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Mist City University.
Li Xiang's villa.
The Pokémon like Incineroar didn't go to the martial arts school in the afternoon because they would just be resting inside their PokéBalls if they did.
Letting them out to move around freely was impossible; the martial arts school was just too small.
They could go outdoors if they wore their tags, but letting them go off on their own was worse than having them practice independently back at school. The concrete jungle wasn't fun at all.
So, except for Greninja and Doublade, all the others stayed home, using the backyard to spar and train.
Or, after getting tired, they did something fun to relax.
—Like Corviknight.
After losing a round of aerial combat to Riolu's Thunder Punch, this guy felt a bit frustrated and decided to go out for a stroll around the area, maybe to the nearby Misty Lake, or to the Conservation Base on the other side of the mountain.
Anyway, it needed to fly around properly in the sky to vent its emotions.
Since it could fly, the round trip wouldn't take much time.
After the fight, Riolu went to take a shower; this little dog had a slight touch of cleanliness obsession. Rotom and Metagross were still battling in Song Jie's yard next door. Judging by the commotion over there, it probably wouldn't end anytime soon.
'The junior is really working hard.'
Corviknight twisted its thick neck. Currently, its level was still NO.1 in the team, but its combat strength wasn't in first place.
Just thinking about it was annoying.
'Leaving, leaving. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Don't beat my brains out.'
Corviknight flapped its wings, moving slowly across the backyard like an old hen.
"Caww!"
Standing in front of the external wooden walkway, Corviknight used its wing to pull open the sliding glass door, took the tag hanging nearby, deftly put it around its neck, and called out to Incineroar, who was sitting on the sofa gesturing about something.
(I'm going out for a stroll!)
The black clucky chicken said so.
"Roar?" (It's so dark outside, and you're going out? Aren't you afraid of getting struck by lightning?)
Incineroar glanced at the dark sky outside, the dense clouds, the bleak cold wind, and the slightly damp air, knowing it was about to rain soon.
'The rainy season?'
A season it both loved and hated.
It loved it because Li Xiang loved it; it hated it because of its Fire-type instincts.
So Incineroar preferred to stay home, researching massage techniques.
Corviknight waved its wing dismissively. "Caww."
(I'm not afraid of that. Besides, not every rainy day has thunder.)
"Roar..." (Suit yourself.)
"Caww!" (If I don't make it back in time, remember to tell Li Xiang!)
"Roar…" (Yeah.)
After confirming the big tiger would tell Li Xiang, Corviknight flapped its wings and left.
The wind was still blowing. A faint drizzle began to fall drop by drop. The view was slightly dark, but it couldn't hinder Corviknight's progress.
The cool air made the great singer Corviknight hum a song softly.
It had heard a few good songs from Li Xiang recently and couldn't help but want to find a place to showcase its singing voice.
'Hope I can find some good listeners.'
Flying through the rain curtain was actually kind of exhilarating. Back in Qingcheng, Li Xiang would often wear a raincoat and ride Corviknight out to play on rainy days without thunder.
Just the two of them.
While the rain poured noisily, they would loudly shout out their favorite songs, letting the cold water droplets flow over their clothes.
Corviknight considered it a carnival, and it was also when it fell in love with flying in the rain. Besides, its feathers were all steel, so it wasn't afraid of its wings getting wet from the rain.
If this world operated by the physical rules of Li Xiang's original world, it wouldn't even have to worry about lightning strikes.
But alas, it still feared lightning strikes.
Looking left and right, it was a choice between the conservation base and Misty Lake.
In principle, as a crow born in the conservation base, it had some affection for that place.
But unfortunately...
'I'm bored with it! I'm going to Misty Lake to have some fun!'
Corviknight saw that the white mist over Misty Lake actually seemed to be dissipating in the rain and felt quite curious.
They said few people knew what was deep inside Misty Lake.
Was it really that hard to go in for a stroll?
Could it possibly get lost just by flying? If it couldn't tell left from right, could it not tell up from down either?
Water and sky were pretty obvious, weren't they?
Corviknight thought about it and felt really smart. After exploring and coming back, it might even get praise from Li Xiang.
'Exciting, exciting!'
"Just like this! Conquered— by you!"
Corviknight howled, its black figure skimming over the water surface as it flew towards the depths of Misty Lake.
...
Meanwhile…
Li Xiang had just gotten into the car for the return journey.
The spring rain was drizzling. The outside world became somewhat blurry.
He held Doublade, reaching out to touch the cold car window...
"Huh?"
Li Xiang blinked, feeling the distant scenery looked a bit different.
If he wasn't mistaken, the taxi was currently driving along the shore of Misty Lake, and in the fine rain, the white mist on the lake surface was slowly dispersing.
"Driver, is the mist starting to clear?"
"Yep."
The driver was a middle-aged man. He glanced outside and said, "Every year during the rainy season, the mist over Misty Lake clears up a lot, leaving only a small part in the central area. It lasts for a month or two."
"Doesn't anyone take this chance to go inside Misty Lake and check it out?"
Li Xiang asked again.
With most of the mist gone, finding a way in should be pretty easy, right? They wouldn't necessarily run into wild Pokémon in the lake.
The driver looked at him through the rearview mirror. "Young man, Misty Lake isn't that simple."
"How so?"
"This mist, it confuses left and right, up and down. You think you're going straight, but you're actually going in a circle. Using Defog is useless."
The middle-aged driver shook his head, saying something that surprised Li Xiang.
"What you're saying..."
"Ah, simply put, no matter where you enter from, you'll come out from the same place. Above or below, it's all the same. Your sense of direction completely fails. Defog doesn't work either; it can't clear it."
The driver rolled down the window, pointing at the distant mist. "I'm telling you, don't look at how thin this mist seems; it's actually very thick. You can't see what's inside at all."
"Some people even say they've seen a dozens-of-meters-large Dragonite at the edge. Do you think that's possible?"
He got so excited his accent slipped out.
Li Xiang laughed along, but something was churning inside him.
'Lost mist—let's call it that for now.'
This kind of mist that confuses up, down, left, and right, that Defog can't handle, did appear in the original Pokémon world.
—In the movie The Rise of Darkrai, due to the conflict between Dialga and Palkia, the setting, Alamos Town, became lost in a spatial rift, making it impossible to leave.
Even worse, as the Temporal and Spatial Pokémon fought, Alamos Town was practically destroyed.
If it weren't for the Space-Time Tower playing Oración in the end, Alamos Town would have probably fallen, and Ash and the others would have died in the spatial rift.
And in that situation, the first mist that appeared was exactly this kind that confuses up, down, left, and right, that Defog couldn't clear.
'To think I could see it with my own eyes in this different world?'
'Could this Misty Lake be related to the Temporal and Spatial Pokémon?'
Li Xiang's expression became complicated for a moment, then he remembered the driver mentioning the super large Dragonite.
Recalling the giant shadow that appeared in the episode with the lighthouse in the original anime… '
His desire to know the secrets within Misty Lake surged to an unbearable level.
He remembered Song Jie saying before that the school seemed to know a bit about Misty Lake.
This... should he ask Bai Wanhua?
But if it was some unspeakable secret, and he asked but got no answer, wouldn't that be awkward?
'Ah!! I really want to know!'
Li Xiang pressed against the window, his hold on Doublade gradually tightening.
Knowing only part of certain things was really uncomfortable.
If he knew nothing at all, that would be one thing, but he actually did know a little, enough to be half-informed.
'Head back to school first. Everything can wait until we're back at school.'
Li Xiang took a deep breath, deciding to consider all those possibilities after returning to school.
...
Over Misty Lake.
A pitch-black, seemingly steel-forged metal bird was panting as it circled in the sky, bathing in the sporadic rain, watching the gradually receding white mist not far away, its face full of resentment.
It had been tormented here for over half an hour. It could get out, but not in.
It had used Defog who knows how many times, utterly useless. This mist was like it wasn't even real.
How could Corviknight, who had already boasted and started anticipating Li Xiang's praise, rest easy because of this?
So, who knew if it was tormenting the mist or tormenting itself.
Corviknight still refused to give up, planning one more charge.
This time, it decided to go all out. With Tailwind, the Three-Blind Perception Method, and Sky Attack, it could definitely break in!
"Caww—"
"Miro ro ro ro~"
Just as Corviknight was gathering its resolve, a strange laugh came from below.
It frowned, the movement of its wings slowing slightly, its sharp gaze turning to the lake surface below.
In the lake, where the rain raised ripples, a long, serpentine figure meandered along, playing and swimming in the water.
The laughter just now clearly came from this guy.
"Caww!" (Where did this petty thief come from! How dare you act recklessly here!)
Corviknight shouted, its crimson eyes trembling slightly, poised to dive down and teach the guy what an osprey hunt looked like if there was no response from below.
"Miro~" (Silly, you can't get in like that.)
Underwater, the dark shadow surfaced, revealing a beautiful, slender serpentine neck and a stunningly attractive appearance.
'This guy was actually a Milotic!'
Corviknight frowned slightly. It remembered Li Xiang saying that Milotic was a relatively rare Pokémon species. Why would one appear here?
—Wait! If it caught this guy and brought it back, would Li Xiang praise it?
The big, black, thick, hard, clucky chicken vividly remembered the look of yearning on Li Xiang's face when he talked about Milotic before.
Instantly, Corviknight's expression towards Milotic became malicious.
Milotic was also extremely sensitive to gazes. Seeing the big crow in the sky looking unfriendly, it immediately submerged.
"Miro!" (Hmph! I kindly tried to advise you, but you wouldn't listen! You lust after my body! Bad guy!)
Seeing the cooked duck about to escape, Corviknight became displeased. It flapped its wings, descending closer to the water surface, and started making a racket, trying to lure that Milotic out, but the other wasn't stupid and naturally didn't resurface.
"Tch!"
Corviknight made an expression similar to Li Xiang's frown. "These days, Pokémon, what's with, this damn attitude?"
It imitated Li Xiang's tone, uttering vulgar words. Then, with one last unwilling glance at the white mist, it turned and flew towards Mist City University.
'By my estimate, Li Xiang should be back soon. Better not make him worry.'