Chapter 192: Hoopa Is Basically an Anywhere Door?
"They really are golden."
Diantha very gently touched the baby girl’s cheek with her fingertip.
"All right, you win. She really did inherit them from you."
"Of course."
Asher leaned back in his chair, his tone carrying a completely justified sense of pride.
"The genes of the Winter family never disappoint."
Just then—
A golden ring of light suddenly tore open out of thin air in the corner of the hospital room.
The ring completely disregarded every known law of physics as it opened a hole in midair.
A small pink-and-gray figure tumbled out—
And crashed directly onto the hospital floor.
It even bounced once.
Hoopa.
Hoopa scrambled back to its feet at lightning speed.
It swept both little hands through the air, causing another golden ring to appear from nowhere.
A gigantic gift box promptly fell out of it.
"Surprised?!"
Hoopa patted the gift box and gave Diantha a thumbs-up.
Diantha froze for a moment before turning toward Asher.
"Darling, did you call it here?"
"Mm... sort of."
Asher shrugged.
"I only mentioned Elaria to it once. I didn’t expect it to actually come here on its own."
Hoopa floated directly above Elaria.
It rummaged through the gift box, pulled out a tiny little crown, and carefully placed it on the newborn girl’s head.
After finishing that, Hoopa removed one of the golden rings from its own body and gently placed it beside Elaria’s swaddling clothes.
The ring shrank until it was small enough to fit around a baby’s wrist, its metallic surface gleaming softly beneath the sunlight.
"What is this?"
Diantha picked up the golden ring.
It was extraordinarily light.
Despite appearing to be made of metal, it was almost weightless in her hand.
Asher reached out and rubbed Hoopa’s head.
"One of Hoopa’s rings. It’s also one of the cores of its power."
"Whoever possesses this ring can summon Hoopa at any time. No matter where Hoopa happens to be, all they have to do is call for it, and it can immediately come to them."
Diantha blinked.
"So this little one can also travel through space?"
"Exactly."
Asher placed the golden ring back beside Elaria.
"Elaria is still too young right now, but once she grows up, Hoopa will be able to help her go anywhere she wants."
Hoopa proudly puffed out its chest.
"Of course! Hoopa can summon super-amazing Pokémon too~"
[VIP Chat Group]
[Steven]: They’re not even pretending to be subtle this time! Niece Elaria was only just born, and Brother Asher already arranged for Hoopa to personally deliver gifts!
[Bianca]: Come to think of it, if that golden ring Hoopa gave her lets Elaria "summon Hoopa whenever she wants," doesn’t that basically mean she’s had a portable Anywhere Door since she was a baby?
[Lorelei]: Starting the game with a Pokémon capable of warping through space. This child won’t even need to walk to school when she grows up.
[Steven]: She can go anywhere she wants, whenever she wants! If I had a Hoopa too, I could visit at least three extra mining sites every single day!
[Lance]: ...Is mining seriously the only thing on your mind?
The video continued playing.
Time passed.
Elaria had grown from a tiny newborn wrapped in swaddling clothes into a baby capable of sitting up and crawling around.
Her golden eyes remained just as bright as they had been when she was born, while her dark-gray baby hair had also grown considerably thicker.
Ever since Elaria had gotten a little older, Hoopa would occasionally pop out through the golden ring and bring her all kinds of bizarre gifts.
Sometimes it brought specialty Berries from Kanto.
Sometimes seashells from Hoenn.
And on one memorable occasion—
It dragged a live Krabby through the ring.
Diantha immediately disciplined it on the spot.
Today, the gift box Hoopa had brought was twice as large as Elaria herself.
Its wrapping paper was a blinding fluorescent pink.
Elaria lay on her stomach in front of the box and reached out with both tiny hands to grab the ribbon.
She pulled with all her strength—
It didn’t move.
Elaria tilted her head and stared at the ribbon.
Then she turned toward the sofa and stretched one hand out.
Seeing this, Asher got up from the sofa and crouched beside her.
He pinched one end of the ribbon.
Father and daughter pulled together—
And the ribbon came loose.
The lid automatically sprang open.
Curled up inside—
Was a pink Ralts.
Ralts was curled into a tiny ball, its pale-pink body gently rising and falling with each steady breath.
The orange horns on its head gleamed warmly beneath the sunlight.
It opened its eyes.
For nearly three seconds, it simply stared at Elaria, who was peeking over the edge of the box.
Then—
Ralts floated out of the box and landed in front of her.
It reached out with both tiny hands, gently cupped Elaria’s cheeks, and let out a soft cry.
"Ralts~"
With her face held between Ralts’s hands, Elaria blinked her golden eyes.
Then she reached out with one tiny hand and gently touched one of Ralts’s horns.
[VIP Chat Group]
[Dawn]: Wait, wait, wait! Is that a pink Ralts?! Ralts can actually be pink?!
[Bill]: I just searched through every database available to me. There isn’t a single recorded case of a pink Ralts. It’s neither a Shiny Pokémon nor a regional form. It’s simply—
[Bill]: Something no one has ever seen before.
[Siebold]: Hoopa can even find a Ralts this rare? Isn’t that a little ridiculous?
[Professor Sycamore]: Hoopa can warp through space. Theoretically, it could reach virtually anywhere Pokémon exist, including hidden areas that humans have never explored.
[Lt. Surge]: Another alternate-colored one! Again! That golden Gyarados from before was already ridiculous enough, and now we get a pink Ralts?! Is this seriously reasonable?!
[Clemont]: From a genetic perspective, color variations in Pokémon are generally controlled by recessive genes. But a change as extensive as this Ralts’s coloration is unlikely to be a naturally occurring mutation. There’s a high probability that it resulted from artificial intervention.
[Bonnie]: Clemont, say it normally.
[Clemont]: Asher probably secretly fed another Pokémon something weird again.
[Brock]: Classic Asher-style parenting—the daughter hasn’t even learned how to walk yet, but he’s already equipped her with a limited-edition Pokémon.
[Leon]: There’s really nothing surprising about it anymore. Raina had her golden Gyarados, Tiana had an entire Dragon-type team, and Miori got Zekrom. Which one of them didn’t have Asher secretly giving them extra advantages from behind the scenes?
[Raihan]: When you put it like that, there’s a reason he managed to raise so many daughters into Elite Four-level Trainers and Champions. Asher genuinely spares no expense when it comes to them.
The video jumped forward again.
Diantha sat on the sofa holding three scripts.
At least another dozen were piled across the coffee table in front of her.
"Miss Diantha, this is already the fourth batch of scripts we’ve received this week."
Her manager pulled another five scripts from her bag.
"The directors said that although Miss Elaria is still very young, she could begin by playing infant roles. She wouldn’t need any lines. All she would have to do is lie in a cradle and smile."
"Reject them."
Diantha put down her teacup.
"Elaria can’t even speak yet. What could she possibly understand about acting?"
"I don’t care how sincere those directors are, how much money they offer, or what kind of scripts they bring me."
"We’re rejecting all of them."
The manager opened her mouth.
In the end, however, she simply nodded.
"Understood. I’ll respond to them."
After the manager left, Diantha leaned back against the sofa and rubbed her temples.
She had been an actress for many years.
She understood better than almost anyone just how tempting the entertainment industry could be.
If Elaria truly debuted right now, then with the resources available to her, her acting fees would immediately skyrocket to an absurd level.
But Elaria was still far too young.
And considering Asher’s identity—
Even if Elaria eventually decided to become an actress, beginning her career as a child star might not necessarily be the best choice.