Chapter 355: Sometimes You Really Can’t Tell Whether Steven Is Trolling or Being Sincere

The video continued playing.

At this moment, Jessie, James, and Meowth had split up inside the underground chamber to search for clues about the mechanism.

"There definitely has to be a mechanism under these floor tiles, meow! I can hear something underneath!"

"Meowth, aren’t you hearing things? We’re already underground. What other sounds could there possibly be?"

"Wait! I think it’s coming from above!"

James had only just looked up when a large belly landed squarely on his face.

"UGHHH!!!"

Before James’s scream had even ended, Jessie was crushed underneath the next person.

Meowth was flattened into a paper-thin cat, stars spinning around both eyes.

"I... I can see Boss Giovanni coming to pick me up, meow..."

People continued raining down from above like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

"Oww!"

"My back!"

"Who’s on my leg?!"

"G-Get off me! I’m the mayor!"

By the time people finally stopped falling from above, Jessie, James, and Meowth had been buried beneath a small mountain of bodies.

Aurelia flipped once in midair, stabilized herself with psychic power, and floated lightly to the ground.

Ninetales followed immediately behind her.

Not even a speck of dust was disturbed when it landed.

Morty hurried over.

"Champion Aurelia, you’re here."

Aurelia straightened up and briefly surveyed the chamber.

"Where’s Selene?"

Morty looked toward the stone pillar behind him.

"Well..."

"It’s a long story."

"Then make it short."

"President Selene touched the moon-shaped recess. A mass of silver light pulled her inside, and she disappeared."

"We’ve tried everything, but the mechanism won’t respond at all."

Aurelia walked up to the stone pillar and looked down at the two recesses.

A sun.

A moon.

Without hesitating, she placed her hand directly against the sun-shaped recess.

Hum—

The stone platform began vibrating.

Golden mist poured out from the recess and gathered in midair forming an enormous golden sun.

The next instant—

The golden sun suddenly contracted.

And swallowed Aurelia whole.

The scene cut away at the exact moment Aurelia disappeared into the golden sun—switching over to Selene.

Selene felt herself being wrapped in silver mist and spun around three and a half times.

Then—

She landed butt-first on something cold.

"Oww..."

"My presidential butt!"

She rubbed her backside and climbed to her feet.

Only then did she realize that she was standing in an endless silver-white space.

A gigantic silver moon hung at its center.

"Whoa!"

"So pretty!"

Selene immediately pulled out her phone to take pictures.

The screen displayed:

NO SIGNAL

"...What kind of lousy place is this?"

"It can even block the Sun-Moon Group’s dedicated satellite signal?"

She put away her phone, planted her hands on her hips, and looked around.

"Anybody here?"

"If not, I’ll introduce myself first!"

"Selene, President of the Sun-Moon Group. Our primary business sectors include—"

"Are you not afraid?"

A deep voice echoed through the space.

It seemed to come from the moon itself.

Selene looked down at the river of stars beneath her feet.

Then she looked up at the moon.

Finally, she pointed at herself.

"Are you talking to me?"

"...Is there anyone else here?"

"Fair point."

Selene nodded.

Then she pulled a business card from her pocket and held it toward the moon.

"Since we’re both here anyway, why not buy in for a share?"

"Think of it as making a new friend!"

The entire space fell silent for three seconds.

Then—

An enormous figure slowly emerged from the moonlight.

Its body was a mixture of deep blue and silver-white.

Its vast wings spread like the night sky itself.

Lunala.

It lowered its head slightly and stared at the little girl who wasn’t even as large as one of its claws.

"Do you know who I am?"

"No."

Selene examined Lunala for a moment.

"But... you look pretty nice."

"Latias is currently the promotional Pokémon for my company, and her monthly salary is very high."

"Want to consider joining too?"

"I’ll pay you double."

"...I am Lunala."

Lunala slowly continued.

"Long ago, Necrozma exhausted all of its light while protecting the world from a meteor capable of destroying it."

"Afterward, it could only continue drawing upon the Ultra Aura of Solgaleo and me to sustain its own existence."

"We remained trapped in that cycle..."

"For a very, very long time."

Lunala raised its head.

"Until one day, a person found us."

"He said he had a way to make it so Necrozma would no longer have to depend on us."

"A way to give us our freedom again."

Selene scratched her cheek.

"Um..."

"Who was that person?"

"That isn’t important."

"What matters is that we trusted him."

"And so..."

"I will follow his wishes."

[VIP Chat Group]

[Raihan]: Wow. Even a Legendary Pokémon on Lunala’s level follows this mystery man’s wishes without question. Just how incredible must this guy be?

[Volkner]: Do we even need to think about it? How many people in the world are capable of befriending Legendary Pokémon? This guy has to be some unbelievably important figure with a heart big enough to embrace the whole world!

[Flint]: If you ask me, he’s definitely some master. Look at that—he does something this incredible and doesn’t even leave his name behind. That level of enlightenment is something people like us could never hope to reach.

[Ash]: Oh! Now that everyone’s saying it like that... This mystery person really does sound amazing! I want to become a Trainer that incredible someday too!

[Iris]: Pfffft—hahahahaha! Ash, stop talking... I-I can’t... My stomach’s cramping from laughing! Hahahahaha!

[Iono]: Hahaha~ You guys are all so mean~ 0(∩_∩)0

[Korrina]: Hahaha! But after hearing everyone say all that, I think I’ve figured out who it is too.

[Diantha]: Hehe. I happen to know someone exactly like that. Although he’s rather stubborn... And whenever certain subjects come up, he likes to pretend he’s dead.

[Misty]: What a coincidence. I know someone like that too.

[Elesa]: Haha~ Sounds like we’re all talking about the same person.

[Asher]: There’s actually someone like that?! Doing all these incredible things and then hiding them from everyone—how terrible! Someone like that ought to be dragged out and given a proper round of praise! ( ′ゝ_｀)

[Wallace]:@Asher, ?

[Lance]:@Asher, ?

[Cynthia]: ...

[Leon]: I wasn’t even planning to laugh. Then Asher jumped out and said that himself, and I completely lost it.

[Lorelei]: This man seriously has no limit to how shamelessly playful he can be.

[Steven]: Brother Asher has countless matters to attend to every day and carries the well-being of the entire world in his heart. What’s wrong with occasionally doing a good deed without leaving his name behind? Honestly, you people... All you do every day is make veiled digs at him. Is that really necessary?

[Volkner]: You’re the one roasting him harder than anyone else! And now you’re defending him?!

[Raihan]: Sometimes I genuinely can’t tell whether Steven is trolling or being completely sincere.

The video continued playing.

Lunala wasted no more words.

It abruptly spread its enormous wings.

The entire space began trembling violently.

At the same time—

The Poké Ball at Selene’s waist opened on its own.

Silver Kirlia appeared on the ground, looking completely bewildered as it glanced around.

A cluster of light slowly descended.

It entered Kirlia’s forehead with perfect accuracy.

Then—

Silver light swallowed its entire body.

When the glow faded—Gardevoir stood before Selene.

A silver crescent-moon emblem had appeared on its chest.

And the aura surrounding it was on an entirely different level from before.

"It evolved!"

"That effect was way too cool!"

Selene immediately pulled out her phone and furiously took pictures of Gardevoir.

Then she gave Lunala an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

"Thank you, President Lunala!"

"President Lunala is so generous!"

"Wishing President Lunala good health!"

Lunala said nothing.

Instead, it lowered its wings again.

An Egg slowly descended from the moonlight.

Selene caught it with both hands.

It was warm to the touch.

Silver patterns covered the entire shell.

"This is...?"

"Take it."

Lunala’s voice gradually grew distant.

"Raise it well."

Selene suddenly felt the entire world spinning.

A gentle but irresistible force began pushing her outward.

"Wait!"

"President Lunala!"

"You haven’t taken my business card yet!"

"I’ve still got an entire business proposal in my bag!"

Before she could finish—

Her butt once again became intimately acquainted with a hard surface.

"Hiss..."

"My poor presidential butt has really been through hell today!"

Selene rubbed her backside and opened her eyes.

Her vision hadn’t even fully focused before she saw Aurelia’s expressionless face directly in front of her.

Selene slowly raised her right hand and pinched Aurelia’s pale cheek.

"Whaddaya doin’?"

"Just checking whether you’re real."

Selene released her cheek and nodded in satisfaction.

"Yep."

"Real."

"You can feel pain."

"Definitely my Big Sis."