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They called for Greninja.
The Big Three stealthily returned to the villa.
To their relief, Li Xiang hadn't noticed their absence and was still sound asleep.
The same was true for their other teammates.
The more who knew, the greater the chance of exposure.
Incineroar had already decided to figure out the Misty Lake situation before telling Li Xiang, so they planned to keep it secret for now.
They'd present it as a surprise for him later.
Silently, they each found a place to sleep.
That day.
In the wee hours of the morning, Li Xiang groggily got up, turned on the light, and yawned his way to the bathroom to relieve himself.
Doublade floated up and turned off the light he had just switched on.
'Why turn on the light? It's blinding.'
It turned to look at the bed and saw Riolu still fast asleep, which caused its mind to short-circuit for a second.
'Really? This dog actually didn't wake up! Did it not reach the right time?'
Doublade looked at the clock on the bedside table. After confirming it was 4:30 AM, its pink eyes showed shock.
'Unbelievable!'
'Riolu didn't wake up at the same time as Li Xiang! Is this dog okay?!'
Doublade panicked a little, looking around frantically before floating over to Riolu's spot and swatting its face with its sash.
Clang! Clang!
It tapped its scabbard.
Riolu was sleeping deeply. Getting slapped awake suddenly, it instinctively activated its Aura to counterattack, but then it realized the one hitting it was Doublade.
"Riolu!"
'What are you doing?!'
Riolu covered its face discontentedly, glanced at the alarm clock, and yawned after seeing it was 4:30.
Lack of sleep... time for morning training again.
Seeing Riolu was fine, Doublade relaxed silently, yet wondered if the sun was rising from the west today since Riolu actually needed to be woken up.
Elsewhere…
After a quick wash-up, Li Xiang saw Incineroar and Greninja lying lifelessly on the sofa and walked over to nudge their feet.
"Wake up, Incineroar, Greninja! Time for morning training!"
He tugged on Incineroar's soft ears and Greninja's tongue-scarf.
The latter two, after being jostled, groggily woke from their sleep, yawning and revealing their pink mouths.
"Huh? Why are you guys so dirty? You just had baths yesterday."
Li Xiang looked at the dust clinging to their bodies and feet, feeling puzzled.
'Danger!'
Hearing this, Incineroar and Greninja were instantly scared awake, then relaxed again.
"Roar…"
Incineroar pointed outside and yawned.
"You went out last night? What for?"
Li Xiang and Incineroar had their tacit understanding; it wasn't hard to understand what it was roaring about.
Incineroar stood up nonchalantly and patted the soles of its feet.
"Roar..."
"Going for a walk? In the middle of the night... Hey hey! Don't get dust all over the house!" Li Xiang's attention was drawn to the dust on the floor, his face scrunching up in disgust. "You're so dirty!"
He turned to get the broom.
Greninja silently gave Incineroar a thumbs-up.
'Way to go, Brother Incineroar!'
Incineroar indicated it was no big deal. After all, who understood Li Xiang's quirks better than itself?
Bedroom.
Riolu sneaked out. "Riolu?"
"Roar!"
Incineroar patted its chest and made an OK gesture. Riolu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, after waking up the simple-minded Metagross and Rotom, Li Xiang came out with the broom, saw the three Pokémon standing in the living room, and immediately shooed them out.
"Scram! All of you, scram! Dirty and not clean! Who did you learn this from anyway?"
The three Pokémon felt as if granted amnesty, quickly ran outside, knowing they had temporarily gotten away with it.
'Whew. This was more tiring and scary than a battle royale!'
....
That night.
After finishing night training, an exhausted Incineroar walked out of the bathroom and lay down on the sofa, steam rising from its body.
It wasn't that Li Xiang hadn't prepared a bed for it—the villa had plenty of rooms, one more wouldn't matter.
It was just that this guy preferred sleeping in a place like the living room, which was open on all sides and allowed it to guard Li Xiang's room.
For this, Li Xiang had to specially get a larger sofa.
As for Greninja, this guy had no fixed sleeping spot. It could basically sleep anywhere and would sleep anywhere.
Sometimes it would even squeeze in with Corviknight and wake up underneath it the next day.
"Ninja?"
'Still going tonight?'
Greninja, who had finished washing up long ago, materialized on the back of the sofa.
Incineroar glared at it, signaling it not to shoot its mouth off. Did it think Li Xiang was deaf?
As if confirming Incineroar's thoughts, Li Xiang walked out of the bathroom, holding Riolu and drying its fur, saying, "I don't mind you guys going out for walks at night, but you need to ensure your sleep quality."
In Mist City University, many wild Pokémon without trainers lived under the school's protection, adding much color and vitality to the vast campus.
If Incineroar and the others saw something interesting or encountered fun Pokémon and occasionally went out to play, he wouldn't say anything.
Even when Metagross got addicted to gaming, he didn't make it quit but actively played with it.
"Roar."
Incineroar closed its eyes (impatiently and growled low, acting like a teenager bothered by a parent.
Li Xiang shook his head helplessly, put Riolu down, and finally said, "Get to bed early, you guys. Don't walk for too long."
With that, he returned to his room.
Incineroar guiltily opened its eyes a crack, glanced at the bedroom, and sighed softly in relief.
Even though it had gotten "permission," it would still feel a little timid when the time came.
After all, this involved those big gangs. They might even have to fight!
The Big Three exchanged glances, checked the time on the living room clock, and waited for Li Xiang to fall asleep before they would go.
Before that, they'd rest a bit to recharge.
Corviknight at the entrance watched the three sneaky Pokémon, tilting its head in confusion but not paying too much attention.
It wasn't a follower; it didn't have to do everything others did.
It was a crow with dreams, destined to become a famous singer in Zhu Xia... no, the entire world!
To pursue this dream, it wouldn't fool around with these guys.
11 PM.
'Time's up.'
Three pairs of eyes opened in the dark night, and they sneakily left home, heading straight for the direction of the Battle Arena.
It was also at this time that Incineroar and the others noticed many Pokémon in the school seemed to be heading that way too.
The variety was vast, hard to tell if they were wild or not.
"That pig was probably bamboozling us! It's just scared itself!"
Greninja muttered.
The cat and dog didn't respond, but inwardly began to agree.
Facts spoke louder than words, after all.
Moving swiftly, about half an hour later, the stone forest was within sight.
Just as Luxray had said, the arena battles had already started, with various gangs occupying their respective territories.
Houndoom and the others were already there. Seeing Incineroar and the team, they revealed what could be either a fierce or friendly smile.
They hadn't met during the day because Li Xiang hadn't sought a battle with Abigail.
Arcanine slowly stood up, showing a battle-hungry expression. It had wanted to face Incineroar for a long time.
"Stay calm."
Houndoom stopped it. "No need to rush. Let's observe first. Who knows, we might even recruit them."
Arcanine looked meaningfully at Houndoom, who returned a smile.
It said, "Don't get too invested. Remember your own position, your essence."
With that, it lay back down, turning its head away.
'Tch, battle maniac.'
Houndoom still wore a smile on its face, internally scoffing that a dog only knowing battle could never understand the thrill of ruling and leading the masses.
Over at the Iron Cats Gang.
Incineroar received a warm welcome upon arrival, with the two little Meowth being the most excited.
As for Riolu, though subtly excluded by the cats yesterday, today it was treated normally.
It seemed Luxray had done some ideological work with them last night.
As for Greninja... Huh? Was there such a Pokémon?
The cats looked at Greninja, unable to recall who this guy was.
'Get used to it, get used to it.'
Greninja, repeatedly asked if it was a new member, pressed its chest to calm its temper.
"Big brother!"
The two little Meowth started climbing on Incineroar again.
Incineroar grabbed them and sternly said, "What 'big brother'? Call me Brother Incineroar!"
"Brother Incineroar?" The two little Meowth repeated blankly.
"Now say 'Thank you, Brother Incineroar.'"
"Thank you, Brother Incineroar?"
"Good, obedient."
Incineroar smiled, licked their fur, and put them down.
Riolu looked disgusted.
"You're here?"
Luxray walked over from nearby, accompanied by a robust, tall, and mighty lion with red and yellow fur—Pyroar.
Behind Pyroar followed a large group of female Pyroar with flowing manes, as well as some males.
Clearly, it was the leader of the pride.
"This is Big Lion, the third-in-command of the Iron Cats Gang. A mighty fighter at level sixty-six!"
Luxray introduced to Incineroar.
"Just call me Big Lion or Brother Lion. No need for 'boss' or anything. We're all family in the Iron Cats Gang."
Pyroar casually corrected, then nodded to Incineroar. "Thanks for your help yesterday."
"Small matter, small matter."
Incineroar blinked, looking at the large group of companions behind Pyroar, quietly hiding the envy in its eyes.
Later, Luxray introduced a bunch of core members, all without exception above level fifty.
"Too bad our young master isn't here. It has city duty today. Oh, 'young master' means the second-in-command. It's an Absol. Do you know it?"
'Absol?'
The Big Three thought for a moment, remembering Li Xiang had said Absol was a rare Pokémon with the vague ability to foresee disasters, very uncommon.
Was Absol considered a cat too?
Riolu was a little confused, but seeing the Iron Cats Gang also had some clearly non-feline Pokémon, it stopped finding it strange.
After a brief chat, just as Incineroar was about to do something, a voice sounded above them.
"Incineroar? I'm calling you that, right?"
Incineroar looked up and saw the sinister-looking Weavile standing on a stone pillar.
The other cats, seeing it, showed expressions as if facing a great enemy.
"What are you doing here? This isn't the territory of the Savage Hounds!"
"Traitor! Traitor among the Sneasel line!"
"He is my guest. What do you want?!"
The one who said this was Pyroar, speaking in an authoritative tone.
"Hehehe, it's none of your business, right? I'm calling for him."
Weavile wasn't fazed at all, chuckling strangely. "Incineroar, Houndoom wants to talk to you. Will you go?
"We're all colleagues. You're not scared, are you? Oh, the other two as well. Don't be afraid."
The Big Three looked at it, their expressions somewhat odd.
This guy was acting so arrogant and full of sarcasm now, but who was it that was sprawled on the ground unable to get up just two days ago, tongue lolling and looking utterly blissful when Li Xiang scratched its chin?
"By the way, my trainer is quite fond of you. He said he'd drop by again next time."
Riolu volunteered clearly.
Weavile on the stone pillar didn't react at first, but after two or three seconds realized what it meant. Its cocky expression suddenly fell silent.
"Pokémon matters should stay among Pokémon. Why bring humans into it... Hmph! Suit yourselves!"
Feeling that it lost face, Weavile ran off.
The Li Family Big Three revealed odd smiles, feeling for the first time that Li Xiang, who flirted with everything, was actually quite adorable.
"Sorry, everyone. We'll head over there first. After all, we know them. Let's hear what they have to say."
Incineroar said to the cats, big and small.
Pyroar glanced at the fleeing Weavile, then at Riolu, and nodded. "As you wish. We're not that narrow-minded."
Luxray also nodded.
The Li Family Big Three then headed towards the Savage Hounds' territory.