Chapter 407: Cyberspace

Within a pitch-black space.

Countless glowing blue bands of light, thick and thin, crisscrossed in every direction, linking together and constantly flickering, like a meticulously woven marvelous mesh.

Touching any one of them would flood the mind with vast amounts of information, and following these narrow pathways forward would reveal one virtual ring after another.

The glowing blue bands vanished into the rings without a trace.

This was the visualized space of the information network. Team Rocket had once intercepted Poké Balls transmitted by other Trainers here, causing the target locations to be unable to receive the Poké Balls sent by the Trainers, which drew Ash and his companions to investigate.

The two sides had taken advantage of the situation to use Porygon-Z and Porygon2 to wage a great battle, and then both were thrown into disarray by the visualized fighter jets of an antivirus program, fleeing in all directions.

They had nearly been trapped here, unable to get out.

But for Porygon, the information network space was nothing more than a place it could come and go from as it pleased.

And its main reason for traveling through here at this moment was to track down the drone-rotom that had been pestering the Trainer during the day, and find a way to beat the stuffing out of the guy.

Of course.

Porygon also knew that attacking others at random was wrong, that fighting and a proper battle were not the same thing, but the burning rage in its heart just wouldn't die down.

What on earth was wrong with itself?

In its frustration, it still hadn't given up on the idea of beating up Rotom.

At this hour, the other side should have separated from the drone, right?

…Hard to say.

Given Rotom's special nature, Porygon couldn't be certain that Rotom was deep within the information network space right now; the thing might be hiding inside some appliance.

But going back on its word wasn't its style, so it decided to first find the place Rotom liked to hang out, and come back to beat that detestable fellow after tomorrow's Gym Battle was over.

However, the information space was simply too vast; Porygon had searched for over half an hour without spotting even a ghost of a shadow.

Clearly, finding any Rotom at all would let it follow the trail to its target.

So frustrating!

Porygon swung its blocky legs in vexation on the spot, and decided to head back the way it came and go to sleep. Though its heart was full of resentment, it also knew what mattered most.

Tomorrow was its first time participating in a Gym Battle; it couldn't afford to waste any more energy.

It had to perform well!

Porygon was silently cheering itself on, when it suddenly turned around and found an unfamiliar Porygon standing right behind it out of nowhere, with no idea when it had appeared.

"Pory!"

It startled badly, but seeing that the other party had no hostility and was merely silently staring at it, it finally relaxed.

There were actually other Porygon in New Zi Jin City's network space? Didn't that white-bearded old man with the hairline up to his crown say Porygon wouldn't work, and ultimately went with Rotom instead?

Porygon decided to ask the fellow in front of it about its origins, so it amiably raised its right leg-block, "Pory pory!"

"……"

The unfamiliar Porygon stared at it in a "dazed" manner, still not saying a word.

This made it a little awkward.

"Pory?"

"……"

"Pory!"

Porygon furrowed its brow and charged straight at it, only to pass right through the unfamiliar Porygon in front of it; with a sudden jolt in its heart, it whipped its head around.

Its gaze met the unfamiliar Porygon's once more.

This guy!

"Pory!" The color of Porygon's body shifted, the blue parts rapidly converting to bright yellow, and a thick bolt of electricity shot toward the unfamiliar Porygon.

Rumble—

The lightning let out a piercing roar.

But without a doubt, the current passed through the other's body once more, landing on a thin glowing blue band of light.

Bang!

The band flickered and quickly grew dim.

Ah, it knocked out someone's network.

Porygon's heart skipped a beat, but it couldn't worry about that now; this phantom-like unfamiliar Porygon was making its fur stand on end—unable to be rammed, unable to be hit, was it simply a phantom?

But where in network space would a virtual phantom come from? Besides, this guy's gaze was locked right onto it!

"Pory!"

The color of Porygon's body shifted again, converting from Electric-type to Ghost-type, and a Shadow Ball wreathed in dark energy spun and hurtled toward the phantom Porygon of its own accord.

Still missed.

Electric-type didn't work, Ghost-type didn't work either?

What on earth was going on with this guy?

It warily watched the unfamiliar Porygon that had neither moved nor spoken up to now, thinking that of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, retreat was the best; whatever it couldn't figure out, the Trainer might know!

Porygon decisively chose to retreat, its form suddenly flickering and vanishing on the spot.

The next second.

It appeared at an extremely distant location, warily looking around in all directions; only after confirming that the other party was still in place, merely staring fixedly in this direction, did it let out a slight breath of relief.

If it could still follow up here, then it really had no way to deal with it.

Skedaddle, skedaddle.

Porygon ran in the direction it had come from; if it had any body hair, it would probably be standing on end by now.

To make sure that eerie fellow hadn't followed, Porygon kept looking back again and again, until it could no longer see the other's figure at all, and when the exit was right before its eyes, it quickly relaxed—

Not right.

Porygon-Z's movements suddenly halted.

It figured that if a Trainer encountered something this bizarre, they would never casually reveal their residence — to shake off an enemy, they would definitely think of other methods.

In that case.

Porygon-Z adjusted its bearing slightly, skipping the ring it had originally been about to enter and diving into a different one.

What it failed to notice was that, the moment it entered the ring, a strange figure surfaced in a band of light in the far distance — three parts similar to itself and likewise red-and-blue, shaped like a hummingbird yet also resembling some odd, rounded doll.

The key point was that this fellow's head and body were in a state of separation, and its body would twitch unnaturally twice whenever it swayed.

On its forehead, an enormous number zero stood out conspicuously.

—

Porygon-Z's vision blurred, and it found itself locking eyes with several startled faces.

"Pory?"

It looked around and discovered it was inside a television set in someone's living room, which was broadcasting the Pokémon Soccer World Cup — a Pokémon competition wildly popular across many regions.

Its appearance seemed to have ruined this family's good mood for watching the match.

"Ahhh! Daddy! Something weird came out!"

"Honey!"

"This — changing the channel doesn't work! Slakoth, hurry up and think of something! Please!"

"Naamaa…"

"Daddy, Slakoth can't do anything about it…"

The whole family scrambled to their feet in a panic, though that did not include the languid Slakoth — or rather, it had wanted to attack the television but was stopped.

Porygon-Z huddled in a corner, pondering how to get out.

Normally it got in and out of the digital world through data interfaces or Poké Balls, unlike Pokémon such as Rotom, which could not only enter and exit the digital world but even burrow through electrical wires.

In a sense, had it lost out?

Ahhh! Don't space out — it had to get out of here quickly!

Porygon-Z forced itself to ignore those panicked gazes, successfully located a data interface, and successfully transformed from digital back into physical form.

"Pory!"

It gave the family an apologetic bow, and its figure flickered violently before vanishing on the spot.

This exit wasn't far from the Trainer's exit, so the room where the Trainer lived probably wasn't far either.

The scene before its eyes shifted abruptly.

Porygon-Z found itself on an outdoor street, brilliantly lit by streetlamps and bustling with traffic. Though it was already past midnight, plenty of people were still out strolling, and they turned curious gazes upon its sudden appearance.

"Pory…"

It decisively slipped into the shadows and quietly observed its surroundings, discovering that the massive New Zi Jin was across the road, and behind it stood a high-rise apartment building dozens of stories tall.

Presumably, that was where it had come from.

In its haste, it had actually Teleported such a great distance — lucky it hadn't ended up in the middle of the road.

Porygon-Z thought this, its gaze fixed on the second floor of New Zi Jin, and used Teleport again.

This time it appeared in a corridor lit by warm yellow light; the faintly familiar doors around it made it breathe a sigh of relief — this was indeed where the Trainer was.

It flew forward, located the room from memory, and used Teleport.

Darkness suddenly engulfed its vision.

Then, before it, silver light flashed — a massive sharp claw came hurtling through the air at a speed it couldn't dodge, but stopped just before hitting it.

"Grrr?"

A familiar cry reached its ears.

Porygon-Z, nearly scared to death, looked up and saw a pair of pale-blue eyes wide with surprise and a touch of resignation — belonging to Aggron.

"Po-Pory."

It replied awkwardly, indicating that a little situation had come up and it needed to report to the Trainer.

Two minutes later.

All Baimu walked out of the bathroom, much more awake after splashing his face. "So what happened?"

He looked at Porygon-Z.

Porygon-Z burrowed into the phone and quickly used text to describe its recent experience in cyberspace.

"There's another Porygon-Z in New Zi Jin's cyberspace that you can't hit no matter what?"

All Baimu raised an eyebrow, momentarily puzzled. "What do you mean?"

The Porygon-Z in the phone anxiously spun in circles like a Chihuahua, when suddenly a small frame popped out beside it, displaying a short video — precisely the sequence from Porygon-Z's perspective, from encountering the strange Porygon-Z to its escape.

He was stunned. "Hm? You have this kind of function too?"

"Pory…"

Porygon-Z stared at the frame beside it with equal disbelief — clearly it itself had no idea either.

Perhaps some hidden system had suddenly been activated again.

All Baimu didn't think too much of it. Professor Akihabara had stuffed a lot of "little-known" special functions into Porygon-Z to help it outperform Rotom, and had mentioned during a previous conversation that they would unlock gradually and that he should look forward to it.

Look forward to my ass!

"…"

He silently finished watching the short video, then sucked in a cold breath. "Hiss! What the heck is that! Sorry you had to go through that — impressive you could stay calm through something so weird."

A ghost-like Porygon-Z…

Something Rotom cooked up?

Doesn't seem very likely — never heard of an Electric/Ghost type having that kind of projection ability, and why would it bother doing something like this for no reason?

"Right, why aren't you sleeping in the middle of the night and going into cyberspace?"

All Baimu suddenly realized this major premise.

The Porygon in the phone froze mid-motion.

A few seconds later.

It confessed everything to its Trainer.

All Baimu stared at it, utterly speechless — never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that after his own Pokémon took a dislike to another Pokémon, it would sneak over and beat the other one up.

Why would Porygon even have this kind of thought?

This doesn't match how it usually is.

All Baimu first gave it a stern verbal lecture, then called it out of the phone and switched into heart-to-heart mode.

Although he had long anticipated Porygon's rejection of Rotom, he hadn't expected it to escalate to this point. Fortunately, Porygon hadn't activated full concealment mode against him — otherwise, even if it caused a huge mess, he might still have been left in the dark.

After a brief exchange.

He gained a clear understanding of Porygon's inner worries—

It was afraid of being replaced by Rotom.

A very real concern. Porygon knew that as a Trainer he would catch many Pokémon, and Rotom had been clinging to him so much during the day that Porygon developed a sense of crisis.

What if the Trainer caught Rotom?

What if the Trainer preferred letting Rotom slip into the phone to help out?

What if, because it hadn't evolved, its combat power and usefulness fell short of Rotom's?

Pokémon, like humans, possess a sense of possessiveness — light or heavy, but never truly absent. At the same time, they have a clear awareness of their own position and role within the team.

Porygon might feel its standing in the team isn't high, but there are things it can do that other Pokémon can't — even if it's just a small favor, it brings it great satisfaction.

Rotom's appearance posed a threat to its position.

Everything Porygon could do, Rotom could also do — but what Rotom could do, Porygon might not be able to…

In short.

Already anxious about its long-delayed failure to evolve, Porygon was in a confused and panicked phase. Unable to read its Trainer's attitude, it chose to take out its frustration on Rotom; possessiveness drove it to view the other with unusual hostility.

"So that's it — the root of the mistake lies with me."

All Baimu suddenly saw the light, sighed and covered his face, then lowered his head to look at Porygon, who didn't dare meet his gaze, its eyes darting about in obvious anxiety.

Normally speaking.

He should have noticed Porygon's feelings long ago and offered guidance. Yet in the end, what he'd been mulling over was which of Rotom or Porygon would dominate the smart-device market in the future, and what he should do about it.

Important? Of course it's important.

But what's more important is to look down and check on your own Pokémon.

Porygon was troubled! What was the point of worrying about things that wouldn't matter for years yet?

He found it hard to believe how thick-headed he'd been.

Maybe Porygon was an artificially created virtual life, but it possessed a complete range of emotions — it could feel happy, feel down, want to move forward alongside its companions. Shouldn't he, as its Trainer, know this best of all?

In the end, he'd only looked at the "big picture," single-mindedly focused on making 【Porygon】 flourish, not sparing even a glance in the corner of his eye for his own Pokémon.

If he hadn't encountered that bizarre phantom Porygon, and Porygon hadn't spoken up on its own, he might still have been lost in构想 about the future.

With a mindset like this.

How could Porygon's trust level toward him ever reach six hearts?

He'd assumed Professor Akihabara's evaluation criteria were flawed, but now it seemed the one with the problem was him.

All Baimu dropped to one knee, slowly embraced Porygon, and said: "I'm sorry — just now I acted like it had nothing to do with me, and said some thoughtless things to you."

"Pa… li?"

Porygon had never expected its Trainer to apologize to it, and immediately became at a loss.

There's no need to say sorry.

Because it really was in the wrong — it shouldn't have gone after Rotom, otherwise it wouldn't have run into this strange situation.

"I'm the one who should apologize."

All Baimu replied earnestly: "Whether as your Trainer or as a companion who spends every day with you, I overlooked your feelings, and kept making you do this and that. My mistake is indisputable — I'm truly sorry.

"I can't say much about other things, but there's one thing I can be sure of: Porygon, you will always be an irreplaceable, important companion to me. Maybe the team will have more new members in the future, but no one will take your place — and it's impossible for anyone to take your place.

"All this time… it's been hard work for you. I hope you can forgive me, and let's work hard toward the future together."

He spoke softly.

Bowing his head to his own Pokémon is nothing shameful — especially since in this situation, 所谓的 pride is worthless. He had to dispel the worries in Porygon's heart, tell it how much he needed it, how important it was.

"My life wouldn't be the same without you."

The meeting between a Trainer and a Pokémon is destined by fate; every one of them should cherish each other.

"Pa li…"

Porygon looked at the Trainer before it, whose face showed such a look of shame, and for the first time felt that it was actually so close to him. Before, it had always felt the Trainer seemed near yet far away, as if it could never squeeze in front of him, never see his face or his eyes.

So this is it — my Trainer is this gentle, this cool.

As it thought and thought, its eyes, which seemed to press close, welled up with tears — but soon curved into two crescent moons. "Pa li!"