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"Not bad, not bad!"
Li Xiang laughed and praised Lucario, patting its shoulder.
The Aura Shield shattered at his touch. The two looked at each other, then smiled helplessly. Clearly, this Aura Shield was a defective product, the kind that even Lucario couldn't control.
But now that they had a direction to move forward, the difficulties would eventually be resolved.
"Remember that feeling just now?"
Li Xiang rubbed Lucario's drooping ears. The texture here was much better than Incineroar's. After all, they were big and nice to look at.
Lucario nodded, but its face gradually flushed.
The area around its ears had a high concentration of capillaries and was very sensitive. A little squeeze was fine, but Li Xiang kept rubbing them, and it was becoming too much.
Its legs began to weaken.
"Purrr..."
Lucario couldn't help it anymore. It bit Li Xiang's wrist and let out a dissatisfied grunt.
"What's wrong?"
Li Xiang was startled. His wrist didn't really hurt, but it felt a little moist...
"Hmm? Have you been drinking too much water lately?"
He pulled his hand back, opened the dog's mouth, and observed the clean, neat teeth, as well as the red tongue and oral cavity.
He noticed that this guy had significantly more drool than usual; it was practically dripping out.
"Rooo~"
Lucario responded from its throat, retorting that Li Xiang was the one giving them so much to drink.
—That was true.
The essence of Mist Island lay in its soil and water. Lucario and the others couldn't eat dirt, so they had to drink more water.
But it seemed now that they might be drinking a bit too much.
Li Xiang quickly ran over to Incineroar and had it open its mouth for him to see. After confirming that this guy's mouth was equally moist, he grew increasingly alert.
Getting enough water to boost metabolism was a good thing, and the water on Mist Island was beneficial for them. However, non-Water-type Pokémon drinking excessive water could lead to water poisoning and other conditions.
It wouldn't be good for Lucario's health.
For now, it was just excessive drool, but who knew what might happen later.
After this small interlude, it was clear that the Aura Shield required a lot of practice, so they set it aside for the moment.
Incineroar was somewhat dissatisfied. It hadn't even gotten to raise the temperature of its fireballs; it had only thrown two balls.
This wasn't fair!
But it couldn't resist the "dictator" Li Xiang, so it had no choice but to swallow its frustration.
Next test was also the last one—Telepathy.
Mind Reading was a basic function of Aura.
Lucario could judge at any time whether the creatures around it harbored malicious or benevolent intent, so there was no need to test that much.
Lucario understood perfectly well who was good to it and who was not.
"Come on, speak."
Li Xiang sat on a wooden stump, waiting for Lucario to begin.
The telepathy of the Pokémon world was different from the mind-reading abilities of other worlds; it came with its own voice actor, which was quite impressive.
And this fine tradition had been well preserved in this other world.
For example, Mewtwo had a voice leaning towards a mature woman, while Mew had a youthful, neutral, slightly boyish tone. Then there was Uxie, which had an immature, maidenly voice, and so on.
Li Xiang was very curious about what Lucario would sound like when it spoke.
The principle of telepathy was to release one's own mental power and transmit it to another's mind, differing from vibrating the air to produce sound.
In other words, Lucario needed to channel its Aura into his body.
"Roar?"
Incineroar was a bit worried. It felt that Lucario might accidentally hurt Li Xiang and asked if he should call Aegislash over.
"Rooo!"
Lucario seriously stated that there was absolutely no possibility of that happening.
Li Xiang smiled and said, "Whether it will or not, we won't know until we try. Don't call it. I trust Lucario."
If he brought Aegislash over, it would be like assuming Lucario was definitely going to fail. Perhaps if Li Xiang were in its shoes, he might feel relieved, thinking he had a fallback option.
But Lucario wouldn't.
It always believed that pressure was motivation, so even though Li Xiang's random guesses had put it in a gloomy mood.
Just earlier, it could have practiced releasing the shield first, but instead, it had to get hit by Incineroar's fireballs. It had never blamed Li Xiang for that either.
This was what Lucario had wanted for itself.
"Rooo!"
Lucario nodded, but this time it didn't close its eyes. The four spindles behind its head floated up, and invisible wavescautiously spread out, covering Li Xiang's body surface.
"Hiss... it feels like large grains of dust falling on me."
Li Xiang touched his arm. This was likely the result of the concentrated Aura; when fully spread out, the Aura couldn't be felt.
Lucario wasn't affected. It cautiously transmitted its Aura—
Bang!
A layer of light suddenly exploded!
Li Xiang abruptly leaned back, barely managing to minimize the damage.
"Rooo!"
"Roar!"
The two Pokémon panicked and quickly crowded around him.
"It's fine, it's fine. Wow, that was like a firecracker."
He brushed the dust off his clothes. He said he wasn't afraid, but the truth was he was wearing protective gear underneath.
Zhong Hai and the others had never mentioned taking it back, so Li Xiang simply ignored his conscience and pretended to have forgotten.
They tried again.
Once more, Li Xiang was met with an explosion.
"Your micro-management isn't good. Is it because the quantity increased?"
Li Xiang noticed that Lucario was completely inferior to Incineroar when it came to certain delicate tasks.
Incineroar, for all its carefree exterior, could increase or decrease its fire temperature by single digits.
Lucario, despite its delicate inner nature, was very rough and crude when it came to using Aura.
"Rooo."
Lucario also realized that it couldn't make fine adjustments with its Aura and sighed.
"Just take it slow."
Li Xiang rubbed the dog's head, feeling the movement of its two large ears in his palm.
That concluded the testing.
...…..
Afternoon.
Mewtwo returned. It was carrying two books.
"So, did you form a little group?"
Li Xiang asked softly.
Mewtwo was growing fonder of books, often wandering around with one under its arm. Li Xiang wasn't sure if this was a good thing.
[A little group? No. Today, I went to the Dance Troupe on Mist Island.]
Mewtwo shook its head.
"Dance Troupe?"
Li Xiang was momentarily puzzled. "What's that?"
Mewtwo replied: [It's a group of Pokémon who love to dance. They perform all over Mist Island. Most of the members are Fairy-type, Water-type, and Grass-type.]
As soon as it said that, Li Xiang immediately had a vivid image in his mind. Things like Gardevoir's ballet, Mr. Mime's mime performances, and Milotic's underwater shows.
"Heey... I'd love to see that too."
Li Xiang couldn't help but feel interested. The love of beauty was universal, especially for high-appeal Pokémon like Gardevoir and Milotic.
[You can wait until the Thanksgiving Festival. I've heard they'll come then.]
Mewtwo flew to its exclusive wooden throne and began flipping through its books.
The Thanksgiving Festival was a large-scale event actively held by the Pokémon of Mist Island to give thanks for nature's gifts.
In fact, it had already started, but the true festival was still two days away.
It seemed to be the day the Aura Sage wanted Lucario to connect with the Spirit of Mist Island.
—And you say you're not a priest!?
"That works out perfectly then."
Li Xiang snapped his fingers with enthusiasm.
Mewtwo looked up at him and shook its head helplessly. Having spent so much time together, it had basically come to understand Li Xiang's temperament.
If it involved Pokémon, he was especially interested. In contrast, being called to eat at the base or something, he would refuse nine times out of ten, not interested at all.
Perhaps the reason he had been so patient in answering its questions back then was simply because it was a Pokémon, wasn't it?
Mewtwo paused in its page-turning, a feeling welling up inside it that it couldn't quite identify as happiness or anger.
It couldn't help but glance at Li Xiang.
"What's wrong?"
Li Xiang noticed the look and asked.
[Nothing.]
Mewtwo continued reading.
After dinner, it was time for the usual sparring session. Mewtwo acted as the opponent, while the other Pokémon attacked in pairs.
Telekinesis was like putty in its hands; it could easily change its shape. Because of some strange hobby of Li Xiang's, it shaped its telekinesis into a giant spoon to block the attackers' moves, and even deflected them back.
[Your speed is good, but it's useless.]
Mewtwo swung the spoon, sending the charging Lucario flying like a baseball!
Bang!
[Your attack trajectory is too straightforward. I don't even need to think about where you're coming from.]
Mewtwo spun the spoon one-handed, its telekinesis stirring the air to create a whirlwind that blocked Incineroar, who had transformed into a black storm and was sweeping in.
[The spin is too slow. You can't even break through this little wind. Why not just attack directly? Why bother spinning?]
As it finished speaking, the hurricane intensified again, sending Incineroar flying. The two Pokémon attacking it landed on the ground, gasping for air, their faces full of reluctance.
Not even being able to touch Mewtwo was truly a shameful humiliation.
[You're not using your full power. Are you looking down on me?]
Mewtwo's eyes grew cold. Its bone-chilling willpower rapidly cooled the two Pokémon's minds.
They couldn't help but shiver.
"Ahem, ahem, ahem, Mewtwo, you... in a bad mood today?"
Li Xiang, who had been watching, coughed twice and scratched his face. "If you're in a bad mood, let's call it a day."
Normally, when Mewtwo sparred with Incineroar and the others, it was very gentle and friendly. It had never been as harsh as it was today.
[Hmm?]
Mewtwo looked coldly at Li Xiang, only then noticing his awkward expression. Its own expression softened.
[...Sorry.]
It melted the spoon away and, after a long silence, said: [I was indeed a bit emotional today.]
"It's fine, it's fine."
Li Xiang gave an awkward smile. "Get some rest early. You're probably just tired. You'll feel better after a sleep."
[Mm.]
Mewtwo nodded and flew toward the camp.
Li Xiang watched its retreating figure, ran his hand through his hair, and looked at Incineroar and the others. "Which of you upset it?"
Incineroar and the other Pokémon looked at each other and vigorously shook their heads. Who would go out of their way to upset Mewtwo?
"Then this... alright, you all continue. I'll go check on it."
Li Xiang left those words and walked towards the camp.
The more someone said they were fine, the more likely something was wrong. Leaving it alone would only lead to big problems.
Having learned this lesson from Riolu, Li Xiang quickly went after Mewtwo. Leaving it alone to think might lead to who knows what kind of trouble.