novelAlta Chapter 570 - 570: 568
Chapter 570 - 570: 568
Kieran was still very young, and he still had that Toxapex-like hairstyle and the look of a timid little elementary school kid in a Trainer remedial class. But he had another side no one really knew about.Any time the topic of the "oni" came up, he became energized. His weak, shy, cowardly personality vanished completely, and in moments like that, he actually showed even more drive than his strong-willed older sister.
At least, that was what Carmine was thinking right now.
She had been cursed. She could not go around talking carelessly, or her life would be in danger. In Kitakami's old legends, there really was a story about a curse, though it was nowhere near as widely known as the legend of the oni.
"When something starts going wrong with someone in the family, it keeps happening one after another..."
"A-A-Kiki, are we really going to Oni Mountain?"
"I'm scared... and you're not supposed to go to the mountain behind the village at dusk! Did you forget how Grandpa scolded you before? The adults even went up the mountain to look for you!"
Carmine was being dragged out the door by Kieran, and for once her usually timid younger brother was actually arguing back with reason.
"According to the legend, the oni is supposed to be the bad guy. But if it really didn't do anything to you, then maybe the curse was just the oni trying to scare you."
"If we tell Grandpa, there's no way we'll be allowed out. It's fine. I know the paths on Oni Mountain better than anyone."
"You don't have to be afraid of anything, Sis. Just follow me."
"My Yanma can glow, so we won't get lost even at night."
Then he muttered quietly to himself, "Nobody in the village likes me anyway. So what's the point of following the rules? The oni's cool in the first place. Even if everyone rejects it, it still doesn't care."
Carmine stared at her brother.
"Kiki, you're just too excited because you want to meet the oni, aren't you? When it comes down to it, you don't really care that I've been cursed at all."
Kieran lowered his head. "You only told me because you thought I could help you, right? And besides... Sis, you don't want to get yelled at either."
"If the curse spreads, are we really just supposed to sit here and do nothing? You're the one who told me about the oni and the curse in the first place. This is your fault. Now that I've heard about the curse too, I could get sick as well."
Carmine glared at him, grinding her teeth.
"You! You actually said that. Ugh! But... it is true that I told you. If I'd known, I never would've said anything. No, no... if I hadn't said anything, then I'd get seriously sick and die without anybody ever knowing."
Kieran said, "Then let's not go. Let's just tell Grandpa."
Carmine instantly hissed, "Shh! F-fine, I get it. I'll go with you. Just don't tell Grandpa. I'm bringing some anti-evil talismans and an umbrella before we leave!"
She had meant to pressure her little brother, but the moment she thought about the curse, she started trembling all over. In the end, still half-confused and swept along by the moment, Carmine wound up joining Kieran on this oni-hunting expedition.
Using "we're going to play near the riverbank" as an excuse, the two slipped out of the house.
Sneaking around again, they headed back toward the Kitakami Center. From the mountain path behind the center, they could make their way toward Oni Mountain.
Carmine said, "You told me before that if the oni ever came to our house, you'd be happy to let it live there, right? Maybe me running into the oni has something to do with your wish!"
Kieran said, "H-how could that even happen... wishes don't just come true like that. There's no power like that."
Back at the siblings' home, Grandpa Yukito had felt that the two children were acting a little suspicious, but first, as the descendant of a mask craftsman, he knew perfectly well that the village's oni legend was fake, so going out around dusk was no big deal.
There was no curse at all.
And second, country kids playing outside until late was normal. There were no especially vicious Pokémon around Kitakami either, at least not in Grandpa's entire lifetime. At most, if you ran into wild Applin, they might take a bite out of you, or a Clauncher by the roadside might clip you with its claw and knock you into a ditch.
"They went out around sunset... Carmine came back from the Kitakami Center acting like that, and she didn't even get the yakisoba she likes. No idea what happened. Going out to play and clear her head might be good for her."
"I should head over to the Kitakami Center too. She'll probably be happy if she sees yakisoba when she gets back. Looks like the weather's turning, so I'd better bring an umbrella."
That was what Grandpa Yukito thought. After informing his wife, he headed out as well.
But just after Grandpa left, another visitor arrived at the house.
Since the rest of the family was gone, the one who received the guest was the siblings' grandmother, Kibi.
"Oh my, isn't this the administrator? Yukito just went out. Did you need him for something?"
"Mm, nothing important," said the bald administrator who managed the Kitakami Center. "I'm just here to deliver something."
He was the manager of the public hall at the Kitakami Center, the person in charge of all Mossui Town, effectively the mayor, and also the one responsible for promoting Kitakami tourism from the outside.
In many small villages and towns, local head figures racked their brains trying to develop tourism and increase local income. Compared to other places that focused on steady development and simple village values, Kitakami had actually done fairly well under the bald administrator's planning.
Tourism, apple orchards, mochi, festivals, legends. Everything that could be made useful had been put to use. It was a little profit-driven, perhaps, but the village really had been prospering, had it not?
"The situation is this. We received gifts from Peachy's. This year's peaches are ripe. Our village has a friendship with Peachy's, and after October, our apple orchards here enter their natural harvest season too. We've got premium Syrupy Apples, right? They taste just like juicy peaches, so they're a very popular local product."
"We trade agricultural goods with Peachy's too, as you know. To strengthen that friendship, we sent over a batch of Syrupy Apples, and in return we received a generous gift."
"I've heard that in other places they have greenhouses and such, and can grow fruit year-round now, but things grown naturally are still better, don't you think?"
The administrator handed a batch of peaches to Grandma Kibi, who looked a little confused.
"But peaches don't ripen in this season. We already imported a batch from Peachy's a few months ago, didn't we?"
The administrator laughed.
"Hahaha! Those were just peaches."
He spread his hands.
"These, apparently, are specially cultivated berries. I hear they're the result of carefully crossing two different regional varieties of Pecha Berries. They taste incredible, and they're especially large."
"Pecha Berries are special berries in the first place. As Pokémon food, they bear fruit year-round, unlike ordinary apples."
"Even regular peaches have late-ripening varieties. And among the fruit sent from Peachy's this time, there's also a mysterious grand prize."
"It's even better than Pecha Berries - brighter in color, glossier, and carefully raised by skilled hands. They're said to be treasured delicacies among Pokémon, perfect for celebrating battle victories or giving to relatives and friends."
"They're a once-every-few-years kind of thing: exceptionally high-quality Pecha Berries with a top-class fragrance, known as the Mythic Pecha Berry. They're usually very rare, but apparently this year's harvest was especially good, so fruit like this appeared."
"Your family's always helped by making masks, so among the gifts this time, there are also Mythic Pecha Berries. Six boxes in total. Please accept them."
Grandma Kibi looked surprised.
"Oh my, but there are only four people in our house."
The administrator blinked. "Huh? Your son and daughter still aren't coming back this year?"
Grandma Kibi smiled awkwardly. "It seems they're working in some far-off region. Looks like they can't make it back this year either."
In the world of Pokémon, the people easiest to disappear were fathers, and sometimes both parents vanished together. The administrator found that all too relatable.
"To manage Mossui Town, I've given up a lot too. Sometimes I get so busy I can barely keep up. It's a real shame they can't come home this year."
"But please, take all six boxes of Mythic Pecha Berries."
Once he had delivered the gifts, the administrator left. Grandma Kibi looked at the bag of Pecha Berries and the six boxes of special Mythic Pecha Berries, then murmured to herself,
"Six all at once... that's more than our family can finish. And everyone just happens to be out right now. Oh, speaking of peaches... I think there's that Everlasting Peach ornament at the shop. There was some kind of peach-related legend tied to it, wasn't there?"
Mossui Town had one and only one shop: Peachy's. It sold both ingredients and clothing, basically a general store that carried everything. Grandma Kibi and Grandma Peachy, who ran the store, were close friends. That was only natural. They were both elderly, from the same village, and the same generation.
Besides, her grandson and granddaughter often went there to buy things, and the old woman at the shop regularly gave them toys and clothes as gifts.
"I'll bring one box over to Peachy's. She's taken care of us plenty over the years too. Maybe if we pray to the Everlasting Peach, it'll bring a blessing."
"Carmine's acting strange today too. I'll buy her something at the store to cheer her up. I should bring a gift."
Giving gifts to neighbors, or bringing something nice to a friend, was a perfectly normal social custom. Grandma Kibi put away five boxes of Mythic Pecha Berries, took one with her, and headed to Peachy's.
Grandma Peachy welcomed her warmly. When she heard about the Mythic Pecha Berries and Grandma Kibi's plan to visit the Everlasting Peach and pray for a wish, she took out the dusty purple peach ornament that had been sitting among the goods for years.
Grandma Peachy said, "So, it's because that Carmine girl has been acting strange today. But she seemed fine during the day."
"Something like a Mythic Pecha Berry would probably sell for a lot, wouldn't it? Giving me one is far too generous. I'm honestly flattered."
Grandma Kibi waved it off. "No, no. My grandson and granddaughter are always causing trouble around town. I'm the one who should be thanking you for looking after them."
Grandma Peachy said, "As for the Everlasting Peach... honestly, I don't know much about it. There's a rumor that anyone who gets it can find happiness. Hahaha. To tell the truth, I made that up."
"But I've kept it as a display piece at the front of the shop for years, and business has always been good. So maybe it really does have some kind of power."
"Then again, maybe it doesn't have any power at all. Maybe it's just an old object."
The story of a certain Mythical Pokémon had never spread through Kitakami. What had spread instead was only the tale of a peach that never rotted. Most people assumed it was just some sort of doll or ornament, and one that had already been around for many years.
"When it was first found, someone picked it up in the forest. They meant to eat it, but no matter what they did, they couldn't cut it open, and they couldn't eat it either. It didn't even feel like food when you touched it. If you tapped it, it sounded like something was inside. Maybe it was some ancient toy made by people long ago, so it got kept as a lucky charm instead."
"Sometimes this ornament gives off an unbelievably sweet scent. It's really mysterious."
The two old women chatted as Grandma Peachy explained everything she knew. But just as the two were about to touch the Everlasting Peach ornament and pray for a blessing, if only for peace of mind...
The peach ornament suddenly vanished.
"Huh? Did it roll somewhere?"
Both old women were startled. It had been right beside them a second ago, and with their aging eyesight, they looked around a little. But when they turned back, they discovered that the box holding the Mythic Pecha Berries had been opened too.
The Pecha Berries were gone.
And in the box where the berries had been, there were now strange purple mochi.
". . . Who did this? Is this some kind of prank? Or was it a Pokémon?"
"Oh dear, maybe the administrator packed the wrong product? Maybe this wasn't Pecha Berries at all, but mochi. I'm so sorry, Peachy. Maybe I brought the wrong one. I'll go back home and check what's in the other boxes."
"No, no, this mochi actually looks pretty good too. Maybe the administrator really did make a mistake. But that's all right... let's taste it."
It worked.
Dark clouds filled Kitakami's sky. No stars could be seen, and a light rain began to fall. Floating above the roof of Peachy's like a ghost was an unknown purple peach-shaped Pokémon, savoring the freedom it had finally regained.
Pecharunt's redemption.
After centuries of fear and hiding, the masks, companions, happiness - everything had already been lost. There was no undoing it now.
That terrifying oni had swung a club with such overwhelming force that it had nearly sent Pecharunt straight to the afterlife. Luckily, its hard shell had protected it, and with the last of its strength it had curled up inside and played dead.
That thing must have thought I was dead.
But now, the long-awaited Mythic Pecha Berries from Peachy's had awakened old memories and awakened Pecharunt from its slumber as well.
What a coincidence.
And more than that...
This rain is perfect!
The purple peach gazed up at the dark sky. It had clung to life for this long just to fulfill its wish. It did not know how much time had passed, but this time...
It had fully revived.
Five hundred years of fortune, fleeting as dream and illusion!
"Pecha, pecha-dai!"
This time, I'll personally take back everything I lost! Loyal Three, come!
Pecharunt stood on Peachy's roof and let the rain pour over it for quite a while, but it sensed nothing from the Loyal Three. It seemed that "the monkey" had already died and could not be summoned over, and even the connection through the Toxic Chains was faint.
What in the world was going on?
A chill ran through Pecharunt's heart.
Those three useless things... they can't actually have been beaten to death by Ogerpon, can they?! Wasn't there at least one of them smart enough to play dead and survive like I did?
But there's still a little bit of a Toxic Chain response, which means they're not completely dead? Then what is going on?
And more than that, the aura of those crystal jewels from long ago had appeared here again, and somehow there seemed to be even more of it now. This energy... it's obvious, way too obvious!
Pecharunt could not make sense of it, but there was another piece of good news.
Ogerpon's aura was gone too.
Ha, that's good. That's very good!
Who knows why? Maybe she moved away. Maybe she ran out of strength and died too. More likely, she just couldn't survive as well as I could!
That's right.
She died of old age!
And I survived by playing dead. This is martial arts... this is the victory of Recover!
But how much time has actually passed? Are Grandpa and Grandma still alive? They must still be waiting for me to bring back the masks! Those shining masks should all have been mine. If I wanted more love, then taking them was necessary!
Still, for some reason, the aura of those foreign crystal gems was everywhere now. Things that had once been rare seemed to have become common. Then again, even jewels had grades, did they not?
Pecharunt looked down at Mossui Town. Because of the rain, the town was empty now. It quietly gazed over the village and remembered the past.
This place used to hold lively festivals, and everyone wore masks.
Good, good. The reason the old me couldn't beat Ogerpon back then was because I lacked power and didn't have enough help. Bringing only those three useless underlings still ended in failure.
But if I turned the entire town into my servants instead, wouldn't that solve the problem?
Pecharunt thought it was an excellent idea. And not only that... if it fed them poisoned mochi, it would gain all of their love.
The more love, the better!
Pecharunt acted the moment the idea came to it. Its initiative was excellent. At this moment, inside Peachy's, the two old women's eyes had already turned a dark purple, and their consciousness was beginning to blur. Through their masks, they muttered meaningless sounds.
"Jibeh... jibeh..."
"Pecha-dai~"
Pecharunt asked the two old women whether the masks from long ago still existed.
The answer it got was yes.
They were at the Kitakami Center, at... uh? Where was that exactly?
Forget it. Just tell me the direction and I'll go see for myself.
With a whoosh, Pecharunt shot out of the shop. Flying through the air was naturally much faster than moving on foot, and it arrived at the Kitakami Center in almost no time. Thanks to its Ghost typing, slipping into the shrine was effortless.
And there it saw the three shining masks.
Pecharunt opened its shell, revealing its peach-pit-like core body. Its two tiny white eyes stared blankly at the three glittering masks. Then, suddenly, it flew into a furious rage.
Hey! How dare you fool me!
These three masks are wrong!
One glance and I can tell - these are fakes!
The jewels on them glittered too, sure, but those looked like ordinary shiny rocks. No, no, no, that wasn't even the point. The issue was that the gems themselves were wrong. They were completely different from the crystals it remembered.
And there was no trace of Ogerpon's Grass-type energy lingering on the masks either. No matter how it looked at them, something was off. After all, it knew the energy in those masks better than anyone.
"Pecha-pecha-pecha-dai! Dai!"
You're worshipping worthless counterfeits without even knowing it? Did humans deceive me, or did those three idiots carry off the real masks when they croaked? There's also some legend written here about "loyal companions"...
Pecharunt stared at the notice board for a while.
It could not read.
It was illiterate, but that did not matter. It could just grab a human and make them explain. So it opened its peach shell, then attacked one lucky passerby - a shrine worker from Kitakami Shrine - with mochi and chains.
The shrine workers here all wore masks shaped like Ogerpon's Teal Mask, only the craftsmanship was far worse. One look was enough to tell they were cheap, inferior imitations.
Pecharunt stared darkly at the controlled shrine worker.
Seeing that mask was like seeing a face it never wanted to see again.
Every time I see the Teal Mask, the wound in my peach shell starts aching again!
Take that mask off and throw it away!
"Dai!"
Talk! What's the deal with the notice board? Where are the real masks, and what are these "loyal companions"?
From the controlled human's answers, Pecharunt slowly pieced together the truth.
The legend had been passed down for hundreds of years.
The "loyal companions" were the Loyal Three. They had been worshipped as heroes who protected Kitakami, and their remains were enshrined at Loyalty Plaza. The masks really had been enshrined at the Kitakami Center. The villagers of that time had found them, and because the loyal companions had sacrificed their lives to steal away the three masks and completely seal the oni's power, the villagers had been deeply grateful to them.
Protected Kitakami?
A question mark practically popped up over Pecharunt's head.
Huh? Since when did we ever do that? Did we?
This is a whole new world now!
Then there was another problem. What exactly did "hundreds of years" mean?
As the shrine worker explained what a century meant, and Pecharunt realized that all the people from back then were dead, including the old couple from the faraway place who had taken care of it...
Pecharunt's eyes widened, and it froze for a long while.
This is unacceptable!
They were supposed to wait for me to bring the masks back. How could they just die like that?!
Damn it, damn it! It's all because of Ogerpon! If not for Ogerpon, I would have taken the masks long ago and been showered with Grandpa and Grandma's love!
Pain, rage, and the fire of revenge spread through Pecharunt's heart, burning hotter and hotter.
Now it was real.
Everything was truly gone.
But that couldn't be right! I never saw Grandpa and Grandma die with my own eyes, so they can't be dead! There has to be some way to bring people back. Tell me how!
Pecharunt pressed the shrine worker harder, wrapping chains around the poor controlled employee's neck, though it was really just lashing out. Still... by pure chance, it learned of another legend.
"Pecha-dai?!"
What? You're saying that at the summit of Oni Mountain there's a strange crystal pool, and if you gaze into the crystal light at the bottom, you can see people who have already died? You can meet the dead?
Those glittering crystals, similar to the odd crystal-like stones that now sometimes appear by the roadside, only even brighter?
Ah! That kind of jewel! That's the kind the man from the faraway land brought and set into the masks!
Back on Oni Mountain, in the place where the man and Ogerpon lived, Pecharunt had once snuck in with the three poisonous beasts, found the cave where they lived, stolen the masks, and killed the man.
"Pecha!"
That's right. Of course I want to see Grandpa and Grandma, but more importantly, I have to take the masks back! This time, I'm taking everything!
Then could those crystals perhaps restore life, or increase living energy? Come to think of it, the oni was the same. Ogerpon used those crystal masks to change forms and unleash immense power. That's how she defeated me and the three beasts!
The Loyal Three shouldn't be completely dead yet. I can still faintly sense the Toxic Chains!
Pecharunt had an idea.
It would go to the summit of Oni Mountain, collect crystals from the pool, revive the Loyal Three, and then use the future-sight ability of one of the three poisonous beasts, Okidogi, Munkidori, or Fezandipiti - specifically Munkidori's psychic power - to foresee where the real three masks had gone!
But before that... people had to help.
At first it had thought Ogerpon was gone for good, but now it was hearing that the oni might still live on the mountain. If that was true, then had she taken the masks back again?
In that case...
There was only one choice.
It would control all of Mossui Town first!
After that, all of them would go up the mountain, collect crystals, and then join it in punishing the evil oni!
You all exist to love and serve me.
Everything in this village is mine!
Pecharunt threw its mochi around all over the Kitakami Center, then flew off directly.
Just then, Carmine and Kieran arrived at the Kitakami Center. Looking at the fully darkened sky and the light drizzle, neither sibling looked happy.
Carmine had wanted to complain about her brother again, but the moment they got back here, she started trembling. Looking toward the dark, jagged mass of Oni Mountain ahead, she whispered to Kieran,
"Kiki, you really do know the way to the oni's cave, right?"
Kieran said, "Yeah. There are signs along the way."
Carmine was stunned. "What?! There are signs for that?!"
Kieran nodded. "You always follow the rules and never climb the mountain, so that's why you didn't know. The administrator recently put up a sign up there."
Carmine looked annoyed and glanced at the sky.
"The rain isn't too bad yet, but it might turn into a downpour soon. Are we really doing this...?"
Kieran also looked troubled as he stared at the mountain trail.
Under normal weather, sneaking into the mountain would have been no problem at all. But for whatever reason, a drizzle had started today, and that would make the path muddy.
"If we go back now, Grandpa will definitely yell at us... and we've already come this far."
"We can just say the yakisoba was sold out. Oh, right. Since we're already here, maybe we should at least check for yakisoba..."
The weather had become the obstacle stopping the siblings from continuing. Just as the two children were hesitating, an eerie muttering from inside the shrine caught their attention.
". . . Jibeh."
"Uh... what kind of yakisoba is 'jibeh'?" the two asked each other in confusion.
Then the next thing the shrine worker did scared them half to death.
"Jibeh... jibeh jibeh jibeh!!"
The worker suddenly started flailing wildly behind the window, and then a Rock-type Pokémon was sent out.
Nosepass!
The statue-like Nosepass smashed straight through the shrine counter.
"You! What are you doing?! Kiki, are you okay?!"
Carmine quickly threw herself in front of her brother. But then something even more horrifying appeared. Held in his sister's arms, Kieran opened his eyes and looked behind her, only to see a crowd of people approaching.
"E-even in the rain there are this many people? Is there some kind of festival going on?"
"Kiki, this obviously isn't a festival!"
Kieran stared in shock at the Kitakami Center staff and nearby villagers stumbling toward them like zombies through the rain, their eyes glowing with terrifying purple light in the dark.
"Jibeh... jibeh!"
The whole mass of people blocked the road home. It seemed like everyone nearby had gathered here. They swayed as they walked, their faces twisted and eerie, and both children felt cold terror race up from their feet to the tops of their heads.
Carmine's face turned deathly pale.
"The oni! The oni's curse! The curse is real. It's spreading for real now!"
"I ran into the oni around here before too! Aaaah! They blocked the road! They're surrounding us!"
"Sis, run! Run up the mountain! There's nobody there!"
The two children fled blindly up the mountain, not even caring about the umbrella anymore. Then Carmine suddenly realized what that meant.
"This is a curse! If we run toward Oni Mountain, aren't we just throwing ourselves straight into the trap?!"
Kieran stammered, "B-but the road home is blocked."
"Isn't the most dangerous place... the safest place? We came here to break the curse in the first place... Sis, we can only go see the oni now."
Even Kieran was terrified.
The bizarre dancing of those people had just burned a lifelong psychological scar into the minds of two tiny children.
The siblings ran up the mountain and finally escaped the zombie-like crowd. Not long after, Grandpa Yukito arrived at the Kitakami Center as well. Seeing the crowd dancing strangely in the festival plaza, he stood there dumbfounded.
"Wh-what is this...? Some kind of group square dance?"
Night. Light rain. Zombie-like people. Meaningless muttering. Sudden attacks. Even an elderly man with plenty of life experience could not help feeling fear at that.
Since Carmine and Kieran had no Pokétch devices, Yukito had no way to send them messages and check on them. But he realized at once that something was very wrong, so he planned to follow the place Carmine had earlier told him they were going to play and go look for them there.
The old man immediately left the area.
Halfway back, he saw that a large number of wandering people had also appeared around Mossui Town.
"Wh-what in the world is going on? Are they filming a horror movie or something?!"
(End of Chapter)
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