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"This guy! Why is he here again!"
Mismagius practically teleported behind Zhong Hai's head, moving with incredible speed.
It watched Mo Ye with extreme vigilance, as if he were an extremely dangerous person.
Although the talkative Song Sage didn't know Mo Ye, this wasn't Mo Ye's first visit to Mist Island.
Years ago, he had come to Mist Island as a special envoy from the Association, accompanied by rangers.
Unfortunately, he hadn't stayed long.
Back then, his sole focus was defeating Xia Chunyu. Nothing else, not even if the sky fell, mattered much to him. Therefore, his visit was merely a routine formality. He left without even eating a meal, eager to return to training his Pokémon.
However, even so, Mo Ye had left a profound impression on some of the Pokémon there at the time.
Mismagius was one of them.
As a member of the Ten Sages, it possessed the ability to enter and modify the dreams of other Pokémon.
With its help, countless Pokémon could maintain psychological pleasure even while asleep.
But it had never seen a dream as terrifying as Mo Ye's.
This guy was like a robot. Apart from battling, it was only training. Even while sleeping, he constantly replayed various battles in his dreams.
Among them, the dream that appeared most frequently was a battle against a man named Xia Chunyu.
Fighting over and over, losing over and over, with absolutely no other content.
An endless cycle.
Like a television program stuck replaying a single segment.
Mismagius had tried to change the outcome of the match to Mo Ye's victory, or directly alter the content. But what it couldn't believe was that Mo Ye's dream was beyond its control!
Normally, this only happened with the dreams of Psychic-type Pokémon possessing extremely powerful minds.
Could humans achieve this too?
Obviously, the facts before it told Mismagius that it was entirely possible.
It couldn't manipulate this man's dreams at all.
An even more terrifying thing happened later.
As if sensing its presence, when a certain match ended, Mismagius was astonished to find itself becoming a participant in the battle, immediately forced to battle someone else in the dream.
How could it dare to stay after that?
Not to mention whether it could win or not, just being trapped in the situation itself was enough to ruin its reputation.
It immediately withdrew directly from Mo Ye's dream and resolved to stay far away from this terrifying human from then on.
It had lived for nearly a hundred years and had never seen such a battle maniac!
Mismagius even suspected that this guy's purpose in coming to Mist Island was to eliminate them all.
Fortunately, Mo Ye hadn't stayed long before leaving, which relieved it.
But unexpectedly, after so many years, this human had returned!
"Since the Abyssal Elite Four is here, he naturally has important matters. You're a Sage, at least try to act like one. Don't be so timid. Be more open."
Zhong Hai pulled Mismagius out from behind his head. "If you have something to say, say it directly. Stop beating around the bush."
The Ten Sages never showed up without a reason. Each one was lazier and more detached than the last, usually only doing things that interested them.
Unless it was something particularly important, they would never appear.
"Ah, I almost forgot. It has nothing to do with me, actually. The Administrator wants to see you."
Mismagius finally remembered why it had come. Mo Ye was too terrifying, causing it to forget everything else.
"The Administrator? What does it want with us?"
Zhong Hai stood up. The attention of the other rangers was also drawn by the conversation, and they stopped their work.
The Knowledge Museum had only one administrator, the Sage of Will, Slowking. It was said this guy had lived for several hundred years.
An absolute old monster.
Even among the Ten Sages, it was considered long-lived.
"How would I know? You'll have to ask it yourselves. I'm just a messenger."
Mismagius brushed it off casually. Originally intending to chat with the rangers, it now just wanted to get far away.
With that said, without waiting for Zhong Hai and the others to respond, it flew out the door.
"It's waiting for you at the museum. Go yourselves! See you!" Mismagius disappeared into the air.
"This guy."
Zhong Hai was a bit speechless. Mo Ye, however, remained expressionless, completely unconcerned about being disliked by Mismagius.
Since the Knowledge Museum was summoning them, there was no reason to stay where they were.
Leaving some people behind was necessary.
"Three stay, three go, in case anything happens outside."
Zhong Hai took a compact wireless earpiece and chest microphone from one of them. Since Mist Island was located in a different space, it couldn't connect to the data network.
Coupled with the magnetic field being different from the outside world, the Ranger Union had to use other means for internal communication.
Zhong Hai and Mo Ye definitely had to go. The last one was Ji Xiang, who had other matters to report to them.
As for Li Xiang, he just had to follow.
The four headed towards the Knowledge Museum, located at the highest point of Wisdom City.
Inside the city, a very wide avenue led to the museum, at least a hundred meters wide. Even a Steelix or a Wailord could move freely here.
This was also where the most Pokémon were active.
Machoke and Machop carrying wooden boxes, Farfetch'd boasting about the freshness of its leek, Linoone pulling carts loaded with Pokémon, Bellossom watering flowers.
Mightyena groups swaggering through the streets, Combee and Vespiquen selling Honey, Charmander and Charmeleon performing acrobatics, Mr. Mime doing performance art.
There were even Exploud and Loudred holding concerts on the street.
The list was endless.
Li Xiang looked around like a primitive person who had just entered civilized society, even wanting to participate at one point.
Among them, the cart pulled by Linoone was what he most wanted to experience.
It could even pull a Slaking; carrying just him would be simple!
Unfortunately, he didn't have the chance right now.
Ji Xiang was talking with Zhong Hai and the others. Li Xiang listened while observing his surroundings.
Wisdom City wasn't very large. The four followed the path, ignoring the strange looks from nearby Pokémon, and soon reached the end of the central avenue, at the foot of a mountain.
The Greek-style Knowledge Museum was integrated with the mountain, extending a dense, towering staircase for people to ascend.
On both sides of the stairs stood countless milky white stone pillars with fine vertical striped patterns.
Like the Pillars of Spear.
The Knowledge Museum was the holy land of Mist Island, that was undeniable.
Along the way, the gaze of every Pokémon towards the Knowledge Museum revealed reverence and longing.
A Medicham stood at the bottom of the stairs, striking a strange one-legged standing pose, eyes closed, as if it had been waiting for the four for a long time.
It made an incredibly human-like gesture of invitation.
An Indian ascetic?
Li Xiang's expression turned strange. Medicham, as a humanoid Pokémon, was fine when not making human-like movements, but once it did, a strong curry-like vibe emanated from it.
Just like now.
Walking normally was fine, but why did it have to put its hands together and shake its head like that?
They ascended.
Soon, the Knowledge Museum was right before them.
Slowking stood at the entrance of the main hall, smiling as it looked at Li Xiang and the others.
"Friends from the outside world! Welcome!"
Unlike Mismagius and Lapras, who used telepathy, Slowking was actually speaking with its mouth!
And it was a male voice.
This reminded Li Xiang of the Slowking from the movie "Pokémon: The Movie 2000."
There wasn't much difference between them. Both stood with their hands behind their backs, exuding a mystical aura.
"Sage of Will, long time no see."
Zhong Hai smiled and stepped forward, shaking Slowking's short, stubby hand as a sign of friendship. "Sorry to trouble you again."
"Not at all. We help each other."
Slowking was quite skilled at social pleasantries. It looked at the others, especially Li Xiang. "This is not a place to talk. Please follow me. Medicham, thank you for your trouble."
"I take my leave."
Medicham bowed slightly and turned away.
The group followed Slowking into the Knowledge Museum.
Unlike the dark and gloomy view from the outside, the interior of the Knowledge Museum was bright and clean. Sunlight streamed in through windows on all walls.
Moreover, there were many glittering orange crystals on the floor and ceiling, emitting a warm, soft light like lamps.
The air carried a faint scent of paper and ink.
It gave Li Xiang the feeling of being in a library.
He could see rows of orderly shelves. On the shelves were many stone tablets, covered in uneven characters. A little further away, he could see many wooden bookshelves filled with various books.
From the packaging, they were clearly introduced from the outside world.
Books were also the most popular trade item here. No member of the Knowledge Museum could resist the temptation of books.
Numerous Pokémon were browsing them beside the bookshelves.
Additionally, besides the stone tablets and books, Li Xiang could see walls inscribed with pictures, fossils of unknown Pokémon.
And, a particularly enormous Aerodactyl skeleton.
Unlike Song Jie's, which was over two meters long with a three-meter wingspan, this Aerodactyl skeleton was at least twenty meters long, like a dragon from Western mythology.
"That was the original inhabitant of Mist Island, the overlord of ancient times. We excavated it from the mountains. It represents the past."
Slowking explained kindly, then looked expectant, as if wanting Li Xiang to continue asking.
However, "Thank you."
Li Xiang nodded, not daring to say anything.
He felt Slowking's enthusiasm was off. It had been smiling at him from such a distance before.
Very strange.
Undeterred, Slowking smiled kindly despite the lack of follow-up.
Li Xiang continued looking. His second glance landed on an enormous gray stone statue.
The statue depicted a Pokémon with a mushroom-like head, a ruby on its forehead, eyes tightly closed into thin slits, a body like a ragdoll, and two long ribbon-like tails.
Undoubtedly, this was the Lake Guardian Uxie, one of the three Pokémon representing spirit originally created by Arceus.
It possessed incredible abilities.
It was said that those who saw its eyes would lose their memories.
When gathered with the other two Lake Guardians, they could create the Red Chain capable of controlling the space-time duo Dialga and Palkia.
By the way, in the lore, it was described as a shy Pokémon.
"Uxie..."
Li Xiang murmured.
"Yes, this is the embodiment of knowledge and wisdom, the object of our faith."
Slowking interjected again. Li Xiang nodded.
They arrived deep within the Knowledge Museum.
A super huge stone table and ten enormous stone chairs with high backs appeared before them.
On one of the stone chairs sat a colossal creature snoring like thunder.
Its head touched the ceiling, its two long whiskers drifting unconsciously. Its body was covered in shiny scales, orange with a yellow belly. It was round and plump, with a pair of small wings on its back.
"Lighthouse Dragonite."
These four words flashed through Li Xiang's mind.
Hearing about something and witnessing it with one's own eyes were ultimately different.
That giant Dragonite in the distance, just crouching there, made Li Xiang somewhat nervous.
"Old dragon, stop sleeping. The guests are here."
Slowking called out to the giant Dragonite, and a laser shot from the ruby on its forehead.
The laser landed on Dragonite's belly, causing it to instinctively scratch the spot.
"Huh? Guests are here?"
Dragonite yawned, opening its bleary eyes. When it stood up, Li Xiang felt the ground tremble.
It spoke using telepathy.
"Long time no see, Sage of Dragon."
Zhong Hai proactively stepped forward, showing no fear of Dragonite's massive body.
"Oh? It's you guys."
Dragonite squinted, distinguishing Zhong Hai's appearance like a little old man. "I knew you'd definitely come. Ah..."
It yawned.