After a brief but chaotic ordeal, Haru finally managed to rescue the young Lugia from the underwater laboratory.
Perhaps because she had only recently been subjected to Dr. Namba's blood extraction, the little Lugia's condition was still far from good — her entire body radiated a faint, sickly weakness.
Still, when the white-haired woman appeared before her, she mustered what little energy she had left.
After being imprisoned for so long, she had nearly given up hope. Never had she imagined that she would one day see the light of day again.
It seemed her mother, while undeniably scatterbrained, could still be surprisingly reliable when it truly mattered.
However, the man standing beside her mother caught the little Lugia's attention.
As a young Legendary Pokémon, she could at least tell the difference between humans and Pokémon.
So even though her mother had taken on human form and now stood alongside this stranger, the little Lugia could still discern the man's identity — he was human, and unmistakably a Pokémon Trainer.
But…
Based on what she knew about her mother's temperament, wasn't the more likely scenario that after her own capture, Mom would have stormed into some human base, caused massive chaos, and eventually been subdued by a random strong human?
And yet now… she'd actually found a human to help her?
Maybe she'd underestimated her mother.
Perhaps she wasn't quite as "clueless" as she'd imagined.
Moreover, if she wasn't mistaken, the Pokémon beside that human looked suspiciously like… Mew?
No way — she never expected to encounter such a mythical Pokémon straight out of legend.
Mew was called "Mew" precisely because of its rarity — so rare that people often dismissed her as mere fantasy, a dream creature that didn't truly exist.
As for a Trainer who had successfully captured Mew… the little Lugia had never heard of such a thing.
Surely this human named Haru must have gone through unimaginable lengths to win Mew over.
Hmm… and the more she thought about it, the more suspicious it all seemed.
Could his helping them simply be a trick — just like every other human who sought to capture Legendary Pokémon?
Neither she nor her mother were as rare as Mew, true, but they were still Legendary — and her mother commanded entire flocks of Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres.
To any ordinary Trainer, that would be a prize worth drooling over. Haru was unlikely to be any exception.
No, perhaps she should be thinking even bigger.
From a human's perspective, her mother's human form was… well, undeniably beautiful.
Could it be that this human male had fallen for her mother's looks?
After all, he clearly had a thing for turning Pokémon into beautiful girls.
Oh no — could this man be planning to become her father?!
Or worse… was she his true target? Did he intend to "sample" her own young, innocent body?!
After only a brief meeting, the little Lugia's imagination was already running wild.
Though much younger than the white-haired woman, she was the more perceptive one — her grasp of "common sense" and her understanding of humans far exceeded her mother's.
She had seen the darker sides of humanity, and thus couldn't help but suspect Haru of harboring ulterior motives.
Of course, she still recognized that he was her savior — for now.
Haru, on the other hand, was completely unaware that while he'd rescued the young Lugia out of pure good will, the poor bird had already constructed an elaborate web of misunderstandings in her mind — including the flattering yet absurd belief that she was his target of desire.
At least, he thought, this whole ordeal was finally over.
According to his original plan, he was going to say his goodbyes to the Lugia mother and daughter here in the underwater lab, then return to Altomare to continue investigating the matter of Latios and the Soul Dew.
That issue had been delayed far too long already, and it needed to be settled soon.
Without the Soul Dew, Altomare would always be at risk of sinking — and he couldn't keep leaving Mew No. 2 and Latias to guard the cathedral indefinitely.
Not to mention, as long as he stayed in Altomare, Professor Oak would keep pestering him day after day — utterly unbearable.
However, just as he was about to take his leave, the white-haired woman spoke up with an unexpected request.
She… wanted to continue traveling by his side.
Her stated reason, offered both to Haru and her daughter, was simple: she wished to repay his kindness.
Since Haru had saved her daughter, it was only natural that she should lend her strength to him in return — a "duty she could not refuse."
Of course, it wasn't as if Haru had exuded such a powerful aura underwater that Lugia had been overwhelmed into worshipping him like some majestic king.
No — her reason for following him was far more innocent. She wanted to learn from Mew.
Back during Haru's battle with Sabrina, she had shown Mew those "secret manuals" and had earnestly begged for Mew's guidance in mastering the techniques within.
The ever-"kind" Mew had agreed almost instantly — though with two conditions:
She must tell no one else about it.
Without Mew's permission, she must not show the "manuals" to a third party.
Lugia couldn't understand why Mew would insist on such secrecy, nor why Mew seemed so excited when agreeing to teach her.
But it wasn't a hard promise to keep, so she accepted it readily.
She even declared that she wouldn't tell her own daughter a single detail about what she was learning.
Mew, the "director" who was already plotting her next "film project," could barely contain her glee.
She'd been wondering how to bait Lugia into this, and now the legendary bird had walked right into the trap.
Now, only the little Lugia remained to be "handled."
If the mother was this easy to win over, the daughter would be a walk in the park.
And to be fair, Mew hadn't actually lied — she really was going to teach her what was in those "manuals."
The misunderstanding lay in Lugia's own mind — she had taken those doujinshi to be some sort of "ancient secret arts for becoming stronger."
That was entirely on her.
Upon hearing her mother's intention, however, the young Lugia once again spiraled into another round of overthinking.
She had no idea what these "invincible secret arts" were — she just thought her mother, now in human form, was doing something unnecessary.
There were plenty of ways to repay kindness, after all!
For example, she could easily find some treasure from the depths of the ocean and gift it to the human.
Pokémon might not care for gold or jewels, but humans certainly did.
And as the god of the sea's currents, her mother could find such things with laughable ease.
So why insist on following the man around?
Though her mother wasn't officially caught yet, if this continued, it was only a matter of time before she fell into his clutches.
But how could she persuade that airheaded woman?
She couldn't exactly point at her own rescuer and say, "Mom, that guy might be plotting something indecent against us."
That would be… a bit much, even for her.
That was going way too far.
Even if Haru did have some ulterior motive — which he probably didn't — he certainly hadn't done anything yet. Everything so far existed solely in the little Lugia's imagination.
For all she knew, Haru might really just be a perfectly decent, good-natured human. It was she who had painted him in such dark colors.
And besides, if she really did anger him, wouldn't that mean facing a combined assault from a Mythical Pokémon and a Legendary one?
That thought alone made her chest tighten with uncertainty.
When it came to this human savior, she genuinely didn't know how to treat him.
Maybe… maybe she should just find a chance to talk to him later.
Watching the man's back as he walked ahead, the now-human-shaped little Lugia — forcibly transformed by her own mother — picked up her pace.
Whatever the human's true intentions, one thing was certain: she had no desire to stay another minute in this cursed place.
---
Originally, Haru had planned to return to the surface through Necrozma's Ultra Wormhole once the Lugia pair had departed. But since they hadn't left, the ride naturally fell to Lugia herself.
Mew took on her pink feline form, wrapping herself around Haru's shoulders like a "scarf," maintaining a psychic barrier to shield him.
As for the little Lugia…
Though she was technically a "minor god of ocean currents" and fully capable of crossing seas on her own, she ultimately didn't fly alongside her mother. Instead, she assumed a human form and sat behind Haru.
Not out of laziness — she was simply too weak and needed time to recover.
"Come to think of it," Haru began quietly before they departed, "if you're planning to follow me around, what about your daughter?"
"Hmm? She'll come with me, of course." Lugia blinked innocently. "Or… do you not want her around?"
Perhaps influenced by her human transformation, the white-haired Lugia had somehow grown a single long ahoge on top of her head. As she pondered his question, the strand bobbed gently with her thoughts.
If Haru truly didn't want the little one tagging along, then she'd be forced to make a difficult decision.
Sure, "becoming invincible" was important — but if it came at the cost of her daughter's safety, she would abandon the idea without hesitation.
"Of course not," Haru replied, smiling faintly. "I was just wondering… If you're both going to be with me for a while, what should I call you? I can't call both of you 'Lugia,' can I?"
He ran a hand through her soft, snow-white feathers, unable to help a flicker of amusement.
Really, this was the kind of problem most people would love to have — others could go a lifetime without seeing even one Legendary, and here he was surrounded by two of them.
Even if neither of these Lugia were his Pokémon, they were still quite the sight to behold.
"..."
The white-haired woman tilted her head, her ahoge curling into a question mark. She clearly hadn't thought about this either.
In the anime, the Lugia captured by Dr. Namba had a name — "Silver," the same as Giovanni's son.
But these two were obviously not the ones from the show, so a new naming decision had to be made.
"How about this?" Haru suggested. "I'll keep calling your daughter 'Lugia,' and I'll call you Lucia."
In Haru's original world, Lucia and Lokia were both common unofficial translations of Lugia's name. One sounded distinctly feminine, while the other carried a few… unfortunate associations.
Given that the Lugia before him was indeed female, Lucia seemed perfectly fitting.
"Lucia?" she repeated, tilting her head again. "Hmm… I don't mind. If you like it, that's fine."
After a moment's thought, she saw no reason to object and agreed easily.
"…"
Using a human name to strengthen her identification with her human form, huh?
Trying to subtly reshape her mindset until she fully falls from grace… What a dangerous man!
In the corner, where neither Haru nor Lucia could see her, the little Lugia glared suspiciously, already convinced she had uncovered his grand scheme.
Before long, Mew teleported the entire group out of the laboratory.
Since they were preparing to ascend, everyone fell silent — even Mew stopped chattering.
Lucia's ascent to the surface was even faster than her descent, and this time, no strange incidents occurred.
Well — almost none.
At one point, Haru thought he glimpsed a massive, red, dinosaur-like shape lumbering along the ocean floor. But before he could focus on it, the figure vanished from sight.
He decided he must've imagined it.
I mean, really — what were the odds of Groudon showing up down here, of all places?
Right?
But just as Haru reached the surface, his Rotom Phone began flashing with several important notifications.
The first was from his long-silent friend, Blue.
Blue was practically spamming messages, demanding that Haru come to Galar immediately. He boasted that he had already become "invincible," and challenged Haru to show some courage and face him for a rematch.
The second message was an invitation to Galar's "World's Greatest Tournament."
Exactly as Haru had expected.
But what caught his attention most was the tournament bracket — it already listed his first-round opponent.
That opponent was none other than Boss Kiku, Lacey's father.
Still, wasn't it a bit odd for the organizers to have assigned him a main-stage opponent before the qualifiers were even over?
Haru couldn't shake the sense that something about it felt… predetermined.
Completely oblivious to the organizers' sinister machinations, he shrugged it off.
But the third message truly made his expression darken.
It was from Kanon, the caretaker of Altomare's Grand Cathedral.
She brought grave news — her grandfather had gone missing, apparently abducted.
The kidnappers had even sent a notice beforehand, threatening to seize Kanon herself.
But perhaps because she had spent the entire time with Mewtwo and Latias since Haru's departure, they'd changed their target and taken her grandfather instead.
Kanon couldn't be certain if the kidnappers were connected to the disappearance of Latios and the Soul Dew, but their actions were undoubtedly suspicious.
"What's wrong?"
Noticing Haru's troubled expression, Mew — now back in her human form — asked softly.
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