The idea was nice, but reality was far less forgiving.
Putting aside whether Ho-Oh would even agree, he hadn't seen Ho-Oh once since arriving at Mount Tensei.
"Ugh… forget it. I should deal with the survival problem right in front of me first."
Fuyuki sighed. He'd worked hard to save up more than two hundred Shock Points, all just to buy a set of baby clothes so he wouldn't have to run around naked anymore.
Entei and the others didn't care, but if a Trainer happened to pass by, or a Rainbow Hero came to take part in a trial, that would be a disaster.
So how could he earn more Shock Points?
Raikou?
He glanced over. Raikou only watched him from a distance, nothing like Entei, which stayed close by.
Forget it. Raikou was way too cold.
Then his thoughts jumped to the Cubone he'd met while picking Berries with Entei that day.
He'd done a simple butterfly-catching trick in front of that Cubone, and it had given him 20 Shock Points.
If he gathered all the wild Pokemon around Mount Tensei and performed magic for them, wouldn't they give him even more Shock Points?
The real problem was how to call all those Pokemon over.
Fuyuki stared up at the cave ceiling, thinking hard.
Then inspiration struck.
He had it.
In the movie Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You!, Marshadow had used its power to control the Pokemon living nearby, making them surround Ash and the others.
Marshadow had always lived here. It had to know plenty of Pokemon in the area.
Even though Marshadow never showed itself, Fuyuki was absolutely certain of one thing.
It was always hiding in his shadow, quietly watching the world.
No time to waste.
He pushed himself up from the ground, looked at his shadow, and called out in Pokemon language.
"Marshadow, are you there?"
At first, there was no response.
Then ripples began to spread across his shadow, layer upon layer.
A figure about his height poked its head out, eyes dim and unreadable as it looked at him.
"Ma-sha?" Marshadow sounded puzzled.
"Marshadow, you've lived here forever, right? You must know a lot of Pokemon around here," Fuyuki asked, grinning with anticipation.
"Ma-sha…" Marshadow froze for a moment, clearly not expecting that question. It looked at him, then nodded lightly. "Ma-sha."
Members of Ho-Oh's Guard generally had decent relationships with wild Pokemon.
Especially those living near Mount Tensei.
Many of them had witnessed Ho-Oh's miracles with their own eyes, and held a quiet reverence for it.
Because of that, the wild Pokemon here weren't like those in other regions, constantly fighting across species.
"Then can you help me gather everyone together?" Fuyuki asked quickly.
"Ma-sha?" Marshadow's eyes flickered with confusion.
"I want to perform magic for everyone," he said earnestly. "Please help me, Marshadow. I want to play with them."
Marshadow fell silent.
Looking at the human child pleading with such pitiful eyes, it simply couldn't bring itself to refuse.
"Ma-sha…"
It nodded, then slipped back into the shadow world and vanished from sight.
Fuyuki could barely contain his excitement.
If only a few Pokemon showed up, he'd use Moomoo Milk at five Shock Points a bottle to perform a trick of making something from nothing.
If a lot came, he'd buy piles of one-Shock-Point candy, perform with those, then hand them out afterward as payment.
No idea how long Marshadow would take. He stood up and wobbled toward the cave entrance, planning to wait outside.
Before he could step out, a cold voice echoed in his mind.
"If you run into danger out there, I won't come save you."
Fuyuki turned around to see Raikou staring straight at him.
Clearly, it had spoken through telepathy.
Raikou expected fear, expected the child to retreat back into the cave.
Instead, the human child flashed a sly smile.
"Marshadow will protect me," he said.
There won't be any danger, Fuyuki thought.
Some wild Pokemon really were dangerous, but if Marshadow was the one calling them over, and they were willing to gather with other species, then their temperaments wouldn't be the kind that attacked humans on sight.
Raikou fell silent.
That damn human brat. Even Marshadow had been fooled by him.
The thought surfaced instantly, but then last night's events rose up from its memory.
Raikou said nothing.
Fuyuki didn't wait around. He headed outside the cave to wait.
Not long after, Raikou followed him out.
When Fuyuki looked over, it explained coldly, "Don't misunderstand. I just don't want you running into danger before Marshadow gets here."
Fuyuki: "..."
Such a classic case of a cold face and a warm heart. A big cat, through and through.
Then Marshadow returned.
Behind it came a massive crowd of wild Pokemon.
Golem, Golbat, Magneton, Venomoth, Rhydon, Magmar, Cubone and Marowak, a family of four with Nidoking and Nidoqueen, Electivire, Magnemite, Oddish…
There were at least thirty of them.
Some were incredibly powerful, yet none showed any aggression in front of Marshadow.
It seemed they'd already heard about the human child on the way over.
The moment they arrived, curious gazes locked onto Fuyuki.
The stronger ones could clearly smell the powerful, blazing presence of Entei on him.
"Cubone!"
From within the crowd, the Cubone he knew excitedly called out to him.
Fuyuki laughed and waved back.
Using the Pokemon language Entei had taught him, he spoke in a soft, childish voice.
"Welcome, everyone! Next, I want to perform a magic show for you!"
Magic… show?
The Pokemon looked confused. None of them had ever heard of such a thing.
Then they saw the human child take out a large leaf.
"Look, there's nothing inside this leaf, right?" Fuyuki carefully showed it inside and out.
"Cubone!" The Cubone enthusiastically played along.
"Alright, now watch closely!"
He folded the leaf into a little pouch.
Letting out a meaningless cry, just like a Pokemon would, he waved his small hands.
The next moment, something incredible happened.
The flat leaf began to swell at a visible speed.
No, it burst open.
"Crash!"
Sweet-smelling candy spilled out, tumbling onto the ground.
The wild Pokemon stared, eyes wide, faces full of shock.
What just happened?
They hadn't seen wrong, right? There was nothing inside that leaf.
So where did these sweet-smelling things come from?
They gaped at the suddenly appearing candy, disbelief written all over their faces.
At the same time, the panel in front of Fuyuki started flooding with messages.
[Magneton was shocked by your "something from nothing" magic trick. Shock Points from Magneton +20!]
[Nidoking was shocked by your "silent creation" magic trick. Shock Points from Nidoking +15!]
"..."
Watching his balance skyrocket, Fuyuki's eyes shone brightly.
He struck it rich.
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