"Oh? You chose Honedge?"
In the VIP room, an elder heard Furong's account and a trace of surprise and astonishment flashed in his eyes.
Furong wasn't aware of Honedge's condition, as it rarely interacted with other Pokémon and with Furong, so none of them knew about Honedge's situation.
But he was different.
Having spent a lifetime with Ghost-type Pokémon, he had some insights.
Although he didn't know why Honedge acted this way, he had a certain understanding of Honedge's strength and abilities.
This Honedge was also very special and needed to absorb others' life energy, otherwise, he wouldn't let it follow Furong.
The reason was due to some of its special experiences.
In the elder's view, among the Ghost-type Pokémon following Furong, Honedge's strength and talent were unique.
If it weren't overly cautious for some reason, the elder might not have sent it out but instead let Furong capture it.
Because it was indeed very unique.
However, also because of its personality, if not properly utilized or guided, it might not become a support in the future but rather a burden.
The elder believed he could manage it, but Furong was too pure and inexperienced, so she couldn't, which is why he didn't let her take Honedge.
"Yes, Grandpa is a good man, hearing that Little Sword is somewhat reclusive, he wanted to help it." Furong nodded, continuing, "Grandpa, you were right, not everyone in the black market is bad, there are still some good people."
Listening to Furong's words, the elder seemed to imagine Natsuhiko facing Honedge's unique personality.
The elder smiled, gently patting Furong's head.
His gaze passed over her.
He looked at the shadow behind her.
A Gengar silently emerged from her shadow and nodded at the elder.
Its eyes glimmered, recounting the earlier events and its perception and judgment to the elder once more.
After this, the astonishment in the elder's eyes grew even deeper.
He sighed, "It seems Honedge indeed found a rather remarkable Trainer…"
"Yes, yes,"
Furong agreed along.
But she didn't understand the deeper meaning behind the elder's words.
...
...
Elsewhere.
If Honedge knew the elder's words, it would certainly give him two big slaps, provided it dared.
At this moment, it was curled up in a corner, desperately watching Natsuhiko approaching it, accompanied by a Yujira, looking at it "maliciously."
"You said there was another Pokémon in that girl's shadow before, and it was much more terrifying than them?" Natsuhiko asked as he walked along.
When Furong had just come in, Yujira showed an unusual level of vigilance.
He thought it was toward those Ghost-type Pokémon, but it seemed it was because of the one hidden in Furong's shadow.
"Yongji." Yujira nodded seriously.
It couldn't see that Pokémon or know what it was, it just instinctively felt a strong threat.
A threat so severe it might not even be able to escape.
Since learning the "Future Sight" technique from Jirachi, Yujira's sixth sense had become increasingly clear.
It could even, to some extent, foretell the arrival of danger similar to Absol.
Of course, compared to Absol, it's still far less.
Natsuhiko thought.
'It should be that Pokémon that sold spoons, Furong's grandpa's Pokémon, right?'
However, the other party did not show any hostility, probably just to ensure his granddaughter's safety.
After all, given Furong's current state, she indeed seemed a bit naive, apart from her appearance, there was no hint of her future becoming part of the Elite Four.
He then shifted his attention to Honedge before him.
The true feel of Honedge's strength he only realized upon their contact just now.
Otherwise, its harmless expression, timid appearance, didn't portray it as formidable at all.
'Almost really missed this guy; it's too cautious.'
Even Natsuhiko almost got deceived.
If not for a coincidence, he probably wouldn't have discovered it.
But now…
Natsuhiko squatted in front of Honedge, showing what he considered to be a friendly, kind smile.
But in Honedge's eyes, it resembled one of the terrifying Pokémon it had once experienced, a nightmare that kept lingering in its mind.
Precisely because of witnessing the terror of that Pokémon, Honedge's personality was completely altered, making it so…. cautious.
And indeed, due to its contact with that terrifying Pokémon, Honedge no longer absorbed others' life energy.
Because it didn't need to anymore.
"Honedge." Natsuhiko called softly, seeing it still maintain that frightened look, showing helplessness.
He sat down on the ground, eye-level with it.
Simultaneously, he tossed out a Pokeball, summoning Beedrill and Togetic.
"Buzz."
"Cha-coo!"
The two Pokémon noticed Honedge upon emerging.
After Yujira's explanation, they roughly understood the situation.
Beedrill was quite straightforward, from its perspective, kidnapping a new Pokémon was as simple as flipping a hand.
Togetic, on the other hand, showed a rather big reaction.
Its little eyes darted around craftily and flew towards Honedge with a face full of "good intentions."
Seeing such a cute Pokémon as Togetic, Honedge's guard did weaken a lot.
With Teacher Poke's exceptional networking skills, Natsuhiko seized the opportunity to attempt communication with Honedge.
However, even with Teacher Poke, Honedge remained very wary.
No choice.
Natsuhiko had to use his ace.
Convers— no, heart-to-heart talk.
"Honedge, I don't know what you've gone through to become so cautious, nor do I know how to gain your trust, but I think everything should start with mutual understanding…"
Then, with a very "sincere" tone, Natsuhiko briefly narrated his encounters, interactions, and the process of becoming fully trustworthy partners with Beedrill, Yujira, and Togetic.
This tactic indeed had some effect, as Honedge gazed in a daze at the slowly speaking Natsuhiko, gradually retracting its resistant expression.
'It seems... the process was quite smooth, safe, not very dangerous...'
"So, can we learn something about your story?" Natsuhiko asked after finishing, taking a sip of water.
Honedge lowered its head, remaining silent.
"Cha-coo," Togetic patted its hilt encouragingly, appearing to comfort it.
'Don't worry, we don't eat Pokémon; you're not meaty, unlike a certain one we've encountered before, which looked very delicious and even came with its own green onion.'
Honedge: "???"
Honedge looked utterly shocked.
Eat Pokémon?
Natsuhiko's expression stiffened as well, his mouth twitching.
Didn't you see how hard he worked to "break through" Honedge's defenses?
With Togetic's one sentence, all previous efforts were in vain.
However, Honedge's next action surprised him.
The blue ribbon at the end of its hilt swiftly waved, sweeping towards Natsuhiko's waist.
Just when Beedrill and Yujira thought it was going to do something to Natsuhiko, the ribbon grabbed an empty Pokeball from Natsuhiko's waist and pressed the Pokeball's button voluntarily.
Along with a flash of red light, it was captured directly.
The Pokeball didn't even shake or flash a red light.
It simply settled with a "thud" into silence.
At this moment, Honedge's inner thoughts were like this…
'The cutest one here talks about eating Pokémon?'
'I get it, if you don't obediently get captured, you'll be eaten, right? Even if I'm not eaten, I could be melted with fire, freeze, or even served as sashimi, although human teeth probably couldn't bite through me, but what if? I can't take the one-in-a-million chance.'
'The outside world is indeed too dangerous; there are even people who want sashimi Honedge? I truly just wanted to be a quiet sword…'
Honedge's inner turmoil was, of course, unknown to Natsuhiko and the Pokémon.
They just stared dumbfoundedly at the Pokeball on the ground.
Is that it?
Natsuhiko felt all the words he said prior were wasted.
"Cha-coo!" Instead, Togetic looked thrilled.
'Wasn't I brave?'
Indeed, when the "Social Butterfly" Teacher Poke took action, there was only success…
Although the process was strange, the result was the same.