Chapter 145: Good Thing I'm Not a Villain
Seeing Mew's reaction, Green knew this would happen.
The moment Asahi pulled out that Pokéblock, she had worried about this exact outcome.
And now, her fears were completely confirmed.
As Green shot him a weird look, Asahi's mouth twitched.
"…Would you believe me if I said I didn't do that on purpose?"
He really felt wronged here.
He had only wanted to share his Pokéblock with Mew—how could he have known this would happen?
Sure, Sabrina had reacted weirdly when she ate one before…
But Asahi had assumed that was just her being special.
After all, Magikarp had evolved into Gyarados after eating one, and Lugia Jr. regularly ate them with no issue.
So why was it only Mew having this kind of reaction?!
Asahi was baffled.
Green, however, did not believe him.
Rolling her eyes, she turned and went to train her Torchic instead.
Meanwhile, Mew finally recovered from its strange state.
It sat there, dazed, as if its very soul had been shaken.
Asahi reached out to comfort it—
But Mew immediately zipped away, hiding behind Gardevoir.
It waved its tiny fists in protest.
"Mew!"
It had trusted Asahi! And this was how he treated it?!
It couldn't believe he had done something so outrageous to make it feel that way!
"…That really is the same Pokéblock I always give Lugia Jr. It's never had any problems—I swear I don't know why you reacted like that," Asahi tried to explain.
Seeing how serious he looked, Mew's anger turned into confusion.
…Was he telling the truth?
Mew turned and floated over to Lugia Jr., who was lying on the ground playing checkers with Swampert via telekinesis.
It questioned Lugia Jr., and sure enough—Lugia Jr. regularly ate Asahi's Pokéblocks and never had any weird reactions.
…Could it be that itself was the problem?
The idea scared Mew so much that it immediately shook its head.
No way.
Absolutely not!
It had to be something Asahi did to the Pokéblock!
"Mew!"
It held out its paw toward Asahi.
It wanted another one.
It had to test it again.
Asahi sighed. "You sure?"
It wasn't like he was unwilling to share more, but after seeing what happened, he felt a little guilty.
"Mew!"
Mew insisted.
"…Alright."
Since Mew was demanding it, Asahi had no reason to refuse.
He pulled out another Pokéblock and handed it over.
Mew took it, sniffed it—
The scent was the same.
It then split the Pokéblock in half, giving one piece to Lugia Jr.
After watching Lugia Jr. eat its half with no issue, Mew swallowed its own piece.
Then—
Asahi sighed as he watched Mew roll around on the ground.
Mew, why didn't you just listen to me?
I told you not to test it, but you had to prove me wrong. Now look at you—again.
If I were a villain, you'd already be locked in a Pokéball by now.
Still, Asahi was curious.
Why did only Sabrina and Mew react this way?
Sabrina definitely wouldn't let him study her…
So Asahi's gaze landed on Mew instead.
With curiosity in his heart, Asahi picked up Mew and decided to test his healing Viridian Force on it.
"Mew!"
As soon as Asahi activated the Viridian Force, a soft green light enveloped Mew's body.
"Mew~?"
Mew's ears twitched as it felt the energy coursing through it. The lingering effects from the Pokéblock quickly dissipated, and it returned to normal.
Seeing this, Asahi narrowed his eyes in thought.
So the Viridian Force can counteract whatever reaction Mew is having…
Mew, now fully recovered, hovered in front of Asahi with a suspicious look.
It didn't fully trust that the Pokéblock wasn't tampered with—so it wanted to test it one more time.
But before it could demand another piece—
Asahi flicked its forehead.
"No more testing."
"Mew?!"
Mew clutched its forehead, staring at Asahi with an aggrieved expression.
Asahi sighed. "If you want more, you can wait until tomorrow. That's enough experiments for one day."
Mew pouted but didn't argue.
It would just wait until Asahi let his guard down.
Mew suddenly started reacting violently, kicking its legs in an attempt to escape Asahi's grasp.
"...Uh."
Asahi hastily withdrew his Viridian Force, not expecting it to have a catalytic effect.
After switching from the Viridian Force to Aura, things returned to normal. Observing Mew's reaction, Asahi picked up on a clue.
"The special energy cube seems to have a unique stimulating effect on Psychic-type Pokémon…" he concluded.
What Sabrina mentioned before about enhancing mental power was likely based on this principle.
As for why Little Lugia, despite also being a Psychic-type, didn't react the same way, Asahi had a theory.
Back when he rescued Little Lugia, he had boiled its egg in a medicinal broth made from a secret seasoning.
It was highly possible that this experience gave Little Lugia a tolerance to the special energy cubes made from that same secret seasoning.
But since it could enhance mental power…
"Gardevoir, are you sure you don't want to try?" Asahi turned to ask.
He had asked Gardevoir the last time, but since the effects weren't fully confirmed and Gardevoir had refused, he let it go.
Now that Mew had personally verified the energy cube's ability to enhance mental power, Asahi thought Gardevoir should give it a shot.
Though the reaction looked a bit strange, the boost in mental power was tempting!
"Garde!"
Gardevoir crossed its arms protectively over its chest, looking wary.
She wasn't falling for Asahi's tricks!
"What a shame…" Asahi sighed, patting Mew's little head.
By now, Mew had gradually returned to normal. Just as Asahi was about to say something to it, his communicator suddenly popped up with a message.
[Breaking! Fuchsia Gym's Gym Leader Koga is actually…]
Asahi: "..."
Since when did Kanto's news media start using clickbait headlines?
He clicked on it and, unsurprisingly, it was about Koga's arrest and Fuchsia Gym's closure.
The issue he had discussed with Lance regarding badge distribution also had a solution now—Elite Four Agatha would temporarily take over as the gym's leader, handling challenges and badge distribution.
Seeing that Agatha was the temporary gym leader, Asahi scrolled down to the comment section.
As expected, trainers planning to participate in this year's Indigo League were all complaining that the League was being unreasonable.
Koga was already tough enough, and now they had to face Elite Four Agatha instead…
Some were even seriously considering taking the Pokémon Trainer Certification Exam instead. Passing the exam would also qualify them for the Indigo League.
The test was hard, sure, but it was still easier than beating an Elite Four member, right?
Reading the comments, Asahi was purely enjoying the show.
After all, he wasn't the one competing in the Indigo League.
As Asahi scrolled through the comments, a system notification suddenly rang in his ears.
[Through deceptive means, you obtained evidence of Koga's involvement as a Team Rocket Executive, successfully defeated and captured him. With this, you have eliminated all of Team Rocket's executives in Kanto. You have earned the title 'Rocket Nemesis (Kanto-Exclusive).']
[Please select your reward.]
"What do you mean 'deceptive means'? That was a necessary tactical strategy in the pursuit of justice! If you keep slandering me, I'll sue you for defamation!" Asahi retorted in his mind while checking the rewards.
Three reward options appeared before him.
[1. M2 Restraint Armor]
[2. Mewtwo Creation Technology]
[3. Mewtwo Cells (Implant)]
Since this title was awarded for dealing with Team Rocket, all three rewards were related to them.
The first, M2 Restraint Armor, was an upgraded version of the M1 Restraint Armor—a power-restricting suit used by Team Rocket in the Pokémon Special manga to suppress Mewtwo's abilities.
Even a powerhouse like Mewtwo would lose most of its strength when bound by the M2 Restraint Armor.
If he ever had to fight Mewtwo, this device would be incredibly useful.
The second reward, Mewtwo Creation Technology… Asahi interpreted this as having the theoretical ability to create a Mewtwo.
As for the third reward—Mewtwo Cells (Implant)…
If he guessed correctly, this should be the out-of-control Mewtwo cells implanted in Blaine's arm from the Pokémon Special manga.
These cells granted a strange ability to sense Mewtwo's status and location.
The reason he remembered this so vividly was that the imagery had left a deep impression on him—enough to be a childhood nightmare.
Just thinking about having something like that implanted in his own body sent chills down his spine.
So the third option was an immediate no.
Between the remaining two, Asahi thought for a moment before eliminating Mewtwo Creation Technology as well.
Just because he had the knowledge didn't mean he could actually create a Mewtwo.
Biology had many uncertainties—even in identical conditions, experiments could yield different results.
Creating Mewtwo was an immensely complex, large-scale experiment, and even the slightest error in any step could lead to failure.
He had never trusted his luck in such matters.
Besides, why go through all that effort and expense when there was already a Mewtwo out there?
Why create when you can capture?
[System, I choose the M2 Restraint Armor.]
He was about to take Mew to straighten out that rebellious child. If the brat refused to listen, a beating would be inevitable.
At that time, the M2 Restraint Armor would come in handy.
Thinking about this, a smirk appeared on Asahi's lips.
"Mew…"
Mew, seeing Asahi suddenly grinning, thought he was laughing at it. Its face instantly turned red, and with a flicker, it vanished into thin air.
It even forgot to ask Asahi about how he awakened his Aura abilities.
Asahi had wanted to discuss strategies for dealing with Mewtwo with Mew.
Mew's sudden disappearance left him puzzled—was it embarrassed by its earlier reaction?
However, with his Aura, Asahi could sense that Mew was hiding beside Little Lugia.
Since he wasn't in a rush, he let it be. Hugging Eevee, Asahi lay down on the couch, watching Gary brag in the group chat about finally earning the Marsh Badge after much struggle.
Meanwhile, Eevee was engrossed in watching a livestream on its tablet.
"Capturing your attention with an Electric Web! Who's here for a curious tale? It's Tree Curious! Morning, noon, and night, hello hello!"
***
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