Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Mewtwo was deeply uncomfortable under all the stares. Its body trembled slightly, and it felt a strong urge to flee. Just as it was about to lose control, Rio’s voice came from beside it:

"Don’t overthink it. When people look at you, it’s not necessarily discrimination—it might just be curiosity. Don’t scare yourself."

"How do you know?" Mewtwo turned back.

"Let’s run an experiment and prove it to you," Rio said, raising an eyebrow.

In his view, Mewtwo’s current state was a classic case of the Spotlight Effect—the tendency to overestimate how much others notice our appearance, behavior, and words, believing we are the center of everyone’s attention.

Those with low self-esteem might think: Does my outfit look bad? Does my face look weird? Are they looking at me to mock me? Those with high self-esteem might think: They’re looking at me because I’m attractive and charming—they must like me.

But in reality, it’s all in your head. People are busy and tired. They don’t have that much time to focus on you, especially if you’re not a celebrity. Even if you are a celebrity, most people just glance and move on—unless they’re a fan or want something from you.

A social psychologist in his past life once ran an experiment: a student wore a flashy, famous celebrity T-shirt into a classroom of a hundred people. The psychologist estimated that at least fifty percent would notice the shirt. But in reality, only twenty-three percent—twenty-three people—noticed it, less than half the estimate. And their opinions on the shirt were mixed.

So don’t overestimate your importance to others. You’re probably not paying much attention to their changes either. We’re all the same.

A few minutes later, Rio led Mewtwo, Munchlax, and Gengar into a dessert café. Rio deliberately chose a table near the entrance.

"Alright—let’s sit here until we finish our meal and observe how many people actually notice you," Rio said with a smile. "Remember—’notice’ means they look at you deliberately, more than once. A single glance doesn’t count."

"Fine," Mewtwo nodded.

Just then, a waiter approached, and Rio took the menu to order.

"One," Mewtwo’s voice echoed in Rio’s mind as he ordered.

Rio turned. "That waiter glanced at me."

Rio looked up and noticed that while the waiter was no longer staring at Mewtwo, they were now looking at him with a hint of confusion. When they realized Rio was looking back, they snapped out of it. "Sir—are you ready to order?"

"Almost."

Half a minute later, the waiter left with the menu. Soon after, the doorbell chimed, and a couple walked in. Their eyes naturally drifted toward Rio’s table. They glanced once, raised an eyebrow, then followed the waiter to a seat further inside.

"One—they also glanced at me," Mewtwo’s voice echoed again.

Rio rolled his eyes and reminded it: "Remember—’notice’ means deliberate attention, meaning they looked at you multiple times. A single glance doesn’t count. Also, how do you know they weren’t looking at me? You should say they glanced in our direction—not ’they glanced at me.’ Am I invisible to you? Do I not get noticed?"

"Because I could tell their eyes landed on me first. You were just incidental in their field of view," Mewtwo said seriously.

Rio rolled his eyes again. Well, this isn’t inferiority—this is narcissism. You think you’re the center of the universe, and I’m just background noise.

Five minutes later, the waiter brought the food cart over.

"Ka~" Munchlax charged forward without a second thought, grabbing the plates before they were even set down and shoving the food into its mouth. The rough behavior startled the waiter and drew attention from the other diners.

"One, two, three, four, five... twelve people noticed me," Mewtwo’s voice echoed in Rio’s mind.

Rio: ←_←

Are you kidding me? That attention was clearly because of Munchlax—are you sure they were looking at you?

Rio felt a headache coming on. He suddenly realized his earlier assessment was off—Mewtwo did have some insecurity, but its narcissistic tendencies were far stronger.

He also realized the experiment was flawed—there was a walking variable in their group that was skewing the results. Yes, Munchlax, I’m talking about you! And you ate my portion too!

"I’m calling a pause on the experiment. The results are compromised. Let’s finish our meal and do the assessment during tea time," Rio said.

Mewtwo glanced at him, convinced that Rio just didn’t want to admit that its appearance was naturally attention-grabbing. "Fine—I agree." It agreed anyway, since the experiment was Rio’s idea. It would follow his rules—the outcome would be what it expected.

An hour later, after Munchlax had eaten its fill, the meal finally ended, and they moved on to post-meal tea.

"Alright—the experiment continues from here." Rio took a sip of tea, then recalled Munchlax, who had fallen asleep and was snoring loudly. That variable couldn’t stay in the room.

"Fine—experiment resumes," Mewtwo nodded.

Less than five seconds later, Mewtwo’s voice echoed in Rio’s mind: "That waiter has looked at our table eight times since we walked in. Now they’ve glanced again—does that count? It can’t be because they’re looking at you."

Why couldn’t it be me? Maybe they’re captivated by my good looks... Though the thought stung a little, Rio casually glanced toward the waiter and saw that they did seem to be looking in their direction.

"Fine—that counts as one," Rio conceded. "But I suggest we start counting from new people entering from now on—it’s more objective. The earlier ones were still affected by Munchlax."

"Alright—we’ll start fresh with each new entry," Mewtwo agreed, redirecting its attention to the door.

Before long, a new customer walked in.