Grey's expression changed. He quickly stood up and put plenty of distance between himself and the little Riolu.
Good grief, he had been sitting on the little Riolu's best friend?!
For a moment, Grey actually felt like he was not quite "clean" anymore.
The little Riolu: ???
"Hey! What the heck is going on inside that head of yours?!"
The little Riolu was so mad that it stopped even pretending to go "mew" and directly opened a private telepathic voice chat with Grey.
"What? Why does your buddy have a hobby of turning into a rock? Wait… hold on…"
Grey rubbed his chin and suddenly realized who the little Riolu's best friend was.
It was probably Jirachi.
"Move, move, you're seriously looking down on my friend now?"
The little Riolu put its hands on its hips and pointed at Grey. "I just calculated the timing. It's probably the day it wakes up."
"Oh? A thousand years passed that quickly?"
Grey raised an eyebrow. Of course he knew Jirachi's situation.
It slept for a thousand years to store up energy in exchange for seven days of wakefulness.
At the same time, it would also consume energy to help people grant wishes. Once the wish was made and its energy was exhausted, it would fall asleep again.
That was a little too harsh on the mind.
A thousand years in exchange for seven days of freedom.
No matter who it was, they probably would not be able to accept that.
At the very least, Grey felt this "deal" was way too much of a rip-off.
It was a huge loss.
"Yeah, a thousand years have already passed. Now Jirachi is going to awaken… Huh? Wait!"
The little Riolu suddenly froze, realizing that something was not that simple.
It tilted its head and looked at Grey, muttering in its heart. How does this guy know so much about Jirachi? He even knows perfectly well that it only wakes up once every thousand years?
"Grey, where did you get all this information?"
The little Riolu felt that Jirachi only woke up for seven days every thousand years, so under normal circumstances, not many people should know about that.
Grey chuckled when he heard this. "What's so strange about that? News about Jirachi is all over the internet, okay?"
After saying that, Grey took out his phone, searched Jirachi in the browser, and a huge pile of clickbait-style articles popped up.
"Here, take a look."
Grey handed the phone to the little Riolu.
The little Riolu quickly took the phone and started flipping through the related information.
Shocking! The Mythical Pokémon That Slept for a Thousand Years Is About to Awaken?! But Only for Seven Days!
The very first result was news about Jirachi's awakening.
The little Riolu tapped on it and discovered that it was a whole wall of text.
Breaking news! The legendary Wish Pokémon, Jirachi, is about to end its thousand-year slumber! According to ancient records, this mysterious being only awakens once every thousand years, and each awakening lasts for a short seven days!
It is said that Jirachi possesses the power to grant any wish, but the exact conditions for granting those wishes remain a mystery.
Some scholars speculate that it may have something to do with a pure heart. There are also rumors that a specific ritual is required to awaken this thousand-year sleeping star Pokémon.
Now the whole internet is buzzing. If you met Jirachi, what wish would you make? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
Friendly reminder: The above information has been compiled from online legends. Please refer to actual circumstances for specific details.
#Jirachi #ThousandYearPromise #WishingStar #PokémonLegend
Classic clickbait copy.
The little Riolu read the other articles before returning the phone to Grey.
Although most of those people were just talking nonsense, they really had guessed that Jirachi's day of awakening was coming soon.
Judging from their situation, they probably did not know where to find Jirachi.
But the little Riolu and Jirachi were old friends.
That was why, when it had just seen Grey sitting on Jirachi, it hurriedly gave him a reminder.
Grey walked back over at this point and looked at the white stone on the ground, then lightly tapped it.
So this white stone was Jirachi's form after falling asleep?
Grey narrowed his eyes.
This part was different from the movie.
In the movie, it had been in a place called Forina.
That corresponded to a city from before he crossed over.
But this was Mossdeep City, which clearly did not match the movie.
"Little Riolu, how are we supposed to wake up this good friend of yours?"
Grey poked the little Riolu and asked.
"What? Don't tell me you saw that my friend can grant wishes, so now you want to wake it up and have it grant yours?"
The little Riolu put its hands on its hips and said to Grey with righteous seriousness, "You can give up on that idea! Jirachi really can grant other people's wishes, but the process of granting them might not be quite right. It can easily cause even bigger trouble instead."
"Hey, am I that kind of person in your eyes?"
After hearing the little Riolu explain so much, Grey replied irritably, "Can't I wish for Jirachi to never have to fall asleep again?"
"Huh. How did I not think of that?"
Grey's words gave the little Riolu a sudden flash of realization.
It stared at Grey, its expression more solemn than ever before. "In all these thousands of years, you're the first Trainer to think of making that wish."
"Hm? The other Trainers never thought of it?"
Grey scratched his head, not understanding why.
"Maybe Trainers in other parallel worlds have. But in our world, you really are the first one to come up with it. Even I was stuck in a blind spot. You really are something."
The little Riolu reached out and gave Grey a thumbs-up. "Jirachi and I owe you one. If this wish really works, I'll gladly call you my buddy."
"Can't I be the senior one here?"
Grey felt he was more suited to being the senior.
"No, you're not suited for that."
The little Riolu refused.
Seeing that it was still early, it said to Grey, "My good friend probably won't wake up until after midnight. During this time, we should find somewhere to wait for a while."
"That works."
Grey nodded lightly and agreed with the little Riolu's suggestion.
Steven had happened to say he could come visit his house, so Grey took the little Riolu over for a visit.
[Dojo Annihilape: Steven, my friend, how about I go sit around at your place for a while? Is that convenient?]
[Steven Stone: It is. But I'm not home right now. The house key is under the mat by the door. If you see anything you like, just take it. No need to tell me. It's all just some worthless stuff.]
Steven was unbelievably rich.
"Hiss."
Grey sucked in a breath, thinking that Steven really was Steven. When he got generous, nobody could compare to him.
And so, Grey really did take the little Riolu over for a visit.
Mossdeep City, Steven's house.
Steven's house in Mossdeep City was a detached ocean-view villa.
The moment they entered, they could see many Steel-type Pokémon resting.
Most of them were from the Aggron family and the Metagross family.
Seeing this, Grey made a trip to the Pokémon Center and swapped back the shiny Metagross Steven had given him.
"Come out, Metagross."
After arriving at Steven's house again, Grey directly released it so it could catch up with them.
"Metagross?"
Metagross scanned its surroundings.
It discovered many familiar-looking Pokémon.
Soon, it saw an ordinary Metagross slowly walking toward it.
"Metagross." Hello, may I ask which generation of Metagross you are?
That original-colored Metagross asked Grey's Metagross.
"Metagross." I am a second-generation Metagross. My former Trainer's Metagross is my older brother.
After Grey's Metagross finished speaking, all the other Metagross turned and stared at it.
Good grief, no wonder it also had that color scheme.
So it was the younger brother of that absurdly powerful Metagross!
Clearly, Steven's group of Metagross had communicated with one another before.
Immediately afterward, the group of Metagross developed a fierce fighting spirit toward Grey's Metagross.
"Metagross!" Old friend, let us witness your strength! Let us see if you are stronger than your brother!
One Metagross took the lead and attacked.
Grey's Metagross defended.
Seeing this, Grey himself did not command it. After saying not to go too far, he picked up the key hidden under the mat and opened the door.
"I'm coming in."
The moment he stepped into Steven's mansion, Grey felt like he had walked into a geological museum.
Neatly arranged glass display cases stood on both sides of the entryway, holding rare fossils from all over the world.
There was everything from Unova's Cover Fossil to Sinnoh's Armor Fossil, and even Kanto's Old Amber.
Under each piece of stone was an elegant label with a description.
"Wow, that's a lot of complete fossils."
The little Riolu had seen fossils before.
But there were not many people who could put together fossils as complete as Steven's.
That made the little Riolu feel impressed.
To gather fossils this complete, one needed not only abundant wealth, but also sufficient persistence.
Both kinds of power were indispensable and complemented each other.
After passing through the fossil display area, what came next was an entire wall of Evolution stones.
From basic Fire Stones, Water Stones, and Thunder Stones to rarer Dawn Stones and Shiny Stones.
And the most astonishing sight was the complete set of Mega Stones in the central display case. Each one radiated a unique glow of energy.
"Good grief, how much did he dig up?"
Grey clicked his tongue in amazement.
It was not just the Devon Corporation that had Mega Stones.
Steven also had Mega Stones at home.
If the Mega Stones being sold on the market were included…
If all of them could be sold, it would probably be a rather massive amount of money.
[Steven Stone: My friend, there's something I forgot to tell you. The Devon Corporation has a new mine development plan recently, and excavation has already begun deeper underground. I heard they discovered many different Pokémon's Mega Stones. If you're interested, you can ask me for them.]
Steven suddenly sent a message at this moment.
Grey picked it up and looked, only to find that Steven was saying he wanted to give him Mega Stones. He could not help being shocked by Steven's generosity once again.
These were undiscovered Mega Stones.
As long as the price was not absurdly high, Trainers of the corresponding Pokémon would definitely buy them.
[Dojo Annihilape: Whoa! My friend, isn't that way too valuable?]
Grey typed the message and sent it.
Soon, Steven replied.
[Steven Stone: It's fine. It's just a small gesture. We still need your help with this meteorite crisis.]
[Dojo Annihilape: In that case, I'll gladly accept.]
[Steven Stone: Hahaha! That's how it should be. Grey, if you truly see me as a friend, don't be so polite with me in the future.]
Steven was very happy with Grey's answer.
Seeing this made Grey feel a little embarrassed too.
After confirming with Steven that he would pick them up after the meteorite crisis ended, Grey rested at Steven's house for a while.
Night fell low, and the sky above the Hoenn region was lit by countless meteors.
Those stars, dragging silver tails of light behind them, streaked across every town like falling rain. Even the sea reflected this brilliant astronomical spectacle.
Grey looked up at the meteor-filled sky, knowing that the moment of Jirachi's awakening had arrived.
He came to the milky-white boulder he had sat on earlier that day, only to see strange patterns of light appearing on its surface, as though it were responding to the meteor shower in the sky.
In an instant, the massive stone rose from the ground.
The little Riolu met the gradually ascending boulder's height and stared at it as the rocky shell peeled away piece by piece during its rise.
When the outer layer completely dispersed, a small star-shaped Pokémon was revealed.
Its whole body gave off a dreamlike glow. Its curled-up body trembled slightly, and amid the flowing starlight, it gently fell into Grey's open arms, still peacefully asleep.
Pokémon: Jirachi
Type: Steel, Psychic
Level: 30
Ability: Serene Grace
Moves: Omitted
Description: A thousand-year slumber in exchange for seven days of awakening. Remaining time, 167:59:53
From the moment Jirachi revived, the countdown had begun.
Grey furrowed his brow.
He thought, good grief, the timer actually starts right now?
That was a little ridiculous.
"Jirachi! Wake up!"
The little Riolu carefully took Jirachi from Grey's arms and gently shook its small hand.
But Jirachi only smacked its lips and curled up even tighter. Its star-like streamers wrapped around Riolu's arm, clearly still reluctant to leave its sweet dreams.
The little Riolu: …
It was already at death's door, and it was still addicted to sleeping?
Ha, Jirachi, you little…
Under the little Riolu's persistent shaking, Jirachi finally opened its eyes in a daze.
It rubbed its sleepy eyes. The starlight flowing around its body flickered rapidly for a few moments before finally dimming. "Mm… have I woken up?"
After saying that, Jirachi fully woke up and hurriedly sensed the energy stored inside its body.
When it confirmed that its energy was full and the timing was just right, it patted its chest in relief and said softly, "Whew… thank goodness I didn't miss my once-in-a-thousand-years awakening! Next up, it's Jirachi time!"
Soon, Jirachi looked around and discovered two "customers."
It looked at the little Riolu and said in surprise, "Mew! Why are you here?"
Then Jirachi noticed Grey beside the little Riolu and curiously sized him up.
"Are you two here to make wishes? But I should remind you, you'll have to wait until three days from now to make your first wish!"
Jirachi had not awakened in a very long time.
It remembered that last time, shortly after waking up, not even three days had passed before it helped someone make a wish and caused itself to fall asleep early.
So this time, now that it had woken up, it definitely could not let itself waste that much time again.
And so, Jirachi declared that wishes could only begin on the third day.
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