Speaking of why Pidove was being hunted...
That day, exhausted from traveling and desperately hungry, it spotted a tree laden with berries and flew over to eat without hesitation.
To its surprise, the tree had an owner — a Spearow suddenly appeared and accused it of theft.
Pidove apologized and offered to find replacement berries, but the Spearow wasn't interested in compensation — it wanted to eat Pidove instead.
After all, Spearow and Fearow are known to prey on smaller bird Pokémon.
Of course Pidove wouldn't agree to that! Instead, it taught that bully a lesson.
Despite its big talk, the Spearow turned out to be all bark and no bite — two hits left it battered and featherless.
But then came an unexpected twist: after a series of loud squawks, dozens of Spearow burst from the nearby forest in hot pursuit.
Pidove had no choice but to flee.
The Spearow were relentless — unable to catch their target, they chased it from forest to forest until Pidove lost track of how far it had flown.
But Pidove wasn't helpless. During its escape, it found chances to fight back, using Sucker Punch to take down several pursuers.
Hmph! That's what you get for threatening to eat me!
The deaths of their companions only made the remaining Spearow more frenzied. They attacked with everything they had — Fury Attack, Aerial Ace, Wing Attack, Tackle — the whole arsenal.
But one thing was clear: they simply couldn't land a hit.
The extended chase had honed Pidove's flying abilities to perfection, maximizing its evasion skills. Its keen instincts also allowed it to sense approaching danger just in time.
Whenever it made a mistake, fortune seemed to smile upon it, turning dangerous situations into safe ones.
Additionally, it knew Lucky Chant — a move that doubled its luck while fleeing.
With these advantages combined, Pidove managed to overcome every obstacle in its path.
Yet it wasn't invincible — even the luckiest creatures stumble sometimes. The Spearow's fierce attacks occasionally left Pidove badly wounded.
In those moments, the stone on its back would manifest mysterious powers, healing its injuries instantly. After so many miraculous recoveries, Pidove grew deeply attached to the stone.
Eventually, a new forest appeared ahead, unusually silent and still.
Pidove glanced back at its relentless pursuers before diving into the thick foliage.
The Spearow, fixated on their target, plunged into the forest without hesitation.
As it flew, Pidove heard sounds of battle nearby. Hoping to finally shake off the persistent Spearow, it headed toward the commotion.
The forest opened into a clearing ringed by Phantump and Trevenant.
At its center, a Gardevoir dueled an enormous Trevenant while the ghost Pokémon watched in reverent silence. Feeling like an intruder, Pidove quietly landed on a tree.
"Trev~"
The tree suddenly shook and let out a dissatisfied grunt. Looking down, Pidove realized it hadn't landed on a tree at all, but rather a Trevenant that closely resembled one.
Startled, Pidove quickly flew up and found another tree to perch on.
"Talon~Talon~" — Hey, new face, where you from?
A voice spoke beside it. Pidove turned to see a massive, brightly colored bird Pokémon resting on a nearby branch.
"Coo... c-coo..." — H-hello.
The powerful presence of the nearby Pokémon made Pidove stammer.
The giant bird didn't pursue the conversation, instead turning back to observe the battle in the clearing.
Pidove sighed with relief and settled down to watch the duel as well.
The giant bird was none other than Captain Talonflame, and the duelists in the clearing were Daisy and the Chief Trevenant.
Through her recent analysis of the diamond and pool water's special energy, Daisy had noticed subtle changes in herself, gaining improved control over Fairy-type energy.
In today's duel with the Chief Trevenant, she opted for the Fairy-type Dazzling Gleam instead of her usual Fire-type Mystical Fire.
Daisy extended her arms, her palms radiating rainbow light. With a graceful flick of her right hand, the rainbow orb transformed into meteors that streaked toward her opponent.
The Chief Trevenant deflected the Dazzling Gleam meteors with Shadow Claw, but another meteor followed immediately.
Bang!
The rainbow meteor struck its head, forcing it to tilt sideways.
At this point, Trevenant began to use its old trick again, planning to use Pain Split against Daisy. But having suffered from Pain Split many times before, how could she be unprepared?
These past few days, she had been pondering how to guard against Trevenant's Pain Split and Destiny Bond.
As the battles with Trevenant increased, Daisy gradually discovered a secret: when Trevenant uses Pain Split and Destiny Bond, its opponent must be in its line of sight and able to be locked onto.
If Trevenant couldn't lock onto its opponent, Pain Split and Destiny Bond would fail.
The moment black light flickered in the Chief Trevenant's eyes, Daisy's form flickered, and suddenly nearly thirty Gardevoirs appeared crisscrossing the clearing.
She was improving too — as she mastered Double Team better, the number of illusions she could create kept increasing. But that wasn't the key point — the key was that in front of each Daisy stood a shadowy mirror.
These mirrors couldn't clearly reflect images, but the prismatic protrusions on their surfaces made countless palm-sized Gardevoirs spin rapidly.
Because of these mirrors blocking the way, Trevenant could not lock onto Daisy no matter what, and the illusions on the mirrors even made it dizzy.
These mirrors were formed by combining Light Screen and Reflect. Daisy had practiced many times in private, experimenting repeatedly until she finally managed to combine these two defensive moves into their current form.
The Chief Trevenant was shocked when Pain Split failed. It raised its huge hands and used Thrash to sweep outward, trying to clear away Daisy's illusions, but they were all blocked by the mirrors in front of them.
Though the form had changed, Reflect was still Reflect.
Purple light flickered rapidly in all the Gardevoirs' eyes as the mirrors' thickness began to stack.
At this moment, a prismatic orb of light appeared in each Daisy's palm. The radiance from these orbs bounced off the mirrors' surfaces until the Chief Trevenant became cross-eyed.
Just as Daisy was about to claim victory over Trevenant, a flock of chattering Spearow suddenly appeared in the sky above them.
These Spearow, having searched the entire forest without finding Pidove, had finally ventured into this area.
Though they had heard the earlier commotion, they had been too cautious to investigate immediately. Now that they had come, they found themselves in serious trouble!
Just when she had finally found her chance to defeat Trevenant, to be interrupted by these intruders — Daisy's eyes suddenly blazed with "Grudge".
In that moment, all the Spearow felt as if they were being targeted by some terrifying ancient creature.
The illusions and mirrors Daisy had created slowly faded away as she looked up at the Spearow. In an instant, all the Spearow were frozen in midair by Psychic Power, unable to move.
"Caw caw caw~"
"CAW CAW CAW!!!"
"Caw caw caw???"
...
The Spearow cried out in panic.
With a slight flicker of Daisy's eyes, all the Spearow dropped to the ground like dumplings thrown into water.
"Someone come and throw them all out!"
With a wave of her hand, countless Phantump swarmed forward, each grabbing a Spearow by the foot and carrying them away to toss them outside the forest.
In this forest, Daisy was now like a master in her own home, with all the Phantump eager to follow her commands.
Watching this display of divine might, Pidove's eyes turned to stars!
"Goddess! Goddess! This is my Goddess!"
After dealing with the Spearow, Daisy turned back to face the Chief Trevenant, eager to continue their battle — surely today she would win at least once.
However, Trevenant shook its head, "Let's stop here for today. If we keep going, I'm going to lose. How can I maintain face in front of so many subordinates?"
After refusing her, the Chief Trevenant quickly fled, leaving Daisy stomping her feet in frustration.
With no other choice, she went to soak in a pool deep in the forest while continuing to analyze and simulate the special energy within the diamond she held.
"Coo coo coo..." — "Goddess, Goddess!"
At this moment, Pidove flew over and landed on a rock beside her.
"Who are you? How did you get in here?" Daisy opened her eyes in surprise.
This pool was deep in the forest, usually closely guarded by Phantump and Trevenant — outside Pokémon shouldn't be able to get in.
Pidove was confused by the question. How did it get in? It just flew in!
In truth, it had managed to enter thanks to its incredible luck, plus being a Normal-type Pokémon meant Ghost-types didn't notice it easily. It had simply stumbled in by accident.
But that wasn't important.
Pidove looked at Daisy with admiration, "Goddess, can I be your follower?"
Daisy looked at it in surprise, "My follower? Why?"
"Because you're amazing, of course! The way you defeated those Spearow with one move just now was so cool!" Pidove gestured dramatically, imitating her earlier impressive moves.
Daisy was amused by its silly antics, while also noticing the stone on its back.
"Why are you carrying a stone on your back?"
When the goddess asked, Pidove eagerly removed the stone and began explaining its amazing properties.
Daisy looked at the black stone with a puzzled expression — she seemed to sense a faint psychic wave emanating from it.
"Goddess, goddess, won't you take me as your follower? Just give me food and I'll serve you faithfully!" Pidove continued promoting itself.
Having struggled alone in the forest for so long, it was desperately seeking a strong and reliable patron.
Daisy was about to refuse Pidove when suddenly, laughter echoed in her mind.
"Hee hee hee~~ Hee hee hee~~~ Accept it~ Accept it~ Please accept it~ I will repay you~"
Is this stone talking to me? Daisy stared at the stone wide-eyed, but Pidove seemed completely unaware.
Can only I hear it?
"Accept it~ Please accept it~ I will repay you~ I can help you become stronger~"
The voice continued echoing in her mind, so Daisy looked at the stone and asked, "Can you really help me become stronger?"
"What? What about becoming stronger?"
Pidove: (´⊙ω⊙`) ?
It thought the goddess was talking to it and was confused — did the goddess need its help to become stronger?
"Really, I can~"
The voice in Daisy's mind answered.
"Alright then, I accept."
Pidove was even more confused by what she was saying, but then the goddess turned to it.
"From today on, you're my follower!"
Pidove's face lit up with wild joy, as if struck by a pie from heaven.
"Really? Really? Really?"
Daisy replied, "Of course, why would I lie to you?"
Meanwhile, she thought to herself: Could this Pidove be the protagonist from that TV show I used to watch? Is the black stone its resident grandfather figure?
Never mind, maybe it's my resident grandfather figure instead! Daisy thought again — after all, the black stone was now promising to help her!
✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲
Over at Mt. Ascendant, Cole had been working all morning until his back ached so much he could barely stand straight.
He worried to himself, 'If I keep working this hard every day, I might end up stunted.'
Just then, Buneary arrived to call him home for lunch, forcing him to set aside his worries.
Once again, Daisy wasn't home for lunch. Buneary mentioned she had taken her energy blocks with her when she left that morning.
Cole was slowly getting used to this — though having a mother who rarely came home was quite troublesome!
As everyone prepared to eat lunch, Buneary asked with confusion:
"Bune~ Bune? Bune?" — "Where's Heliolisk? How could such a big gecko disappear?"
Cole looked around and confirmed Heliolisk was indeed missing.
Yeah, where was the gecko?
Buneary hopped outside to search for Heliolisk but couldn't find any trace of it.
✲✲✲
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