Chapter 206
The Eevee vanished completely after diving into the lake. It seemed to have taken Little
Ruo's soul with it, leaving the girl squatting by the water's edge in a complete daze for
half an hour.
During this half-hour, Lorze and the others worked together to set up a massive,
cabin-style tent, making it look exactly as if they were genuinely here for a casual
camping trip.
Once their accommodations were sorted, Lorze finally called the spaced-out Little Ruo
over. The group gathered around the campfire and enjoyed a steaming hot lunch.
"Little Ruo, do you want to try diving this afternoon?" Lorze asked, gently rubbing his
sister's head.
"Diving?" Little Ruo asked curiously.
"Exactly. It just so happens Milotic hasn't had the chance to test out her Dive move yet.
She can take you for a tour underwater; the scenery down there is incredibly beautiful,
"
Lorze suggested.
"Diving...
" Little Ruo seemed somewhat interested upon hearing the word, but the
moment she remembered the Eevee had vanished to parts unknown, her enthusiasm
instantly evaporated.
"You can also bring some Water-type Pokéblocks with you. Who knows, you might even
manage to lure the Eevee back~
"
.
"Really?!"
"It's mathematically possible. However, Vaporeons typically dissolve entirely into the
water, making them practically invisible to the naked eye. If you notice a Pokéblock
spontaneously disappearing into thin air, it' s highly likely the Vaporeon is secretly
snacking on it.
"
"I understand! I definitely want to try!"
Hearing this, Little Ruo's eyes instantly lit up, her spirit completely revitalized. She
practically inhaled the rest of her lunch, desperate to finish so she could immediately go
diving.
One has to admit, little girls are incredibly easy to manipulate.
Surprisingly, even Mawile's eyes began to sparkle upon hearing they could go diving. It
seemed she hadn't forgotten the profound awe of her first visit to the aquarium,
harboring a deep fascination for the underwater world.
Now that she possessed the opportunity to explore a genuine underwater ecosystem,
she naturally wanted to experience it firsthand.
Unable to resist, Mawile tugged on her Master's hand, eagerly chanting "Maw, maw!" to
beg for his permission.
"You want to go too?" Lorze paused for a moment, having momentarily forgotten that
this lethal combatant was essentially still a little girl brimming with curiosity about the
world.
"Mong! Mong!" Ditto also desperately wanted to join the expedition.
"Alright, alright. I really can't say no to you kids. What about you, Pheromosa? Do you
want to come?" Lorze casually extended the invitation to Pheromosa."I' ll pass. Let me clear this level first,
" Pheromosa replied indifferently. She was still
utilizing her antennae to furiously tap her smartphone screen even while eating, entirely
engrossed in a mobile game level. It was glaringly obvious her internet addiction was
terminal.
Fortunately, their current campsite still registered two bars of signal. Otherwise, she
probably would have suffocated to death from boredom.
Ultimately, the diving roster was finalized: everyone except Pheromosa and Gardevoir.
Even Gardevoir opted out of accompanying Lorze underwater. Lorze knew exactly what
she was thinking. After having her receive a Wish blessing from Togepi, he allowed her to
depart on her own.
Gardevoir ' s mind was still entirely fixated on her mother. She intended to leverage
Togepi's supernatural luck to scour the perimeter in hopes of discovering any trace of
her.
Lorze initially intended to escort her, but Gardevoir knew he needed to remain at camp to
supervise Mawile's training, so she insisted he stay behind.
Besides, their minds were permanently linked; no matter the physical distance separating
them, they could constantly perceive each other's presence. There was no absolute
necessity to remain physically glued together 24/7.
With the itinerary settled, the respective teams mobilized. The first group consisted of
Milotic, Little Ruo, and Togepi. Protected by the impermeable, oxygenated bubble
generated by the Dive move, they quickly submerged into the lake's depths.
Lorze wasn't about to be left behind. Ditto instantly transformed into a perfect replica of
Milotic, generating an identical aquatic bubble to encase its Master and Mawile.
He had to admit, this aquatic bubble was fundamentally miraculous. Not only did it
completely neutralize hydrostatic pressure, but it actively filtered oxygen from the
surrounding water, operating on a biological mechanic that defied human physics
entirely.
Theoretically, as long as a Pokémon possessed sufficient proficiency with the Dive move,
it could effortlessly transport a human to the abyssal depths of the ocean. Compared to
this biological marvel, human scuba technology felt tragically archaic.
The underwater ecosystem was crystalline and breathtaking, teeming with lush aquatic
flora and numerous non-Pokémon fish darting playfully among the reeds. Its beauty was
almost surreal.
The children felt as though their souls were being cleansed; they were completely
mesmerized by the spectacle.
Lorze made no attempt to disrupt their joy. Perhaps allowing these "kids" to experience
these wonders early on would prove highly beneficial to their psychological development.
Therefore, he simply let them frolic and explore the depths freely for over an hour before
finally guiding them back to shore to rest.
For the longest time, Lorze had operated under the assumption that upon the arrival of
the Pokémon world, Blue Star's native fauna would have been almost entirely driven to
extinction by the catastrophic, dimensional-tier power gap possessed by these
supernatural entities.
But the reality was that the world was vastly broader and emptier than humanityperceived. The total population of both humans and Pokémon was significantly lower
than estimated.
Even if you aggregated every single human and Pokémon on the planet, their combined
biomass probably couldn't even fill a single metropolis.
The mathematical probability of encountering a Pokémon while traversing the wilderness
wasn't drastically higher than encountering standard wildlife. Furthermore, the vast
majority of Pokémon populations remained heavily concentrated around the perimeters
of Secret Realm environments, leaving massive ecological niches available for ordinary
animals to occupy.
It was only when he occasionally paused to look around that Lorze truly realized how
profoundly beautiful this hybridized world was. Perhaps in the future, he should schedule
more time to take his family on actual vacations.
But a man cannot relax indefinitely. Once the playtime concluded, Lorze immediately
corralled Mawile and initiated her training sequence.
Her mastery of Magnet Rise required grinding in an environment with unstable magnetic
fields; he couldn't afford to waste this operational window.
"Idor, moving forward, I will maintain Telepathic Resonance continuously to artificially
amplify your cognitive control. If you fail to successfully harness electromagnetic
manipulation within a month, I'm afraid I'll have no choice but to force you to study
academic physics textbooks,
" Lorze stated with an aura of absolute seriousness.
"Maw!!! (No studying! I absolutely refuse to study physics!!!)"
The moment Mawile heard she might be forced to memorize incomprehensible academic
jargon, her expression completely collapsed. She instantly focused her entire being,
swearing on her life she would master the technique within a month.
"That's the spirit. Let's begin immediately. The faster you master it, the sooner you can
go back to playing underwater,
" Lorze encouraged, patting her tiny head.
"Maw!" Mawile nodded heavily, immediately initiating the Mimic sequence for Magnet
Rise.
While actively mimicking the move, her control was exceptionally stable. Arcs of
electricity began coalescing around her frame, gradually generating a localized
electromagnetic field capable of neutralizing Blue Star's gravitational pull. Propelled by
electromagnetic force, Mawile's body became weightless, steadily levitating into the air,
even managing to maneuver at a constant velocity by manipulating the field's polarity.
However, the catastrophic failure occurred the exact microsecond she deactivated
Mimic and attempted to manually synthesize the electromagnetic field based on raw
instinct. She completely lost the ability to perceive Blue Star's magnetic grid, failing to
comprehend what an electromagnetic field even was on a fundamental level.
Sigh. It's going to be a long, grueling grind. Lorze's only viable strategy was to subject
her to relentless, repetitive drills, forcing her biology to slowly internalize the sensation of
levitation through sheer muscle memory.
Under this steady training regime, dusk rapidly descended upon the camp.
Gardevoir abruptly teleported back into the campsite. Her emotional wavelength
remained completely flat throughout the entire afternoon, glaringly indicating she had
failed to leverage Togepi's luck to locate her mother.However, she had largely anticipated this outcome, so she didn't feel overwhelmingly
disappointed.
At the very least, after exhausting herself searching the wilderness, she still had a man's
warm embrace to return to. In truth, she already considered herself incredibly fortunate...
Chapter 207
"Big Bro! Big Bro! It really showed up!"
Just as Lorze and Gardevoir were lying entwined on a beach blanket, snuggling tightly
and engaged in a heated, passionate kiss, Little Ruo—like a child completely oblivious to
reading the room—came sprinting over excitedly right after her dive. Dripping wet, she
threw herself directly onto her brother, completely disregarding the situation.
Well, after his own dive, Lorze was only wearing a pair of boxer briefs anyway; it was the
middle of summer, and being shirtless was simply cooler.
Thus, Little Ruo, who was also only wearing a swimsuit, pressed her wet skin tightly
against her brother's, completely ignoring the boundaries between men and women.
She already had his fish-skin eggs inside her belly, so why would she care about
boundaries anymore?
"The Eevee showed up?"
Lorze hurriedly caught his lunging sister, pulling her into his embrace right alongside
Gardevoir.
In this picturesque environment, holding a beauty in each arm while on vacation—what a
delightfully wonderful life this was~
.
Although Little Ruo's current physical development was still far from mature; her chest
capacity couldn't even begin to compare with Gardevoir's.
Lorze even suspected that if his sister hadn't miraculously grown a bit taller after
exposure to True Qi, she might have permanently stagnated, physically locked into what
others would call a "legal loli" constitution.
But even with the passive assistance of the True Qi Mode, Lorze's ultimate expectation
for his sister's height was merely reaching 1.5 meters—he'd consider that a massive
victory.
"Yeah, yeah! It was exactly like you said, Big Bro! Just now, while I was feeding the
Pokémon underwater, some of the Pokéblocks literally vanished into thin air, eaten by
something completely invisible!" Little Ruo reported with immense surprise and joy.
"It seems the Vaporeon is indeed sneaking snacks. Big Bro actually has a method to help
you 'see' it. Do you want to give it a try?" Lorze asked, casually stroking his sister's
"narrow, flat plains.
"
The tactile sensation really can't compare to Gardevoir's 'broad horizons.
'
"What method? Of course I want to try!" Little Ruo looked at him with intense
anticipation.
"We can't execute this method immediately. It might require you to undergo some
specialized training first.
"
"That's fine, I can endure it!"
"It won't make you physically exhausted. It just requires you to share a kiss with your
brother.
""A kiss~
"
.
Hearing those words, Little Ruo instantly blushed, but she still closed her eyes and
leaned her tiny face toward her brother.
Even if it wasn't to find the Eevee, she genuinely loved kissing her brother.
Perhaps her willingness to have sex with Lorze was the single, solitary stain on Little
Ruo's otherwise flawlessly pure, innocent mind?
But you couldn't really phrase it like that. While Lorze was indeed actively building a
massive, degenerate harem, Little Ruo's feelings toward her brother were built on
absolutely pure, unadulterated love. Who could claim that loving someone was a stain?
Setting aside the philosophical implications, Lorze naturally wasn't going to reject his
sister's affection. He immediately cupped her tiny face and initiated a passionate kiss.
However, Lorze obviously wasn't satisfied with kissing just her. He pulled Gardevoir
closer, bringing all three of their lips together in a shared embrace, their tongues playfully
slipping out to entangle with one another. Wasn't this absolute bliss?
Of course, Lorze's objective wasn't entirely driven by lust. He intended to utilize
Telepathic Resonance to forcefully synchronize all three of their consciousnesses.
The method to allow Little Ruo to "see" the Vaporeon was actually quite simple: he just
needed to help her awaken her Aura capabilities. By utilizing Aura perception, she could
sense the Vaporeon's presence perfectly, even with her eyes closed.
To execute this operation, he needed Gardevoir to utilize Transform to emit an Aura pulse,
while he simultaneously shared that sensory comprehension directly into Little Ruo's
mind.
Little Ruo's innate Aura was already abnormally powerful; she simply lacked the capacity
to perceive it herself.
Through this method, Little Ruo could gradually detect and familiarize herself with the
existence of Aura. When the time was right, there was a highly realistic probability she
could awaken her true Aura powers.
And once Little Ruo successfully awakened her Aura, she could inversely share that
profound comprehension back with him. That way, wouldn't she be carrying him along to
master Aura—the hidden encryption key to Life Energy?
Therefore, while he claimed he was doing this to help his sister, his true motive was
entirely self-serving. He truly lived up to his title as absolute trash!
Cough, cough. Though his desire to pamper his sister was also 100% genuine~
.
In short, with Little Ruo's earnest cooperation, Lorze officially initiated the development
of his own Aura capabilities, gradually gaining some critical insights.
Just like that, they plunged deeply into their training regimen, and before they knew it, an
entire month had quietly slipped by.
During this month, Lorze's progress was phenomenal.
Not only could he finally perceive the existence of Aura without relying on the Transform
Ability as a crutch, but his long-stalled research into the True Qi Mode had also achieved
a catastrophic breakthrough.
Thanks entirely to Qiao Yue, who tirelessly scoured medical tomes every night to answer
his questions regarding meridian pathways, and under that girl's meticulous guidance,
Lorze finally mapped out a viable meridian circuit capable of stimulating the mind andamplifying Qi.
The human meridian network was truly miraculous. He vividly remembered that every
time he circulated his True Qi through the wrong pathway, his body would exhibit a
variety of bizarre, extreme physiological reactions.
Sometimes, he felt an unbearable, scorching heat deep within his core, as if he had
swallowed a furnace. Other times, his entire body would turn freezing cold, as if the
ambient temperature had instantly plummeted below zero.
These violent fluctuations between extreme heat and cold felt remarkably similar to the
legendary "Nine Suns" and "Nine Yins" martial arts manuals from Wuxia novels.
But that wasn't what Lorze was looking for. After enduring immense hardship and
suffering through countless agonizing side effects, he finally locked onto a comfortable,
highly efficient Qi-amplification circuit.
By circulating his True Qi through this specific pathway, he could distinctly feel his entire
body surge with vitality. The rate at which his True Qi expanded was utterly
unprecedented. The only drawback was that shortly after initiating the circulation, he
would experience intense, ravenous hunger.
Consequently, Lorze and his team's food consumption skyrocketed during this period.
Their ingredients depleted at a terrifying rate, forcing them to return to town to restock
supplies practically every three days.
But the resulting benefits were incredibly gratifying. Utilizing this "Microcosmic Orbit"
circulation logic, he rapidly converted consumed food into True Qi. Not only did his True
Qi reserves reach a volume capable of completely saturating his physical body, but
under his guidance, even Little Ruo managed to execute a functional Focus Punch.
This proved definitively that this "Microcosmic Orbit" technique was genuinely effective.
He could absolutely deploy this across his entire harem, allowing his mother and wives to
reap the benefits as well. Nothing could possibly be more exhilarating than this
realization.
Equally exhilarating was Mawile's breakthrough in move mastery. Driven by a sheer,
absolute terror of having to study physics, the little girl had trained with suicidal
desperation over the past month. Her hard work finally paid off, allowing her to smoothly
master Magnet Rise.
Bolstered by Magnet Rise, Mawile no longer needed to expend surplus kinetic energy
fighting gravity. This elevated her 2-stack "Spit Up" velocity to an entirely new tier,
genuinely pushing her into the realm of Extreme Speed.
But Lorze wasn't satisfied with just that. Leveraging the sensory-sharing capabilities of
Telepathic Resonance, he taught the "Microcosmic Orbit" circulation to Mawile as well,
enabling her to successfully master the True Qi Mode.
Empowered by the True Qi Mode, her comprehensive combat parameters predictably
shattered the ceiling, officially elevating her to the Elite tier (B-Rank).
Simultaneously, the bite force of her massive jaw escalated by a full tier. Now, she could
finally attempt to safely withstand the pressure of a 3-stack "Spit Up" compression
without fearing the "cylinder" would explode.
If her 2-stack speed already rivaled Extreme Speed, what kind of absurd, catastrophic
velocity would a 3-stack launch generate?Both Lorze and Mawile were practically buzzing with anticipation!
Chapter 208
Under Lorze's proposition, Mawile initiated the 3-stack "Spit Up" test protocol.
She leveraged the explosive physical power granted by the True Qi Mode to massively
reinforce her jaw's bite force. Now, when she compressed the energy payload of a
3-stack Stockpile simultaneously within her "cylinder,
" she finally possessed the
structural integrity to prevent the pressure from blowing her jaw apart.
Next, she activated Magnet Rise to completely neutralize gravity. Her entire body angled
upwards into a rocket-launch posture, before violently blasting the highly compressed
energy payload directly at the ground.
Accompanied by the deafening, supersonic roar of high-velocity fluid expulsion, the
gravity-unbound Mawile blasted into the sky instantly. Her silhouette shrank drastically in
Lorze's field of vision, vanishing completely in a fraction of a second.
This velocity... even Extreme Speed was nothing but a pathetic joke in comparison.
Even Mawile herself struggled to maintain control under this hyper-velocity; the severe
G-force overload once again caused her to experience extreme vertigo and nausea.
However, this time, the severe overload didn't cause her to instantly black out. Her
elevated combat tier and the physical reinforcement of True Qi had granted her a
significantly stronger constitution. With Lorze actively sustaining her via Telepathic
Resonance, she probably couldn't pass out even if she wanted to.
Mawile rapidly completed a high-altitude lap, feeling incredibly euphoric. Ever since
mastering Magnet Rise, she had immediately swapped her Mimic slot back to Dive. Now,
she was functionally omnipotent, capable of soaring through the skies and plunging into
the abyssal depths. Idor is so amazing~
.
"Idor, how does it feel?" Lorze shouted toward the sky.
"Maw! (While cruising slowly is super fun, once I hit top speed, my vision blurs too much
to see clearly.)" Mawile slowly descended back to the ground.
"That's perfectly normal. You aren't biologically a Flying-type Pokémon; your dynamic
visual acuity at hyper-velocity has limits. Once I teach you how to use Aura, we'll just
activate 'God Mode' perspective,
" Lorze comforted her.
In reality, they didn't even need 'God Mode.
' Idor's velocity was so absurdly fast that
whether she could see clearly or not was irrelevant. In combat, she just needed to launch
herself forward like an artillery shell; the opponent would mathematically lack the reaction
time to evade anyway.
"Maw! (Then I'm going to go diving with Little Ruo first!)" Mawile had absolutely fallen in
love with diving.
"Go on, go on. But remember, you have to come back and continue training in an hour,
understood?" Lorze instructed.
Mawile quickly voiced her agreement, then happily sprinted off to find Little Ruo to play,
looking exactly like a kid who had just been let out of school.
Over the past month, Little Ruo spent a significant portion of practically every day
soaking in the lake. Without even realizing it, she had managed to passively "capture"
numerous Pokémon residing within its depths.At the very least, if Little Ruo ever wanted to take any of them home, it was highly likely
none of them would refuse.
If you're telling me this isn't the Viridian Mind, I don't know what is.
In addition to the Viridian Mind, Little Ruo had also achieved a preliminary mastery over
her Aura capabilities. As she had desperately hoped, she could finally pinpoint the
Vaporeon's presence within the lake.
Although the Vaporeon still hadn't physically revealed its form to Little Ruo, it had
actually escalated to resting directly on her shoulder, secretly snacking on her
Pokéblocks under the assumption she hadn't noticed it.
Furthermore, every single night, Little Ruo would intentionally leave a box of Pokéblocks
on the shoreline to lure the gluttonous Eevee out of the water to steal a meal, while she
happily spied on it from the safety of the sedan.
Although the human and the Pokémon had never formally interacted face-to-face, after a
month of this routine, they had undeniably forged a specific, unspoken mutual
understanding.
Until two days later, while Little Ruo was feeding her aquatic friends at the bottom of the
lake, her expression appeared incredibly listless and depressed.
The adorable little Pokémon immediately swarmed around her, worriedly inquiring about
what had happened.
The Vaporeon also covertly drifted closer, seemingly concerned about her well-being.
"Everyone, my family and I are leaving tomorrow. I probably won't be able to see any of
you ever again,
" Little Ruo said, her voice heavy with sorrow.
As expected, her announcement instantly triggered a wave of absolute chaos at the
bottom of the lake.
After a month of being fed and pampered, many of the Pokémon had already developed
emotional attachments to her akin to a quasi-Trainer. Hearing she was leaving, and highly
likely never returning, elicited a profound sense of loneliness—even if it didn't quite reach
the despair of being abandoned by a true Trainer.
A few Pokémon who were exceptionally attached to Little Ruo affectionately rubbed
against her, desperately hoping she would take them with her.
This put Little Ruo in a very difficult position. She obviously couldn't take all of them; the
pool back home definitely wasn't large enough to house them all. But looking at these
Pokémon who had grown so deeply reliant on her, abandoning them felt incredibly cruel.
Maybe I should ask Big Bro if I can take a few of them home...
"I don't even know if little Eevee is still here. I really wanted to see it one last time,
" Little
Ruo sighed forlornly, occasionally sneaking a covert glance toward her shoulder.
She could distinctly sense the Eevee's Aura resting exactly there, meaning this entire
dialogue was deliberately engineered for the Eevee to hear.
One had to admit, Little Ruo had truly been corrupted by Lorze. She had actually started
employing these manipulative, guilt-tripping abduction tactics.
Eevee: "
"
...
And it had to be said, Eevee was completely paralyzed by this psychological moral
kidnapping.
Thinking back to how this girl had secretly left Pokéblocks out on the shoreline for itevery single night over the past month, its emotions descended into a chaotic, tangled
mess.
Eevee actually knew. It knew perfectly well that Little Ruo spied on it from the car while it
ate, but both sides had simply maintained a mutual pretense of ignorance.
Furthermore, this girl seemed to possess some miraculous, supernatural charm. Every
time it rested near her, its turbulent mind would feel an unprecedented sense of absolute
tranquility.
Chapter 209
This was phenomenally precious to it. Its brain had long since been injected with an
artificial compound known as the "Destruction Gene" by those abhorrent humans. The
compatibility between this gene and its biology was abysmally low, meaning it constantly,
agonizingly ravaged both its physical body and its psyche.
Whenever it executed a move, the Destruction Gene would trigger a genetic storm,
violently dismantling its existing genetic stability, causing its cellular structure to become
hyper-susceptible to elemental energy, forcing a type-specific evolution.
The moment it utilized a specific elemental move, it was forcefully mutated into the
corresponding evolutionary form.
That savage, volatile power felt exactly as though its body was being ground into dust
and reassembled from scratch. Every single forced shape-shift inflicted unfathomable,
excruciating agony.
Coupled with the fact that it had recently been hunted like an animal by a swarm of
Trainers, it had been forced to continuously deploy moves to fight and flee. This resulted
in its body undergoing countless cycles of violent destruction and reassembly within a
very short timeframe. The sheer magnitude of the agony it endured was impossible to
articulate.
This was exactly why Eevee hated humanity so intensely. It harbored an absolute,
terminal hatred!
Yet, this Pokémon—which despised humans so thoroughly—was currently resting with
absolute peace of mind on the shoulder of a human girl, mingling with a crowd of other
Pokémon just to sneak a snack.
And upon hearing that she was truly leaving, even its guarded heart felt a distinct pang of
reluctance.
Perhaps after a month of coexistence, it truly recognized how fundamentally different
Little Ruo was from other humans. It genuinely felt her absolute sincerity.
Humans might be completely untrustworthy...
But what does that have to do with Little Ruo?!
She ' s just an innocent, pure-hearted little girl! What could she possibly have done
wrong?!
"Vui...
"
Eevee finally deactivated its aquatic camouflage, manifesting its true physical form right
in front of Little Ruo, affectionately rubbing its cheek against hers in a clear display of
approval.
Seeing the Eevee voluntarily reveal itself, Little Ruo gasped in surprise, covering hermouth with her hands.
Big Bro... is actually amazing!
In reality, that entire guilt-tripping monologue had been explicitly scripted for her by her
older brother. She never expected it to be this flawlessly effective.
Is my Big Bro genuinely omniscient and omnipotent?
But Little Ruo couldn't care less about that now. Seeing the Eevee suddenly manifest,
she was instantly overwhelmed with joy. She hurriedly and excitedly pulled it into a tight
embrace, nuzzling it affectionately, before frantically running back to shore to show off to
her brother.
"Big Bro! Big Bro! I finally caught the Eevee!!! ٩(๑>◡<๑)۶"
But before her brother could even respond to her joy, she preemptively sensed a deeply
malicious gaze locking onto them.
She realized that at some point, a squad of individuals wearing identical uniforms had
invaded their campsite and were currently locked in a tense standoff with her brother.
Planted firmly into the dirt behind the squad was a flag. Judging by the emblem, it
appeared to belong to... the Japanese?!
A group of roughly twenty individuals suddenly materialized on the lake's shoreline out of
nowhere. They were dressed in uniform attire, their expressions grim and severe. One
glance was enough to tell they were up to no good!
Well, with the exception of their leaders: a mature woman and a young girl, both dressed
in traditional kimonos, radiating a captivating, exotic allure. They were actually quite
stunning~
.
"Big Bro! Big Bro! Who are those people?"
The moment Little Ruo emerged from the water and saw the crowd, she panicked,
assuming they were more Trainers trying to steal her Eevee. She hurriedly hugged the
Eevee and hid behind her brother.
"Judging by their formation, they look like a scientific research expedition from Japan.
"
Lorze frowned slightly. He didn't think this group was here for the Eevee; he simply
thought they were completely out of their minds.
Come on, this lake is larger than three football fields combined! There ' s a massive
perimeter offering endless spots to set up camp. Couldn't you have picked a location
slightly further away?
What exactly is the implication of setting up camp right on top of us?
Try me, and from now on, whenever I take a piss in a public restroom, I'll deliberately
pick the urinal right next to yours!!!
Lorze felt incredibly speechless, but considering they were preparing to leave soon
anyway, he didn't bother saying anything.
Simultaneously, he quickly retrieved an empty Poké Ball and handed it to Little Ruo,
instructing her to recall the Eevee immediately to prevent any unforeseen complications.
As Little Ruo happily took the Poké Ball, hugged the Eevee, and sprinted back to the car
to hide beside Pheromosa, one of the mature women conversing with the kimono-clad
mother and daughter suddenly turned her gaze toward him.
The woman's eyes explicitly swept over the pure white Gardevoir standing beside Lorze,and her lips curled into a subtle smile.
She then quickly excused herself from the kimono-clad pair and walked toward him with
a face full of enthusiasm.
"Young man, you are Lorze, correct?" The mature woman stopped in front of Lorze,
studying his face with intense interest, her expression seemingly radiating a hint of
satisfaction.
"And you are...?" Lorze studied her with equal curiosity, initially assuming she was a
Japanese translator and that his reputation had already expanded overseas.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Qiao Wei, the Forest Guardian of the Mt. Chimney
Secret Realm, and also the mother of that child, Qiao Yue.
" Qiao Wei introduced herself
smoothly.
"So it's Auntie Qiao~
. What brings you out here?" Lorze realized the connection.
"As you can see, two highly influential figures have arrived from Japan. I am merely
acting as their receptionist for the time being.
"
"How influential are we talking?"
"Influential enough that they have a realistic chance of becoming the de facto rulers of
Japan.
"
"That influential? What the hell are VIPS of that caliber doing wandering into a foreign
nation's Secret Realm? Do they have a death wish?" Lorze was genuinely surprised.
Chapter 210
One had to understand that Secret Realms were incredibly lethal environments. Even a
fully integrated realm like Mt. Chimney was far from safe.
As individuals poised to take control of an entire nation, weren't they terrified of being
covertly assassinated inside a foreign Secret Realm?
If they were assassinated here, the incident could easily be blamed on the inherent
dangers of the Secret Realm, couldn't it?
They genuinely must have a death wish.
"Why else? The only thing in Mt. Chimney capable of attracting them is that specific
Pokémon.
" Qiao Wei shook her head. Having conversed with the mother and daughter
moments ago, she could vividly sense the fanaticism laced within their words.
"You mean... Volcarona?" Lorze narrowed his eyes.
"Exactly. Recently, some anomalies have manifested at the main peak of Mt. Chimney,
closely mirroring the phenomena documented during Volcarona's initial appearance
years ago. Somehow, this intel leaked to Japan, drawing that mother-daughter pair all
the way over here.
"
"Are you serious? Risking their lives personally just for a Volcarona?"
"What do you mean,
'just for a Volcarona'? That is a Legendary Pokémon.
"
"Huh? Who told you Volcarona was a Legendary Pokémon? At best, it's an ultra-rare
species exalted in folklore and myth. Its raw combat metrics might not even surpass a
Pseudo-Legendary. Risking their lives to capture a Pokémon like that is truly hilarious,
"
Lorze chuckled.
"Uh... it isn't a Legendary Pokémon?" Hearing this, Qiao Wei froze, and even the
kimono-clad mother and daughter standing a distance away seemed to frown.On what authority was Lorze claiming it wasn't a Legendary? Did he possess any
empirical evidence?
The general public had always universally categorized Volcarona as an absolute
Legendary Pokémon. After all, its name literally translated to "Moth of the Fire God,
" and
its silhouette had been discovered in ancient murals excavated from ruins.
Could an ordinary rare Pokémon command that level of historical reverence?
"Don't forget, I am a Researcher who has actually made physical contact with a
Legendary Pokémon. Would I lie to you about this?" Lorze shrugged.
"Well, whether it's a true Legendary or not doesn't really matter. As long as it embodies
the long-standing legend of Mt. Chimney, that's enough. They're likely planning to use
this to settle an old score,
" Qiao Wei remained somewhat skeptical but accepted his
premise.
"What do you mean by that?" Lorze was even more confused now.
"Are you seriously telling me you don't know?"
"Am I legally required to know?"
"Alright then... you should at least know that Japan's national-tier Secret Realm is Mt.
Pyre, correct?"
"I know that much. What about it?"
"Mt. Pyre, situated on Mount Fuji, has historically served as the spiritual anchor for the
Japanese people. According to legend, a highly unique Pokémon resides within the
shrine at its summit, revered by the Japanese as the Guardian of Mt. Pyre. Whenever a
catastrophe strikes, the Guardian is said to manifest and resolve the disaster for the
people.
"
"And what does that have to do with them wanting Volcarona?" Lorze was still
completely lost.
"That Pokémon is called Ceruledge. While it isn't classified as a Legendary Pokémon,
only a single specimen has ever been discovered globally. Calling it the National Treasure
of Japan wouldn't be an exaggeration.
"
"However, a few years ago, when our current Champion traveled to Mt. Pyre on a training
journey, she casually captured that exact Pokémon. Furthermore, during the World
Championships a few years later, she utilized that very Ceruledge to single-handedly
sweep three opponents, officially eliminating the Japanese Champion from the
tournament. Now, do you understand?"
Qiao Wei shot him an exasperated look, refusing to believe he hadn't heard of such a
massive scandal. That incident had literally broken the internet back then.
Lorze: "
"
...
Lorze was completely stupefied. Our Champion is actually that much of a savage?!
She actually managed to capture their National Treasure?
What the fuck were the Japanese security forces doing?!
This level of absolute disrespect was entirely equivalent to the United States sneaking in,
stealing China's Dongfeng ballistic missiles, and then turning around to launch one of
those very Dongfengs back at China!
That is the literal definition of psychological warfare!
Our Champion is an absolute legend!"So you're saying they want to retaliate by capturing the Volcarona from our territory to
salvage their national pride?" Lorze was somewhat speechless.
"That's essentially the gist of it.
"
"And we're just going to let them try and catch it?"
"We didn't have much of a choice. That incident triggered a massive diplomatic crisis at
the time. However, after Ceruledge bonded with the Champion, it absolutely refused to
return. Ultimately, negotiations resulted in a compromise: granting them a single,
officially sanctioned opportunity to enter China and attempt to capture a rare Pokémon.
"
"Tch, what is there to negotiate? Pokémon don't possess nationalities. The universal rule
of the wild has always been 'finders keepers.
' The Champion did absolutely nothing
wrong,
" Lorze stated flatly.
"While that is technically true, as one of the two global superpowers, our nation still has
to maintain an image of magnanimity, right?" Qiao Wei shrugged.
The historical timeline of Blue Star diverged significantly from Earth's.
While the Qing Dynasty era remained marked by humiliation, the manifestation of
Pokémon during World War II had drastically altered the global geopolitical landscape.
China capitalized on this paradigm shift to rise rapidly, reclaiming lost territories and
restoring its borders to their absolute peak. Today, it stood across the Pacific from the
technological empire of the United States, forming a bi-polar global hegemony.
China's influence over its neighboring nations had always been unfathomably immense.
Furthermore, since it didn't pursue the aggressive, hegemonic foreign policy of the US, it
was necessary to maintain a diplomatic, benevolent facade.
Regardless, the current reality was that Japan was officially authorized to participate in
the hunt for Volcarona. However, Qiao Wei naturally didn't want a culturally significant
domestic Pokémon poached by a foreign nation, so she would inevitably deploy her own
operatives to contest the capture.
Of course, this entire geopolitical standoff hinged on the prerequisite that Volcarona
actually was here. Otherwise, this massive mobilization would end up being nothing more
than an incredibly awkward wild goose chase.