Chapter 196: Is Elaria Going to Alola?
"All right! Then Hoopa’s starting~!"
Hoopa chuckled and pulled out its golden ring.
A golden portal unfolded out of thin air in the middle of the living room.
On the other side of the ring wasn’t the ground—
But layer upon layer of clouds stretching endlessly across the sky.
Then, a massive green dragon slowly flew past the portal.
Rayquaza—
The legendary ruler of the skies said to dwell within the ozone layer.
It seemed to sense something.
Rayquaza stopped its flight and slowly lowered its head toward the portal that had suddenly appeared.
Elaria’s eyes immediately lit up.
She jumped to her feet, hurried toward the portal, and reached out, wanting to touch Rayquaza’s scales.
Rayquaza silently regarded the little girl for a moment.
Then—
It brought its enormous head closer to the portal, allowing Elaria to successfully reach out and touch the top of its head.
"HOOPA—!!!"
The moment Diantha recovered from her shock, she grabbed Hoopa and started shaking it violently.
"Close it! Hurry up and close it!"
Hoopa frantically waved its hands and shut the portal.
Only then did peace finally return to the living room.
Elaria turned around and looked at Diantha with the excitement of someone who had just discovered an entirely new continent.
"Mommy, that green dragon was so chubby."
Diantha took a deep breath.
Then she crouched down until she was at eye level with Elaria.
"Elaria, from now on, if there’s a Pokémon you want to see, you need to tell Mommy first."
"You can’t just ask Hoopa to open a portal without permission. Understand?"
Elaria nodded vigorously.
"Elaria understands! But Daddy clearly said last time that when he saw the Green Dragon—"
"Your dad is your dad, and you’re you. Understand?"
After saying that, Diantha turned toward Hoopa.
"And you too. You’re not allowed to randomly connect your portals to strange places anymore. Did you hear me?"
"Heard you!"
Hoopa raised both little hands in surrender.
Then it floated behind Elaria and muttered quietly—
"Next time Hoopa will just make the portal smaller so you can take a little peek."
"HOOPA!!!"
"Hoopa didn’t say anything!"
[VIP Chat Group]
[Steven]: Hahahahahahaha! The Green Dragon! The Green Dragon was actually Rayquaza?! I can’t do this anymore. I feel like I’ve laughed away every bit of good karma I’ve ever accumulated.
[Wallace]: Steven, you’d better pray there aren’t any Draconids in the VIP seats, or you’re probably going to have a problem.
[Leon]: Isn’t the important part that Rayquaza actually brought its head over to her? The ruler of the skies lowered its head for a little girl. Why would it do that?
[Gary]: Her dad.
[Flint]: Concise.
[Raihan]: Straight to the point.
[Steven]: You’ve finally achieved enlightenment. I’m very pleased.
[Lance]: ...Judging from what Elaria said, Asher in this parallel world really has met Rayquaza before.
[Lance]: And considering Rayquaza’s reaction, the two of them probably have a fairly good relationship.
[Steven]: Then all I can say is that Rayquaza understands the bigger picture. Building a good relationship with Brother Asher—that’s what you call a true angel investment.
[Leon]: Okay, but aren’t you praising Asher a little too much? Rayquaza is still one of Hoenn’s ancient legendary Pokémon.
[Steven]: The fact that you can say something like that proves your perspective still isn’t broad enough.
[Steven]: You simply cannot comprehend Brother Asher’s greatness.
[Leon]: ...
The video continued playing.
Asher and Diantha’s bedroom.
Diantha leaned against the headboard, flipping through a fashion magazine.
Asher pushed open the door and walked inside.
He sat down on the edge of the bed, wearing an unusually serious expression.
"Darling, I want to discuss something with you."
Diantha put down the magazine.
"What is it? Why are you being so serious?"
"Elaria is about old enough to start school."
Asher wrapped one arm around Diantha’s waist.
"I’m thinking of sending her to the Pokémon School in Alola for a while."
Diantha blinked.
"Alola? Why Alola?"
"It’s not as if Kalos doesn’t have good schools. And Alola is so far away from Kalos."
"How old is Elaria? You want her going somewhere that far away to attend school all by herself?"
"I just want our daughter to experience school life in Alola for a while."
Asher’s tone remained as calm as ever.
"Education here in Kalos is way too competitive."
"Talent classes, acting lessons, high-society etiquette..."
"Elaria can barely recognize all her numbers yet, and you’ve already arranged this much for her."
"Don’t you think that’s a little excessive?"
"Really?"
Diantha extended one finger and poked Asher in the chest.
"We’ve been married for this long. I can tell whenever you’re hiding something from me."
"You definitely have another reason."
Asher looked into Diantha’s eyes, which practically had Don’t even think about fooling me written across them.
He sighed.
"All right."
"There really is one especially important reason."
"Tell me."
"But I can’t tell you yet."
Diantha took a deep breath.
Then—
She grabbed Asher and pulled his head directly into her chest.
Asher’s face disappeared into her embrace, his muffled voice coming from within.
"Darling, murdering your own husband is illegal."
Diantha deliberately put on a serious expression and whispered beside his ear—
"It’s too late to regret it now."
"I’m an actress. If I put on a performance called ’Husband Tragically Suffocates in Freak Accident,’ nobody will suspect a thing."
Asher immediately wrapped both arms around Diantha’s waist.
"Fine, then suffocate me. But my ghost will haunt you forever~~"
"You’re impossible!"
Diantha burst out laughing and shoved Asher away.
Asher fell back onto the bed.
Looking up at his wife’s exquisite face hovering close above his own, he spoke again.
"Darling, you know something?"
"You’re even prettier when you’re angry than you normally are."
Diantha froze.
The tips of her ears visibly turned red.
"...You only know how to sweet-talk me."
"I’m not. I genuinely mean it."
"Hmph! You’re obviously just changing the subject!"
"Changing the subject and telling the truth aren’t mutually exclusive!"
Asher casually waved a hand.
Diantha stared at him for several seconds.
In the end, she finally relented.
"Fine. I won’t ask."
"But I have one condition—"
"I want a video call with Elaria every single day."
"No problem. Besides, we have Hoopa. Our daughter can come home whenever she wants."
"That’s more like it."
[VIP Chat Group]
[Iris]: Wait, wait, wait! Asher suddenly wants to send Elaria to Alola for school?! Why?!
[Dawn]: Could it have something to do with the Ultra Beasts Miss Lusamine mentioned earlier?
[Bianca]: But Elaria is still so young. Isn’t it too early for her to get involved with things like that?
[Bianca]: Raina and the others at least didn’t start getting caught up in dangerous situations until after they left home on their journeys.
[Mallow]: Either way, this means we finally get to see parallel-world Alola, right?
[Mallow]: I wonder if Elaria will meet me!
[Lana]: I’m curious what I’ll be like in the parallel world too.
[Lillie]: Um... if Elaria is coming to Alola, then I-I’ll do my best to become friends with her...(´•ω•̥`)
[Gladion]: Lillie, you don’t need to be that nervous.
[Gladion]: Judging from the timeline, you should already be older by then. You won’t have any trouble getting along with Elaria.
[Lillie]: Mm. I understand.