Chapter 191:
The Junior Cup scheduled from October 23rd to 25th.
It was said to last two and a half days in total.
The first day was the preliminary round, mainly for screening, to eliminate some... how should I put it? Overly novice trainers.
According to the Easton's League's trainer assessment system, this time every year, there was a large-scale Primary Trainer Certification exam.
So, at this point, a large number of newcomers would become trainers and obtain their first Pokémon.
And there would always be some hot-headed young guys who thought they were the chosen ones, believing their newly hatched or newly caught Pokémon could overcome all obstacles.
This screening round was designed to filter out such trainers.
After screening out 128 trainers, it would move on to a formal elimination system.
However, the Junior Cup had a very interesting rule: after advancing to the semi-finals, there would be an audience challenge segment.
This meant that audience members, provided they met the conditions, could challenge the trainers who had made it to the semi-finals.
The conditions were also being a trainer for less than a year since obtaining their first Pokémon, with one additional stipulation:
Strength!
The Pokémon's strength had to be at the Elite level or above.
Otherwise, the first day's screening would be meaningless.
To be honest, while this challenge added an element of mystery to the competition, it was very unfriendly to some participants who had entered early.
After all, "I'm in the open, you're in the dark." Trainers hiding in the audience could completely choose their opponents based on Pokémon typing.
Listening to Rotom explain the details of the Junior Cup, Hayashi Kaede looked around at everyone at the dining table.
The Alcremie didn't pay it any mind, eating whatever they pleased.
Bounsweet and Popplio also acted like they hadn't heard anything.
Serperior knew what the competition's opponents were like and didn't show much desire to participate.
Butterfree was buried in its juice bowl, sucking away. Only when Kaede looked at it did it raise its head and glance at him blankly.
At the critical moment, little nine (the Eevee) stepped forward. "Eevee!" (Let me go!)
It thought that for this battle tournament, no Pokémon of Kaede's was willing to go, so it stood up on its hind legs, patted its chest with its front paws, indicating it would go.
This made Alolan Vulpix look up too. "Vulpix~ Vulpix~" (Yeah yeah! Let's go play!)
Then the two other Eevee, little three and little five, who were next to it, also looked up curiously.
Finally, the Goodra, who was close with them also became interested.
Hayashi Kaede: "..."
The Eevee and Alolan Vulpix could go; during the competition, they could be let out to be held by him or Mewtwo.
But if Goodra went, if it wasn't battling, it could only stay in its Poké Ball.
However, judging by Goodra's expression, it probably wouldn't be happy staying alone at the Breeding House anyway, so better to let it stay with Mewtwo.
Milotic floated in the air, without any opinion; it wasn't fond about battling.
Dragonite, however, became interested. It thought of the scene where it fought over a dozen Pokémon for its Trainer.
But upon hearing that this competition only allowed "one-year-old" babies to participate, its interest immediately waned.
One-year-old babies.
On their Dragonite Island, half were probably Dratini, half were Dragonair.
It wasn't a baby anymore.
Salamence also glanced over, but after seeing the previous Junior Cup's battle footage, it lazily yawned and went back to eating its Energy Cubes.
Clearly, this kind of battle couldn't hold its attention.
Mewtwo was indifferent.
It had already promised Kaede it would go take a look.
On the other hand, Mew flew over, watched the video of a battle that Rotom was playing, and then giggled. It didn't tell Kaede whether it was going or not, just snickered there, probably brewing some mischief.
"Blaziken?"
Hearing the lively scene, Blaziken finally lifted his head from its food bowl. "Blaziken?" (What? What?)
"We're going out to play, wanna come?"
Kaede was somewhat speechless, then replied a bit dismissively.
*Geez what a foodie, single-mindedly focused on its holy meal, paying no attention to outside matters.*
But saying it was going out to play wasn't wrong.
Watching matches, guessing egg mysteries, visiting developed scenic spots—wasn't that just going out to have fun?
Blaziken's eyes lit up. "Blaziken!" (Yes!)
"Alright, I'll take you all tomorrow."
After a moment's thought, Kaede looked at Salamence. "And you, Salamence, you're coming with me too."
"Salamence."
Salamence lifted its head, agreeing.
"Then everyone, keep eating."
Kaede didn't disturb their meal any further. Today's dinner main course was noodles—very simple clear spinach soup noodles, paired with honey-glazed grilled meat and steamed pumpkin cakes.
This season was the time for mature pumpkins.
As the weather was getting colder, he had removed the previous juices and iced drinks.
Instead, he served Rice Wine and Grepa Berry Wine.
Of course, every Pokémon needed to drink an appropriate amount in moderation.
It was worth mentioning that the Rice purchased from Takagi-ojii-san last time was almost used up. So, to make more Rice Wine, he would need to buy raw materials again.
Kaede wasn't in a hurry.
Mainly because there was a substitute, Grepa Berry Wine,
which little cat Mew, big cat Mewtwo, Gardevoir, and he quite enjoyed drinking.
There was plenty of this at home, so he wasn't worried about supply.
By now, especially for dinner, each evening meal often took over an hour to finish.
So, by the time it was time to clear the table, the sky had already darkened.
But today seemed different...
In the deep night sky, to the east of the town, a beautiful arc slowly emerged from an unseen place. Then, the bright blue light grew brighter and brighter, as if about to illuminate the entire sky.
This scene quickly attracted the attention of the Pokémon.
"Blaziken?"
"Alcrmie!" (So pretty!)
"Vulpix?" (Look, there's a something flying in the sky?)
Many Pokémon exclaimed in surprise.
Kaede also looked over.
He saw that the October sky, which should have been pitch black, was suddenly streaked with a brilliant trail of light. Because the front was bright and the back was dim, it really looked like a brush sweeping across the sky.
He couldn't help but laugh and explained to the Pokémon, "That's a meteor, a natural phenomenon where a meteoroid falls from the sky. The high heat generated from passing through the atmosphere ignites the organic compounds on its surface, creating this gorgeous appearance."
"Vulpix?" (Meteor?)
Alolan Vulpix tilted its head, not quite understanding, but it thought the meteor Kaede mentioned was really beautiful.
Kaede was also captivated by this spectacle.
Speaking of the origin of meteors, he suddenly remembered that in this world, outer space also had all sorts of Pokémon.
However, in the original canon, only a handful of Pokémon had been shown, like Rayquaza and Deoxys.
Legend said the Clefairy on Mt. Moon were also Pokémon that came from outer space.
This made Kaede think that on other planets in this universe, due to different ecological environments, there must be all kinds of novel and unique Pokémon.
They might be vastly different from the Pokémon here, but they definitely existed.
It was just that there was no way to traverse the stars and reach other planets.
"It's getting brighter..."
The meteor's brightness, the certain aura it carried, made even the usually aloof Mewtwo's eyes light up.
Seeing everyone looking up together, Kaede couldn't help but smile. "Speaking of meteors, there is a Pokémon related to them. Does everyone want to hear about it?"
Hearing this, everyone turned their gaze to Kaede.
Kaede was happy to play the "Pokémon Professor." "It's a Wish Pokémon called Jirachi. It descends with meteors, coming to the human world. It's said that if you make a wish to it, it can help you realize any wish..."
"Blaziken?!" (That powerful?!)
Blaziken's eyes widened, interrupting Kaede.
With such an ability, if it made a wish, wouldn't it have endless barbecue?
Moreover, could he finally be able outrun its Trainer?
Interrupted, Kaede paused, then his mouth twitched. Sensing Blaziken's thoughts, he couldn't help but knocked its head sharply. "Don't interrupt me!"
The other Pokémon also looked at Blaziken with displeasure.
Even Mewtwo became curious.
A Pokémon that could grant any wish?
"Blaziken..."
Blaziken immediately took a step back, wronged.
Kaede continued, "Yes, it carries the energy of meteors and can grant any wish. But this kind of Pokémon has a very big limitation."
The story-listening Pokémon paused.
"Right, a limitation. The Creator gave it the ability to grant wishes but also made it bear an unbearable price: it can only exist in the world for seven days every thousand years."
"What does that mean?"
Mewtwo frowned. Only seven days?
What about the rest of the time?
Kaede glanced at Mewtwo and explained, "At intervals of every thousand years, it falls from the sky as a meteor, descends to the world, and then has its own time. After seven days, it turns back into a meteorite and flies back into outer space to sleep... for another thousand years, until the next millennium."
Mewtwo was shocked. "A thousand years?"
The other Pokémon also looked at Kaede incredulously.
They had all been at the Breeding House for a while and naturally knew how long a thousand years was.
Berry trees flowered and fruited every day, vegetables changed with the seasons, Ryō Fū struggled for ten years through many adventures, went to various regions just for Beedrill's injury, but in the end, Beedrill was still dying,..
Over a decade of bonds, even if severed, would leave a mark in the heart.
But a thousand years...
Who would remember such a Pokémon?
Or rather, those who remembered would be gone.
"So every time it descends, no one remembers it?" Mewtwo asked, astonished.
"Alcremie..." (No friends, every time it comes down, it's all alone...)
The Alcremie also empathized, imagining Jirachi's loneliness.
"That's right. Very few Pokémon or humans can live for over a thousand years and it only has seven days of freedom. For it, every minute, every second, is an extremely precious time." Kaede also sighed.
"The Creator gave it an extremely powerful ability but also made it bear an unimaginable price. But I think if it knew it had to pay this price to gain this ability, it probably wouldn't be willing either."
After he finished musing, he realized most of the Pokémon's moods had sunk. Clearly, they had been affected by the story of Jirachi.
Then...
Alolan Vulpix tugged at his clothes. "Vulpix..." (It's so pitiful, can you help it?)
"..."
Kaede's mind went blank. *Me help it?*
*How do I help it? Go to outer space and help it?*
He shook his head. "The span of a thousand years is too long. No one knows if they can encounter this Pokémon."
"Everyone, don't be too pessimistic. There's another legend derived from Jirachi: when a meteor falls, if your heart is sincere enough, you can make a wish come true. So, does everyone want to try making a wish?"
"If you don't wish soon, it might be gone."
Although it was sad, seeing the meteor was about to descend, plus the idea of wish-making, most Pokémon closed their eyes and secretly made wishes in their hearts.
Even Gardevoir, who had been listening silently nearby, quietly closed her eyes.
Blaziken: *'I hope there's endless food... and also, that brionne and I aren't abandoned...'*
Dragonite: *'Life here is so comfortable... I kind of miss... I kind of miss Big Fool...'*
Serperior: *'I hope my Grassy Terrain grows more special plants... I want to go back to when I was small...'*
Alcremie: *'Will Koli be sad when she goes home? I don't want her to be unhappy...'*
*'Kaede, don't die. I don't want him to die...'*
*'Our new Trainer is so good... I want to make cakes for him forever...'*
*'Let Koli's grandfather come back to life...'*
Brionne: *'Evolve quickly! I want to water the new planting area!'*
Gardevoir: *'May they all grow up safe and sound, may the Breeding House get better and better, may the Trainer be happier and happier, may he catch more and more Pokémon he likes...'*
Mewtwo: *'....A wish? What should I wish for?'*
Bounsweet: *'I want to find my mom....'*
Alolan Vulpix: *'...Kaede, love me forever!'*
Mew: *'....'*
...
Looking at the group of Pokémon with their eyes closed, Hayashi Kaede also couldn't help but close his eyes.
When he opened them again, the meteor in the sky was only leaving its final afterglow, showering the east of the town in gentle light.
He spoke. "Alright.... Wishes made, tomorrow is a brand new day!"
....
Right at this moment, in a certain wilderness area, a young girl had just finished pitching her tent, when suddenly, a dazzling light fell straight towards he