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On its throne, Mewtwo held a book, bathed in starlight and moonlight.
Yet its mind wandered.
It didn't know why it had lost its temper, why it couldn't control its emotions, and now it couldn't even focus on reading.
Why was this happening?
Mewtwo pondered, then heard a familiar voice beside it.
"Was dinner not good?"
It turned its head, saw Li Xiang approaching slowly, and put down its book, denying it. "No, it was very good."
Even though it had tried food made by others at the base, it still preferred Li Xiang's cooking.
"Then Incineroar must have done something to upset you."
Li Xiang didn't care if the ground was dirty or not; he sat down on the spot and spoke with a smile.
"No."
Mewtwo denied it again.
Li Xiang asked in surprise, "Then did I cause you trouble? Ah, sorry."
"No..."
Mewtwo replied quietly, realizing that its own state was affecting Li Xiang. So it said, "I'm fine. You should go train quickly. I can just read by myself. Isn't your time on Mist Island very important—"
"But you're also very important to me."
Li Xiang interrupted it and spoke sincerely.
Mewtwo was slightly stunned.
"We're good friends, aren't we? How can I train peacefully when you're unhappy?"
Li Xiang stood up, speaking with utmost seriousness. "Whatever is making you unhappy or troubled, please tell me. Speaking it out is definitely better than bottling it up inside."
To be honest, he really wasn't good at comforting people. But ignoring a friend or family member's distress wasn't his style either.
"..."
Mewtwo's stunned expression faded, replaced by silence.
Li Xiang didn't speak. He waited for it to open its mouth.
After a long while, Mewtwo said, "If the me who asked you questions back then wasn't a Pokémon and didn't have such great power, would you still treat me this well?"
It could see Li Xiang's fondness for Pokémon. This love was very broad, allowing him to be kind and generous towards all Pokémon. And he also aspired to have powerful Pokémon.
Therefore, it wanted an answer.
"No."
Li Xiang looked at Mewtwo and shook his head firmly.
'Just as I thought…'
Mewtwo's expression dimmed.
But then Li Xiang added, "Because the 'you' you're hypothesizing isn't you."
'Not me?'
Mewtwo lifted its head slightly, not quite understanding what he meant.
"Why did I answer your questions? Because you are my friend, because you are Mewtwo. Why do I treat you well? Because you are my friend, because you are Mewtwo."
Li Xiang spoke unhurriedly.
"The 'you' you're hypothesizing—the one who isn't a Pokémon and has weak power—is that you? No, it's not."
He placed his hand on Mewtwo's shoulder and said crisply, "Right here, right now, sitting here, being a Pokémon, possessing great power—that you, Mewtwo, is my friend."
"The 'you' you're hypothesizing is someone I don't know and don't want to know. I only want to know you. You are simply you; there are no hypotheticals."
The power of emotion is strong.
Although Li Xiang didn't possess the power of aura, that didn't prevent Mewtwo from feeling the sentiment in these words.
Words might be pale, but the emotions contained within them could still melt a cold heart.
Mewtwo's favorite thing was philosophical questions. So from Li Xiang, it got the answer it most desired.
'What am I composed of?'
'Past experiences, future possibilities. But ultimately, the me who is here, right now, in this moment, the me that I can feel, the me that I can observe—'
'That is the real me.'
Therefore, Mewtwo's hypothesis was invalid.
"Yes. I am simply me."
Mewtwo smiled serenely. At that moment, it suddenly possessed a very free and easy temperament, like the Mewtwo in the anime who had washed away all pretense and saw through its own nature.
Seeing this, Li Xiang breathed a small sigh of relief inside. Fortunately, Mewtwo wasn't the type to get overly caught up in details, otherwise he would have had a headache.
"Go on, go train. Incineroar and the others must still be waiting for you."
Mewtwo picked up its book and said so.
"...Alright, I'm going then."
Li Xiang saw that its expression was relaxed and that the way it held the book wasn't as listless as before, so he left.
Mewtwo watched his back until it could no longer see him before looking away.
It read its book quietly. But occasionally, the corners of its mouth couldn't help but curl up.
The book it borrowed today was truly wonderful.
...….
Sugar was nibbled, honey was drank.
The days passed by one by one.
Soon, the Aura Sage came up to find Lucario.
Li Xiang and his Pokémon, as special guests, went down together to participate in the festival. There was no way they could not go. If they left Lucario alone down there, given the way the Aura Sage and those Lucario looked at the dog, there was a good chance the dog would come back carrying an egg.
The young dog didn't understand too many things, and Li Xiang didn't dare entrust it to the Aura Sage, who was old but not respectable and only knew how to take advantage of young girls.
On the other hand, the Aura Sage inexplicably sensed hostility. But the source of Li Xiang's hostility was a protective urge towards Lucario.
This left the Aura Sage somewhat confused.
What was this about?
Of course, it wasn't important and was thus pushed to the back of its mind. What was important was taking Lucario down to sense the Spirit of Mist Island.
Before leaving, the Aura Sage seemed to remember something and turned to ask, "Have you tried resonating with the Spirit of Mist Island these past few days?"
"Yes," Li Xiang nodded. "We definitely had to try."
"And then? Did you succeed?"
The Aura Sage looked somewhat expectant.
Li Xiang looked at it strangely. "Ask the dog yourself. I'm not sure if that counts as success."
According to Lucario itself, when its aura was extended to its limit, it could sense that something existed around it.
It was like an ethereal will, present everywhere within the space of Mist Island.
Unfortunately, no matter how much it tried to communicate with that will, it never received an answer.
The Aura Sage was silent for a long time after hearing this.
"...Perhaps it's asleep?"
It said uncertainly.
"You're asking me?" Li Xiang stared.
'You've lived for over a hundred years, I don't know how much longer you'll live, but is it really okay for you to talk like that?'
The Aura Sage looked away awkwardly. To be honest, it had only resonated with the Spirit of Mist Island once.
What experience did it have?
So why this situation was occurring, it didn't know either.
No response, so what could be done?
There was no other way. They were just making the best of a bad situation.
Li Xiang didn't mind anyway. If something embarrassing happened, it wouldn't be him or Lucario who would be embarrassed, but rather this Aura Sage.
...…
Down in the lower realm.
Mewtwo had gone out early today, so only Li Xiang's own Pokémon were by his side.
Since Mist Island only had native Pokémon from Zhuxia, Incineroar and the others were almost no different from Li Xiang the human in that they were all "giant pandas" being gawked at by the onlookers.
They felt a bit uncomfortable.
Incineroar was fine; he had a very thick skin and even dared to ask the observing Pokémon for an entrance fee.
Corviknight was different. He particularly hated the group of Dodrio following behind, who kept craning their necks to ask him why he walked when he had wings and could fly.
He just liked walking. What were they going to do about it?
Greninja used Camouflage to turn invisible. The chuunibyou teenager usually hated receiving too much attention, though it was different when he was showing off.
Aegislash clung to Li Xiang's back, refusing to get off no matter what.
Rotom stayed inside his phone the entire time. He was an electronic ghost. There might be his kind here, but he didn't need them.
Only Metagross, the simpleton, was having the most fun.
Because after meeting another group of simpletons, he realized that he wasn't the most simple of all.
Those regular-colored Metagross were the real simpletons!
Ha ha ha!
Watching those bronze-colored big crabs, the silver-colored big crab let out merciless laughter.
No wonder they say all Metagross have bad tempers.
Seeing the shiny Metagross laughing at them, one or two of them went off like they had eaten firecrackers and charged over to pick a fight with him.
Fortunately, they were stopped by a group of Charizard.
These Charizard seemed to be the defense corps of the City of Wisdom.
"No wonder there are no Metagross among the Ten Sages."
Li Xiang watched the fuming and persuaded-to-leave Metagross group, kicked the simpleton's head in annoyance, and clicked his tongue.
Arriving on Central Avenue, it was packed with all kinds of Pokémon. There was hardly any space to stand on the street.
Thankfully, a group of Lucario had cleared a path for them to walk through.
All around, decorations were hung with lanterns and bunting.
Li Xiang had thought that a Pokémon festival wouldn't have too many ornaments, but when he saw the delicate, beautiful flowers everywhere, he understood that the love of beauty was universal, and Pokémon were no exception.
Arriving in front of the Museum of Knowledge, the steps were empty, and there was also a large open space at the bottom of the steps.
At the very top stood ten Pokémon, enjoying the roars of all the other Pokémon.
Flower petals danced in the air.
Without a doubt, these were the Ten Sages. Li Xiang had seen Lapras, Mismagius, Slowking, Steelix, Dragonite, Ninetales, Tyranitar, Lucario, and Venusaur before.
The only ones he hadn't seen were the two-as-one Sage, Solrock and Lunatone.
Today, he finally got to see all of them.
He also spotted, among the observing crowd, a group of Pokémon he quite liked: the pseudo-legendaries that looked like a cross between a raptor and a shark, Garchomp.
If he didn't have to stay by Lucario's side, he would have definitely gone over to get better acquainted with the big sharks.
Oh, yes. And there was the dance troupe he had been thinking about.
Just as he had guessed, leading the dance were a group of Gardevoir and Kirlia, followed by Pokémon like Milotic.
Li Xiang watched with eager eyes, constantly touching the Poke Balls in his pocket.
[Want to catch them?]
Mewtwo's voice suddenly sounded.
Li Xiang was momentarily stunned. He looked left and right, and finally, in the distance, on the roof of a building, saw Mewtwo surrounded by many Pokémon.
It was standing on the back of a Salamence.
This Pokémon, famous for its ferocity, was incredibly docile beneath it. And judging by its size, it was clearly a leader-level individual.
Li Xiang's mouth fell open.
What exactly had it been doing out here?
[Surprised?]
Mewtwo's voice sounded, tinged with amusement.
"Of course I'm surprised. That's a Salamence, after all."
Li Xiang nodded. He believed that even across hundreds of meters, Mewtwo could hear him.
Indeed, it replied again.
[Do you want to raise one?]
"Of course I do!" Li Xiang nodded enthusiastically, but then sighed.
"Forget it for now. Raising that kind of Pokémon from zero is meaningless unless you start from scratch, and I don't have that much time to spend on it."
Raising just the simpleton Metagross was hard enough. Incineroar and the others still had potential to be developed.
He wouldn't start a new project for now.
Unless it was a Pokémon that could train itself and cook its own meals. That might be worth considering.
[Oh.]
Mewtwo disconnected.