After testing, Jirachi's recent absorption had consumed only 1% of the Meteorite's energy.
John performed quick calculations.
One percent sustained four days, meaning a complete Meteorite could last 400 days.
More than a year.
"Is two years enough time to develop cosmic energy separation equipment?" John asked Emerald.
"All I can promise is our best effort," Emerald replied with a helpless shrug.
"Please do," John nodded slightly.
At minimum, they'd extended Jirachi's "lifespan" by over two years. Even if they couldn't locate more Meteorites by then, John should be considerably stronger. Obtaining another Meteorite from Deoxys shouldn't prove too difficult.
Waving farewell, John returned to his manor via Gardevoir's Teleport.
Deoxys needed to remain at the laboratory temporarily, its research value extended far beyond cosmic energy applications.
Emerald and Saul were particularly interested in Deoxys's regeneration capabilities.
If humans could master such terrifying self-healing abilities, it would benefit not only people but Pokemon as well. At minimum, disability would become obsolete, and procedures like organ transplants would become much more affordable.
After returning home, John took a thorough bath to relieve several days of accumulated stress, drank a glass of milk, then fell into peaceful sleep.
John had been working intensively due to the Jirachi crisis.
Now that he could finally rest, he slept until the following evening, awakening as sunset painted the sky from his balcony view.
"What a fantastic nap," John stretched comfortably and headed downstairs.
Hariyama should already be preparing dinner by now.
Downstairs, he found Gardevoir and Emerald sharing a meal. Tonight's dinner was burgers and fries.
"You finally woke up. I thought I'd need to reschedule your flight," Emerald said with amusement.
"What flight?"
"Your trip to Sky Island? Are you still half-asleep?"
"Oh! Right!" John suddenly remembered the World Pokemon Tournament's official invitation to Sky Island, where he'd accept challenges from other trainers to determine his position among the Master Eight.
He'd been so focused on Jirachi's situation that he'd completely forgotten.
"When do we depart?"
"Flight at 10:30 PM."
"What time is it now?"
Emerald glanced at her watch. "9:12. One hour eighteen minutes until takeoff. We could still make it if we left now."
"One hour eighteen minutes? Let's reschedule for tomorrow then." John accepted noodle soup from Hariyama and sat beside Emerald, eating eagerly.
"You don't want to go tonight?" Emerald asked.
"Are there matches scheduled for tomorrow?"
"Not necessarily. World Pokemon Tournament officials will arrange competitions after your arrival."
"Then tomorrow it is." John didn't mind the delay and called to Hariyama, "Please bring me some french fries."
Hariyama, still cooking in the kitchen, used Fling without looking back. Enhanced by aura power, the french fries landed in John's palm like guided missiles.
"Want some?"
"No thanks."
"Burgers without fries reduces the meal by half," John shook his head regretfully.
"Fine, I'll change the itinerary." Emerald set down her burger and went to make phone calls.
Flights to Sky Island were extremely exclusive. Only Elite-level trainers or World Pokemon Tournament top-100 ranked competitors could board, making reservations quite complicated.
After dinner, John brought tea to the game room.
The little ones still occupied their usual spots.
"Wob-buf-fet! (I lost again~!)" Wobbuffet held its head dramatically.
"Mew mew! (Hurry up, it's my turn~!)"
"Toge-toge-pi! (Great, I can keep playing!)" Togepi cheered triumphantly.
Wobbuffet and Delibird served as left and right guardians while Togepi sat between them. Mew and Jirachi floated overhead, staring at screens with complete absorption. They didn't even notice John entering the room.
Watching the little ones play together, John felt genuinely healed from recent stress.
Finding a beanbag chair, John settled down with his Gameboy. They could play their games while he played his.
On the Gameboy, his character remained in the Sevii Islands region.
John planned to explore south of the Sevii Islands.
Specifically, continuing south from Birth Island where he'd found Deoxys.
If memory served, the Orange Islands lay further south of the Sevii Islands.
Currently, his goal involved defeating champions from ten regions to qualify for the Pokemon Championship Tournament. He wondered whether the Orange League championship counted toward that total.
He flew to Seven Island at the Sevii Islands' southernmost point, then began surfing from the beach with Max Repel activated to avoid wild Pokemon encounters.
Heading straight south, he passed Birth Island. The sky appeared empty, the dungeon had vanished upon Deoxys's capture.
Continuing southward...
Unlike the "Darkness Comes" dungeon containing Dark Mewtwo in the Ferrum region, here another dungeon appeared: "Mewtwo's Counterattack."
Since this represented a real Pokemon world, there shouldn't be map boundaries.
In his previous life's games, map edges would appear at this point. But based on his earlier cruise ship journey to the Johto region, John believed a truly Pokemon world existed within his Gameboy.
After controlling his character to walk south for several minutes, John discovered a large island.
"Have I reached the Orange Islands?"
John maneuvered his character around the island, quickly locating a landing spot.
"So this is New Island?" John recalled the island where Mewtwo was created, the same place where it cloned Pokemon, destroyed countless trainers, and served as the main battlefield for the "Mewtwo's Counterattack" movie.
"So if I'm strong enough, I could actually own two Mewtwo?"
Just as he approached the shore, a prompt suddenly appeared.
[Yes/No to enter dungeon "Mewtwo's Counterattack" (disappears after first completion)]
[Dungeon recommended entry level: 100]
"Wait! Mewtwo's Counterattack!" John's eyes widened upon seeing the notification.
Mewtwo's Counterattack, he remembered this was the title of the Mewtwo movie and the first film in the Pokemon series.