High in the sky, the psychic power around Bagon was withdrawn by Mismagius, and immediately, it began to fall rapidly. A series of high-pitched screams escaped from Bagon's mouth, revealing its excitement and satisfaction.
Yuga never expected Bagon to be such a fan of extreme sports, enjoying high-altitude bungee jumping.
Just as Bagon was about to hit the ground, Mismagius acted swiftly, using its psychic power to catch it again.
To be honest, Mismagius almost didn't manage to catch it. The acceleration from the high-altitude fall was too fast, and it put a tremendous strain on its psychic power. Even though Mismagius was an Elite level Pokémon, the impact force nearly broke through its psychic barrier.
After catching Bagon, Mismagius wiped away some imaginary sweat, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the experience.
However, Bagon wasn't done yet. It eagerly begged Mismagius to do it again.
(|||OO;)
Mismagius started to break out in a cold sweat, unsure how to refuse Bagon.
At that moment, Yuga descended with the help of Gengar, and Mismagius quickly shot him a pleading look. After thinking for a moment, Yuga noticed a cliff not far away and suggested to Bagon, "How about we go over to that cliff instead? You can still experience the feeling of flying, but it'll be much safer."
Bagon looked in the direction of the cliff and felt a little disappointed. Compared to the thrill of free-falling from the sky, the cliff didn't seem as exciting.
But Bagon was a good child and always listened to Yuga. Despite its lack of enthusiasm, it nodded in agreement.
Yuga could hear the disappointment in Bagon's voice, but for safety's sake, he pretended not to notice.
When they reached the top of the cliff, Yuga instructed Bagon, "Jump down from here, and Mismagius and I will catch you at the bottom."
"Bagon!" Bagon nodded obediently.
This time, Mismagius easily caught Bagon, but Bagon felt it wasn't thrilling enough—not exciting, no sensation!
"Bagon, Bagon, Bagon!"
Bagon pleaded with Yuga, asking if Mismagius could stop catching it and just let it fall freely.
Yuga: ...
Yuga really didn't want to agree, but seeing the hopeful look in Bagon's eyes, he couldn't resist and reluctantly nodded.
Jumping off a cliff shouldn't be too dangerous for Bagon, Yuga thought to himself.
Bagon, known as the Pokémon with the iron head, had a notable characteristic: its hard head. Ordinary Bagon often enjoyed jumping off cliffs to practice flying, and they usually landed headfirst.
To better understand this type of Pokémon, Yuga had studied many scholarly papers about Bagon. Experts had mentioned that Bagon's tendency to headbutt objects stemmed from the psychological pressure of being unable to fly.
This showed just how strong Bagon's desire to fly was.
Now that Yuga's own Bagon had reached this stage, he wanted to do whatever he could to alleviate its mental stress. However, he had a feeling that his Bagon's obsession with flying was even stronger than other Bagons. While others were satisfied with jumping off cliffs, his Bagon preferred high-altitude bungee jumping.
Since he had already agreed, Yuga couldn't go back on his word. He took Mismagius and stepped back from the edge of the cliff to avoid getting hit when Bagon jumped down.
At the bottom of the cliff, there was a small cave, not even tall enough for a person to stand in, but it was home to a young Cleffa. Ever since it got separated from its family, it had been living there alone.
Today, because it had slept in, Cleffa woke up late. As soon as it opened its eyes, its stomach began growling loudly.
Cleffa rubbed its sleepy eyes and then patted its flat belly, deciding to head out to find something to eat.
It had only taken a few steps outside when suddenly an unknown object fell from the sky and landed right at its feet. If Cleffa had taken one more step, it would have been flattened.
Boom!
A crater appeared in front of Cleffa, with dirt and rocks flying everywhere.
"Cleffa!!!"
Cleffa was stunned for a moment, then let out a sharp scream, and immediately fainted with its eyes rolling back.
Bagon, with its head buried in the dirt, didn't hear Cleffa's cry at all. It braced its arms on the ground and kicked its short legs in the air several times before finally pulling its head out of the dirt. However, it used too much force and fell flat on its bottom.
It rubbed its smooth head, only then noticing Cleffa's presence.
"Bagon?"
Bagon stood up and poked Cleffa with its finger, but Cleffa didn't respond.
Hearing Cleffa's scream, Yuga quickly ran over with Mismagius.
"What happened, Bagon? Are you hurt…"
Before Yuga could finish his sentence, he saw Bagon flipping Cleffa over repeatedly.
"Where did this Cleffa come from?" Yuga asked in surprise.
"Bagon!" Bagon innocently indicated that it didn't know.
Yuga picked up Cleffa and examined it, finding that it wasn't injured. He then looked around but didn't see any other Pokémon nearby.
Strange, Cleffa usually lives in groups with Clefairy or Clefable. Why was this one all alone here?
Oh well! Yuga didn't dwell on it. He decided to catch this Cleffa.
No matter its potential, Cleffa is a super rare Pokémon—if you miss it, there's no second chance!
Before catching it, Yuga used his Insight ability to check on Cleffa.
...
[ Cleffa ]
Type: Fairy
Ability: Magic Guard
Gender: Female
Potential: Green
Level: 16
Moves: Pound, Baby-Doll Eyes, Sing, Sweet Kiss, Heal Pulse, Misty Terrain
...
Wow, such good luck! He randomly found a rare Pokémon with high potential just on the side of the road.
Yuga squatted down and patted Bagon on the head, praising it, "You're pretty lucky, huh."
Bagon: No idea what you're talking about.
In a good mood, Yuga asked Bagon, "Do you still want to play?"
Bagon shook its head, finding cliff-jumping too dull and unstimulating.
Yuga sighed, "Alright then, we'll head back once Cleffa wakes up."
Cleffa woke up quickly. As soon as it opened its eyes, it began flailing its arms and legs, clearly frightened. Only after it realized it was lying in Yuga's arms did it calm down, showing a confused expression as if wondering what had happened.
Just as Yuga was about to speak to it, Cleffa's eyes fell on Bagon's backside.
It recognized that butt. Before it fainted, the last thing it saw was that very butt.
Remembering this, Cleffa jumped out of Yuga's arms and, without hesitation, delivered a Pound attack on Bagon.
Bagon stumbled a couple of steps and fell onto its bottom, holding its cheek where it had been hit: What happened? Why am I being attacked?
"Cleffa, Cleffa, Cleffa!"
Cleffa stood in front of Bagon, pointing at it while angrily ranting. Bagon, still clueless, looked completely bewildered.
What are you saying? I have no idea what you're talking about.
Yuga, however, caught the key point in Cleffa's jumbled speech. In short, Cleffa had been scared into fainting by Bagon falling from the sky.
After understanding the situation, Yuga sincerely apologized on Bagon's behalf.
"Cleffa, Bagon didn't do it on purpose. Can you forgive it?"
At this moment, Cleffa seemed to have run out of steam. It suddenly slumped to the ground, and its stomach let out a loud rumble.
So hungry!
Seeing this, Yuga chuckled. He took out a jar of Pokéblocks, poured one out, and handed it to Cleffa.
"Here, try this. It's really tasty."
Cleffa cautiously licked the Pokéblock with its tongue, then widened its eyes in surprise.
This is delicious!
In one gulp, Cleffa swallowed the Pokéblock and wanted to ask Yuga for another, but its belly betrayed it by letting out a full burp.
Burp, I'm so full!
Cleffa rubbed its belly, feeling slightly embarrassed at how little it could eat.
Yuga shook the jar of Pokéblocks in his hand and asked, "So, how was it? Tasty?"
"Cleffa!"
It's very tasty!
Cleffa sucked on its fingers, as tears of joy comically formed at the corners of its mouth.
Taking the chance, Yuga tempted it further: "If you come with me, you can have this every day. How about it?"
Cleffa, without hesitation, bowed its head to the allure of food. Nothing is greater than eating!
Even though Cleffa agreed to forgive Bagon, deep down it still didn't like Bagon. Whenever Bagon got close, Cleffa would push it away, making Bagon tumble head over heels.
In truth, Bagon didn't particularly like Cleffa either. The fairy-type aura Cleffa gave off made it uncomfortable. But Bagon was an obedient Pokémon. Yuga had told it to get along with its companions, so it tried to build a better relationship with Cleffa.
Yuga noticed that Cleffa and Bagon didn't get along, but he chose not to interfere.
After all, they were both young, and it was natural for them to express their likes and dislikes openly. If it were Florges or Dragonite here, they wouldn't decide their preferences based on type disadvantages.
Besides, their lives were long. They'd encounter people and Pokémon they liked and disliked. There was no need to force them to get along perfectly; as long as they didn't cause trouble, that was enough.
After catching Cleffa, Yuga brought both Pokémon back to the YoYo Day Care.
Once they arrived, Yuga handed Cleffa over to Audino. Upon meeting each other, Audino and Cleffa hit it off right away, and Cleffa quickly became Audino's little follower.
Thinking that he still needed to check on the other Pokémon at the training facility, Yuga said to Bagon, "Bagon, you can play at home by yourself. I'm going to pick up the others."
Bagon obediently nodded.
After Yuga left, Bagon decided to head back to the Ecopark. As it walked, it was still savoring the thrill of high-altitude bungee jumping. Just as it stepped into the main Ecopark, it ran into Nana.
The moment Bagon saw Nana, its eyes lit up.
Seeing Bagon suddenly staring at her with glowing eyes, Nana felt uneasy. "Wh-what's up? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Can you take me flying?"
Hearing this, Nana said, "Oh, that's it? Easy, let's go!"
With that, she grabbed Bagon and flew out of the Ecopark. Yuga had his concerns, but Nan didn't care at all.
Once they were out of the Ecopark, Nana wrapped herself in psychic power, accelerated, and shot into the sky, disappearing into the horizon in no time.
At high altitude, Bagon indeed asked to go bungee jumping, and Nana agreed without hesitation.
Nana was a master-level Pokémon with immense psychic power. The concerns that haunted Mismagius didn't trouble her at all.
Thus, in the skies above the outskirts of Verdanturf Town, excited screams could be heard echoing continuously.
When Yuga returned from the training facility, he happened to bump into Nana, who was carrying Bagon, at the entrance of the shop.
"What were you two doing?" Yuga asked curiously.
"Ba-Bagon..." Bagon's eyes darted around, avoiding eye contact.
But Nana, without hesitation, replied, "We went out to have some fun, of course!"
"Oh," Yuga responded absentmindedly, not thinking much of it, and strode into the shop. Bagon, however, let out a long sigh of relief.
As the saying goes, once you do something the first time, there will be a second, and a third... After the exhilarating bungee jump with Nana, Bagon frequently snuck out with her behind Yuga's back to seek thrills. Even by the time Bagon evolved into Salamence, Yuga still hadn't discovered their secret.
Sometimes Yuga would wonder, "Why did my Bagon's 'rebellious phase' come and go so quickly?"
Time quickly passed, and the day finally arrived for the grand opening of the Sunflora Power Plant in Verdanturf Town. The town was buzzing with excitement because this marked the beginning of energy self-sufficiency for Verdanturf.
At the edge of the Sunflora Ranch, all the generators had been installed. Each generator resembled a giant bowl-shaped satellite dish, securely placed on the opposite hill, with a vertical energy guide rod at the center of each dish.
The Sunflora that Yuga had trained had also been moved into the ranch, and everything was ready.
At noon, when the sun was at its peak, all the residents of Verdanturf gathered at the edge of the ranch to witness this historic moment with their own eyes.
Thousands of Sunflora were lined up densely on the hill, a sea of yellow and orange that was truly a magnificent sight. Yuga stood at the center of all the Sunflora.
Up on the tall lighthouse, Mayor Ishida waved a red flag energetically. When Yuga saw this signal, he shouted loudly to all the Sunflora, "Ready! Begin!"
As Yuga's raised right hand came down, golden light began to gather on the flowers of all the Sunflora.
Boom!!!
Thousands of golden beams shot out in an instant, the dazzling light illuminating the faces of Verdanturf's residents, even in the brightness of day.
Seeing this breathtaking scene, the townspeople stood with their mouths agape in awe.
Each Sunflora had already been assigned a specific generator to target with its Solar Beam. The beams of light landed in an orderly fashion on the bowl-shaped generators, and the energy guide rods absorbed every last bit of the solar energy.
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
On the lighthouse where Mayor Ishida stood, a giant lamp flickered twice before stabilizing and shining brightly.
"It's lit! It's lit!"
The crowd erupted into cheers. People were jumping up and down, some even hugging each other in excitement.
Although it was still daylight, and the light from the lamp wasn't particularly noticeable, to the people of Verdanturf, it was the brightest, most dazzling light they had ever seen.
Many were moved to tears, including Mayor Ishida, who stood on the lighthouse.
Standing among the Sunflora, Yuga watched the cheering crowd, filled with deep emotions.
He was witnessing the rise of this small town, step by step. Today, the beam from the lighthouse was not just illuminating the town; it was lighting up the hearts of every resident of Verdanturf.