The two of them practically jogged out of the arcade.
Only after they had gotten a good distance away did June stop.
She looked at Leon with worry written all over her face.
“What’s wrong? Did you notice something strange?”
“I saw a Ghost-type monster,” Leon said grimly.
Inside the claw machine with the shattered glass was an ugly-looking rag doll.
Surrounded by all those brand-new plush toys, it stood out far too much.
Of course, that alone wasn’t enough for him to be absolutely certain it was a Ghost-type Pokémon.
The problem was that Pokémon anime and games didn’t exist in this world.
Naturally, that meant Pikachu plush toys didn’t exist either.
That rag doll was wearing something resembling a Pikachu costume, which made its identity obvious.
Mimikyu, the Disguise Pokémon.
As a walking Pokémon encyclopedia, Leon remembered Mimikyu particularly well.
For one thing, it looked remarkably similar to Pikachu.
“Are you sure you didn’t see it wrong?”
June frowned and stared at Leon skeptically.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him.
What he was telling her simply sounded too absurd.
What kind of existence were Ghost-type monsters?
Since the Pokémon appeared, Ghost-type monsters had posed the greatest threat to humanity.
Some particularly powerful ones had even taken the lives of an entire city’s population.
If there really was a Ghost-type monster inside the mall, how could all of them still be standing here alive and well?
Leon didn’t know how to explain it either.
Based on what he knew about Pokémon and what he’d observed over the past few days, Leon had realized that these Pokémon hadn’t come here specifically to wipe out humanity.
Mime Jr.
was a perfect example.
When it encountered humans, it hadn’t immediately attacked them.
Instead, it had mimicked their behavior and had ultimately even let them escape.
But humans were simply too fragile compared to Pokémon.
Sometimes, even a minor accident could cost someone their life.
Take Misty’s Psyduck from the anime.
Whenever it went out of control, the protagonists suffered for it, whether from headaches or being blasted away.
But if that Psyduck lost control in the real world, everyone around it would die.
The people of the Pokémon world had evolved from Pokémon themselves, giving them ridiculously high resistance.
The humans of this world hadn’t.
In Leon’s estimation, the main reason Ghost-type Pokémon were so dangerous was that they might absorb human life force, souls, emotions, or other forms of spiritual energy.
Pokémon like Dusclops fed by absorbing life force, while the likes of Sableye were adept at taking souls.
As for Mimikyu, it probably fed on human emotions.
As for the disappearance of Blondie and the other guy, Leon suspected Mimikyu was responsible.
How exactly it had done it, however, was something Leon had no desire to investigate—and absolutely wouldn’t investigate.
“All I can guarantee is that what I saw was definitely a Ghost-type monster. As for why it hasn’t attacked the camp… maybe humans aren’t on its menu?” Leon offered an explanation that was relatively close to the truth.
June considered that for a moment, then nodded.
“That’s true. Not every Ghost-type monster can absorb our life force.”
“So what do we do now?” Leon asked.
“We go back. Don’t tell anyone there’s a Ghost-type monster here. It’ll only cause unnecessary panic.” June had made up her mind.
She absolutely intended to keep the presence of a Ghost-type monster in the arcade secret.
Leon nodded without even asking why.
June added, “Once we’re back, I’ll tell everyone the arcade is dangerous.”
Leon had no objection to that either.
There weren’t any useful supplies in the arcade to begin with, so normally no one would come here looking to get themselves killed.
As long as Mimikyu didn’t actively approach the survivor camp, everything should be fine.
But Leon wasn’t optimistic.
According to its game lore, Mimikyu was a Ghost-type Pokémon that wanted to be close to humans.
The whole reason it hid beneath its ragged disguise was so it could approach people without frightening them.
If he remembered correctly, Mimikyu would almost certainly sneak into the camp sooner or later.
But if it didn’t drain the survivors’ life force, then it didn’t really matter if Mimikyu entered the camp.
Mimikyu wouldn’t deliberately scare anyone either, unless some idiot decided to find out what it really looked like beneath its disguise.
Given how terrified people in this world were of monsters, however, the odds of that happening should be practically zero.
Wait.
Leon suddenly realized something.
Could those two idiots have accidentally seen what Mimikyu really looked like and gotten killed to keep them quiet?
Leon thought the possibility was extremely high.
In fact, that might have been exactly what happened.
If he knew nothing about Pokémon and came across such a bizarre-looking doll in an arcade, he might have gotten curious too.
He might even have investigated it to find out what the strange thing actually was.
Neither of them spoke on the way back.
Leon’s analysis had left June in a heavy mood, and she spent the entire walk lost in thought.
The moment they returned to camp, June gathered everyone around and solemnly announced, “There are signs of monster activity around the arcade. From now on, when you go out to gather supplies, try to stay away from that area.”
“June, do you know what kind of monster it is?” Ray asked curiously.
Faced with everyone’s questioning and uneasy gazes, June suppressed the panic in her heart and forced herself to remain calm.
“No. We only found signs that a monster had been active there. Blondie and the other guy were probably killed there.”
“Could that monster come over here? Should we move the camp?” an elderly man muttered worriedly.
The elderly woman beside him shot back, “Move? Move where? Is there anywhere in this entire mall safer than here?”
“Still better than staying here, isn’t it? What if that monster comes over?”
“You’re worrying too much. By that logic, wouldn’t the monsters in the aquarium have come over here already?”
June watched everyone argue back and forth and shook her head helplessly as a trace of regret welled up inside her.
‘If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve just sealed off the passage to the arcade.
I shouldn’t have told them anything.’
She had wanted to prevent panic from spreading through the camp, only for everyone to panic anyway.
Fortunately, no one had lost control.
Otherwise, she’d have even more problems on her hands.
Mentally and physically exhausted, June dropped onto the sofa and stared blankly at the ceiling.
She was considering whether they should relocate the camp.
But then came the same problem: where could they possibly go?
Was there even anywhere safe left in this world?
Ever since the monsters appeared, they could be found in every corner of the world.
Saying there was one every ten steps might be an exaggeration, but one every hundred meters certainly wasn’t.
Leon didn’t join the discussion in the camp.
He still had to hurry home and feed Feebas.
“Wow! Feebas, you look even prettier!”
“I knew it! The stuff I’ve been giving you is working. That’s me for you!”
“You’re getting prettier and prettier…”
After Leon lifted Feebas out of the fish tank, embarrassingly sappy compliments poured out of his mouth one after another.
Before, whenever he praised Feebas, he’d always felt at least a little insincere about it.
But now, every word of praise was completely genuine and came straight from the heart.
After all, Feebas was his future hope and something he would one day depend on.
He genuinely cherished and praised it as if it were his own child.