"Mm… mm…"
Lin Feng nodded twice, his chest tightening as he looked at the Pokémon before him. A wave of sorrow crept into his heart for these creatures who had once been captured by Team Rocket.
Especially ones like this Goodra, who had been stolen when it was still young, robbed of a complete childhood.
Lin Feng's gaze softened. The Goodra's body was unusual. In the wild, it wasn't uncommon to find Dragon-types who spent over a decade without reaching their final evolutions. But this Goodra had been forced to evolve unnaturally fast, rising from its first form all the way to its final one in a far shorter time than normal. That kind of accelerated growth, through methods outside of nature, had left scars on its body.
Even so, that alone showed just how advanced Team Rocket's technology truly was when it came to manipulating Pokémon.
Which also meant… they had experimented on countless others.
Lin Feng let out a long sigh. "Clingy or not, it doesn't matter. It's still just a child at heart."
At that, Mewtwo twitched at the corner of its mouth. Child? This enormous creature, larger even than itself, was hardly what it would call small.
And then
grrrrgle…
A sound came from Goodra's belly. It stared expectantly at Mewtwo, drool glimmering faintly at the corner of its mouth.
Mewtwo's face went stiff.
"Do you usually prepare its food?" Lin Feng asked in surprise, watching the interaction between them.
Mewtwo said nothing, but its silence was an admission.
Lin Feng drew in a sharp breath. "Hah… I never would've thought you'd be so good at raising Pokémon. Turns out the rumors about Mewtwo being a real Trainer aren't a joke after all."
In his mind, he had always imagined that Mewtwo's Pokémon would be self-sufficient, hunting for themselves. After all, Pokémon like Dragonite or Salamence had already grown strong enough to feed themselves with ease.
But now, looking at the little Goodra clinging to Mewtwo, he couldn't help but picture an entirely different scene: Mewtwo going out, hunting or gathering food with effort, then bringing it back to feed Goodra like a father providing for his child.
The image made Lin Feng smile faintly. "What a strange sight… but not a bad one."
He gave Mewtwo a rare compliment.
Mewtwo, however, felt a rush of discomfort at the praise. Its expression shifted awkwardly as it tried to explain itself, its words stumbling in rare fluster. "Don't… don't misunderstand. It's just clingy. The type that cries whenever I'm not around."
Lin Feng chuckled. "That's not such a bad thing. It sees you as… well, maybe not a parent, but certainly as someone who can protect it. Later, I'll have Gardevoir's little sister help look after it for a while. She's good with children."
He glanced again at Goodra. "Though this child is… a little bigger than most."
"Gooo…"
Goodra whined again, looking pitifully at Mewtwo. Its sticky hands twitched as if it was about to smear slime all over Mewtwo just to get its attention.
Mewtwo's face darkened.
Lin Feng hurriedly pulled a container from his storage ball and took out a few nutrient-rich energy cubes. He crouched down with a gentle smile. "Here, try these."
Goodra eyed the cubes with suspicion. Its mouth watered, but it didn't move. Instead, its eyes darted warily back to Lin Feng.
Because in its memory, it had been lured once before by food like this. Lured and then trapped.
After that came endless injections chemicals burning in its veins, swelling its body, forcing skills out of it until even breathing felt like pain.
Now, even though the human in front of it looked kind, Goodra's body stiffened. It didn't trust. It couldn't trust.
Lin Feng's expression softened with sympathy. He didn't press the cube forward. Instead, he calmly handed one to Mewtwo.
"Here, you eat it first."
Mewtwo narrowed its eyes, but without hesitation, swallowed the cube whole.
Only then did Lin Feng smile at Goodra again. "See? It's safe. No one's going to hurt you."
"Goo…?"
The suspicion in Goodra's gaze wavered. It turned to Mewtwo, as if waiting for its confirmation.
Mewtwo finally gave a small nod. "It's alright. Eat."
Goodra hesitated a moment longer, then crept forward and gingerly took a cube. It chewed, and its eyes widened in delight at the flavor. Yet even then, it restrained itself, refusing the second cube until enough time passed and nothing bad happened. Only then did it happily accept the rest of the bag, devouring them in eager gulps.
Watching, Lin Feng sighed deeply. "It's harder than I thought… they really suffered so much."
Mewtwo gave him a warning. "That Salamence is even more violent."
Lin Feng's heart tightened. He had already sensed the Salamence's rage earlier with his Viridian Force, but hearing it from Mewtwo only confirmed it.
"Release it," Lin Feng said after a deep breath. "Just keep it restrained."
Mewtwo nodded, pulling out a Poké Ball and pressing the release.
With a flash of light, the Salamence appeared.
At first, its eyes were clouded, its body sluggish. But when it locked onto Lin Feng, its blood-red pupils widened, its jaws snapping open in fury.
The oppressive aura it radiated was suffocating.
Then, in an instant, a psychic veil descended. Salamence froze, its wings twitching in restrained anger.
Lin Feng murmured to himself, half in awe, half in grief. "Its face changes so fast…"
His system window flickered open in front of him:
[Pokémon: Salamence]
[Gender: Male]
[Ability: Moxie]
[Potential: Red-tier]
[IVs: HP (28), Attack (29), Special Attack (28), Defense (20), Sp. Def (14), Speed (27)]
[Level: 75–76]
[Moves: Roost, Dragon Breath, Dragon Tail, Dual Wingbeat, Hyper Beam, Flamethrower, Double-Edge, Earthquake…]
[Status: Malnourished, strength reduced]
[Friendship: -50 (equal hatred toward all humans)]
[Happiness: -40]
Lin Feng froze.
-50?
He had never seen a Pokémon with such a low bond before.
Even Mewtwo, when he first encountered it, had only shown -20, the same as that grumpy little Squirtle that later became his companion.
Slowly, Lin Feng extended his Viridian Force, wrapping Salamence in its gentle aura. Step by cautious step, he approached. "Hello."
"Rrrgh?"
Salamence's eyes flickered in confusion. Just moments ago, it had been consumed by rage toward this human, yet now… that burning fury was dulled.
Even so, memories of imprisonment clawed at its heart. Its lips curled back, teeth bared, trying to drive him away.
Lin Feng's chest rose and fell with steady breaths. Despite the menace, he closed the distance. Then, with deliberate calm, he placed a hand on its scaled belly and shut his eyes, sinking deeper into its emotions.
Darkness.
A suffocating void filled his mind.
Then, the harsh click of a switch.
A blinding light flooded in, revealing a human in a white lab coat stepping toward Salamence.
Chains rattled. Salamence thrashed with all its might, wings tearing at the air, claws scraping at metal restraints.
But the moment it resisted, a cold frost began to seep down from above. Ice spread mercilessly over its body, freezing its wings, binding its jaws, sealing its roar.
The memory tightened like a vice around Lin Feng's chest. His heart ached.
How much suffering has this one endured…?
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