Chapter 146: Mesprit

By the lakeside.

The calligrapher admired the scenery of Heart's-Lake, raised her brush, yet could not bring herself to set it down.

Though her ideas were wonderful, since she had not been able to see the lake Pokémon's true form, she still felt she had not grasped that feeling.

The characters she wrote grew ever stranger.

What was to be done?

The calligrapher was momentarily at a loss, so she simply set down her brush and wandered around the edges of Heart's-Lake.

On this stroll, she happened to discover a strange tree.

It had a brown trunk and two branches, and hanging from the tips of the branches were six green spherical objects that could not be told whether they were leaves or fruit; its odd appearance filled the calligrapher with astonishment.

She also quickly understood what this thing truly was—

Sudowoodo.

It was a Pokémon that disguised itself as a tree to avoid being attacked; fooling a few simpletons was fine, but it could not fool beings with strong perception.

【You are very interested in Sudowoodo, and decide to catch this Pokémon, because it reminds you of your former self — no matter how much you pretend, you are not a real tree; no matter how standard the copy, it is not your own calligraphy】

The calligrapher sent out Smeargle, and without much effort at all, successfully caught it.

【You have obtained Sudowoodo; your journey's companions have increased】

At this point.

The calligrapher's team had only one slot left, which made All Baimu very curious about which Pokémon it would be.

Having caught Sudowoodo, the calligrapher's mood became extremely good; she returned to the lakeside, raised her brush, and wrote a calligraphy piece concerning the legend of Heart's-Lake.

It still was not particularly satisfying, but barely, just barely, it could be considered a step onto her own path.

As the calligrapher admired her own work, she noticed Smeargle, who was grinding ink beside her, gazing at Heart's-Lake, staring blankly, lost in thought over who knows what.

She leaned over.

【You noticed Smeargle's habit of occasionally gripping its tail, and understood it was time to lay the cards on the table】

【You expressed your apologies to Smeargle; the sudden apology left Smeargle in a panic, but you explained that you had been too focused on calligraphy in the past, neglecting its feelings, and had never once considered what it truly wanted】

【You said that over these days of travel, you had often seen it writing and drawing at the sky, yet had never truly taken action; you knew it was you who had held it back】

【You said you recalled the first day you set out, when Smeargle had drawn pictures in the square to encourage you and those children, but at the time you had not paid it much mind; thinking of it now, you felt nothing but regret】

【You said you had already tried to walk your own path, and Smeargle too should move toward the direction it longed for. From the Gym Challenge, you could already see Smeargle's love of painting; you could not, and would not, obstruct Smeargle's right to paint — merely grinding ink for you was a terrible waste of its talent】

【You embraced Smeargle, who was weeping with joy; the sight of its happiness filled you with joy as well】

In the scene, the calligrapher and her Smeargle embraced; the affectionate sight made All Baimu unable to resist pulling the Monferno beside him into a tighter hug.

Just as he thought.

The one who had been watching Mime Jr. with envious eyes back then was Smeargle, because Mime Jr. could walk the path of a mime master, while it had to restrain its desire to paint for the sake of its Trainer.

If it had truly been interested in calligraphy, why was it the calligrapher alone writing from beginning to end?

It could only have been accommodation.

The calligrapher had realized this point over these days of travel, and so Smeargle offered its encouragement.

As the two embraced, a pink light suddenly radiated from the center of Heart's-Lake.

Immediately after.

A petite Pokémon appeared before the calligrapher, then vanished amid the other's exclamation of surprise.

It was plainly the calligrapher's intense feelings toward Smeargle that had drawn Mesprit's attention.

Having seen Mesprit with her own eyes, the calligrapher seemed to receive a kind of inspiration, and poured all of this feeling into a poem praising Mesprit.

A calligraphy piece that, for her, could be called dazzlingly brilliant was born.

【You are very satisfied with the calligraphy piece in your hand, and decide to use it as your entry for the competition】

On the other side.

Smeargle also borrowed the calligrapher's paper to paint a beautiful scroll of Mesprit floating above Heart's-Lake; unfortunately, because the paper was unsuited to painting, the pigments quickly bled.

Fortunately, the calligrapher had used a camera to photograph its work, and prepared to buy Smeargle proper painting supplies.

——

Leaving Heart's-Lake.

The calligrapher traveled north all the way to Solaceon City.

There she took in the ancient historical ruins that were fading and being forgotten, and through the Solaceon Historical Museum observed models of the Temporal Tower and mythical artifacts such as the Adamant Orb.

She even saw stone tablets inscribed with ancient script among them.

From this ancient atmosphere, her understanding of ancient script deepened once more.

【You know you have gained a little, and decide to challenge the Gym】

The calligrapher began her third Gym Challenge, facing Gardenia, who specialized in Grass-type Pokémon; winning, she probably did win, but Gardenia had somehow caught wind of it and also wished to receive a calligraphy piece from her.

This left the calligrapher in a quandary.

What characters should she write?

"Veggie"?

"Solaceon"?

In the end she decided, in her own style, to transcribe a stone tablet of ancient script from the Solaceon Historical Museum, and present it to Gardenia as a gift.

Whether it was an illusion or not, All Baimu saw a line of characters flash across Gardenia's forehead.

"More characters than you lot! I win!"

What the heck.

So after the Kalos region's Gym Leaders had an internal chat group, the Sinnoh region's Gym Leaders have one too, is that it?

All Baimu twitched the corner of his mouth.

After finishing the Gym Challenge in Baidai City, the calligrapher headed to her villa in Baidai City, handed the work she had done at Xinqi Lake to the butler, and ordered him to take it to Jiayuan City to enter the calligraphy competition.

While she was at it, she took the Pokémon from the villa and set off for Snowpeak City and Wise Lake, where the next lake Pokémon dwelled.

【You obtained Belliad, a childhood playmate — a traveling companion has joined you】

At first, All Baimu had no idea why the calligrapher wanted to bring Belliad along.

But once they reached the wilds, the calligrapher began to write, Smeargle began to paint, Mime Jr. began to perform imitations, and Liepard slept soundly.

Swablu let out a clear, lark-like cry, and Belliad began to dance along.

What do you call this?

Wasn't the BGM boost enough — now there's a dance backdrop too?

Keep the music playing, keep the dance going?

All Baimu could only feel that the calligrapher really knew how to have fun — far more than he had imagined.

Unfortunately, she wasn't as lucky this time as last. After crossing the snow-blanketed forest and arriving at the snow-covered, mysterious lakeshore, Uxie, the symbol of wisdom, refused to come out and meet her.

The calligrapher was certainly disappointed, but she still left behind a calligraphy piece praising Uxie, and Smeargle personally painted the whole scene.

The beautiful, icy lakeshore trip came to an end.

Little did they expect that upon arriving at Snowpeak City, the city would bring them an unexpected surprise—

Crystal snow weather.

This was utterly different from ordinary snowfall — a very rare natural phenomenon that only appears on certain dates, in which the snowflakes become like stars, transforming into glittering ice crystals.

《Fairy Wood of Marvels》

Boundlessly beautiful and moving.

The calligrapher was moved beyond words, and without waiting for Snowpeak Gym Leader Natsume to ask for a piece, she proactively presented her with a single character: "Winter."

A "Winter" character as if ice crystals were drifting down from the sky — cold, yet still making one's spirit soar, its strokes brilliant as though lit by divine light.

Seeing this character.

The calligrapher understood that her path was already half complete.

And as if sharing a silent understanding with her, Mime Jr. finally mastered imitation and evolved into Mr. Mime.

They had taken another step forward toward their future.