Zorua Tricked Its Way Through Three Gates to Get Home

There was only one knock at the back door.

Indeedee handed the cold pack to Pancham and hurried toward the inner door. Xia Che followed behind, while Yue Guan and Hu Liena also dropped their relaxed demeanor and turned their attention there.

The shop's front entrance faced the street, but the back door led to a sealed alleyway. Spirit Hall personnel patrolled the alley entrance year-round, so ordinary people could not get in at all.

Indeedee did not open the door right away.

She listened through the door for two breaths, then looked outside through the side window before pulling back the bolt.

A female academy student stood outside.

The girl was drenched in sweat from running. The moment she saw Hu Liena, her expression froze.

"Your Highness, the Saintess?"

"It's me."

"But weren't you just at the south gate?"

Hu Liena turned to look at Zorua.

The little fox shrank closer to Xia Che's feet, pretending not to understand.

The girl quickly explained what had happened. Half an hour earlier, she had seen "Hu Liena" at the academy's south gate. Hu Liena had told her to deliver the training roster to the new shop on East Street and said Elder Yue was here as well.

That face, that voice, even the slight tilt of the head when speaking—it had all been identical.

The girl had not doubted it at all. She had grabbed the roster and come straight over.

"So the thing it was holding earlier was what you delivered?" Hu Liena asked.

The girl nodded. "I handed it to you myself."

Zorua's tail lay flat against the ground, perfectly still.

Yue Guan slowly walked over to it. "You learned to imitate someone this well after only one meeting?"

"Zorua is good at creating illusions," Xia Che said. "The more closely it observes, the more convincing the imitation."

"It can imitate voices too?"

"Yes."

"What about ordinary spiritual detection?"

"Try it yourself."

Of course Yue Guan intended to.

He had the female student return to the academy, then summoned four Spirit Hall guards stationed at the alley entrance. They all knew Hu Liena and knew she had gone to the Papal Hall today, but none of them had heard that she would be visiting this shop.

"Let's run a simple test," Yue Guan said. "No attack-type soul skills, and don't tell the people outside what Zorua looks like beforehand."

Once Zorua understood, it immediately shook its head.

It had only turned into Hu Liena earlier for a prank. Now Yue Guan had gathered several people and started talking about a test. It sounded like far too much trouble.

"If it doesn't want to, forget it." Xia Che turned to head back inside.

Yue Guan was taken aback. "You're not going to persuade it?"

"Persuade it to do what?"

"If this ability can be used in Spirit City's guard training, it could at least help them identify weaknesses."

"Then you tell it."

Yue Guan looked at the little fox crouching beneath the table and realized for the first time that his status as an elder truly was not very useful here.

After thinking for a moment, Hu Liena walked over and crouched before Zorua.

"We want to know how many people that transformation of yours can fool. You only need to walk a short distance. No one will catch you or touch you."

Zorua looked up at her but still did not move.

Indeedee took three picture cards from the counter. One showed a start, one showed a rest, and the last showed returning to the shop. She laid them out in order, then placed the "rest" card where Zorua could reach it at any time.

Only then did Zorua crawl out from beneath the table.

It pressed the rest card with its paw, then pointed toward the stall outside selling roasted Berries.

Hu Liena understood. "You want some after it's over?"

"Zorua!"

The little fox agreed immediately.

Yue Guan stood to one side and glanced at Indeedee. He had spent ages invoking both his status and reason, yet neither had worked as well as three picture cards and a bag of roasted Berries.

The test was held at the academy's three smaller gates.

The first gate only checked identification badges. The second verified visitors' faces and passwords. The third was guarded by veteran Spirit Hall personnel familiar with the academy staff. Zorua only needed to walk in from outside and deliver an empty wooden box to the training hall for the test to be considered complete.

"Who will it transform into?" Hu Liena asked.

Yue Guan initially wanted Zorua to transform into her again, but decided that would be too conspicuous. In the end, they chose the warehouse steward from earlier.

That man delivered goods to the academy every day, and the gate guards had long been familiar with him.

Zorua circled him once.

An illusion spread upward from its four paws. Its dark gray fur gradually transformed into the steward's robe. Moments later, another warehouse steward stood before them, hat slightly crooked and a wooden box cradled in his arms.

The real steward looked at himself, then at the figure opposite him, and could not help straightening his own hat first.

"Do I usually walk that hurriedly?"

Zorua imitated him by jogging two steps.

"Fine, forget I asked."

Xia Che did not go to the gates. He dragged a chair to the shop entrance and sat in the sun waiting for the result, clearly determined to avoid taking even one unnecessary step.

Indeedee, however, stayed behind Zorua the entire time. She did not interfere with the test, only taking responsibility for bringing the little fox back whenever it touched the rest card.

The first gate let it through quickly.

Zorua flashed an ordinary identification badge before the guard. The guard did not even take it for a closer look, merely urging it not to block the way.

The second gate was slightly more troublesome.

The guard asked for the day's password, and Zorua naturally could not answer. It stood there holding the wooden box, imitating the warehouse steward's habit of repeatedly patting the lid whenever he was anxious, then pointed toward the training hall.

After hesitating for a moment, the guard actually gave it the password himself.

"Remember it next time. Today's password is autumn wind."

Zorua nodded hurriedly and passed through the second gate without issue.

Yue Guan's expression had already darkened.

At the final gate, the old Spirit Hall guard spotted the warehouse steward from afar and immediately raised a hand in greeting.

"Why are you late today?"

Zorua waved back and headed inside with the wooden box in its arms.

Just as it was about to pass the third gate as well, the old guard suddenly sniffed.

"Wait."

Zorua stopped.

"Didn't you say your hand hurt this morning? You said you couldn't even lift a box."

The real warehouse steward's expression changed. He had twisted his wrist while sorting medicinal herbs last night, and he had indeed mentioned it only to this old guard.

Seeing that its disguise had been exposed, Zorua was not afraid. The illusion vanished, leaving the little fox standing in the middle of the gate with a box wider than itself in its arms. It called out to the old guard.

"Zorua!"

The guards from the first two gates came running at the commotion. When they saw that the one they had let through was an unfamiliar Pokémon, their expressions became more and more spectacular.

The first guard to let it pass instinctively reached out to grab it. Zorua sprang backward, and a narrow alleyway that had not existed before suddenly appeared on the left side of the gatehouse. A dark gray tail flickered at its entrance. The guard instinctively turned toward it, while the real Zorua had already slipped back along the right wall to Indeedee's side.

"Don't move!" Hu Liena shouted at once.

Several guards came to an abrupt halt. Indeedee also raised the rest card from behind them. When Zorua saw it, the false alley immediately disappeared. It did not use the confusion to run away, merely returning to stand beside her with the wooden box in its arms.

Only then did the old guard breathe a sigh of relief. "It really does understand an agreement."

"So the ones who lost their composure just now were our people," Yue Guan said coolly.

Hu Liena walked up to the old guard. "What did you notice first?"

"The smell was wrong." The old man pointed at his nose. "The warehouse steward deals with herbs every day, so his clothes always carry a bitter scent. But this one smelled like it had just been out in the sun. Then there was his injured hand. If he were really carrying a box that large, he would have started cursing long ago."

The real warehouse steward's face darkened as he listened from behind. "Since when do I curse all day?"

The three guards lowered their heads in unison. No one answered.

But Hu Liena firmly remembered those two points. Illusions could deceive the eyes and ears, but the details left behind in everyday life could still distinguish truth from falsehood. The issue had never been whether the face looked convincing, but whether the person guarding the gate was willing to look a little closer.

Yue Guan did not scold anyone. He only told them to explain, point by point, why they had let Zorua through.

One had been lazy, another had voluntarily revealed the password, and only the last old guard had noticed something wrong because he knew his colleague well.

Nothing had been stolen this time, and no one had been injured, yet the result alone was enough to send a chill down their backs.

On the way back to the shop, Yue Guan asked Xia Che, "Can Zorua come stay at Spirit Hall with me for a few days?"

"Ask it."

Zorua was happily eating roasted Berries. Upon hearing that, it immediately ran behind Indeedee.

Yue Guan could only change the question. "Are there any other Pokémon in the shop that are good at seeing through disguises?"

"Yes."

"I want one."

"You don't get to choose."

Yue Guan frowned. "Money isn't a problem."

"Money comes later," Xia Che said. "First, we see who is willing to meet you."

Hu Liena had been thinking about the third gate the entire time.

No matter how strong someone was, they could still lower their guard when faced with a familiar face. She had learned from childhood to observe others and conceal her intentions, yet this was the first time she had encountered a group of unfamiliar creatures who observed her just as carefully.

"Can I try?" she asked.

Xia Che finally rose from his chair. "What kind are you looking for?"

"One that can see through me, and is willing to let me understand it too."

That answer made Xia Che look at her again.

Indeedee pushed open the round door at the very back of the front hall. There were no shelves beyond it, only a white device half a person's height, with several dim crystals embedded in its center.

After Hu Liena walked inside, the crystals lit up one after another.

No one touched any mechanism.

The silhouette of a small creature with broad ears appeared in the light on its own.