Daigo ultimately received the pink diamond gift of gratitude from Diancie.

Lu Ye glanced at Daigo's palm.

"Not showing," Daigo closed his palm and said with a smile.

"Hmph, your diamond isn't as big as mine," Lu Ye curled his lip.

The Diancie Stone that could Mega Evolve Diancie was unique, a perfect engagement diamond ring.

Daigo chuckled wryly - being able to collect a pink diamond created by Diancie already made this trip worthwhile.

Sunlight quietly poured into the revitalized forest, passing through dense shade with dappled light and shadow.

King AZ stood up with his tall frame, while Eternal Flower sat on his shoulder holding a blue blossom, smiling gently.

Princess Diancie led Lu Ye's group, following Xerneas back to the depths of its altar.

"Thank you for your help, Xerneas~" Princess Diancie bowed gracefully.

"The one who truly provided help was yourself, Diancie," Xerneas said with gentle eyes.

Princess Diancie covered her mouth with a light laugh.

Xerneas's eyes flickered slightly as it gazed at Lu Ye, a sense of wonder rising in its heart.

This envoy of Arceus truly fulfilled his promise and protected Orus Forest for me.

Then, I should indeed give him appropriate compensation.

And return the Fairy Plate to Arceus...

"I still want to thank you, envoy of Arceus," Xerneas said.

"You're welcome, I've gained corresponding rewards too," Lu Ye smiled.

First was testing Haunter's Dark Z in Mega form - with Dark Aura and Diamond Storm enhancements, that illegal "Planetary Devastation" that heavily damaged Yveltal truly reached "battle legend" level.

Lu Ye felt emotional for a moment, subconsciously placing his right hand on his left shoulder.

In just a year and a half, Mega Haunter reached "battle legend" level!

As expected of you, Teacher Lu!

When Haunter reaches "battle legend" level in normal form, Red will probably come looking for me soon...

Teacher Lu pursed his lips.

With my current team level, I'd probably get crushed by the "Mt. Silver War God"...

After clearing the Champion Road, I need to lay low for a while longer... absolutely can't go to Mt. Silver!

Next was the beautiful, flawless, and unique Diancie Stone -

Teacher Lu planned to borrow from Professor Kukui's romance when going to Alola for their honeymoon, to give Bamboo Lan a surprise.

In the Sun/Moon anime series, Professor Kukui hid the diamond ring in a Poké Ball on the sparkling evening beach when proposing to Burnet.

Even though he was currently in Kalos.

Teacher Lu's heart had already flown to the warm, brilliant Alola, imagining their peaceful retired life...

The final reward of this journey was right before him - Xerneas's gratitude.

"Could I ask everyone to wait outside the altar first?" Xerneas said gently.

"Of course," Daigo nodded lightly, leading Diancie, Ash and the others as they disappeared into the depths of hazy light.

AZ looked back, casting a grateful glance at Lu Ye before slowly walking away.

In the forest clearing bathed in glowing light.

Only the tall stag-like Xerneas and Teacher Lu looking up at it remained.

"Now, send out one of your Fairy-type Pokémon," Xerneas said. "I will bestow Fairy Aura upon it as much as possible."

Lu Ye nodded lightly without hesitation:

"Come out, Sylveon!"

According to Pokédex descriptions, Xerneas was the gentle life deity willing to share eternal life.

The aura surrounding it - Fairy Aura - could enhance the life energy of Fairy-type Pokémon.

Diancie's successful Mega Evolution was greatly indebted to the Fairy Aura shared by Xerneas.

In Teacher Lu's team, both Sylveon and Togepi were Fairy-types.

But Sylveon had higher compatibility with Fairy Aura.

A red beam landed in the clearing.

Sylveon raised its azure eyes, ribbons flowing from its bow as it tilted its head to look at Xerneas: "Bu-bii?"

Xerneas's antlers emitted sparkling green light particles.

A peculiar Fairy Aura enveloped both of them.

"Sylveon, try to sense the Fairy Aura," Xerneas said gently.

The initially wary little one gradually relaxed, closing its eyes: "Bu-bii..."

Lu Ye watched this scene with wonder, marveling that Kalos was truly the birthplace of Fairy-types.

In other regions, finding such pure Fairy-type energy fluctuations was extremely difficult.

This was also why Sylveon's strength had been stagnating.

But under the blessing of the "Life Deity" Xerneas, the Fairy energy emitted by Sylveon was continuously strengthening!

Teacher Lu's "Aura" accurately sensed this change, murmuring:

"Is this... teaching a move!?"

At the same time.

Xerneas's telepathy sounded gently.

"You humans have named this move... Geomancy."

Lu Ye: ???

Xerneas's signature move, Geomancy?

This thing also falls under the "teachable moves" category!

Thinking about it, it made sense - the Meteor People recorded "Dragon Ascent" on scrolls for Rayquaza to learn;

The Red and Blue Orbs could awaken the power of "Precipice Blades" and "Core Disturbance";

So Xerneas teaching its exclusive Fairy-type ultimate move, "Geomancy," was also very reasonable... not really!

Lu Ye rubbed his cheeks.

Was this really reasonable?

"Geomancy" that absorbed energy in the first turn and greatly boosted Special Attack, Speed, and Special Defense in the second turn.

Combined with Sylveon's close combat style, this was going further down the "melee mage" path!

With the 100% boost provided by "Geomancy," combined with the "Fairy Aura" ability's "Hyper Beam."

The power would be even higher than Mega Blastoise's "Core Disturbance"!

Tanky with explosive damage, and impossible to catch up with.

Lu Ye and Blastoise in the Dive Ball simultaneously had cold sweat dripping down their foreheads.

This is illegal, big sister!

Amid the emerald crystalline glow of Fairy Aura, Sylveon proudly waved its ribbons.

"Bu-bii!"

Time to re-rank, you little ones!

Teacher Lu suddenly realized that Sylveon's item slot didn't have a Mega Stone, nor even something like Fairy Z for enhancement.

But it didn't matter.

Because Sylveon's item slot could lock in the Fairy Plate...

"Hiss... so I'm the legendary trainer?!" Lu Ye clicked his tongue.

As the Fairy Aura gradually dissipated, Xerneas's eyes showed a trace of fatigue.

It had sensed Sylveon's desire to grow stronger... and the motivation behind this wish was to fight to protect its trainer.

"You will definitely become even stronger, Sylveon," Xerneas said with a smile.

Sylveon seemed thoughtful.

Its mind suddenly flashed with images of the charmingly smiling Meloetta, the elegant and lovely Princess Diancie...

"Bu-bii!" Sylveon nodded seriously.

I need to keep getting stronger!

Sylveon learned "Geomancy."

The champion-level strength previously boosted by Fairy Aura was now truly stabilized.

"Geomancy" could borrow surrounding life energy - it sounded like a Ground-type ultimate move but actually belonged to Fairy-type.

Then came the main purpose of this trip - the Fairy Plate.

"As agreed, envoy of Arceus, I return the Fairy Plate to you."

Xerneas's antlers surged with crystalline radiance, rainbow-colored light constantly swirling through the forest clearing.

Lu Ye and Sylveon looked around in surprise.

They saw a beam of light shooting toward the altar behind Xerneas, as a vibrant, Fairy-energy-infused pink plate slowly rose.

Lu Ye unconsciously held his breath.

This plate was too beautiful... unlike any substance he knew, not pink diamond, gemstone, amber... none of them.

Palm-sized, emitting brilliant light... one of the rarest items in the Pokémon world, the Fairy Plate!

"The Fairy Plate can grant life with infinite energy, but restrictions must be applied."

Xerneas said gently: "If you wish to use this plate for training, then the Geomancy I taught Sylveon will be helpful to you."

Lu Ye froze for a moment.

What's with this cultivation novel vibe of innate spiritual treasure with matching techniques?

Never mind...

After all, Arceus had agreed to this.

His using the Fairy Plate for training was perfectly reasonable.

Through Xerneas's description, Lu Ye roughly understood.

The Fairy Plate wasn't an "instant level 99" shortcut item - he still needed to train hard.

However, compared to the other little ones, Sylveon would be the one to reach "battle legend" level most easily.

Darkrai felt complicated emotions.

Back in my day, I fought for hundreds of years before being able to battle Palkia and Dialga...

How come with you, in less than two years, everyone's averaging toward "battle legend" level?

Darkrai looked deeply at the black-haired young man.

His mind flashed with famous scenes like Arceus, Hoenn's two guardian deities, the cosmic battle...

Darkrai: "..."

Alright, never mind!

"Allow me to ask one more thing - when do you plan to return the Fairy Plate to Arceus?" Xerneas asked.

"I need to wait until Arceus awakens before I can return the plate," Lu Ye replied.

After all... if we wake the llama from its sleep, the Sinnoh spacetime might collapse again.

Xerneas nodded gently.

Lu Ye belatedly realized something, his expression changing.

Wait.

When would Arceus next appear in the Kalos region?

Lu Ye looked up at the sky with a complicated expression.

His mind conjured the stunning scene of the cross-sea bridge with legendary Pokémon filling the sky.

He remembered - it was the Flightless One's famous battle!