"I'm really, really sorry. Xiao Ai is usually very well-behaved—it's just that she loves cleanliness a little too much. Honestly, she's practically a germaphobe. Whenever she sees something dirty, she just can't stop herself from cleaning it."
Shen Xinyi repeatedly apologized to William.
She had not expected that after only a few minutes, her Cinccino would already be causing trouble again—this time outright taking someone's phone off its stand.
What a headache…
Shen Xinyi couldn't help regretting not recalling Cinccino into its Poké Ball.
But then she remembered the pitiful expression Cinccino had given her before leaving the house, and simply couldn't bring herself to do it.
Sure enough—
Liking cleanliness was a good thing.
But obsession with cleanliness? That was a sickness.
Thanks to Cinccino, Shen Xinyi felt her own mild neat-freak tendencies had practically cured themselves.
"Lami…"
After cleaning the phone, the tension in Cinccino's face finally relaxed.
However—
When returning the phone to William, its expression turned serious once more.
"Lami! Lami-lami!"
"..."
Shen Xinyi lowered her head even further.
William felt like he somehow understood what Cinccino meant.
It seemed to be lecturing him—
Be clean! Don't let your stuff get filthy again!
"It's okay. Being clean is a good thing…"
William answered awkwardly.
Not far away—
The attendant's voice sounded, reminding passengers that the bus was about to depart.
Just as Shen Xinyi was about to sit down, Cinccino suddenly darted ahead, stretched out its tiny arms to block her path, then leapt onto the seat.
Its fluffy tail began sweeping rapidly across the chair and surrounding area.
"..."
William suddenly felt this Pokémon called Cinccino was far more than just "a little bit germaphobic."
United States time, 4:00 PM.
Sitting in his office, Davis stared at the small screen on his computer.
His brows were tightly furrowed.
His eyes filled with disbelief.
Lying obediently in the arms of a Zhuxia girl on-screen was a magical beast.
Earlier that morning, around 8:30 AM, shortly after waking up, Davis had received a tweet tagging him.
Out of habit, he clicked it.
Only to realize the sender was some lunatic he had spent days arguing with online about magical beasts.
"A livestream of a revolutionary city where humans and magical beasts peacefully coexist? Who the hell believes that?"
Naturally, Davis ignored the clearly deranged fool and went to work.
Then somehow—
Afternoon arrived.
Just as Davis was preparing coffee and looking forward to enjoying the final stretch before getting off work, he suddenly remembered that tweet again.
For reasons even he didn't understand—
He found the tweet again.
Clicked the stream link.
And stayed.
Until now.
Davis desperately wanted to convince himself that what he was seeing was staged.
But the affectionate interactions between the gray mouse-like magical beast and the Zhuxia girl constantly reminded him—
This was real.
Humans really could peacefully coexist with magical beasts.
"This William guy…"
"Could everything he said actually be true?"
Davis considered himself a rational person.
Humanity occasionally coexisting peacefully with one or two especially tame magical beasts?
That wasn't impossible.
But—
A massive city where humans and magical beasts fully integrated into one another's daily lives?
That image was beyond imagination.
Still—
Watching William chat casually with the Zhuxia girl on the bus…
Watching the scenery pass outside the moving vehicle…
Davis suddenly felt—
As though some hidden, real world was slowly drawing nearer to him.
"Alright, William, I've followed your stream. Good luck!"
Shen Xinyi held Cinccino in one arm and made a cheering fist gesture with the other.
"As long as you keep loving Pokémon, maybe one day you'll become someone like Teacher Mo."
William looked embarrassed.
"Teacher Mo is amazing. I could never compare."
"But I'll do my best to help more people out there understand how wonderful Pokémon are."
"Mhm. I believe in you."
Shen Xinyi smiled.
"Anyway, I've gotta go find my friend. She said today's her do-or-die battle and insisted I come watch in person. If I'm late, she'll definitely get mad, so I need to hurry."
"Okay. Goodbye!"
After the bus arrived at the station, Shen Xinyi left first to meet her friend.
William watched her departure.
Only after a long while did he look up toward the blue sky.
"Become someone like Teacher Mo…"
William had followed Chen Mo since the early days.
Naturally, he knew how difficult Chen Mo's journey had been.
To William—
Chen Mo resembled the sun itself.
Constantly radiating brilliant light, guiding everyone toward the future.
Could I become someone like that too?
He shook his head slightly.
He probably could never become a blazing sun like Teacher Mo.
At best—
He might someday become a tiny light.
Looking at his livestream of fewer than ten viewers, William couldn't help feeling that even becoming that was still impossibly far away.
"Bo-bo~!"
A loud bird cry rang out overhead.
William immediately looked up.
A brown-feathered bird Pokémon carrying an oversized satchel soared through the sky.
"Look! Quick!"
William quickly raised the phone Cinccino had polished spotless and aimed it upward.
Switching naturally into English, he excitedly explained:
"This is Pidgey, Anping City's special delivery worker!"
"Right now, only Anping City in all of Zhuxia has a service called Pidgey Express."
"Notice that huge satchel on its body. That Pidgey should currently be out making deliveries."
"Ahh, we're so lucky! We just arrived in Anping City and already got to see this!"
Meanwhile—
The livestream audience instantly perked up.
[That bird's a magical beast too?]
William glanced at the commenter.
It was the same stubborn viewer from earlier.
Although compared to before, the hostility in their messages had clearly weakened.
After organizing his thoughts, William patiently explained:
"Pidgey is a Flying- and Normal-type Pokémon."
"Pidgey Express is one of Anping City's earliest experiments in integrating human and Pokémon life together."
"I heard young people here sometimes send letters through Pidgey to confess their feelings to someone they like."
"That's apparently considered one of the most romantic ways to confess right now."
Even though he had never visited Anping City before, William had researched countless stories about it and casually shared all sorts of fun trivia about Pidgey Express.
As he talked—
His excitement only grew.
Finally.
He had finally arrived in Anping City!
"Alright, enough about Pidgey Express for now."
"Let's head outside and take a look."
Leaving that sentence behind, William hurried eagerly out of the station.
Before long—
He spotted countless Pikachu Cup posters hanging throughout the streets.
But that wasn't what shocked him most.
What truly stunned William—
Were the pedestrians.
"That Pokémon is called Sentret. Teacher Mo said Sentret are incredibly cautious Pokémon. If separated from their group, they'll get so scared they can't sleep…"
"Oh no—they noticed us."
"Uh, sorry! I mean no harm!"
Unlike other places William had visited, in Anping City, trainers wandering around casually with Pokémon could be seen everywhere.
A Sentret standing beside its trainer, nervously glancing around despite staying close.
A Caterpie perched fashionably on a trainer's shoulder.
A Meowth lazily sunbathing atop a nearby balcony.
A Deerling with green fur, strolling peacefully beside its trainer down the street.
The livestream comments exploded.
[This has to be heaven.]
[There are SO MANY Pokémon! I can't even keep up! This is just the outskirts of Anping City, right!? How are there already this many trainers and Pokémon!?]
[Makes sense. Nearly twenty thousand trainers joined the Pikachu Cup alone. Each has at least one Pokémon. And that's not even counting casual owners like the girl William met earlier who brought Cinccino just to hang out with a friend. Add in local residents and wild Pokémon living in Anping, and this is what you get.]
[I want to immigrate to Zhuxia and live in Anping City.]
[Forget it. Didn't William already apply? His residency request got rejected instantly. Moving to Anping as a foreigner is absurdly difficult.]
[Doesn't matter. I can't even visit Zhuxia anyway. Also—is that guy who doubted William earlier still around? I want to hear his thoughts now.]
[Hey, be nice. Haven't you noticed he stopped directly arguing with William already?]
Comments scrolled endlessly.
Meanwhile—
Despite already being off the clock—
Davis still sat frozen at his desk.
He ignored all the teasing comments.
Instead, he stared blankly at the dreamlike city unfolding onscreen.
Shock unlike anything he had ever experienced overtook him completely.
"It's real…"
"It's all real…"
Under the warm summer sun—
Humans and Pokémon together seemed to compose a beautiful melody of harmony.
"Huh?"
"Davis? You actually didn't leave work on time today?"
A coworker carrying documents looked over in surprise.
Davis was famous for clocking in and out precisely, never overworking.
Yet today—
He sat motionless at his desk, staring intensely at his screen.
"Davis, what are you even watching so seriously?"
Receiving no answer, the coworker walked over curiously.
Then—
He froze.
Onscreen was a sight straight out of science fiction.
A raccoon- and badger-like brown creature battled fiercely against a small dog-like creature with coffee-colored fur.
"Magical beasts!"
The coworker's pupils widened.
But then—
He noticed two teenage boys behind them enthusiastically shouting commands.
And surrounding them—
Spectators stood watching while accompanied by magical beasts of their own.
"What is this…?"
Before he could process things—
An excited English voice rang out.
"It's Zigzagoon and Lillipup!"
"Ahh, Lillipup is one of my favorite Pokémon!"
"Teacher Mo explained before that Lillipup are incredibly brave yet cautious Pokémon. Very smart too—they faithfully obey their trainer's commands."
"They'll even stand against stronger enemies to protect their trainer."
"For beginner trainers, Lillipup are honestly one of the best Pokémon to raise."
"They never forget love shown to them—or harm done to them."
"So if you sincerely care for a Lillipup, it'll absolutely return your love."
"But my favorite thing about them?"
"They're ridiculously obedient."
"If properly taught, even though they're puppy Pokémon, they won't bark nonstop."
"For apartment living, a Lillipup would be perfect."
"Honestly…"
"I dream of having one."
Rookie trainer battles were intense.
Full of passion.
But because they were beginners—
They ended quickly too.
After only a few exchanges, the stronger and more determined Lillipup claimed victory.
The trainer, overwhelmed with excitement, threw himself onto Lillipup the moment the referee announced the result.
Human and Pokémon hugged each other, crying.
Nearby spectators applauded warmly.
William's voice sounded again:
"I asked around just now."
"This trainer earned his final Shining Star and qualified for the Pikachu Cup main tournament with this victory."
"That's why he's so emotional."
"You all might not know much about the preliminaries."
"Technically, registration lasts until the 30th—but honestly, there are barely any slots left."
"At this rate, all qualifiers will probably be decided by tomorrow, the 29th."
"The real feast…"
"Is about to begin."
William grew more excited with every word.
Beside Davis—
His coworker stood speechless.
"What… is this?"
After a long silence—
Davis finally tore himself away from the stream.
Thinking back to everything William had shown…
Thinking of the trainer and Pokémon crying together in victory…
He turned toward his stunned coworker.
Expression solemn.
"Perhaps…"
"This is the real world we're supposed to reach."
"They aren't magical beasts."
"They're Pokémon."
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