"Mesprit, are you here?"
"Vui~!"
Gary and Eevee shouted from the shore of Lake Verity, hoping to call Mesprit out.
When Gary had saved the Lake Trio and dealt with Team Galactic, the three Lake Guardians had left on their own. Gary had no way to contact them directly now, so the only method he had was to call out like this.
After shouting for quite a while, there was still no sign of Mesprit.
"Looks like we'll be camping outside tonight," Gary said.
"Vui."
Eevee nodded. It didn't care where they stayed.
Gary wasn't sure whether Mesprit was actually home or not. Although the Lake Trio usually stayed in the mysterious spaces connected to their lakes, they occasionally came out to play. Now that they had recovered from Team Galactic's control, perhaps they wanted to see how the outside world had changed and had gone somewhere else.
Gary planned to stay at Lake Verity for half a month. If he still couldn't wait for Mesprit to appear by then, he would leave and give up this plan.
Gary and Eevee walked slowly around Lake Verity, calling Mesprit's name each time they reached a new area.
Fortunately, there weren't many people nearby. Otherwise, any passerby who saw Gary repeatedly shouting for a Legendary Pokémon would probably think he had gone mad.
Night gradually fell.
By six in the evening, Lake Verity was already covered in darkness. Gary set up a tent beside the lake, then released a few Pokémon outside and started preparing dinner.
Dinner was simple—just a self-heating meal. Add water, wait a short while, and it would heat itself. Tonight's food was very ordinary hot and sour noodles.
"I hope these noodles are made from sweet potatoes."
Gary began slurping the noodles happily, while Eevee sat nearby and watched.
"Stop staring. This is spicy and sour. You don't like spicy food," Gary reminded it.
He had already filled Eevee's stomach earlier. Yet now Eevee was still staring at his hot and sour noodles. It was far too greedy.
Eevee didn't say anything. It simply continued watching Gary eat.
"...Fine. You eat."
Gary really lost to it.
He handed the unfinished hot and sour noodles to Eevee.
"Vui!"
Eevee immediately became ecstatic. It lowered its head and started devouring the noodles. Although it didn't like spicy food, it liked sour flavors. In just a few seconds, it finished everything—not even a drop of soup remained.
After dinner, Gary and Eevee sat by the lake and enjoyed the moonlight. Since they were right next to Lake Verity, the surrounding trees didn't block the view too much, and the night sky was very clear.
Time passed minute by minute. Neither of them knew how long they had been sitting there.
"Vui!"
Suddenly, Eevee cried out and looked around.
"Did you find something?" Gary asked.
There were no powerful wild Pokémon around Lake Verity, but it was already night, so some nocturnal Pokémon had come out to forage.
"Vui."
Eevee nodded. It had sensed something, but it didn't feel any danger.
"It should just be wild Pokémon coming out to feed. Don't worry about them."
Gary touched Eevee's head and continued looking up at the night sky.
But as he raised his head, he froze.
[Lv.90 Mesprit / Legendary]
A name appeared in the air, only about three meters away from Gary, floating above the lake.
Mesprit had appeared.
However, it was currently invisible and had not shown itself directly.
"Mesprit, I can see you," Gary said without hesitation.
"Vui?"
Eevee looked puzzled. It followed Gary's gaze, but there was clearly nothing there. It hadn't sensed anything either.
Eevee's perception was very strong, but Mesprit was a Legendary Pokémon. Since it held no hostility, Eevee's danger prediction didn't activate.
The invisible Mesprit was also very surprised. It hadn't expected its invisibility to be noticed, but it still didn't reveal itself and continued remaining invisible.
Seeing that Mesprit still refused to appear, Gary pointed directly at where it was.
"I can see you. Don't hide anymore, Mesprit."
"Mes!"
Since Gary had pointed directly at it, Mesprit no longer continued hiding and revealed itself.
"Vui!"
Eevee was startled by the sudden appearance of Mesprit. Mainly because it hadn't felt Mesprit's presence at all.
"Mes."
Mesprit naturally recognized Gary and asked how Gary had found it. If humans didn't use advanced technology, it was usually very difficult for them to discover it.
"It's my ability," Gary explained. "My eyes can see hidden Pokémon."
Mesprit was very surprised, but not overly so. After all, it had lived for tens of thousands of years and had seen some humans with special abilities before. Among them, Aura Guardians could use Aura to perceive them.
"Mes."
Mesprit still didn't fully believe it. It turned invisible again, then continuously changed position with Teleport to test whether Gary could really see it.
Gary was not in a hurry and simply played along. Every time Mesprit changed position, he accurately pointed out where it was.
Mesprit grew playful and even deliberately hid in the mysterious space connected to the lake to tease Gary. As expected, once Mesprit entered that mysterious space or left Gary's field of vision, Gary could no longer find it.
After playing for several dozen minutes, Mesprit finally stopped.
"Mes."
Mesprit praised Gary's ability repeatedly. It really was amazing.
"Normal. I can only see you. There's nothing particularly special about it," Gary said.
"Mes."
Mesprit nodded and asked Gary what he wanted from it.
Since Mesprit asked, Gary didn't hide it.
Facing the Being of Emotion, it was better to put away any small thoughts. Even if Mesprit didn't know exactly what Gary was thinking, it could still sense negative emotions.
"I want to capture you," Gary said bluntly.
"Mes?"
Mesprit didn't care too much. Over the years, there had been many humans who had ideas about it. Some had even succeeded.
For example, Cyrus had succeeded not long ago. Although he hadn't captured the Lake Trio with Poké Balls, it was similar enough.
What Mesprit didn't understand was why Gary wanted to capture it. The key point was that it couldn't feel any malice from him. Instead, it clearly felt that Gary wanted to capture it for the sake of his own Pokémon.
That feeling was very obvious.
But Mesprit didn't understand. Even if Gary captured it, it couldn't help his Pokémon become stronger.
Although the Lake Trio were powerful, they were only Legendary-level. Only Pokémon that reached God-level strength had the ability to change the Species Strength limits of ordinary Pokémon, and even then, the strengthening wouldn't be too much.