Building a Home

Autumn rain fell in a steady drizzle.

Dongshu stood inside the Secret Base, staring at his hands in astonishment.

Secret Power wasn't a one-time use. It was an ability—a Pokémon move he had learned. Once he'd exchanged for it, he could use it freely from then on.

For now, he could use this ability at most three times a day. But that didn't seem to be the limit; the number of uses would gradually increase as he grew.

Did that mean humans were actually a kind of Pokémon, too? Dongshu couldn't help wondering.

But either way, it didn't matter.

There was something important he still needed to do.

One room wasn't enough for a Secret Base.

As it happened, he still had two uses of the ability left for the day, so Dongshu decided to use them both at once.

The space inside Heavenly Green Mountain was enormous. While Fire Emperor watched him in confusion, Dongshu walked up to one of the room's walls and reached out.

The next second, the familiar white light flared again.

When it faded, another room stood before Dongshu and Fire Emperor.

Fire Emperor's pupils contracted.

But what astonished him even more was that Little One hadn't stopped!

He walked over to another wall and repeated what he'd just done.

Another empty room appeared there.

"Little One..." Fire Emperor stared blankly at the scene. He hadn't expected Little One to be so powerful!

"Done!" Dongshu said, clapping his hands with satisfaction as he admired his handiwork.

Fire Emperor slowly came over and looked at the rooms with him.

"What are these...?"

Dongshu grinned and explained, "This is Raikou's Room, this is Marshadow's Room, and this is Our Room!"

Fire Emperor said, "...They don't need all this space."

"Guess you're right!" Dongshu said, nodding thoughtfully. Raikou was away most of the year, and Marshadow spent all twenty-four hours of the day in the Shadow World.

"In that case..." Dongshu suddenly had another idea. "Let's turn this room into a bathroom so it'll be convenient to take baths!"

"And we can use this room as a Warehouse to store food!"

With a thousand Shock Points left, Dongshu opened the System Store as he spoke and got to work on more renovations.

[Bathtub: Furniture for bathing with Pokémon. Exchange cost: 700 Shock Points.]

[Fully Automatic Flushing Toilet: Household item for personal sanitation. Must be installed where there is a water source. Can be used with a Distortion Space connection device. Waste is automatically flushed into the Distortion World. Exchange cost: 1,000 Shock Points.]

[Refrigerator: An appliance for keeping food fresh. Requires a generator. Exchange cost: 1,500 Shock Points.]

[Wooden Dining Table: A complete set of furniture for eating meals. Exchange cost: 500 Shock Points.]

[Tableware: A complete set of tableware for meals. Exchange cost: 300 Shock Points.]

[Fabric Sofa: A sofa for resting. Exchange cost: 600 Shock Points.]

[Wooden Wall: Changes the material of the room's walls. Exchange cost: 2,000 Shock Points.]

[Marble Wall: Changes the material of the room's walls. Exchange cost: 3,000 Shock Points.]

[Pink Wallpaper: Replaces the room's wallpaper. Exchange cost: 200 Shock Points.]

[Automatic Light-Gathering Window: Can be installed inside a cave to simulate natural sunlight shining into a room through a window. Exchange cost: 1,000 Shock Points.]

Dongshu: "..."

He couldn't afford any of it. Not a single thing!

Dongshu's spirits sank.

"What's wrong, Little One?" Fire Emperor immediately asked.

"I don't have enough energy... I can't keep renovating." Dongshu explained his predicament in terms Fire Emperor could understand. "It's like how Raikou needs Electric-type energy in his body to use Thunder."

Fire Emperor understood. Little One had run out of energy!

That made sense. For someone so tiny to have accomplished this much was already incredible.

But... as Little One's father, Fire Emperor couldn't bear to see him so dejected.

"It'll be all right when you're older," he comforted him.

Dongshu sighed again, his little face clouded with worry. Most of the Wild Pokémon nearby had already given him all the Shock Points they could. Even if he went and performed magic tricks in front of them again, or spoke Pokémon, they wouldn't be surprised anymore.

"I wish I could grow up faster!" Dongshu said.

Fire Emperor licked his face and comforted him. "You'll grow up."

The remaining thousand Shock Points weren't enough for anything useful, so Dongshu decided to save them for later.

He curled up against Fire Emperor's soft, Fluffy belly and listened to the autumn rain pattering outside the cave.

The cave was warm and dry, and the wool Carpet on the wooden floor was soft and fluffy. With the rain whispering outside and the cozy atmosphere around him, Dongshu soon felt sleepy.

Fire Emperor quietly let him rest against him, staying by his side.

With his head on Fire Emperor's belly, Dongshu thought about how, since coming to the Pokémon world, he'd never imagined he would one day have this kind of relationship with one of the Legendary Beasts.

Fate really was a strange thing.

"Fire Emperor," Dongshu called.

Fire Emperor immediately looked down at him.

"What did you used to do?" Dongshu asked.

Fire Emperor paused, then replied, "In the past... I would travel across this land, just like Raikou, helping Pokémon in need. That was the mission Lord Ho-Oh entrusted to us."

"Lord Ho-Oh?"

"Mm." Fire Emperor nodded his massive head, then looked out through the rain beyond the cave toward the distant horizon. "Raikou, Suicune, and I should have died a hundred and fifty years ago. Lord Ho-Oh used his power to bring us back to life. After that, we began following him."

"Died?" Dongshu paused, and memories of the Legendary Beasts' origins came back to him.

They were said to have been three nameless Pokémon who died in the fire at the Burned Tower in Ecruteak City.

Ho-Oh had brought them back to life, and they had become his emissaries, sent to observe humanity.

The legend was true...

Dongshu couldn't help looking at Fire Emperor.

Through Fire Emperor's eyes, Dongshu seemed to see that day.

That night, torrential rain poured down as thunder and lightning roared. A bolt struck the tower and set it ablaze.

Three Pokémon were trapped inside, burned alive.

Then Ho-Oh appeared and scattered Sacred Ash, reviving them.

As they were brought back to life, they merged with the things around them and gained new powers.

In the end, the lightning that struck the tower became Raikou, the fire that burned it down became Fire Emperor, and the rain that fell became Suicune.

Looking at the great cat before him, who always wore such a stern expression, Dongshu felt an inexplicable ache in his heart.

How much had it hurt when they were trapped in the tower and burned to death?

"Did it hurt?" Dongshu couldn't help asking.

Fire Emperor paused, then realized Little One was asking what it had felt like when they died.

But... that day had happened so long ago that Fire Emperor had forgotten what it felt like.

Not wanting Little One to worry, Fire Emperor gently shook his head. "It didn't hurt."

"You're lying," Dongshu murmured.