Chapter 0720: King AZ and Princess Diancie(Two-in-One)

Lumiose City, Pokémon Café.

Dusk settled in, casting a heavy atmosphere across the shop.

Alcremie, moving awkwardly, brought over a tray and set two cups of coffee on opposite sides of the table. Clutching the tray to her chest, she looked up at Natsume with a pitiful expression.

“It’s really good.” Natsume took a careful sip and smiled. “A big improvement over last time.”

Alcremie let out a breath of relief, still holding the tray, and started shuffling back toward the kitchen, sporting a goofily happy grin. “Alcremie~”

“Is she the head chef here?” Steven lifted his coffee.

“Right now she’s just a pastry chef. I’m planning to train her as the head chef,” Natsume replied, setting his coffee down and folding his hands as he picked up their previous topic. “Tomorrow morning, let’s head for Allearth Forest, Steven.”

Steven nodded gently. “I’ll also need to swing by Devon Corporation first to make sure I’m fully prepared.”

As night fell, the two agreed to meet up in the morning.

Natsume made his way through the gardens, returned to the back room, and started packing.

In Ms. Olympia’s prophetic dream, the ‘god of death,’ Yveltal, had been mentioned explicitly.

The Rainbow Wing, filled with the energy of life, could counteract Yveltal’s oppressive Dark Aura.

Symbols of Dragon type Pulse, like the DNA Splicers, would be affected by Xerneas’s Fairy Aura.

So this time, Natsume only brought the former, leaving the latter at home as an ornament.

Rainbow Wing: (^▽^)

DNA Splicers: o(╥﹏╥)o

“Fingerless gloves, Z-Ring, Repel, Full Restore, journal…”

Natsume checked through his backpack, glanced at the wardrobe, and added a shirt. Suddenly, he paused.

There was a familiar tension and anticipation—like packing early for an adventure.

In the mirror, behind Natsume’s empty shoulders, a grinning Gengar suddenly appeared. “Gengar!”

Natsume smiled softly and zipped up his bag. “You’ll get the luggage tomorrow, all right, Gengar?”

“Gengar~” Gengar patted his own chest, as if to say: “Leave it to me.”

Blastoise hid in the fish tank, limbs tucked fully into his shell, radiating a gloomy “I won’t make it back this time...” aura.

“Sirfetch’d!” Sirfetch’d happily hefted his leek and shield.

No need to stay home training—when there’s a boss battle, there are always other big shots stepping in.

This duck loves going on missions~!

“Victini~” Victini flashed a V-for-victory sign at the mirror, baring his tiny fangs.

I can already see it—Victory Star is shining!

“So here’s the question…”

Natsume paused with the Poké Ball halfway to his trainer’s belt, muttering,

“How can I make sure I meet Diancie?”

Most of the time in the story, it only happened because Ash—the fated one—was there to trigger it.

If I take action ahead of Ash, I might just miss Princess Diancie as well…

Natsume raised an eyebrow.

But it doesn’t matter.

We still have the true main characters for triggering events!

“Hey, Jessie, James, Meowth.”

Natsume first topped up the credit on their disconnected number, wondering why those three were always broke, and then put on a stern face as he said:

“I have a new mission for you!”

……

Kalos Region, Brackish Town.

A picturesque township, famed for its freshwater lake.

In the town center stood an arena; a plaza with fountains, a clock tower, and spired buildings—all brimming with Kalos style.

The trio trudged with heavy steps, shuffling dispiritedly through an alleyway.

“I’m so hungry…” James drooped his shoulders.

“The plan to dig up super evolutionary stones with the Meowth robota—and all our funding along with it—was a total bust, meow…” Meowth sighed.

“No private digging in ancient ruins allowed? What kind of rule is that! We’re Team Rocket!” Jessie complained.

Even though the trio had been promoted to Executives after their Unova journey, able to contact Boss Giovanni directly, they were still struggling just to eat.

The last Executive in such a sorry state—who even lost to new recruits—was none other than Lt. Surge...

“I saw on the news there’s a battle tournament in Brackish Town today, meow,” Meowth said. “It’s our last chance to scrape up some funding, meow.”

Jessie and James sighed. “Guess we've got no other choice…”

Starving, Meowth expertly dove into a trash bin, suddenly stiffened with excitement:

“It’s a can of fish—an unexpired can of fish, meow!”

“One bite per person, no hogging,” Jessie gritted her teeth.

James: “Wobbuffet doesn’t need any—it’s already kind of fat.”

“Wobbuffet... o(╥﹏╥)o”

Beep beep beep.

Jessie: “Huh? Wasn’t the phone out of service for nonpayment?”

James: “It’s a call from the Executive!”

Meowth tapped to answer; a holographic projection flickered to life, and the three straightened up, standing at attention:

“Executive, what can I do for you?”

Natsume looked at their pale, emaciated faces and couldn’t help but twitch at the corners of his mouth:

“I took a cut from your funding before; I've sent part of it back to your accounts... go have a hot meal first.”

Natsume realized he didn’t look like a superior at all, but more like a mom watching over their pocket money!

“Executive…” The trio choked up.

“If you want to repay me, then show some spirit!”

Natsume barked, “I’ll send you a photo of a Pokémon. Your job is to find it and protect it until I arrive. Understood?”

The email opened—a sketched image of Diancie in ancient text, enough to correspond with the real Diancie.

Natsume had zero doubts about their ability to find someone—after all, wherever the twerp went, they could always catch up first!

“Yes!” The trio saluted.

The call ended. Meowth looked at the increased account balance, drooling with delight. “We can have so many cans of fish now, meow~”

“A mutated individual among Carbink?” James mused, stroking his chin. “Named Diancie... seems it can even create diamonds.”

“Diamonds, diamonds!” Jessie’s eyes sparkled.

“Fools, obviously the diamonds go to the Executive,” Meowth said, rubbing his paws together, “but, heh... maybe we can keep just a few for ourselves.”

Jessie and James: “Hehehe~”

“All right, we can get something to eat now~”

Meowth raised his paw, only for the fish can to drop and roll—clattering toward the end of the alley.

“My precious find!!” Meowth yelped.

The can, rolling along, came to a stop at a filthy, mud-caked boot.

The sunlight at the end of the alley was blocked, and a massive shadow fell over the trio’s faces.

They looked up and their expressions changed.

It was a man in a battered winter hat and tattered clothes; unkempt, absurdly tall—nearly three meters—blocking out the alley’s little sunlight. He carried a ragged backpack, and long white hair hung over his brows and down to his waist.

He said nothing, simply staring at the trembling trio.

Gulp... the sound of swallowing was loud in the silence.

After a long moment, the man bent his ragged jeans-clad knees, picked up the can at his toes, and silently turned to leave.

The alley was left in utter silence as that strange oppressive feeling faded away.

“H-how can a human be that tall?” James stammered. “He must be three meters at least!”

“I thought he was going to eat me, meow...” Meowth’s face was frozen.

“Someone that huge, but still a vagrant?” Jessie huffed. “Never mind him. Let’s get to a restaurant and forget him!”

“My precious fish can... (〃ω〃)” Meowth whimpered.

……

On the streets of the small town, the figure of a young man carrying a Pikachu appeared at the far end.

“There’s a battle tournament here today, Ash.” Clemont checked his sightseeing handbook.

Before he finished speaking, Clemont glanced up.

Ash was already squeezing into the crowd, shouting, “Hello, I want to sign up to participate in the competition!”

“Ash is just the same as always,” Serena said with a smile.

“Whenever it comes to battles, he turns into a completely different person.” Clemont sighed.

The battle tournament officially took place at noon.

Ash faced a blonde girl named Astrid in battle.

Surprisingly, Astrid used her partner Absol’s Mega Evolution and succeeded in defeating Ash.

As per the chat group tradition, Clemont uploaded the battle footage to the group files for the big shots to review and comment on.

Blue Oak: “……”

After all his own experiences, Ash still hadn’t improved at all. Blue Oak was honestly surprised.

Natsume said in astonishment, “Ash lost?!”

Serena: “Yes… he lost to Mega Absol.”

Natsume looked up at the sky.

Did I remember wrong?

Shouldn’t Ash be unstoppable at the beginning of the movie… or is this not a movie at all?

Natsume let out a slight breath, about to speak.

Darkrai’s quiet voice drifted over: “Careful what you say.”

Natsume: “……”

The sky was sapphire blue, clouds gleaming white as they floated in the sunlight.

Latias carried Natsume, red wings opening up double air streams, plunging into clouds like diving into cotton before darting out again, giggling: “Isn’t this fun?”

Choked on mist, Natsume coughed. “It’d be even more fun with Light Screen on!”

Elsewhere, Steven stood atop his white Metagross. Flames sprayed from Metagross’s four arms, the wind whipping Steven’s suit.

“How long till we reach our destination, Natsume-sensei?” Steven asked.

Natsume’s hands rested on Latias’s white neck, gazing ahead at the wide river and the verdant shade.

A round patch of earth looked as if struck by a missile, with barren ground and a scrawny, bare trunk out of place amidst the lush surrounding forest.

“Ten minutes,” Natsume replied. “Let’s rest in a nearby small town first, Steven!”

Steven nodded lightly, commanding white Metagross to descend toward the small town below.

Latias followed in kind, and at that moment Natsume’s mobile phone began to vibrate.

A message from Team Rocket.

Natsume paused.

So quickly—they already had news on Princess Diancie?

……

Kalos, Brackish Town.

“I’m so full…”

After their meal, the trio leaned back and rested on lounge chairs under a sun umbrella, holding their bellies.

“Wait, that’s…”

Meowth’s eyes widened as he grabbed Jessie and James by the shoulders. “The twerp is over there!”

On the other side of the street, Ash, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie were sitting together, chatting and laughing.

Jessie lowered her sunglasses, glanced over, and gasped. “It really is them!”

James whispered, “We’ve got an important mission from the Executive. We can’t get tangled up with the twerp and his friends!”

“But… a talking diamond…” Jessie slumped over the table with a groan. “In a world this big, where are we supposed to find one?”

James and Meowth both sighed.

At that moment—

From an alleyway, a pink, round-diamond-crowned Pokémon with an elegant bearing bounded onto the street.

She moved with light, lively steps, the diamond hem of her dress fluttering. With a gentle smile, she passed right in front of the trio.

Trailing behind her were three busy Carbink, scanning the area warily for anything suspicious.

Trio: (⊙ー⊙)

“You don’t have to follow me, I can take care of myself,” Diancie said with a smile.

“Princess, the outside world isn’t as simple as the Land of Ores! There could be thieves, even robbers!” one Carbink said anxiously.

“Thieves? Robbers?” Diancie blinked. “What are those?”

“It’s hard to explain all at once!”

“All right—I’ll figure it out myself!” Diancie giggled.

Happily, Diancie bounced off ahead, passing right by the trio, as the three Carbink followed in a line.

The trio stared after her: (°ー°〃)

“A pink diamond?” The trio said as one. “And it can talk!”

It’s mission time! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻

The trio jumped to their feet, instantly slipping into their old profession and tailing Diancie and her escort.

The restaurant owner ran out, yelling, “Hey, you three guests! You haven’t paid your bill!”

……

A huge, ragged man was sitting on a park bench, swallowing down canned food in big mouthfuls.

A few Fletchling flew close, then quickly scattered in fright.

Decay and ruin radiated from the man—his very scent one of bitter pain.

Anyone who’d wandered a thousand years in guilt and remorse would feel like the walking dead.

Out of the corner of his cloudy eye, the man caught the flutter of a Floette among the flowers. His gaze flickered.

After a while, he lowered his head again, swallowed the last half of the can, and wiped his mouth roughly with his hand.

“For you~”

The man turned.

There, beautiful beyond measure, seemingly eternal, stood a pink diamond.

Diancie wore a sacred smile, offering an Oran Berry.

“You must still be hungry, right?” Diancie said. “Here, take this and go home when you’re done.”

Diancie glanced back at her missing three Carbink and smiled serenely: “Otherwise, someone might come and take you away!”

The man, in his winter cap and long white hair, rested his hands on his knees, those clouded eyes flickering.

He opened his mouth, working to organize the function of forgotten words, and rasped in a voice rough as gunpowder over a battlefield: “I have no… home.”

“How could that be? Whether human or Pokémon, no one should stray too far from home. Otherwise, someone will be sad.” Diancie blinked. “But do you have a friend of your own?”

“Friend…” The man was silent for a long time. Each sentence sounded like it had been worn smooth by the rivers of time. “Once, I… had a friend.”

“Where is he now?”

“Gone… left me.” The man’s breath grew heavy, voice breaking, as if close to tears.

Diancie looked at him curiously. “Are you crying?”

Anyone who had wandered a thousand years would have no tears left to cry.

And yet, in this moment, the man’s numb heart ached, old memories clawing at him with a skeletal grip.

The man stood up.

“…I have to go.”

Diancie’s eyes filled with thought, as if making a decision, and she called out, “You haven’t accepted the berry yet!”

Nearly three meters tall, stooping and ragged, the vagrant turned, meeting the sacred, eternal Diancie’s gaze.

For an instant, her image overlapped with the beloved Floette in his memory.

Tears welled in the man’s eyes. He pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers.

He half-squatted, palm on knee, and—like a king—graciously accepted the princess’s gift.

“…Thank you.”

“My name is Diancie.”

Princess Diancie mustered her resolve, smiling. “I grant you permission to become my friend—what is your name?”

The man forced a smile—the first in centuries, his face stiff and gaunt, giant hands gnarled and rough.

But in front of Diancie, the man uttered a surname revered as wise king by the people, and yet, as a tyrant, still avoided by all.

“…AZ.”