Fortunately, Little Lugia had no intention of doing so. Just as it was about to hit the ground five meters below, it suddenly spread its wings wide like giant hands, and its little colt-like body abruptly halted.
Yes.
It neither rode the wind to soar nor continued to fall by inertia, merely suspending in air as if time had paused.
The Psychic Attribute truly seems like a cheat.
Baimu met the gaze from Little Lugia, seeing the expectant glow in its pure eyes. After a brief consideration, he opened his arms wide.
"Woo~!"
Little Lugia chirped joyfully, nestling into his embrace like a fledgling returning to the forest, acting coquettishly.
The love of a Divine Beast is so heavy.
Baimu barely steadied his trembling legs, deftly dealing with Little Lugia as it nuzzled its head back and forth and flapped its wings incessantly.
"Yes, yes, I'm very happy too."
Whish!
A gentle breeze mingled with raindrops fell on the mountain slopes.
The wild Pokémon present looked in awe at the slowly descending Great Lugia, while Helena, holding an umbrella, pursed her lips in silence.
Legendary Pokémon is not a distant term to her.
Not to mention the black and white dragons, in these years flowing around the world with N, they've had close encounters with several Legendary Pokémon that only appear in myths.
But a Legendary Pokémon so intimate with humans like the Lugia Mother and Child was something she was seeing for the first time.
"Woo~"
Great Lugia landed, gazing with affection at Baimu and Little Lugia.
Compared to its mischievous offspring, no different from ordinary large bird-like Pokémon, this one embodied divinity and maternal instincts.
Its power, while not as formidable as the Sea God Lugia of the Orange Islands, was not far off either.
Manipulating the weather to summon wind and rain was still quite easy.
Baimu barely freed a hand from under Little Lugia's wings, greeting it, "Long time no see, Lugia."
Great Lugia nodded slightly, then its gaze fell upon the approaching Aggron and other Pokémon, before surveying the surrounding situation.
It seemed to detect some unusual atmosphere.
"Here's the thing..." Baimu didn't hide his intentions, simply recounting the situation.
After hearing everything, Great Lugia's face showed a human-like curiosity.
It knew the wild Pokémon on this land had a difficult situation but hadn't expected some of them had no choice but to take over others' nests to find a suitable home.
Regarding the solution proposed by Baimu, it didn't quite understand the specific purpose.
But it trusted this human who guided them, believing he wouldn't do cruel things.
The Ore Region indeed is a very nice place.
Though slightly desolate, the malicious humans chasing them dared not approach, and the only wave of Pokémon Hunters that followed them was caught by another group of humans before they could make a move.
The ones catching were even more skilled at capturing than the Pokémon Hunters.
And soon after, the hunters appeared in the south, diligently planting grass and trees there.
From start to finish.
No humans came to disturb them.
This realization made Great Lugia stop hiding its tracks, often taking Little Lugia around the Ore Region to spread clouds and rain, summoning the rejuvenating wind and rain to restore vitality to the land.
Today was another rain-bringing activity, preparing to fly to the Pokémon Valley where N was.
Unexpectedly, it found Baimu's presence.
"Woo!"
After being doted upon, Little Lugia went off to play with a familiar Hydreigon, with Aggron joining out of curiosity about the Legendary Pokémon.
Free again, Baimu rubbed his hands and looked at Great Lugia, asking, "Mind sharing your recent experiences?"
"Woo."
Great Lugia hesitated for a moment, then remembered the special power the other displayed during their last meeting.
It didn't hesitate, lowering its head.
Baimu was glad that Great Lugia trusted him so much, raising his right hand to place it on its forehead, golden light spilling from his palm.
In an instant.
He and Great Lugia entered a mind realm, akin to a golden sanctuary.
Helena, watching the light from Baimu's palm, widened her bright eyes, seemingly realizing that he possessed some magical power to communicate with Pokémon.
Did N know about this?
She just wanted to contact N when she saw Baimu retract his hand, with a look of regret she couldn't comprehend, saying:
"No solutions... What a pity. But this way, it can focus on receiving treatment from Dr. Mu Yin, right? The tragedy caused by humans should ultimately be remedied by humans."
The Lugia Mother and Child couldn't assist the Shadow Lugia, and they couldn't even slow down its transformation into darkness.
Purification wasn't within their power.
"Chirp."
The Great Lugia's gaze was clear; it was very interested in Baimu's plan.
Not in the part about teaching the Ore Trainers.
But rather the plan to use the mountains as a pilot site, summoning the residents of the Valley of Creation to grow plentiful food, gathering wild Pokémon scattered across various locations so they could become self-sufficient.
It thought it might be able to help a bit.
To at least ensure this mountain range would never lack rainwater.
And also...
"Hoo—"
The Great Lugia let out a long cry to the surrounding wild Pokémon, trying to persuade them to stay here.
The wild Pokémon looked at each other, eventually turning their gaze in unison to a stone cave dug by an Onix.
A pair of either blood-red or light blue eyes shimmered within.
It turned out to be the Lycanroc hiding from the rain.
Baimu wasn't surprised that these wild Pokémon saw them as their pillar, after all, in the battle just now, the Lycanroc pack stood at the forefront, revealing their lead position beyond doubt.
"..."
A Dusk Form Lycanroc walked out of the cave, standing in front of the Great Lugia and Baimu, unfazed by the pouring rain.
"Awoo!"
It pointed towards the Aggron that was staring at the Little Lugia.
Helena softly explained, "It says the Lycanroc can listen to Aggron because Aggron won the battle."
Baimu questioned, "I'm human, so is that not okay?"
Helena, hearing this, became somewhat anxious, "Baimu, I think they—"
"No need to explain, it's okay. I didn't expect Lugia to change its view of me, as long as they agree, it's fine." He waved his hand.
The main purpose of gathering these wild Pokémon was to continue having them contribute to the mountain, while also taking the opportunity to gather other scattered wild Pokémon to prevent them from wandering around.
Driving them away directly could easily cause thousands of wild Pokémon to be displaced. For one, N couldn't be held accountable, and for another, it might inadvertently impact Pyrite Town.
Also, considering that the shrubs in the mountains had always been planted by the wild Pokémon, he decided to let them stay.
It's a good thing Aggron has its ideas for slowly planting trees, but it's also very necessary to first plant desert plants to improve the soil.
As for how the wild Pokémon perceived him, it was actually not important.
The Dusk Form Lycanroc being wary of humans is a good thing. There are more good people in this world, but there are also some bad ones. Being cautious is responsible for themselves and their group.
"... I understand." Helena nodded.
She was used to explaining to others that wild Pokémon meant no harm. Suddenly encountering someone who also cared for Pokémon, she wasn't sure whether to feel sentimental or gratified.
Above the sky.
The lead-gray rain clouds gradually drifted away, and the sunlight returned to the earth, illuminating the land.
The Great Lugia spread its wings and soared, casting a gentle glance at Baimu, and softly called out to the playful Little Lugia nearby, "Chirp!"
"Hoo!"
Upon hearing the call, the Little Lugia quickly flew over.
The time spent together was brief, but there was nothing that could be done; they still had to go to other places to deliver rain, letting the rainwater nourish the entire Ore Land, while focusing on a few key areas.
For example, N's Pokémon Valley, Pyrite Town, and Silicon City, and so on.
Although no one had requested them to do this, seeing this barren, dry land, they couldn't resist the urge to do something within their power.
"Hoo!"
The Little Lugia called out to Baimu and the group of Pokémon, indicating it would come back to play with him again.
The existence of the Silver Feather allowed it to easily perceive his location.
"Goodbye, goodbye."
Baimu waved, drenched to the skin by the rain, now just wanting to quickly change into a dry set of clothes.
Suddenly.
The phone in his pocket vibrated; it was a message from Shanren.
『My father wants to invite you to Silicon City sometime in the next couple of days, if you have the time, please stop by.』
Shanren's father?
A middle-aged man's face, three parts resembling his own, flashed in Baimu's mind.