He knows Pokémon better than me.

Even though Ma Jiamu had long decided to abandon his emotions and maintain absolute rationality, he couldn't help but lower his head under the starlight and moonlight.

At this moment, a voice of explanation came from behind:

"The changes in the Buxicui area have nothing to do with Mr. Ma Jiamu!"

Ninja Shi Yue and Ya Bai ascended the steps at the same time. The former quickly walked to Ma Jiamu's side and stretched out his arms to protect him.

"The Pokémon from various regions, the King's rampage, and the strange vortex above have absolutely nothing to do with Mr. Magamu!"

Shi Yue emphasized.

Or rather, it was the sudden appearance of these strange phenomena that reminded Ma Jiamu of the disasters he had suffered in his hometown in the past.

Therefore, they made up their minds that they could not sit idly by and wait for death; they had to do something this time.

And naturally, Majam attributed the source of this chaos to the local deity, Shin'o Daizou.

"Impossible! The Great Lord Sinnoh, whom the Pearl Team worships, is benevolent! He would never destroy the land we live on!"

"Even the Great Lord Sinnoh, whom the Kongo Team worships, would never disrupt the time we spend together!"

Pearl and Sapphire immediately spoke up.

Having seen each other's Divine Lord, the two even nodded solemnly and refrained from attacking the god the other worshipped.

Seeing that he had suddenly become the target of everyone's anger, Ma Jiamu was not overwhelmed by the crowd's momentum. Instead, he took the initiative to stand in front of Shi Yue and questioned her in a deep voice:
"Then can you guarantee that the legendary Pokémon you believe in will never destroy our world?"

The already dilapidated Spear Pillar became even more crumbling and broken after the commotion, leaving the stone pillar even more completely incomplete.

"What's been destroyed now is just the uninhabited Pillar of Guns. What if such destruction happened in your Kongo Settlement or Pearl Settlement?"

"Or perhaps, one day, our Zhuqing Village will suddenly be razed to the ground by a terrifying force?"

Ma Jiamu looked solemnly at Shi Yue and asked her three questions in a row.

This was the first time he had shown his true thoughts to outsiders.

"How is this possible? How could the Grand Master Sinnoh suddenly destroy the village?"

Zhu Bei was about to instinctively defend herself when Ma Jiamu's expression darkened, and he interrupted her:
"My hometown was destroyed by some inexplicable legendary Pokémon, and no one knows why. In the end, all that was left was a calamity of fire that burned everything away."

As Ma Jiamu slowly began to recount his story, a hint of sorrow appeared on his once-tough and dignified face.

"It was a peaceful night when the God of Gold, whom we had always believed in and for whom we had even built a high altar for worship, suddenly descended upon our village."

"Then came the golden flames, which instantly engulfed our entire village. Buildings, Pokémon, and humans were all burned to ashes in the sea of ​​fire."

At this point, Ma Jiamu paused.

Even his wife perished in that inexplicable fire.

He was the only survivor in the village. At that time, he dared not resist the great God of Gold in the slightest and fled the village in fear.

Shocked, terrified, and filled with fear!

Looking back, all that could be seen was a giant, seven-colored bird flying above a sea of ​​fire, emitting a terrifying, piercing cry.

This is Ma Jiamu's biggest nightmare!

After that, he dared not stay near the village any longer, and even developed a great fear of his hometown. In the end, he left his hometown with a merchant fleet and wandered overseas.

In this era, there are many pitiful people who wander without a home.

Having regained his spirits, Ma Jiamu led this group to the Xicui area and rebuilt Zhuqing Village.

This time, he also put aside his faith in and fear of legendary Pokémon, vowing to eliminate any factor that might affect the peace of the village.

Whether it's humans, wild Pokémon, or even ancient gods! After listening to Ma Jiamu's account, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

Not only was Xingyue hearing this for the first time, but even her trusted confidante Shiyue was learning such details for the first time.

Kongshi and Zhubei exchanged a glance, then looked at their respective idols, the Great Lord Sinnoh, and for a moment they didn't know what to say in response.

However, at this moment, Ash couldn't help but break the tranquility:
"Mr. Ma Jiamu, I just want to ask you, did you return to your village later?"

Ma Jiamu paused for a moment, but quickly shook his head dejectedly.

He was afraid to face his fellow villagers who had been burned to ashes.
Xiao Zhi's lips twitched, and a sudden thought that he couldn't hold back popped into his mind. He subconsciously spoke:
"Um, is it possible that the sea of ​​fire wasn't actually a destructive calamity, but rather a blessing?"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Ash as if he were an idiot.

Ma Jiamu instantly bristled and glared, ignoring the fact that he had been thrown backwards by Xiao Zhi earlier, and was about to pounce on Xiao Zhi to teach him a lesson.

How dare they make fun of his dead compatriots?!
"Wait a minute, Mr. Ma Jiamu, your hometown is from the Chengdu region, right?"

Xiao Zhi immediately raised his hand to interrupt, but this did not lessen Ma Jiamu's annoyance.

Although he never mentioned to anyone where he came from, the ancient god of gold in the Johto region was not a rare belief.

Unlike the Xicui area, where faiths are so divided.

Living in the Johto region, people in various places worship both the god of gold and the god of silver, and some places even built towers specifically for worship and prayer.

Ash had an "I knew it" look on his face.

When Ma Jiamu mentioned the "disaster of fire," he initially thought of the ancient Yuanzhu Town disaster that burned the Bell Tower to a charred state.

That's not how it's called nowadays.
In ancient times, however, the people of Johto referred to Ho-Oh and Lugia as the God of Gold and the God of Silver.

But upon closer inspection, the timing doesn't match up.

The Burnt Tower incident seems to have happened only one or two hundred years ago; he even traveled back in time.
However, we are now about a thousand years away from the modern era.

At this point in time, Ho-Oh, Lugia, and the people of Johto were still on good terms. The Bell Tower and Bell Tower in Enju Town were built to commemorate their friendship.

So how could a tragedy like Ho-Oh burning down a human village happen at this time?

Weird!
"At this point in time, Ho-Oh has a harmonious relationship with the people of Johto, so it's unlikely that it would attack humans."

"Mr. Ma Jiamu couldn't possibly be lying."

Everyone saw Xiao Zhi muttering to himself with his head down, and they were puzzled but impressed.

Xiao Guang chuckled dryly and raised his hand to reassure the others, signaling them to calm down.

Soon, Ash arrived at the answer—

The fire that Ho-Oh set the village on fire did happen, but it wasn't a catastrophic disaster.

But -

Blessings from the God of Gold!

Ho-Oh's sacred flames not only have the power to burn and destroy, but can also heal and regenerate!
Even a person without illness or pain can be instantly revitalized and have their marrow cleansed by a breath of sacred flame!

For example, Professor Oak used to have Entei breathe fire on him all the time, and after burning him, he would look radiant and several years younger.

However, there is a limit to how much the sacred flame can be used. After three uses, it only provides a "relaxing hot spring" effect, rather than continuing to "preserve youth".

The people of Majiamu's village are all believers in the god of gold.
So that night, the God of Gold actually descended to reward faith, and that sea of ​​fire was a cleansing and transformative experience for the entire village!? (End of Chapter)