Chapter 126

Lillie offered a quiet explanation, though she didn't voice her own thoughts, but these things were indeed necessities.

--I wonder how much supplies Mei is expending, and whether she can keep going on by herself. If we had these things, it would solve our immediate crisis.

"To actually get the Pokémon here to help collect things... you guys are something else."

Faced with Lillie's explanation, Qiao Ran didn't think much of it. He just felt that these two truly deserved to be called the chosen ones of the Pokémon World. Most of the Ghost Pokémon in this Western-style Mansion were old hands who had followed Phoebe for many years. It wasn't easy to get along with them, let alone worship them.

They were asked to do this kind of thing.

This probably requires a special kind of affinity.

Surprised as he was, he still had to do what needed to be done. Since Lillie and the others had already made so many preparations, it was about time for him to set off.

"Alright, then we're about to..."

Qiao Ran reached out, preparing to call out to Rotom, who had just left not long ago, but—at that moment, a voice suddenly rang out.

"Wait! Then I..."

Mei placed her hand on her chest, took a step forward, and walked up to Qiao Ran.

Her expression grew anxious, but her voice, in turn, began to grow weaker.

"... And what about me?"

From the moment he entered, Qiao Ran didn't mention anything about what had happened before. Instead, he went straight to Lillie's words and extended an invitation to other worlds. To Mei, this was practically an implication that he had already rejected her.

Perhaps, she now seems like an Infestation, annoying woman... even though the other person was clearly unwilling from the start, she keeps going on and on...

Mei's anxiety and insecurity made the originally cheerful girl lose her confidence. During the time Qiao Ran disappeared, the pressure she endured was unimaginable even to Lillie, who had always been with her.

Having lost her memory, she can only live by her obsession with her hometown; that is all she has.

"You..."

Looking at Mei standing in front of him, Qiao Ran touched his cheek.

"Since you want to go, then I'll have to find a way to let you go with me."

"Huh?"

Qiao Ran's answer made Mei, who had been feeling down, suddenly widen her eyes. "You... you mean you agree...? You mean you agree?"

"Wait... wait, wait, wait! There must have been some difficult reason why you didn't agree before, right? How come you suddenly agreed so easily!"

Mei waved her hands, this sudden "good news" left her momentarily speechless, and even her eyes rolled like those of a defeated Pokémon.

"Calm down, calm down!"

Seeing Mei's strong reaction, Qiao Ran couldn't help but shake his head with amusement. Qiao Ran held her shoulders, trying to calm her down.

He had previously refused to give any internal notices, mainly hoping that Mei would consider it carefully and not make a decision she would regret due to a momentary impulse. However, what Qiao Ran did not expect was that this guy would be so excited after he agreed.

"Huff... huff..."

Upon hearing Qiao Ran's voice, Mei took a few deep breaths, her steep chest heaving dramatically.

"Great, great... Finally... I can finally go back to the Pokémon World too?"

As her emotions calmed down, joy began to well up on her face, and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. Then, Mei took a step forward and hugged Qiao Ran tightly.

"Ah..."

Limber touch pressed against Qiao Ran's body. Mei's initiative left Qiao Ran somewhat flustered, but the main reason was actually behind Mei—

As Mei embraced Qiao Ran's gaze naturally drifted to a more distant place, or rather—at this moment, Qiao Ran's eyes met those of someone else.

"..."

The blonde girl who had been standing near Mei was still standing there, but her hands, tightly gripping her dress, and her slightly furrowed brows revealed her turbulent inner state.

"Very good..."

On the other side, Mei didn't turn around, but kept her head on Qiao Ran's chest, expressing her emotions through physical contact.

"And from now on... don't just abandon me like that..."

Section 244, page 240 [That's not what I meant.]

"Lillie? We're about to leave."

Lillie: "..."

"Lillie?"

"Huh?"

After being called by Qiao Ran for a long time, Lillie gradually came to her senses. Even she herself was not sure what she had been thinking. When she looked at Qiao Ran again, she found that Qiao Ran and Mei beside her had already changed their clothes and put on their backpacks. The two of them were looking at her and observing her reaction.

"Are we... about to set off?"

Lillie fiddled with a strand of hair on her forehead, trying to hide her panic.

Is it that fast?

"No, no, I just noticed you were spacing out, so I wanted to ask if something was wrong..."

Qiao Ran scratched his head, still feeling a lingering fear when he recalled that eye contact earlier... Although Lillie hadn't said anything to him, he could vaguely sense some of her feelings.

Hopefully... there won't be any problems.

"As you probably know, if we want to bring Mei along, this alone isn't enough; we need to make some special preparations. Let's go to an open area first, so we can handle any situation that might arise later."

Qiao Ran explained that he planned to take Mei out of the mansion first. Although Phoebe might notice their departure, it was the only option; if all else failed, they could...

He figured he could just use the excuse of "going on a picnic" to get by, since they had already had the Ghost Pokémon prepare a lot of food, and he thought that was a pretty convincing explanation.

"Hmm... let's do as you say, Qiao Ran."

Lillie nodded. Tonight's operation would continue, no matter how unacceptable the situation might be; it was her own choice.

However, even so, Lillie was unaware that she wasn't the only special "Pokémon" around Qiao Ran. Or rather, the Pokémon that gathered around Qiao Ran were quite extraordinary in themselves.

Moreover, there are quite a few Pokémon in the other world who share similar feelings and thoughts—the matter of Dianxi and Vulpix, as well as the sudden escape of Qiao Ran, still make these Pokémon resentful, and they are still angry.

What are these guys doing out at night all of a sudden?

On the top floor of the Western-style Mansion, Phoebe sat by the window, holding a thick book in one hand, but her gaze followed the transparent glass to the path leading to the Western-style Mansion's entrance, where a man and two women could be seen.

"You guys... never mind, let them go out and have a stroll on their own."

Phoebe pondered for a moment, then abandoned the idea of sending the Ghost Pokémon. What she needed to do now was to study the information Qiao Ran had brought and draw more conclusions. Besides, she felt there was no need to be so wary of Qiao Ran and the others; they were just out for a stroll, and it was impossible for them to travel to another world, right?

"After they rest for a few days... it will probably be time for them to leave..."

Phoebe's fingers, which had been turning the pages of the book, suddenly stopped. The information Qiao Ran had brought back about "another world" stirred up her once-dormant heart again, something she had never done before.

"..."

In the silence, Phoebe once again banished all the Ghost Pokémon around her. Then she reached out and brushed aside her long white hair.

Around her neck was a strange necklace—

Phoebe carefully untied it.

It was a very finely crafted necklace, but it looked quite old. At the other end of the necklace, a stunningly beautiful pink Gem was tightly fastened. Just looking at its appearance was enough to make one intoxicated by its splendor.

"What exactly is this...?"

Phoebe picked up the Gem, which still carried the warmth of her body, and placed it under the moonlight. In the light, an unprecedented pattern appeared inside the Gem.

--It was a Bat -like creature with enormous wings, its body shimmering with starlight. Moreover, in the center of this strange creature's head was a wide-open "eye," which seemed to observe all things like Deity.

"..."

Phoebe couldn't remember the history of this object, but she always remembered that it was a very important treasure of hers, so she always carried it with her.

Of course, there was another thing she hadn't forgotten.

"Find that Pokémon, go back to the past..."

If she could go back to the right point in time, she would definitely understand the reason for everything... even that guy...

What's wrong with that guy...? Why did he give her that feeling...?

Before Phoebe knew it, Qiao Ran's image appeared in her mind, and as this thought grew stronger, her train of thought was abruptly interrupted.

Even when she tried to return to her original train of thought, she was repeatedly interrupted by matters concerning Qiao Ran...

Finally, Phoebe had no choice but to jump up from her chair, clearly very angry, even dropping her book to the floor.

"Damn it! That scoundrel is clearly gone, yet he still dares to interfere with my thinking!"

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!"

Meanwhile, Qiao Ran, who had quietly left the Western-style Mansion with Lillie and Mei, also arrived at a suitable open space, which happened to be next to a small grove of trees.

"Achoo... it should be fine."

Qiao Ran, who was being secretly cursed, couldn't help but sneeze. Although it was very strange to sneeze for no reason, after releasing Dianxi and Vulpix to observe the surrounding situation and determine that it was safe, he finally concluded that there was no problem.

"You must be prepared for what's to come."

"Hmm!... Ready!"

Mei stood in front of Qiao Ran, clenching her fists, feeling a little excited.

--The thing she'd been waiting for was finally about to begin. What kind of preparations did she need to make to travel to other worlds?

Could it be... that Qiao Ran would...

Thinking about this, even Mei, who doesn't usually have such thoughts, couldn't help but blush.

However—when she saw Qiao Ran open a strangely shaped Poké Ball, and a bizarre, jellyfish-like "tentacle creature" float out of it, her expression finally turned sour.

Subsequently, Joe

Ran pulled out several more Poké Ball and released a series of tentacle creatures.

Tentacle creatures drifted through the sky, and an unsettling aura permeated the air.

"Do you want to choose one yourself, or let them choose?"

"What... what does that mean?"

Faced with Qiao Ran's sudden question, Mei, whose expression was becoming increasingly strange, couldn't help but swallow.

What's happening now seems a little different from what she imagined...?

"To be... to Pokémon or something, isn't that... what you mean?"

Section 245, page 241: [Wow, amazing!]

"What's the meaning?"

Startled by Mei's question, Qiao Ran, who was still pondering how to make the process more comfortable, was also taken aback.

You suddenly asked me what I meant; I'd like to ask you what you mean by asking me.

Who is this riddle teller?

The two stared at each other for a while. Qiao Ran, who was in a state of "actively solving the problem," obviously did not notice the "minor" thoughts in Mei's mind. In the end, Mei coughed lightly herself, which relieved the awkwardness that was spreading.

"Cough... It's nothing, it's nothing. Um... Is what I'm about to do related to this?"

She pointed to the soft-bodied creatures in front of her that looked extremely unsettling. Although the bodies of the Nihilego possessed an ethereal beauty, they were born with an aura that made humans—or rather, humans of this world—extremely uncomfortable. When Qiao Ran first went to the occupied Aether Foundation, he felt chest tightness and nausea more than once.

However, as they spent more time together, Qiao Ran found herself gradually developing a certain resistance, and Nihilego gradually became more pleasing to the eye.

Of course, Mei was not used to this feeling. Even though Lillie had a faint scent of Ultra Beast on her, it was still too faint compared to the scent of real Ultra Beast, and it was not enough for her to get used to the feeling.

"Lillie, why don't you explain things to her? Tell her what you did back then..."

"Um."

Qiao Ran looked at Lillie beside him and asked her to talk to Mei about the things to pay attention to next, since she was the one who had actually experienced these things and was also a girl of similar age. Lillie nodded and gave Qiao Ran look.

As for Qiao Ran, he started communicating with the Nihilego in order to select a more docile Nihilego to complete the "hyperfusion" with Mei. Of course, this process still needed to use the Nihilego Queen, who could already Humanoid Transformation, as a stepping stone, letting her act as a translator between the two sides. Although he was still completely confused when the Nihilego, it was much better than being completely clueless at the beginning.

"I want a reward too."

"Okay, okay."

Qiao Ran rubbed Nihilego's tentacles, indicating that he was willing to give anything. It had become a tacit habit for these Pokémon to ask him for favors, and anyone who didn't take advantage of him would feel like they were losing out.