Master Craftsman of the Pokémon World-Chapter 167

『Help! Save me, my friend—save your king!!』

Calyrex's telepathy surged into Hikaru's mind just as he and the Swords of Justice finished dislodging Walking Wake's massive head from the maze doorway—only to look up and see Calyrex ablaze in the distance!

"The king's on fire!!"

That was not an exaggeration—it was literal!

"Walking Wake, use Water Pulse!" Hikaru first thought of using Steam Eruption, but then realized that might just turn Calyrex into a literal Boiled Bunny King!

Walking Wake opened its jaws wide, firing a torrent of rippling water. It slammed into the flaming Calyrex like a summer cold shower. The fire went out, but the king's entire head and body were now soaking wet and scorched black in places.

A strange creature also fell off Calyrex—it seemed the Water Pulse had thrown both Pokémon into confusion. Calyrex's eyes were spinning in opposite directions as he plopped onto the ground, shaking his massive head. The "unknown creature" flopped around nearby, trying to get up but unable to find the right direction due to confusion.

"Larvesta?" Hikaru approached and recognized the charred bug.

But how did a Larvesta get here?

He glanced at the distant ancient forge, rushed inside—and sure enough, the egg of Volcarona was gone!

So it hatched this quickly?!

Hikaru was stunned. He hadn't been monitoring the egg closely, just letting the Light Stone act as a surrogate heater. Even with the hatching knowledge he'd gotten from Gold, he wasn't a certified breeder. He didn't have Gold's talent of just hugging an egg and popping it open like a microwave.

Then again... maybe the miraculous "Bright Cuisine" helped. The food's culinary energy could accelerate hatching, sure—but he had eaten the food, not the egg. Why would that speed up the process?

Well, maybe not everything about Pokémon needs to make sense.

Looking over at the pathetic state of Calyrex, who had scarfed down a lot of curry and powered up his Psychic, Hikaru guessed the reason he got flattened was simple: four times weakness to Bug.

Psychic-types just don't fare well against Bug-types.

Some powerful Psychic Pokémon can defend themselves with barriers, but Calyrex probably didn't have time to throw one up.

Come to think of it, does Calyrex even know Light Screen or Reflect?

"Here—this is a Persim Berry. It'll heal your confusion." Hikaru popped a pale red berry into Calyrex's mouth, followed by a blue one shaped like a strawberry. "This is a Rawst Berry. Heals burns!"

In the games, status effects can't overlap, but in the real world? Multiple conditions can happen at once, and if they stack too much, they're very dangerous.

『I thought my head was going to be eaten...!』

Calyrex chomped down on the berries and quickly recovered from both confusion and burns, his expression deeply aggrieved—he'd truly thought he was about to die. But Hikaru reminded him that this was a dream world. His real body was still safe in the waking world.

At worst, this was just a nightmare.

Hikaru then handed a Persim Berry to Larvesta, whose mouth was hard to spot beneath its fuzzy dark face. And it was huge!

A Totem Pokémon, maybe?

Among Bug-type larva Pokémon, Larvesta was definitely a big one—fluffy and warm. But this one was even larger, to the point where it could practically wear reins and be used as a mount.

No wonder it managed to flatten Calyrex.

Smelling the berry, Larvesta—still hungry—hugged it and began munching right away, quickly curing its confusion.

"Mera."

It stood up, looking around in a daze. Then it spotted Hikaru. Its big blue eyes blinked slowly. As it approached and gave him a poke with its little bug legs, it recognized that familiar aura—and suddenly its face lit up with joy. Larvesta wriggled over and leapt into Hikaru's chest!

Yes! This is the human!

"Meralala~!"

The intense heat burst through his clothes in an instant!

『Hikaru was burned by Flame Body!』

"Rawst—Rawst Berry!" Hikaru quickly grabbed a Poké Ball!

With a flash of red light, Larvesta was sucked inside, and Hikaru took the chance to cure himself with a berry.

The Poké Ball shook once, twice, three times—click! Capture successful. Then—pop! It opened by itself.

Larvesta blinked in confusion, crawling back out of the ball. It didn't seem to understand what just happened.

Its body was still emitting intense heat. Its five horns swayed, as if ready to burn anything that came close.

"I caught a Larvesta... but—is Flame Body really this powerful?" Hikaru glanced around and noticed the pot melted by heat, the Light Stone still spinning wildly in the center of the Fire Spin vortex. Not that it seemed bothered—it looked more like it was being tickled.

"And the rest of the curry's gone? Don't tell me... Larvesta ate it all?"

No wonder it was so powerful for a freshly hatched Pokémon!

Made using a sculpture blessed by Arceus, nurtured by the Light Stone, and fed growth-boosting curry—of course it came out this strong!

"Mera..." Larvesta let out a disappointed sound. It was still hungry.

Larvesta, the Torch Pokémon. In ancient times, it was worshipped as a creature born from the sun. It loves fire, and appears wherever there are flames to consume them entirely.

Hikaru thought for a moment. "Walking Wake, use Flamethrower on that empty patch of ground."

"Huh?" Walking Wake didn't really get it, but followed orders. A massive burst of flame roared from its jaws—and the starving Larvesta's eyes instantly lit up!

"Mera!!"

It shot forward like a rocket, astonishing the surrounding Pokémon, and dove straight into the flames. Its five horns spread open and devoured all of the fire in seconds!

"Mera, mera~" Larvesta squinted happily. The fire had fully restored its energy—and Walking Wake's flame was delicious!

That triggered another memory—Walking Wake had been the one to dig it out of the desert!

Now, as Larvesta tried to nuzzle the very Pokémon that fed it, Walking Wake panicked. It had seen what happened to Calyrex and Hikaru—had heard the words "Flame Body." The ancient dragon, usually fearless, shook its head wildly and pointed its claws at Calyrex!

Go cuddle with the king instead! He's in charge!

But Larvesta thought it was just playing tag. Plus, the fire was so good it wanted to stay close. So it cheerfully began chasing Walking Wake in circles, looping around Hikaru and Calyrex.

Walking Wake was shocked.

It's so fast for a bug that crawls!

Meanwhile, Hikaru was thinking—

Larvesta eating fire reminded him of the "Flash Fire" Ability. The only difference was that Larvesta didn't get a fire move boost after eating the flames.

Also, it had only hatched after the Swords of Justice had arrived. Could the effects of Dream Island have something to do with this?

"Larvesta showing up here is strange. It's an extremely rare Pokémon." Cobalion approached. "This one is very powerful... but it's still a child and doesn't know how to control its strength. The heat it emits could disturb others."

"It needs training and guidance."

"Long ago, people believed it came from the sun itself. It was revered as a solar messenger, but after too many forest fires, it was feared instead."

Extremely rare? Sure, in Unova. But over in Paldea's deserts, they were about as common as store-brand soda on sale.

"Mera~ Mera~ Merala~" Larvesta tilted its head, slowing its pursuit.

It didn't understand what the other Pokémon were discussing, but having eaten its fill of fire, it was now in high spirits. It began to hum a little ancient tune, its body swaying side to side. Fire danced from its mouth, forming strange swirling shapes—like a living painting made of flame. Hikaru raised an eyebrow at the artistic display.

[You listened to a melody from ancient times. You have learned music knowledge — "Ancient Song."]

[Larvesta is gathering power?]

Hikaru froze.

Ancient Song?!

But as Larvesta hummed, the melody didn't match the real "Ancient Song." It had no hypnotic effects. It wasn't a move—just a tune it had heard. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

Maybe it was something sung during the ancient city's time, when it was still in its egg?

And what use was it to learn the Ancient Song anyway? Enter a Pokémon music festival?

Actually... Ancient Song is Meloetta's signature move in Unova, but to humans, it's just a nostalgic and beautiful tune. In the games, you could learn it in Mistralton City's café from a guitarist.

So Larvesta could hum the tune, but not use it. If it could—with fire, that'd become "Fiery Aria"! That'd be too broken! Could it really learn something like that here?

Then again, the anime did show a Larvesta flying with flame-powered propulsion from its horns. So... anything's possible in this Dream Island.

Hikaru observed closely. As Larvesta absorbed the fire, its body temperature climbed, the air itself shimmered with heat, and even the ground beneath it began to burn.

But Larvesta wasn't doing this intentionally—it thought it was just digesting.

However, the messages Hikaru received said otherwise.

At that moment, Larvesta's body began to shine with a brilliant light, illuminating the entire dreamworld!

[Due to the "Training Atmosphere," Larvesta has learned to rapidly gather fire and convert it into energy—becoming akin to a mythical messenger of the sun. Its Ability has temporarily changed!]

[Flame Body → Drought]

(End of Chapter)

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