"Although Caterpie is considered one of the weakest Pokémon in the Pokémon world, even with congenital developmental deficiencies, it's not nearly as fragile as you imagine. So just take care of it the way I taught you before—there's no need to worry too much."
In front of the villa, Chen Mo glanced at the Caterpie resting in Ah Hui's arms, patted Ah Hui on the shoulder, and spoke softly.
"As a caretaker, your emotions and behavior can easily influence these young Pokémon whose minds have only just begun to develop. Remember that."
"Brother Mo, to be honest with you."
Ah Hui looked at the Caterpie, its breathing steady in sleep, and slowly said,
"I don't plan to keep raising Caterpie forever. I want to wait until it's in better condition, then send it back to its biological parents."
"Is that so?"
Chen Mo's expression remained calm, betraying no obvious emotion.
"Didn't you always want to raise a Pokémon? For you, isn't this the best possible opportunity? Or is it that you're looking down on Caterpie?"
"Of course not."
Ah Hui gave a bitter smile.
"I really like this tough little guy. But if I gain Caterpie's attachment in this way, I'm afraid I won't even be able to sleep peacefully in the future."
"I see. Then let me ask you in a different way."
Chen Mo's expression suddenly turned serious.
"I remember telling you that Butterfree are a Pokémon species that migrates according to the seasons and their breeding cycle. So are you certain that when you return to that forest, the Butterfree will still be in that flower field?
And moreover, you should know how brutal the struggle for survival between different Pokémon species is in a Pokémon world without human intervention. Given Caterpie's current condition, do you really think it could survive smoothly in such a harsh environment—and successfully evolve?"
The two questions fell like massive boulders onto Ah Hui's heart, crushing him so heavily that he couldn't utter a single word.
Chen Mo let out a light sigh.
"Go back and think it over carefully first. Once you've figured it out, come tell me your answer."
Watching Ah Hui leave in a daze, with the brother and sister closely following behind him, Chen Mo shook his head and sank into thought.
"…Viridian Forest, huh…"
—
On another street.
As she watched Ah Hui walk farther and farther away, Xiao Cai finally couldn't help calling out.
"Brother Ah Hui!"
Hearing the familiar voice, Ah Hui finally stopped.
He turned around. Under the streetlight, a forced smile appeared on his face.
"It's getting late. You should head back and rest early. I… won't walk you home."
With that, Ah Hui quickly turned away and continued walking slowly down the straight road.
Under the streetlights, light and shadow interwove, as though the distance between them was being stretched farther and farther apart.
Before long, only the brother and sister were left on the road.
"Xiao Cai… I think I've done a lot of things wrong…"
Still staring in the direction Ah Hui had disappeared, the flat-headed youth murmured.
"Then why didn't you say that earlier?!"
Xiao Cai shot him a glare.
I clearly tried so hard to create chances for you two to reconcile—so why is a grown man acting even more awkward than a girl?!
"It's not that I didn't want to say it…" The flat-headed youth wore a bitter expression. "It's just that I suddenly feel like the current Ah Hui is so unfamiliar to me. It feels like a lot of things have happened to him that I don't know about…"
"Excuses!"
Just as the flat-headed youth was about to retort, he noticed the girl beside him busily tapping away at her phone.
"Xiao Cai, what are you doing?"
"Hmph!"
The girl didn't even snort in response, completely ignoring him.
After a while—
Her expression suddenly brightened.
"Found it!"
"Found what?"
Still completely confused, the flat-headed youth leaned over to take a look—only to be met head-on by the girl turning sideways and giving him a look of extreme disgust.
"You… I'm your real brother, you know."
"Heh."
The girl let out a cold laugh.
"I'll send it to you. Stop leaning over!"
Flat-headed youth: "..."
All younger sisters in this world are the same. When they're little, they call you "big brother" with boundless affection. Once they grow up a bit, the disgust is endless, as if they can't wait to draw a clear boundary between themselves and their own brother at all times.
Sure enough, the little-sister archetypes in anime are all fake.
Shaking his head, the flat-headed youth took out his phone and opened the link the girl had sent him in their private chat.
The next second—
His mind jolted.
"Isn't this…"
"It's that Brother Mo."
The girl said slowly as she scrolled through the news articles.
"I thought he looked familiar just now. Turns out, this Brother Mo is the same person from that news report—the young man who commanded a yellow lightning-type magical beast to rescue hostages from robbers."
"His job is an online streamer. The content of his streams seems to be popular science about magical beasts."
"So that's how it is…" The flat-headed youth paused, then asked in confusion, "Then why did you search this up?"
"Are you really stupid, or did Brother Ah Hui scold you so badly today that you've gone dumb?"
Xiao Cai rolled her eyes at him, then said helplessly,
"Didn't you want to understand what happened to Brother Ah Hui? His changes must be related to this 'Brother Mo.' Do I really need to teach you what to do next?"
In this world, some people grope forward through confusion, while others cross countless distances just to reach another person's side.
As for Chen Mo, he wasn't very good at handling relationships between people. Just like now—although he knew the whole story and sensed the issue between Ah Hui and the flat-headed youth, he couldn't provide a solution.
So Pokémon were still easier to get along with—at least they weren't that complicated.
Don't you agree?
Pichu.
In the backyard, Chen Mo silently stared at Pichu, which stood before him with its tiny paws tucked in front of its chest.
"Pichu…"
Thinking the matter had already blown over, Pichu never expected this twist.
It slightly turned its body and shot a pleading look toward Pidgeotto for help.
However, Pidgeotto acted as if it hadn't seen anything, busily using its beak to groom its feathers with an air of intense concentration.
Looking toward the pond on the other side, the silhouette of a certain fish had long since vanished.
"Pichu!"
"It's useless calling anyone now. Be honest—what exactly happened today?"
"Pichu~"
Ignoring Pichu's leg-hugging and cutesy pleas, Chen Mo was about to press further when he suddenly noticed something he'd overlooked earlier because all his attention had been on Caterpie.
Chen Mo groomed Pichu's fur almost every day. But at this moment, not only was Pichu's fur covered in dust, but peering through it, he could also see several spots with very obvious scrape marks.
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