The sudden transformation of the blue crystals caught both Terrance and Rotom Pokédex off guard, and even Beautifly failed to react in time.
What swallowed Beautifly whole was a Pokémon resembling Cradily.
Unlike the green Cradily, this Fossil Pokémon formed from golden fluid mimicry was completely golden. The moment it opened its huge mouth, its attack speed was astonishingly fast, instantly wrapping around the unprepared Beautifly as though it had devoured it.
Terrance clicked his tongue as Beautifly immediately flew into a rage, gathering violent air currents that blew the golden fluid apart. Wherever the wind blades swept through, the golden Cradily was instantly shredded into writhing jelly-like chunks.
“Wuu~~” Afterward, Beautifly beat its wings with lingering fear, but the golden fluid showed no sign of giving up. On the contrary, as Beautifly resisted, more and more golden fluid began appearing around them.
“What’s going on?”
Watching the crystals in the main trunk of the Tree of Beginning all transform into golden fluid, Terrance frowned and immediately ordered Rotom Pokédex to find Mew.
Omastar, Kabutops, Aerodactyl, Armaldo, Rampardos, Bastiodon—countless long-extinct Pokémon reappeared and began charging toward Beautifly.
Although these mimic Pokémon were not very strong, the terrifying part was that they possessed an ability similar to immortality. Their attacks came in endless waves, as if they would not stop until Beautifly had been swallowed whole.
“Ninetales!”
Suddenly, countless streams of golden fluid gathered together, merging into a Cradily several meters tall that lunged toward Beautifly. This time, although Beautifly shattered the mimic Pokémon apart, it still failed to stop the rain of golden fragments descending all at once. The moment a piece of golden fluid stuck to Beautifly, before it could react again, one piece, two pieces, three pieces—countless golden fluids pounced onto it, robbing Beautifly of any chance to resist.
Seeing this, Terrance hurriedly called out Ninetales, intending to freeze the fluids and rescue Beautifly. He no longer had any intention of testing things further.
From what Ash had told him, Terrance already understood these golden fluids somewhat and had determined that they should be the substance within the Tree of Beginning responsible for expelling viruses. However, what he could not understand was why these substances did not drive away humans or other Pokémon, yet specifically insisted on devouring Beautifly.
After all, when Ash and the others had encountered attacks from the golden fluid, Pokémon could walk boldly right past them without being attacked at all.
“Mew~~”
Just as Ninetales was about to exhale a freezing blizzard to seal the golden fluids in ice, Mew, having sensed the changes in the Tree of Beginning, quickly rushed over from afar. It stopped the attacking Ninetales and flew over to the golden fluid in confusion.
“Mew~ Mew~” After staring blankly for a few moments, Mew fluttered about, and with a “puff,” the golden fluid spat Beautifly back out.
Beautifly’s eyes were filled with confusion after being released…
At the same time, Ash and the others were drawn over by the commotion and arrived near the main trunk of the Tree of Beginning, staring dumbfounded at the mess on the ground.
“Beautifly, are you alright?” As Beautifly’s gaze gradually cleared, Terrance asked. However, Beautifly’s response left Terrance utterly stunned.
“Beep, beep…” Rotom Pokédex was just as shocked as Terrance. It continuously circled around Beautifly, scanning it over and over again, until it finally reached a conclusion that left it utterly astonished.
The totem aura that Beautifly had only recently been granted had been completely devoured by those golden fluids.
Those golden fluids… possessed the ability to turn Totem Pokémon back into ordinary Pokémon.
“Damn it…” Upon discovering Beautifly’s change, Terrance subconsciously cursed. What followed was a deep feeling of frustration. The totem aura Beautifly had just obtained had probably not even settled in before it disappeared like this. It was so absurd that it made him want to smash his head against a wall.
At that moment, both Terrance and Beautifly began glaring unpleasantly at the slowly wriggling golden fluid, wanting to snatch the totem aura back.
“W-What happened here?”
At that moment, the arriving Brock and the others looked around in confusion and asked in puzzlement.
“Uh… how should I explain this…” Terrance helplessly looked at the wriggling golden fluid. He could not really attack it, so he let out a complicated sigh and looked toward Mew.
“Mew~ Mew~” Mew’s eyes widened innocently.
After Terrance explained things, the others finally understood. Mew also scratched its head in distress once again, seemingly unsure how to handle the situation.
The essence of a totem aura was sunlight, while the Tree of Beginning sustained its life by absorbing sunlight. When it discovered Beautifly, a delicious “meal” wrapped in special sunlight, the Tree of Beginning seemed unable to resist the temptation and instinctively acted. After decomposing and absorbing the totem aura, Beautifly itself naturally lost its appeal to the Tree of Beginning, which was why it had immediately spat Beautifly back out.
“Totem aura… you mean the one from Alola, right?” Brock knew a bit about totem aura. After thinking about it, he also felt the whole situation was an odd coincidence.
“Forget it, forget it. It’s just a Sparkling Stone.” Terrance said helplessly. It really was not a huge issue, but now he had to get a new Sparkling Stone again…
And Beautifly’s totem aura would also need to be granted again.
Just as Terrance was feeling depressed, Mew suddenly cried out “Mew~ Mew~” twice and rubbed against him.
After observing Beautifly for a long time, Mew thought for a moment before beginning to communicate with the Tree of Beginning.
Under Mew’s communication, a strand of golden liquid flowed out from the main trunk crystal of the Tree of Beginning and slowly floated over toward Beautifly.
“Wuh?!” Beautifly was greatly startled by this scene, thinking the golden fluid was about to repeat the process all over again. However, after Mew quickly explained things, Beautifly refrained from making any rash moves and allowed the golden fluid to touch its body.
Immediately afterward… the golden fluid began crawling across Beautifly’s body. What shocked Terrance and Rotom Pokédex the most was that the fluid started merging into the yellow patterns on Beautifly’s wings.
As the golden fluid fused in, the color of the yellow patterns on Beautifly’s wings gradually changed. Although they were still golden-yellow, there were subtle differences from before. Looking carefully, the color of Beautifly’s wings had indeed changed.
“Mew, what is this?”
Terrance asked in confusion. After Mew gave its explanation, his expression rapidly changed.
Chapter 962 Swallow, Shiny Beautifly
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