"Aria (ﾟДﾟ)."
Meanwhile, the last Ariados on the field looked panicked. Seeing all its teammates defeated, it wanted nothing more than to run away.
"Hm? One slipped through the net, huh? Sceptile, finish it with Leaf Blade."
"Piplup, pip!!"
Just as Xiaoyun was about to order Sceptile to finish off the last big, colorful spider, earn the title of Spider Slayer, and complete his godlike streak...
He saw orderly streams of blue bubbles shoot out of the bushes, striking the fleeing Ariados directly.
"??? There are even Pokémon stealing kills out here?"
Xiaoyun stared intently at the bushes, wanting to see just what Pokémon had the nerve to steal his kill.
"Piplup, pip!"
A round, chubby blue penguin immediately hopped out of the bushes. Its back and the top of its head were dark blue, it had a yellow beak, and the area around its eyes was white, with a light blue, crown-shaped marking between them. Hmm... it did look pretty cute.
"Pip, piplup, piplup!!!"
The little chubby penguin clasped its flippers behind its back, assuming the air of a master as it slowly walked out.
Then it came up to Sceptile and patted its thigh, looking for all the world as though it were dispensing grand advice.
Its tone seemed to say: Young man, not bad at all. Though you're still a little short of this penguin's level, you have potential. Stick with your big bro from now on, and you'll reach the pinnacle of life before you know it.
"Scep..." (Where did this little blue fatty come from...)
Sceptile looked down in exasperation at the little chubby penguin planning out its life, forcibly resisted the urge to slap the little fatty with Leaf Blade, and gave Xiaoyun a questioning look.
"Is this Piplup? That attitude seems familiar. It must be the one Dawn chose later."
Xiaoyun curiously studied the Piplup dispensing grand advice with its flippers behind its back. Hmm... not bad at all. It had quite the bearing of Xing Daorong, the peerless general from the Three Kingdoms.
"Huh? This Piplup is the one that ran away from the lab, right?" Dawn asked curiously from beside him when she saw the Pokémon.
"Yep, it should be. I didn't expect it to come out on its own first," Xiaoyun said with a nod.
"Poke, poke~"
"It seems pretty cute, and it doesn't look naughty either. Why would it sneak out?"
Seeing this adorable Piplup, Dawn walked over curiously, then scooped the little chubby penguin up in both hands without a word while it was still dispensing grand advice.
Then she started pinching its cheeks and poking its belly, doing whatever she pleased.
"Pip... piplup? (-_-#)"
Time seemed to stand still in Piplup's world. The mob boss aura it had just displayed, holding forth and commanding the scene, vanished without a trace under Dawn's Fury Swipes.
The smile hadn't disappeared; it had merely moved from Piplup's face to Dawn's.
"Piplup!!!"
When it saw that Dawn was even preparing to look at its bottom, Piplup finally couldn't take it anymore. Its rage shot up by 100%.
It struggled free of Dawn's embrace, its yellow beak already glowing white as it began pecking her furiously.
"Ow! Sorry, I was wrong! Please let me off!" Dawn said to Piplup as she ran, covering her head.
"Hahahahaha..." Watching the scene, Xiaoyun maintained that he normally wouldn't laugh... unless he couldn't help it.
"Xiaoyun, you're still laughing! Come help me!"
"Ah, I'm sorry, Piplup! I won't do it again..." Dawn kept covering her head and dodging. When she turned and saw Xiaoyun laughing at her from behind, she hurriedly called out to him.
"All right, Piplup, forgive Dawn. She was just so happy to meet you for the first time that she couldn't resist petting you."
Seeing Dawn ask for help, Xiaoyun stopped laughing. He seized an opening, quickly picked Piplup up, and soothed it.
At this rate, if he didn't stop the little penguin, Piplup would probably peck red bumps all over Dawn's little head. Then they would really be in trouble.
"Piplup, pip!" (That woman was about to touch my butt! Is this penguin's butt something she's allowed to look at?)
Even in Xiaoyun's arms, Piplup kept grumbling and cursing.
"Dawn, you should apologize to Piplup too. After all, it helped us drive off the Ariados." With Piplup continuously going "piplup, pip" in his arms, Xiaoyun could only helplessly ask Dawn to come apologize.
"I'm really sorry, Piplup. That was so rude of me. I shouldn't have treated you like that..."
Dawn obediently came over and bowed to Piplup in apology.
"Piplup, pip." (Hmm, all right. Since you're being so sincere, this penguin will reluctantly accept.)
This Piplup was quite a character too. One second it was still cursing, and the next, after hearing the apology, it regained his confident gaze, nodding as it addressed the girl before it with all the bearing of a distinguished figure.
Gurgle, gurgle.
"Pip."
Just then, Piplup's stomach very uncooperatively growled. The Piplup that had looked so confident a moment ago suddenly became a little embarrassed, clutching its little belly with a faint blush.
"Ah, you're hungry."
"Oh, right, I have some Pokémon food the researcher gave me earlier. I don't know if it'll suit your taste, but why don't you have some to tide you over?"
Seeing that Piplup was hungry, Dawn turned and took a can of Pokémon food from the little yellow bag behind her, then opened it and set it before Piplup.
"Piplup!!"
Seeing Dawn produce a can of food, Piplup hurriedly wriggled out of Xiaoyun's arms, went up to Dawn, and tried pecking up a piece with its little beak. Apparently satisfied, it began wolfing the food down.
"Chim." Seeing food, Chimchar cautiously approached too, lifting its head to look pitifully at Dawn.
"Ah, Chimchar, you want some too? Come on, come on, there's plenty in here." When Dawn saw Chimchar, she thought it was too afraid to take any, so she poured some food out of the can and placed it in front of it.
"Chim." Chimchar had much better table manners. Though very hungry, it still chewed slowly, one piece at a time.
Watching this heartwarming scene in the forest, Xiaoyun thought Dawn really did have a way with them.
Just as Xiaoyun was about to take the Pokémon back, he heard an ethereal sound coming from the lake.
"Ooh~"
Xiaoyun turned toward the lake and saw a transparent figure slowly rise from the water.
The figure was a small, gray, fairy-like Pokémon. It had two tails, each with a red gem at the tip. Four long, ear-like appendages hung from its head, and a ruby set between its brows made it look very sacred.
"It's... one of the Lake Guardians! The God of Emotion, Mesprit!" Xiaoyun exclaimed in shock.
Hiss, how did I forget about this?
Since Mesprit has appeared, this lake must be Lake Verity.
The moment Xiaoyun saw Mesprit, he finally recalled his old memories. As time passed, the information from his previous life had become somewhat hazy, and there were many things he could no longer remember clearly.
He only roughly remembered that, at the very beginning of the Pearl arc, Dawn first encountered Mesprit by the lake at the lab.
Moreover, according to the setting, Mesprit slept in another dimension within Lake Verity, and only certain people could see its spirit over the lake.
"So, is it because of Dawn?"
Xiaoyun looked at Dawn beside him and pondered.