Chapter 316:
Alto Mare Town.
Secret Garden.
On the trunk of a towering great tree.
Latios looked at Latias, who had fallen asleep again at noon, its eyes filled with worry.
His sister had been getting sleepier these past few days.
This used to be the time when his sister loved to wander around the human town the most.
She would take a sketchpad, walk through the human city in the sunlight and water, and record the scenery she liked with her brush—something she learned from Bianca.
"Latios..."
Latios landed on the great tree, looking at the soundly sleeping Latias, and couldn't resist nudging her.
But he got no response.
'Latios...'
Latios let out another long cry.
If it weren't for still being able to feel his sister's steady breathing, he would have thought she had already passed away.
He felt he needed to tell Bianca about this; it would be best to find a human doctor to check his sister's body and see if something was wrong.
...
Meanwhile, in the dream at this moment.
Under Mew's Hypnosis, the Pokémon that didn't resist fell into sleep.
"Alcremie? Alcremie!"
"Ninetales!"
"Steenee?"
"Growlithe?"
The moment the Alto Mare scene appeared, most of them, who had been watching TV just a second ago, found themselves flying into the sky and couldn't help but panic.
But soon, they realized that even though they were high in the air now, they wouldn't fall. Instead, it was as if they had gained the ability to fly, hovering in the sky.
"Growlithe!"
Growlithe, as if discovering a delightful new angle, quickly ran across the sky.
Some sharp-eyed Pokémon soon spotted Mew snickering in the sky.
Realizing that Mew had brought them here.
"Mew, Mew~" (This is a dream, a place called Alto Mare~)
Mew explained cheerfully, "Mew..." (Jirachi is here right now~)
Hearing it was a dream, everyone understood. When they heard Jirachi's name, some Pokémon's eyes lit up.
Ever since Mew went traveling, Jirachi had basically stopped visiting their dreams, staying outside all the time.
"Steenee?" (Where is it?)
Steenee couldn't help but ask.
"Mew~"
Mew covered its mouth and giggled, not saying anything, just flying ahead.
"Everyone, go play wherever you want."
Hayashi Kaede didn't insist that all Pokémon had to follow him and Mew.
Because even Salamence, who had been sleeping in the room, was brought in.
It flapped its wings boredly, flying towards a flat area.
Most Pokémon were experiencing the joy of flying for the first time, but quite a few followed Hayashi Kaede and Mew, descending from the sky to walk on the streets of Alto Mare.
Among them, Growlithe and Alolan Ninetales curiously touched the surrounding pedestrians.
But when they reached out their paws, they found they couldn't actually touch these people.
"This is a dream. The scenes and people are all virtulized by Jirachi using its memory."
Hayashi Kaede explained.
"Ninetales..." (Oh.)
Alolan Ninetales responded but was still curious.
Passing through small paths and crossing bridges, Mew soon led them to a wall.
The Pokémon following were initially puzzled why Mew was leading them to a dead end.
But soon, Mew's action of crashing into the wall made everyone realize this wasn't a dead end; the wall was just an illusion.
Passing through the wall, they entered a park-like area.
Various Pokémon wandered in the park. Ancient trees, thick enough for one person to embrace, stood around, and a flowing pond was inhabited by the Wooper family.
Walking further ahead.
Their destination was reached.
Beside the pond, at a swing cradle, stood a girl with two orange-red pigtails, wearing a green short-sleeve and a white skirt.
She stood behind the cradle, gently rocking it.
And sitting in the front was Jirachi, laughing joyfully...
Crisp voices drifted through the underground secret garden.
"Jirachi~ Brother Kaede! And everyone!"
With Hayashi Kaede followed by such a large group, it was impossible not to make noise.
Jirachi quickly greeted Hayashi Kaede, its smile bright.
Right now, it showed no sadness about being in deep sleep.
Seeing it, Hayashi Kaede couldn't help but smile.
At the same time, he looked at the girl behind Jirachi.
If he remembered correctly, this Latias's transformed appearance should be that of a human named Bianca.
[Pokémon: Latias]
[Gender: Female]
[Ability: Levitate]
[Type: Dragon, Psychic]
[Potential: Gold]
[IVs: HP (25) Attack (25) Sp. Atk (30) Defense (31) Sp. Def (31) Speed (31)]
[Level: 42 — 46]
[Moves: Charm, Hidden Power, Helping Hand, Recover, Confusion, Tailwind, Dragon Breath, Dragon Pulse, Dream Shift, Dragon Dance.]
[Happiness: 30 (It's curious about who you are?)]
[Friendship: 20 (It senses a strange aura from you.)]
After seeing the stats, Hayashi Kaede nodded silently to himself.
It seemed Mew had found the right Pokémon.
But speaking of which, was this Latias's level only 42-46?
No wonder in *Pokémon Heroes: Latios and Latias*, even together with Latios, they could be defeated by an Espeon and an Ariados.
"Latias..."
Suddenly, a large group of Pokémon and a human barged in. Latias was startled, immediately reverted to its original form, and turned invisible.
"Jirachi~"
Jirachi quickly flew to its side and began to explain, "This is Brother Kaede! The human I told you about, the one who makes super delicious food~!"
Hayashi Kaede also timely stopped the group of Pokémon behind him.
When meeting unfamiliar Pokémon, it's best to wait until after the introduction by a familiar Pokémon before approaching.
"Latias?"
Latias revealed itself, blinking at Hayashi Kaede.
Mew and Jirachi were friends it had met these past few days.
To be precise, Mew had introduced Jirachi to it.
That day, it was transformed into a human, strolling through Alto Mare, when it bumped into "Bianca."
Latias was stunned; it thought Bianca needed something, and then Bianca pulled it towards the garden.
But then, the "Bianca" pulling it transformed into its own appearance.
Goodness!
It was so frightened at the time, its scales practically standing on end.
The "Latias," seeing it was scared, started giggling loudly.
Then it revealed its true form—a pink cat-like creature.
Latias, annoyed, reverted to its original form to chase the little cat, intending to have a serious talk with it.
But no matter how it chased, it couldn't catch the little cat.
Finally, out of energy, Latias had to stop, pouting and looking at the little cat with resentment.
The little cat also stopped, tilted its head to look at it, then took out a ball, and from the ball, produced something delicious...
It was Energy Cubes.
Latias had eaten them before, so it didn't accept the food from this annoying little cat.
But the little cat ate them itself and took out a cup, pouring some strange liquid into it.
That "liquid" emitted an enchanting aroma, making Latias unconsciously approach the little cat and ask,
"Latias?" (What is this?)
"Mew~" (It's Grepa Berry Wine. Hayashi Kaede brewed it. It's really tasty. Do you want some?)
Latias hesitated.
One moment it was thinking, "Don't eat the Energy Cubes from this little cat," the next, it developed a strong interest in this Grepa Berry Wine.
It wanted to refuse.
But in the end, Latias couldn't resist.
It sat with the little cat, taking one bite of Energy Cube and one sip of wine, until its head spun, and it collapsed beside the little cat.
Before passing out, it only saw the little cat giving a triumphant-looking smile, then lost consciousness.
Later, Latias met Jirachi in a dream.
It said, "A human named Hayashi Kaede knows that here, there's a Pokémon who likes to turn into a human, enjoys painting, and guards Alto Mare.
He asked Mew (the little cat) and me to become good friends with you.
Also, the food and wine we ate were all made by him. He's a human who is very, very good at cooking and is very, very kind."
This star-like Pokémon then explained that this was actually its dream.
Originally, it had to sleep for a thousand years, passing the time in a muddled, unconscious state.
But now, after eating the food Hayashi Kaede made, it only needed to sleep for a year. As long as Pokémon or humans it was familiar with fell asleep, it could reach their dreams.
After hearing this, Latias was greatly astonished.
It couldn't believe that somewhere else, there was a human who knew it liked to turn into a human and stroll through the town, painting.
It thought only Bianca and her father knew.
But, why?
It had only ever lived in Alto Mare since birth and never went anywhere else!
How did he know?
And how could he make such delicious Grepa Berry Wine and Energy Cubes?
This made Latias extremely curious about this human it had never met.
So, it couldn't help but look for Mew every day, or directly enter sleep to hear Jirachi talk about "Hayashi Kaede."
'Is this that human?'
Latias carefully approached him.
Even in the dream, it could sense a very friendly aura emanating from this human.
"Hello, Latias."
Looking at the little red aircraft like pokemon, Hayashi Kaede cleared his throat and greeted it with a smile.
"Latias~"
Latias gently reached out its hand.
Hayashi Kaede was taken aback, then curiosly reached out his own hand. "Do you want to shake hands?"
As Latias placed its claw-like hand on Hayashi Kaede's, it let out a cheerful cry.
"Latias~~"
The next moment, to Hayashi Kaede's surprise, Latias flew behind him and grabbed his arms.
"Ah? Hey, hey?"
This sudden move left Hayashi Kaede stunned.
By the time he reacted, he was already flying in the air above the secret garden.
"Latias~"
Latias replied with something unintelligible.
"Ninetales!"
This left Alolan Ninetales and Growlithe below dumbfounded.
Their Trainer, just snatched away like that?
Then, Alolan Ninetales grew anxious.
"Ninetales!" (Put my Kaede down!)
Its expression turned cold, threads of white frost beginning to gather around it, but the temperature didn't drop.
But soon, Jirachi flew to its side and explained that Latias was a Pokémon Hayashi Kaede knew~!
Alolan Ninetales paused, quickly remembering that Hayashi Kaede had indeed greeted Latias earlier.
"Hehe~..."
Mew, also in the sky, watched Hayashi Kaede's flustered expression and giggled.
It finally saw Hayashi Kaede at a disadvantage!
After a while, Latias finally brought Hayashi Kaede to a stop, landing by the pond at the swing, transformed into Kanon's appearance, and had him sit on the swing.
It stood behind Hayashi Kaede.
"Phew..."
Back on solid ground, Hayashi Kaede let out a long sigh, his hands holding the swing's ropes, his eyes filled with confusion.
He could understand Jirachi and Mew getting along with Latias.
But this was his first time meeting Latias, right?
Even if Mew and Jirachi had mentioned him to Latias, intentionally or not, Latias shouldn't be this enthusiastic upon their first meeting, should it?
Something's off, definitely a hundred percent got problem.
Sitting on the swing, Hayashi Kaede began to ponder.
Soon, a lightbulb seemed to go off above his head.
Grepa Berry Wine!
Latias probably drank the Grepa Berry Wine!
And quite a lot!
Mew gave Latias the wine to get along with it!
No wonder, earlier on the stat screen, even though it was their first meeting, the friendship was already 20.
Now, looking again, that friendship had already risen to 45.
And it was still rising.
After figuring this out, Hayashi Kaede couldn't help but chuckle.
This time, without even using Veridian Power, had he become a Pokémon magnet?
"Latias?"
Latias, seeing Hayashi Kaede laughing for some reason, couldn't help but lean in curiously to look at him.
Hayashi Kaede waved at it. "Latias?"
"Latias?"
Looking at Latias's cute girl face so close, Hayashi Kaede felt a bit awkward. "Could you change back to your own form? I feel a bit shy with you looking at me like this."
Whether in his previous life or this one, he had spent very little time with girls his own age.
If they kept a normal distance, he felt fine, but being too close made him uncomfortable.
Of course, that kid Takagi Megumi didn't count.
"Latias?"
Latias looked at itself, puzzled, but still changed back into its little red aircraft form, then stared intently at Hayashi Kaede, its gaze full of inquiry.
It was too curious about this human.
Why did he know so much about it?