Seeing Cole's round eyes staring at her, Ember found him adorable and couldn't resist pinching his soft, fair cheeks.
Before he could react, she quickly withdrew her hand and glanced at the Larvitar by his feet, "Are you looking for minerals for this little one?"
Cole nodded, "Yes."
"Then you definitely haven't had much success." Ember said with a playful smirk.
Uh...
"Indeed, I haven't." Cole replied hesitantly.
"Well, why don't I give you some?" Ember suggested.
Cole: (⊙д⊙‶)
He was startled by her sudden offer. Such valuable stones, just given away? Was this what it meant to be wealthy?
Ember clapped her hands, and a Goodra emerged from the villa, carrying a pile of iron ore in its arms.
Goodra! A pseudo-legendary! Rich sister! Cole's mind was spinning from it all.
Rumble~
Goodra walked up and dumped all the stones in front of him.
Upon seeing the iron ore, Larvitar immediately dove in, leaving only its little bottom wiggling outside.
"Hahaha... Little one, no need to rush — these are all yours." Ember laughed, "While I don't have much else, I have plenty of iron ore."
Cole said bashfully, "Sister Ember, this isn't right..."
Ember waved her hand dismissively, "They're just stones. Don't be so hesitant — take them."
Hearing this, Cole had no choice but to hand his space backpack to Larvitar, letting it pack the iron ore inside.
At this point, he noticed that Ember had been staring at Daisy.
"Sister Ember, is something wrong with Daisy?" Cole asked, puzzled.
"Is this Gardevoir called Daisy?" Ember asked.
Cole nodded, "She is my mother."
Ember was stunned, "You were raised by this Gardevoir?"
Cole nodded.
After a moment's consideration, Ember turned to Daisy, "May I examine your body?"
"Garde..."
Daisy hesitated briefly but nodded — she couldn't refuse the rich lady's request.
Ember rose from her chair and approached Daisy to begin the examination. As she touched various spots on Daisy's body, she exclaimed, "The energy quality in your mother's body is remarkably high!"
Cole was taken aback — could she tell just by touching? Did this sister possess special abilities too?
Then Ember continued, "And the energy structure in her body..."
Her words trailed off.
"Is there something wrong with my mom?" Cole asked anxiously.
Ember withdrew her hand.
"Don't worry, your mother is perfectly fine — better than I expected, actually." After a pause, she said, "Wait here for a bit."
With that, she walked into the villa.
When she returned, she was holding an elegant wooden box, which she placed before Cole.
"This is for you."
"What is it?" Cole asked, puzzled.
Ember gently opened the wooden box, revealing an exquisite necklace with a large, dazzling pink diamond set in its center.
"This... this is too valuable." Cole said anxiously, pushing the box back, "I can't accept it."
He couldn't understand why Ember would give such a precious gift to someone she had just met.
Ember picked up the diamond with her slender fingers, "Do you know the history of this diamond?"
Cole shook his head, wondering if there was some historical story behind it.
Ember then asked, "Have you heard of the mythical Pokémon Diancie?"
Cole nodded, wondering if this diamond was connected to Diancie.
"Legend has it that Diancie is a special variant of Carbink." Ember said with certainty, "That's not just a legend — Diancie truly evolves from special Carbink. And this diamond before you is the very first one created by a newly born Diancie..."
At this point, Ember seemed lost in memories.
Cole was utterly shocked. He couldn't fathom how Ember knew such secrets, or how she had obtained such a precious diamond.
Who was she really?
Ember snapped out of her reminiscence and smiled at him, "You must be wondering how I know these secrets, and why I have Diancie's diamond."
Cole remained silent, simply waiting for her explanation, sensing that she would tell him.
"Because I witnessed a Carbink evolving into Diancie firsthand, and Diancie itself gave me this diamond!"
Her words left him stunned.
"Why would you want to give this diamond to me?" Cole asked, puzzled.
"Because I see potential in your mother!" Ember said with sudden intensity, "The energy structure in your mother's body is special — I've seen similar structures in Diancie."
After her explanation, Cole finally understood that what she called energy structure was actually energy circuits, and the special structure she mentioned referred to the activated hidden energy circuits.
"The first diamond created by Diancie contains abundant fairy-type source energy. If your mother wears this diamond regularly, it will improve her energy absorption efficiency and enhance her fairy-type moves. Are you sure you don't want it?" Ember's tone was filled with temptation.
Cole hesitated — of course he wanted it, but it was too precious. He didn't have the confidence to accept it!
Then Ember added, "I'm not giving it to you for free — I want you to help me with something."
"What is it?" Cole asked.
"I want you to raise a Diancie!" Ember said, emphasizing each word.
Hearing this, Cole thought she must be crazy. Him, raise a Diancie? That would be like reaching for the sky!
"Sister... Sister Ember, are you joking?" He stammered.
Ember's face grew serious, "I'm being completely serious. While I can't guarantee you'll succeed, I see the possibility in you! That's enough! Those special energy structures in your mother's body — they're because of you, aren't they?"
As Cole was about to speak, she cut him off.
"Don't deny it. Not just your mother, but your Heliolisk and Larvitar all have these traces. That can't be coincidence."
Cole marveled at this sister's incredible insight — she could even see this? Who was she really?
"But... but..." He wavered — the diamond was tempting, but her request was daunting.
Then Ember added, "You just need to try your best. Even if you fail in the end, I won't blame you or cause you any trouble, I just..."
At this point, she became distracted again.
After a moment's silence, she continued, "And don't worry about me taking the Pokémon you've worked so hard to raise. As long as you try your best, whether you succeed or not, I won't lay claim to your Pokémon."
Hearing this, Cole felt relieved — this had been one of his main reasons for hesitating.
While the effort and resources spent raising Pokémon weren't a big deal, trainers develop deep emotional bonds with their Pokémon over time. Who could bear to give them away?
"If I fail, Sister Ember really won't blame me?" Cole asked again for reassurance.
"Of course not." Ember nodded, "As long as you try your best."
Cole nodded, "I will definitely try my best, sister can rest assured about that."
"Good." Ember nodded with satisfaction, "I've already selected a suitable Carbink for you."
She had spent years preparing to raise a Diancie, dedicating much time to finding the right Carbink.
"Sister has already prepared the Carbink?" Cole asked in surprise.
Ember glared at him, "Did you think any Carbink could become a variant? Only one in ten thousand Carbink are capable of evolving into Diancie."
"Oh, I see." Cole realized.
"Wait here!"
With that, Ember walked into the garden's bushes and, after searching for a while, emerged with a Carbink. The Pokémon looked bewildered, timidly eyeing Cole, this stranger.
Ember pointed at him and said to Carbink, "From now on, he will be your trainer. You must listen to him well."
She didn't seem to care whether the little blue gem actually wanted to follow Cole.
It was then that Cole realized this beautiful sister's personality was actually somewhat cold, not as gentle as she had appeared. Perhaps raising a Diancie had become an obsession for her, though he couldn't understand where this obsession came from.
Carbink didn't dare defy Ember, just nodded obediently and hopped over to his side.
"Carbink, let's take good care of each other from now on."
Upon closer inspection, Cole noticed this Carbink's whiskers were different from others of its kind — instead of straight protrusions, they formed several heart shapes arranged in a row.
Unlike other Carbink that resembled little old men, this one was quite cute.
Sensing Cole's goodwill, the Carbink gradually relaxed and called out to him affectionately.
"Now that our deal is settled, this diamond is yours!"
With a graceful wave of her hand, Ember levitated the diamond necklace from the table and draped it perfectly around Daisy's neck.
Cole asked in surprise, "Sister Ember, are you also a Psychic?"
{T/N: More like a psy chic, if you understand what I mean.}
He hadn't noticed anything before, and even Daisy, a Psychic-type Pokémon, hadn't detected it. He suddenly found this beautiful sister somewhat intimidating.
Ember gave a playful smile and said, "A Psychic? I suppose you could say that."
What did she mean by "I suppose"? Was she or wasn't she? Cole didn't dare ask — he feared that too many questions might lead the beautiful sister to silence him permanently.
"Come here, let me tell you about raising Diancie." Ember beckoned to him.
Hearing this, Cole had no choice but to sit back down in the chair.
Ember took out paper and pen, and began drawing on the table. Soon, several complex patterns emerged.
After her explanation, Cole finally understood — these were all Carbink's energy circuits. The simple ones belonged to normal Carbink, the complex ones to special Carbink, and the most intricate were Diancie's.
Though incomplete, the Diancie pattern drawn from Ember's memory far exceeded Daisy's in complexity.
Even with her hidden energy circuits, his mom's energy circuits — the most complex Cole had ever seen — were simple compared to Diancie's.
Ember was truly remarkable — she had thoroughly researched Carbink's energy circuits and even discovered the hidden ones. If only she could activate the hidden energy circuits herself; otherwise, Cole suspected she would have already raised a Diancie long ago.
The concept of energy circuits was unknown in the Pokémon world, yet Ember had independently discovered and termed them "energy structures" through her meticulous research — truly extraordinary.
At the center of a Carbink's body lay the most concentrated area of energy circuits, where they intertwined like intricate yarn into complex patterns. Special Carbink possessed an additional energy circuit core beyond this basic structure.
Though Ember hadn't discovered how to transform special Carbink into Diancie, she knew the key lay in triggering this energy circuit core's transformation — the critical first step in evolving into Diancie.
After explaining all this, Cole asked her, "Sister Ember, may I see your Carbink?"
"Of course." Ember agreed without hesitation — she would accept anything that might help raise a Diancie, "Come out, everyone."
At her command, Carbink emerged from the bushes one after another.
Cole counted them — there must have been over a hundred. He suspected this sister had raised them all for her Diancie research.
"Do you know how I found so many Carbink?" Ember asked.
Cole shook his head.
"Beneath the silver ore vein you explored earlier, there once stood a Kingdom of Minerals, long ago. When the kingdom was destroyed, many Carbink perished. These are their only survivors." A flash of sadness crossed Ember's eyes.
The Carbink's expressions grew sorrowful at her words.
"Well then, you can look around freely now." Her sadness vanished as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by a smile.
Cole nodded and walked among the Carbink to examine them with his Special Ability.
✲✲✲
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