Meanwhile, Suicune Was On His Way

Time flies like an arrow, and the days of childhood always pass in the blink of an eye.

The sun and moon cycle continuously over Heavenly Green Mountain; spring flowers bloom across the wilderness, and summer cicadas fill the entire forest with their song.

In the blink of an eye, autumn has arrived.

In this season where leaves turn yellow and the harvest begins, Dongshu is also about to turn two years old.

Inside the cave, Entei keeps his eyes closed, seemingly resting.

Suddenly, a childish shout rings out from outside.

"Entei, the fruits on the trees have grown!"

Entei's tiger-like eyes slowly open, and he sees Dongshu running toward him from outside, looking full of excitement.

Seeing him, a trace of tenderness emerges in Entei's usually stern and solemn expression.

He licks Dongshu's cheek and says, "I am aware."

"Let's go take a look together!" Dongshu cannot wait to share this joyous occasion with Entei.

They put a great deal of effort into this.

Every morning, he and Entei would take the Squirtle Watering Can to the river in the forest, fill it with clear water, and bring it back to irrigate this patch of land.

After months of hard work, their efforts have finally blossomed and borne fruit.

Entei cannot resist Dongshu's persistence, so he stands up and accompanies him to the orchard outside.

The Berry pits that Dongshu and Raikou buried in the soil have now completely broken through the earth, growing into sturdy, upright fruit trees.

The branches are laden with Berries of various colors; as if favored by Arceus, every single one is plump, juicy, and incredibly tempting.

There are Cheri Berries that look like cherries, Oran Berries that look like strawberries, and Pomelo Fruit that look like pears...

"With this, we won't have to go outside to look for Berries anymore!" Dongshu says, brimming with excitement.

Entei stands by his side and nods slightly.

Dongshu then thinks of something else.

For the past few months, he has been performing magic tricks in front of the Wild Pokémon at the foot of the mountain, or speaking to them using Pokémon Language.

Through these methods, Dongshu has earned quite a few Shock Points.

Although, later on, those Pokémon were no longer very shocked, partly because they had already seen several magic shows, and partly because they had gradually accepted the fact that a human could speak Pokémon Language.

Even so, he has become friends with many Wild Pokémon and built strong bonds.

Thinking of this, Dongshu says to Entei, "We can't eat all these Berries ourselves. When it snows, let's go and share them with everyone in the forest!"

"Very well." Entei is quite pleased with Dongshu's initiative to help other Pokémon.

Because the more he does so, the easier it will be for him to gain the recognition of Ho-Oh.

"Boom! Rumble!"

A muffled roll of thunder suddenly echoes in the sky.

Immediately after, a light drizzle begins to fall from the dark clouds above.

It is raining!

Seeing this, Entei quickly brings Dongshu back into the cave to keep him from getting wet.

Watching the gentle Autumn Rain outside, Dongshu asks with anticipation, "Is Raikou back?"

"No, it is just an ordinary Autumn Rain." Entei looks up at the sky and shakes his head. Sometimes, Entei wishes Raikou would return a little later, because as soon as that guy returns, he is sure to compete for Dongshu's attention.

The Legendary Beasts can vaguely sense each other's locations.

Raikou has gone to the neighboring Johto Region, while Suicune seems to have started his return journey from a distant place and is currently heading toward Heavenly Green Mountain.

"Oh, I see."

Seeing that it is not Raikou returning, Dongshu sighs helplessly, acting like a little adult.

Seeing this, Entei frowns slightly, his heart instantly growing vigilant: "Do you like Raikou that much?"

"Raikou said that when he comes back next time, he will bring me a gift too!" Dongshu's tone is full of expectation.

Heavenly Green Mountain is far from the human world. Although he has Entei's company and many Wild Pokémon to play with, Dongshu still feels a bit bored occasionally.

Entei went out and brought back a Clefairy Doll; what kind of gift will Raikou bring him when he returns?

Hearing this, Entei feels relieved. Fortunately, the Little One is only looking forward to the gift Raikou might bring.

A gift... speaking of gifts, Entei turns his gaze toward the Clefairy Doll.

That Clefairy Doll has now become the Little One's favorite toy; he hugs it to sleep every single night.

I will bring back a few more dolls the next time I go out, Entei decides inwardly.

As the father the Little One loves most, he cannot be outdone by that guy Raikou when it comes to gifts.

Dongshu does not think much about what is going on in Entei's mind.

It is raining outside, but the cave remains dry and warm.

Dongshu rode on Fire Emperor and immediately opened his System Store.

Over the past few months, with the help of Marshadow and Fire Emperor, he had traveled almost the entirety of Heavenly Green Mountain, performing magic tricks for Wild Pokémon everywhere he went.

By today, he had managed to accumulate a full 6000 Shock Points.

For him at this stage, this could certainly be considered a massive fortune.

However, if he were to use it to exchange for Rare Candy to level up Fire Emperor, it wouldn't even be enough to buy a single level's worth of experience.

Based on Dongshu's observations and experiments during this period, he had discovered something.

Rare Candy in the System Store required 2000 Shock Points to level up from level 1 to level 2, and 3000 Shock Points to go from level 2 to level 3.

Following this logic, if one wanted to raise a Pokémon from birth all the way to level one hundred, it would require several million Shock Points!

Dongshu didn't even dare to imagine it; he suspected that such a number could only be earned if he performed some world-changing feat in front of all the humans across the entire region...

Forget it, he should just focus on improving his living environment for now!

Dongshu's gaze fell upon an item in the store he had been coveting for a long time.

[Secret Power: A magical power that can be used to excavate mountain faces or tree trunks to create a Secret Base. Exchange cost: 5000 Shock Points.]

Secret Power was a Move that could be learned by some Pokémon in the games, and it was a specialty of the Hoenn Region and the Sinnoh Region.

In the games, players could find various large trees, grass patches, and walls with small holes throughout the Hoenn Region.

By using Secret Power, these secret spots could be opened up to create a Secret Base, where players could perform all sorts of decorating tasks.

For example, placing tables and chairs, potted plants, ornaments, dolls, rugs, posters, cushions, and so on.

"5000 Shock Points..." Dongshu's eyes flickered. "I hope you don't let me down!"

Dongshu had originally intended to tell Fire Emperor first to prevent it from being startled by the changes to the cave, but then he thought, if Fire Emperor and the secretly observing Marshadow were shocked, it might provide him with some more Shock Points to help him recover his funds.

Fire Emperor, who was keeping a constant watch on the Little One: "?"

It had just seen a flash of an "evil" smile on the Little One's face, as if he were about to pull off some kind of prank.

"Exchange!" Dongshu thought to himself.

Following the deduction of 5000 Shock Points, the very next second, under Fire Emperor's vigilant gaze, the entire cave erupted with a dense white light.

Amidst the white light, Dongshu only felt Fire Emperor quickly shielding him behind its body.

But the light lasted only for a few breaths before slowly dissipating.

Once the light faded completely, Fire Emperor saw its Little One looking at it with a grin.

Fire Emperor realized instantly that the Little One had used his special ability again!

"Don't be afraid, Fire Emperor!" Dongshu hugged Fire Emperor's foreleg.

"..."

Fire Emperor sighed helplessly, yet with indulgence.

It turned its head to look and saw that the once ordinary cave had undergone a complete transformation.

The originally uneven rock walls had been remodeled into perfectly flat and smooth stone walls, and the entire cave had become square, much like a house built by humans.

The floor of the room was still covered with the wooden flooring it was familiar with, and it and the Little One were still standing on that soft, large rug.

Fire Emperor was stunned.

"Little One, this is...?"

"This is our home!" Dongshu replied.

The room, remodeled from the cave, was even larger than before!

Dongshu looked at his masterpiece with satisfaction; those 5000 Shock Points were well spent!

Next, he would buy some wallpaper, tables, chairs, sofas, and other furniture to decorate, and this cave would feel even more like a home!

This was his and Fire Emperor's home.

No, this was the home for him, Fire Emperor, Marshadow, and Raikou!

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away.

A Pokémon with a blue body and white block-like patterns on its skin was running along a stream, riding the north wind.

It possessed a headpiece that looked like a blue gem, and its two white, ribbon-like tails swayed gracefully and nimbly, looking so elegant and mysterious.

This Pokémon was the final member of the Ho-Oh Guard, the Aurora Pokémon, the Incarnation of the North Wind, Suicune.

Suicune had recently felt that the movement patterns of the other two members of the Ho-Oh Guard were very strange.

Since last autumn, Fire Emperor had returned to Heavenly Green Mountain, and after leaving for only a few days, it had remained there ever since.

Not long after, Raikou had also gone to Heavenly Green Mountain and stayed there for several days before leaving.

Vaguely, Suicune had a feeling that its two companions seemed to be hiding something from it.

To investigate exactly what had happened at Heavenly Green Mountain, it decided to return there to see why Fire Emperor had stayed for such a long time.