"Hoo-woon!"
Zoroark's tail had barely been poked before it puffed up instantly, whirling around to glare at Anghura with a low growl rumbling in its throat.
"So cute~ Even angry, it's adorable~"
Anghura's inner girl was overflowing — she stared at Zoroark with hearts in her eyes.
"It's not a Shiny. Zoroark Shinies are blue. This one is white and pink."
Fugui observed for a moment before speaking up, somewhat uncertain.
"Then could it be a regional form, like with Meowth?"
Fugui nodded. "Possible. But no regional forms of Zoroark have ever been discovered before, so it's hard to say."
Sui Yan nodded. "True. It's not like it's a mutation or something."
"Could it be a fossil Pokémon? Our nation has been reviving fossil Pokémon lately, and a whole bunch of species have come back."
Anghura suddenly raised her hand excitedly.
Lu Ze was speechless. "Dude, does it look even a little bit like an ancient organism? How could it possibly be a fossil Pokémon?"
Strictly speaking, Zoroark wasn't really an ancient Pokémon. If anything, it belonged to the near-ancient period.
But Lu Ze was still curious. In theory, if a Hisui region existed, it should have been discovered by now.
Take Alola, for example — it corresponded to Great Britain.
But Meowth's Galarian form and Hawaiian form were discovered very early on.
If Hisui worked the same way, its Pokémon shouldn't have gone undetected for this long.
After all, humanity had set foot everywhere except the deep oceans. A place like that wouldn't just hide unnoticed.
So curious!
Lu Ze was extremely curious. If he could find out where this little one came from, he'd have a chance to discover other Hisuian Pokémon.
After all, the Ursaluna he wanted so badly needed Hisuian Peat Blocks to evolve.
"Little one, where did you come from?"
Lu Ze smiled and held out a Deluxe Strength Energy Cube — Snorlax's favorite — offering it to Zoroark.
"Hmph~"
Zoroark turned its head away, firmly refusing to accept anything from Lu Ze.
But it couldn't block out the smell of the Deluxe Strength Energy Cube, which kept wafting up into its nose.
Zoroark was a fox-type Pokémon, after all. Its nose was sharp.
"Hmph~"
In the end, Zoroark couldn't resist the temptation. It grabbed the Deluxe Strength Energy Cube and started eating.
Chomp chomp chomp!
GULP!
The only sound was Zoroark eating — and then one very loud, very obvious swallow.
"Snorlax isn't full yet, is he? There are more in the bag. Help yourself."
Lu Ze noticed Snorlax's face slightly reddening and pointed at the bag with a laugh.
"Bikka~"
Snorlax shook his head. I need to have self-control. Can't just eat on command. That's what having no self-control looks like.
A moment later.
"Bikka~"
(…Okay but actually so good~)
In the end, Snorlax couldn't resist the temptation of the Deluxe Strength Energy Cube either. So he went all in.
After grabbing Lu Ze's bag, he sat down next to Zoroark and started eating.
"Hmph?"
Zoroark looked at the Deluxe Strength Energy Cube it was halfway through, then at Snorlax popping his sixth one into his mouth.
"HMPH!"
Zoroark pouted angrily — and immediately inflated, puffing up to Snorlax's size.
In the time it took Snorlax to blink, Zoroark had transformed into Snorlax.
While Snorlax was still frozen in confusion, Zoroark flicked the half-eaten Deluxe Strength Energy Cube straight into its own mouth.
"HIC~~~"
Right as Zoroark was reaching for another one — it let out a massive burp.
"哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈~"
Lu Ze and the others burst out laughing the moment they saw what happened.
It wasn't really Zoroark's fault.
These Deluxe Strength Energy Cubes were specially made for Snorlax by Lu Ze.
They couldn't match the fullness of the Fullness Energy Cubes, of course, but Lu Ze had added some filling Berry juice to them.
Plus, Zoroark had just eaten so much grilled fish. So getting full wasn't strange at all.
I mean — you transform into Snorlax, that doesn't mean you inherit Snorlax's appetite too.
Zoroark's face went red from embarrassment the moment it heard everyone laughing. It quickly shrank back to its original size and burrowed into Snorlax's stomach, burying its face in Snorlax's belly.
Can't show my face!
"Okay, okay, we weren't laughing at you. Being full is nothing to laugh about, right?"
"Right~"
Lu Ze patted Zoroark's back and said gently.
At the same time, Sui Yan and the others chimed in, saying they really weren't laughing.
"Hmph?"
Zoroark tilted its head slightly, peeking out with one eye to look at Lu Ze — while its hands and feet stayed firmly latched onto Snorlax's body.
"Of course it's real. We were just thinking of something happy. Right?"
"Right~"
Listening to Lu Ze's dignified, righteous words and the other three nodding along, Zoroark finally nodded half-convinced. Reluctantly, it hopped down from Snorlax's belly.
(Its belly is so comfortable. If only I could just lie on it forever…)
Zoroark glanced back at Snorlax's belly one more time, then quickly shook its head.
(No no no, this is a trap! I can't let myself get used to this!)
"Zoroark, where did you come from?"
After building rapport, Lu Ze finally took his first step toward his wicked plan.
"Hmph?"
Zoroark looked up疑惑ly, then raised one paw and pointed behind it, toward the forest.
"The forest?"
"HMPH!"
Zoroark nodded seriously. It had definitely come from the forest.
The only thing was — it didn't know why it had woken up in the forest in the first place.
"The forest? That doesn't make sense."
The moment Lu Ze saw Zoroark point toward the forest, he activated his Aura and searched the forest thoroughly.
According to his thinking, if Hisui wasn't a physical region, then it should exist as a Mystery Zone.
But he had just scanned the entire forest and found nothing.
Not even the faintest spatial ripple that preceded a Mystery Zone opening.
"I see…"
Lu Ze nodded slowly. He turned and pulled Sui Yan and the others aside.
"Should we capture her?"
"Capture her?"
Sui Yan, Fugui, and Anghura exchanged glances.
"Yeah. I just used my Aura to scan that forest. There's no sign of others of her kind. She should be completely alone right now."
(This chapter ends here.)
———
Please give me Power Stones!
Support me on Patreon @ patreon(dot)com/SorenEclipse
Read 15 Chapters Ahead on Patreon!