Divine Plan? But I'm a Pokémon trainer.

Chapter 475 The Legend of the Forest God

The match against Abi was uneventful; their basic training levels made it almost impossible for them to compete on the same stage.

But he didn't feel unhappy about losing the battle. Instead, he discovered new possibilities for Bug-type Pokémon.

Given time, the still young Abi will also challenge the Bug-type Pokémon professor, the Bug-type Elite Four member, and even the champion.

Link received the Insect Badge from the Azalea Gym, but also gave away a Squidfly hatched from Sprout Farm and a Black Stone dropped from the Dream Sky Battle.

This item could open up a completely different possibility for Scyther. It has no meaning for him, but perhaps only a trainer like Abi, who specializes in Bug-type Pokémon, can truly recognize the characteristics and strength of Scizor.

A dojo challenge began suddenly and ended abruptly.

Regardless of Link, Peni, as the gym leader, has indeed learned a lot.

"It is truly a meaningful thing to help younger generations."

As a trainer, Link also hopes to influence the overall environment and this era, producing more and more outstanding trainers.

However, Abi is still lacking in training. Let's wait until the next competition to see how he has improved.

After finishing his gym challenge, Link didn't linger in Azalea Town. Instead, he headed west and entered the nearby oak forest.

The trees here are so lush and dense that they block out the sun, making it as dark as night even during the day. As a result, a large population of insect-type Pokémon live here.

Although it is a Grass-type Pokémon that is weak to Bug-type, Evil Pine still likes this environment very much.

It could feel the abundant natural energy filling the entire forest, blessing the place with a bountiful harvest, allowing both vegetation and insects and grass spirits to grow rapidly and vigorously.

"It is said that there are many mysterious events in this forest. Many insect-catching boys from Hinoki Town went deep into the forest and never came out again."

"Although some survived, they found that a long time had passed when they returned to Huipi Town."

"Boni!?"

The oak forest is often foggy and dark, filled with a mysterious atmosphere.

This reminded Erguipeng of the time when the mist brought Link and the fire fox to his side in the Crystal Pool.

"Yes, deep in the forest there seems to be a shrine dedicated to the shrine. It resonates with the power of nature and is called the Forest God, possessing the magical power to allow people to travel through time."

"Aww..."

Is it just its imagination? It seems there are quite a few elves with the power of time.

Since Link and I went on our adventures, we have encountered or heard of at least three types.

Talebagos, Dialga, Celebi... there are surprisingly many elves who can do whatever they want with time.

"Actually, that's about it. Other time-related spirits can only predict the future at most, or are speculated to be able to manipulate time."

For example, some people believe that a fully-powered Jirachi can influence time by granting wishes.

However, most of these speculations are just empty talk.

Ergui Peng nodded, seemingly understanding, and looked forward to encountering Shirabi, the "Forest God," on his journey across the forest...

In reality, oak forests are vast, and hiking through them is not easy.

With Porygon as their guide, Link and Elves traveled for three days, barely reaching the halfway point. That evening, the humans and elves camped in the forest again, not watching their usual television series—Link planned to save it for when the Fire Fox returned from its slumber, so it could see the sequel it had been longing for.

Therefore, the various legends told by trainers became casual conversations during leisure time.

"Let's get back to Celebi. For a normal Pokémon, the energy required to travel through time and space is enormous. Even a mythical Pokémon like Celebi might not have enough power."

According to the encyclopedia, Celebi can use the power to travel through time, but it is said that it can only appear in peaceful times, and its appearance signifies a bright future.

The forests and vegetation that it appears in become extremely lush, which is the origin of the belief in the "Forest God".

"Boni?"

Upon hearing this, Erguipeng suddenly realized a strange phenomenon.

Since the forest god Celebi is worshipped in the surrounding areas, why does Azalea Town now worship Slowpoke?

The people of Azalea Town are obsessed with Slowpoke, and even a stranger who accidentally steps on their tail will be met with disgust.

They are clearly humans who live in harmony with the forest, so why would they abandon their faith in the forest and even use the trees here as materials for making charcoal?

It acknowledges that Slowpoke has a strange kind of cuteness, but is it necessary to abandon the faith of the forest for it?

"You're quite clever to be able to see that, Egui Peng. This is indeed a puzzling point for me—in modern times, almost only the elderly in the villages and towns around this forest still believe in the legends of the forest and the hidden gods."

Equipe swayed back and forth nimbly, delighted by its trainer's praise.

"Didn't we say before that rabbis only appear in times of peace? In the past, this land was indeed filled with war, and the severing of the dragon veins once left the land devoid of life."

"War and conflict only gradually disappeared in modern times thanks to the efforts of the alliance. You should have some understanding of this."

Ergui Peng nodded. So it was the war that caused the ghati to go into seclusion, which led to humanity losing its faith in the forest?
Humans really are prone to getting bored easily.

"Yesterday's favors will begin to fade today, and today's affections will depreciate tomorrow... Indeed, there are such people, but I think that, as a whole, humanity still has the potential to improve."

That's a bit off-topic.

"The loss of faith due to war is not necessarily the whole reason, because legend has it that the conversion of faith in Huipi Town occurred four hundred years ago."

In fact, the faith in Silavian has not been completely eradicated; a shrine to Silavian is enshrined in the home of Mr. Steel, the Citrus Ball Fairy.

However, Mr. Steel outwardly acts like a complete Slowpoke fan... The source of this information is unclear and its authenticity cannot be guaranteed.

Hearing this, and combining the information from his trainer with his own observations in Azalea Town, Porygon came to his own guess—

"Is it possible that the townspeople of Azalea Town's fanatical belief in Slowpoke is just a performance?"

"The belief in Slowpoke is external, but the underlying belief is still forest worship."

"Given ①: Road No. 33, less than one kilometer west of Huipi Town, is rich in moisture and close to the sea. It rains for half the year. It is unlikely that the sea and land would have changed drastically 400 years ago, because drought would have made it unlikely that people needed water."

"Given ②: The residents of Hinoki Town rely on charcoal burning as their main industry. The oak trees in the forest are excellent charcoal materials, rich in oils and resins, which are easy to spontaneously combust and once they start burning, they are hard to stop."

"Hypothesis: The 'drought' four hundred years ago was not a genuine drought, but a massive fire that could have consumed an entire forest..."

(End of this chapter)