Suicune!

"Morning, Zubat, Munchlax."

The morning sunlight bathed the Munchlax squeezed onto Lu Ze's bed in gold. Lu Ze got up, rubbed his eyes, and greeted the two Pokémon that were already awake.

"Today, we're going out to have fun together."

"Munch~"

"Buzz~"

Both Munchlax and Zubat looked delighted. After getting ready and eating breakfast, Lu Ze and his two Pokémon headed toward the meeting spot.

"Morning."

"Morning."

Sure enough, Su Tingxi had arrived first and was waiting for Lu Ze and the others.

Lu Ze looked curiously at the van behind Su Tingxi and asked,

"What did you prepare?"

"Pretty much everything we'll need for a barbecue."

"Awesome."

The two chatted as they waited for Sui Yan and Tang Yunqin to arrive.

Before long, the four of them had gathered and boarded Su Tingxi's family van, driving toward the mountains. Their destination this time was South Mountain outside Chang'an City. The South Mountain Range was enormous, and it was said that wild Pancham could be found deep within South Mountain.

However, they were only heading to the outskirts of South Mountain this time. Many people operated countryside resorts there, and they were going a little farther in from that area, so safety was guaranteed.

It was only when they were nearing their destination that Lu Ze groggily woke up. Seeing the beautiful scenery outside the window finally woke him completely.

The car had already entered the South Mountain Range. Though they were still in its outermost region, lush trees grew everywhere, flowers along the roadside bloomed in abundance, and Caterpie munched on leaves in the trees while keeping watch for the Pidgey and Spearow overhead.

Metapod and Kakuna hung themselves from branches using String Shot, while Silcoon hid among the leaves, revealing only one eye through a gap.

The car stopped at an open space beside the river. They could barbecue there, and there were pebble beaches by the river where they could play in the water. Unfortunately, none of them had brought swimsuits, so they could only splash around.

After Lu Ze and the others unloaded all their supplies, they released their respective Pokémon.

Everyone divided up the work. Lu Ze used charcoal to start the fire, Su Tingxi and Sui Yan prepared the ingredients, and Tang Yunqin threaded the marinated meat onto skewers.

Munchlax waddled over with some dry wood that would catch fire easily. Seeing how happy Munchlax was, Lu Ze couldn't help but laugh.

Dratini and Feebas were having a water fight in the river. Nearby, Goldeen and the vacant-eyed Magikarp watched the two Pokémon playing from afar. After Growlithe was released, it ran around joyfully nearby. Torkoal curled up beside Lu Ze, staring at the lit charcoal, while Zubat flew into a nearby tree and squinted at the warm scene.

Lu Ze looked at the sight before him with a knowing smile. Who could have imagined that a scene that had only existed in his dreams in his previous life would now truly appear before his eyes?

After everyone and their Pokémon had eaten and drunk their fill, they lay in the open space nearby, basking in the afternoon sunlight and taking a brief nap amid birdsong and Bug Buzz.

In his groggy state, Lu Ze heard the rustling of a plastic bag nearby. He cracked open his eyes and saw a slender blue Pokémon with a huge sky-blue hexagonal crest atop its head. It held a plastic bag blown over by the wind in its mouth and was carrying it toward the trash bin they had brought.

"Suicune!!!"

Lu Ze's eyes instantly widened, and all traces of sleep vanished. Suicune's information immediately appeared before him.

Pokémon: Suicune

Gender: Genderless

Type: Water

Ability: Pressure (Gives the opponent a sense of pressure, increasing the stamina consumed when their Pokémon uses moves)

Aptitude: Gold

Basic Moves: Extreme Speed, Sheer Cold, Gust, Water Pulse, Crunch, Ice Fang, Psycho Boost, Surf, Hydro Pump, Blizzard, Scald...

Egg Moves: None

After Suicune put the garbage bag into the trash bin, it glanced back at Lu Ze. Its legs bent as it prepared to leap away.

Seeing this, Lu Ze hurriedly called out.

"Wait, Suicune!"

Hearing his voice, Suicune turned to look at Lu Ze. It saw the surprise and joy in his eyes, hesitated for a moment, then slowly walked toward him.

The human and Pokémon looked into each other's eyes. Lu Ze slowly extended his hand, wanting to stroke Suicune's forehead. Suicune also lowered its head, prepared to accept his touch, as though rewarding Lu Ze and the others for not damaging the environment or littering.

"Ah!! Suicune?!"

Sui Yan turned over and, still groggy, saw Suicune. He rubbed his eyes and cried out in shock.

That cry not only woke Su Tingxi and Tang Yunqin, but also startled Suicune just as Lu Ze's hand touched it.

A north wind swept past. When Su Tingxi and Tang Yunqin came to, all they saw was Suicune's retreating back.

Lu Ze stared blankly at his palm. When the north wind had appeared, he seemed to have heard Suicune's voice.

"Human, until we meet again."

"Wow, Lu Ze, Suicune! That was Suicune!"

Sui Yan shouted excitedly at Lu Ze.

Lu Ze rolled his eyes.

"I know that was Suicune. If you hadn't scared it away, I could've stayed with it a little longer."

Su Tingxi watched Suicune's disappearing figure with a blank expression, then blankly turned to Tang Yunqin.

"That... was Suicune?"

"I think so."

Tang Yunqin replied blankly as well.

"Ah!! Suicune! I saw Suicune!"

Only then did Tang Yunqin react. She jumped up and cried out in excitement.

"Stop yelling. Suicune's already gone."

Lu Ze said helplessly.

No one had expected to see Suicune at South Mountain. However, traces of Suicune had appeared all over the world. As the embodiment of the north wind that could purify water sources, it wouldn't have been strange to see it anywhere.

After calming down for a while, everyone felt that the whole thing was too dreamlike. Though they had only caught a fleeting glimpse, that blue figure would remain in their hearts for a long, long time.

With a bang, a Feebas leaped out of the water and landed in front of the four of them, wriggling on the ground.

"Hey, Tang Yunqin, your Feebas caught you a Shellder."

Sui Yan was the first to notice the Shellder clamped onto Feebas's tail. He pointed at it and laughed.

Lu Ze and Su Tingxi also noticed the Shellder on its tail.

Pokémon: Shellder

Gender: Male

Type: Water

Ability: Skill Link (When using multi-strike moves, it always hits the maximum number of times)

Aptitude: Orange

Basic Moves: Tackle, Water Gun, Withdraw, Ice Shard, Leer

Egg Moves: Aqua Ring, Life Dew, Rock Blast, Mud Shot

After seeing Shellder's information, Lu Ze looked at Tang Yunqin in surprise. Damn, was her luck really that good? He had only told her about Cloyster yesterday, and today she had run into an exceptional Shellder. Skill Link, and it had even inherited Rock Blast? That was ridiculous.

"Shake it off, Feebas! Are you really trying to bring us food?"

Tang Yunqin said to Feebas, torn between laughter and tears.

Feebas shook its tail aggrievedly, indicating that it couldn't shake Shellder off and hadn't meant to bring it back.

Hearing Tang Yunqin's words, the Shellder on Feebas's tail looked shocked. Its frightened little eyes darted around. Then, it suddenly released its grip and charged toward the water at top speed.

"Catch it! It's perfect for your next Pokémon!"

Lu Ze shouted when he saw Shellder suddenly break free.

Tang Yunqin reacted quickly, sprinting over to block its path to the water. The four of them then watched Shellder bounce across the ground.

"At this distance, getting back to the water is going to be pretty hard for it, right?"

Sui Yan asked speechlessly.

"Seems like it."

"Then why did you yell so loudly just now?"

"Instinct."

Lu Ze awkwardly rubbed his nose.

"Come on, Shellder. Battle me. If you lose, you'll become my Pokémon."

Tang Yunqin energetically challenged Shellder.

Shellder changed direction and continued hopping, clearly refusing.

"Come on, Shellder. Battle me."

Tang Yunqin moved in front of it again and continued challenging it.

Shellder turned around again...

After four or five attempts, Shellder gave up. It flopped onto the ground and stopped moving.

"Come on, Shellder. If you lose, you'll become my Pokémon."

Tang Yunqin continued her challenge.

Su Tingxi seemed to realize something and said to Shellder,

"Shellder, if you become her Pokémon, you won't end up as food."

The dejected Shellder on the ground immediately perked up. It sprang to its feet and slammed into the Poké Ball in Tang Yunqin's hand. A flash of red light passed.

"Yay, I caught Shellder!"

After freezing for a moment, Tang Yunqin happily declared her successful capture.

"Didn't expect it, kid. You're pretty sharp."

Lu Ze and Sui Yan happily went over, patted Su Tingxi on the shoulders, and praised him.

"It was nothing. It just came to me."

This time, it was Su Tingxi's turn to feel embarrassed. Even the tips of his ears had turned red.

After catching Shellder, the group played with their Pokémon for a while longer.

As evening approached, Lu Ze and the others put everything they had brought, along with all the garbage, into the car. Then they happily drove back.

The woods by the river fell silent again, as though no one had ever been there. A north wind blew through, and Suicune appeared in the center of the forest clearing. It watched the departing car, seemingly lost in thought, before riding the wind away once more.

After everyone returned home, Lu Ma had already prepared dinner.

During dinner, Lu Ze told Lu Ba about what had happened that day.

"Dad, I ran into Suicune when I went out today."

"Suicune? You ran into Suicune? Did you get any pictures?"

Lu Ba stood up in surprise and asked. Lu Ma also stared at Lu Ze in shock.

"Unfortunately, no. Suicune showed up while we were asleep. I woke up at just the right moment and saw it. I even touched it, but Sui Yan woke up and shouted, scaring Suicune away."

Lu Ba sat back down helplessly. "All right. No pictures, then."

Lu Ze asked curiously, "Why are you so set on getting pictures?"

"You wouldn't understand. A researcher's ultimate goal is to study Legendary Pokémon. Right now, aside from some information on the Legendary Pokémon that have Covenants with various countries, we know absolutely nothing about the others."

Lu Ba shook his head regretfully.

"And even the Legendary Pokémon with Covenants only have surface-level information available. Aside from the Pokémon that participated in those battles, whose moves and Abilities have been partly guessed at, we know nothing at all about the Pokémon that didn't make a move in battle."

"There's no information at all about Legendary Pokémon?"

"There's some, but not much, and it's all superficial. Things like their other Abilities, genders, and so on are completely unknown."

A strange light flickered in Lu Ze's eyes. There seemed to be an opportunity here. But that was something for the future.