"It should be close by now."
Lu Chen rubbed the black soil between his fingers. It was still slightly damp.
That meant the thief was nearby and had not gone far.
"Hehehe~"
Gengar floated in midair, suddenly lowering his voice to give a few cries as his stubby hand pointed toward the distant treetops.
Lu Chen looked in that direction.
Among the crowns of the ancient trees ahead, branches and leaves were faintly stirring.
Clearly, the thief was right there.
Lu Chen nodded and lowered his voice. "Sneak over quietly. Don't alert it."
Gengar grinned, slowly sinking into the shadows of the trees as he silently approached the target.
Lu Chen also softened his footsteps and circled around from the other side.
He wanted to see just who had the nerve to steal his Starf Berry sapling.
Gabite stayed on the perimeter, blocking the escape route.
They surrounded the target from three sides.
Lu Chen and Gengar exchanged a glance and moved at the same time.
"Thief! Get out here!"
Lu Chen suddenly stepped out from behind a tree and shouted up at the treetops.
The branches and leaves shook violently.
A small figure slowly floated out of the canopy.
Lu Chen looked up.
The Pokémon floated in midair, its entire body a pale pinkish white. It was tiny, like a kitten.
Its slender tail was longer than its body, its tip curling slightly.
Its large blue eyes blinked, holding a little curiosity, a little innocence, and even more guilt.
It tilted its head and looked at Lu Chen.
Lu Chen froze.
At first glance, Lu Chen found this Pokémon rather unfamiliar. He had never seen this kind of Pokémon in ultra-ancient times.
But then a chill crept up his spine.
That sense of familiarity came from somewhere deeper.
From his previous life, from those hazy memories that had almost faded away.
Lu Chen's eyes widened.
This Pokémon was the ancestor of all Pokémon, the most mysterious Pokémon in the world.
Mew!
"Why would Mew steal my Starf Berry sapling?! And shouldn't Mew live around the Tree of Beginning? Why is it here?"
Cold sweat instantly soaked Lu Chen's back.
Even though the Mew before him looked utterly incapable of fighting.
As far as Lu Chen knew, in ultra-ancient times, a powerful ultra-ancient empire had provoked Manaphy, the Prince of the Sea,
And Manaphy had unleashed a tsunami that submerged and destroyed the entire empire.
And the Mew before him was known in legend as the genetic origin of all Pokémon.
Its strength could only be greater than Manaphy's.
Unless necessary, Lu Chen did not want to come into conflict with it either.
But as he watched Mew quietly floating there, a trace of guilt in its eyes, Lu Chen kept feeling that something was wrong.
Wait.
Why would Mew steal Starf Berries?
A Pokémon like Mew, which legends said had been born alongside the Pokémon world, had no need to rely on Berries at all.
They had long since stood at the pinnacle of all Pokémon.
Could it simply be causing mischief? Looking for some fun?
Lu Chen forced himself to calm down and carefully studied the Mew before him.
This Mew was pinkish white all over and looked perfectly clean.
Its gaze shifted away from Lu Chen and drifted toward a spot below.
Lu Chen followed its gaze.
There, at the base of an ancient tree, the soil had been carefully built up.
Planted in the hole was his missing Starf Berry sapling.
So Mew had stolen the sapling and planted it here.
Lu Chen looked back at Mew.
Apart from that trace of guilt, its blue eyes held something else that Lu Chen knew very well.
Hunger.
Lu Chen suddenly realized something.
Could this Mew be trying to grow Starf Berries for itself to eat?
The illustrious ancestor of all Pokémon, the world's most mysterious Pokémon, had actually stolen a sapling from a human's farm because it craved a Starf Berry?
The corner of Lu Chen's mouth twitched.
Lu Chen knew there had to be something fishy about this.
"You..."
Lu Chen had barely spoken when Mew flicked its tail, its figure instantly turning illusory.
It wanted to run.
"Gengar! Stop it!"
Gengar shot out of the tree's shadow and spread his hands, a Shadow Ball rapidly forming in his palm.
A flicker of surprise crossed Mew's large blue eyes, and it gently twisted in midair.
It lightly dodged the Shadow Ball's path.
With a flick of its tail, it flew in the opposite direction.
"Gabite!"
Fallen leaves exploded off the ground as Gabite charged out of his ambush spot and let out a fierce roar at Mew in the air.
Mew changed direction again.
But Lu Chen was already blocking its path.
Surrounded on three sides, it had nowhere to escape, above or below.
Watching the panicked little pink cat hovering before him, Lu Chen took a deep breath and said:
"All right, all right. Stop running."
"Can you tell me why you stole my Starf Berry sapling? You're Mew, so you shouldn't be short of food."
Mew blinked its large blue eyes.
It looked at Lu Chen, then at the Starf Berry sapling it had planted beneath the tree roots, then back at Lu Chen.
Its mouth puckered.
A sheen of tears actually welled up in those big, watery blue eyes.
Lu Chen froze.
It's about to cry already?
Is this really Mew?
"Human, please. I picked this sapling up by the roadside. I didn't steal it. Can you let me go?"
A voice much like a little human girl's appeared in Lu Chen's mind.
Hearing the voice suddenly appear directly in his mind, Lu Chen was startled at first. Then he rubbed his chin and said,
"Could this be Telepathy?"
Looking at Mew's pitiful expression as it floated in midair, without the slightest air of a legendary Pokémon, Lu Chen suddenly thought of a possibility.
"Could you be a Zorua or a Zoroark?"
"Huh? No, no! I'm the great Mew, not some Zorua."
Hearing that guilty denial, Lu Chen immediately understood most of what was going on.
Lu Chen knew a fairly powerful Zoroark who was also proficient in Telepathy.
That Zoroark had been the imperial adviser of an empire in ultra-ancient times and was very strong.
Not only could that Zoroark transform into any Pokémon, but that Zoroark also possessed Telepathy.
But the Zoroark Lu Chen knew who could use Telepathy was a powerhouse even among Champion-level Pokémon.
Relying on that unique illusion ability, that Zoroark could even hold its own against opponents at the peak of Champion level.
Unfortunately, even with all that strength, that Zoroark had still died on the ultra-ancient battlefield back then...
Yet this "Mew" before him-or, more accurately, this Zoroark-
Was at most beginner level, not much stronger than the Starter Pokémon normally given to new Trainers.
Yet it could use Telepathy so proficiently. It was extraordinarily gifted, a genius among Pokémon!
"If you reveal your true form now, I can let you off for stealing my Starf Berry sapling, and I'll even give you some food."
"What do you say? That's a pretty good offer, right?"
At Lu Chen's words, "Mew" nearly drooled, and its stomach growled as well. Clearly, it had not eaten its fill in a long time.
Otherwise, it would not have dared take such a huge risk to steal Lu Chen's Starf Berries.
"You... you'd better not lie to me, human."
"Of course I won't."
As soon as Lu Chen finished speaking, purple light flashed over Mew's entire body, and an adorable little black fox stood before him.
Zorua still looked rather uneasy as he watched Lu Chen, constantly trying to tuck his paws beneath his body.
Because quite a bit of black soil still clung to Zorua's paws-irrefutable evidence that he had stolen the Starf Berry sapling.
"Finally showing your true form. Do you know you scared me into a cold sweat when you turned into Mew?"
Lu Chen reached out, grabbed Zorua by the scruff, and lifted him up.
Zorua kept flailing his paws as he struggled.
"Let go of me, human! You promised you'd let me go! You're breaking your word!"
Lu Chen smiled at Zorua and said:
"So what if I break my word? I'm not a good person anyway."
"Besides, why should I keep my word to a thief?"
Meanwhile, Gabite had already carefully dug the Starf Berry sapling back up.
The good news was that the Starf Berry sapling had only recently sprouted, so it had very few roots, and Zorua had not severed them while digging it up. As long as it was replanted on the farm and given plenty of water, it would be fine.
"Come on, little guy. Next, we're going to have a proper talk about compensation."
Having discovered that he actually could not escape Lu Chen's grip, Zorua now looked as dejected as a stray dog.
Looking at the Zorua in his hand, Lu Chen could not help saying:
"Who knew catching a thief would come with an unexpected bonus like this?"
Lu Chen could not understand Pokémon speech, but if he could get this little fellow to translate, it would work much better than Gengar and the others waving their limbs around in wild gestures.
A little supplementary information on the setting: the rough divisions of Pokémon and Trainer strength.
Beginner: Pokémon on the level of newly received Starter Pokémon.
Intermediate: Pokémon that have undergone basic training and possess some fighting ability, corresponding to the second evolutionary stages of Starter Pokémon.
Advanced: Fully evolved Starter Pokémon that can proficiently use various moves and possess considerable fighting ability.
Elite: Capable of earning some results and a reputation at Pokémon League tournaments, with the Pokémon gradually beginning to develop their own battling styles.
Gym: Gym Leaders, capable of protecting a city, with their own battling styles that they further develop and refine.
Elite Four: The Elite Four are the best among them...