“Charizard! Catch up quickly!”
Dande watched the battle that had just taken place, the golden light in his eyes unstoppable. Even as the strongest Trainer in the entire Pokémon world, he had never seen such a powerful Level 1 Pokémon.
“I really want to have a battle with that guy! Let me challenge the power of a god too!”
…………
“You’re here?”
After Gui Ling landed, he recalled Yveltal, turned a corner, and met a person who was heavily bundled up.
“Hahaha! Ruo Xi, why are you so wrapped up?”
“I’m being hunted right now. Shouldn’t I be well-covered?”
“Hmm, you’re right, but it’s summer today. You have a scarf, a mask, sunglasses… and then a hood… Aren’t you hot?”
“Nonsense…”
The two smiled at each other, then Ruo Xi opened his portable laptop and showed Gui Ling the data he had been researching these past few days.
“According to those videotapes, the Pokémon from that world… should they be considered Pokémon? After all, they can be captured by Poké Balls. That is a very distant planet; I currently call it ‘Planet Galliard.’ Compared to the Pokémon here, their Pokémon are more… bizarre, gigantic, and terrifying.”
“You’ve certainly researched it thoroughly. What use is this discovery to us now?”
“There is. Perhaps we… might be able to go to that planet and capture other Pokémon.”
“Do you have the technological capability for that? You said it’s very distant; Rayquaza might not be able to fly there.”
“Don’t underestimate me. Of course, I have a way to go, but I’ll need to borrow your Rayquaza when the time comes.”
“I knew you were up to something. Where’s Lin Jingnan?”
“She went to find the giant stone. She’ll find the location first, and then we’ll rush over.”
“You trust her that much?”
“Don’t worry, the giant stone is yours. She just offered to help. If she tries to trick us… if it really comes down to it, you can give her a Death Wing.”
“6.”
“No, no, how did you get me sidetracked?”
As Ruo Zhe spoke, he tapped a few keys on the keyboard, then projected a planet almost completely covered in ice and snow.
“Although I don’t know why this planet suddenly froze, the power of these ice seals seems to have weakened a lot recently. And do you know? In those projected videotapes, many Pokémon were frozen. Ba'er Meng only mentioned the Pokémon that weren’t frozen; she concealed this point.”
“So?”
“We might need to capture a few Ice-type Pokémon for emergencies.”
“Oh, then I really can’t think of anything that interests me. Why don’t you recommend one?”
“How about this? Alolan Ninetales.”
As he spoke, Ruo Xi pulled a phone from his pocket and tossed the already-prepared data to Gui Ling.
“Alolan Ninetales? It looks pretty good. So where should we catch it?”
Ruo Xi rolled his eyes at Gui Ling after hearing that, then told Gui Ling to scroll down.
“Do you see that snowy mountain?”
“Yes, what about it?”
“Just half an hour ago, a Pokémon Hunter’s helicopter crashed there, and the cargo was an Alolan Ninetales.”
“That’s not right, is it? How do you know this information?”
Gui Ling, who had seen the plot, naturally knew that the Mew Project would happen soon after this time, and then Xiao Hao would go and capture that Alolan Ninetales.
“Heh heh, have you forgotten how we met back then?”
“The one named Yin Xing?”
When Yin Xing’s name was mentioned, Ruo Xi couldn’t help but put his hands on his hips and said proudly.
“Yin Xing is a once-in-a-century hacker genius! Let me put it this way: as long as there’s a network, there’s nothing Yin Xing doesn’t know!”
“Then I really do want to meet this genius.”
Gui Ling smiled on the surface, but inwardly, he couldn’t help but feel a long-term suspicion.
“Yin Xing? I’ve never heard that name. Is Ruo Xi lying to me? Or…”
Just then, another sentence from Ruo Xi pulled Gui Ling back to reality.
“Three days from now, people from an organization might come to that snowy mountain to capture Alolan Ninetales. We need to be quick.”
“Which organization?”
Gui Ling tentatively asked Ruo Xi, but Ruo Xi’s expression darkened after hearing that question.
“It’s a group of researchers. They’re currently holding something called the Mew Project. The conditions for entering this project are extremely strict.”
After thinking for a moment, Ruo Xi turned to look at Gui Ling.
“I remember you captured Mew, right?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think Mew has a species in this world?”
Gui Ling was stunned when he heard this. He really didn’t know if Mew had a species. There were many theories online, and he didn’t know which one to believe.
“If I told you that Mew has a species, and there’s more than one, what would you think?”
“I’d choose to believe it.”
“You trust me that much?”
“Yes, of course. You have your own thoughts and plans, don’t you?”
Ruo Xi nodded, then opened a long-sealed file. A cliff-like location was reflected on the screen.
“This location is where I first discovered traces of Mew. I previously placed cameras in many places where Mew had been sighted. Even though it was blurry, the data Yin Xing gave me showed three Mews flashing by simultaneously for a split second.”
“These three figures were in different regions; it’s impossible for them to have moved so quickly. The first location is where you captured Mew, the second is the location in my picture, and there’s another in a cave.”
Just as Ruo Xi was about to say more, a black dot in the sky grew larger and larger until it landed beside the two of them.
“Hi Gui Ling! I finally caught up to you! Yveltal flies so fast!”
Dande arrived beside the two on his Charizard. Seeing this, Ruo Xi quickly pulled his hood tighter.
“Oh? And this is?”
“My friend. Is there something you need?”
“It’s like this: do you have any free time recently?”
“No.”
“Don’t be so quick to refuse. I heard you have a fondness for capturing Pokémon, so I prepared something for you.”
After speaking, Dande slowly leaned close to Gui Ling’s ear and talked for a few moments. Gui Ling thought for a while and then agreed.
“Remember, we only agreed to 1v1. I usually don’t have much time.”
“Okay! If you’re busy with your friend now, how about we set it for tomorrow?”
Gui Ling nodded. The next second, Ruo Xi quickly grabbed Gui Ling’s hand and pulled him away.
“Excuse me, coming through.”
As Ruo Xi passed Dande, he couldn’t see clearly due to his sunglasses and accidentally bumped into Dande’s cape.
“Oh, sorry.”
Ruo Xi quickly picked up his fallen sunglasses and, pulling Gui Ling, walked away without looking back.
“That person just now…”
Dande saw Ruo Xi’s face for a split second, stood in place, and thought for a moment. He suddenly remembered the researcher he had seen on the news who had stolen fossils.
“A bit similar, and so heavily wrapped up? Why would Gui Ling be with him? I should tell Jenny about this first.”