Although the rumors were false, the Shock Points they brought him were real.
After a day of spreading, they had earned him nearly three million more Shock Points.
Maybe it was because some people hadn't seen it with their own eyes. They were still very surprised, but the Shock Points they contributed were few.
Still, it was enough!
Time to get to work!
Before he could officially begin the renovations, though, there was one more thing he had to do.
Thanks for all your hard work, Ho-Oh!
Dongshu glanced at Ho-Oh beside him. With a thought, he spent eighty-two thousand Shock Points in the System Store and exchanged them for a Rare Candy made especially for Ho-Oh.
Ho-Oh had already sensed the human child looking at him.
He turned toward Dongshu and saw the child approaching, holding a seemingly ordinary candy in both hands.
"Ho-Oh, here!"
Ho-Oh paused. His gaze settled on the candy—not because of Dongshu's gesture, but because his keen senses picked up the abundant energy radiating from it.
That was...
"Thanks for taking me out to play today, Ho-Oh!" Dongshu unwrapped the candy and added, "It's a present!"
A present... Ho-Oh felt a surge of emotion.
He hadn't done it for a present.
Ho-Oh plucked the candy from Dongshu's hand with his beak and swallowed it.
The moment it went down, a warm, abundant energy flowed through Ho-Oh's entire body. For a moment, it felt as though he had an endless supply of energy.
Then a fiery red glow shone from him.
Within that light, Ho-Oh could clearly feel his strength growing.
The sudden change took him completely by surprise. He stared at the human child in disbelief.
"This... What is this?!"
Dongshu grinned. "This is my power!"
Ho-Oh knew Dongshu had the extraordinary power to make things appear whenever he wanted. He also knew Dongshu couldn't use it whenever he pleased.
Even so, he was still a little confused.
"I used to have limited energy, and I'd always run out..." Dongshu tried to explain it in terms Ho-Oh could understand. "But today, when you took me to the human world, I felt some special energy gathering while people were looking at me. So I wanted to thank you, Ho-Oh!"
Ho-Oh understood at once, his heart filling with surprise and delight.
A warm feeling welled up inside him. What moved him was that the first thing little Dongshu had thought to do after gaining so much power was to give some of it to him as a present...
And what excited Ho-Oh was the thought that if he took little Dongshu to the human world more often, wouldn't Dongshu be able to gather even more energy?
Ho-Oh couldn't help imagining little Dongshu giving him another present made from all that gathered power.
If he could grow even stronger, he'd be better able to protect the weak and maintain peace in the world.
After feeding Ho-Oh the Rare Candy, Dongshu checked his balance.
Balance: 6,280,500.
He didn't know what had happened in the human world after he and Ho-Oh left, or what people had imagined.
But over six million Shock Points were enough to let him do plenty!
Dongshu walked slowly to the far end of the cave, where the wall stood.
He placed his hand against it and activated Secret Power.
Before long, it had opened up a separate, empty room.
Next...
Dongshu turned his attention to the store.
[Large Space Ecological Park: Developed using Palkia's spatial power, this is an independent space equipped with an artificial sun, climate simulation, terrain adjustment, seasonal changes, and other functions. It can meet the daily needs of all Pokémon. Exchange cost: 2,000,000 Shock Points.]
Exchange!
[Set it up here?]
Yes!
The next second, a dense white light filled the empty room.
At first, it was all just a blur.
The light seemed to keep expanding. Before long, the space before them had grown enormous...
Ho-Oh sensed the change and quickly looked over.
A vast space had suddenly appeared in front of little Dongshu.
That was...
It was impossible to tell how much time passed before the brilliant light gradually faded.
What appeared before them was a bright, sunlit space of its own.
It had mountains and rivers, waterfalls, forests, grasslands, ravines, snowy peaks, deserts, beaches, oceans, and volcanoes...
Above them stretched a cloud-dotted blue sky, clear as glass, with a sun shining warmly overhead.
It was an artificial sun, almost indistinguishable from the real thing.
A control panel, much like a tablet, appeared before Dongshu.
Using it, he could freely adjust the space's temperature, humidity, terrain, day and night, seasons, climate, and other environmental conditions.
This was practically a perfect Ecological Garden, fully equipped to house Pokémon of every kind!
The sight reminded Dongshu of the ecological biome at Blueberry Academy in The Indigo Disk DLC for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
But while the Ecological Garden seemed to be inside Heavenly Green Mountain, it was actually an independent space. It didn't take up any of the mountain's room.
After all, the space was so vast that even hollowing out the entire mountain wouldn't have been enough to contain it.
Ho-Oh had come over by now, too.
He gazed at the scene within, his golden-red pupils narrowing sharply.
"Dongshu, is this... another one of your powers?"
"That's right! Now everyone can live here together!" Dongshu replied.
This power... It really was incredible! Ho-Oh couldn't help marveling.
What a find! Ho-Oh was incredibly excited.
With the Ecological Garden complete, it was time to get started on the renovations.
[Bathtub: Furniture for bathing with Pokémon. Exchange cost: 700 Shock Points.]
[Refrigerator: An appliance for keeping food fresh. Requires a generator. Exchange cost: 1,500 Shock Points.]
[Tableware: A complete set of utensils for meals. Exchange cost: 300 Shock Points.]
Exchange the bathtub, refrigerator, and tableware!
[Automatic Light-Gathering Window: Can be installed in caves to simulate sunlight shining through a window into a room. Exchange cost: 1,000 Shock Points.]
Dongshu bought five right away and installed them in several rooms.
Immediately, bright beams of light, carrying the warmth of sunlight, streamed through the windows.
Even without the Mushroom Night Light, the cave was as bright as day.
Next up...
[Chandelier: An indoor light fixture. Requires a generator. Exchange cost: 500 Shock Points.]
But appliances like the refrigerator and chandelier needed electricity to work.
Dongshu looked at the generator.
[Generator: A device that supplies electricity. Requires an Electric-type Pokémon to power it. Can store up to a year's worth of electricity. Exchange cost: 1,000 Shock Points.]
Bought! Raikou was an Electric-type Pokémon, so he could help charge it!
With the generator in place, Dongshu's eyes fell on a household item designed to make things more convenient.
[Fully Automatic Flushing Toilet: A household item for personal hygiene. Must be installed near a water source. Can be used with the Distortion World Connection Device. The user's waste will automatically be flushed into the Distortion World. Exchange cost: 1,000 Shock Points.]
Distortion World device? What was that?
Dongshu searched the store.
[Reverse World Connection Device: A magical device for connecting to the Reverse World. Can be installed on certain items, such as trash cans, toilets, and wastewater basins. Garbage, excrement, and wastewater will be automatically sent to the Reverse World. Exchange cost: 100,000 Shock Points.]
Dongshu: "..."
Wouldn't that basically turn Giratina's Reverse World into a trash can?
Wouldn't Giratina climb up through the toilet the very day he installed it, right while Dongshu was doing his business?
The mental image was too much. Dongshu couldn't even bear to imagine it.
Before you continue