Pokemon: I Transmigrated Twice

Early the next morning.

Everyone who attended last night's banquet gathered at the Ula'ula Island welcoming airport.

Goodshow and Lorelei were returning to Johto—oh, and they were taking Nanu with them.

On the surface, Nanu claimed he was going to Johto for a vacation, but in reality, his purpose was to investigate Joker. After all, it was well-known that Joker mainly operated in Johto.

Meanwhile, Rose and his secretary Oleana would return to Galar.

 Lusamine also planned to take her children to Paldea to arrange school admissions for Gladion and Lillie.

"Mother, please take good care of yourself."

 Lillie clung to Lusamine's hand with teary eyes, reluctant to let go.

"Don't worry about me, dear. You need to focus on your studies, get along well with your classmates, and always remember to look your best."

 Lusamine gently brushed Lillie's bangs aside, revealing her delicate face. Though still youthful, it already hinted at future breathtaking beauty.

"Gladion, here."

 Stephen handed two Poké Balls to the edgy young man.

 Inside were Type: Null and the Zorua he had previously loaned to Karen.

For this reason, Karen didn't come to see them off today.

"Brother Stephen… I entrust my mother to you."

 Gladion gave Stephen a deep bow.

Stephen patted Gladion on the shoulder.

After seeing everyone off, Stephen and Will headed back to the outskirts of Melemele Island, to the temporary base the three of them had been living in.

Next, they planned to move to Aether Paradise. The equipment here also needed to be relocated.

 A group of Aether Foundation staff in white uniforms was already busy transporting the machinery.

When Stephen and Will returned, the Pokémon—Umbreon, Maria, Rose, and Sina—all rushed to greet them.

 Bewear was slightly slower because she was holding the Swablu's Pokémon egg, walking carefully to avoid shaking it.

"Stephen, are we going to live in Aether Paradise for good from now on?"

 Inside the house, Karen—who wasn't using Zorua's illusion ability or wearing her sunglasses for once—asked Stephen while revealing her rarely-seen true face.

"Yeah, but before that, there are two things we need to take care of."

 Stephen raised a finger. "First, help you catch a Zorua. After all, if you want to participate in the Indigo League, you'll need a Zorua to help you disguise yourself."

"…Thank you."

Karen sincerely expressed her gratitude to Stephen. She could feel that he genuinely wanted to help her.

"Don't keep saying 'thank you.' We're companions, aren't we?"

 Stephen smiled in response.

He was never stingy with his people.

In his previous life, Stephen had spent most of his time learning alongside Vegapunk. Deep down, he had always admired Luffy's kind of life—finding like-minded companions and striving together toward a shared dream.

Unfortunately, he lacked any real talent in martial arts. On top of that, being constantly monitored by the World Government while under Vegapunk's wing had left him little room to form his crew.

This second chance at life was like fulfilling that dream.

"Just companions?"

 Karen instinctively blurted out the question, catching Stephen off guard.

She quickly realized the ambiguous nature of her words, and a blush of embarrassment spread across her face.

"No, what I meant was… I…"

Before Stephen could respond, Karen was already flustered, struggling to explain herself.

"Uh… I'm still here, you know…"

 Will raised his hand and spoke.

Karen: …

 She swore this was the first time she had ever wanted to beat this little chubby boy to death.

Interrupted by Will, Stephen swallowed back the words that were already at the tip of his tongue.

Originally, Stephen was going to respond with: "For now, yes. But who knows in the future."

That's right—Stephen didn't deny his fondness for Karen.

He wasn't one of those clueless and oblivious protagonists from stock market-themed novels, nor was he one of those absurdly pure male leads who would let the female lead, even when drugged, solve the problem on her own.

But truthfully, as someone who had survived three lifetimes, Stephen preferred a mature and sexy body like Lorelei.

As for the 12-year-old Karen in front of him, Stephen currently only viewed her as a companion.

In a few years, if Karen still had feelings for him, Stephen wouldn't mind developing things further.

The mood, now broken by Will, was shifted as Stephen chuckled and changed the subject:

"For now, I've already asked Team Rocket and the Aether Foundation to investigate for traces of Zorua. I believe we'll have results soon."

The Zorua species, like Lucario, wasn't a mythical or legendary Pokémon—just relatively rare.

With the help of two major organizations, it shouldn't take too long to find one.

"And what's the other thing?"

Sensing Karen's murderous glare, Will quickly asked, trying to divert her attention.

"For Umbreon to truly break through her limits, there's still one final step."

Stephen bent down and picked up Umbreon, cradling her in his arms as he spoke.

"It's not done yet? I saw you gave the Type:Null to Gladion, so I thought it was already settled," Karen frowned.

"Let's just say it's halfway done."

As he spoke, Stephen picked up a Fire Stone from the lab table and pressed it against Umbreon's back.

The light of evolution shone brightly, and the Fire Stone's energy was absorbed by Umbreon—transforming it into Flareon!

Will: "Oh my god!"

 Karen: "It's just like Type:Null's AR System!"

Type:Null could switch its typing by changing Memory Discs, a fact both Karen and Will had come to know over the past month from Stephen's research on Type:Null.

But they never expected him to replicate this ability on Umbreon!

Stephen stroked Flareon, whose fur was much fluffier compared to Umbreon's, and continued to explain:

"Type:Null's AR System allows it to store Memory Discs in its brain and swap them out for new ones at will, achieving free attribute changes."

"But Umbreon can't do that. Every time she transforms, she absorbs an Evolution Stone that can't be retrieved. Ignoring the wastage issue, having to use a new stone every time makes the process highly inefficient."

Indeed, while Type:Null was affectionately nicknamed Mini-Arceus by many Pokémon fans in Stephen's past lives, its practicality in battle was far from Arceus's level.

Setting aside its overall strength, there was a glaring flaw: every time it needed to change its typing, the Trainer had to manually swap out Memory Discs.

Let's be honest—even with a Trainer's fast hand speed, it would take about three seconds to swap a disc.

In high-level battles, three seconds was more than enough to get defeated!

But Arceus was different. It could change its typing in an instant, with just a flash of thought.

This alone put Arceus leagues ahead of Type:Null.

"So, what's the plan, Stephen?"

Looking at Flareon's fluffy body, Karen couldn't resist reaching out to pet it.

Flareon initially wanted to resist, but under Stephen's reassuring pats, it begrudgingly allowed Karen to stroke its fur.

"Then there's only one option left: to study Arceus."

Stephen's shocking statement left his two companions utterly stunned.

What?

Study Arceus?

The legendary Creator God Arceus?

Have you lost your mind, or are my ears malfunctioning?