"Steven! Flannery! Wallace!"
In the world of Pokémon, on Mt. Silver.
Inside the Pokémon League headquarters, in the same room where everyone had departed, many League magnates were now gathered.
Although this training experience ended early, they weren't unprepared. Before they were summoned back, the Space Stone would flash continuously for a day, reminding them to get ready. Once the time was up, the League would use special devices to summon them back.
Watching people emerge one by one from the machines, Juan, who had just become the Hoenn Champion, smiled so wide his face wrinkled.
They were the future of the Hoenn League. Just by seeing them, Juan knew this training trip had been worthwhile. These young ones had trained exceptionally well.
Following them, people like Lance, Lorelei, Cynthia, and Diantha emerged. Each wore brand-new clothes. If not for the changes in their expressions and auras, the magnates waiting in the room might have thought they had just gone on a picnic.
The first people to emerge were almost all from the group gathered in Aura Guardian Valley. They had prepared in advance, which was why they looked so clean.
It wasn't a big deal originally, but without comparison, there was no harm. The people who emerged later, just by their appearance, showed they had definitely endured many hardships.
If everyone had looked ragged, it would have been fine, as everyone present knew how dangerous it was inside. But the stark contrast between Steven and the others made it seem like a comparison between urban elites and those who had survived in the wilderness of a remote valley.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the room was a bit awkward.
However, they quickly stopped feeling awkward. When everyone had emerged from the machines, Space Stones were thrown out of them, seemingly from thin air.
Seeing these discarded Space Stones, the faces of the magnates present turned grim. Each stone thrown out represented one person left behind on the Space-Time Continent.
Soon, Juan's expression also darkened, because Aoki had not appeared.
"Where's Aoki?!" Juan looked at Steven and the others, his face filled with disbelief.
It wasn't that he was biased; Steven and the others were dressed so immaculately. Juan couldn't believe Aoki would be left behind on the Space-Time Continent.
Steven also looked somewhat surprised, as he couldn't imagine that Aoki, who theoretically should have been the strongest and most comfortable among them, had not come out with them.
"Lance, what's going on?!" At this moment, the most senior person present was likely the Kanto League Chairman. He was the first to sense the anomaly.
Logically, either everyone should be in rags, indicating that this generation was weak, or everyone should be pristine, indicating that everyone present was strong. But such a clear polarization was rare.
Moreover, in terms of strength, Drayden of the Unova region should be somewhat stronger than Karen of the Johto region. Even if there was no gap and their strengths were similar, their current states shouldn't have such a huge difference.
Hearing his name called, Lance's expression also became solemn.
Although the involvement of the Divine Cult had little to do with the League originally, the League hadn't even had a basic inkling of it. Lance harbored some resentment about this.
But now was not the time for complaints. Aoki not returning was also beyond his expectations.
"People from the Divine Cult intervened! A very strong group!" Lance said in a deep voice.
Whoosh—
Hearing Lance's words, the magnates present showed shocked expressions. Although they had some inkling, receiving confirmation from Lance's mouth still shocked them.
"The Divine Cult's invasion has confirmed that Johto's Psychic Elite Four Will and Steel Elite Four Jasmine are both Divine Cult spies!"
Another bombshell!
Divine Cult spies being able to reach the position of Elite Four in a region was a disgrace to the entire League.
Of course, the biggest impact was ultimately on the Johto region. Everyone present looked towards the Johto League Chairman.
However, the Johto League Chairman was utterly shocked, unable to imagine the news he had just heard.
But there were many informed people present, so no matter how unwilling he was to believe it, the matter was already set in stone.
"Everyone, to the High Council Chamber, meeting!" Just as everyone was still in shock, a voice rang out in the room.
Hearing this command, no one dared to delay.
Now, it was indeed necessary to discuss matters related to the Divine Cult, as well as the League members who had not returned.
Although Juan wanted to continue asking about Aoki, the one who had just spoken was the Elder, the Chairman of the League's General Alliance. Juan still had to obey his words.
But at this moment, everyone's hearts were heavy, partly because of the Divine Cult's forceful intervention, and partly because of those who had failed to return.
...
Everyone had gone back, but this matter...
It seemed to have nothing to do with Aoki!
He couldn't leave the Space-Time Mountain barrier for now, but he wasn't too worried because, in his opinion, there was at most a little over a month until this training experience ended. Since he couldn't leave, he might as well honestly improve his Pokémon's strength and wait for the League to summon them back.
Sometimes, ideals are beautiful, but reality is harsh. Everyone else had gone back, but he was still here.
The only comforting thing was that Aoki was completely unaware of this matter!
So now he had no pressure and was in a particularly good mood. The strengths of Gengar, Mismagius, and Salamence had all greatly improved, which was excellent.
Moreover, his other Pokémon had also adapted to the environment here and had begun their training according to Aoki's plan.
This was something Aoki was happy to see.
Over the next period, everything would slowly get on track, and Aoki would also be able to calm down and study this Giratina's Dragon Scale, whose energy had been completely absorbed.
Don't forget, within this barrier, there was also a hidden treasure, and its value definitely surpassed that of Giratina's Dragon Scale.
The thought of something that made him willing to sacrifice a precious Dragon Scale made Aoki a little excited.
However, until the Unown regained their self-awareness, Aoki had no clue about this so-called treasure. He could only hope that these few Unown would awaken quickly.
...
Twenty days passed in a flash.
Aoki hadn't expected it would take twenty days for the Unown, whose energy had been depleted, to regain consciousness.
And after so many days, even with the help of the chip, Aoki still hadn't thoroughly researched this Giratina's Dragon Scale.
Beyond what was inside the Dragon Scale, even just the patterns on its surface had their own uniqueness.
During this time, every day was spent either training with his Pokémon or researching this Dragon Scale. Aoki had never felt his life so peaceful.
However, today, his routine was interrupted.
The Unown, who had been dormant for a long time, finally woke up.
Heaven knows how much effort the Unown expended to shatter the barrier with that single punch.
From the moment Aoki entered the Space-Time Continent, the Unown had vaguely told him to investigate the top of Space-Time Mountain, but Aoki hadn't paid attention at the time, and the feeling from the Unown wasn't very strong.
It wasn't until later, when the Divine Cult members arrived, that Aoki truly and clearly felt their urgency from the Unown.
But at that time, Space-Time Mountain was already occupied by the Divine Cult members. With Aoki's strength at the time, let alone confronting them, he couldn't even get close.
So, the Unown's urgent need was once again suppressed by Aoki.
Later, when Aoki and Wallace cooperated to break open the barrier, the arrival of Dialga and Palkia put Aoki in a very awkward situation. Fortunately, the Unown gave him a hint again.
What kind of thing would make the Unown on his body so urgently need it?
Aoki had been thinking about this question for dozens of days.
Now, this question and mystery were about to be revealed.
Before Aoki could even ask them, the newly awakened Unown proactively contacted Aoki.
Analyzing the special characters that appeared in his mind, Aoki's brows first furrowed, then he showed an expression of pleasant surprise, and finally, it turned into shock.
"Slowking! Gardevoir!" After getting the desired answer from the Unown, Aoki immediately called Slowking and Gardevoir to his side.
Two Psychic-type Pokémon, plus his own Psychic power, should be able to do what the Unown described.
As Aoki's words fell, Slowking and Gardevoir appeared beside Aoki simultaneously using Teleport.
Looking at the small lake in front of them, "I searched for a long time without any results, I didn't expect this thing to be right in front of me."
That's right, what the Unown were talking about was in this lake.
After Slowking and Gardevoir arrived, Aoki, with the two Pokémon, directly enveloped himself in Psychic power and jumped into the lake.
Without creating any splash, they simply submerged beneath the water's surface.
Aoki wasn't unfamiliar with the underwater world; he and his Pokémon had entered the water many times.
Entering the lake, following the Unown's instructions, they directly dived to the deepest part of the lake bed.
In a secluded corner, they indeed found some special differences.
"It should be here." Aoki thought to himself, leading the two Pokémon to push aside the obstruction. What was revealed before them was a dark underwater cave.
Moreover, the entrance of this underwater cave had a special Psychic membrane, so the lake water would not pour into it.
With the help of Slowking and Gardevoir, without damaging this membrane, one person and two Pokémon entered.
Upon entering, it was completely different from the damp, moist underground cave Aoki had imagined. What appeared before his eyes was a dry cave, and this cave wasn't even chaotic. The entire cave, apart from being covered in dust, gave one the feeling of entering an ancient building.
As Aoki entered this cave, the Unown on his wrist immediately began to glow, and as Aoki continued to go deeper, the temperature of the characters on the Unown also became higher and higher.
Aoki could feel their excitement.
After walking through a long passage, what appeared before Aoki was a space that resembled a grand hall.
Why call it a hall? Because inside, Aoki saw that both the walls and the floor were constructed from huge square bricks.
It was reminiscent of the giant stone bricks of the pyramids Aoki had seen in his memory.
This was man-made!
Next, as Aoki approached the wall, he found that the walls were covered with murals.
And these murals felt somewhat familiar, similar to those Aoki had seen in the temple of Cynthia's family in the Sinnoh region.
After briefly observing these murals, Aoki, urged by the Unown, walked towards the center of the hall, to the only raised platform made of stone blocks.
And on this platform, Aoki sensed a familiar aura.
"This is..."
Walking onto the stone platform, he saw a special symbol on it. Upon closer inspection, he finally recognized it: it was a completely obese version of a question mark. But this "question mark" was not just a simple question mark; it was the "Question Mark" Unown that Aoki was familiar with.
Although it was half-closed, there was no doubt that this was an Unown, and it was one of the two most special Unown among all of them, the Unown with the question mark symbol. The half-closed eyes were their iconic feature.
Although it was a bit unexpected, Aoki still felt a slight sense of loss.
He hadn't expected that the thing he had been looking forward to for so long was actually an Unown?
However, he wasn't particularly disappointed, as he believed his current gains were already sufficient, so it was merely a slight disappointment.
Moreover, before entering the lake bottom, the Unown had already had a simple conversation with Aoki, letting him know they were asking him to save a companion. He just hadn't expected it to be the "Question Mark" Unown.
Following the Unown's prompts, Aoki extended his hand, covered in dense Psychic power. Slowking and Gardevoir, under Aoki's command, also channeled their Psychic power onto Aoki's hand.
"This should be about right," Aoki muttered, then grabbed the square brick engraved with the Question Mark Unown.
Hiss hiss—
A hissing sound came from Aoki's hand, which was enveloped in Psychic power, and the dense Psychic power gradually melted away.
Increasing the output of his Psychic power, he dared not hesitate at all. At the current rate of Psychic power melting, Aoki estimated he couldn't last much longer.
Rotate clockwise!
Click click click—
Accompanied by the sound of stones rubbing against each other, and the sound of some mechanisms.
Then, the raised stone blocks in the hall slowly moved like building blocks. The speed of their movement corresponded to the speed at which Aoki rotated the brick.
However, as the rotation speed and force increased, the consumption rate of Psychic power also accelerated.
No wonder the Unown had Aoki bring Slowking and Gardevoir; otherwise, his own psychic power probably wouldn't be able to handle such consumption. Now, with the burden spread across one person and two Pokémon, there wasn't too much pressure.
Bang!
With the final sound of a heavy latch clicking into place, the situation inside was finally revealed.
It was indeed an Unown!
And, just as Aoki had thought, it was the half-closed-eyed "Question Mark" Unown.
When Aoki looked at it, its seemingly lifeless eyes also looked back at Aoki.
Although Aoki didn't know why this Unown was imprisoned here, when he met its gaze, he inexplicably felt a sense of danger, as if his hair was standing on end.
Aoki almost thought it was an illusion, but not only him, even Slowking and Gardevoir felt the danger.
Regardless of whether Aoki had given a command, they grabbed him and quickly retreated.
This was their instinctive behavior to protect their trainer.
When they had pulled back to a certain distance, Aoki's sense of impending danger disappeared, and then he saw the Question Mark Unown slowly float out from within.
However, Aoki always felt that its state was a bit strange, as if it had been asleep for too long, so its consciousness was still a bit blurry, and the aura it emitted wasn't directed at anyone, but merely diffused unconsciously.
Aoki immediately used the system to scan this Question Mark Unown.
Pokémon: Unown (Question Mark Form) (Unknown)
Gender: Genderless
Level: 90
Attribute: Psychic
Ability: Levitate
Held Item: None
Egg Moves: None
Basic Moves: Hidden Power
Learnt Moves: None
TM Moves: None
A Level 90 Question Mark Unown!
Aoki was immensely shocked. No wonder it had given him that feeling of impending danger.
Even for a Pokémon like Unown, if its level reaches 90, breaking through the second barrier of the Champion level, the strength of any Pokémon cannot be underestimated.
Don't let its lack of skills deceive you; a Pokémon that has reached this level is not bound by such things as skills.
Moreover, Unown itself possesses its own unknown abilities, and Aoki still relies heavily on the Unown's abilities to this day.
Click—
The half-closed-eyed Question Mark Unown suddenly blinked, making a unique sound.
However, as it blinked this time, the dangerous aura suddenly vanished, and the Unown on Aoki's wrist immediately emitted a dazzling light.
One by one, they left Aoki's wrist.
This was the first time the Unown had left Aoki's wrist since attaching themselves to him.
All the Unown revolved around the Question Mark Unown as if they had found their leader.
Immediately after, the secret power from so many Unown concentrated on the Question Mark Unown, and then a large amount of secret power gathered in the place where the Question Mark Unown was originally sealed.
Click, click, click—
The entire mechanism twisted again, and Aoki watched this scene in surprise.
Although he didn't know who had created this place, it seemed that the Unown were the key to opening this mechanism.
He just didn't know what was hidden beneath this mechanism, but Aoki felt that perhaps what lay beneath this mechanism was the true reason for the existence of this barrier on Mount Spatial.
Aoki didn't have to wait too long, and there weren't too many dazzling unboxing moments.
It was just that when the mechanism was fully opened, the entire hall was suddenly filled with intense energy fluctuations.
It wasn't an energy with an owner; it was pure energy, without any trace of an owner. If the attributes matched, this kind of energy would be an invaluable asset for any Pokémon.
Then, all the Unown stopped revolving, and the leading Question Mark Unown led all the Unown to float in front of Aoki.
Being stared at by so many eyes all of a sudden, he was still a little unaccustomed to it.
"Uh, hello..." Time always passes very slowly during silence, and Aoki was still quite curious about what was hidden beneath that mechanism just now, so he was the first to break the deadlock.
"You... hello..." The Question Mark Unown's eyes flashed, and a mechanical voice appeared in Aoki's ear.
Hearing this voice, Aoki was startled.
In his impression, although the Unown could understand his meaning, and he could also understand their consciousness, that was based on the premise that they could understand each other's writing.
This was the first time Unown had been able to communicate directly with him.
However, just as Aoki was about to ask something else, the Question Mark Unown's eyes flashed again, and it, along with all the other Unown, shot towards Aoki like a string of beads.
Slowking and Gardevoir, sensing the anomaly, flashed and appeared in front of Aoki to block them.
However, their obstruction clearly had no effect on the Unown.
These little guys once again attached themselves to Aoki's wrist, just as before. The difference was that there was now an additional, special "Question Mark" Unown.
And unlike all the other Unown, which were inside his wrist, this special Question Mark Unown appeared on the front of Aoki's wrist, and its size was also significantly larger than the other Unown.
Aoki hadn't expected this sudden change.
"This sudden change... it was fine when they were on the back of my wrist, but now I've become a tattooed man? And... the tattoo is a question mark?" Aoki always felt that this symbol looked strange.
Although this special Question Mark Unown could communicate directly with Aoki, it was like the other Unown: if Aoki didn't actively contact them, most of the time they would remain silent. If Aoki needed to use their abilities, he didn't need their permission; it was as easy as using his own abilities.
However, there were also some differences from before.
The most obvious was that Aoki felt his sensitivity to surrounding energy had improved. As long as energy approached him, he could immediately know what attribute it was, and if it had a user, Aoki could also know some information.
Shaking his wrist, Aoki's eyes held a hint of surprise, "Is the biggest change indeed in my psychic power?"
One of the Unown's purposes was to subtly help Aoki improve his psychic power.
However, as Aoki's psychic power gradually grew stronger, their amplification effect became much smaller. Although there was still some amplification, compared to Aoki's total psychic power, it was a drop in the ocean.
But the addition of this Question Mark Unown allowed Aoki to clearly feel his psychic power continuously increasing.
It's important to know that his current psychic power, even among advanced psychics, was considered outstanding. Even compared to some members of the Holy Church who were inherently skilled in psychic abilities, they were at most only slightly stronger than Aoki, yet he could clearly feel progress at this moment.
It must be said that this alone was enough to satisfy Aoki.
And besides the amplified speed of psychic power improvement, what surprised Aoki the most was his sensitivity to space.
Spatial sensitivity can also be called a person's mastery of spatial energy. This ability cannot be improved; it is each person's innate talent, fixed from birth.
Without some special opportunity, it would hardly change, and this applies to both humans and Pokémon.
That's why some psychics and some Psychic-type Pokémon, even if their psychic power is very strong, still cannot use Teleport.
Because they cannot perceive the existence of space, or rather, they can perceive the existence of space but cannot grasp it, thus unable to fold space, unable to cross space, and therefore lacking the ability to Teleport.
This ability is innate. Some people, after mastering psychic power, can discover their spatial abilities, while others without psychic power, regardless of their sensitivity to space, have little relation to it.
It's not wrong to say that psychic power is the fuel that activates spatial abilities.
And the addition of this Question Mark Unown made Aoki feel that his spatial ability had been strengthened.
At this point, Aoki was no longer the novice he was when he first became a psychic. He knew that his spatial sensitivity was quite excellent among most psychics he knew.
It was just that his psychic talent was somewhat abysmal, which dragged down his spatial talent.
It was already difficult for him to use Teleport, and now his spatial talent had actually been strengthened again.
Aoki felt like he was about to soar to the heavens. Once his psychic power could fully unleash his spatial talent, there would be no one in the world who could restrict Aoki's existence.
However, this enhancement was ultimately only an enhancement of talent, not a direct enhancement of spatial ability. How to convert it into strength was also crucial.
Aoki felt a little excited, but he didn't stay happy for too long, because something even more shocking had just appeared.
An automatic lifting platform slowly rose from the spot where the Unown had just opened the ground.
Seeing what was placed on it, Aoki finally understood.
Why Giratina would be willing to sacrifice a precious Griseous Orb just to try and obtain something within the Spatial Continent.
Why Dialga and Palkia created such a strong special barrier to protect what was buried within.
Why this powerful Question Mark Unown was here, acting as a key.
It was all because of these things placed here.
What precious things could make Aoki suppress all his surprise, and even feel it was natural?
They were three eggs!
To be more precise, they were three broken eggs!
One black, one blue, one silver-white, and the size of these three eggs was much larger than ordinary Pokémon eggs, at least five times larger.
They were not complete eggs; these were three Pokémon eggs from which the Pokémon had already hatched.
Or rather, they should be three eggshells!
Here, the original owners of these three Pokémon are self-evident.
Giratina! Dialga and Palkia's Pokémon eggs!
"No wonder, no wonder Giratina was willing to gamble with an Griseous Orb.
If I hadn't been here, it wouldn't have been a gamble. The Holy Church's original goal was these three eggshells, and as long as Daigo and the others hid well enough, the Holy Church would naturally leave after obtaining these three eggshells." Aoki thought to himself.
But his hands couldn't help but tremble slightly, not for anything else, but out of excitement!
As a breeder, Aoki knew everything about how to breed Pokémon.
One very important piece of knowledge in breeding Pokémon is the cultivation of Pokémon eggs.
He knew that most Pokémon, after hatching, would immediately eat their own eggshells, because at this time, the eggshell was their first appetizer upon arriving in this world.
It contained a large amount of trace elements, energy, and the energy needed for growth.
Moreover, because the Pokémon had stayed in the egg for so long, the eggshell had long since become one with the Pokémon. Even a newly hatched Pokémon could eat and digest the energy in the eggshell.
As a breeder of this caliber, he could politely say that if a Pokémon eats its eggshell immediately after hatching, it will help them directly overcome the initial period of weakness after hatching.
A Pokémon that has eaten its own eggshell is considered truly completely hatched.
If it doesn't eat its eggshell, then this Pokémon will need a long time to fill such a void.
Aoki couldn't understand why these three legendary Pokémon—Giratina, Dialga, and Palkia—didn't eat their eggshells when they first hatched, but preserved them until now.
Moreover, these were the eggshells of three Level 1 Legendary Pokémon. Frankly speaking, such eggshells were definitely much more precious than Giratina's Griseous Orb.
If it weren't for some unknown reason, when those three legendary Pokémon broke out of their shells, they should have eaten these eggshells. The fact that they could be preserved is simply a miracle.
Aoki slowly walked to the platform, looking at the three eggshells shimmering with light, feeling the pure aura on them, unable to suppress the excitement in his heart.
At this moment, an extremely bold idea suddenly emerged in his mind!
These were the eggshells of three Level 1 Legendary Pokémon, and they still possessed such rich energy fluctuations after being preserved until now, which was truly astonishing.
The birth of a Legendary Pokémon is inherently a collection of the world's essence, a materialized manifestation of a part of the world's will. Therefore, some Pokémon, upon reaching their limits in growth, are bestowed with divine duties by the world, taking on the responsibilities they were meant to bear.
Of course, this refers to unique Legendary Pokémon, like Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. While they are also manifestations of the world's will, fundamentally, at most they can only be considered the ultimate elemental spirits, possessing a fundamental difference from those unique Legendary Pokémon.
And these three eggshells contained the residual original energy of those three Level 1 Legendary Pokémon.
Something even more traceable to the origin than Giratina's Griseous Orb!