Chapter Forty-Nine: Blossoms Falling Like Rain, A Dreamlike Fantasy

The Coral Plateau seemed as if Groudon had visited, ushering in a dazzlingly clear day. At last, they had escaped from the gloomy, shadowed Valley of Miasma, and the bright sunlight instantly lifted Su Yi’s spirits. Yet the Claw Ravager was somewhat uncomfortable; the sunlight was too harsh for its eyes, and since it lacked eyelids, it couldn’t simply close them. Indeed, the Claw Ravager was a formidable creature—one that slept with its eyes open.

“You’d better go back into your ball for now,” Su Yi hastily recalled the Claw Ravager into its capture sphere.

“What’s that over there?” Dewgrass pointed ahead.

At this moment, they stood upon a small plateau resembling a dish; water flowed down from the higher plateau, pouring into the basin below and forming a shallow pond. Within the pond, besides some swimming fish, there were creatures resembling anglerfish, waving their fins as they crawled about their plump bodies in the shallow water.

“Oh, those are Lanternfish,” Su Yi observed these peculiar environmental creatures with curiosity.

“Lanterns?” Dewgrass was puzzled.

“Watch closely,” Su Yi said, approaching them slowly.

The ripples he stirred in the water startled these wary little beings. The “chandeliers” atop their heads suddenly lit up, and they quickly darted into the surrounding coral and crevices to hide.

“What peculiar Pokémon, Rotom!” Rotom pressed the shutter again, capturing these little creatures wriggling their plump bodies.

“Hm? Over there is so bright too… Wow! It’s a shell, meow! How can there be such a large shell here, meow?!”

Dewgrass’s attention was drawn by the scallops, their surfaces reflecting the Lanternfish’s glow.

“They’re Pearl Shells! Now we have funds!” Su Yi exclaimed delightedly, then hurried to the enormous shells growing at the edge of the coral plateau.

“Is there treasure, Rotom?!” Rotom excitedly followed, ready to capture any novelty.

Su Yi knelt, gazing at the gigantic shell protruding from the water. The shell parted slightly, and a faint glimmer caught his eye.

“Jackpot!” Su Yi struck the shell open with a small extraction knife, and in that instant, several pink shrimps sprang out. Quick as lightning, Su Yi snatched two of them.

“These are… Coral Shrimps?” Su Yi guessed, admiring the gem-like, cherry-red shrimps in his hand.

In the game, there was a quest tied to the Coral Plateau that unlocked the Coral Shrimp as an ingredient. These rare specialties from the Pearl Shells could unlock two other shrimp ingredients as well.

The coral-colored, translucent shrimps before him closely matched the description of the “gem-like shrimp” ingredient.

“A taste of the New World—new ingredients acquired!”

Su Yi stowed the Coral Shrimp and took out a pearl nearly the size of his fist from within the shell. The perfectly round, milky-white pearl sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight.

“How beautiful, Rotom!” Rotom snapped a photo.

“There’s more here, meow!” The feline companion waved its paw.

Su Yi hurried over and found three Pearl Shells nestled behind a coral formation.

“Ooh, it feels like drawing a lottery,” Su Yi rubbed his hands together, then cracked open two more shells, harvesting more Coral Shrimps.

One pearl’s interior held an even deeper hue, as if it contained the mysteries of the ocean.

“I want to open one too, meow!” Dewgrass eagerly raised its paw.

“Here you go!” Su Yi handed the small knife to Dewgrass.

“Meow!” Dewgrass pried open the shell with anticipation.

Inside, the pearl reflected sunlight, radiating a dazzling brilliance.

“Is it here? An ultra-rare specialty?!” Su Yi exclaimed.

“Meow!” The feline proudly held up the pearl, face alight with excitement.

The flawless pearl exuded a gentle glow, reminiscent of a full moon in the silent night.

Two luminous pearls, one deep-hued pearl, and one ultra-rare flawless pearl.

“Looks like we won’t need to worry about money for a while,” Su Yi happily packed away the treasures.

“How remarkable—a tiny pond concealing such a rich ecosystem,” Su Yi marveled.

Lanternfish, various small fish, Pearl Shells, shrimps hidden among the coral and shells, and all manner of aquatic plants around them—a single pond could leave one breathless, an epitome of the Coral Plateau’s flourishing ecology.

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The Coral Plateau was formed of layered terraces, each brimming with coral, so traversing it required frequent climbing.

Su Yi used a grappling hook and vines to ascend the coral terraces, reaching a broad, solid platform. Here, coral and rock merged to create bizarre, three-dimensional structures.

“What are those?” Rotom asked, gazing at the creatures swaying in the wind not far away.

“They’re Swaying Eels! Haha!” Su Yi laughed at the creatures reminiscent of garden eels.

These Swaying Eels emerged from holes in the ground, rocking gently in the breeze, mouths opening and closing as they devoured coral spawn drifting by. Watching them sway made one’s own body and mind feel light and buoyant too.

They were extremely timid, though; as Su Yi approached, they instantly retracted into their burrows.

“If the weather’s clear at night, you might see the rare orange Swaying Eel Queen. Unfortunately, it’s not nighttime yet. Perhaps tonight?” Su Yi mused as he continued forward.

As he ventured further into this dreamlike coral plateau, a coral forest unfolded before him—pink coral trees, their branches shaped like coral but resembling ordinary trees, surrounded by a flock of Fragrant Wing Dragons who feasted on the pink coral spawn drifting down from the trees.

At a nearby wind tunnel, clusters of glowing jellyfish rose and fell with the breeze—exclusive to the plateau, these were the Skyflying Jelly Hats.

“Dreamlike—perhaps this is what the phrase truly means.”

On the vibrant Coral Plateau, pink coral trees scattered pink coral spawn like falling cherry blossoms, Skyflying Jelly Hats shimmered with changing colors—wondrous and dazzling. Here, at high altitude, the landscape evoked the deep sea, truly a vision out of a dream.

Whoosh!

The wind picked up, carrying coral spawn skyward, and suddenly a streak of cherry-blossom pink swept across the heavens.

“Quick, hide!” Su Yi pulled Dewgrass into the nearby grass without hesitation.

In the sky, a cherry-colored dragon roared across the plateau, swooping down into the panicked flock of Fragrant Wing Dragons, scattering them. The dragon deftly pivoted, its sharp claws seizing one Fragrant Wing Dragon.

It flew on, lowering its head to devour the most delectable part of its catch, then released it, letting the remains fall into the Valley of Miasma below—a feast for other creatures.

“Cherry Blaze Dragon! The cherry queen of the Coral Plateau!” Su Yi gazed at the queen who summoned a storm of cherry blossoms, his heart full of admiration.