Although Xia Huanao was thinking of finding a place to rest, before the few of them had even walked out of the battlefield, they felt the ground beneath their feet tremble violently. Xia Huanao, with quick reflexes, immediately recalled all his elves back into their Poké Balls. Then, with a forward roll, he landed in a corner of the battlefield.
Xia Huanao’s movements were seamless, a textbook example of how a human should react to an earthquake. But soon, he felt rather foolish. With Mew there, how could he possibly be crushed to death by an earthquake? Besides, even without Mew, with the abilities of Mu Zhishui and Gardevoir, they could escape instantly with a teleportation. Why bother rolling?
Xia Huanao, feigning composure, got up and patted his clothes, brushing away the faint dust. The ground tremor had already stopped. Though the initial display was grand, it only lasted for a single jolt. He looked at everyone: "What? Why are you all looking at me like that?"
Yu Longdu sized up Xia Huanao: "Boss Xia, your move was truly flawless. Do you often hide under people's beds?"
Xia Huanao directly threw a solid Poké Ball at Yu Longdu, making his head buzz. "If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll stuff you into a Poké Ball. I'm telling you, we Awakened ones are already working with Zhishui and them to create Poké Balls that can hold humans. You better be careful."
Yu Longdu quickly and honestly changed the subject: "This doesn't make sense. We shouldn't be on an earthquake belt, so why did it shake? Is Groudon throwing a tantrum?"
Zhang Hong also recalled his elves: "Tantrum? What tantrum? Can't fly? Or did it lose a fight with Kyogre? That's not surprising, there's a type disadvantage."
"Stop bullying Groudon. Not being able to fly isn't its fault. But it usually stays on the seabed continental shelf, it wouldn't cause trouble here."
The group debated amongst themselves, eventually turning their gaze back to Xia Huanao. Usually, the sharp-minded Xia Huanao would offer some constructive opinions at such times, but this time he remained silent.
Xia Huanao was stroking his chin, deep in thought, and noticing everyone staring at him, he asked in confusion: "What? Why are you all looking at me? It was just a small tremor. Even if my reaction was a bit excessive, you don't need to discuss it so heatedly."
As he spoke, Xia Huanao led everyone outwards: "Let's go, let's find a resting area to relax. Don't stay so tense."
Xia Huanao cajoled and coaxed everyone to the resting area. After resting for about ten minutes, they quickly forgot about the minor tremor, which had no aftershocks, and resumed their usual chatter.
Xia Huanao was sitting on a chair, scrolling through his phone. Mu Zhishui asked, "What are you looking at?"
Xia Huanao blurted out a lie: "I'm seeing what reactions there are to that tremor just now. Although it sounds a bit heartless, I've already heard the news."
As he was speaking, Xia Huanao's finger suddenly paused, his eyes fixed on the phone screen. He asked Zhang Hong: "Zhang Hong, how long has it been since that tremor just now?"
Zhang Hong checked his watch: "I'm not sure, about fifteen minutes. What's wrong?"
Xia Huanao stroked his chin: "Fifteen minutes. That's fast enough."
Before he finished speaking, a hand reached out and snatched the phone from Xia Huanao's grasp: "Let me see what you're looking at. What do you mean 'fast enough'?"
On Xia Huanao's phone, there was only one news headline, the gist of which was that today, a not-very-strong tremor had occurred throughout Spirit Monster Star, and Spirit Monster Star had begun to collapse.
Although he understood every word, putting it all together made Shen Yu's head feel a bit overwhelmed: "So, what does this mean?"
Zhang Hong also came over to take a look: "Oh, this? It means it shook just now, and then Spirit Monster Star shattered. It's that simple."
Zhang Hong's initial tone was somewhat carefree, but he froze midway through his sentence, and everyone present also froze: "How is that possible?"
The group gathered around Xia Huanao's phone, scrutinizing the newly released news. Only Xia Huanao, looking relaxed, picked up a teacup from the table and poured himself a drink, looking quite at ease.
"When you didn't know anything, you were panicking. Now that you know what happened, you're calm?"
Xia Huanao leaned back in his chair: "How should I put it? I've had a premonition about this for a long time. The moment those idiots from Dun He used a pirated rocket to destroy Arceus's clone, I knew this day would come."
Mewtwo, holding Mew who was playing with its tail, asked: "Oh, you knew it was Arceus's clone?"
Xia Huanao nodded indifferently: "Yes. With human capabilities, it's almost impossible to defeat Arceus head-on. What else could be defeated by humans other than a clone? It's like when you fight a Ditto and its Ditto's shadow clone, the difficulty is entirely different."
After saying this, Xia Huanao hesitated. From Mew's perspective, whether it was the real body or a clone, she could easily defeat Ditto.
"Speaking of which, although I knew something might happen, why did it escalate into such a big problem?"
Mewtwo crossed its arms: "Even gods have tempers, don't they? Though Arceus's temper this time is indeed a bit too much?"
"I can't comment. My life is more important."
As he spoke, Xia Huanao looked at the people staring at their phones: "Right, can someone turn on the TV or something? Let's watch the broadcast. What's the point of crowding around a phone?"
Xia Huanao retrieved his phone, and everyone sat together by the television, waiting for news. Mewtwo nudged him: "I'll also use my means to gather some information. Mew, are you coming with me or staying here?"
Mew snuggled into Xia Huanao's arms: "Okay, I know. Come back early."
Xia Huanao also advised Mewtwo: "When you're gathering information, be polite. Don't get into a fight with Rayquaza or Deoxys."
Mewtwo's actions paused for a moment, then it disappeared. At this point, the television had already received definitive news. Although they didn't know why Spirit Monster Star had become this way, humans could at least know its current state.
"Damn, over two hundred pieces. Did it shatter too finely?"
Mu Zhishui looked at the current state of Spirit Monster Star from space: "Judging by the outlines, it seems to be one country per piece. It's amazing that the gravity is still maintained despite being so fragmented."
"Yes, this must be the power of the earth. It can't be that all humans are going to float away."
A purple light flashed, and Mewtwo returned to the lounge: "I'm back."
Xia Huanao, holding Mew, glanced at Mewtwo. He didn't detect any signs of friendly or heated physical altercations with others, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief: "Sister Mew, what exactly happened with Spirit Monster Star this time?"
Under Mewtwo's explanation, Xia Huanao and the others began to understand the truth of the matter.
First, we need to rewind the clock to last year's winter break, the day Xia Huanao returned home from Six Tombs and the day Dun He attacked Arceus.
As the creator of Spirit Monster Star, Arceus never considered that one day it would be struck by humans living on the very star it created. This single rocket caused Arceus to lose a clone.
Generally speaking, creating a clone is not difficult for Arceus, and losing one clone would not have any irreversible effect on its physical state. But Arceus couldn't comprehend it.
Having existed for so many years, Arceus had watched the humans on Spirit Monster Star grow. It was somewhat aware of their rockets. But precisely because it knew a little, it couldn't understand. If it had been a rocket from Ming Long or Li Xing, or even one thrown by Man Ying, why was a Dun He rocket capable of this? Even if Rainbow Star was behind it, it still didn't make sense.
Thus, Arceus went into deep contemplation, filled with doubt, and recreated a clone to manage Spirit Monster Star.
But at the same time, another problem arose. Humans had dissected and researched the remains of Arceus's clone, which inexplicably increased the difficulty of Arceus's activities. It had been over a year, and Arceus still hadn't found the time to manage Spirit Monster Star. As a result, due to Spirit Monster Star being neglected by Arceus for an extended period, it couldn't bear it any longer and cracked open... If it weren't for the various legendary Pokémon, this progress might have happened even sooner.
So, now that Spirit Monster Star had cracked open, were there any methods to piece it back together?
The answer was: yes. As long as Arceus found the time, restoring Spirit Monster Star would only be a matter of time. The only inconvenience was that before Arceus could restore Spirit Monster Star, the distances between the more than two hundred fragments of Spirit Monster Star would continuously increase, eventually stabilizing at a relatively constant state. Air travel would be impossible, and if one wanted to travel long distances, they would likely have to use rockets.
Upon learning that there were no major issues, Xia Huanao sat back in his chair: "Spirit Monster Star only shook once when it split. If it's going to be pieced back together, how long will it shake then?"
Everyone heard this and said: "Yes, over two hundred pieces. If they all come together at once, the energy generated by the collision could reshape the entire topography of Spirit Monster Star."
"Alright, stop scaring them. Arceus and the others are in charge of this. They won't destroy humanity," Mewtwo comforted them.
Xia Huanao took out his phone and posted an update: The world is ending... But Arceus is unaffected, and humans and Pokémon should continue to live their lives. A world where only Spirit Monster Star is injured has been achieved.