Pokémon: My Parallel World Daughters Revealed

The video continued playing.

Miori entered the fast-food restaurant and casually chose a seat beside the window.

"Excuse me."

A young server immediately approached.

"Hello. What would you like to order?"

Miori stared at him expressionlessly and spoke in an exceptionally flat tone.

"I’ll have one free family bucket, two free orders of fries, and one free chocolate sundae. Leave out the corn from the family bucket and replace it with chicken nuggets."

The server froze.

Seeing how completely serious Miori appeared, he thought she had come to strong-arm the restaurant into giving her a free meal.

"That’ll get you beaten up pretty badly, miss."

"I’m joking."

Miori slapped the black card onto the table.

"Add an iced cola too."

Still somewhat suspicious, the server swiped the card.

His eyes immediately lit up, and he enthusiastically brought over everything Miori had ordered.

Miori returned the black card to her wallet, picked up her cola, and took a sip through the straw.

She then looked at Emolga, which was sitting opposite her.

"What do you think? Did I look like someone who came here to cause trouble?"

Emolga held a French fry between both paws and shook its head while nibbling on it.

"I was worried he might actually call the manager."

Miori explained:

"What if someone recognized me as the former Nimbasa Gym Leader? The front page of the Unova Daily tomorrow would read: Former Gym Leader Reduced to Scamming Free Meals—A Distortion of Human Nature or the Collapse of Morality?"

Emolga covered its face with its wings.

"I don’t have a choice."

Miori thumped her cup of cola against the table.

"Do you think working undercover is easy? Captain K said I won’t have access to the organization’s core secrets until I become a full member. That means I need to practice maintaining my disguise."

Emolga peered through the gap between its wings with one eye, giving her a look that clearly said, You’re talking nonsense, but I can’t be bothered to expose you.

"All right, fine. I really just wanted to test whether the black card worked."

Miori stuffed a French fry into her mouth.

"My conclusion is that it works wonderfully. Uncle Steven’s private fortune is rock-solid."

[VIP Chat Group]

[Skyla]: Hahahahahaha! That "you’ll get beaten up pretty badly" part nearly killed me! The server’s expression was practically asking: Did this girl come here for a free meal or to wreck the restaurant?

[Diantha]: Miori must have suppressed herself far too much while she was Gym Leader. Now that she’s resigned, she has completely abandoned all restraint.

[Roxie]: The change in the server’s attitude after swiping the card was painfully realistic.

[Jasmine]: Just how much money does Steven have in his private fortune? The card made that server’s attitude change instantly.

[Steven]: I’ve never actually checked. I’ve never handled money before, and I have no interest in it.

[Leon]: Based.

[Raihan]: You really know how to humblebrag.

The video continued playing.

After finishing her meal, Miori had originally planned to head directly to the Gym.

However, she hadn’t walked far when rain suddenly began falling from the sky.

Miori searched through her entire backpack but couldn’t find an umbrella.

With no other option, she held the backpack above her head and started running. After a few steps, she spotted a bus shelter beside the road and darted underneath it.

Emolga jumped down from her head and stood on the bench, vigorously shaking the water from its fur.

Droplets sprayed all over Miori’s face.

Miori helplessly pulled out a tissue and wiped herself dry.

At that moment, a boy’s voice came from beside her.

"You didn’t bring an umbrella either?"

Miori turned her head.

A green-haired young man stood beside her.

For some inexplicable reason, Miori felt that he was no ordinary person. She didn’t answer and merely nodded.

The young man didn’t seem bothered by her silence and continued:

"My name is N. Are you a Trainer?"

"More or less. My name is Shiny Shinyko, and I’m a street magician by trade."

N remained silent for quite some time.

"That is a very distinctive name."

In the end, he offered an exceptionally polite assessment.

"It’s a stage name."

Miori continued drying Emolga’s fur.

"When you work the entertainment circuit, you need a memorable name."

As she did so, Miori briefly examined him.

Her gaze soon landed on the pendant hanging around his neck.

Its shape was unusual. It somewhat resembled the distorted Z-shaped emblem she had found in the abandoned industrial district, yet it wasn’t completely identical.

Miori’s fingers moved slightly.

"Mr. N, do you live in Castelia City?"

"No. I’m traveling."

N turned his gaze toward the curtain of rain.

"I’m searching for an answer."

"...An answer to what?"

"The answer that will allow every Pokémon to become happy."

"The answer that will allow every Pokémon to become happy?"

Miori looked at N.

"That’s an extremely distant goal you’ve chosen."

N leaned against the shelter’s railing, his voice remaining calm.

"Do you believe Pokémon are happy now?"

"I don’t know about anyone else’s Pokémon, but mine are quite happy."

Miori began counting on her fingers.

"Luxio sleeps for as long as it wants every morning. Emolga causes some minor disaster every day. Ampharos is such a picky eater that it makes me question my entire existence, and Beldum only recently joined the team, so it’s still adjusting."

"But they all have one thing in common."

"What is it?"

"I pay all their food expenses."

Miori slapped the black card onto the bench.

"Do you see this card? Its spending limit is practically inexhaustible."

N lowered his gaze to the black card and remained silent for two seconds.

"So you believe a Pokémon’s happiness simply means being well fed and comfortably provided for?"

"Then what do you think a Pokémon’s happiness is?"

"Freedom."

N’s gaze became serious.

"Not being treated as a tool by a Trainer. Living freely in the wild—that is how Pokémon are supposed to live."

Miori rubbed her chin.

"You make a reasonable argument. Suppose I release Emolga right now. What do you think it would do?"

Before N could answer, Emolga sprang from the bench.

Its entire body shot forward like a cannonball and slammed directly into Miori’s face. All four paws wrapped tightly around her head as it released an exceptionally miserable shriek.

"Do you see?"

Miori’s muffled voice emerged from beneath Emolga’s stomach.

"If you tried to give this one its ’freedom,’ it would be the first to object."

"As for the problem you’re worried about..."

Miori pulled Emolga into her arms and turned her head toward N.

"Telling Trainers that Pokémon aren’t tools sounds reasonable, but your argument inherently denies the genuine bonds that already exist between Trainers and Pokémon."

"Have you ever witnessed genuine trust?"

Miori turned fully toward him.

"The kind of relationship where a Pokémon gives everything it has for its Trainer, while the Trainer is willing to risk everything for their Pokémon?"

N remained silent for a moment.

"Then if one of your Pokémon told you that it wished to leave, would you let it go?"

"I would."

Miori didn’t hesitate.

"But it chose me, and I chose it. The trust between us genuinely existed."

"If it someday decided that leaving me would make it happier, I would respect its decision. But that wouldn’t mean denying everything we once shared."

N remained silent for another moment before turning away.

"Miss Shiny Shinyko, your argument is founded upon a single assumption—that Trainers are good people."

"But not every Trainer in this world is like you."

He walked away and gradually disappeared into the rain.

Miori watched N vanish beyond the curtain of water, then raised her head and looked at the sky.

She contemplated the encounter for a long time.

"This rain isn’t fake too, is it?"