"Why are you so scared just from hearing Kyogre's name?" Oliver asked in confusion.
Celebi hovered in midair, trembling slightly, its voice filled with lingering fear.
"Even among Legendary Pokémon, there are different tiers. Kyogre is at the very top. And on top of that, it loves fighting that other big brute. Every time they clash, vast regions are destroyed. The shockwaves from their battles alone are enough to wipe me out."
Simply put, Celebi had once witnessed a war between Groudon and Kyogre with its own eyes.
With every casual movement, mountains collapsed and seas overturned. In the end, Celebi had only survived by escaping through time and space. Even now, the apocalyptic scene—and those two figures like demonic gods—were burned deep into its memory.
Oliver fell into thought.
Celebi had seen Kyogre and Groudon before, yet it later descended into this world through a mystic realm.
So what exactly are these mystic realms?
He shook his head and pushed the thought aside.
That question was far beyond his current level.
"If your Milotic really has obtained a trace of Kyogre's power," Celebi said, its expression filled with awe and disbelief, "then I honestly can't imagine how far it might go in the future."
"But the problem right now," Oliver said, "is that we still don't know how to activate the remaining power inside Milotic."
Celebi thought for a moment, then said hesitantly,
"Kyogre and Groudon fight to compete for natural energy. Maybe that natural energy is the source of their strength. You could try letting Milotic absorb natural energy."
Oliver nodded silently.
He knew a little about natural energy.
Both Kyogre and Groudon can use natural energy to undergo Primal Reversion, returning to the forms they had tens of millions of years ago.
Primal Reversion is different from Mega Evolution.
It isn't an evolution forward—it's a return to an ancient state, along with the terrifying power they possessed back then. As far as anyone knew, only Kyogre and Groudon could achieve this.
So if absorbing natural energy made them stronger, the logic held.
Oliver carefully stored this idea away.
If he had the chance, he would let Milotic attempt to absorb natural energy.
It might not only speed up the absorption of Kyogre's origin power, but also strengthen that power.
And there was an even more important point—
Kyogre and Groudon did not exist in this world right now.
That meant there was no one competing with Milotic for natural energy.
If Milotic could master a method of absorbing it, then in theory…
It could tap into the natural energy of the entire planet.
Oliver released Milotic again and asked Celebi to examine it more closely.
Even though Celebi had mentally prepared itself, the moment it saw Milotic, it was still startled by the ancient aura radiating from its body.
Celebi cautiously approached and let its psychic power circulate through Milotic's body. After a full inspection, it looked puzzled.
"Milotic has absorbed Kyogre's power, but that power isn't hidden within its own energy flow. Instead… it's embedded directly inside the body itself."
Oliver frowned. "Does that make a difference?"
"It does," Celebi said, scratching its head in confusion.
"Normally, absorbed energy is wrapped by the Pokémon's own energy and slowly refined into something it can fully control. But this power seems to have slipped past that layer and settled directly into Milotic's body."
"So… is that good or bad?"
Celebi hesitated, then said,
"It should be a good thing."
"Milotic's body is unfamiliar to that power, so it will instinctively try to reshape it. And the final form it aims for…"
Oliver suddenly understood.
That power was originally Kyogre's.
So of course, it would try to reshape Milotic's body toward Kyogre's form.
That was why ancient patterns had appeared on Milotic's body.
As for whether this was good or bad—
It was obviously good.
If the transformation succeeded, then Milotic's life tier would reach the same level as Kyogre's.
Which meant—
Milotic would possess the potential to become a First-Class Deity-level Pokémon.
As for whether that power would also reshape Milotic's mind and will—that was practically impossible.
Those three days of slumber hadn't just been absorption.
Milotic had subjugated that power and made it acknowledge a new master.
From now on, that power would only work tirelessly to strengthen Milotic's body.
Celebi had truly helped out a lot this time.
So, at Celebi's request, Oliver bought it another game.
Total War: Three Kingdoms.
It was somewhat similar to Civilization, but offered a very different kind of enjoyment. Just as time-consuming—and with Celebi's experience from Civilization, it would pick it up quickly.
Watching Celebi excitedly click "Download," Oliver smiled, shook his head, and lay back on the bed.
After working himself to exhaustion for half a year—writing two papers and making a trip to the capital—this moment of lying down felt like a rare and genuine sense of relaxation.
In the final days before the new semester:
Oliver relaxed a little and stocked up on materials, fully mastering the production of top-tier Dragon-type Energy Blocks.
Milotic focused on researching how to absorb natural energy.
Gardevoir continued training its psychic power and occasionally sought guidance from Celebi.
Celebi, under Oliver's "tyranny," was frequently dragged away from the computer to provide said guidance.
Gabite worked on adapting to its evolved body. Unlike Milotic or Gardevoir, it excelled in close combat, so becoming familiar with its new physical structure was especially important.
Before they realized it—
The new semester had arrived.
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