Chapter 369: Akari: "Dialga, You Help Me Out Here"
Mammon had no idea what his future daughter was privately scheming — right now, he was genuinely enjoying the peaceful atmosphere between them.
How to put it — sure, in his own original timeline, Akari hadn't been born yet. But his blood ran through her veins regardless, genuinely, undeniably. That natural closeness left Mammon's feelings toward her genuinely complicated, but unmistakably positive.
The two of them sat together on the grass, chatting easily as they took in the distant scenery.
From Akari, Mammon picked up a few more details — for instance, that Akari really wasn't his only child in the future, and that there'd apparently been some kind of century's-biggest wedding — details Akari had picked up from home videos and various aunties and uncles over the years.
They chatted for a good while like this, and eventually Mammon released Young Rayquaza, planning to take Akari out for a proper flight and see more of Hisui's scenery.
"So another 'lost traveler of the timestream' has emerged, has she — that genuinely doesn't match anything passed down in the old records."
At the cottage entrance, Wusi leaned elegantly against the wall in her black dress, watching the green dragon-shaped silhouette gradually vanish over the horizon, genuinely intrigued.
"And that just now — that was the legendary sky sovereign, Rayquaza, wasn't it? Seems this Akari's father is quite the formidable figure himself."
"Wouldn't you agree, Mr. Volo?"
Wusi turned to look at Volo, the corner of her mouth curling faintly.
In truth, she considered Volo no ordinary man either — the two of them, sharing a mutual passion for mythology and legend, had grown fairly close as friends over time.
But Volo carried secrets of his own — Wusi understood this well enough. And she could sense, too, that Volo's interest in Akari wasn't entirely pure; he seemed to be angling to use the girl toward some purpose of his own.
Still, as far as Wusi was concerned, if Akari truly was the "lost traveler of the timestream" spoken of in the old legends, then Volo's own scheming would very likely amount to a net loss on his part.
Because Akari was quite literally this world's own "savior."
Those three words alone carried all the weight necessary to settle the matter.
"Mr. Mammon truly is extraordinary." Volo mused for a moment before speaking.
"Mm~ what a shame, though — already spoken for." Wusi stretched lazily. "Otherwise, I genuinely might have entertained a thought or two about Mr. Mammon myself. At my age, honestly, it's about time I found myself a man."
Wusi said this idly — once she'd finished guiding Akari through the mythological knowledge passed down to her, her burden would finally be lifted, and she could turn her attention to her own affairs at last.
As she stretched, her black dress traced the faint outline of her slender, alluring figure — genuinely striking.
Volo, though, didn't so much as glance her way. Wusi truly was beautiful — arguably the most captivating woman Volo had encountered across all his travels. But Volo held no interest in her whatsoever, nor did he hold any real interest in romantic affairs at all. All he sought was the pursuit of myth and legend, and the honor of earning the Sinnoh Deity's favor.
That was the dream, the singular obsession, he carried as a descendant of the ancient Sinnoh people.
He had returned to this Hisui land for the sake of the Sinnoh Deity, and nothing else!!
"If you truly harbor feelings for Mr. Mammon, Miss Wusi, you needn't hold back from saying so. Though, as this humble one understands it, Mr. Mammon appears to have multiple wives already."
Volo offered up his ever-unchanging, gentle smile, sharing his thoughts as a friend.
"Oh?" Wusi tilted her head slightly.
"Ah, never mind. Fate cannot be forced, and besides, we're not even from the same timeline to begin with — a romance spanning across time itself... it does sound rather romantic, doesn't it."
As she spoke, Wusi's interest sparked once more.
"Indeed. One imagines such a romantic tale would make fine material for a poet's verse, passed down through the ages." Volo replied with a smile.
Wait a moment.
Something suddenly occurred to Volo — that photograph Mammon had shown him earlier, when they'd first met.
Volo's expression suddenly turned genuinely strange. That blonde woman had resembled him uncannily — and shared the exact same blonde hair, too.
And Mammon was someone from a later era. Which meant that blonde woman in the photograph was also, presumably, someone from that same later era.
Wait — could she possibly be... his own descendant? No — he could practically say with certainty now, she absolutely had to be his own descendant.
Volo sank into thought, his mind racing furiously.
Mr. Mammon and his own descendant, photographed together looking so intimately close — could that reasonably be interpreted as meaning his own descendant was one of Mr. Mammon's own wives?
Which would mean that, in some roundabout sense, he himself counted as one of Mr. Mammon's own ancestors??
No wonder Mr. Mammon had been so eager to show him that photograph the moment they'd met. Surely Mr. Mammon had already made this exact connection the very instant he laid eyes on him.
Volo's face contorted for the third time that day, an expression genuinely difficult to describe settling over it, his mind momentarily short-circuiting.
"Mr. Volo, is something the matter?"
Wusi noticed his expression, genuinely curious as to why her usually warm, easygoing friend suddenly looked like a man questioning the very fabric of his own existence.
"Please, don't concern yourself over it. This humble one simply thought of something rather... never mind, perhaps I'm reading too much into it."
Volo let out a sigh. He now understood exactly why Mr. Mammon had looked so genuinely stunned, so utterly at a loss, upon hearing Akari call him "Papa" earlier.
"?" A question mark hovered over Wusi's head.
"I do wonder, though, what expression that particular descendant of mine might wear, upon seeing a photograph of the two of us together."
But before long, Volo couldn't help letting out a small, involuntary laugh at the thought, genuinely a little curious now what that particular descendant's reaction might be, whenever she eventually saw that photograph.
Time truly is a wondrous, inscrutable thing beyond words.
Volo marveled at it — just as Mr. Mammon and Akari had crossed paths across timelines by pure chance, he too had no way of knowing whether he'd ever have the opportunity to meet that descendant of his, whom he'd now, in a manner of speaking, already "met" through a single photograph.
"??"
Seeing Volo start laughing all over again out of nowhere, Wusi's confusion only deepened further.
Something really did seem off about Mr. Volo today. Genuinely strange.
—
Young Rayquaza's flight speed was considerable, and Akari knew a fair amount about the Hisui region herself, having a general sense of where the local "specialty" Pokémon tended to nest.
Kleavor, Hisuian Growlithe, Sneasler, and more — chatting with Akari all the while, Mammon steadily rounded up and caught the lot of them.
With Young Rayquaza's help, the two of them covered a great deal of ground, snapping plenty of photographs along the way. After all, Terapagos's time-travel ability carried a definite time limit, and Mammon was determined to make the most of every remaining moment.
Along a river's edge at the Cobalt Coastlands, Mammon caught the rebounding Poké Ball — the very one now holding a freshly-caught Basculegion.
Mammon felt a faint, genuinely indescribable sense of wrongness settle over him — a peculiar sensation, but one he could recognize clearly enough as the pull of temporal rejection.
Much like in Scarlet/Violet's own storyline, when Professor Sada, summoned to the Crystal Pool by Terapagos, had likewise sensed that her own "time" was drawing near.
"Akari, come here."
Mammon let out a soft breath and called her over.
Akari blinked her big, lovely eyes and walked over, tilting her head up toward him.
Mammon raised both hands, gently smoothing her soft, blue-black hair into place and straightening the white headscarf she wore.
Then he studied the girl before him carefully, her face reflected in his own eyes.
The lost girl of the timestream simply stood there quietly in return, gazing back at her father, her big eyes gradually welling with a faint mist.
A few seconds passed, and then Mammon broke into a smile.
"My daughter really is beautiful."
Mammon's smile was warm and genuinely gentle — a true, heartfelt smile.
"Papa, are you leaving now?"
"Ah~ looks like the time's about up."
Mammon didn't deny it — after all, it was simply the truth.
"But it's alright. We're absolutely certain to meet again someday, aren't we."
Mammon gently ruffled Akari's hair, feeling no real sadness at all.
Because, exactly as he'd just said, he and Akari were bound to meet again someday, without question.
Because she was his daughter, and he was her father.
"Mm~" Akari nodded firmly, her voice thick with unmistakable emotion.
The girl said nothing further, simply drawing closer to Mammon, resting her cheek against her father's chest, wrapping her arms tightly around him.
"I'll wait for you to come get me, Papa. You said it yourself — whatever you promise me, you always keep."
"I will."
Time has always been the fairest, and yet most merciless, force in existence — treating every life equally, and equally without mercy.
But Akari never once believed that applied to her. Because she knew — her own time stretched long. Very, very long.
Before she quite realized it, the figure held in her arms had already begun dissolving into scattering motes of light.
At the riverbank, the lost girl of the timestream stood alone, staring at the spot where her father had vanished, for a long, long while.
Half a minute later, the girl let out a soft sigh.
"Missing Papa and Mama again, huh."
Akari raised her right hand, looking down at the extraordinarily vivid, brilliant feather resting in her palm, glinting with a faint, rainbow-hued shimmer.
This was a Rainbow Wing.
Akari couldn't possibly mistake it — she had plenty of these back home. But none of those ordinary Rainbow Wings came anywhere close to matching the beauty of this particular one.
This was the Rainbow Wing her father kept as a treasured keepsake, displayed in the family's collection room.
According to Akari's own childhood memories, Mammon had once held her in his arms, telling her proudly that this was the Rainbow Wing that had once granted him three wishes — the very one that had helped him overcome so many formidable opponents.
According to what her father had told her, once the third and final wish had been used, Ho-Oh hadn't asked for the feather back at all — instead, it had deliberately left it with her father as a keepsake, a memento of the friendship and camaraderie the two of them had forged fighting side by side.
A genuinely treasured heirloom, well worth commemorating.
Even back then, as a small child, Akari had adored this beautiful feather, so meaningful to her father.
And now, her father had deliberately left it with her, as a gift to mark their very first meeting.
"Well, that counts as an unexpected bonus, doesn't it~"
Akari's delicate little face broke into a radiant, genuinely joyful smile. Sure, this wasn't her own timeline's father — but a father was still, unmistakably, a father!
Papa would always be the best person in the entire world to her!
A gift for their first meeting? But really, for her, this hadn't been their first meeting at all, not anymore.
Genuinely, truly happy right now!
The girl's smile was, genuinely, thoroughly adorable.
Mama surely never would've imagined she'd end up meeting Papa from back before the two of them even got together.
"Oh! I forgot to tell Papa to hurry up and go chase after Mama, so he could get around to having me sooner!"
Akari suddenly smacked her own forehead, genuinely a little exasperated with herself.
"Don't you agree, Dialga?"
The swirling vortex of time turned, and the Dragon of Time for this particular era, its body shimmering with diamond-blue divine radiance, materialized — gazing down, thoroughly resigned, at the girl below.
Or, perhaps more accurately... her own tiny ancestral overlord.
"Emmm~ once Papa comes back to find me and bring me back to his own time for the World Tournament, could you help me out, Dialga? Otherwise I'm not totally sure I'd be able to beat Second Mama."
Akari's slightly troubled expression was thoroughly, adorably endearing.
Sure, her own current strength really was quite considerable, and she still had plenty of time left to keep improving besides.
But Akari understood full well — Second Mama was, without question, the strongest person in existence besides Papa himself.
Dialga: "..."
It genuinely wanted to solemnly declare, with full dignity, that time was not something to be tampered with so casually!
But in its own eyes, the sheer, overwhelming concentration of the Breath of Origin radiating off this particular girl below was practically enough to choke it out entirely.
Dialga fell silent, gazing down at this tiny ancestral overlord standing before it. What was there left to even say?
Truly, genuinely, this world had brought this upon itself.
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