Out of Control

Target Pokémon: Drowzee

Attribute: Psychic-type

Body: Inferior

Speed: Superior

Moves: Exceptional

Reactions: Exceptional

Rapport: None

Overall Rating: Exceptional

Strength Assessment: Qualified (Outstanding)

Description: Possesses intelligence comparable to that of a human. Its body is relatively weak, but its Inner Focus is exceptionally powerful, far surpassing others of its kind. It has the ability to control humans and Pokémon with relatively weak wills.

Note: A failed product from a certain experiment. Its mental state is extremely unstable, and its abilities are unusual. Immediate elimination is recommended.

This was the description of the Drowzee in the mission file Xia Yan had received from Loto.

His task was to find and eliminate this Drowzee using the intelligence provided in the file.

To prevent any unnecessary trouble.

The mission reward was thirty thousand Poké Dollars, a fairly generous sum.

As a Bug-type and Poison-type Pokémon, Weedle would take double damage from Psychic-type moves. But likewise, as a Psychic-type Pokémon, Drowzee would take double damage from Weedle's Bug-type moves.

They could be said to be two Pokémon that countered each other.

Xia Yan and Weedle were both fairly confident in their willpower. Moreover, this Drowzee was only assessed as Qualified, a tier below Outstanding Weedle, so completing the mission was not impossible.

What Xia Yan had not expected was that this Drowzee, whose mental state had been marked as extremely unstable, had actually spread its arms and assumed a posture of willingly awaiting death.

He did not immediately have Weedle attack.

Xia Yan was somewhat curious.

"Why aren't you running? I know you have that ability. Although controlling so many Rattata must have drained a great deal of your Inner Focus, escaping shouldn't be difficult," Xia Yan said.

Drowzee ended the Telepathy, so he could only speak aloud. Still, he believed Drowzee could understand him.

Bzz—

Sure enough, after hearing Xia Yan's words, blue halos once again appeared in Drowzee's eyes.

A voice sounded in his mind. "Someone. Psychic-type. Sealed. City."

Upon hearing that,

Xia Yan froze. When he understood what it meant, his eyes suddenly widened.

Drowzee said someone had sealed off the city. Perhaps it was not solely targeting it, and it probably did not have the status to warrant that.

But without question, in all of Goldenrod City, the only person capable of doing that was likely Goldenrod City Gym Leader Sabrina.

It had finally escaped the laboratory. Even without using Teleport, if it truly wanted to, leaving Goldenrod City should not have been impossible.

Why had it hidden in such a remote but still traceable Slums district?

"Run? Where to?" Drowzee asked again.

Where to?

This Drowzee had likely lived in an enclosed laboratory from the moment it was born. Every day, it faced all kinds of experiments. It had no experience of the world outside the laboratory, so where could it possibly run?

Xia Yan fell silent.

To the Drowzee before him, the entire world beyond the laboratory was probably unfamiliar.

His gaze inadvertently swept over the children's storybooks atop the box in front of Drowzee, arranged with nearly obsessive neatness.

"You like reading?" Xia Yan changed the subject.

Drowzee turned its head and carefully stroked the obviously old book with its three-fingered hand. "Before, I only had books. I also like books."

A Pokémon that liked reading and learning was truly rare.

Xia Yan took a book from his coat.

After arriving in this world, he had read every day in order to better understand it and Pokémon.

In that respect, he was somewhat similar to the Drowzee before him.

He read whenever he had time, so he always carried a book with him.

At the sight of the book, Drowzee's eyes immediately lit up.

But because it was in Xia Yan's hand, it did not move. Its ears merely twitched rapidly, as though it were suppressing some emotion.

"Do you like it? If you do, I can give it to you," Xia Yan said.

"Really?" Drowzee looked somewhat at a loss.

Xia Yan directly placed the book in its hands.

Drowzee carefully touched the cover, feeling its smoothness and breathing in the faint scent of ink and polish. It looked a little intoxicated.

But soon, its gaze turned somewhat lonely.

It shook its head and returned the book to Xia Yan.

"Thank you. You are the first person who could wait for me to finish reading a story, and the first person willing to give me a book. You are a good person."

Getting a Good Person Card from a Pokémon was something Xia Yan had not expected.

"But I won't have the chance to read it. Something as precious as a book shouldn't be wasted."

The blue halo flickering around its body from channeling Psychic-type energy became somewhat unstable.

"What if I said I could let you live?" Xia Yan stared straight at Drowzee.

There was one thing he had to admit: Xia Yan was tempted.

"Hm?" Drowzee froze.

"Become my Pokémon. I can let you immerse yourself in the joy of books every day, and I can let you live properly," Xia Yan said.

"You want... to let me become your Pokémon?"

Bzz—Bzz—

Layer upon layer of halos flickered across Drowzee's body, and the rings of Psychic-type energy spilling out began to lose control.

"You want to let me become your Pokémon?!"

Drowzee's voice practically exploded inside Xia Yan's head.

The loss of control was inexplicably sudden.

The description in the file, which said Drowzee's mental state was extremely unstable, was immediately proven true.

Under such Inner Focus pressure, Xia Yan instantly felt as though his head were about to burst from within.

This was after Drowzee had already expended a great deal of Inner Focus controlling over a hundred Rattata. If it had been at full strength, Xia Yan did not dare guarantee that he would still be alive.

"Wooo!!"

Weedle sensed the threat Xia Yan was facing.

It opened its mouth and spat out a mass of silk at Drowzee. At the same time, the horn on its head shone with a purple halo as three Poison Stings shot out.

"Drowzee!!"

With an angry roar from Drowzee,

The silk Weedle spat and the Poison Stings it fired were both blocked by Psychic-type energy, suspended in midair.

But Weedle was not surprised. It had experience fighting Psychic-type Pokémon, and Xia Yan had already explained how to deal with them before this mission.

Weedle opened its small mouth, and a rich green glow lit up around it. The sluggish Psychic-type energy blocking its advance like a swamp was torn open by Weedle without resistance.

Bang!

Weedle lunged forward and knocked the frail Drowzee to the ground. Its Bug Bite, wrapped in dense Bug-type energy, was poised and aimed at Drowzee's vulnerable neck.

"Weedle!"

Weedle's effective assault and lunge interrupted Drowzee's pressure on Xia Yan, allowing him to call out in time and stop its next move.

"Wooo?!"

Weedle did not turn away. Its mouth remained locked on Drowzee's neck as it questioned him.

Xia Yan walked up to Drowzee, crouched down, and gently stroked Weedle's back as he looked at its bloodshot eyes. "Sorry."

He had originally entertained the idea of catching this Drowzee.

After all, Psychic-type Pokémon were relatively rare, and most were extremely intelligent, possessing wisdom no weaker than that of humans. They were not easy to catch.

He had begun considering catching a second Pokémon several days ago.

Previously, his resources had not allowed it. Besides, Weedle could evolve at any moment, so he needed to save some resources for its evolution.

But now, Weedle's growth cycle had been extended, and he had been promoted to an intermediate sparring partner. He could earn more money to buy resources, and intermediate sparring missions also offered substantial rewards.

With a stable resource income, it was only natural to begin preparing for a second Pokémon.

It was just unfortunate that this Drowzee had indeed become somewhat uncontrollable because of a certain experiment.

Such Pokémon were ones Trainers had to avoid at all costs.

If a Pokémon disobeyed during a battle, merely losing the match was manageable. But in a life-and-death fight, refusing to follow orders could have fatal consequences.

After apologizing to Drowzee, Xia Yan nodded at Weedle.

And within the already somewhat crazed Drowzee's madness, there appeared a trace of relief and gratitude.

To it, Xia Yan giving it that final respect was already the greatest repayment he could offer.

"Be careful... zzzt." Drowzee's final rational voice sounded in his mind.