Oh? Is this because Lusamine fell into a trance, so now Mew wants to manually snap her out of it?
Feeling the power coursing through his body, Haru began to guess at what Mew was thinking.
He trusted Mew—a kind and gentle Pokémon that would never truly hurt a human. Even if it used a move, he believed Mew could keep it under control.
If it ever accidentally harmed a human, Mew would probably feel incredibly guilty about it.
However, what Haru didn't expect was that Mew's level of control was far beyond what he imagined!
Everyone knows that the move Bind is a pretty normal technique.
In the games, it stops the opponent from switching Pokémon and deals a bit of damage each turn.
It's just a way to limit your opponent—not that unusual.
But… if the one using Bind is Mew, who's been reading all kinds of material lately, that's a different story entirely.
It was as if it had mastered some secret technique, controlling every strand of the pink rope with such precision that the move worked perfectly—completely binding Lusamine—without causing her any actual harm.
And so, a pink, rope-like strand slithered like a snake and began wrapping around Lusamine, loop by loop.
"Yah—! You cursed intruder, what are you doing?!"
Snapping out of her trance, Lusamine suddenly realized she had been hit by a Pokémon's move.
She was furious and confused—but also noticed that she hadn't been hurt in any real way.
The pink rope only passed across her chest, then began coiling downward.
What's going on? Is the opponent just trying to restrain me, not actually attack? But… why does this rope feel so weird?
Within just a few seconds of her puzzling over the situation, the rope had tightened further, emphasizing certain features and… let's say, dramatically enhancing her silhouette.
And it didn't stop there.
Just like how the move Gravity isn't limited to affecting one area, Bind isn't restricted to just the upper body either.
As the rope reached her waist and legs…
Lusamine suddenly looked as if she had put on some kind of tight-fitting suit—visibly restrained and transformed in posture.
To make matters worse, Lusamine was just a normal human. The strain caused her to sweat slightly, giving her an unintentional damp skin effect like a Pokémon ability.
"Ugh... stop—haa~"
"If I ever get the chance, I swear I'll… ngh—!"
She squirmed, trying to resist, but it was like her strength was being drained with every passing second. The more she struggled, the tighter the rope became. It was a vicious cycle.
In the end, this woman—whose youthful face barely differed from a teenager's—could only make strange, muffled sounds of protest.
"!!!"
Flutter Mane, who had also been hiding within Haru's body like Mew, was now completely stunned.
Wasn't this supposed to be about dealing with an enemy? Why was Mew's move so… intense?
Flutter Mane had no idea what Haru and Mew were up to, but it was starting to feel genuinely afraid—trembling for reasons it didn't understand.
Sssss…
And not just Lusamine and Flutter Mane—even Haru was starting to sweat buckets.
This was terrifying. Mew had volunteered to take action… and this was what it had in mind?
What on earth had it been reading lately? This was way too weird.
And it was doing it all using Haru's body as a conduit...
Maybe he shouldn't have let Mew read those weird books after all.
No one wanted this to happen.
But from Mew's perspective, this wasn't a big deal at all.
No matter how much it absorbed from human media, a Pokémon was still at its core a very innocent creature.
Like right now—Mew was just trying to replicate the things it saw in those "illustrated books." It was purely curious whether those scenarios could be recreated in real life.
Even possessing Haru's body had been part of this "ritualistic reenactment," since the "executor" in the illustrations was always a human, not a Pokémon.
It was really just curious—do humans really make those bizarre expressions during these "procedures"? It had never actually seen it happen in person before.
In fact, Mew thought it was already being quite considerate. It only treated its "opponent" as a test subject, and even thoughtfully ensured Lillie was asleep using Hypnosis, so she wouldn't be disturbed by the "experiment."
But that was just the beginning. The books Mew had read didn't end the process after just the binding phase.
Binding was only phase one. What came after was the real highlight.
Like the first phase, the second also required special tools—but thankfully, Mew had a deep move pool and could improvise.
According to the books, the second phase involved something called a whip, which apparently was supposed to "stimulate" the human… emotionally?
Mew didn't fully understand why whipping would create such a response, but without overthinking it, it decided to use the move Power Whip as a substitute. That should do the trick, right?
But just before Mew could "assist" Haru with phase two, Haru finally spoke up again:
"Maybe… let's stop here? I feel like this might be going too far. If we keep going, we won't be able to explain any of this later."
Even though Lusamine wasn't exactly resisting (?), Haru still felt a strong wave of unease.
Lillie was still asleep nearby, and here he was doing this weird experiment on Lusamine… That's seriously not okay! He was not that kind of guy.
But Mew only found Haru's hesitation odd.
It hadn't done anything bad, right? Besides, that blond woman was an enemy—doing a little research on her shouldn't be a big deal, right?
And it wasn't like she was fighting back or anything (…right?).
After a moment of pondering, Mew eventually decided to go ahead and assist Haru in using Power Whip.
Despite the name, both Haru and Mew were very careful with the force.
It might have caused a slight sting, but it was more of a tingly sensation than real pain—and it definitely didn't cause any damage. Just a glimpse of mythical power at work!
Smack—
A green vine burst from the tiled floor and gently flicked across Lusamine's backside, making a soft slapping sound.
Lusamine blushed. Not just her cheeks—her whole face flushed red.
Her eyes widened, but she bit her lip and said nothing. Tears welled in her eyes, and her thoughts were unreadable.
Was she… furious?
She was the head of the Aether Foundation, the most powerful woman in Alola—and now she was being teased by Haru like this? No wonder she looked ready to explode.
Unfortunately for her, a second vine was already on its way—this time aimed higher, around her waist or thigh.
Though it was lighter than the first, the effect it had was definitely not weaker...
"Ah—!"
Lusamine finally let out a startled cry, the sting forcing a reaction out of her despite herself.
But… was that really a cry of pain?
Haru was bewildered. Had he accidentally triggered some strange flag?
Why hadn't Lusamine started yelling at him yet? Or thrown her Poké Ball? She'd had it in her hand this whole time—why hadn't she used it?
Meanwhile, Mew—serving as the director—wasn't very satisfied.
Something was off. The woman's expressions didn't match those in the illustrations. There was clearly too much discomfort—this wasn't right.
Was it doing something wrong? Or… were the books fake?
So now what? Should it just stop the move and leave Lusamine like this?
The thought crossed Mew's mind—but it quickly shook it off.
It was a good Pokémon, after all. It couldn't just abandon someone in distress. That would be too irresponsible.
And as Mew's host, Haru could sense its thoughts clearly.
After a moment of hesitation, he made his decision.
"Stop, Mew. We're running out of time."
"From here on, follow my lead. Even if Lusamine can be considered a 'villain,' this is getting out of hand."
"So..."