There was still a rge bowl of poisonous mushroom soup left.

  Naoki sat at the dining table, and this time, he wasn't in a hurry to drink it.

  Before diving in, he o figure out a few things.

  From what the Indeedee siblings and Koraidon had told him, he learhat after drinking the poisonous mushroom soup, his sciousness ehe Reverse World, even though he hadn't just id still on the bed. His movements in the Reverse World correspoo his real-world as.

  And the feeling of floatilessly? That wasn't real either. It turned out that when Naoki thought he was floating, Brother Indeedee had used his psychic powers to keep him from falling off.

  "It feels... a bit like wearing a VR helmet," Naoki muttered to himself.

  But this realization made things much simpler.

  It meant he hadn't physically ehe Reverse World, but had only "seen" it through some special means.

  "If I move to a more open space to drink the soup, maybe I could explore even more," Naoki suddenly thought.

  Excited by this idea, he immediately decided to try it out on the ranch's wn ter.

  But first, he o e up with a detailed pn.

  Getting the Water of the Reverse World wasn't going to be easy.

  Since he wasn't really entering the Reverse World, even if Giratina wasn't around, he couldn't just bring the water back with him.

  Plus, as the master of the Reverse World, Giratina might not allow ao freely explore its territory.

  After much thought, everything seemed to e back to Giratina.

  If Naoki wao get his hands ohical ingredient, the Water of the Reverse World, he'd o first make tact with Giratina.

  He'd have to gain its trust, build a good retionship, and somehow vince Giratina to "invite" him into the Reverse World.

  It would be much better to enter with permission than to sneak in.

  But how exactly would he do that?

  Giratina owerful, destructive forot the type of Pokémon that would be as easy to win over as an Eevee.

  "What if I offered it some delicious food?" Naoki mused, but quickly dismissed the idea. "No, that probably won't work."

  Legendary Pokémon like Giratina didn't o eat regurly. They could survive by abs the energy of their enviro.

  At Giratina's level, eating wasn't a y. Even though good food might be tempting, it probably wasn't enough to sway such a powerful being.

  And besides, Naoki didn't even have a way t food into the Reverse World right now.

  "If I ever get the ce, I could give it a try," he thought.

  And perhaps...

  He could slowly let Girati familiar with his prese it get used to seeing him around.

  Just like with some humans, Naoki thought.

  He just o visit the Reverse World once a day, say hello to Giratina, and maybe even have a little chat.

  Once Giratina got used to his presence, perhaps even started accepting it, Naoki would suddenly stop visiting.

  Naoki began to imagine how this might py out.

  If Giratina were more introverted or insecure, it might start w if it had done something wrong. Maybe it would panic, wanting to tihe iion, and then Naoki could seize the opportunity to take things to the level.

  ——But obviously, this wasn't going to happen.

  Given Giratina's personality, it would probably just charge over and try to crush him instead.

  Naoki quickly shook off that thought.

  No matter what the pn, it wasn't something he could achieve in a day. If he wao obtaier of the Reverse World, he'd have to gh a long process first.

  He decided to the "Giratina Strategy Pn."

  Of course, there was always a sed option.

  For example, he could act recklessly and provoke Giratina in the Reverse World.

  Once Giratina became enraged enough, it might lose trol and break through the dimensional barriers, ing to the real world.

  At that point, Naoki could gather the strength of the entire rand un all-out battle against Giratina. If they mao subdue the mighty dragon, then perhaps they could force it to grant him access to the Water of the Reverse World.

  But Naoki didn't think he had that kind of power. And even if they did succeed, both sides would take heavy damage.

  He didn't he Water of the Reverse World that badly, so he much preferred his first phat wouldn't harm the ranch or its Pokémon.

  After a quick thought, Naoki had already formuted a plete aailed strategy in his mind.

  He called over Brother and Sister Indeedee, instrug them to keep a close eye on him, then drank the now-cooled poisonous mushroom soup once again.

  Suddenly, the entire world around him became a swirl of vibrant colors.

  A wave of dizziness hit, and Naoki felt himself toppling over, falling to the ground with a soft thud.

  When he opened his eyes, he found himself ba the Reverse World.

  But this time, instead of being on a floating isnd, Naoki was simply suspended in the void.

  "As I suspected, if my position iy ges, my position in the Reverse World will ge accly," Naoki thought to himself.

  He looked around but didn't see any sign of Giratina.

  Naoki wasn't worried, though. He knew Giratina would have already sensed his presence.

  This time, he didn't try to explore. Instead, he sat cross-legged in the void, waiting patiently firatina to arrive.

  Soon enough, Giratina flew over, only to see the human who had ered aed its domain three times, sitting calmly in the void.

  Thinking about Giratina's previous behavior, Naoki noticed the dragon's eyes narrowing as an unknown aarted to rise.

  'What a bold human! How dare he challenge me?'

  'Did he think this pce was some kind of joke? Did he think it was a joke?'

  'This is my territory!'

  Giratina's enormous body moved through the void, and the terrifying energy i transformed into a storm, bsting out in a powerful wave.

  Naoki: "???"

  He instinctively raised his hands to shield himself, but quickly realized that the energy storm didn't hurt him at all!

  Sitting calmly in the middle of the storm, Naoki was left fused.

  'What's going on? Why is Giratina so angry?'

  Giratina, meanwhile, stared at the human sitting there unharmed, and a big question mark practically popped up in its mind.

  "?"

  "Hello?" Naoki waved at Giratina, hoping to ease the tension.

  But this only snapped Giratina back to its senses.

  It grew even angrier. 'Was this human provoking me?'

  With a huff, Giratina swung its massive dragon tail in frustration.

  However, the tail passed right through Naoki without making tact.

  At this moment, Naoki realized something crucial.

  'Maybe, in Giratina's eyes, my as seem like a provocation!'

  It was like someoting you with all their might, but you just casually asked them if they'd eaten lunbsp;

  'Oh no! This is all just a huge misuanding!'

  Naoki felt wronged. He definitely hadn't meant to provoke Giratina at all!

  As the energy storms, capable of ripping apart space itself, tie around him, Naoki's expression shifted from fear to... boredom.

  However, seeing Naoki's indiffereion only made Giratina fight harder, pushing out even more energy in frustration.

  At the same time, Giratina's two "neighbors," who lived nearby in this otherworldly realm, suddenly opeheir eyes. They both g the space around them, which trembled from Giratina's intense energy output.

  They couldn't help but wonder what oh Giratina was doing.

  ---

  Naoki's brain raced.

  'What should I do? What should I do?!'

  But then, after another one of Giratina's powerful Shadow Balls passed harmlessly through him, Naoki's eyes lit up with an idea.

  'I've got it!'

  Naoki colpsed onto the grass, closed his eyes, held his breath, and decided to py dead.

  Seeing this, Giratina, still panting heavily, paused. Its chest rose and fell, though Naoki wasn't sure if it was from anger or exhaustion.

  As it watched the human disappear from its territiratina gradually calmed down.

  "This is the price of provoking me!"

  With a final g the "fallen" Naoki, Giratina twisted its enormous body and flew bato the void, leaving the area behind.

  After about fifteen minutes, Sister Indeedee gently fed Naoki some Pecha Berry juice.

  Naoki opened his eyes, smacked his lips, and slowly sat up from the grass.

  "Tsk... Giratina really lives up to its reputation as the grumpy dragon of the Reverse World!"

  "No wo dragged Dialga into the Reverse World after their battle!" Naoki thought aloud, recalling the movie se.

  In the movie, after Dialga and Palkia's fight affected the Reverse World, an enraged Giratina ambushed Dialga as it was leaving, pulling it into the Reverse World. In the process, poor Shaymin got caught in the crossfire.

  With Shaymin's help, using Seed Fre, Dialga mao escape, sealing off the Reverse World and preventing Giratina from leaving. This led to the events of Giratina and the Sky Warrior.

  But Giratina, stubborn as ever, didn't give up its reve tinued chasing Dialga all the way to Mia Town, only stopping when Arceus intervened.

  "With that kind of personality, if I hadn't preteo be dead and waited for exactly fifteen minutes, I bet Giratina would've kept attag until I was pletely wiped out," Naoki muttered.

  However, what Naoki couldn't uand was why Giratina had suddenly attacked him this time.

  'Was it because I've been ing in and out of the Reverse World too many times?'

  Naoki thought this was highly likely. After all, the Reverse World was Giratina's territory, and his repeated visits might've seemed like a challenge.

  "Looks like the Giratina friendship pn is going to be a long, difficult journey." Naoki sighed, feeling the weight of his mission.

  He g the remaining bowl of poisonous mushroom soup and, after everything that had happened, decided against drinking anymore.

  "Let's wait and see what happens tomorrow!" Naoki thought as the sun began to set.

  It was already evening.

  To keep his pn moving forward, Naoki once again grabbed his backpad headed toward the back mountain, i on gathering more poisonous mushrooms. The mountains behind the farm, especially during autumn, were a treasure trove for a farmer like Naoki.

  There were fruit trees, wildflowers, mushrooms, hazelnuts, and a variety of herbs scattered across the area.

  This time, Naoki wasn't alone on his trek. While gathering his haul, he entered araveler fing for nature's bounty. It was Topher, the owner of the neighb farm.

  Topher had a distinctive appearance, with a long face, a cssic goatee on his , and he always wore a pair of brown farmer's overalls.

  Nanized him from afar.

  The two met and greeted each other with warm smiles.

  "Good afternoon, Naoki! What a ce to see you here pig mushrooms too!" Topher said cheerfully, clearly in high spirits.

  Naoki returhe smile and nodded. "Yes, I thought I'd make the most of what the mountain has to offer."

  He took a quice at Topher's backpad noticed it was already full of mountain treasures, including mushrooms, berries, and hazelnuts that Squirrel Pokémon would love.

  Topher, in turn, g Naoki's backpack. What he saw gave him quite a shock.

  Pointing at the mushrooms in Naoki's bag with a horrified expression, Topher excimed, "You 't eat those! They're highly poisonous! If you eat them, you'll end up in the hospital! Oh no, this won't do. Throw them away!"

  Naoki: "..."

  Keeping a calm faaoki expined with a straight face, "Don't worry, Mr. Topher. I know what I'm doing. I feed these mushrooms to my Poison-type Pokémon—they love them."

  Topher had never visited Naoki's ranch, so he believed Naoki's expnation about having Poison-type Pokémon.

  Relieved, Topher let out a sigh. "You had me worried there! I thought you were going to make soup with them."

  "Of course not," Naoki said, smiling ily.

  "Well, that's good!" Topher chuckled. "You know, I heard from Mayor Thomas that this is your first time running a farm. I was ed that, with no experience, you might not be able to tell which mushrooms are safe and whies are poisonous."

  Naoki quickly responded, "Mayor Thomas gave me a book about ranch ma a while ago. It has a special se on mushroom species, including poisonous ones. I came out today specifically to pie of those. Look!"

  As he spoke, Naoki proudly showed Topher the mushrooms in his basket.

  Tnced down and saw the basket full of nothing but poisonous mushrooms—there wasn't a single edible one in sight.

  "Well, your Poison-type Pokémon are in for a treat!" Thed. He pointed in a dire and added, "There's a whole patch of poisonous mushrooms growing over there. If you need more, feel free to take as many as you want."

  Naoki's eyes lit up. "Really? Thanks so much, Mr. Topher!"

  Topher chuckled. "We're neighbors, after all. Plus, ever since I built a shrio the King of Bountiful Harvests on my ranch, my crops have been doier than ever! Let's just say I owe you some good luck."

  Naoki: "..."

  The King of Bountiful Harvests was indeed a good god!

  Naoki smiled and thaopher, then eagerly hurried toward the mushroom patch with his backpa tow.

  There, he found a thick fallerunk. The inside of the trunk was hollow, and the area around it was dark and damp—the perfeviro for mushrooms to thrive.

  Sure enough, as Naoki lowered his gaze, he saw an abundance of poisonous mushrooms scattered around.

  After filling his basket to the brim with mushrooms, he returo the ranch feeling tent. He po dry and store the excess mushrooms so they could be used ter. Naoki's goal was to collect as many as he could during the autumn season and use them as a "bridge" to tinue expl the Reverse World.

  Sihe poisonous mushrooms wouldn't cause him any perma harm, he figured—why as many as possible?

  The m, after finishing his ranch duties, Naoki drank another bowl of poisonous mushroom soup.

  This time, Naoki was much more cautious. He had learned from his previous mistakes and decided not to behave as if the Reverse World were his own home. Instead, he stood there respectfully, as if he were a guest, patiently waiting for the true master of the Reverse World to appear.

  A few mier, as Naoki had anticipated, the enormous form of Giratina materialized in front of him once again.

  "?"

  Giratina paused, staring down at the human with shock.

  'What… what is going on?'

  'Hadn't this intruder already beeed by my Shadow Ball?'