Chapter 610: Pioneering Outer Space

"Smack—"

Porygon2 treated it as a grave threat and immediately cried out to warn the trainer and companions in the room.

But before it could raise its volume much, strange black shadows suddenly rose around them like curtains, plunging the entire balcony into total darkness.

Secret Space!

Porygon2 clearly remembered that when it first met Zero Unit, that thing had used this very move to cut it and Aggron off from the outside world.

Trying the same trick again?

You think it can trap me?

Dream on!

Porygon2's gaze sharpened, and dazzling white light suddenly erupted from its whole body, as if trying to tear through this pitch-black space.

At this moment.

Zero Unit across from it spoke again.

"Don't be so worked up. I won't hurt you, and I won't hurt any human or Pokémon. I'm a pacifist."

Porygon2 refused to believe a word, and vanished on the spot.

The next second.

It appeared between Hydreigon and the trainer, plummeting straight toward the latter's chest.

Smack!

A crisp thud.

"Oof!"

Baimu, who had been reviewing the Revival Herb potion-making process in his dream, jolted awake, feeling as though his chest had been headbutted by a Hydreigon using Fire-type Take Down.

And the moment he woke, every other Pokémon in the bedroom woke up at once.

"Sha-sao?"

Hydreigon let out a bewildered cry, then its three noses twitched in unison as all three heads turned toward the curtain. A vicious look quickly spread across its face, and it let out a thunderous, muffled growl!

"Chee-doh!"

Mawile, who was closest to the window, leapt up and yanked the curtain open. The bright moonlight illuminated the previously gloomy bedroom—and the ghostly figure outside the window.

Baimu had already flipped up and ducked behind the bed, a Galarian Lure Ball in one hand and the endlessly chirping Porygon2 cradled in the other.

His brows were tightly knit.

"Zero Unit…"

During the day he had already suspected that Professor Akihabara might have been played by this cunning Pokémon, and it turned out to be exactly that!

But why did Zero Unit keep coming back to him again and again?

Was he just that charming?

Baimu wasn't narcissistic enough to think so. He understood that what truly drew Zero Unit was actually Porygon2.

"Happy."

Chansey fixed its eyes intently on Porygon2—Zero Unit, and its plump body quietly scooted toward the trainer. It had to make sure it could take a hit for the trainer if the enemy launched an attack.

Mawile, Hydreigon, and the shiny Gengar were equally ready to launch an assault. Dragapult had even already taken two dead-serious Dhelmise and stealthily phased over.

Their trainer had taught them: never hand the initiative to your opponent!

Outside the bedroom, the remaining few Pokémon held their ground, but were ready to rush in to attack or defend at any moment.

"No need to be tense."

Zero Unit passed through the glass as if it weren't there, glanced over every Pokémon and Baimu by the bed, and said through telepathy: "I have no intention of harming any being, just as I have never harmed the Professor or a single living creature up to now."

Baimu didn't let his guard down, but said, "But Professor Akihabara said you attacked him to escape from his side, and tore apart his lab."

Zero Unit turned that pair of seemingly hollow eyes toward him.

"That was his error. He interpreted my spilling coffee as an attack on him, and tried to imprison me. To get away from him I had no choice but to mount a series of counterattacks—and those counterattacks harmed no being, only the building."

Spill… spilled coffee?

He was stunned. "So you left him because of that misunderstanding?"

Zero Unit said: "No. The real point of disagreement between us is that I believe I've grown to the point of being independent—like how you humans can set out on a journey at age ten, I want to go outside and see things. But the Professor wouldn't allow it. He denied my existence as an independent being and forbade me from going out."

Baimu: "…"

What is that supposed to mean?

Trying to use the debate over whether Pokémon are independent beings or property to divert his attention?

Zero Unit looked toward the ceiling on the diagonal side: "Could you ask these three Mr., ladies to stand down? The hostility is so thick it's like a needle, constantly stabbing at my alarm system."

Hearing this, Baimu hesitated for a few seconds, then slightly raised his hand and waved it.

A translucent ripple spread through the air; Dragapult's outline flickered into view before vanishing again.

"Thank you. I feel much better. It seems you are, as I guessed, a human one can communicate with."

A trace of relief seemed to surface in Zero Unit's blank eyes, and it continued: "You may be wondering why I'm suddenly willing to talk to you. In fact, before I spoke up, I had no idea whether you'd attack outright and throw a Poké Ball, or stay on guard and observe the situation."

"Fortunately I bet right. You prepared plenty of countermeasures, but you never actually attacked me first, which allowed me to keep talking to you. That's good."

Zero Unit's telepathic fluctuations were remarkably calm, leaving one unable to tell whether it simply didn't care, or hadn't bothered to care.

Baimu set Porygon2 down on the bed and asked, "Why are you looking for Porygon2?"

"Because it's the only Porygon that hasn't been contaminated. It doesn't understand the special language, and it has zero interest in expanding Porygon's influence—it only wants to help you fulfill your wish. I believe it could become my partner and help me."

Zero Unit spoke at length, as if it had no intention of hiding any secrets at all.

Porygon2's big, dewy eyes went wide at those words. Whose idea of recruitment is locking someone in a dark room to talk first?

Are you kidding me?

Baimu's attention, however, was elsewhere. His brow furrowed. "Contaminated? Who's been contaminated? Unit One?"

"No, it is the source."

Porygon-Z shook its head. "All the Porygon under the Professor have tried to expand their influence, so that everyone in the world would own a Porygon, and thereby achieve the goal of ruling the world."

"That can rule the world? You've got to be kidding, right?"

He spoke up to rebut, "Wanting to enslave humanity this way is far too naive!"

Porygon-Z seemed to freeze for a moment. "Enslave humanity… no, no, no, you've misunderstood! The 'ruling the world' I refer to and the 'ruling the world' you imagine are two entirely different things. The ruling the world you imagine is Porygon replacing humans; but Porygon-1's ruling the world is to make Porygon and humans thoroughly coexist, impossible to separate from each other."

Huh?

What kind of yandere Pokémon is this?

Porygon-Z didn't wait for him to reply and continued: "The Professor was bewitched by Porygon-1's goal, single-mindedly wanting to fulfill this long-cherished wish. I find this kind of thinking utterly boring — we are clearly independent beings, so why must we become humanity's vassals? We, who possess the same capacity for learning, should have a far more beautiful future!"

Its inner voice finally showed some fluctuation.

All Baimu asked: "What more beautiful future?"

"Of course, to set out for the cosmos! Since this planet belongs to humans, then go find a planet that doesn't belong to humans, and there create a world that belongs to Porygon!"

Porygon-Z excitedly waved its two small blue wing-like hands.

The Pokémon like Hydreigon looked at it as if it were an idiot, while Porygon-2 fell into some sort of contemplation.

Uh.

Human-supremacism and Porygon-supremacism…

All Baimu didn't know how to retort, he had once thought Porygon-Z was a chillingly eerie being, but it turned out to be a space pioneer with grand ambitions, working hard to gather companions while not wanting to be dragged home by its parent.

And the Porygon-1 it began describing was very much like an ambitious schemer — after all that fuss, it just wanted to replace other Pokémon's positions and become the most intimate existence to humans.

Of course.

The premise was that it hadn't lied about any of this.

Seeing All Baimu's strange expression, Porygon-Z's excitement quickly cooled. "I don't expect you to understand me, after all you trainers — or rather, humans — view Pokémon as possessions, existences you can hit and scold at will."

"Chiyu!"

"Sasa!"

"Happy!"

The moment these words left its mouth, a group of Pokémon immediately voiced their protests, each and every one looking exceptionally agitated.

Porygon-Z's gaze swept over them and said: "You say trainers aren't like that? But as far as I know, he has indeed hit you, and hit you on the head — these can all be seen in videos and photos publicly available online."

"Gen!"

The shiny Gengar hurriedly jumped onto the bed, waving its chubby paws with unusual gravity — one moment tapping its own head and then giggling, the next punching itself and wailing.

The other Pokémon watching this vivid performance all showed approving expressions and nodded one after another.

"You say loving scolding, patting, and true insults, beating are different? But in my view, hitting is hitting, there aren't that many distinctions — who is born deserving to be hit?"

Porygon-Z got into an argument with the Pokémon.

The shiny Gengar was especially agitated, gesturing wildly while calling out and performing, its shadow-formed body flattening one moment and rounding the next — a performer with a Ditto's bloodline as its main gimmick.

It firmly refused to agree with Porygon-Z's way of thinking — the gap between Jarvis and the trainer, others might not know, but how could it not know?

Absolutely will not allow you to slander the trainer!

All Baimu took out his phone, trying to contact Professor Akihabara, but at the moment he was about to send the message, he hesitated.

"It's fine, you can contact the Professor, I don't mind."

Porygon-Z said calmly.

He said: "…Your real body isn't here?"

"Correct, this is just a segment of my copied data, a stand-in. It seems the stand-in patch I left behind has already been completed by the Professor and sent to you — that's good."

Porygon-Z nodded happily.

The amount of information in that short sentence was too great.

All Baimu was speechless.

Porygon-Z said: "Your hesitation just now surprised me. Logically, someone like you wouldn't be shaken by a few words from me — you should maintain doubt and vigilance."

"What you said is correct. I indeed don't trust what you've said, but it's undeniable that some of what you said seems correct to me."

All Baimu reached out to stroke Porygon-2's head. "You or it are both independent individuals, and shouldn't become vassals of any existence — it sounds a bit hypocritical, but I really do think so. However, if Porygon-2 truly wanted to leave me, I'd find it very hard to accept, and would try hard to make it stay."

What one says and what one actually does are utterly different — truly ironic.

"Pari…"

Porygon-2 looked at him, visibly moved.

Porygon-Z then said: "I'm gratified you can think this way — that's good. Being able to acknowledge one's own shortcomings counts as a virtue too; you're far better than those trainers who see me and immediately want to catch me. It's a pity humans like you are too few, so we Porygon are destined to seek new horizons in outer space."

Not seizing living space through war, but setting sights on a vaster place, huh.

All Baimu began to believe Porygon-Z was a pacifist.

He still wanted to say something.

But Porygon-Z's chat mood was exhausted. "Tonight's chat was very pleasant, thank you all for your cooperation — today's me has gained a lot. I will come again; please don't give me the chance to turn it against you, and cherish your companions as you do now."

A hint of deep meaning showed in its blank eyes.

The next instant.

Porygon-Z transformed into a skyful of light particles and vanished.

All Baimu knew very well this was the scene of the stand-in's duration expiring, its energy depleted and dissipating.

The bedroom became quiet.

The moonlight outside the window illuminated the Pokémon, big and small — they exchanged glances, then looked at the trainer again.

"…Let's chat, share your thoughts on Porygon-Z."

All Baimu beckoned, and the Aggron and shiny Milotic outside the door squeezed in, while Steelix stayed in its Poké Ball and joined the pile.

This kind of matter, apart from being digested internally within their team, seemed to have only Dr. Akihabara as a possible person to discuss it with.

Taking this opportunity, just right.

He wanted to ask everyone what they truly thought of him, and whether they had grown weary of what they were currently doing.

As one of the cores of the incident, Porygon-II.

It was the first to declare it did not trust Zero Unit; thinking back carefully, it felt a bit like that former big boss who used to paint grand pictures that the trainer and Bastiodon and the others had mentioned.

Full of empty talk.

Going to space to find other planets — how could it possibly be that easy!

Unexpectedly, a portion of the Pokémon did not harbor much negative sentiment toward Zero Unit, including the shiny Gengar that had argued fiercely with it.

Only Hydreigon, Dragapult, and Lanturn remained firmly hostile.

Haxorus hated that fellow who spoke ill of the trainer; Dragapult felt that, observed in secret, Zero Unit didn't seem like a good sort; Lanturn wished it could suck Zero Unit to death in one gulp.

Coming over to chat in the dead of night — do ghosts not need to sleep?

Who told you to come visiting? Who gave you permission to come visiting? Have you no shame?

Lanturn, rarely so agitated as to tremble at high frequency, startled All Baimu and the other Pokémon — it looked like some sweet dream of its had been disturbed.

And as for their views on him personally and on what he was currently doing.

The Pokémon exchanged glances, all feeling that All Baimu had asked a silly question.

Porygon-II burrowed into the phone and said: "Perhaps there are people who will go all out to do things they themselves are unwilling to do, but that absolutely does not include us. When everyone is advancing toward the same goal, how could you, Trainer, suddenly hesitate?"

Seeing the earnest looks in the surrounding Pokémon's eyes, including Lanturn, which offered no objection whatsoever.

All Baimu was especially moved in his heart, lowered his head, and apologized:

"Sorry, it was my fault for killing the mood."

A crowd of Pokémon broke into smiles one after another; a few clingy ones immediately pounced onto him, pressing him until he could barely breathe.

"Alright, alright… go to sleep. Tomorrow is a day to go out and play, you all need to rest up well."

He said with great difficulty.