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In the distance, Li Xiang, who was taking notes, saw Cheng Xin and Mo Ye leave one after another, leaving behind a single Kingdra. He couldn't help but look confused.
"What's going on? Why did Teacher Mo leave?"
He ran to Mewtwo's side and greeted Kingdra, who responded with a soft cry.
[I sent him away!] Mewtwo said with a proud look.
[I'm enough to protect you. There's no point in him staying here. He has nothing to do, not even a book to read.]
"You..." Li Xiang twitched the corner of his mouth, inexplicably feeling like this creature was turning into a willful child.
[Is that not allowed?] Mewtwo blinked.
[You taught me—]
"Stop, stop, stop. Forget it, he's gone."
Li Xiang interrupted Mewtwo's attempt to shift the blame. Every time it did something he wasn't happy with, it used this phrase. And the thing was, what it said was absolutely correct!
Li Xiang had indeed taught it that, just not exactly for that purpose.
However, taking this opportunity, Li Xiang decided to go down and relax a bit, browse the market, and do some treasure hunting. He also needed to replenish his supply of type gems.
Currently, the phantoms had been brought under very effective control. They seemed to realize that if they left Mirage Island, they would be chased and killed by many Pokémon.
Therefore, as long as they weren't phantoms generated by Mist Island's ley lines, they no longer tried to escape like they did at the very beginning. It was quite questionable whether these creatures had intelligence or not.
With the generation of phantoms, the ley lines were gradually being purified. The water sources and land had already begun to recover, so there was no need to worry about food shortages next year.
The Council of Ten Sages let Li Xiang do as he pleased on Mirage Island, since Uxie had no objections.
Additionally, Mirage Island wasn't fixed in place above the City of Wisdom. It was like a floating city from a fantasy novel, cruising back and forth within the space of Mist Island, similar to the Temple of the Sea in the movie Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea.
"Have you ever been to the market down there?" Li Xiang asked Mewtwo.
[No, I've only been there to borrow books.] Mewtwo shook its head.
Li Xiang smiled. "Are you interested in going shopping?"
[Huh?]
...….
City of Wisdom.
Today was as lively as ever, even more so than when Li Xiang had first visited. The roads were even more crowded than before. Even the main thoroughfares were filled with all sorts of Pokémon.
On the streets, in addition to the Linoone-drawn carts, there were now Rapidash-drawn carriages, Mudsdale-drawn wagons, and Tauros-drawn carts, as if there had been a version update. Most of them carried Pokémon passengers, looking very much like rickshaws.
Seeing Mewtwo's curiosity, Li Xiang hailed a Rapidash-drawn carriage, paying two Pokeblocks. The ride was far more comfortable than the Linoone carts.
"It looks like they're preparing to celebrate something," Rotom chimed in from the phone. "Celebrating the emergence of Mirage Island."
The phone's power came from a power bank, and the power bank's power came from the sun.
"Hmm." Li Xiang glanced around. His main destination was still the same alley he had visited last time.
There weren't many Pokémon that collected gems. Either birds kept them as treasures, or Pokémon like Sableye ate them as food but ended up not liking the taste. Those who kept them as treasures naturally wouldn't sell them, so he was looking for the latter.
Seeing Li Xiang looking around, Mewtwo said, [What are you looking for? I can use—]
"No, let me find it myself for now. The search itself is part of the fun."
Li Xiang waved his hand. Seeing Mewtwo's confused expression, he smiled. "You'll understand sooner or later. Don't always rely on your psychic powers. Learn to use your eyes."
He pointed at Mewtwo's eyes. "These two things were given to you to see the world clearly. Don't just treat them as decorations, alright?"
Mewtwo didn't fully understand, but it got the gist.
"Alright, stop thinking about it. Just look around."
Li Xiang interrupted its pondering, encouraging it to observe its surroundings more.
They walked on until they stopped at the edge of the market.
"Thanks."
Li Xiang patted the Rapidash's horn and flaming mane, giving it an extra Pokeblocks. "This is a tip."
The Rapidash was very pleased and immediately lowered its head to nuzzle Li Xiang. Startled, Li Xiang quickly dodged.
Wow. If that horn had hit him, it would have gone straight through.
"Goodbye, goodbye." Li Xiang sent the reckless Rapidash on its way.
He led Mewtwo and Kingdra into the market.
As soon as they entered, these two outsiders immediately drew a lot of attention. Humans were rare on Mist Island to begin with, and Mewtwo, something that could be either human or Pokémon, was even rarer.
The combination naturally piqued the curiosity of the Pokémon.
Many Pokémon crowded around, asking where they were from, what kind of Pokémon Mewtwo was, and some shopkeepers even invited them to browse their stalls.
Unfortunately, Li Xiang wasn't interested in most of what they were selling and simply passed them by. Only a few food stalls made him stop.
One of them was a Poffin shop. Yes, Poffins made by Pokémon, drizzled with Honey, looking surprisingly authentic.
The shop was run by two Lopunny, who said they had learned the recipe from a cookbook in a museum. But the question was, where did they get flour and salt? Did they grind it by hand?
After asking, he found out they had indeed ground it themselves using the method from the book, and they had also consulted a ranger to build the oven for baking.
The wheat came from an island to the south, which was covered in golden wheat. Mareep and Tauros used it as feed.
Wow. Mist Island was truly rich in resources. Wheat grew in abundance.
[Poffin? A flour-based product?] Mewtwo looked at the cake-like food Li Xiang handed over.
"Yes, try it. It's much better than cookies. Most things taste best when they're hot."
Li Xiang took a bite and found that while the Poffin itself wasn't very good—a bit hard, not soft enough—the quality of the ingredients was excellent, which made up for the flaw. He fed some to Kingdra.
Kingdra didn't want to eat at first, wanting to maintain its professional bodyguard demeanor, but Li Xiang stuffed a piece into its mouth. Then, figuring it had already eaten, it quickly finished its share.
Beside them, Mewtwo followed suit and took a bite. Instantly, a flash of something unusual appeared in its eyes.
"How is it? Pretty good, right?" Li Xiang smiled.
For the past eight days, he and Mewtwo had been eating hard cookies. So, this was the first time Mewtwo had tasted food created by humans.
[Mm, acceptable.] Even though it didn't speak with its mouth, Mewtwo's response still sounded a bit muffled.
"Good is good. Why is your standard of evaluation always 'acceptable' or 'not acceptable'?" Li Xiang laughed.
Mewtwo didn't answer. It was completely immersed in the Poffin and Honey.
"I can make these too. If you want to eat some, I can make them for you," Li Xiang added. "Better than this, and there are even tastier things."
His cooking skills, honed by using a lot of ingredients, gave him the confidence to say his Poffins were better than the Lopunny's.
[Really?] Hearing this, Mewtwo looked up.
"Of course. Have I ever lied to you?" Li Xiang asked back.
[Then I'll look forward to it, just a little.]
Mewtwo grinned at Li Xiang. The traces of Honey still on its lips made it look somewhat childish. After all, setting aside its immense power and unusual appearance, it was still just a naive child.
Unable to resist, Li Xiang wiped the syrup off its face, wearing a smile that said, "I really can't help you."
Mewtwo stared blankly at Li Xiang, another feeling rising in its heart. It was a feeling of sourness, of warmth, of heart-thumping excitement. It could easily break through its defenses, strike its heart, and make it breathless.
Almost instinctively, it recalled a word it had once seen in a dictionary, one it had stared at for a long time, unable to resist reaching out to touch.
—Family.
Its eyes welled up with tears.
"Huh? Crying because it's so delicious? No way."
Li Xiang was very surprised. Mewtwo hadn't cried even after being beaten so badly before. Even in the original story, Mewtwo had never shown such behavior. No matter which Mewtwo, they were particularly strong. Did this one seem a bit off?
Then again, this Mewtwo could transform between Dark Mewtwo and a regular Mewtwo. Crying was nothing; it only made it seem more alive.
[Something like that.] Mewtwo used its psychic powers to wipe away the tears, deeply realizing that it truly was a Pokémon, a living being. Not a weapon. Weapons don't cry, but it did. So Li Xiang had never lied to it.
[Let's go. Let's keep exploring.] It smiled again, a bright, cheerful smile full of youthful energy.
After asking around, they found a shop that sold gems. The owner was a Persian, and it had several Murkrow as shop assistants.
"How much are these gems?" Li Xiang picked up a handful of type gems from a box. There were quite a few, maybe several dozen.
Rotom acted as translator.
"Meow~" The Persian held up two fingers, indicating two gems for one Pokeblocks.
"No, no, that's too high," Li Xiang shook his head. He didn't have many Pokeblocks left, and he still needed to buy other things.
He reached out, bent one of the Persian's furry paws so its four largest toes were spread out, and pinched its smallest one. "Five for one, and I'll accept."
"Meow meow?" The Persian shook its head, still holding up two fingers.
"Since you're a cat, four for one. I really like cat Pokémon," Li Xiang offered, backing down.
But the Persian still wouldn't budge. So Li Xiang turned and walked away with Mewtwo. This stupid cat was taking him for an easy mark! A shop that never had customers dared to ask such a high price?
Seeing its sure thing about to fly away, the Persian panicked and ran out to block their path. Everyone knew humans were rich. If it didn't make money off them, who would it make it off?
Mewtwo frowned, about to use its psychic powers, but Li Xiang stopped it.
"Five for one?" Li Xiang asked, smiling.
"...Meow~" The Persian reluctantly held up four fingers.
"Then I'm leaving."
"Meow meow meow!"
In the end, they settled on five for one for all the type gems.
After putting the gems into his waist pouch, Li Xiang asked if there were any similar shops nearby. The Persian told him that the ones controlling the most gems in the entire City of Wisdom were a group of Donphan. Their actual food was agate, but they often came across all kinds of other fancy stones.
"I see. Got it." Li Xiang nodded and led Mewtwo and Kingdra in that direction.
The Donphan's territory was in the latter half of the market, or perhaps the first half of the other side. It would take a while to walk there.
Suddenly, Li Xiang noticed a group of interesting Pokémon out of the corner of his eye.