Just like that, Yuga once again temporarily settled down in the Arche Valley.
Because the Arche Valley had been severely damaged, the daily lives of the people here became much more troublesome. However, this didn't affect Yuga much—being the benefactor of the valley, everyone prioritized giving him whatever he needed.
Since the valley needed to be rebuilt, everyone was busy every day. When Yuga had nothing to do, he would go and help out.
Yuga wasn't good at many things, but he was especially skilled at planting. With the help of Florges, they managed to salvage quite a few farmlands of the Transcendence Clan that had not been completely destroyed.
With these crops, at the very least, they could ensure they wouldn't have a total harvest failure this year and wouldn't have to worry about going hungry.
The Arche Valley was isolated from the outside world and had always been self-sufficient. After what happened this time, if they continued maintaining such a closed-off way of life, it could be foreseen that they would have a very difficult time for a long while.
Although Florges had been injured during the battle with Dialga, she was inherently a Pokémon with strong recovery abilities. With Yuga's help, her injuries had mostly healed after just one night.
Latias was in a similar condition.
Because Yuga had helped out tremendously once again, the people of the Transcendence Clan became even more enthusiastic toward him.
Several days passed in the blink of an eye. Ghris's injuries turned out to be more serious than initially estimated, but he hadn't deliberately delayed anything. As soon as he started to feel a bit better, he immediately sent someone to inform Yuga.
So Yuga once again brought the clay jar that sealed Chimecho and came to Ghris's residence.
The house where Ghris had originally lived had already been destroyed. He now stayed in a temporary housing assignment, which was even more rudimentary than before.
Seeing Yuga enter, Ghris said with a slight sense of guilt, "I'm sorry, Mr. Shimizu. My injuries were worse than expected and delayed things by two extra days."
Yuga shook his head and replied with no trace of care, "It's alright. As long as you're okay."
Ghris nodded and said, "Then let's begin."
"Alright, sorry to trouble you, Chief Ghris." As he spoke, Yuga took out the clay jar.
Chief Ghris slowly walked up to the clay jar, took out the Poké Ball of Sigilyph and released it. Then he reached into the front of his robe and pulled out an Arceus Ring pendant, which symbolized the Arche Valley's authority.
Chief Ghris raised the ring high, closed his eyes, and began to chant in a low voice.
At the same time, Sigilyph let out a series of low cries with a mysterious rhythm. Gradually, the single eye on its head began to emit a blue light. That light turned into a beam and projected onto the clay jar.
At that moment, the ring in Chief Ghris's hand also emitted a golden beam that projected onto the jar. The patterns on the jar began to writhe as if they had come alive.
The writhing patterns turned into little tadpoles that quickly surged toward the mouth of the jar. With a resonant hum, a beam of light shot from the jar's opening, and countless Unown burst forth with the light—Chimecho was among them.
The erupting Unown split into two distinct groups: one group consisted of the Shadow Unown, and the other consisted of those coexisting with Chimecho.
As soon as the Shadow Unown emerged, they began to stir up trouble. They combined into a giant ghostly face and lunged fiercely toward Chimecho and the Unown accompanying it.
Apparently, there had been no shortage of conflict between them inside the jar.
But how could Chief Ghris allow these Shadow Unown to succeed? These Unown had originally come from the Arche Valley, and Chief Ghris naturally had ways to subdue them.
Chief Ghris raised the Arceus Ring high above his head, continuously chanting incantations. Suddenly, a golden beam shot out. Any ZlShadow Unown that was struck by the golden beam froze in place, completely unable to move.
The ring in Chief Ghris's hand was a token bestowed upon the Transcendence Clan by Arceus itself and possessed incredible power. All other rings within the clan were merely replicas of this one.
This ring could be said to be the Transcendence Clan's heirloom treasure, passed down from generation to generation in the hands of the clan chief. It was also thanks to this ring that the Arche Valley could sense Arceus's presence and communicate with it.
And both the Prison Bottle used to seal Hoopa and the clay jar used to seal the Unown were created with the help of the power of the Ring.
Chief Ghris was still chanting incantations, and the golden light swept across each and every Shadow Unown one by one. As time passed, Yuga noticed that the terrifying black aura surrounding the Shadow Unown was actually dissipating little by little.
When all the black aura on the Unown had completely disappeared, Chief Ghris took out a bottle, intending to collect them inside.
At this moment, the Unown that had coexisted with Chimecho suddenly moved. They all surged forward in unison, surrounding the purified Unown and forming a circle around them.
The Unown floated up and down in the air, continuously letting out a strange cry that even Yuga couldn't understand. It was as if they were dancing. However, Chief Ghris could see that they were likely performing some kind of ritual.
The Unown that had just been purified were initially very panicked, but as time passed, they gradually began to dance alongside Chimecho's Unown.
As the dance continued, the two clearly separated groups of Unown slowly began to intermingle, eventually merging into one large group.
When the "dance" ended, all the Unown suddenly turned into a torrent, surging toward Chimecho and merging into her body.
Once all the Unown had entered Chimecho's body, lines resembling tadpoles appeared all over her body. These black lines twisted briefly and then disappeared.
Then, Yuga noticed that Chimecho's presence had begun to surge.
...
[ Chimecho (Symbiosis Form) ]
Type: Psychic
Gender: Female
Ability: Levitate
Potential: Purple
Level: 91
Moves: Confusion, Gravity, Heal Pulse, Heal Bell, Synchronoise, Shadow Ball, Hidden Power, Safeguard, Uproar, Psyshock, Calm Mind, Light Screen, Psychic, Reflect, Healing Wish, Future Sight, Teleport, Psychic Terrain, Skill Swap, Double Team, Rest, Charge Beam, Dream Eater, Trick Room, Recover.
...
In the blink of an eye, Chimecho broke through from Champion level to Master level, becoming Yuga's second Master level Pokémon after Absol.
Staring at Chimecho's data with his Insight skill, Yuga couldn't close his gaping mouth for a long time.
Chief Ghris also noticed the change in Chimecho, but he wasn't as surprised as Yuga.
"Mr. Shimizu!"
Ghris called out to Yuga, who finally snapped out of his daze.
"Chief Ghris, I'm sorry. Those Unown…"
Unown were, after all, Pokémon native to the Arche Valley, and now that they had been taken by Chimecho, Yuga felt extremely embarrassed.
Understanding Yuga's concern, Chief Ghris shook his head and said, "It's all right. Mr. Shimizu, please consider those Unown a gift."
Those Unown had once belonged to the tribal leader who had helped the Fairy Remnants in the past. Although they did originate from the Arche Valley, after so many years, they had long been forgotten by the Transcendence Clan.
Chief Ghris was, of course, happy they had returned. But if they hadn't, he wouldn't have considered it a great loss.
If the Unown had fallen into someone else's hands, that would have been one thing. But since the person was Yuga, Chief Ghris had no objections at all.
Although the Unown possessed mysterious and unfathomable powers, there were very few people who could truly understand and control them. At least for now, there was no one in the Transcendence Clan who could.
Rather than leaving them in the clan as nothing more than decorations, it would be far better to give them to Yuga.
Hearing what Chief Ghris said, Yuga breathed a sigh of relief. If Ghris had really asked him to return the Unown, he would have been in a real bind.
At that moment, Chimecho finally recovered from the aftereffects of its sudden surge in power. It happily flew down from the air and threw itself into Yuga's arms, its small cheeks rubbing against Yuga's neck again and again, expressing its deep longing for him.
Although it hadn't been sealed for long, during its time inside the earthenware jar, it worried every day whether it would ever be able to get out again, which made it terribly sad.
"There, there. You're back now, aren't you?" Yuga kept soothing Chimecho.
After Yuga returned Chimecho to its Poké Ball, Chief Ghris said, "Mr. Shimizu, please have a seat. Let's have a chat."
Hearing this, Yuga immediately understood that Chief Ghris had something important to discuss with him, so he sat down obediently.
"I wonder when Mr. Shimizu plans to leave the Arche Valley?" Chief Ghris continued, but worried that Yuga might misunderstand, he quickly added, "I don't mean to rush you away. It's just that I have something I'd like to ask of you."
Yuga paused for a moment, then said, "If there's something you need, Chief Ghris, please say it directly."
Chief Ghris cleared his throat and said, "Here's the situation: we of the Arche Valley are planning to join the League. I wonder if Mr. Shimizu would be willing to make an introduction on our behalf?"
Yuga had been in the Arche Valley for several days now, and Chief Ghris had come to understand roughly who he was—he knew Yuga held a high status within the League.
Of course, Yuga had never intended to hide his identity, so when people asked, he told them the truth.
The plan for the Arche Valley to join the League was something the whole clan had discussed repeatedly over the past few days before finally coming to a decision.
It was time for the Transcendence Clan to step out of the Arche Valley!
The valley had remained isolated for many years, but due to the recent incident involving the spatial-temporal twin gods, it had suffered great destruction. If nothing else, in terms of basic living supplies, it was now difficult for them to remain self-sufficient.
Opening up the Arche Valley and letting the clan connect with the outside world was the best way to resolve this issue. Since they were already planning to open up, they might as well go all the way and officially join the League—this would serve the Arche Valley's interests even better.
Although the Arche Valley had remained secluded for years, that didn't mean they knew nothing about the outside world. At regular intervals, they would send out members of the clan to learn about external affairs. That was the original purpose of Meray and Baraz's journey.
Because they already had some understanding of the League, they were able to make an informed decision to join it.
Though the Transcendence Clan had no foundation within the League, they did have one major advantage: a significant number of strong Trainers. They had several Master level Trainers among them.
(Note: There are differences between Master level Trainers. Those who possess level 100 Pokémon or Legendary Pokémon, and those who do not, can both be called Masters, but the strength difference between them is vast.)
Of the five known Master level Trainers in the League (including AZ, who has already joined the Kalos League), all possess either level 100 Pokémon or Legendary Pokémon. Although the Arche Valley has several Master level Trainers, only Chief Ghris has currently reached that caliber.
With a large number of high-level Trainers, even if they had no foundation within the League, they wouldn't suffer any major losses—no one would dare easily take advantage of them either.
However, since they had never had any real contact with the League, having a middleman would make future interactions much smoother, which was why they turned to Yuga.
After hearing what Chief Ghris said, Yuga asked in surprise, "You really want to join the League?"
Chief Ghris nodded and said, "That's right. It's a decision made after careful discussion among the entire clan."
Seeing that he didn't seem to be joking, Yuga asked again, "Are you really sure about this? You know, once you join the League, this peaceful and secluded life you have now will come to an end."
Chief Ghris sighed and said, "Continuing to live in seclusion like this isn't a solution either. We need to have more contact with the outside world."
At present, the Transcendence Clan was still considered strong, and there were quite a few young Trainers with talent in the clan. But it had been many years since a truly outstanding, awe-inspiring junior had emerged.
The elders of the clan had long wondered whether their closed-off lifestyle was dulling the ambition and drive of their younger generation.
They hadn't really thought this way before deciding to open up the Arche Valley, but now that the decision had been made to join the League, these concerns naturally began to surface.
Seeing that Chief Ghris had truly made up his mind, Yuga nodded and said, "Very well, I'll contact the League and ask them to send someone here as soon as possible to discuss this matter with you."
In fact, Yuga was very pleased to see the Arche Valley joining the League.
The Arche Valley was indeed powerful. If they joined the League, it would certainly bring a qualitative leap to the League's overall strength. Since Yuga himself was part of the League, he naturally hoped to see it grow stronger and stronger.
After further discussion with Chief Ghris on the matter for quite some time, Yuga finally took his leave.
Now that Chimecho's seal had been lifted and Chief Ghris had entrusted him with such an important task, Yuga didn't stay much longer in the Arche Valley and departed the next day.
Before leaving, Chief Ghris handed something else to Yuga—a pink gemstone left behind after Mew's death.
At this moment, the eerie black markings that had once covered the gem had completely vanished, and Yuga could no longer sense the ominous aura that had once leaked from the crystal.
Now the crystal emitted only a pure and tranquil aura.
It was clear that the violent and destructive energy Mew had left behind had already been purified by Chief Ghris.
Chief Ghris entrusted the gemstone to Yuga in hopes that he could return it to the Fairy Remnants, as it originally belonged to them, and so it should rightfully be returned to its owner.
Yuga thought that since he would be staying in the Kalos region for a while longer, he might as well make another trip. He had planned to visit Ayame anyway before leaving, so he accepted Chief Ghris's request.
And just like that, Yuga bid farewell to the Arche Valley and returned to Laverre City.