"I don't believe a damn thing you say!"
The moment Axel spoke, Iono finally realized that the one who had Luxray in a chokehold was Axel.
All the bottled-up anger and the grievances from the whole night erupted instantly, "Yesterday I was nice enough to take you to challenge Sister Elesa and even helped put in a good word for you."
"And what did you do? You killed me in the game so badly I couldn't leave the tower, then ghosted me."
"And now what? You even kidnapped my Pokémon."
As Iono spoke, she gritted her teeth, the gaps between her shark-like teeth glowing with a terrifying light.
"Luxray, use Thunderb—", halfway through her command, Iono clenched her fist hard and shook her head.
"Forget it, use Thunder Wave, paralyze him for me!"
Luxray blinked, then leaned forward and nuzzled Axel's cheek.
Iono: "???"
'Why didn't he use Thunder Wave? Why is he nuzzling his face?'
'Wait, my Luxray doesn't even know how to nuzzle faces!'
Then there's only one possible truth left.
'While I'm standing here fuming, you're cozying up to the enemy?'
"Aaahhh! I'm going to bite you to death!"
As her words fell, Iono charged forward a few steps, her cold, sharp teeth gleaming dangerously.
In the next moment, a red light flashed, Gardevoir rose to her feet and looked down from above at Iono, who was frozen midair.
["Mewtwo, she's yours."]
Gardevoir knew Iono was acquainted with Axel, so she couldn't lay hands on her directly.
All she could do was hand her off to Mewtwo, for a special kind of purification.
["Got it!"]
Mewtwo nodded, put down the cake in his hand, and the divine battle aura on him exploded like a storm.
Iono finally realized, she wasn't here to hunt Axel.
She was just handing herself over on a silver platter.
Both Gardevoir and Mewtwo had auras far exceeding those of her own Pokémon.
Especially that unfamiliar Mewtwo, his pressure rivaled the Elite-level powerhouses she'd seen fighting in the Palace Arena.
She thought about all those romance novels she'd read, what happened to the heroine after being caught by the Demon Lord…
Iono's body trembled slightly.
'Damn it, Axel wouldn't actually kill me here, right?'
'Judging from how he plays games, this guy is heartless beyond belief.'
The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt.
Even though she chased Axel all night, she was just angry inside.
Even just now, when she had Luxray act, she specifically chose Thunder Wave so it wouldn't hurt him.
But this guy actually had such terrifying Pokémon come after her.
'Waaahhh~'
'If I'd known, I would've listened to Sister Elesa…'
Seeing Iono's teary-eyed, pitiful look, Luxray suddenly broke free of Axel's arm, stood in front of her, and bared his teeth at Mewtwo.
Mewtwo paused.
'Looks like this one really doesn't want to watch a cartoon… how about we battle instead?'
Thinking this, Mewtwo transmitted his thought into Luxray's mind.
Luxray froze completely.
'So you guys acting all scary… is just to make my trainer watch cartoons?'
'Then what the heck am I so worked up for!'
Luxray immediately retracted his bared fangs, dropped his front paws, and wagged his tail at Axel.
'You're a good person, I'm going back to eat now.'
Seeing her Luxray instantly "brainwashed" by the Psychic-type Pokémon, Iono's tears fell even harder.
'Confirmed. He is a demon!'
Thinking she'd have to live under Axel's mental control from now on, Iono felt a deep despair.
"Waaah~ I'll never play video games again in my next life~"
Everyone around Axel froze at Iono's dramatic reaction.
So there are actually people in this world who hate watching cartoons that much?
'Well, it's fine, she'll definitely learn her lesson from this.'
["Mewtwo, don't hold back!"]
["Understood!"]
———
Amid Iono's sobbing, Mewtwo gently waved his hand, enveloping her with vast psychic power and seating her on a chair.
The next moment, Mewtwo pulled out a portable projector and began playing a popular cartoon from the Kanto Region, Chef Brock.
Iono's crying abruptly stopped. She stared at Axel in horror, "You… you're not going to cook me and eat me, are you?"
Axel: "..."
'What the heck is that logic? Does this girl have persecution delusion?'
'If I wanted to eat you, why would I need a pot?'
Axel scooped a bowl of leftover food from the pot and shoved it into Iono's mouth without a word.
"Watch your cartoon. Finish it and leave."
"Oh right, before you go, say thanks to Mewtwo. Otherwise, he might get upset."
Iono froze. She really wanted to ask what was going on.
But before she could, the food in her mouth suddenly exploded with flavor.
An indescribable deliciousness surged through her senses. Iono felt like she was floating, her mind filled with nothing but the food before her.
Combined with Mewtwo's ambient psychic aura, she was further influenced by the cartoon on screen.
By the time she came back to her senses, Axel had long disappeared.
Only Luxray was left, eyeing her bowl hungrily, and Mewtwo silently playing the cartoon beside her.
Iono blinked and tilted her head toward Mewtwo, "Huh? You're not gonna brainwash me or something?"
Mewtwo: "???"
'What kind of twisted logic is that?'
No wonder even her own trainer insisted she needed cartoon therapy, what's going on inside this girl's head?
["You… better watch that cartoon real good!"]
A trace of confusion flickered in Iono's eyes, she suddenly felt something was off.
'Could it be… Axel isn't actually a p*rvert?'
She was just about to ask when she felt a stare aimed at her bowl.
Without thinking, Iono hugged the bowl to her chest and glared at Luxray.
"This is mine. Don't even think about it!"
Luxray: ๑Ő௰Ő๑
'Trainer, you don't love me anymore! I was just about to risk my life to protect you!'
Under Luxray's heartbroken gaze, Iono quickly polished off everything in the bowl.
Her obsession with avenging herself against Axel also melted away with the delicious food, leaving her feeling completely at peace.
The only thing that lingered, was a longing for more of Axel's cooking.
At this point, she no longer wanted to bite him to death.
She just wanted him to cook for her again… for a few more days…
"Damn it, damn it, damn it! I actually gave up revenge for a bowl of food!"
"Am I really that greedy? But this is so shameful!"
Iono clenched her little fists tightly, trying to rekindle her rage.
But no matter how hard she tried, all she could think of was Axel's cooking.
After several minutes of struggling, Iono slapped the table and came up with a great excuse for her greedy craving.
"Luxray, I get it now. We've definitely been brainwashed."
"No way would we give up revenge willingly!"
"Since that's how it is, let's not bother with revenge. Let Axel keep cooking for us."
Luxray knew his trainer very well.
He wasn't worried about Iono at all, just kept drooling and nodding like crazy.
Mewtwo stared at Iono in disbelief.
In her panic, he even forgot to remind her to say "thank you."
As a divine being of Psychic-type, how could he not know if Iono was under mind control?
'And Luxray, what's with all that nodding?'
'If you two keep this up, the trainer's going to misunderstand me…'
'All I did was show you one cartoon episode, and now this?'
'Do you really think I, Mewtwo, am just another Gardevoir?'
'Fine, I'm taking you both to confront the trainer right now!'
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.
https://discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y