Pokémon: Breeding Simulator [41]

Pewter City

After returning to the inn with Elias, Lance finally saw the target he had come for.

"Elias… did you interrogate her in advance or something?"

Looking at Sird, who was slumped on the floor with lifeless eyes, Lance twitched his lips.

"I didn't! Don't frame me for this!"

Elias quickly denied it, though he was also a bit curious about how Sird had ended up like this.

She had been perfectly fine when he left.

"Alright, you can take her now. She's not just a Rocket Executive—she's also a spy for Team Galactic. Be careful with her."

Since he couldn't figure it out, Elias simply waved a hand and lifted the psychic barrier, allowing Lance to take over.

"Team Galactic?"

Hearing that name, Lance froze for a moment.

As the head of Kanto's investigation unit, he was well aware of Team Galactic's existence in Sinnoh.

But… he had only learned about them while dealing with another troublesome organization.

At the thought of that particular group, Lance rubbed his temples in frustration.

Suddenly, capturing a Rocket Executive didn't feel as satisfying anymore.

"What's wrong?"

Elias asked as he idly stroked the Mew curled up in his arms.

Lance was the type to endure hardships without complaint, so anything that truly troubled him was never a small issue.

"It's nothing."

Lance shook his head.

Elias had just returned—he didn't want to drag him into such a mess right away.

Besides, the Masked Man's organization had been plaguing the League for years.

Lance doubted that Elias's involvement would change anything at this point.

"I still have official duties to attend to. I should get going."

After securing Sird with a lovely pair of rose-gold handcuffs, Lance bid Elias farewell.

"Alright, take care on the road."

Knowing how busy Lance was, Elias didn't try to keep him any longer.

More importantly, Mew was getting sleepy and was now insistently tugging at his hand, trying to pull him toward the bedroom.

Click—

As the door shut behind Lance, Elias stretched his arms—

But the moment he turned around, he froze.

Standing right behind him was a shiny Gardevoir—her elegant, slender frame bathed in the soft glow of the room's lighting.

Her large, watery eyes shimmered like delicate glass.

Elias paused for a brief second before quickly realizing that this was just Mew transforming again.

As for why she insisted on taking this form before bed, Mew had given a simple, logical reason:

—She was afraid of getting squished.

Whether as an Eevee or in her original form, her small body made it far too easy for Elias to accidentally roll over her in his sleep.

But as a tall, flexible Gardevoir, there was no such risk—plus, she could double as a very comfortable body pillow.

Elias had found the reasoning ridiculous, but he couldn't refute it.

And to be fair… holding a Gardevoir was comfortable.

So, in the end, he just let Mew do whatever she wanted.

"Gardevoir~"

Seeing Elias accept it without protest, Mew, in her Gardevoir form, beamed happily.

Even she didn't fully understand why she enjoyed sleeping like this.

She just did.

And so, under Gengar's darkening expression, Mew cheerfully led Elias into the bedroom.

Yet, just as she climbed into bed, a sudden chill ran down her spine.

The sensation vanished in an instant—so fleeting that Mew wondered if she had imagined it.

A quick psychic scan of the room revealed nothing unusual, so she didn't dwell on it.

Finding a comfortable spot, she burrowed into the blankets and quickly drifted off to sleep.

---

Being shiny had always been a source of pride for Gardevoir.

Even Elias had praised her unique coloring more than once.

But today, she realized something—

She was the real green Gardevoir.

Floating in the night sky, Gardevoir clenched her silver teeth, her crimson eyes swirling with an intense, uncontrollable fury.

The moment she finished reading the intelligence report, she had set out immediately—traveling through the night to Kanto's Pewter City.

The journey had been exhausting, but every time she thought of what was written in those pages, her heart pounded wildly.

Could it really be you…?

Hope and fear warred within her, consuming her thoughts.

She had been so caught up in her emotions that she completely forgot about Mew's habit of transforming into her.

Finally, just before dawn, she arrived above her destination.

Staring down at the inn below, Gardevoir took a deep breath.

The leader of the Masked Man's organization—someone who had troubled the League for years—was now hesitating like a lovestruck schoolgirl.

After a long moment of indecision, she finally released a gentle thread of psychic energy, probing inside.

She had already made up her mind—

If the person inside wasn't Elias, she would erase them.

She refused to let some imposter resemble him so closely.

With that resolve, her psychic energy slipped into the room—

And in an instant, all the hope she had clung to shattered.

There was no need for further confirmation.

Even though the man inside looked very similar to Elias, Gardevoir could immediately tell—

He wasn't him.

A mere replica.

The spark of hope that had flared in her heart was ruthlessly snuffed out, replaced by suffocating despair.

Once again, darkness swallowed her whole.

As for the Mew curled up next to that fraud?

Gardevoir didn't even care anymore.

A creature willing to accept an imposter had already lost the right to fight her for Elias.

Heart sinking, she prepared to reduce the entire building to rubble—

But then—

Her psychic energy accidentally brushed against the two figures lying on the bed.

A familiar presence shot through her like lightning.

Her raised hand faltered.

She stared blankly at her own pale palm.

"…Was that just my imagination?"

She murmured, though her increasingly unsteady breaths betrayed her composure.

Without hesitation, she sent another wave of psychic energy—this time, directly into the young man's body.

But unlike before, her movements were gentle—as if she was afraid of hurting him.

As her energy flowed into him, the familiar sensation surged back again.

This time, Gardevoir was certain.

She wasn't mistaken.

Inside that man's body—

The psychic energy flowing through his veins was Elias's.

For a moment, her mind went completely blank.

A person's appearance could be altered.

Their age could be changed.

But their psychic signature was unique—an unforgeable imprint, the sole way psychic Pokémon recognized one another.

As dawn's chilly breeze swept over her, Gardevoir slowly regained her senses.

But in the wake of her initial euphoria, something else became painfully clear.

As she scanned the room, her psychic energy detected—

Gengar.

Mew.

And even that red-haired nuisance Lance.

But…

She had only just learned that Elias was even alive.

There was no place for her in his world.

---

T/N: GIRL NOOOO YOU STUPID FUCK WHYYYY MUST I LOVE ANGST