Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game

What's rather peculiar is that there are some rather abstract, mural-like patterns on the walls. Xia Chen could only vaguely make out that the two Hoenn idiots were creating land and sea, and that they were fighting in the background. The rest of the content was difficult to discern.

Mikoli explained from the side, "The creators of these murals are unknown. Anyway, they were already there when we, the Citizens of the Glass, were responsible for guarding this place. The murals probably depict the creation of the world by two gods, and then they fought for natural energy, which Rayquaza then intervened to stop them."

Xia Chen nodded knowingly, then looked at the large red lizard beside him and asked, "Gu Leton, what do you think?"

While also observing the murals, Gu Leton glanced sideways and replied, "I see with my eyes."

Xia Chen shook his head.

Ugh, you stinky lizard, not cooperating at all.

Keep going.

After walking several hundred more steps, the passageway will soon end, and behind it lies the legendary Temple of Awakening.

However, Xia Chen didn't rush in. Instead, he looked at the murals on the wall at the end of the passageway.

On the left, right, and top, there is a lifelike mural of an elf—at least compared to the abstract artwork just now, it is lifelike.

These three Pokémon are the Hoenn Trio, or more precisely, the Hoenn Trio in their Primal Reversion and Mega Evolution forms!

Gently touching the iconic "Ω" symbol on Groudon's arm in the mural, Xia Chen turned to Mikeli and asked, "Do you know what this is all about?"

Mikoli hesitated for a moment, then said, "This is a secret passed down through generations in our family. Legend has it that this was the original and most powerful form of the two elves. Later, as their natural energy weakened, the two elves could no longer maintain such a huge body and great power, and degenerated into the form that people remember now."

"And the reason they fight is also because of this: as long as the land or sea area is large enough, the natural energy provided by the earth and sea is enough to allow them to return to and maintain their peak appearance."

He paused for a moment, then looked up at Mega Rayquaza overhead and continued, "As for Rayquaza, I don't know. Perhaps the Meteor Clan knows."

"I see..."

Xia Chen nodded to himself. This information was largely consistent with his memories of that world, and it also provided a reasonable supplement to the conflict between the two idiots.

After taking a few photos for posterity, they continued forward and entered the true interior of the Temple of Awakening.

…………

Compared to the secluded and wonderful interior of the cave, the outer passageway can only be described as cramped.

Although this place was formed naturally, its grandeur and magnificence fully justify the name "temple".

The height of the temple, which is several tens of meters above the top of the cave, explains why it looks like a small hill from the outside.

The two enormous, lifelike stone sculptures of Groudon and Kyogre standing tall made Xia Chen wonder if their real selves were sealed inside the statues.

Faced with Xia Chen's concerns, Mikoli smiled and explained, "No, these two stone sculptures were created by my ancestors. They were all great artists. If they could really bring two legendary elves back to life from the statues, they would be gods."

Xia Chen then put aside his doubts and moved closer to examine the two statues.

The statue looks like a regular Groudon, not its original form.

It is indeed very tall, more than 20 meters high at a glance. I don't know if it is a 1:1 scale replica, but it is much taller than the few meters described in the game's encyclopedia.

To be honest, the Pokédex's description of legendary Pokémon is really outrageous; Regirock, which can drag a continent, is less than four meters long.

Groudon, who created the earth, was only three or four meters tall, and even in its original form, it was only five meters tall.

How can we even build land like this?

If you were really dragged to some place by Hopala, you wouldn't be able to walk back—five meters... you'd drown if you hadn't walked more than a few steps into the sea.

Xia Chen imagined Groudon in this world to be a giant beast, at least as tall as the monsters in Ultraman to have a sense of grandeur.

Or, having the ability to change size at will, like Yveltal, would be nice too.

Thinking this, Xia Chen looked at Gu Leton again and asked, "Will you grow bigger?"

Therefore, Leighton replied seriously this time, "It was possible before, but not now."

Xia Chen shrugged and didn't press the matter.

After circling the two statues twice without finding anything unusual, Xia Chen and Mikeli sat down to drink water and rest.

Xia Chen suddenly asked, "Actually, I've always had a question: why do you people of the Glass worship and protect two legendary spirits who don't get along? Aren't you afraid of pleasing neither side?"

This behavior is almost as absurd as chanting Amitabha Buddha while simultaneously chanting Infinite Heavenly Venerable in a previous life—the intensity of the conflict between the two sides is no less than that between Buddhism and Taoism.

Mikkuri smiled slightly and replied, "I asked my father the same question when I was very young. He asked me in return, 'What would happen to the world if only one of Groudon and Kyogre existed, or if one of them actually defeated the other?'"

Xia Chen said with some admiration, "Your ancestor was truly a person of great wisdom."

He then asked, "But... if you have this idea, why don't you worship Rayquaza? After all, it's the one that maintains the balance between the two."

Mikoli gave him a strange look. "Are you looking for the Meteor People?"

Xia Chen: "......"

That makes a lot of sense; you two should just merge.

…………

According to Mikuri, the people of Lapis Lazuli come to the temple every December to worship the Hoenn twins and pray for good weather and a bountiful harvest in the coming year.

Although it has a superstitious element, it is a tradition after all, and it only happens once a year, so Mikkel didn't have too much of a problem with it.

He has been performing the rituals for ten years since he inherited the title "People of Glass" from his father, who was away creating art.

"Speaking of which, Hoenn has never really experienced a very serious natural disaster in its history. The League should give us, the people of Lapis Lazuli, an award."

"Mikeli joked."

Xia Chen asked, "How often has this kind of high temperature weather occurred in the west this year?"

Michael spread his hands. "I don't know about that, but it seems like it's never happened since I can remember."

Xia Chen nodded thoughtfully.

The Temple of Awakening is neither small nor large; apart from two statues and an altar, there's not much else there.

After wandering around for a while, Xia Chen and Gu Leton found no valuable information or clues, and were inevitably a little discouraged.

Both the man and the dragon were prepared to leave empty-handed, but Mikoli suddenly made a small discovery.

"Xia Chen, come and look at this."

Mikoli stood by the altar in front of the statue and waved in Xia Chen's direction.

Xia Chen and Gu Leton hurried over.

Mikli pointed to a conspicuous crack on the altar, about the width of a finger, and said, "I'm pretty sure this crack wasn't there when I came here to perform the ritual more than six months ago."

Xia Chen nodded and released his waveguide power to probe inside, discovering that part of the altar was hollow.

Why is it hollow? What's hidden inside?

Setting aside his doubts for the moment, he focused his attention and probed deeper, only to discover a round...bead at the bottom?

Xia Chen was shocked. Judging from the regularity, ordinary stones in nature would not be so regular and round.

So, could this be the indigo or crimson orb that Team Lava and Team Ocean are looking for?

"What's wrong? Did you find anything?"

Seeing Xia Chen's shocked expression, Mikoli quickly asked.

Xia Chen nodded, looking puzzled, and asked, "Do you know what's hidden here?"

Michael shook his head in confusion, his curiosity growing even stronger.

Xia Chen took out a Poké Ball and released Sylveon, saying to her, "Sylveon, there's something hidden at the bottom of this crack. See if you can use the silk to get it out."

"Buyi!"

Xianbu nodded and slipped a piece of silk through the gap.

…………

A short while later.

After fiddling around for a while, Senbu excitedly exclaimed, "Bu-ee! (I found it!)"

Although the silk did not have the ability to detect things like wave guides, the hollow space inside the altar was so small that she quickly found the precious pearl.

Xia Chen's face lit up with joy. "Great! Can we take it out?"

The silk ribbon slowly retracted, growing shorter and shorter. At the last moment, however, Fairy Cloth awkwardly exclaimed, "Coo... (I think I'm stuck...)"

Xia Chen looked down and saw that the crack was much narrower than the pearl wrapped in the fairy cloth, so the fairy cloth could not take it out.

If you want to take it out, you'll probably have to let this crack grow a bit.

Xia Chen glanced silently at Mikoli beside him, the meaning of which was self-evident.

This is, after all, the place where the people of Liuli have guarded and worshipped for generations, so their opinion must be sought before construction begins.

Michael shrugged helplessly. "It's already cracked, so it doesn't matter how big or small the crack is."

Xia Chen patted Mikoli on the shoulder and said gratefully, "I don't know if the Hoenn Alliance will give you an award, but I will definitely make you a banner after this is over."

Michael asked curiously, "A banner? What's that?"

While instructing Guletun to get started, Xia Chen explained simply, "It's a Donghuang specialty. It will probably have a slogan like 'Thank you to the good dojo owner, a new trend of helping others,' which can be hung in a prominent place in your dojo's lobby to commend your noble character."

Mikoli nodded in realization. Although it sounded a bit strange, he trusted the aesthetic sense of the Grand Contest champion and said with great interest, "That's a good idea. There's some empty space next to the painting 'The Birth of Milotic' that our ancestors painted on the wall of the hall. It would be perfect to hang it there."

Xia Chen nodded happily, "Then it's a deal."

As the two chatted, Guleton swiftly swung his claws, cutting the crack to a size just large enough for the pearl to pass through, allowing Xianbu to retrieve it.

Because it was completely wrapped in silk, the color of the pearl was not yet visible, so Xia Chen felt a sense of surprise, like opening a blind box.

Will it be red or blue?

He watched with a mixture of nervousness and curiosity as the silk gradually unfurled.

Suddenly, a faint green light flashed in the darkness.

Xia Chen was slightly taken aback. This was... a grass-green gem?

Chapter 325 How Did I Become the Matchmaker? (6k)

The grass-green gem is what Xia Chen calls it based on the game's conventions; in reality, the gem's color is closer to a darker emerald green.

The shimmering light was subtle and restrained, giving it an air of mystery and extraordinary beauty.

Like its two brothers of different colors, the grass-green orb has a very simple function in the game—to summon Rayquaza.