill.
But ingredients prepared strictly following recipes somehow ended up looking absurd. He could only blame the Pokémon world for this.
Human constitutions varied greatly—some could communicate with Pokémon, others excelled at cooking.
He had simply been unlucky, rolling the "poor cooking skills" debuff.
Yes, it must be this idealistic world affecting his performance—it absolutely couldn't be his own fault!
After prolonged trial and error, Aiden gradually understood the limits of his cooking—
Any dish requiring even minimal skill had a high chance of failing.
Therefore, only sandwiches and simple recipes from the Treasure Eatery guide suited him.
For Aiden and the Pokémon living at Sunshine Gym, the most useful reward from the "Path of Legends" quest so far had been the "Simple Cooking Guide Anyone With Hands Can Learn" from Treasure Eatery.
The endless cycle of eating sandwiches with different fillings every day had finally transformed into a beautiful life with more variety!
Grilled rice balls, bacon and fried eggs, red bean soup—these three formed today's breakfast set at Sunshine Gym.
Though seemingly ordinary, these three dishes required extremely precise execution.
First, grilled rice balls—the pressure applied while shaping determined the final texture, and baking temperature and time needed careful attention.
Bacon and fried eggs were relatively easier, requiring only perfect timing for flipping.
As for the red bean soup...
Following Treasure Eatery's exact ratio and simmering on low heat for an hour, success depended entirely on fate afterward.
These seemingly simple dishes requiring only basic skills were actually at the limit of Aiden's current abilities—the rest depended on whether today's mysterious god of cooking would favor its devout believer.
Fortunately, Aiden's luck seemed good today. Soon, delicious aromas escaped through the kitchen door, gradually spreading throughout Sunshine Gym.
Outside, Miraidon—still enjoying its refined sleep—immediately perked up, becoming fully alert in an instant. It trotted through the gym doors, gently pushed open the slightly ajar kitchen door with its body, sat obediently at the entrance in a perfect dog posture, and silently watched Aiden's back with expectant eyes.
The entire process was incredibly practiced—clearly something it had done many times before.
Aiden quickly sensed the gaze from behind, turned his head to see Miraidon sitting like a husky, and couldn't help but find it amusing.
Initially, judging by Miraidon's behavior, he had thought it would be a more aloof, cat-like creature uninterested in him.
Who would have thought that after getting used to him, feeding it had somehow turned it into a flattering big dog.
Completely lacking any pride, its eyes filled only with food desires.
"Go wake up the other little guys first."
Aiden helplessly shook his head, giving Miraidon an instruction while using chopsticks to pick up a piece of bacon and placing it in Miraidon's mouth.
"Graow!"
Miraidon's mechanical face immediately showed delight. After swallowing it in a few bites, it nodded vigorously several times and walked out of the kitchen with happy steps.
"..."
Seeing this, Aiden's lips quickly curved upward slightly.
Weak, helpless, but able to eat—extremely obedient with just a little food.
This description fit Miraidon perfectly.
...
After breakfast, all the Pokémon in the household had their own tasks to attend to.
After "enlightenment under the covers" last night, Mewtwo had gained new insights into tactical command for the coming week. It was now sitting in a circle with its cloned Pokémon in the outdoor field, discussing quietly.
It had quite a scholarly atmosphere.
If Aiden didn't know better—that Mewtwo's practical battle experience was severely lacking and could probably only match rookie trainers—he might actually mistake it for some kind of master...
However, with Mewtwo's terrifying learning speed, another month or two of training should greatly improve things.
Beside Mewtwo, some rental Pokémon including Mismagius were also quietly listening to its words, occasionally nodding.
Although they didn't fully understand why Mewtwo—despite being incredibly powerful—chose not to use its own strength but instead wanted to become a trainer, they still supported it.
Because it was really cool!
A Pokémon becoming a trainer and commanding other Pokémon... how novel—never heard of such a thing before!
Therefore, even though Mewtwo's trainer skills were still quite ordinary, these rental Pokémon were willing to follow its commands.
In Aiden's view, Mewtwo was gradually showing signs of becoming the second-in-command at Sunshine Gym.
He wondered if Nemona, after clearing other gyms and returning to challenge Sunshine Gym, would clash with Mewtwo who was gradually becoming accustomed to its trainer identity...
Given Nemona's personality, encountering such an interesting Pokémon would probably just make her happy, right?
Thinking this, Aiden turned to look elsewhere.
Under the gentle February sunlight, Sylveon was holding a drawing board with its feelers, staring intently at its small model—Shelgon.
After witnessing Bagon's evolution firsthand, Sylveon suddenly gained some insight—
Besides aiming to "paint the most perfect dragon" to gain Master Smeargle's recognition, it should also pay more attention to changes in its companions around it.
So these past few days, Sylveon hadn't been idle—it had been trying to draw all the other Pokémon in the team, pasting the drawings on the walls of its and the trainer's rooms as a continuation of present memories.
Aiden naturally supported this wholeheartedly.
However, as the model, Shelgon was clearly a bit upset.
Completely encased in hard shells extending from its skull, unable to make any sound, it could only express its dissatisfaction by giving Aiden an aggrieved look with its eyes.
Ridiculously, Aiden seemed to understand what it was thinking:
I should have never evolved—who would have known that after evolving, I couldn't even use my mouth properly anymore, and just when the trainer suddenly became enlightened and learned to make many kinds of food...
This was definitely intentional—so mean!
To this, Aiden could only smile helplessly and stroke its head.
The evolution wasn't under his control either—who would have thought that when he was just helping it simulate flying in the sky, Rayquaza would suddenly appear and take Bagon up into the air?
Yes, this blame definitely belonged to Rayquaza—he wasn't sticking to the pot!
However, Shelgon was indeed quite pitiful. After evolving, not only couldn't it eat Aiden's cooking anymore, it couldn't even drink the dragon milk formula that had helped strengthen its bones and muscles before. What's more, it had accidentally swallowed something strange in its belly...
This actually benefited Miraidon—there were only two dragons in the house besides Kingdra, and since Shelgon now had no ability to eat, Miraidon—who had always coveted the dragon milk—seized the opportunity to drink a few mouthfuls.
Now, they could only pray for Shelgon to evolve into Salamence as soon as possible, making up for all the nutrition it had missed during this period.
Having absorbed the Mega Stone, the evolved Salamence definitely had a promising future—Aiden couldn't help but feel a bit excited too...
If it could truly become a little Rayquaza, this tiny Bagon would have already become the most illegal shelled Pokémon in his team.
Aiden shifted his gaze away, passing over Ogerpon watering the fields with Kingdra, when his attention suddenly caught a lighthouse building on a nearby hill.
Speaking of which, not only Nemona—he hadn't seen Arven for quite some time either. He didn't know if he was still at the research lab.
The memory of him, Nemona, and Arven beating up the Titan Klawf didn't seem that long ago, but as they grew, each had their own busy schedules. Now it had been quite some time since they'd met.
After some thought, Aiden decided to check on the situation.
Besides delivering the Herba Mystica to him and Mabostiff, he was also worried something might have happened to him.
Taking several stocks of various seasonings from the gym, Aiden quickly walked through Poco Path to reach the lighthouse research lab on the hill.
Originally, this should have been Cabo Poco's landmark building, but after the accident involving the professor couple in Area Zero, the lighthouse research lab had been abandoned for quite some time. Now only Arven remained.
The situation was extremely similar to Sunshine Gym's initial state.
After knocking on the door, there was a brief pause before a clattering sound came from inside, followed by hurried footsteps running toward the door.
When the door opened, Arven quickly appeared.
"Brother Aiden...?"
Seemingly not expecting visitors at this time, Arven's expression showed clear confusion.
Aiden examined him.
Not having seen him for two months, the gradually recovering enthusiasm under his and Nemona's influence was now mixed with exhaustion. His naturally curly brown hair looked a bit messy, as if he hadn't properly groomed it for some time.
It seemed Arven had been staying at the research lab the whole time, not leaving?
Aiden had a rough idea but didn't say it directly, instead smiling and speaking:
"I came to deliver Herba Mystica to Mabostiff."
"Recently, through some fortunate coincidences, I've collected the remaining three Herba Mystica. They might help Mabostiff recover its health."
"Ah..."
Clearly not expecting Aiden to say this, Arven stood frozen for a while before suddenly reacting, his eyes instantly filled with intense excitement.
"Thank you so much, Brother Aiden!"
"Mabostiff's condition has indeed been poor lately. I've been busy taking care of it, so I haven't had time to look for the Titans."
"I never expected Brother Aiden had already defeated them all... As expected of Brother Aiden!"
Arven was so excited he was almost incoherent.
During their second challenge against the Titans when Aiden wasn't there, he and Nemona had suffered greatly against that sneaky Iron Treads, tormented by falling rocks from the mountain peak.
Even after finally struggling to the top, facing the exceptionally strong Titan, their battle was extremely difficult.
And that was just one Iron Treads—the other Titans that followed were likely even stronger.
Although Brother Aiden made it sound so casual, even he must have gone through tough battles to defeat the Titans...
If only I could have provided some assistance back then.
Thinking this, Arven suddenly snapped back to reality, realizing Aiden was still standing outside the door, and felt his behavior might have been a bit rude.
So he quickly stepped aside and looked at Aiden with expectant eyes.
"Since you're here, come in and sit for a while, Brother Aiden!"
...
Entering the research lab for the first time, Aiden immediately curiously looked around.
Honestly, the layout inside the lighthouse research lab was completely different from what he had imagined.
In his mind, since this was where the Tera Orb was invented, it should be a frontline research base with various high-tech equipment filling the laboratory.
However...
This place seemed more like a rather special household.
But even calling it a home felt somewhat off.
Because there were almost no traces of the professor couple's daily life. The only family photo Aiden saw along the way seemed quite old—Arven was still a baby held in Professor Sada's arms.
This fit the personalities of these workaholic professors. In the game, Arven disliked others mentioning his parents because they were often away from home, neglecting his feelings. He even grew to dislike Miraidon, feeling it had stolen his parents away.
It was a very classic family conflict, but Arven never got the chance to reconcile with them...
Thinking this, Aiden sighed inwardly.
The photo also included Arven's Mabostiff. Compared to Aiden's memory of it, the one in the photo was clearly much younger, still in its Herding form, looking more vibrant.
Besides this, almost all the internal space of the research lab was filled with bookshelves. Various research materials on Tera phenomena and Pokémon were categorized and arranged, but recent obvious signs of being browsed made it look quite messy.
"Brother Aiden, these are all the research notes they left behind. Feel free to take any that interest you."
After entering what seemed to be the living room, noticing Aiden's attention drawn to the notes on the bookshelves, a momentary sadness flashed across Arven's face before quickly returning to normal.
The "they" he referred to naturally meant Arven's parents—the professor couple who were now almost confirmed to have perished.
"Recently, besides taking care of the ailing Mabostiff, I've been organizing these research notes, hoping to find some clues related to Area Zero."
As he spoke, Arven took several heavily annotated research journals from the nearby table.
"These are contents I think might be useful—records of Pokémon that seem to have already appeared in Area Zero, highly consistent with the contents in those two books."
"I guess these Pokémon should be the main reason why the League sealed off Area Zero, right?"
Regarding his parents' research, Arven actually knew very little.
Lacking care since childhood, he had no intention of inheriting their legacy, wanting to become an excellent Pokémon breeder instead. Naturally, he wouldn't pay attention to these notes at home.
If not for wanting to understand what really happened in Area Zero, he probably wouldn't have investigated at all.
After Aiden took them and glanced through them briefly.
The top one was an archive record of a Paradox Pokémon.
[Paldea Unsolved Archive No.04]
[Primitive Salamence!?]
[No—according to the records in "Scarlet Book," it should more appropriately be called "Roaring Moon."]
[Its appearance is very similar to Salamence after mega evolution, but there's currently no clear connection. It might be Salamence's ancient ancestor.]
[It attacks prey while scattering feathers and flying at high speed. Its temperament is estimated to be even more ferocious than Salamence's, with terrifying combat power.]
[Additional record: No.04 individual was defeated and successfully captured by Miraidon—confirmed to be Dragon+Dark type.]
—Recorded by Professor Sada.
Following Roaring Moon were research records on other Paradox Pokémon like Iron Valiant, Iron Hands, and Sandy Shocks.
From the detailed records, it was clear the two professors had conducted substantial research on Paradox Pokémon, even having captured quite a few of them.
Moreover...
Aiden also saw a very familiar name in the research journal.
What does it mean that Miraidon defeated Roaring Moon???
Could the Miraidon at my house be a Ditto in disguise, which is why it only eats and sleeps?
Although he had mentally prepared for the fact that this useless Miraidon used to be very strong, when confronted with the truth, Aiden couldn't help but make a mental comment about Miraidon.
After Aiden finished browsing the notes, Arven—who had been waiting beside him—spoke again:
"After seeing these research journals, Brother Aiden should also be able to guess why Area Zero was sealed off, right?"
"These powerful creatures classified as Paradox Pokémon should be the League's main research focus in Area Zero besides Tera phenomena."
"And last time they rushed to continue their research deep in Area Zero, they must have discovered something extremely important."
"Based on what I know about them, it's most likely a completely new Paradox Pokémon that would have fatal attraction for those two."
Upon hearing this, Aiden immediately froze.
Arven's analysis was undoubtedly correct.
The conclusion he reached just by thinking through the notes was almost identical to Aiden's memory of the game's storyline...
And he had also proposed a hypothesis that Aiden had never considered before.
Why would the professor couple, who had already researched so many Paradox Pokémon, suddenly risk venturing deep into Area Zero again?
From the research notes just now, it was clear they had great confidence in Miraidon's strength—ordinary Paradox Pokémon simply weren't its match.
And if their target was the second Miraidon as in the game, that wouldn't be particularly convincing either.
After all, they had already hit the jackpot at the start—a powerful Miraidon willing to help them defeat other Paradox Pokémon. There was absolutely no need to risk capturing a second one.
And there happened to be one Paradox Pokémon that perfectly met all the above conditions.
Corresponding to Miraidon, given the moniker the "Winged King" by Heath—
Koraidon!
Theoretically, the only one capable of defeating Miraidon and shattering its fighting spirit would be this ancient king.
Thinking of this, Aiden gradually formed a relatively clear hypothesis about what happened in Area Zero.
After the professor couple returned to Paldea from deep within Area Zero, a special machine left in Area Zero accidentally discovered this powerful individual, drawing the attention of the two professors.
It wasn't that they recklessly caused the tragedy—they were forced to go deal with it after Koraidon appeared first.
Perhaps because Miraidon had already defeated many other Paradox Pokémon before, the two professors developed blind confidence, thinking Miraidon could defeat this one too.
And the result was...
After the tragedy in Area Zero, the lower research lab completely lost contact. The machine controlled by the professor couple went completely out of control. More and more Paradox Pokémon appeared in Area Zero, possibly breaking through the seal and entering Paldea at any time.
Therefore, Geeta temporarily closed the only entrance to Area Zero and dispatched Larry to guard nearby Medali.
As for Miraidon and Mabostiff, they escaped before Area Zero was sealed off, after much hardship finally returning near Cabo Poco where Aiden rescued them.
This way, everything could be explained logically and reasonably.
After figuring everything out, Aiden couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
The price paid for exploring the unknown was indeed not small.
Not only important League members like himself and Arven's parents, but also researchers related to Paradox Pokémon studies and some teachers from Naranja Academy perished in this accident.
It directly affected the Paldea region's future planning.
Area Zero was completely sealed off, leaving behind a very troublesome mess.
But at this point, they could only think of ways to solve the problem.
Aiden quickly made a decision in his heart.
It seemed that not only to reignite Miraidon's fighting spirit, but also to uncover the truth, he indeed needed to visit Area Zero after all.
While Aiden was thinking, Arven beside him had also been brewing his thoughts for a long time. His eyes finally became resolute as he looked at Aiden again:
"Brother Aiden, actually..."
"Recently, I've been frequently receiving messages from my parents on the research lab's computer. They seem trapped in Area Zero, constantly requesting external support."
"But I always felt something was off..."
After hesitating for a moment, Arven took a deep breath and continued.
"Though the content is indeed sent from my parents' work email, and the tone matches their usual work letters... but..."
"Even they shouldn't use that emotionless tone, writing like robots, right?"
Upon hearing this, Aiden's brows immediately furrowed.
Yes—after the Area Zero incident, the professor couple should have been caught in the machine immediately with almost no chance of survival.
But deep within Area Zero, in the research lab, there remained their AI used to guard the time machine, almost perfectly replicating their behavioral logic, actively seeking external rescue.
And in the game's storyline, it was precisely this AI professor who gradually guided the protagonist team to the time machine. Only after a series of battles, successfully shutting down the time machine and defeating the vicious Paradox Pokémon, was the crisis of Area Zero possibly exploding finally resolved.
Therefore...
Had he triggered a key plot point?
Aiden thought inwardly.
As expected—in a storyline advanced by one year with the protagonist not yet appearing—he, the transmigrator, needed to step up first?
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