Chapter 281: How Garchomp Learned Dragon Dance

The video continued playing.

Hina stood on the shore of Lake Acuity and took a deep breath, preparing herself to jump in.

She had only just stepped forward with her right foot when she suddenly felt something hook onto the back of her collar.

The next second—

An irresistible force pulled upward.

Her entire body was lifted straight off the ground.

"...Huh?"

Hina blankly looked down at her feet dangling in midair.

Her legs instinctively kicked twice as she hung there like a kitten being held by the scruff of its neck.

Surskit reacted immediately.

"Sur-sur!" (How dare you! You dare kidnap Her Highness?! Take this humble Surskit’s Midair Volley—)

"W-Wait!"

Hina hurriedly stopped Surskit.

"This is Aunt Cynthia’s Garchomp. It won’t hurt me."

"Garchomp, did Aunt Cynthia send you to find me?"

Garchomp released a short snort through its nostrils.

That was apparently confirmation enough.

The next second—Garchomp spread its fins and carried Hina to the opposite side of Lake Acuity.

In the clearing there, Cynthia stood with one hand holding down her wide-brimmed sunhat.

In her other hand she was still holding a cup of ice cream.

"Aunt Cynthia?"

Hina waved one little hand while dangling in the air.

"Why are you here?"

Cynthia walked over with her ice cream.

"I should be asking you that."

"You came all the way to Lake Acuity by yourself, and you were about to jump directly into the lake."

"Do your parents know about this?"

Garchomp gently placed Hina down on a rocky platform.

Hina began nervously tapping her index fingers together in front of her chest.

"I-I tried calling Dad..."

"But he didn’t answer."

Cynthia scooped up a spoonful of ice cream and ate it.

"Your dad really has been pretty busy lately."

"But the situation at Lake Acuity is complicated."

"It would be better if you didn’t get involved."

Hina raised the back of her hand, revealing the faint blue mark.

"Aunt Cynthia, Azelf asked me to come."

"The connection between Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie seems to be getting disrupted by some unknown force."

"So Azelf asked me to help find the other two."

"I see."

Cynthia folded one arm beneath the other and thought for a moment.

"But I’ve already investigated underwater."

"There was nothing at the bottom of the lake."

"Milotic is still searching down there right now, and it hasn’t found anything else either."

Hina blinked.

She thought carefully for a while before speaking.

"Aunt Cynthia..."

"Could Uxie be hiding itself?"

Cynthia’s spoon paused halfway toward her ice cream.

"Hiding itself?"

"Mm."

Hina nodded.

"I was thinking..."

"Uxie is the Being of Knowledge, so its senses should be the sharpest of the three lake guardians."

"If some kind of force really is interfering with their connection, then Uxie should have been the first to notice it..."

"And that would also make Uxie the most likely to hide itself first in order to stay safe."

Cynthia rested one hand beneath her chin.

"That theory does make sense."

"But what should we do?"

"If Uxie has completely sealed off its senses, then even with Azelf’s mark on your hand, it might not be able to detect you."

Hina opened her right hand.

A soft emerald-green glow immediately appeared in her palm.

"I... I want to try using the Power of Viridian."

"The Power of Viridian can communicate with Pokémon in the first place."

"If I could spread it across all of Lake Acuity..."

"Maybe it could penetrate Uxie’s barrier and let it sense us."

"But Hina..."

Shaymin poked its head out from atop her hair.

"Shaymin remembers you saying your Power of Viridian can only cover a pretty small area right now."

"Lake Acuity is huge."

"Do you have enough power?"

Hina intertwined her fingers nervously in front of her chest.

"That..."

"That really is a problem..."

Just then—

Quaxwell pushed up its sunglasses and stepped forward.

It didn’t make a sound.

It simply looked at Hina with an extraordinarily deep and serious gaze.

Then it slowly raised its right wing—

And made an unmistakable gesture.

Leave it to me.

Hina blinked.

"Ducky..."

"You have an idea?"

Quaxwell first assumed the opening stance of a moonwalk.

Then it circled both wings through the air at the same time, making an exaggerated "spread outward" motion while letting out a rapid series of cries.

"Quax, quax, quax!"

Cynthia fell silent for a moment.

Then she turned toward Hina.

"Uh..."

"What is it saying?"

"Ah."

Hina translated.

"Ducky says that the Power of Viridian is fundamentally a form of energy that resonates with Pokémon."

"And that resonance can be released and amplified through specific movements."

"I see."

Cynthia nodded thoughtfully.

"Similar to the principle behind Z-Moves."

"Then Garchomp can help too."

Garchomp let out a low roar.

It strode heavily forward and stopped in front of Quaxwell.

The next second—

A duck and a pseudo-Legendary began dancing together on the shore of Lake Acuity.

Quaxwell’s moonwalk flowed as smoothly as running water.

Every step landed perfectly on the rhythm, its white gloves tracing silver arcs through the air.

Garchomp’s dancing was completely different.

Primitive.

Wild.

Every movement carried the crushing presence unique to a Ground-type pseudo-Legendary.

And yet—

When those two completely different styles were placed together, they somehow produced an extraordinarily bizarre sense of harmony.

[VIP Chat Group]

[Aaron]: No, wait. I can accept Quaxwell moonwalking, but why is Cynthia’s Garchomp dancing that smoothly too?! Have I been working so much overtime that I’m starting to hallucinate?

[Diantha]: Garchomp is literally having a dance battle with Quaxwell right now. Cynthia, don’t tell me you actually enrolled Garchomp in dance lessons? Confess immediately! @Cynthia

[Cynthia]: ...I don’t know. It probably taught itself.

[Skyla]: Hahahaha! Did Cynthia pick up bad habits from Asher too? Even her excuses are exactly the same now.

[Lorelei]: Spend enough time under the same roof and people really do become alike.

[Tate]: I just thought of something terrifying. Tiana’s Garchomp knows Dragon Dance... Don’t tell me this is how it learned it.

[Liza]: ...I wanted to argue with you. But after seeing that duck teaching Garchomp how to glide across the ground, I think you might actually be right.

[Elesa]: Ahem. Tiana, come out and explain yourself.

[Tiana]: Hehe~ Yep, that’s exactly how it learned! Though my Garchomp learned it from Dad’s Quaquaval. (￣ω￣)

[Cynthia]: ...

[Lucian]: If that’s the case... I think I finally understand why the Quaxmen manages to spread across the entire world in the future.

[Raihan]: Ah! Praise the Quaxmen! The Quaxmen truly is magnificent!

[Wallace]: Has Raihan’s mental state finally collapsed too?

[Raihan]: Raihan is dead! The one standing before you now is the Quaxmen’s most devoted believer! If even Garchomp can learn Dragon Dance, then why the hell can’t my Duraludon?!