Early the next morning.
Sunlight spilled into the kitchen through a gap in the curtains, drawing a golden line across the floor.
Yushu yawned as he came down the stairs. He had slept well last night.
In his dream, his ranch had become the largest dairy production base in the Sinnoh Region, while he himself had become a cheese king renowned far and wide. Even the Champion, Cynthia, had made a special trip to line up for his products.
Still basking in the afterglow of that wonderful dream, he pushed open the kitchen door, then froze.
On the kitchen counter, a gray Pokémon lay curled into a ball, sleeping soundly.
Meanwhile, the plate that had held the cheese was completely empty. Not even a crumb remained.
Yushu's brain crashed for about three seconds.
He recognized this Pokémon.
A gray-and-yellow body, two tails, narrow eyes, and that faint ripple of Psychic type energy.
Wasn't this Uxie?
Yushu took a deep breath.
Stay calm. Stay calm.
Although a Legendary Pokémon was sleeping in his kitchen, although his cheese had been eaten clean, although all of this was absurd, he was a mature adult.
He should... should do what, exactly?! They hadn't taught this in school!
"Rotom?"
Rotom floated in through the window. It had originally come to ask Yushu for breakfast, but then it spotted Uxie on the counter too.
Rotom's eyes were full of questions.
"Rotom?" (Who's this? A newcomer?)
A newcomer?
Then didn't that make it the senior?
"Uh... more or less."
Yushu rubbed his temples, feeling as though his worldview was undergoing a severe test.
Rotom circled Uxie, sizing up this new coworker.
Didn't look like much of a fighter.
Just then, Uxie woke up. The first thing it saw was Rotom's face leaning toward it.
Uxie's pupils contracted sharply.
It looked down at itself. Oh no, the invisibility had worn off.
It had automatically become visible after falling asleep. Now it had been caught red-handed.
For a moment, the atmosphere was rather awkward.
A human and a Pokémon stared at each other in the early-morning kitchen, neither speaking first.
In the end, Yushu broke the silence.
"Uxie, the god of knowledge, right?"
Uxie's body went rigid.
It's over. I've been recognized.
Its first instinct was to flee, and blue Psychic type light flickered around its body.
But Yushu had anticipated that.
"You ate all my food. Don't you think it's a bit much to just leave like this?"
Uxie stopped moving, a remarkably human expression of embarrassment appearing on its face.
His words were well founded and reasonable. It had no way to argue.
Then a voice sounded in Yushu's mind.
"S-sorry... I didn't mean to."
Telepathy?
Yushu paused slightly.
Right, it would be stranger if a Psychic-type Legendary like Uxie couldn't use Telepathy.
Judging by that tone, though, it seemed pretty easy to push around.
A lofty, aloof god of knowledge?
No such thing!
This was clearly a soft, adorable little foodie.
Uxie was rather embarrassed too.
Really, it couldn't be blamed.
No one had lived beside Lake Acuity for a long time. Then a human had suddenly arrived, one who could cook, at that. Wasn't that practically forcing it to make a mistake?
Besides, it had only meant to try a tiny piece.
Really, just one tiny piece.
But that stuff had tasted too good.
One bite struck its soul, two bites got it hooked, and three bites made it surrender completely.
In the end, it hadn't been able to control its little paws and had cleaned the entire plate...
"Well, my food's gone now. Tell me what you're going to do about it."
Yushu spread his hands, making it clear that it owed him an explanation.
Rotom heard that the food was gone!
No way! How could this be allowed?!
It floated over to Yushu's side too, fixing Uxie with a condemning stare.
Shame on you for stealing food! Pay up!
Yushu soothed Rotom. "There are still Pokéblocks. You don't like cheese anyway."
Only then did Rotom settle down.
The Pokéblocks were still there? Then there was no problem.
"Star?" (Cheese? I love cheese!)
A voice came from outside the window.
Yushu turned to look. Staraptor's head was poking through the window, tears involuntarily flowing from the corners of its mouth.
You little Haji Staraptor... Yushu was speechless.
The moment food was mentioned, every last one of them seemed to gain a mind of its own.
He seriously suspected these Pokémon had food radars installed inside them. Whenever anything tasty appeared within five hundred meters, they could sense it immediately.
"It's gone. All eaten."
Yushu spoke irritably.
"Star!"
Staraptor's gaze instantly fixed on Uxie, its eyes turning hostile.
So you're the one who ate my cheese, huh? You're the one who stole the delicious food that should've belonged to me, huh?
Come on, let's have a little spar!
Staraptor even overlooked the enormous gap in their fighting strength.
In its eyes, Uxie was a thief, a criminal who had stolen delicious food.
It, Staraptor, warrior of the skies and embodiment of justice, absolutely could not tolerate such behavior!
Uxie shrank back a little, intimidated by Staraptor's imposing manner.
Although its level far surpassed Staraptor's, it was in the wrong, after all, which naturally put it at a disadvantage in terms of presence.
"I-I can compensate you!"
Uxie hurriedly spoke up.
"Compensate me? Do you have anything?"
Yushu looked it up and down.
It didn't even have a pocket. What could it offer? Surely it wasn't going to give him an autograph?
Besides, Pokémon didn't write, did they?
Uxie's eyes shifted.
The next second, blue light flashed, and Uxie vanished from the spot, leaving only a faint trace of Psychic type energy.
Teleport!
"It ran? A dignified Legendary just up and ran!"
Yushu stared, dumbfounded.
Wasn't Uxie the god of knowledge? Even intellectuals pulled this dine-and-dash routine?
And the instant Uxie used its power, Staraptor finally realized something was wrong.
That enormous surge of Psychic type energy had lasted only a brief instant, but its oppressive force had felt almost tangible, leaving Staraptor's wings rigid.
Yikes, this little thing was actually a big shot!
In the yard, Luxray sensed that aura, and all its fur stood on end.
It was an instinctive reaction to encountering a powerful enemy.
The other Pokémon gathered around as well.
"Moo?" (What's going on? What was that aura just now?)
Miltank was a little panicked. What was it supposed to do if it couldn't win?
"Roar..." (I felt it. That one is strong...)
Luxray scanned every corner of the room, afraid Uxie might suddenly pop out from somewhere.
"Tor..." (Definitely strong. Stronger than any Pokémon I've ever seen...)
Torterra nodded slowly.
Even the ace Pokémon of those Gym Leaders had never given it this feeling.
"Buzz..." (I think we'd better not provoke it...)
As a Bug-type Pokémon, Vespiquen had the keenest sense for danger.
That aura just now had made her instinctively want to flee.
"Star!" (Why run?! It ate our cheese! Even a big shot can't eat for free! This is a matter of principle!)
Staraptor was still talking tough, putting on an air of not being afraid.
Regional bird's stubborn moment!!