The confrontation between Huaxia and the United States at the Earth Union Assembly made leaders around the world realize one thing:
The world might be on the verge of a major upheaval.
However...
Change—or international diplomacy, for that matter—was never as simple as people imagined.
Many had already predicted that the debates at the Assembly would only become more heated over the coming days.
"I have no idea what got into the U.S. delegation. First they baselessly accused Huaxia of being responsible for Pokémon appearing in this world. Then they demanded that Huaxia compensate every country for the losses caused by Pokémon. And the most outrageous part? They actually want us to hand over all of our Pokémon research, Poké Ball technology, and every other new invention for free! It's ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous! They've called themselves the beacon of the world for decades, so why don't they ever contribute anything?"
Sitting beside a warm campfire, Chen Mo quietly listened as Hu Chengliang vented his frustration over the phone while Chen Mo added another log to the flames.
Although he hadn't had time to follow the international conference that was influencing the entire world, the fact that even the normally mild-mannered Director Hu was this angry gave Chen Mo a pretty good idea of just how chaotic the meeting must have been.
After thinking for a moment, Chen Mo asked,
"How's Professor Zhou holding up?"
"Not well at all. His blood pressure shot up from arguing at the conference. As soon as the meeting ended, he gathered us for an online discussion and spent another round cursing the people on the American side."
Hu Chengliang let out a helpless sigh.
After a brief pause, he continued,
"I'm sorry, Xiao Mo. The video from the finals was exposed by the U.S. delegation during the conference. For the time being, you'll need to be extra careful."
"Okay."
Chen Mo simply nodded.
The proposal put forward by the Huaxian delegation at the Earth Union Assembly had actually been decided long ago.
As one of the people in charge, Professor Zhou had been occupied with preparations for quite some time.
That was precisely why he hadn't even had time to pay attention to the Pikachu Cup or Meloetta.
Huaxia's goal was straightforward.
To gradually guide the nations of the world toward peaceful coexistence between humans and Pokémon.
Although the world still appeared stable on the surface, if conflicts between humans and Pokémon continued to intensify across various countries...
Should any nation accidentally provoke a Legendary Pokémon—
Especially the ones Chen Mo had repeatedly warned them about—
The consequences could eventually spread to Huaxia as well.
It was better to take precautions.
Besides...
It was time for Huaxia to shoulder the responsibility expected of a major nation.
As for the finals footage...
That had never been part of the plan.
Chen Mo didn't believe the authorities bore any responsibility for that matter.
They had already done more than enough.
It was simply his own decision to step outside the protected zone.
...
After hanging up, Chen Mo continued reflecting on the conversation.
At least for now, the United States still stood firmly opposed to Pokémon, insisting on driving them out of human territory.
At first, Chen Mo had been worried.
But something Hu Chengliang had said made him realize that he and the government viewed the issue from completely different perspectives.
Would the United States really continue fighting Pokémon to the bitter end?
The answer was no.
If opposing Pokémon benefited those in power, then they would naturally continue opposing them.
But if coexistence with Pokémon offered greater benefits...
They would likely be eager to change their stance overnight.
So...
Despite how fiercely countries argued during the Assembly, most of it was simply each nation trying to secure greater advantages for itself.
Chen Mo couldn't help sighing inwardly.
Hu Chengliang had only summarized a small portion of the discussions, yet Chen Mo already felt dizzy trying to follow it.
Looking back...
Choosing to stay as far away from politics as possible when partnering with the Strategic Response Bureau had definitely been the right decision.
Stretching lazily, the exhaustion from driving all day washed over him again.
He clapped his hands toward the Pokémon who were chasing each other around the campfire nearby.
Playtime was over.
It was time to sleep.
After extinguishing the campfire and bidding the Pidgeotto perched high in the trees goodnight, Chen Mo led Pikachu and the others back into the tent.
The moment he stepped inside, he saw the Sleeping Cocoon once again glowing faintly as it absorbed energy from the Comet Shards.
"Gible..."
Gible stared sympathetically at the deep-purple crystal.
In the little shark's eyes, Jirachi sleeping inside the cocoon was just like the difficult days it had spent inside its Egg.
In fact...
Jirachi had it even worse.
Gible had merely delayed hatching because it had been frightened by Zekrom's Scale.
But Jirachi...
Only woke up for seven days every thousand years.
A thousand years...
Just imagining it was terrifying for the two-month-old Gible.
By then, it would probably either be an incredibly old shark...
Or a dead one.
Thinking of this, Gible turned toward its Trainer.
"Gible?" (How much longer until Jirachi is born?)
"Probably still a little while."
As Chen Mo picked up another Comet Shard that had already been drained of its energy beside the cocoon, he answered slowly,
"Jirachi absorbs the energy from the shards at a decent rate, but not very frequently. Out of twenty-four hours in a day, it's only absorbed energy four times so far."
Considering that Jirachi normally slept for a thousand years...
Chen Mo felt that if it could fully awaken within a week at its current pace, that would already be an excellent result.
"Gible~"
Hearing that, Gible looked expectantly at the Sleeping Cocoon.
To the little shark...
The more family and friends it had, the better.
Thanks to all the positive things Chen Mo had said about Jirachi, everyone had unconsciously begun treating it as a member of their little family long before it had even awakened.
"Good night, Jirachi."
"Pika pika~"
"Gengar~"
"Gible!"
Following Chen Mo's lead, Pikachu, Gengar, and Gible all wished the sleeping Jirachi goodnight.
Then they huddled together inside the tent, quietly watching the cocoon slowly absorb the Comet Shards' energy while the chorus of summer insects drifted in from outside.
Before long, everyone fell asleep.
The next morning...
Before setting out, Chen Mo packed Jirachi's Sleeping Cocoon together with a large supply of Comet Shards into his backpack.
Although the cocoon emitted light while absorbing energy, it wasn't particularly bright.
Inside the dark-colored backpack, it wouldn't reveal anything unusual to the livestream camera.
Soon...
Their road trip resumed.
This would be the final day of traveling.
Around two in the afternoon, as the off-road vehicle exited the highway, countless viewers looked through the windows at the sparkling blue ocean in the distance and realized...
They had almost reached the destination of this educational journey.
[Yay! I guessed right! This science stream is really focusing on Pokémon that live in the ocean! As someone who's spent over twenty years living inland, I'm so excited! (ω)]
[Is Teacher Mo planning to head out to sea?]
[Definitely. There's no way he'd come all this way and not go out on the ocean. That's the only way to introduce more marine Pokémon.]
[I checked the map and suddenly figured out where Teacher Mo is going. This road only leads to a place called Crescent Moon Town.]
[Holy crap! Crescent Moon Town?! I think I know why Teacher Mo picked this as the first stop now.]
[What's special about it? Someone knowledgeable explain!]
Before long, several viewers began explaining the town in the chat.
Only then did many people learn that this quiet seaside town had once experienced one of the largest conflicts between humans and Pokémon.
It had even nearly been destroyed by a massive tsunami that had mysteriously vanished before reaching shore.
[This was probably the fiercest human-Pokémon conflict in the entire Huaxia Region, and also the strangest outcome. I live in Fuyuan City next door. My uncle's a sailor who often passes through Crescent Moon Town, and he said a lot of people died back then.]
[So what actually caused the conflict? After watching Teacher Mo's streams for so long, I've realized Pokémon normally don't attack human cities without reason.]
[Nobody knows. I've heard the provincial Strategic Response Bureau has been conducting investigations ever since the incident, but they've never found anything useful.]
[I checked the old news. The only thing confirmed so far is that about a month before the large-scale invasion, wild Pokémon had already been entering the town much more frequently.]
[Now this is getting interesting...]
Thanks to the viewers' explanations, Chen Mo didn't need to spend as much effort introducing the town and simply continued driving.
Ten minutes later...
Following the coastal highway, the livestream audience was greeted by a picturesque seaside town.
Rows of scattered houses.
A towering lighthouse.
Fishing boats moored at the docks.
The constant cries of seabirds echoing overhead.
Everything perfectly captured the atmosphere of a coastal settlement.
Hearing the birds overhead, Chen Mo glanced toward the distant sky above the sea.
At the same time, Gengar, sitting in the back seat, thoughtfully turned the camera in that direction.
A flock of small bird Pokémon came into view.
Their bodies were covered primarily in white and pale-blue feathers.
Their long, narrow wings stretched far beyond the size of their bodies.
[Those are—!]
[Pokémon! No question! Another new Flying-type! Let me look them up!]
[No need. I live by the coast and see them all the time. I already checked—they're called Wingull.]
[Anything else?]
[We'll let Teacher Mo explain. That's why we're here.]
Glancing at the chat, Chen Mo smiled while continuing to drive.
"Many of you have already posted their name."
"That's right."
"They're called Wingull."
"They're Seagull Pokémon that live exclusively along coastlines, building their nests on seaside cliffs. They're Water/Flying-type Pokémon."
"Looks like we're pretty lucky. We just arrived at the coast and we've already encountered a Pokémon that has never appeared in any of my previous livestreams. That's worth celebrating."
"Take a closer look at Wingull's wings."
"Each wing is roughly half again as long as its body, and they're shaped rather uniquely."
"That's because, unlike common bird Pokémon such as Pidgeotto that live inland, Wingull aren't particularly good at continuously flapping their wings for long-distance flight."
"Their specialty is riding sea winds and updrafts, gliding through the air like sailplanes."
"In that respect, they're quite similar to a seabird from our own world known as the albatross."
"So naturally, Wingull are at their strongest when they're near the ocean."
"Oh, and one more thing."
"Since Wingull hunt by gliding down to herd schools of fish together before diving into the water, they were excellent partners for fishermen in the Pokémon world."
"When fishermen headed out to sea, they'd often choose fishing grounds where Wingull frequently gathered before casting their nets."
It had been a while since Chen Mo had given such a straightforward educational explanation.
The chat immediately exploded.
[If that's the case, then fishing towns like Crescent Moon Town should be raising large numbers of Wingull.]
[Already writing this down in my notebook.]
[Too late! As someone who actually lives on the coast, I can tell you Wingull are hard to find inland but pretty common here. The Strategic Response Bureau already started promoting this new fishing method along the coast ages ago after Teacher Mo introduced it.]
Reading the comments, Chen Mo smiled.
Just then...
The off-road vehicle finally entered the outskirts of Crescent Moon Town.
He slowed down and drove leisurely toward the town center.
At that moment—
Only a dozen meters after entering town, Chen Mo spotted a large banner hanging above the entrance to a public square.
He blinked in surprise and instinctively brought the vehicle to a stop.
Looking up, he slowly read the words printed on it aloud.
"Congratulations to Crescent Moon Town resident Gao Tianming for reaching the Top 8 of the Pikachu Cup..."
In an instant...
A memory flashed through Chen Mo's mind.
It was during the Pikachu Cup preliminaries, after Gible had secretly entered a match on its own.
When Chen Mo rushed anxiously to the Pokémon Medical Center, he had encouraged the injured contestants by sharing some of his own experiences.
Among them...
There had been a young man wearing a red-and-white cap.
Chen Mo distinctly remembered him introducing himself with the words—
"I'm Gao Tianming from Crescent Moon Town..."
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