Auron opened a bag, pulled out a donut, and handed it to Hoopa. He remembered that in the movie, Hoopa loved eating these. He didn't know if the real-world Hoopa liked them too.
As for Dratini's way of addressing him—Auron turned to glance at Dratini but didn't mind. Though he didn't know why Dratini called him "Little Ze," it didn't matter.
"Mm, mm, so good, Hoopa~"
After Hoopa took the donut and bit into it, his eyes immediately lit up.
"Haha, if it's good, eat more—there's plenty." As Auron spoke, he pulled out all the snacks from his backpack.
Not just cookies, donuts, and biscuits—there were also berry pies made from berries, dried berries, and more. The entire ground was covered.
"Mm!"
Darkrai had already been tempted when he saw Victini eating the donut, but he hadn't expected Auron to pull out so much more delicious food.
"Darkrai, come eat!"
"Mm~"
Darkrai hesitated for a moment, but ultimately couldn't resist the temptation of the food. He came to Auron's side, glanced at Victini and the others, then reached out to take a Salac Berry pie and bit into it.
"Mm, mm~"
"Darkrai says it's sweet and sour and really delicious. Thank you, Hoopa~"
"No need to thank me, no need."
Auron waved his hand at Darkrai with squinted eyes, then pulled out several cups of Florges flower tea from his backpack.
"Quick, drink some—look how spicy that was for you."
Auron quickly opened a cup of sweet tea and called Victini over.
Victini had just taken a bite of Liechi Berry pie—a sweet and spicy flavor. Though Auron had tried to control the spice level, Victini still couldn't handle it.
"Hoo!"
After shooting a breath of fire skyward, Victini hurriedly flew toward Auron panting, grabbed the bottle, and went "chug chug chug."
"Ha, tini~"
"Victini says he came back to life, Hoopa~"
Auron smiled and tapped Victini's forehead. "Really now—can't handle spice but loves eating it anyway."
"Tini~"
Victini smiled apologetically while hugging Auron's finger, rubbed against it, then flew back, preparing to finish the Liechi Berry pie he'd only taken one bite of.
Of course, this time he took the sweet tea with him.
"Say hello—why are you being shy?" Auron patted Elekid, who'd been clinging to his leg without letting go.
"Kii~"
"Elekid says he doesn't want to, Hoopa~"
"Alright then. But Elekid, are you going to keep hugging my leg? Don't you want to eat something?" After hearing Hoopa's translation, Auron smiled and rubbed Elekid's head.
Elekid poked his head out, cautiously glanced at the unfamiliar Pokémon across from him, then decisively went to big brother Snorlax's side.
"Mew~"
Mew seemed very curious about this shy Elekid. With a thought, she directly transformed into Elekid's appearance.
"Kii?"
Elekid looked at this suddenly-appearing fellow species member with confusion, then—seeming to no longer be shy—directly picked up a piece of mousse cake and handed it to Mew.
"Kii."
"Mew~"
"Elekid says this is delicious. Mew says thank you, Hoopa~"
"Haha, eat well everyone. No need to translate for now—I'm going to look around." Auron smiled and patted Hoopa Confined's head.
It had to be said—legendary Pokémon's heads seemed more comfortable to pat than Elekid's. He didn't know if it was psychological.
"Mm mm, go ahead, Hoopa~"
Auron watched the Pokémon happily eating, then stood up and quietly walked outside.
First, he needed to figure out where this place was, then find a way to send a message to his family.
He'd already checked—his phone had no signal here. Now he needed to test if he'd get signal or wifi after walking out a certain distance.
After all, wifi meant people were around. Following the wifi, he could report to his family that he was safe.
"Why did you take so long to answer the phone?!"
Facing Liu Xiangjun's roar coming through the phone, Ashen instinctively moved the phone away from his ear. "Uh, we were just looking for something and didn't notice the phone."
"Looking for something? Your grandson is missing and you're still looking for things?" Liu Xiangjun was so angry she laughed. What could be more important than their only grandson?
Ashen waved his hand dismissively and said cheerfully into the phone: "Come on, don't be ridiculous. Little Ze is at school competing, right? How could he go missing in front of everyone?"
"Well, he went missing in front of everyone." Liu Xiangjun said quietly: "So if you can't make it to the school, believe me—I'll make sure you can't make it home either."
"Beep beep beep..."
Liu Xiangjun's words made both Ashen and Dad freeze.
"Little Ze... he didn't really disappear, did he?" Dad still asked somewhat incredulously.
"How should I know? Hurry to the school!"
Immediately, Ashen directly threw out Salamence's Poké Ball, then nimbly jumped onto Salamence's back.
"Salamence, Skyspire!"
"ROAR!"
Salamence was quite fast. After Ashen gave the command, he beat his wings once and took off.
"Huh?" Left behind on the ground, Dad looked at the departed Salamence and Grandpa with a bewildered expression.
"Dad, wait! I haven't gotten on yet!"
By the time Dad reacted, it was too late. Grandpa had already flown into the sky and was diving toward Skyspire University.
"Tsk, why can't I remember? It's so familiar!" At this moment, Dax was still sitting on his bench, deep in thought.
Soon, Ashen had already arrived at the school. This time he made no attempt to hide, landing directly on the school's main platform.
Salamence's terrifying aura directly suppressed several people who'd wanted to scold Ashen.
"Where's Little Ze?"
Ashen completely ignored those tactless people and directly asked Liu Xiangjun.
Seeing Ashen arrive, Liu Xiangjun felt slightly aggrieved, then shook her head. "I don't know. Little Ze suddenly disappeared. Watching the replay, a circle appeared under his feet, then he fell in."
Ashen froze. A circle? "Could it be a Psychic-type Pokémon?"
"No. The field has a Dark-type energy barrier. Psychic-type Pokémon couldn't do it."
"Swish~"
A breeze blew past. Su Qianyan jumped directly down from Pidgeot. "Uncle Dax, Aunt Liu, what happened to Little Ze?"
"He suddenly disappeared. What we know is that he went through a circle that suddenly appeared on the ground. We've already ruled out the possibility of Psychic-type Pokémon."
Su Qianyan's cold face relaxed slightly. He'd thought Auron had been kidnapped by someone.
"Are there any other clues?"
Ashen shook his head, then looked at Liu Xiangjun. He'd just arrived and didn't know much about the situation.
"That's all." Liu Xiangjun also shook her head with an ugly expression. There really wasn't any more information.