Chapter 206: The Playful Mew
The moment Mew, who was following Will, saw Meowscarada in the distance, it immediately transformed into a Meowscarada itself. It was just a "normal" one, only 1.5 meters tall.
On the other side, when Meowscarada saw Will return with another cat, her world collapsed. But upon closer inspection, she immediately noticed something was wrong. Why does this cat not have any... scent?
Meowscarada frowned. Whether it was Skitty or the stray Meowth in the city, they all had that unique feline smell. But this creature... had none.
"Meow!"
The fake cat pounced on the real Meowscarada and hugged her.
"Meow?!"
The embrace was what confirmed it. This thing had no floral aroma! Realizing it was an imposter, Meowscarada immediately shoved it away, her fur standing on end.
"Mew," the fake cat, startled by the shove, immediately reverted to its original form.
"Meow?" Meowscarada froze. So this was the little thing that had hugged her.
"This is the Legendary Mew?!" Platane, who had been quietly standing in the back, pushed her way forward, her eyes shining as she stared at the giggling Pokémon.
"Meowscarada, this is Mew. We'll probably be staying with it for a long time, so you two need to get along," Will said, introducing the small, pink creature.
"Meow?"
"Mmm... it doesn't have a gender. You can think of it as male or female, whichever you like," Will said. Mythical Pokémon were genderless.
"As expected of you, Sceptile! You even managed to bring out the Legendary Mew!" Platane said, coming up to Will and giving his back two light punches.
"Huh? Anyone could have brought it out," Will said, scratching his head. Mew was an incredibly easy Pokémon to trick. Just say you want to play, and it will immediately follow you. You probably don't even have to say that. Just show your face, and it might follow you out of sheer curiosity.
But you couldn't "kidnap" it. Mew is linked to the Tree of Beginning. It cannot leave its side for too long, or both of them will be in mortal danger.
"Mew~" Mew flew circles around its two new playmates. It went to hug Meowscarada's head, but she wasn't fond of being touched by anyone other than Will. She swatted it away.
"Mew," Mew, seeing that Meowscarada was ignoring it, flew over and landed on Platane's head. Platane, on the other hand, was delighted and let Mew do whatever it wanted, all while sneakily collecting a few samples of its fur and... bodily fluids.
"Let's not mess around out here. If people see us, it'll just cause more trouble. Let's go inside," Will said.
"Meow?"
"Yes, we can go in now. Mew will tell the Tree that Platane isn't a bad person, so she'll be allowed in without being attacked by the Regis."
Will nodded, and as they approached the Tree, he looked up. Registeel's figure was standing guard on the "canopy." This time, it didn't move, just watched them, its gaze scanning the distance for any other humans.
Inside the Tree, Mew led them down a different path, a narrow, circular tunnel. Strange green orbs floated past them, occasionally bumping into them and pushing them forward.
"This rock formation... it's actually alive. It's incredible," Platane marveled. The tunnel, with its deep green hue, was like a blood vessel, transporting nutrients absorbed from the sun to all parts of the Tree.
"It's pretty amazing," Will said, though he wasn't particularly shocked. This was the Pokémon world, after all. A world with parallel universes, time travel, spirits, and immortal humans... what was so strange about a living rock?
"And if it's alive, that means it has a consciousness! So the Tree can give orders to those three Legendary Titans, and it can understand Mew!" Platane was excited. This was a major discovery, enough to make her famous in the research world! With fame, she could get more funding, maybe even League sponsorship. Her "Primal Reversion" project would surely get a powerful push.
But she quickly suppressed the thought. She knew very well that if the outside world learned about this place, the Tree and the Pokémon living here would never know peace again.
"...Why does it forbid humans, but not Pokémon?" Will murmured, his gaze drifting to the crystals shining in the light. "Ah... I see."
The Tree of Beginning was sentient. It could see the outside world through these crystals. And it had been watching... for tens of thousands of years. It knew exactly what kind of creatures humans were and how many great wars they had started. That was why it rejected them. It was afraid they would bring disaster and death.
Will didn't dwell on it. He was more focused on how to tell Mew and the Regis about Shadow Lugia.
Back in Mew's "nest," the first thing it did was use its psychic power to pick up its entire mountain of toys and dump it on Meowscarada and Platane.
"Meow?!"
"Ah?!"
The two were instantly buried.
Meowscarada burst out effortlessly and immediately grabbed Mew, holding it down and spanking it.
Smack!
"MEW!" Mew cried out helplessly. With its power, it could have easily escaped. But against someone who meant it no harm, it would subconsciously forget it could resist.
Meowscarada, though at an Elite Four level, was no match for Mew, who had lived for tens of thousands of years and was easily at a high Champion level. But Mew just wriggled, forgetting it could use its strength to break free.
"Meow?" Meowscarada looked at the squirming pink mouse in her paws, then glanced at Will. She suddenly understood why he had liked to do this to her so much. It was a strangely satisfying feeling. But the more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became. Why am I not as strong as him? If I were, I could be the one pinning him down and spanking him!
At that thought, she angrily smacked Mew's butt two more times.
From under the pile of toys, Platane crawled out, gasping for air. But when her gaze fell on the toys, she shot up again. "My goodness! These are all antiques! You could put any of these in a museum!"
She had thought "Legendary Pokémon" were supposed to be majestic and awe-inspiring. But... this one just liked children's toys. Her image of them was completely shattered.
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