Greatest Pokémon Trainer

Mount Everest, near the World Tree.

He Xiaomai took the Energy Crystal and, after confirming Fang Yuan's identity, fell into silence.

After a long while, she returned the Energy Crystal to Fang Yuan and said,

"Thank you for your kindness, but I still wish to stay here."

Merely relying on the Trilogy Deity Pillar to protect the World Tree, He Xiaomai truly felt uneasy.

After all, the Trilogy Deity Pillar spent most of its time in hibernation to conserve energy.

At the same time, He Xiaomai also believed that her duty as the World Tree Guardian was not yet over.

Although the World Tree had died, as a crystal life form, its remnants were Legendary Level resources.

The remnants left by such an enormous World Tree, those Energy Crystals, even if they were not quite on par with Brilliant God's body fragments, the Brilliant Stones, were not far behind.

Without a doubt, these Energy Crystals were something many would covet.

Therefore, she had to continue her protection, at least for the limited span of her life, she did not wish to see the World Tree's remnants desecrated.

"You..." Fang Yuan found this person to be incredibly obstinate.

Besides the World Tree, don't you have family as well?

Even if they could come to see you, isn't it going to be troublesome?

Fang Yuan sighed; better to take it slow and persuade her gradually. He said, "Would it be possible for us to take a look at the World Tree's remnants?"

"Dream wants me to investigate and clarify how the World Tree in this time-space exhausted its energy."

"Do you have any information on that?"

"This..."

Facing Fang Yuan's question, He Xiaomai hesitated.

Then, she shook her head apologetically and said, "I'm not very clear about it... There wasn't enough time for me to ask too much when it happened."

She fell silent again; although she was the World Tree Guardian, He Xiaomai believed that she was not qualified.

To be precise, at that time, she wasn't officially the World Tree Guardian yet.

Dream, in this time-space, traveled around the world and, while it found many kind-hearted and powerful Trainers, their Waveguide Talent was just too weak.

Although it could grant these people Waveguide Talent, giving power to someone without innate talent, versus someone with talent, yielded completely different results.

This was a matter of growth speed and power limits...

Luckily, in the end, persistence paid off, and Dream found He Xiaomai, who had exceptionally outstanding Waveguide Talent.

Dream thought it over and decided that, rather than immediately looking for a powerful Trainer to become the World Tree Guardian, slowly nurturing a blank slate into a World Tree Guardian seemed like a good idea.

And so, He Xiaomai was chosen by Dream.

Therefore, rather than saying He Xiaomai was the World Tree Guardian, it would be more accurate to say she was a Trainee Guardian.

Since she was in the training phase, most of He Xiaomai's time here was spent practicing the Aura and training Pokémon.

About Dream and the World Tree, she knew very little.

As for why the World Tree had suffered energy exhaustion, she had no clue whatsoever.

She even lacked initiative to understand the true merging of the Secret Location with Earth, information that Fang Yuan had already obtained from Dream long ago.

Dream of this time-space thought He Xiaomai was still too weak, many things were not suitable to tell her, and in the end, Dream simply hadn't had the chance to tell her before it died.

This story teaches us, we should always speak of important matters sooner rather than later...

"Is that so."

Seeing He Xiaomai's demeanor, Fang Yuan knew she was unaware of anything and couldn't help but feel a headache.

"Come with me."

In the end, He Xiaomai said, then turned around to lead the way, which was her way of agreeing to let Fang Yuan and the others approach the World Tree Remnants.

One was a World Tree Guardian from another dimension, and the other was the Hua Nation Champion; they certainly weren't bad people.

...

The location of the World Origin Tree.

What was once a massive structure that reached into the heavens had now become ruins.

The natural green crystals filled with the breath of life had all but dissipated into sand and dust.

The blue Energy Crystals that were within and around the World Tree had completely lost their color and no longer shone.

Although every piece of the scattered Energy Crystals still contained some Waveguide and Light energy inside, they no longer possessed Life Energy.

A living World Tree could manipulate Life Energy, turning these Energy Crystals into Pokémon that could attack and move.

However, a dead World Tree completely lost the opportunity to control these Energy Crystals, and now, they had lost the chance to become living beings, turning into inanimate objects, or in humans' eyes, resources for cultivation, and possibly, they also had properties similar to converting Light energy like the Brilliant Stones.

"Awoooo..."

"Woo."

As they got closer, a Poké Ball on Fang Yuan's waist opened up on its own, and a Pokémon came running out, its deep blue eyes looking around lost and confused.

The Mane Rock Werewolf approached an Energy Crystal that had lost its life, gently rubbed it with the mane on its head, and then showed a sad expression.

"It evolved due to the special astronomical phenomenon caused by the World Tree... It had been practicing inside the World Tree in that space-time continuum and had a close emotional connection with the World Tree," Fang Yuan explained slowly.

Although it wasn't the World Tree from the same space-time continuum, seeing a World Tree in such a state made the Mane Rock Werewolf's mood plummet.

He Xiaomai looked at the Mane Rock Werewolf, utterly silent.

The senior from the future shook her head as well. Back in another space-time continuum, she had been very curious about how this new variety of Mane Rock Werewolf came into being. Through it, she learned many interesting stories between the Mane Rock Werewolf and the World Tree, and now, seeing the Mane Rock Werewolf like this, she also felt disconcerted.

Perhaps though the World Tree and the Mane Rock Werewolf seemed like adversaries on the surface, in reality, their bond was quite strong.

"Bwoo!" Eevee nodded, implying that it's the kind of relationship forged through combat; fighting is intimacy, and scolding is caring.

"Mane Rock Werewolf..." Fang Yuan took a step forward.

"Awooooo!" However, just as Fang Yuan was about to go over and touch the Mane Rock Werewolf to tell it not to be too sad, the Mane Rock Werewolf suddenly let out a loud cry and turned its head to look at Fang Yuan first.

"Woof!" The expression on the Mane Rock Werewolf's face suggested it had made a significant discovery.

"What's wrong?" Fang Yuan was taken aback.

"Woo!"

The Mane Rock Werewolf looked down at the Energy Crystals again, and as its deep blue eyes observed these lifeless Energy Crystals, a subtle trace of black passed through them.

What is this energy...?

"Awooo!"

The Mane Rock Werewolf could be sure that the World Tree from the other space-time continuum definitely didn't contain this kind of special, sinister Black Energy within its body.

"Black Energy??"

Upon hearing the Mane Rock Werewolf's explanation, both Fang Yuan and He Xiaomai were taken aback and also started to examine the Energy Crystals with their Waveguide.

Even Eevee, driven by curiosity, began to observe them with its Waveguide.

However, what they saw was different from what the Mane Rock Werewolf saw; they couldn't find anything.

"Mane Rock Werewolf, are you sure you're not mistaken?"

Fang Yuan took out the Energy Crystal he had brought from another space-time continuum to show He Xiaomai just now, and asked the Mane Rock Werewolf to compare it again.

"Woof!"

After repeatedly comparing many times, the Mane Rock Werewolf was still very certain.

Every single Energy Crystal here contained this strange Black Energy.

They were hidden deeply, residing at the core of the crystals, taking the place of the previous Life Power.

This Black Energy might very well be the culprit that caused the World Tree's energy to be drained!!

Moreover, only those like itself, with a deep connection to the World Tree, were able to see this energy.

Having reached this conclusion, the Mane Rock Werewolf couldn't help but stretch out its paw, ready to gather its Rebound Fist Style, wanting to smash down on the crystal and force out that energy.