Mew and the World Tree

On the edge of a sparsely populated woodland in the Sinnoh Region, not far from the Johto Region, dense grass suddenly rustled.

A Pikachu cautiously poked its head out. Its distinctive ears twitched alertly as it carefully surveyed the surroundings.

Only after confirming there were no potential threats nearby did it relax slightly. It turned around and let out several short, cheerful cries of "Pika pika," calling to its companion in the grass behind it.

Togepi was the first to respond. Flapping its rather useless little wings, it floated lightly down beside Pikachu, looking around curiously with the gleam of novelty in its eyes as it took in the unfamiliar surroundings.

Though its ability to fly should have made it the best candidate for scouting ahead, the little fellow was far too easily distracted by interesting things along the way and often wandered off course while scouting.

Thus, the vanguard duties of this tiny expedition team ultimately fell to the steadier, more reliable Captain Pikachu.

At the moment, only the two of them remained in the adventuring party.

Mew had temporarily left the group with Skrelp.

The matter dated back to half a month ago.

The four of them had traveled together for quite some time and had already developed a certain degree of friendship and understanding.

Yet between Skrelp and Mew, there always seemed to be a thin, almost imperceptible layer of ice.

That estrangement stemmed from Mew's teasing jokes and pranks when they had first met.

For Skrelp, a proud and rather grudge-holding Dragon-type Pokémon, that experience had been more than enough to earn a permanent place in its little notebook.

Perhaps holding grudges was simply an instinct carved into the bones of dragonkind. Skrelp often thought so.

It was only because of the apparent gap in their