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Outside Triple Village.
Going shopping with his senior sisters meant a ninety percent chance of being tasked with carrying their spoils of war.
No human or Pokémon was exempt… not even Li Xiang.
When he tried to refuse by claiming he needed to hold the sword, the Honedge in his arms suddenly flew up and attached itself to his back. As if to say he didn't need to hold it anymore.
Clearly, this guy was still holding a grudge, annoyed by Li Xiang's earlier groping and incessant touching of its tassel. Or perhaps it was dissatisfied with how Li Xiang addressed it.
'Who knew you didn't like being touched? You didn't say anything when I was doing it.'
Li Xiang felt inexplicably wronged and began to doubt the authenticity of "love at first sight."
Had Shimazaki Massao been fooling him?
This attitude had nothing to do with love at first sight.
'Whatever…. I can deal with it after returning," Li Xiang thought to himself.
During the shopping trip, handcrafted PokéBalls were naturally available. Regardless of their effects, the appearance of handcrafted PokéBalls could be described as flashy, with all sorts of designs.
Diamond-encrusted, pure gold—these were not uncommon.
Similar to the anime, but the most common were those with paintings on them.
"Junior Brother! This one looks pretty good!"
Qi Sunsun held a pale yellow PokéBall and waved it in front of Li Xiang's eyes.
Li Xiang took it and found a landscape painting on it, deliberately yellowed to imitate ancient paper. It was unexpectedly quite beautiful.
As for the ball type, it was naturally a standard PokéBall with a white base.
"Boss, does the pattern on this have a name?" he asked the shopkeeper softly.
"Yes, the Great Chong Mountain," the shopkeeper glanced at it and said casually. "The ball is handmade too. Three hundred bucks, fixed price."
Great Chong Mountain.
He remembered it as the second tallest mountain in Sakura Island, also known as Heavenly Azure Mountain. Legend had it that Ho-Oh once resided there, and it was also the location of the Sakura Island Ho-Oh Temple.
Li Xiang took a closer look and indeed spotted a small temple on the mountain.
He turned to ask Honedge for its opinion, but Honedge still had no opinion, and Rotom said it hadn't spoken either. It seemed... this guy really couldn't vocalize actively.
If they wanted to communicate, it would likely have to rely on mental waves or its spiritual energy.
Li Xiang didn't press the matter and picked out two or three more aesthetically pleasing PokéBalls.
After paying, Li Xiang attempted to capture Honedge, expecting some resistance or something. Unexpectedly, it accepted quite calmly.
From this, it seemed Honedge genuinely wanted to be his Pokémon and wasn't fooling him.
He then released it immediately.
Honedge wobbled and then reattached itself to Li Xiang's back, like the sword on the back of a protagonist in a wuxia novel.
"...Fine. If you like sticking there, then stick there," Li Xiang said offhandedly.
...….
In the afternoon.
After finishing their shopping, they brought the three senior sisters' spoils back to the car. Then, everyone visited the nearby Yi County Nature Park. The entrance fee was cheap, just a few bucks, more symbolic than anything.
The items sold in the internal shops were priced the same as outside—no concept of two different worlds inside and outside the park.
Unlike the profit-driven zoos of his previous life, the purpose of nature parks was to allow wild Pokémon and humans to interact more.
While protecting some Pokémon, they also helped establish a delicate balance between them and humans.
In other words, nature parks were Pokémon sanctuaries in another sense, and there were indeed many Pokémon here, like Relicanth, Kangaskhan, and Marowak—species not commonly seen in the outside world.
There were also fossil Pokémon, such as Kabutops and Kabuto, which ordinary people could only see on TV.
Others included Wailord pods, Slowpoke beaches, and Clamperl shallows.
Nature was incredibly magnificent.
Close contact was allowed, as long as the Pokémon were willing. Photography was also free, but feeding was strictly prohibited, and trash had to be taken out personally. Violators would face legal consequences.
There was a precedent where someone threw trash out a window and hit a Oddish on the head, resulting in the entire vehicle being taken away by several rangers.
They were never seen again after that. Probably kicked out.
After all, the loudspeaker at the main entrance had announced the prohibition against littering about seventy or eighty times.
The park was huge and it even included a shallow sea and several small islands. There wasn't enough time to explore everything.
They could only come back tomorrow.
Returning to the dojo, they just made it in time for lunch.
Yan Tianyin's wife made a brief appearance, greeted everyone, and then left. Yan Cheng was still nowhere to be seen, probably not planning to come.
Li Xiang didn't care. His purpose for coming to Sakura Island had been achieved, with even extra gains. Whether he met his master uncle's son or not didn't matter.
He was more concerned about Honedge.
Unlike ordinary Pokémon born from eggs, this Honedge was clearly more special. It had transformed from a blade.
Originally, there were similar records online about ancient spirits inhabiting weapons and eventually becoming Honedge.
Due to a lack of clear evidence, it was classified as an urban legend.
Li Xiang had thought so too, but the facts before him suggested that some urban legends might not just be legends.
Perhaps the process of "a spirit inhabiting a sword" was still up for debate, but a regular blade transforming into Honedge was now set in stone.
Coupled with Honedge knowing Phantom Force and its bizarre drawing speed, it made him curious if this guy had any special traits.
Coincidentally, Yan Hu provided him with an empty, unused training room.
Perfect for testing a few things.
First, he called out Incineroar and the others to introduce them to the new member.
However, compared to its aggressive attitude when facing him alone, ready to draw its sword at the drop of a hat, upon seeing Incineroar and the others, Honedge suddenly wilted, hiding behind Li Xiang and only daring to peek out with one eye.
"It's okay, they won't bully you. Show some of that earlier confidence! Be bold!"
Li Xiang smiled, pulling it out from behind and pushing it toward Incineroar and the others.
For the new member, Incineroar initially wanted to follow the old habit and give it a warning to show it who the boss was.
But upon seeing Honedge, it felt a strange sensation. As if what stood before it wasn't a Pokémon but a human.
'Hmm... a little girl, the kind who would tremble at the sight of Big Kitty. In that case, a warning wouldn't do.'
"Growl?"
Incineroar pondered for a moment, then showed Honedge what it considered a "friendly" smile.
"!!!"
A sudden clatter.
The sound of the sword guard hitting the scabbard.
Immediately after, Honedge acted as if kicked in the rear, wobbling as it fled back behind Li Xiang.
"You... shy? Afraid of strangers? Timid?"
Li Xiang scratched his head, looking at Incineroar in the distance, its smile frozen on its face as if petrified. "Try toning down your smile. You already look fierce—see how scared you made it."
"Growl!?"
'My fault? Blame me for looking fierce!?'
Incineroar glared angrily, wishing it could give Li Xiang a good beating.
"Alright, alright. Self-awareness is a virtue," Li Xiang waved his hand, then suddenly turned and noticed Riolu had come to his side at some point, its eyes glowing blue.
Aura.
Although Riolu's aura hadn't reached the level of the Lucario from the movies, conveying emotions was still within its capabilities. Like goodwill, affection, etc.
After transmitting strong friendly intentions, coupled with Riolu's adorable appearance, Honedge gradually let its guard down and landed in front of Riolu.
It still didn't make a sound, proving this guy truly lacked vocal organs.
Unlike Derflinger from The Familiar of Zero, which could speak through its guard.
'Initial communication would be difficult…'
Li Xiang rubbed his chin.
Over with Honedge, after realizing Incineroar and the others meant no harm, it became bolder. Incineroar and the others also approached.
Clearly, Honedge wasn't timid—just wary of strangers. It didn't know how to interact with Incineroar and the others, nor could it tell if their intentions were friendly or hostile.
Until Riolu acted as a bridge.
Even without vocalization, communication wasn't limited to language, which was why Li Xiang said it was difficult but not impossible.
The group of Pokémon gradually grew familiar with each other.
Li Xiang watched from the side, feeling inexplicably pleased. As a trainer, wasn't this what he wanted most—for his Pokémon to get along harmoniously?
He couldn't resist pulling out his phone to capture the moment.
"Riolu~"
Riolu, who had withdrawn at some point, tugged on Li Xiang's pant leg, signaling him to crouch down.
"What's up?"
Li Xiang curiously crouched down and saw Riolu bring its mouth to his ear, whispering something with animated gestures.
To anyone else, it would be impossible to understand what Riolu was saying. But as someone who shared a bed with Riolu day and night, Li Xiang could roughly decipher it.
Pokémon language often emphasized tone over semantics, requiring attention to expression, demeanor, and actions.
Therefore, after roughly understanding Riolu's meaning, Li Xiang froze in place.
"You... you're serious?"
"Riolu!"
Aura doesn't lie!
Riolu nodded seriously, using its paw to pull open its eyes, indicating aura vision.
"Yikes... this."
Li Xiang felt a tingling scalp.
He looked at Honedge, which was perched on Corviknight's head, swaying back and forth, its pupils curved into crescents, clearly in a good mood.
All things had aura, and different beings had different auras. Only Pokémon like Riolu and Lucario could distinguish them.
And just now, the pup had told him that under aura vision, Honedge's aura wasn't that of a Pokémon…. but of a human.
And in form, Honedge's aura wasn't sword-shaped but that of a young girl. Younger than Lin Lan.
A girl of about twelve or thirteen.
"No way, reincarnation for real?"
Li Xiang murmured softly, his expression towards Honedge gradually turning strange.
If that were the case, his actions this afternoon suddenly felt rather perverted.