Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game.

He gently shook his head, the meaning of which was self-evident.

Adam added, “The Meteor People’s millennium prophecy is coming to an end, and nobody there is taking it seriously, let alone this even more baseless conjecture. They can’t possibly go into martial law because of this, because the cost of such a thing is just too high.”

Xia Chen nodded with a wry smile.

He was well aware of such things. Once the alliance entered a state of martial law, people would panic, schools would close, businesses would shut down, factories would cease production, and the entire society would be paralyzed.

If a disaster really strikes, it's fine; it'll just be a false alarm. But who will take responsibility?

Even if Xia Chen were a hothead who patted his chest and guaranteed "I'll take responsibility," he would still be met with a retort: ​​"Can you really take that responsibility?"

Mikoli could roughly understand what Xia Chen was thinking, and comforted him, "If you're really worried, I'll take you to the Awakening Temple, which is guarded by our Glass People, this afternoon. Who knows, we might find some clues?"

Xia Chen said gratefully, "Thank you very much. I hope I was just overthinking things."

The other three remained silent. Given the precedents in Carlos and Padia, they all had some doubts about whether the two great gods would awaken.

Perhaps because the topic was somewhat heavy, the group was not in high spirits until the housekeeper came to call them for dinner, at which point their mood returned to normal.

…………

As an old noble family in the Hoenn region, their banquets are naturally quite elaborate, with over twenty dishes in total, including appetizers, main courses, and desserts. Yes, each person and Pokémon has over twenty dishes.

The main selling point is a refined yet not filling meal.

However, despite that, the overall taste of the dishes was quite good, and the fact that they were Hoenn delicacies that they had rarely eaten before added to the appeal, so Xia Chen and the Pokémon were quite satisfied.

In the afternoon, Adam and Senri continued their unfinished battle from the morning, while Mikoli, as promised, took Xia Chen to the Awakening Temple, which was not far from the Glass Dojo.

The morning drizzle had long since stopped, and the sky was a clear, bright blue after the rain—a color that Mikkelsen praised as elegant.

Xia Chen wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the sky here was a little low, and the clouds reflected in the volcanic lake in the center of the ancient city of Liuli seemed so close that they could almost be touched.

The beautiful scenery after the rain also attracted many tourists who were taking a walk to stop and take pictures by the lake, creating a peaceful and harmonious scene.

The ancient city of Liuli is not large. The Awakening Temple is located on the east side of the volcanic lake, facing the Liuli Dojo across the lake.

Despite being called a temple, it is essentially a cave. However, this cave may have been built with Groudon's help, as it is very well-organized and spacious inside, almost like a man-made palace, hence the name "temple".

Legend has it that this is the place where all Pokémon in the Hoenn region originate, and the place where they end is Mt. Sacred.

Of course, the source of this legend is unreliable, and similar legends exist in every region.

The Temple of Awakening is a place protected by the people of Lapis Lazuli for generations, and it is a place where tourists are prohibited from visiting.

In the past, a large number of Pokémon might have been needed to guard the entrance, but in modern times, things are not so rigid. Mikuri has set up a more modern and secure access control system at the entrance, and a few Pokémon take turns guarding it.

Ultimately, there's nothing of value to steal in the Temple of Awakening, so guarding it so closely is like throwing a seductive glance at a blind man.

As Mikuri passed through the access gate, Xia Chen entered the place where Groudon or Kyogre awakened in the game's storyline—

The reason for saying "or" is that the awakened mythical beast will change depending on the game version, and the other one will awaken in the underwater cave southeast of Liuli Island.

I don't know what the real world will be like.

After entering the Temple of Awakening, Xia Chen released Gu Le Dun.

He wondered if this fellow legendary Pokémon, whose name and color were similar to Groudon's, could offer any useful insights.

The two people and the dragon slowly walked into the cave, paying attention to the details inside.

…………

The cave was very dark, and only by relying on the fire energy actively released by Guleton could one see its internal structure.

Just inside the temple is a fairly spacious passageway, about four or five meters wide and high.

What's rather peculiar is that there are some rather abstract, mural-like patterns on the walls. Xia Chen could only vaguely make out that the two Hoenn idiots were creating land and sea, and that they were fighting in the background. The rest of the content was difficult to discern.

Mikoli explained from the side, "The creators of these murals are unknown. Anyway, they were already there when we, the Citizens of the Glass, were responsible for guarding this place. The murals probably depict the creation of the world by two gods, and then they fought for natural energy, which Rayquaza then intervened to stop them."

Xia Chen nodded knowingly, then looked at the large red lizard beside him and asked, "Gu Leton, what do you think?"

While also observing the murals, Gu Leton glanced sideways and replied, "I see with my eyes."

Xia Chen shook his head.

Ugh, you stinky lizard, not cooperating at all.

Keep going.

After walking several hundred more steps, the passageway will soon end, and behind it lies the legendary Temple of Awakening.

However, Xia Chen didn't rush in. Instead, he looked at the murals on the wall at the end of the passageway.

On the left, right, and top, there is a lifelike mural of an elf—at least compared to the abstract artwork just now, it is lifelike.

These three Pokémon are the Hoenn Trio, or more precisely, the Hoenn Trio in their Primal Reversion and Mega Evolution forms!

Gently touching the iconic "Ω" symbol on Groudon's arm in the mural, Xia Chen turned to Mikeli and asked, "Do you know what this is all about?"

Mikoli hesitated for a moment, then said, "This is a secret passed down through generations in our family. Legend has it that this was the original and most powerful form of the two elves. Later, as their natural energy weakened, the two elves could no longer maintain such a huge body and great power, and degenerated into the form that people remember now."

"And the reason they fight is also because of this: as long as the land or sea area is large enough, the natural energy provided by the earth and sea is enough to allow them to return to and maintain their peak appearance."

He paused for a moment, then looked up at Mega Rayquaza overhead and continued, "As for Rayquaza, I don't know. Perhaps the Meteor Clan knows."

"I see."

Xia Chen nodded to himself. This information was largely consistent with his memories of that world, and it also provided a reasonable supplement to the conflict between the two idiots.

After taking a few photos for posterity, they continued forward and entered the true interior of the Temple of Awakening.

…………

Compared to the secluded and wonderful interior of the cave, the outer passageway can only be described as cramped.

Although this place was formed naturally, its grandeur and magnificence fully justify the name "temple".

The height of the temple, which is several tens of meters above the top of the cave, explains why it looks like a small hill from the outside.

The two enormous, lifelike stone sculptures of Groudon and Kyogre standing tall made Xia Chen wonder if their real selves were sealed inside the statues.

Faced with Xia Chen's concerns, Mikoli smiled and explained, "No, these two stone sculptures were created by my ancestors. They were all great artists. If they could really bring two legendary elves back to life from the statues, they would be gods."

Xia Chen then put aside his doubts and moved closer to examine the two statues.

The statue looks like a regular Groudon, not its original form.

It is indeed very tall, more than 20 meters high at a glance. I don't know if it is a 1:1 scale replica, but it is much taller than the few meters described in the game's encyclopedia.

To be honest, the Pokédex's description of legendary Pokémon is really outrageous; Regirock, which can drag a continent, is less than four meters long.

Groudon, who created the earth, was only three or four meters tall, and even in its original form, it was only five meters tall.

How can we even build land like this?

If you were really dragged to some place by Hupa, you wouldn't be able to walk back—five meters. You'd drown as soon as you entered the sea and only walked a few steps.

Xia Chen imagined Groudon in this world to be a giant beast, at least as tall as the monsters in Ultraman to have a sense of grandeur.

Or, having the ability to change size at will, like Yveltal, would be nice too.

Thinking this, Xia Chen looked at Gu Leton again and asked, "Will you grow bigger?"

Therefore, Leighton replied seriously this time, "It was possible before, but not now."

Xia Chen shrugged and didn't press the matter.

After circling the two statues twice without finding anything unusual, Xia Chen and Mikeli sat down to drink water and rest.

Xia Chen suddenly asked, "Actually, I've always had a question: why do you people of the Glass worship and protect two legendary spirits who don't get along? Aren't you afraid of pleasing neither side?"

This behavior is almost as absurd as chanting Amitabha Buddha while simultaneously chanting Infinite Heavenly Venerable in a previous life—the intensity of the conflict between the two sides is no less than that between Buddhism and Taoism.

Mikkuri smiled slightly and replied, "I asked my father the same question when I was very young. He asked me in return, 'What would happen to the world if only one of Groudon and Kyogre existed, or if one of them actually defeated the other?'"

Xia Chen said with some admiration, "Your ancestor was truly a person of great wisdom."

He then asked, "However, if you have this idea, why don't you worship Rayquaza? After all, it's the one that maintains the balance between the two."

Mikoli gave him a strange look. "Are you looking for the Meteor People?"

Xia Chen: "."

That makes a lot of sense; you two should just merge.

…………

According to Mikuri, the people of Lapis Lazuli come to the temple every December to worship the Hoenn twins and pray for good weather and a bountiful harvest in the coming year.

Although it has a superstitious element, it is a tradition after all, and it only happens once a year, so Mikkel didn't have too much of a problem with it.

He has been performing the rituals for ten years since he inherited the title "People of Glass" from his father, who was away creating art.

"Speaking of which, Hoenn has never really experienced a very serious natural disaster in its history. The League should give us, the people of Lapis Lazuli, an award."

"Mikeli joked."

Xia Chen asked, "How often has this kind of high temperature weather occurred in the west this year?"

Michael spread his hands. "I don't know about that, but it seems like it's never happened since I can remember."

Xia Chen nodded thoughtfully.

The Temple of Awakening is neither small nor large; apart from two statues and an altar, there's not much else there.

After wandering around for a while, Xia Chen and Gu Leton found no valuable information or clues, and were inevitably a little discouraged.

Both the man and the dragon were prepared to leave empty-handed, but Mikoli suddenly made a small discovery.

"Xia Chen, come and look at this."

Mikoli stood by the altar in front of the statue and waved in Xia Chen's direction.

Xia Chen and Gu Leton hurried over.

Mikli pointed to a conspicuous crack on the altar, about the width of a finger, and said, "I'm pretty sure this crack wasn't there when I came here to perform the ritual more than six months ago."

Xia Chen nodded and released his waveguide power to probe inside, discovering that part of the altar was hollow.

Why is it hollow? What's hidden inside?

Setting aside his doubts for the moment, he focused his attention and probed deeper, only to discover a smooth, round bead at the bottom.

Xia Chen was shocked. Judging from the regularity, ordinary stones in nature would not be so regular and round.

So, could this be the indigo or crimson orb that Team Lava and Team Ocean are looking for?