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Sitting in the cool shallows, Kael let the pure Water-type energy beneath him travel lightly upward through his special skin, replenishing the moisture within his body.
At that moment, he felt a little melancholy.
Two days earlier, after fully recovering at the Pokémon Center in Mercury Town, he had been sent here with Nurse Joy's help.
Blue Crystal Marine Park.
It had wetland habitats suited to most Water-type Pokémon, and its grounds were vast, nothing like the tiny lake back in Molten Season Forest.
Additionally, the park employed professional breeders to care for the Pokémon residing there. In some ways, the livability of this place probably surpasses ninety percent of the world.
For that, Kael was genuinely satisfied.
Whatever came later, at least for getting through his vulnerable early stage, Blue Crystal Marine Park was more than enough.
But a safe and highly favorable environment did not mean this place was perfect, or some flawless paradise for Pokémon.
And that was exactly why Kael felt so conflicted now.
At first glance, Blue Crystal Marine Park looked like a pure and untamed piece of nature.
But living here as a Pokémon himself, Kael had discovered all sorts of strange, uncomfortable little things from every angle in less than two days.
Take the small lake he was in right now, for example. It looked crystal-clear and beautiful, almost like a mirror.
But if he actually dove down and examined it properly, he would find that the lakebed did not roll and dip like a normal lake. Instead, it was astonishingly flat, as if it had been pressed smooth by heavy machinery.
This sense of wrongness pervaded the environment.
It did not truly interfere with his daily life here.
But every so often, it still left him with an inexplicable feeling of discomfort.
Kael could feel the kindness in Nurse Joy's heart when she brought him here.
The genuine affection in her eyes when she looked at him was not something that could be faked.
He knew her intentions had been good. At the very least, she had gotten him out of the dry and hostile environment of Molten Season Forest.
For that, Kael was sincerely grateful.
But perhaps she had simply not thought things through carefully enough, because she had failed to consider all the downsides of this place.
Kael himself had lived through several lifetimes and adapted easily to almost any environment.
If it had been just some ordinary wild Pokémon brought to a place like this, a giant artificial birdcage masquerading as nature, it would have been extremely harmful to its future mental and emotional growth.
From the perspective of freedom and natural living, this place was in some ways even worse than Molten Season Forest.
And then there was the thing Kael hated most of all.
The tourists.
They drove around everywhere in those sightseeing vehicles, gawking like wide-eyed children in a wonderland.
Sometimes it felt like living inside a glass box set out on a city street, like a performance artist permanently on display under the eyes of strangers.
Even when there were no visitors nearby, Kael sometimes still felt as if some unseen gaze were lingering behind him in the dark, quietly watching.
It made his skin crawl.
"Haa..."
Looking down at his reflection in the clear water below, Kael let out a slow sigh.
Unpleasant as it was, Blue Crystal was still the best option available to him right now.
If someone tried to send him back to Molten Season Forest, he would reject the idea a thousand times over.
"Hummm... hummm..."
Just as he was sinking deeper into that gloomy train of thought, a faint mechanical hum rose behind him, blended with the soft rush of air from something moving closer.
"Again."
Kael frowned and turned around with open annoyance.
He did not even need to look to know what had appeared behind him.
Another one of those endlessly curious tourists.
He had only been here for two days, but he had already run into scenes like this more times than he could count.
Staring at the silver-gray sightseeing car in front of him, Kael's blue eyes filled with obvious disgust.
He made no extra move at all.
He simply rolled his eyes, then turned and started wading deeper into the lake behind him.
After all, there was still a human soul inside this body, and he understood these people perfectly well.
Whether their interest came from goodwill or something else, the more noticeable and expressive he was, the more excited they became.
At times like this, the easiest solution was to ignore them completely and make them feel his indifference.
That usually worked well enough to kill their interest and make them leave him alone.
Over the past two days, Kael had dealt with approaching human visitors in exactly that way, and most of the time it ended with them giving up awkwardly and driving off.
But this time, he had clearly run into one of the thicker-skinned variety.
Even though he had already shown obvious dislike, they still clung to him like gum stuck to a shoe, and now they had even moved closer.
"Tch..."
Kael smacked his tongue, the disgust in his eyes deepening.
Along with the frustration already sitting in his chest, a spark of anger quietly began to rise in his crystal-blue gaze.
"Follow him."
"Hurry."
"Don't let him get away."
The voice echoing inside the sightseeing car was so excited that it was almost cracking.
Hannah had both hands pressed against the glass window, shouting with bright enthusiasm.
That Sobble ahead of her had just given her a very obvious look of annoyance.
But because the expression came from such a tiny, delicate body, it did not carry any of the negativity it was supposed to.
It felt more like a little kid who had only just learned how to talk repeating a rude word after hearing it from an adult.
Absurdly cute.
Far from making Hannah back off, Kael's reaction only made her even more determined to get closer.
Beside her, Aaron, seated in the driver's seat, looked hesitant.
As one of the park's official guides responsible for leading guests through the grounds, he had gone through strict training before ever being allowed to work here.
And when it came to the Pokémon living in the park, there were very clear rules set by management for how staff were supposed to handle things.
One word mattered more than any other.
Distance.
Even with the protection offered by the specialized sightseeing cars, guides were required to maintain an appropriate distance from the Pokémon in the park.
That rule existed not only to minimize accidents and ensure the safety of visitors, but also to reduce human interference as much as possible for the sake of the Pokémon themselves.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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For early access to advanced chapters on P-atreon:
P-atreon/iamxeno
(Just remove the - hyphen to access normally)
Thank you so much for your support and for reading!