Ye Qing nodded lightly, unsure whether he was doing the right thing. After all, even watching Mewtwo Strikes Back as an outsider back then had left him sobbing, let alone being personally involved.
"Here. Take this as my gift of thanks."
As Mewtwo spoke, he opened his palm. A five-centimeter Silver Spoon materialized out of thin air, then floated down in front of Ye Qing.
"Take it. If you ever need my help, just turn around. I'll be there to sweep away everything in your path."
Mewtwo's commanding declaration sent excitement surging through Ye Qing. With Mewtwo backing him up, wouldn't he be able to get anything he wanted in the future?
Still, Ye Qing didn't let it go to his head. His relationship with Mewtwo wasn't solid yet, and Mewtwo might only step in for him once.
The moment his fingers touched the spoon, it turned into a ball of white light and imprinted itself on his right wrist like a tattoo.
With that done, Mewtwo said calmly, "You're not one of Team R's people, are you?"
"No, I'm not."
Ye Qing nodded. Lying in front of Mewtwo was impossible, so he might as well admit it openly.
At the same time, Ye Qing pondered a question. Li Zhiyong's original mission had been to gather information on Mewtwo. If he really handed that information over to the Pokémon League, wouldn't he be betraying Mewtwo's trust?
Besides, in his previous life, Team Rocket had infiltrated the Pokémon League. Giovanni had even become an officially recognized Gym Leader. That meant the Pokémon League here could very well have been infiltrated by Team R too. Even if it hadn't, there could still be Team R agents hiding within it.
When he returned to the Pokémon League as an undercover operative, would Team R's spies hidden there discover him and retaliate?
He had to admit that, while the odds of something like that happening weren't high, it wasn't completely impossible.
Most importantly, his goal from the start had never been to earn a reward from the Pokémon League. He had only wanted to protect himself.
Having sorted through those thoughts, Ye Qing looked up at Mewtwo and asked nervously, "Are we friends?"
"Friends? Perhaps we are," Mewtwo replied after a moment of thought.
Ye Qing's eyes lit up. "Then can you use Teleport to help me escape?"
"I'm afraid not."
Mewtwo looked down at the restraints on his body and shook his head.
Ye Qing frowned slightly. "Then what can I do to help you?"
Mewtwo said, "These restraints prevent me from using Teleport. You'll have to destroy the Control Device or get me ten thousand meters away from the machine."
"Ten thousand meters?"
That condition put Ye Qing in a difficult position. The Terminal Device controlling Mewtwo was probably the one the Mad Scientist had been carrying earlier.
But getting ten thousand meters away without Team R noticing was almost impossible. Even with an Arcanine renowned for his speed, it would be hard to pull off.
He remembered learning at school that, by using Extreme Speed and Agility, an Arcanine could just barely maintain a speed of five hundred kilometers per hour. That worked out to roughly a hundred and forty meters per second, so covering ten thousand meters at full speed would take about seventy-two seconds.
Of course, Arcanine couldn't maintain Extreme Speed for all seventy-two seconds. Once its effect wore off, covering those ten thousand meters would take nearly three minutes. Would Team R give him that long?
Once the device controlling Mewtwo was activated, couldn't it knock him unconscious within three seconds?
Ye Qing kept running through the possibilities, but no good solution came to mind.
As though he knew what Ye Qing was thinking, Mewtwo looked at him and said, "I can resist the restraints' power and avoid entering Sleep Mode, but I can only hold out for three minutes at most."
"Three minutes is enough, but..."
Mewtwo seemed unconcerned. "Your time is up. You should leave for now."
"Okay."
He really had been inside for quite a while. To keep the others from growing suspicious, he had no choice but to leave for now.
As soon as Ye Qing came out, he saw the fat man pacing anxiously by the door.
"Brother, you're finally out! I thought something had happened to you!"
The fat man was delighted to see Ye Qing emerge unharmed. He had almost assumed the unlucky fellow had died inside.
"I'm fine."
Ye Qing waved a hand, pretending to have a headache.
The fat man gave the still relatively normal Ye Qing a tap and reassured him, "Hey, as long as you're okay. You got lucky, brother. Most of the others were practically insane when they came out."
Seeing how certain the fat man was, Ye Qing had no reason to doubt him. Mewtwo wasn't exactly known for his good temper, after all.
He looked out through the porthole. An endless sea still stretched outside, and he had no idea where Team R was headed next.
If their destination was an island, things would be difficult. Arcanine couldn't exactly run across the sea.
At that thought, Ye Qing asked tentatively, "Do you know where we're going this time?"
The fat man spread his hands innocently. "Where we're going? Brother, you're Captain Blood Hand's favorite. If even you don't know, what makes you think I would?"
"Fair point."
Ye Qing realized that his question really had been stupid. It felt as though he hadn't been quite himself since meeting Mewtwo.
Six hours passed quickly as Ye Qing racked his brains. Once his shift ended, he returned to his room and continued thinking.
The Transport Plane had plenty of space inside, so everyone's sleeping cabin was fairly roomy too. There was more than enough room to let Chimchar and Arcanine out to play together.
"Come out, Arcanine, Chimchar."
But Ye Qing wasn't planning to let them play right now. While Arcanine was with him, he wanted him to teach Chimchar the move Flame Wheel.
"Ooh-ah!" "Woof."
Both Pokémon appeared on the floor. Ye Qing stopped Chimchar from climbing onto him, then explained his idea to Arcanine.
"Woof."
Arcanine agreed immediately without any hesitation.
Watching the two Pokémon diligently teach and learn, Ye Qing leaned back on his single bed and returned to the problem from earlier.
Destroying the Terminal Device controlling Mewtwo was impossible. He knew his own limits. That left only one option: helping Mewtwo escape.
A helicopter's maximum flight altitude was a little over six thousand meters, so jumping straight down wouldn't work either. He could only carry out the plan on land.
Besides, Mewtwo's room was specially built. Ordinary attacks couldn't break through it, so he would have to get Mewtwo outside first.
This flight on the Transport Plane was especially long. Throughout the journey, Ye Qing kept checking the situation outside through the porthole.
After a dozen hours or so, the group finally flew over land and stopped at a base in the Dense Forest.
Ye Qing received no orders, though. Presumably, the group was only stopping here to resupply and would set off again afterward.
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