BXBX NOVEL Chapter 1227: Cosmoem and Musharna
Chapter 1227: Cosmoem and Musharna
"I\'m sorry, sweetheart," the grandma said apologetically to the little boy. "Grandma lost the match, so I couldn\'t win the Grass-type Pokémon to bring home."
The boy, however, didn\'t seem upset at all. Instead, he kissed his grandma on the cheek and said sweetly, "Grandma did amazing today. Colt is so proud of you."
It was clear the boy\'s name was Colt.
Hearing Colt\'s words, the grandma was delighted and returned his kiss with a loud smooch. "Mwah~ Our Colt is such a good boy."
At this point, the grandpa chimed in, "If Grandma lost, there\'s still Grandpa. I\'ll definitely win that Grass-type Pokémon and bring it home so Colt can have a new friend."
Colt looked up at his grandpa with admiration. "Thank you, Grandpa! You\'re the best!"
Receiving such praise from his grandson, the grandpa\'s face beamed with pride.
After listening to their conversation, Yuga finally understood why the elderly couple had entered the tournament.
Colt had come with his parents to visit the grandparents at the retirement home and to watch the Grass-type Pokémon Duel Tournament.
However, the boy had taken a liking to the Grass-type Pokémon that was being offered as the champion\'s prize. The doting grandparents, upon realizing this, had immediately signed up for the tournament.
At this moment, the elderly couple noticed Yuga and the others. Ash enthusiastically waved at them, and the grandparents cheerfully waved back. Even Colt, not quite understanding what was going on, started waving his little hand.
After returning home and finishing dinner, Ash and the others gathered again at the gym to exchange training experiences. This time, Yuga didn\'t join them. Instead, he went back to his own home.
Once home, the first thing Yuga did was open the League Trainer Shop\'s official website to check how Protector was sold. Since he had promised Rhydon to help it evolve, he couldn\'t go back on his word.
After opening the website, Yuga typed "Protector" into the search bar. Soon, the page displayed the prices for the Protector.
One look and Yuga realized that this special item could only be purchased with merit points—it couldn\'t be bought with League currency at all. To make matters worse, the price was staggering, costing several thousand merit points, much more than other items.
Luckily, Yuga wasn\'t lacking in merit points, so he placed an order for the Protector right away.
After purchasing the Protector, Yuga headed to the Mine Sub-Ecopark to check on the Beldum. Today was their first day off their medication, and he needed to ensure they were doing well.
After inspecting the Beldum, he found them in perfect condition and then headed to the Shallow Sea Beach Sub-Ecopark. The treatment for Squirtle and Froakie still needed to continue.
Both Squirtle and Froakie were in even better spirits today. Having realized the benefits of the treatment, they were cooperating more actively with Yuga, which made Blastoise very pleased. (It was, once again, a day when Greninja wasn\'t home.)
While waiting for Froakie and Squirtle to soak in their medicinal bath, Yuga noticed out of the corner of his eye a Feebas with a dazed expression watching him from the shore. Yuga immediately recognized it as the one he had brought back from Crobat\'s old home.
The reason Yuga could recognize this particular Feebas was because its expression was even more vacant than that of a typical Feebas.
After eating Beautie Pokéblocks for some time, its expression hadn\'t changed much, but its scales had become much more refined. Though still a dull gray, they now had a sheen, like a highlighted version of dull gray.
Yuga walked over to the lakeshore, looked at the Feebas, and asked, "What are you doing here?"
He didn\'t expect an answer, as this dazed Feebas had never taken the initiative to communicate with him since being captured.
But this time, to his surprise, the Feebas clearly expressed its intention. Though it was a bit slow to respond, it conveyed its desire plainly: it wanted Yuga to find it a Trainer.
Yuga was astonished. This was the first time he had encountered a Pokémon that actively requested help finding a Trainer. How unique!
"Can I ask why?" Yuga asked curiously. The Pokémon in the Ecopark was provided with excellent food and accommodations. Was this kind of life not appealing? Could this Feebas be a free spirit who loved adventure?
After the Feebas explained in its slow, deliberate manner, Yuga finally understood. This Feebas wasn\'t very good at socializing and had trouble fitting in.
In the central lake on Island No. 1, where it lived, there were other Feebas. Usually, the couple of Milotic and Gyarados managed the group, but this Feebas, being overly dazed and not very communicative, struggled to integrate with the others.
When it lived alone before, it hadn\'t minded. But now, seeing other Feebas moving in groups while it remained alone, the Feebas felt lonely.
Later, it overheard from other Feebas that they could have Trainers. So it thought, since it couldn\'t fit in with the other Feebas, why not try to find a Trainer instead?
After hearing its reasoning, Yuga thought to himself: Who says it\'s just dazed? It\'s pretty smart—just a bit slow to react.
"You really want a Trainer?" Yuga asked again for confirmation.
Feebas hesitated for a moment before nodding.
Yuga felt a bit troubled as he looked at it. Although it hadn\'t evolved yet, it was no longer a juvenile Pokémon, so selling it wasn\'t an option.
After thinking for a while, Yuga decided to help Feebas find a Trainer through an exchange. This way, not only could he fulfill Feebas\'s wish, but he could also gain another Pokémon in return.
However, he needed to carefully select the exchange partner to ensure Feebas wasn\'t shortchanged.
With his plan in mind, Yuga said to Feebas, "Got it. Be patient, and I\'ll find you a suitable Trainer."
Feebas blew a bubble, flipped over, and dove back into the water.
As it flipped, Yuga noticed a prism scale on its belly.
Is it about to evolve?
Yuga was a bit surprised.
When Feebas consumes Beautie Pokéblocks, a prism scale appears on its body as it prepares to evolve into Milotic. Once fully evolved, this prism scale becomes Milotic\'s scale, akin to the inverse scale found on Dragon-type Pokémon.
Even after a Milotic passes away, its prism scale remains and can be used as an item to help other Feebas evolve into Milotic.
After Froakie and Squirtle finished their medicinal bath, Yuga gave them a few instructions and then left the Shallow Sea Beach Sub-Ecopark.
As he passed through the main Ecopark, the system suddenly spoke.
After listening to what it had to say, Yuga made his way to the climate tree in the main Ecopark. Rubbing his hands together, he climbed up the tree.
When he reached the top of the canopy, he noticed a tree hollow on one of the branches. Inside, a pink Pokémon was peacefully sleeping. It was the Munna Yuga had won during a bet at the Rustboro City battle arena.
The reason the system had urged Yuga to win this Munna back then was because its evolved form, Musharna, possessed the ability to materialize the dreams it consumed. The special energy known as Dream Mist that it produced was an excellent resource for nurturing Cosmoem.
However, since bringing the Munna back, Yuga had left it in the tree hollow without much intervention—not out of neglect, but because he simply didn\'t know how to care for it.
Although the Munna had blue potential, it remained in a constant state of sleep, feeding only on the dreams of other Pokémon in the Ecopark. Yuga was clueless about how to raise it properly.
Initially, Yuga had considered using a Moon Stone to evolve it immediately, but the system had stopped him.
At the time, the system explained that the Munna was still too weak. Even if it evolved, it wouldn\'t be able to materialize dreams or produce Dream Mist. Dream Mist was a powerful and unique force born from dreams, and a weak Musharna wouldn\'t be able to control it. The Munna needed to grow stronger first, so Yuga had to wait.
And wait he did—so long that he had almost forgotten the Munna\'s existence.
Just now, the system informed him that the Munna, having consumed a significant amount of dreams, had finally reached the point where it could evolve. That was why the system called him over.
Looking at the Munna, which was sleeping so peacefully, Yuga gently poked its cheek with his finger. It remained fast asleep, showing no sign of waking.
How cute, Yuga thought.
"Can I evolve it directly using the Moon Stone?" Yuga asked the system.
"Yes," the system replied concisely.
Upon hearing this, Yuga immediately retrieved a Moon Stone from the system\'s inventory and placed it on Munna\'s belly.
As soon as Munna touched the Moon Stone, it began to glow with the light of evolution and floated out of the tree hollow.
When the glow subsided, a new Pokémon hovered before Yuga, much larger than the original Munna.
...
[ Musharna ]
Type: Psychic
Ability: Forewarn
Gender: Female
Potential: Blue
Level: 61
Moves: Psywave, Lucky Chant, Yawn, Synchronoise, Nightmare, Calm Mind, Psychic, Dream Eater, Telekinesis, Psyshock, Safeguard, Shadow Ball, Role Play, Rest, Sleep Talk, Psychic Terrain, Hypnosis.
...
Having consumed a vast amount of dreams, this Musharna had unknowingly become a pseudo-Elite level Pokémon. No wonder the system said it could evolve now.
As the Pokémon floated in front of him, Yuga once again poked its cheek with his finger. This time, Musharna wrapped one of its ribbon-like appendages around his finger.
Noticing Musharna\'s tightly closed eyes, Yuga exclaimed in surprise, "Could it be awake?"
He reached out again, this time aiming to poke its belly. Musharna, however, deftly dodged left and right, refusing to let him touch it.
Through the system\'s explanation, Yuga learned that Musharna was in a state that could be described as both awake and asleep. Its actual state was indeed one of sleep, but it could still perceive its surroundings and understand what was happening nearby.
The ribbon-like appendage on its head serves as the link through which it perceives the outside world while dreaming.
"How fascinating..." Yuga murmured to himself, then turned to ask the system, "So how do I collect dream mist to nurture Cosmoem? And what does dream mist even look like?"
He looked around but couldn\'t spot any sign of dream mist.
"Dream mist hasn\'t been produced yet..." the system replied bluntly.
Yuga: ...
The system explained that Yuga lacked the capability to create tools to collect dream mist, so the simplest solution was to let Cosmoem spend more time with Musharna. Once Cosmoem encountered dream mist, it would instinctively consume it.
Dream mist originates from dreams materialized by Musharna. Without consuming dreams, no mist would be produced.
Acknowledging this, Yuga called out Cosmoem and introduced it: "Cosmoem, this is Musharna. You\'ll be spending time together from now on, so get along well."
After all, Musharna was about to become its key to sustenance.
"Cosmoem~" Cosmoem chirped curiously, gazing at Musharna floating in midair. Musharna gently descended and patted Cosmoem\'s head with its ribbon-like appendage. Before long, the two Pokémon were playing together harmoniously.
Seeing them get along, Yuga said to Cosmoem, "Make sure to treat your new friend well. I\'ll leave you two to it."
Before departing, Yuga offered Musharna a Pokeblock, asking if it wanted to eat. Musharna declined decisively—it only consumed dreams.
Yuga thought to himself, This Pokémon sure is cost-effective to raise.
In reality, nurturing a Musharna was no easy task. High-quality dreams are quite rare. Without the large variety of Pokémon living in the Ecopark, generating plenty of dreams daily, Musharna\'s growth wouldn\'t have been so smooth.
When Yuga returned to the gym, everyone had already left, except for Ryo, whose room was still lit. Seeing Ryo still organizing his notes late into the night, Yuga said, "Ryo, you should head to bed soon. You have a match tomorrow."
Turning to see Yuga standing at the doorway, Ryo smiled and replied, "Got it, Gym Leader. I\'ll sleep after finishing this part."
"Alright then, goodnight."
"Goodnight, Gym Leader."
The next morning, when Yuga left the house, Ayaka had already arrived at the shop. Yuga reminded her, "Ayaka, I ordered something online. If a delivery arrives in the next couple of days, please sign for it."
"Understood, boss!" Ayaka replied cheerfully.
At 7:30 AM, the second round of the preliminaries officially began. Like yesterday\'s first round, today\'s match featured 50 contestants battling in 25 matches, split into a morning and afternoon session.
With the tournament progressing into the second round, the competitors\' skill levels had increased, and the matches became even more intense.
The first match of the day featured an elderly man facing off against a teenage boy.
The old man\'s Pokémon were Breloom and Exeggutor, while the boy\'s were Victreebel and Tangrowth.
The elderly man and his wife had been full-time Trainers in their youth, specializing in Grass-types. Although they lacked exceptional talent, they had accumulated substantial experience over the years.
Their advanced age worked in their favor, as Grass-type Pokémon are often long-lived, and most of their retired Pokémon were still in peak condition. This was why the couple dared to enter the competition.
In comparison, the boy had slightly better natural talent but was still inexperienced in commanding his Pokémon. His Victreebel and Tangrowth quickly fell into a disadvantage.
During the match, the old man glanced at the audience and saw his wife, son, daughter-in-law, and grandson cheering him on. Feeling a surge of pride and courage, he seemed to regain the vigor of his youth and swiftly defeated his opponent.
...
Earlier, a reader had asked me what happened to Munna, so I decided to include it in this Chapter (Munna\'s origin story was in Chapter 999: gambling challenge). Honestly, without the reader\'s reminder, I would have completely forgotten about Munna\'s existence.