"You're awake, Mandibuzz. The surgery was a success. You are now a boy."
"Mandi!!!"
Mandibuzz suddenly sprang up from the ground, its claws raking deep scratches across the birdcage. Its face was filled with horror as a low whimper escaped from its throat.
"I'm joking. You're still a girl."
Mandibuzz was a Pokémon species that had no male members. Its counterpart was Braviary, which in turn had no females.
"Cinc~"
The universally beloved little mouse made its entrance. Cinccino took out a small flower and gently handed it to Mandibuzz.
"Mandi~"
Sensing the goodwill, Mandibuzz shot the human a disdainful glance, then lightly pecked Cinccino before accepting the little one's kindness.
Seeing this, Silas finally gestured for the elder brother Indeedee to release Mandibuzz. Two pieces of Poffins were placed in front of it.
"Eat first. After you're full, I have something to ask you."
Mandibuzz had clearly been starving. In just a few bites it devoured the delicious Poffins, then revealed a satisfied expression.
Silas handed it a cup of water and asked at the same time, "Mandibuzz, do you remember what happened earlier?"
After drinking the water, Mandibuzz flapped its wings and nodded, its expression filled with guilt.
"Mandi…"
"Cin Cin!" (Silas, Mandibuzz is apologizing to us. It says it couldn't control itself back then.)
Silas nodded without hesitation. He believed that explanation.
There were two sources of Shadow Pokémon. One was artificially created, and the other was caused by the influence of Shadow Synergy Stones.
The former was represented by Shadow Lugia, while the latter was represented by Shadow Mewtwo.
"Then did you experience anything unusual before that? For example, were you captured by humans for research, or did you encounter a particularly powerful Pokémon?"
Mandibuzz fell into deep thought, and Silas patiently waited.
"Mandi… Mandi~"
"Mm. So you encountered a very powerful Pokémon. What did it look like?"
Silas continued questioning.
Mandibuzz folded its wings, stood on its toes to make itself appear taller, removed the bone club from its head, and stuck it behind its back to imitate a tail.
"No wings, very tall, and it had a long tail."
Silas guessed.
"Mandi…"
Mandibuzz nodded repeatedly. Then it quickly flew beside elder brother Indeedee and lifted Indeedee's arm.
Standing in front of him, Mandibuzz tilted its head and dramatically collapsed to the ground.
"And it used psychic powers."
Mandibuzz's performance caused a clear guess to form in Silas's mind.
Could it have encountered Shadow Mewtwo?
Wait, wait.
According to the current timeline, Mewtwo had not even been created by Team Rocket yet. How could Shadow Mewtwo possibly appear first?
Frowning deeply, Silas fell into thought. Only after a long time did he raise his head again and continue asking.
"Was there anything unusual around that Pokémon?"
"Mandi!"
Mandibuzz pointed at Silas, then pointed at itself.
"A human. A girl, right?"
"Mandi ~"
Mandibuzz raised a thumbs up as if to say that Silas had guessed perfectly.
"That's enough for now. I'll go to Shalour City in a moment."
If it truly turned out to be Shadow Mewtwo, then it could only mean that the timeline of the world he was in had become chaotic.
Many of the things he remembered would end up changing.
Silas sincerely hoped this was not a Rainbow Rocket type world. Fighting that many final bosses would be exhausting.
As for fear?
Silas had never considered that.
In his left hand he had the ancient Giant Dragonite. In his right hand he had Miraidon. Behind him stood Mega Kangaskhan with three Tempered Transformation Noivern.
If a boss appeared, it was not certain who would end up being the boss.
It was simply that Silas did not want to tire himself out saving the world. Living a relaxed life was much nicer.
Of course, all of that depended on whether the Pokémon Mandibuzz described was truly Shadow Mewtwo.
Calling Cyclizar over, Silas rushed to the Shalour Gym at top speed and found Gym Leader Gurkinn.
He told him part of the truth while concealing certain details.
"So Silas is saying that if a Pokémon is affected by that influence, it becomes abnormally violent and will continue attacking endlessly unless it is defeated."
"That's right. We need to find the source Pokémon as soon as possible, otherwise something terrible will happen."
Gurkinn did not dwell on it too much. He informed Nurse Joy and had her warn trainers outside the city to remain vigilant.
For now, that was all they could do.
If it truly was Shadow Mewtwo, then unless it appeared on its own, finding it would be extremely difficult.
Just as Silas was about to return home, he encountered Korrina at the gym entrance. From a distance he saw her sprinting toward him.
"Big Brother Silas! Korrina is over here!"
"Oh, Korrina. Where did you go to play?"
He supported her as she reached him, noticing she was still panting from running too fast.
"I was doing special training on the beach with Riolu and Jangmo-o, and also with my new friend Ann."
Looking behind Korrina, Silas saw one girl and two Pokémon chasing after her, all breathing heavily.
"Ann, let me introduce you. This is the very powerful trainer I told you about. Even Grandpa can't beat Big Brother Silas."
Korrina grabbed the girl's hand and enthusiastically introduced Silas.
Then she added another sentence afterward.
"Of course, one day I will defeat that arrogant Nemona and obtain Big Brother Silas's first time."
Silas fell silent.
Explain it properly, you idiot.
"I mean becoming a new trainer's first challenge."
Silas rubbed Korrina's head vigorously while smiling and explaining.
"You're Ann, right? Welcome to Kalos."
Silas extended his hand gently and shook hands with the obviously shy girl.
"How did the two of you meet?"
"I saved Anne on the beach. She was unconscious at the time," Korrina said bluntly. "Luckily I found her early. Otherwise when the tide came in at night, she would have been swept into the sea and eaten by bad Pokémon."
"So scary!"
Watching Korrina excitedly wave her fists, Silas suspected that if she actually encountered a bad Pokémon, she might simply punch it flying.
"So did Anne get lost or…"
"Anne is from the distant Ferrum Region. That region is very far from Kalos. I only found it after checking a map."
"The Ferrum Region?"
Silas took the Synergy Stone out of his waist pouch.
"Ann, do you recognize what this is?"
The shy girl lifted her head when she heard the question, her attention immediately drawn to the stone in Silas's hand.
"A Synergy Stone. This is something unique to our Ferrum Region. Big brother, have you been to Ferrum Region?"
"I haven't been there. I obtained this stone because…"
Silas patiently explained the situation, and then added another sentence.
"Korrina, try not to go to isolated places recently."
"Big brother…"
Someone tugged on his sleeve.
It was Anne speaking softly.
"What is it?"
"That Pokémon is Mewtwo. It came here with me."
"Huh?"
One question after another surfaced in Silas's mind, and a puzzled expression appeared on his face.
Could it be that the timeline of the world he was in was truly in chaos?
He could not help thinking that.
Raising an eyebrow, Silas waited for Anne to continue.
"Mewtwo was possessed by the Shadow Synergy Stone in order to save me. It doesn't have bad intentions. If big brother encounters Mewtwo, please do not hurt it."
The girl's eyes were filled with pleading. She tightly grabbed Silas's arm, her voice trembling.
"Ann… you're not from our world, are you?"
(End of Chapter)
TN: I'm not familiar with this region or this mode of Pokemon so I might be wrong in a lot of things here.