Chapter 176
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Spring Festival.
On this day, the entire Alliance City seemed to be draped in a layer of red gauze.
In the residential district, families started early in the morning, posting red couplets on their doors and then moving on to the shops in the streets.
Official personnel from the Alliance also took to the streets, hanging lanterns on the streetlights. The Pokémon Centers and Friendly Shops were adorned with colorful and vibrant lanterns.
The entire day was filled with the sounds of firecrackers and fireworks. Lion and dragon dances, deity processions, and various performances, along with the beating of drums and stilt-walking, were all organized by the Pokémon Alliance to leave a lasting impression on the citizens of Alliance City.
Every future Spring Festival, people would emulate these activities, passing them down from generation to generation.
Despite being the biggest holiday of the year, today was particularly busy for everyone because it was the day for temple visits and deity worship.
On the road leading to the northwest side of Alliance City, a pink-haired girl dragged her uncooperative yellow-haired brother along.
"Hurry up, Sanji! Do you know how much effort it took me to get these two tickets from the manager?!" Reiju was about to explode with frustration.
The streets were already crowded with people, making it difficult to move, and her brother was still dawdling.
"I know, I know. Jeez... Baratie is really busy right now, and I didn't want to come," Sanji replied, not appreciating Reiju's efforts.
Sanji was focused on repaying Zeff's kindness. With the sea restaurant Baratie recently opening, it was extremely busy. In the previous pirate era, not many people visited Baratie, but now, in the Pokémon era, encountering a ship every ten minutes on the sea wasn't unusual. Competition was fierce.
"I'm done with you!" Reiju huffed.
She had specially taken time off from Dak to come out and play, but Sanji was ungrateful. She thought she should have brought her friend Perona instead.
"Chansey~" Reiju's partner Chansey patted her on the shoulder to comfort her.
"Chansey is the best, mua~" Reiju kissed Chansey and glared at Sanji.
"..." Sanji was speechless.
Even though he had accepted that Pokémon were the new norm, he personally wasn't interested in these creatures, especially the big pink egg Chansey. He felt nothing towards it.
"Hurry up, we're almost at the Hall of Origins!" Reiju urged.
However, when they arrived at the entrance of the Hall of Origins, they were shocked.
When Dark built the Hall of Origins and the Hall of Firsts, he had anticipated that many statues would eventually be placed there, so he made them very large. The entire temple covered at least 30,000 square meters.
Despite its size, it was packed with people.
"Why!" Reiju was stunned.
She had thought that since there was only one statue to worship in the Hall of Origins, it would be less crowded than the Hall of Firsts, so she brought Chansey and Sanji here first.
But she had overlooked the significance of Dak in the hearts of the people. He was like Arceus, the creator god, in the Pokémon world. His stature far exceeded that of the gods in the Hall of Firsts.
Because Reiju lived with Dark, she didn't have the same sense of distance and had underestimated his importance to the people.
"Chan..." Chansey wiped the sweat from her forehead.
It had been tough to squeeze through the crowd, and for a wide-bodied Pokémon like Chansey, it was even more challenging.
"Isn't this a bit much?" Sanji was also taken aback. He had never seen so many people in one place.
Even on Baratie's busiest days, the crowd didn't come close to this. It was a sea of people, and there were many large Pokémon like Onix taking up even more space.
After another half an hour, Reiju and the others finally reached the front of the statue.
"Wow... the manager has it rough," Reiju said, looking at the massive statue, its feet already polished smooth from the touch of so many hands.
Even though the Hall of Origins had only been built a few days ago, it was already worn from the sheer number of people visiting.
"This is the Creator God," young Sanji murmured, looking up at the towering statue.
Meanwhile, at the Hall of Firsts on the northeast side of Alliance City...
"Why are there so many people here?!" Kuina was nearly out of breath from being squeezed by the crowd.
The fishmen were strong, and the Sky Islanders' wings were just in the way!
"Ugh," Bisharp was having a hard time.
Fortunately, after his evolution, he immediately went to Dark for a protective suit. Otherwise, the people around him would have been injured by now.
Bisharp's evolution happened during a rainy night, in his 1001st match against Zoro. Just as Zoro thought he could finally catch up to Bisharp, the latter evolved right in front of him and defeated Zoro with one strike.
After evolution, Bisharp's physical strength increased exponentially, with his power, stamina, and speed tripling or quadrupling. His body became so sharp that ordinary blades would shatter upon contact with his.
"Why does Zoro always get lost?!" Kuina wailed in the crowd.
Unbeknownst to her, Zoro was already standing before the statue of Sceptile.
"I will become the world's greatest swordsman and challenge you, 'Leaf God,'" Zoro declared, raising his head proudly.
He didn't believe in gods or spirits, only in challenging Sceptile.
Initially, he had tried to leave the Hall of Firsts due to the crowd but got lost and ended up here.
Now he intended to leave again.
Fifteen minutes later, Zoro found himself back in front of the statue, growing increasingly frustrated.
"Are you messing with me?!" Zoro shouted at the statue.
Beside him, Mihawk, holding Psyduck and Slowpoke, also gazed at Sceptile's statue.
Since Slowpoke was born, he hadn't fought Sceptile again. He no longer sought out sword fights, finding them uninteresting.
He now enjoyed looking after Slowpoke and Psyduck, finding their interactions amusing.
To Mihawk, Psyduck and Slowpoke were as important as 'Yoru.' He took them everywhere.
The two potential master-student pairs, who might have formed a special relationship in the future, had no interaction in this timeline.
...
Alliance City Museum.
A blonde girl with small white wings on her back and a zither in her arms was staring blankly at a glass display.
Behind the glass was a massive harp made of countless gears.
"Nibel Harp, a national treasure of the Azoth Kingdom in the Pokémon world, gifted to the princess along with the man-made Pokémon Magearna by the king 500 years ago," Conis read the description softly.
Her small wings fluttered occasionally, revealing her inner turmoil.
"Do you like it?" Conis's father patted her head.
"Yes, it's beautiful," Conis replied, her big eyes shining.
To her, each gear on the harp seemed like a living note, constantly dancing.
"It's amazing how something from 500 years ago can be so well preserved," her father mused.
In truth, the harp had been drawn by Dark from a lucky spin two days ago and placed here because it had no practical use. However, its description was accurate—it did have ties to Magearna.
And not in a good way.
The genius human scientist Eliphas, who created Magearna, had initially failed due to a lack of the crucial 'Soul-Heart.' He dismantled the failed Magearna shell and rebuilt it into a massive harp, gifting it to the king.
Thus, the harp before Conis was also known as 'Magearna.'
Dark had omitted this part of the story from the description.
"Conis, look! Fossils from millions of years ago! I can't believe that world has existed for at least millions of years," her father exclaimed.
He had no interest in the harp but was fascinated by the fossils.
These were not Pokémon fossils but those of other ancient creatures from millions of years ago in the Pokémon world.
For the people of the One Piece world, millions of years was an unimaginable time span. To them, even a few hundred years was long.
(End of Chapter)