Prelude to Awakening

Fake?

Sheena was slightly stunned and lowered her head to look at the Life Orb in her hands.

Her first reaction was disbelief, because this Life Orb had been passed down for a thousand years.

Other than the two ruin guardians, herself and Kevin, no one had ever come here or touched the Life Orb. It was even less possible for anyone to have replaced it with a fake.

Kevin glanced at the Life Orb in Sheena's hands before looking up at Hu Yang. Given the boy's identity, there was no reason for him to deceive them.

Kevin frowned and asked, "How... did you know?"

"One of my special abilities," Hu Yang said. "It's similar to the Power of the Unown that Sheena possesses."

Like Aura and Viridian Force, the Power of the Unown allowed its wielder to communicate heart-to-heart with Pokémon and soothe their emotions.

But this ability also had major limitations.

When the target's angry energy was too overwhelming, it would reject the user from its heart during their mental exchange, rendering communication ineffective.

The Power of the Unown...

He even knew about that!

Kevin and Sheena were both surprised.

But they had no time to dwell on how he knew, and the Power of the Unown was not some secret that could never be shared.

Setting the matter aside for the moment, Kevin looked solemnly at the Life Orb.

Their original plan had been to return the orb to Arceus on the day it awakened, thereby calming the god's rage.

But...

Sheena spoke softly. "If this Life Orb is fake..."

Kevin's face grew grave as he continued, "Then Arceus will fall into even deeper rage after being deceived again."

Sheena frowned deeply. "We absolutely cannot let that happen!"

Seeing that the two understood, Hu Yang nodded. "That's