Chapter 10
The Mimikyu in the Crane Machine.
The two of them practically jogged away from the arcade.
It was not until they had run a long distance that Jun Shutong finally stopped, looking at Lu Li with worry all over her face. "What's wrong? Did you notice something amiss?"
"I saw a Ghost Magical Beast," Lu Li said with a gloomy expression.
Inside that crane machine with the shattered glass, there was an ugly-looking tattered rag doll. Among all the brand-new plushies, that doll stood out far too much.
Of course, if that were all, he still could not be one hundred percent sure it was a Ghost-type Pokémon.
The problem, however, was that this world did not have Pokémon anime and games, making Pikachu plushies all the more nonexistent.
With that rag doll wearing a skin resembling Pikachu, its identity was already self-evident.
Mimikyu, the Disguise Pokémon.
As a walking Pokémon encyclopedia Pokédex, Lu Li had a deep impression of Mimikyu. For one, it looked far too much like Pikachu, and for another, even their names bore a striking similarity.
"Are you sure you didn't see wrong?"
Jun Shutong furrowed her brows, staring at Lu Li with suspicion. It was not that she did not trust Lu Li; rather, the things Lu Li was saying were simply too absurd.
What kind of existence was a Ghost Magical Beast?
After the arrival of Pokémon, Ghost Magical Beasts posed the greatest danger to humanity. Some powerful Ghost Magical Beasts had even plundered the lives of an entire city's worth of people.
If there really were a Ghost Magical Beast in the mall, how could this group of them still be standing here safe and sound?
Lu Li did not quite know how to explain it either.
Based on his understanding of Pokémon and his observations over this period, Lu Li had also discovered that these Pokémon were not specifically here to annihilate humanity.
Take Mime Jr. for instance.
Upon seeing humans, it did not directly launch an attack; instead, it mimicked their behavior, and in the end, it even let them go.
Yet for Pokémon, humans were far too fragile. Sometimes, just a tiny misstep could cause humans to lose their lives.
Just like Misty's Psyduck in the anime-every time it went berserk, the main cast would suffer, whether from headaches or getting blown flying and the like.
If placed in the real world, however, if that Psyduck lost control, everyone in the vicinity would die.
The people in the Pokémon world evolved from Pokémon and possessed absurdly high resistance, but the people of this world did not evolve from Pokémon.
In Lu Li's hypothesis, the reason Ghost-type Pokémon were dangerous was mainly because they might absorb human vitality, or spiritual energy like souls and emotions.
Among them, Pokémon like Dusclops lived by absorbing vitality, while the likes of Sableye excelled at taking souls. As for Mimikyu, it should feed on human emotions.
As for the disappearance of Yellow Hair and the others, Lu Li suspected it was done by Mimikyu. As for how it was accomplished, Lu Li did not want to investigate, nor was it possible for him to investigate.
"I can only guarantee that what I saw was definitely a Ghost Magical Beast. As for why it didn't attack the camp, perhaps humans aren't on its menu?" Lu Li offered an explanation that was somewhat close to the truth.
Jun Shutong grew pensive, then nodded. "That's true. Not all Ghost Magical Beasts can absorb our vitality."
"What do we do now then?" Lu Li asked.
"Let's head back. Don't tell anyone about there being a Ghost Magical Beast here, so as not to cause unnecessary panic." Jun Shutong made up her mind to strictly conceal the news that there was a Ghost Magical Beast inside the arcade.
Lu Li nodded, not even asking for the reason.
Jun Shutong added, "Once we get back, I'll tell everyone there's danger near the arcade."
Lu Li had no objections to this either. There were no supplies to speak of in the arcade anyway, and normally no one would run over there to court death, as long as Mimikyu did not actively approach the Survivor Camp.
Yet Lu Li was not very optimistic about this.
Mimikyu's setup in the games was that it was a type of Ghost-type Pokémon that was relatively close to humans. The reason it hid under a tattered rag doll skin was precisely to get close to crowds without causing them panic.
If he remembered correctly, Mimikyu would definitely sneak into the camp. However, as long as Mimikyu did not absorb the vitality of the people in the camp, it wouldn't matter if it entered.
Nor would Mimikyu actively scare people, unless someone courted death and wanted to see its true appearance beneath its doll skin. Given this era's humans' fear of Magical Beasts, the probability of such a thing happening should be zero.
Wait.
Lu Li suddenly noticed a crucial point.
Could those two fellows have accidentally seen Mimikyu's true appearance, which was why they were silenced by it?
Lu Li felt this possibility was very high, and it might even be exactly what happened.
If he did not understand Pokémon, seeing such a bizarre doll in the arcade, he might have felt curious as well and even investigated to see what on earth this thing was.
Neither of them chatted on the way back. Because of Lu Li's analytic, Jun Shutong's mood was also very heavy, and she spent the whole journey lost in thought.
The moment she stepped back into the camp, Jun Shutong immediately gathered everyone to crowd around and announced with a solemn expression, "There are traces of Magical Beast activity over by the arcade. Everyone try to avoid the arcade when you go out to collect supplies in the future."
"Sister Jun, do you know what kind of Magical Beast it is?" Fatty Lei asked curiously.
Facing everyone's probing yet uneasy gazes, Jun Shutong forcibly suppressed the panic in her heart and feigned calmness as she said, "I don't know. We only found some traces of Magical Beast activity; Yellow Hair and the others probably met with misfortune there."
"Will that Magical Beast run over to our side? Should we relocate the camp?" an old man muttered with worry.
An old woman next to the old man retorted, "Relocate? Relocate where? Is there any place in this entire mall safer than here?"
"That's still better than staying here! What if that Magical Beast runs over?"
"You're overthinking it. Following your logic, wouldn't the Magical Beasts in the Aquarium have run over long ago?"
Jun Shutong looked at the endlessly arguing crowd, shook her head helplessly, and a trace of regret welled up in her heart: she should have just sealed off the passage leading to the arcade instead of blurting this out.
She had originally wanted to avoid panic within the camp, but she hadn't expected panic to arise anyway. Fortunately, the crowd hadn't spun out of control, or she would have had her hands full again.
Physically and mentally exhausted, Jun Shutong threw herself onto the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling with lifeless eyes.
She was pondering whether they should relocate the camp, but the problem once again was: where could they go? Was there any safe place left in this world?
Ever since the descent of Magical Beasts, Magical Beasts had been present in every corner of the world. Saying there was a Magical Beast every ten steps might be a slight exaggeration, but a Magical Beast every hundred meters was definitely not overstated.
Lu Li did not participate in the camp's discussion; he still had to hurry home to feed Feebas.
"Whoa! Feebas, it looks like you've gotten even prettier!"
"As expected, the medicines I've been using on you are working. I really am amazing!"
"You're getting prettier and prettier..."
After cupping Feebas out of the fish tank, cheesy praises poured out of Lu Li's mouth like his life depended on it.
In the past, when he praised Feebas, his heart had been somewhat insincere, but now his praise was definitely heartfelt and from the depths of his soul.
After all, this was his future pillar of support and hope; he truly cherished and praised Feebas just like his own child.