vstars Chapter 229: The Scale Thief
Chapter 229: The Scale Thief
In the quiet courtyard—
A cool breeze swept through, stirring Absol from its sleep. It lowered its head, glanced at the Pokémon egg in its arms, and only after confirming that it was still warm did it lie back down and drift off again.
At that moment—
Above the little nest, a purple, oval-shaped head slowly emerged. Its cyan eyes relaxed slightly upon seeing Absol sleeping peacefully.
Then—
It carefully floated upward, skillfully slipping through an open window into the villa.
Its gaze swept the room before settling on the bed by the wall.
"Pika…"
A soft murmur came from the bed.
Pikachu, still dreaming, seemed to be enjoying something pleasant, a faint smile on its lips as it rolled over—only to tumble halfway out of the blanket.
Seeing this, the purple figure showed a trace of concern.
After glancing around hesitantly, it finally floated closer to the bed.
With its small purple hands, it gently tugged at the blanket.
All the while, it kept glancing nervously at the human sleeping on the other side of the bed.
Only after confirming that Chen Mo hadn't woken did it dare move a bit more, slowly pulling the blanket back over Pikachu.
"Bebi…"
Having finished, the little purple figure narrowed its eyes in satisfaction, looking incredibly pleased—as if it had accomplished something truly important.
Meanwhile—
Hidden in the shadows beside the bed, a pair of orange-red eyes silently observed everything.
"Masha…"
Marshadow had already sensed this strange being with unusual energy fluctuations several days ago—back when Chen Mo went to deal with the Garbodor incident at the garbage plant.
At the time, it only felt a peculiar aura but didn't actually see the creature, so it didn't think much of it.
But later that night—
With its keen perception, Marshadow sensed that same strange energy approaching the villa again.
Its first instinct was that this was trouble.
Though reluctant, it had even considered warning Chen Mo.
After all, while the creature was good at hiding itself, its strength didn't seem particularly high—Pikachu alone could likely handle it.
But then—
As Marshadow closely watched it enter the bedroom, it noticed something unexpected.
There was no hostility at all.
Curious, Marshadow decided to wait and observe.
As the guide of shadows, it was confident it could stop the creature at any time if needed.
Soon, it discovered something even stranger—
This mysterious Pokémon seemed especially interested in Pikachu.
Every night, it would quietly enter Chen Mo's room and stay by Pikachu's bedside for a long time.
Doing nothing.
Just watching.
"…Could this be… interspecies love?"
Marshadow, having learned about Egg Groups and "cross-species affection" from Chen Mo before, couldn't help but wonder if this unknown Pokémon had fallen for Pikachu.
The thought actually excited it.
So it decided—for now—not to tell Chen Mo or the others.
After all, the creature showed no malice and posed no threat.
"Bebi…"
After about twenty minutes of watching Pikachu, the purple Pokémon finally moved again.
Marshadow focused.
Here it comes.
Because aside from staring at Pikachu, it always did one other thing.
Floating midair, the purple Pokémon looked toward a drawer across the room.
It touched its belly, looking conflicted—as if struggling internally.
After a long pause—
It slowly floated over and carefully pulled the drawer open, occasionally glancing back guiltily at Chen Mo.
Inside—
Lay several large, dark gray scales.
The moment it saw them, its eyes lit up.
It could feel it—
The scales were calling to it.
But…
It hesitated again, glancing back at Chen Mo.
It clearly understood—
This was stealing.
Yet—
Desire won over reason.
The little Pokémon hugged one of the Zekrom scales, rubbing its cheek against it, then quickly flew toward the window.
But shortly after—
It came back.
It set the scale aside, hurried over to close the drawer properly, then picked the scale up again and left—satisfied.
"…This guy's kind of dumb."
Marshadow watched silently.
Those were, of course, Zekrom's shed scales.
And it could guess why the purple Pokémon was taking them—
To use them itself.
Every night, it stole three to four scales.
And over time—
Marshadow noticed a change.
At first, it had no trace of draconic aura.
Now—
A faint dragon-like presence had begun to emerge.
Clearly—
It was using the scales to undergo some kind of transformation.
As for what exactly—
Even Marshadow didn't know.
It had never seen this Pokémon before.
And that strange energy…
It frowned.
Even as a Mythical Pokémon, there were many species it didn't recognize—but this kind of energy was entirely new.
It reminded it of something Chen Mo mentioned earlier—
Ultra Beasts.
Creatures from Ultra Wormholes carried a unique aura.
Perhaps—
This purple Pokémon's energy came from there.
Which would explain why even Marshadow couldn't identify it.
—
In the distance, the purple Pokémon returned again, its dragon aura slightly stronger than before.
Marshadow shook its head and slipped back into the shadows.
Unaware that it had been completely exposed, the purple Pokémon continued its nightly routine—stealing more scales.
One by one—
Of the twenty to thirty scales Chen Mo had brought back from Quagsire's nest, nearly a third had already been taken.
Watching it leave again, Marshadow pondered.
The scales weren't particularly important to Chen Mo.
But letting them be stolen like this… didn't seem right either.
"Maybe I should tell him…"
Marshadow hesitated.
It knew Chen Mo well.
He wouldn't care much about the theft itself—
But he would be extremely interested in this unknown, possibly Ultra Beast Pokémon.
And then…
He would definitely keep asking questions.
"…Troublesome."
Just as Marshadow was debating—
Absol suddenly cried out from the courtyard.
Pidgeotto in the tree and Magikarp in the pond were startled awake.
"Bibi!"
Pidgeotto immediately flew down to Absol's nest.
And then—
It saw it.
The egg—
Which had shown no reaction for days—
Was now faintly glowing.
Excited, Pidgeotto rushed to the bedroom.
Soon—
The entire house was in chaos.
Still in his pajamas, Chen Mo rushed out with Pikachu.
"It's really… glowing…"
He stared at the egg in Absol's arms, overwhelmed with excitement.
"Quick! It's cold outside—bring it inside!"
Absol nodded and handed over the egg.
Chen Mo wrapped it in his pajamas and hurried inside.
But then—
The egg trembled slightly—
And the glow vanished.
"…What!?"
Chen Mo froze.
He immediately used Aura—
No response.
"Absol!"
Absol looked anxious, wanting the egg back.
Chen Mo hesitated—then handed it over.
But even after returning to the nest—
Nothing.
No movement.
No reaction.
"…What's going on…"
Chen Mo felt completely defeated.
He was just trying to keep it warm—
And now it had shut down again.
As everyone stared helplessly—
Marshadow reappeared.
After sensing carefully, it murmured:
"…I see."
Then—
It appeared in the living room.
"Marshadow?"
Chen Mo looked up in surprise.
This was rare—Marshadow appearing on its own.
"I might know how to make it hatch."
Its voice echoed in Chen Mo's mind.
Chen Mo immediately straightened.
"Please—tell me."
Marshadow felt quite pleased at the respectful tone.
"Hmph. As expected—you still need me."
Then it explained:
"I suspect the egg can sense the aura from Zekrom's scales. For some reason, that aura is causing the life inside to instinctively suppress its own birth."
"…Huh?"
Chen Mo was stunned.
But then—
Something clicked.
"If that's the case… why did it react tonight?"
Marshadow replied calmly:
"Go check the scales yourself."
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