But reality? Damn it—he had only managed to run into one, and it bolted away faster than he could chase it.
After sitting down to rest, Nathan realized something—he had somehow ended up beside a small stream.
"I think we might've come to the right place!"
Seeing the stream, Nathan's eyes lit up with excitement.
Water was the source of all life—if they'd already found water, could Pokémon really be far?
After taking a short break, the three of them began following the stream downstream. They walked for about an hour until they stumbled upon an astonishing sight.
What stunned them wasn't the small lake that appeared before them, but what was around it—Pokémon. Thousands upon thousands of Pokémon were gathered around this little lake.
This kind of scene was absolutely impossible to find in the outside world.
"Am I dreaming right now?"
Lily couldn't believe his eyes and pinched his thigh to confirm he wasn't hallucinating.
Among the swarm of Pokémon, he could already make out a few rare species. There weren't many, but compared to the outside world, this was already an overwhelming number.
"Hissss~~~ I think this is real… but can you let go of my leg now?"
Nathan inhaled sharply.
If you're in disbelief, that's fine, but why the hell are you pinching my leg?
Mickey, who was trailing behind the two of them, couldn't help but feel delighted by what he was seeing.
Serves you right! That's what you get for bullying me! Pinch him harder!
The moment the three humans arrived at the lake, they caught the attention of many Pokémon. Several curious little creatures came over to check them out. Within just a few minutes, dozens of Pokémon had gathered around them.
When it came to dealing with Pokémon, Nathan was a true expert.
"Here, you take care of this."
Nathan handed over a pile of Pokéblocks to Lily.
These were low-grade Pokéblocks that Nathan had specifically prepared before coming here. Though he also had high-grade ones, those were a bit too potent for basic Pokémon. Overfeeding low-level Pokémon something too rich could backfire—not a good thing at all.
The moment the Pokéblocks came out, even more Pokémon began gathering around them. All of their eyes were fixed intently on the food in Lily's hands.
Nathan simply observed them quietly. There were indeed a few rare species mixed in, but none of them were particularly useful to him. Even if he captured one, raising it would take effort. For him, it wasn't worth the trade-off.
"Hey Nathan, help me pick out a few Pokémon~"
Lily chuckled as he teased the Pokémon with the Pokéblocks.
Truthfully, after spending so much time around Nathan, Lily no longer held too many ambitions regarding Pokémon.
Why? Because it was too demoralizing.
Before learning anything about Pokémon, Lily might have still been able to beat Nathan in academic subjects. But ever since they started diving into Pokémon-related knowledge, Nathan had transformed into an absolute king.
When it came to Pokémon—whether it was training, battling, or anything remotely related—Nathan was flawless. With someone so perfect in the field beside him, anyone would eventually feel the same way Lily did.
There was a time when Lily had dreams of competing with Nathan for the national championship, or even aiming for the world title.
But the longer they spent together, the more he realized—it was hopeless.
This guy was a complete freak.
So now, Lily had all but given up. He was slowly becoming the type who just lazed around and went with the flow.
"…Fine."
Nathan shrugged.
While Nathan was helping pick out Pokémon for Lily, Mickey was also busy selecting Pokémon he wanted to capture.
Mickey didn't have any Pokémon of his own yet, but before coming here, he had brought five Pokéballs with him. His goal was to catch five rare Pokémon and bring them back.
But now, seeing this overwhelming number of Pokémon, it seemed like catching five was going to be way too easy.
If he had known things would be this convenient, he would've brought more Pokéballs—maybe even aimed to gather one of every type while he was at it.
As the three continued choosing their Pokémon, other people began arriving.
After all, Nathan and the others weren't the only ones who had entered this mystic realm. There were others who had received the remaining four entry slots.
"Huh? Someone else already found this place?"
The four newcomers were stunned to see Nathan and the group already there.
They had been able to arrive quickly because they had a map. They knew ahead of time that there was a lake here and that a massive number of Pokémon were known to gather around it.
"Forget about them. Let's just find our Pokémon," said one of the four.
With that, just like Nathan's group, they pulled out Pokéblocks to lure in the Pokémon.
Even the Pokémon that had been gathering around Nathan and the others were now drifting toward the newcomers.
Seeing this, Nathan immediately frowned.
Seriously? I'm picking out Pokémon for my girlfriend here, and you just come barging in?
And worst of all, they were using his company's products to lure the Pokémon!
Without hesitation, Nathan pulled out an even higher-quality, even more delicious batch of Pokéblocks.
In the blink of an eye, all the Pokémon that had gone over to the other group came rushing back to Nathan—and even more Pokémon began flocking in.
The four newcomers had barely even started choosing before the Pokémon were all gone. It left them speechless.
They tried again, bringing out different Pokéblocks to entice the Pokémon back—but were once again left disappointed. Once the Pokémon reached Nathan's side, they refused to leave.
These four were all prideful individuals. The fact that someone had beaten them to the lake was frustrating enough, but now their bait wasn't working either?
One of them, unable to hold back, stormed over to Nathan.
"Hey! You three—get out of here!"
The way he spoke was as if this place belonged to him. His tone made it sound like he was issuing orders in his own house.
But this was Nathan. There was no way he would take such crap lying down.
"You want someone to leave? Then you leave. This isn't your house. If you're so mad about it, pull out better Pokéblocks."
If the guy had spoken politely, maybe Nathan would've considered negotiating.
But to bark at him like that?
Who do you think you are? You're using my products to lure Pokémon and got guts to yell at me?
The man had expected Nathan to obediently pack up and leave after being confronted. What he hadn't expected… was to be completely ignored.
"You looking to die, kid? You must not know who we are!"
The man threatened again, his tone growing colder.
But Nathan wasn't fazed in the slightest. He didn't even bother responding. He simply glanced at the guy once, then went back to picking Pokémon, as though he hadn't heard anything at all.
Does this guy not watch TV? Can't he recognize me or something.
"Hey Nathan, what do you think of this Pokémon?"
Lily suddenly called out while holding a Pokémon in her arms.
She had spotted Xurkitree among the crowd—a Pokémon that stood out like a sore thumb.
Most of the Pokémon here were cute and cuddly-looking, but this one? It looked absolutely bizarre.
Xurkitree is a tall, humanoid Electric-type Ultra Beast, resembling a bundle of tangled power cables. Its head resembled a glowing white "star" with no visible face. Below that was a thick, black cable serving as its body, branching out into limbs and a tail.
Each of the limbs was tied with three white leaves, resembling zippers or Christmas lights. The arms ended in a copper-like structure, each with six flat, "finger"-like extensions.
Its legs lacked the tied-up wires, exposing its copper clawed feet, with two toes facing forward and two backward. The tail ended in a loose cable shaped like a three-pronged plug.
This strange-looking Pokémon had immediately piqued Lily's curiosity—she had never seen anything like it before and wanted Nathan's opinion.
Seeing what she was holding, Nathan was a little surprised.
Out of all these Pokémon, she picked that one?
It was even more bizarre considering that this mystic realm contained a juvenile Xurkitree.
Xurkitree was one of the Ultra Beasts, and every time Nathan had encountered one in games before, it was at least level 50 and above.
But this one? It was barely level 3.
Right now, it stood a little over half a meter tall, but once fully grown, Xurkitree could exceed four meters in height.
As for its strength—it was decent. One of its key features was its ability to absorb all Electric-type moves.
"If you like it, go ahead and catch it. That's an Ultra Beast—Xurkitree," Nathan said casually.
"When it grows up, it'll be over four meters tall. Strength-wise, it's stronger than most Pokémon of the same level."
He gave a simple explanation. As for the detailed stats, Nathan couldn't reveal those directly.
While speaking, Nathan reached out to touch the little Xurkitree.
But before his hand even made contact, Xurkitree suddenly discharged a small burst of electricity—ZAP!—and shocked Nathan right on the hand.
(End of Chapter)