Chapter 213:
The second round of the competition commenced as scheduled.
As the winning contestants' numbers from the previous round were close, the matchups for this round still followed the same rule: the victorious number one would face number three.
This immediately sent the contestants surrounding number sixty-six into a panic.
One contestant, number sixty-three, began calculating meticulously, wondering if he would end up facing number sixty-six. After running the numbers, a smile spread across his face.
Heh, number sixty-three won't. It'll be number sixty-seven who has to face him~
He was quite pleased with his calculation.
However, when contestant number sixty-seven finished his own calculations, his face fell.
Ruined, it's all ruined... How am I supposed to fight this match?...
Hayashi Kaede, at that moment, was unaware that two contestants were meticulously "calculating" their chances for the next round.
He was busy playing with Jirachi.
The competition would only last two and a half days. Once it was over, Jirachi would still have four and a half days left. Regardless of the outcome, he was determined to let it properly experience those remaining four days.
"Jirachi,"
Hayashi Kaede secretly gestured toward Jirachi. Seeing this, Jirachi immediately wriggled out of Takagi Megumi's embrace.
The girl was focused on watching the match and didn't even notice Jirachi was gone.
"Jirachi?" (What is it?)
After glancing around, Hayashi Kaede motioned for it to come closer. He leaned in until he was right next to Jirachi's ear, then used his psychic abilities to create a subtle barrier around them, minimizing the sound as much as possible, before whispering:
"Jirachi, do you have any wishes you want to come true?"
Jirachi was taken aback. It had never really considered that before.
As the Wish Maker, it was always the one granting wishes for others; it had never thought about having wishes of its own.
It touched its cheek with a small hand, a thoughtful expression on its face. "Jirachi? (I want to eat delicious food, play fun games, I wish time would pass a little slower... and... and I wish it wouldn't be so sad every time we have to part.)"
After finishing its thoughts, a cheerful, smiling expression returned to its face.
"Is that all? Nothing like... wanting to be awake for longer?"
"That's very difficult..." Jirachi landed on Hayashi Kaede's shoulder. "You know, since I woke up, I can feel time passing every day. It's like flowing water, it just slips away so quickly. So time really is fast."
"And even if I went to great lengths to extend my awake time, in the end, we'd still have to say goodbye."
"Back when I was with Akaze, his Butterfree colony fought a battle with a Beedrill colony. The reason was that the leader's Butterfree seemed to be getting very old."
"Akaze asked me to help extend the Butterfree's lifespan. I helped him, and they won that battle... but I slept for a very long time. I didn't wake up until the morning of the sixth day. So, I didn't see the outcome of that battle. I only knew that finally, on that day, the Caterpie in the colony had a lot more of their favorite leaves to eat."
Jirachi counted on its fingers.
Even though it happened over a thousand years ago, it recalled it very clearly, as if it had happened just yesterday.
"Akaze was very worried that day. He asked me why I slept for so long. I told him about my wish-granting ability."
"Akaze was silent for a long, long time... and then he said the same thing you and Megumi did: that I shouldn't make wishes for him anymore..."
"But... on the evening of the sixth day, the Beedrill colony brought another monster with them. This monster didn't look very big, and it had cannons on its body, but it was so powerful! It could blast huge holes with just one shot."
"It was so, so fast. My Psychic couldn't even catch it. It fired a shot toward where the Caterpie were, and so many of them died..."
When it reached this point, Jirachi's expression visibly darkened.
"Then what? Did you make another wish?" Hayashi Kaede asked.
The story was simple. The predicament back then, the Pokémon that arrived – it was clearly a very powerful Pokémon. If even Jirachi's Psychic couldn't restrain it, then this Pokémon was likely a legendary or mythical type itself. It is a very fast and formidable Pokémon.
Latias or Latios fit that description, but both are typically benevolent and wouldn't usually do such things. Plus, it was described as not very big and having cannons.
The identity of this Pokémon was actually quite easy to guess.
It was Genesect.
The only Bug-type Pokémon that can be considered a Legendary. Only it would warrant such an evaluation from Jirachi.
What was slightly strange was why a small Beedrill colony would attract such a Pokémon. But that was a thousand years ago; there was no point in investigating now.
"Mmm-hmm..." Jirachi nodded, its expression full of grievance. "Even though Akaze told me not to make wishes... but... if I didn't make a wish, everyone would have died."
"Was it a wish you made on your own initiative?" Hayashi Kaede asked a somewhat peculiar question.
Jirachi shook its head. "My ability works best only when I'm helping you make a wish."
"...I ran up to someone else and asked him, 'Do you want to resolve this crisis?' He said, 'Yes, I wish someone, anyone, would come and drive away this monster.'..."
"I made the wish, looking around expectantly."
"That night, it was as if the sky was torn open. There was a flash of lightning, so bright, and a huge, very long monster flew down from the sky. It was so amazing! It just looked at the cannon-bearing monster, and scared it away..."
"It was in the clouds, one moment you could see it, the next you couldn't..."
"And then... and then I fell asleep."
Jirachi became animated talking about that day. It was the first time it had seen such a big, long Pokémon. That gaze was like a light of hope.
Unfortunately, it only caught a glimpse before falling unconscious.
"By the time I woke up again, it was already the final moments of the seventh day. I asked Akaze what happened. He said everything was fine, it had been driven away, and the people from the Beedrill colony wouldn't dare bring anyone again."
"He said I was like a star, bringing hope to everyone who saw me."
"I was so happy then."
"But... I was so sleepy. Really, really sleepy. I had just woken up, but I was already getting drowsy, and I fell asleep before I could even say goodbye to Akaze..."