It was a young child wearing orange-yellow shorts.
Judging by their appearance, they couldn’t have been very old.
But Michael, the idiot Trainer, wasn’t even looking at the water.
His eyes were fixed firmly on his fishing rod as he prepared to yank it upward.
(Idiot!
If you do that, the hook might injure that child!) Serperior frowned as two vines shot out from around the leafy collar on her neck.
One vine smacked Michael squarely on the butt.
“Ow!” He sucked in a sharp breath, immediately dropping his fishing rod before turning to Serperior with a resentful look.
He was pretty sure he hadn’t done anything to upset her.
‘Wait…
did she somehow find out about all the times I tricked her before?’ Serperior ignored him completely.
Her second vine plunged straight into the water with a clear target in mind, wrapping around the unconscious child and gently lifting them onto the shore.
The moment he saw a child being pulled from the creek, Michael completely forgot about the burning pain in his backside.
He hurriedly took the child from Serperior’s vines.
“No visible external injuries…
They probably just inhaled water.
They’re still coughing.
As long as we clear the water from the airway, they’ll be fine.” After a quick examination, Michael concluded that the child wasn’t in any life-threatening danger.
At the same time, he couldn’t help marveling at just how absurdly resilient people in the Pokémon world were.
He instructed Serperior to use her vines to perform the Heimlich maneuver and expel the water from the child’s airway.
Serperior’s precise control over her vines made her far better suited for the task.
As an ordinary adult, Michael wasn’t confident enough in his own strength and might accidentally cause secondary injuries.
Only then did he finally have time to properly examine the child.
He’d obviously have to take them to the police station later and ask Officer Jenny to help locate their parents.
What greeted his eyes was the face of a girl around ten years old.
She had fair skin and adorable twin ponytails.
For some reason, she looked vaguely familiar.
Next, Michael noticed her soaked clothes.
Judging from the colors and design, they looked remarkably similar to the uniform of Naranja Academy.
In other words, this little girl was probably a student there.
Michael began wondering whether he should call Geeta.
It felt a little excessive to bother the Chairwoman over something this minor, but the only person at Naranja Academy he actually knew was Geeta.
The rest of the faculty weren’t people he recognized from his memories.
As he was debating whether Geeta would even answer his call, a much louder fit of coughing drew his attention.
Turning around, he saw the little girl’s eyes slowly flutter open.
Nemona’s unfocused gaze gradually regained clarity.
However, the instant she saw Michael leaning over to look at her, her pupils dilated.
Her trembling lips parted as though she wanted to scream for help.
Yet, seemingly afraid of provoking Michael, she quickly clamped both hands over her own mouth.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
“…?” Michael looked puzzled.
Judging from the obvious fear on the little girl’s face, she’d clearly been frightened by something.
After thinking for a moment, he looked around.
Right now, there were only two of them here, himself, a kind and friendly big brother…
and Serperior, who admittedly looked rather intimidating.
The answer was obvious.
‘Serperior scared her!’ Michael inwardly praised himself for arriving at the correct conclusion so quickly.
Since he’d identified the problem, the solution was simple.
Putting on a warm, sunny smile, Michael reassured the girl while Serperior looked at him as though he were an idiot.
“Don’t be afraid.
Serperior is my Pokémon.
She might look a little fierce, but she doesn’t mean any harm.” Before Nemona could even process his words…
Crack!
A vine sliced through the air with a sharp explosive sound.
The furious Serperior, completely exasperated, lashed Michael’s butt several more times.
She had excellent control over her strength.
Every strike landed on the fleshy part of his backside.
They hurt quite a bit…
but not enough to leave any actual injuries.
Michael knew Serperior was already holding back.
After all, her Vine Whip could easily smash trees and rocks.
Even so, he still winced repeatedly from the pain.
After the brief bout of horseplay between Michael and Serperior, he noticed that the little girl no longer looked terrified.
She was still timid but the fear had faded.
She had probably realized from watching their interaction that they weren’t bad people.
Still…
The lingering caution in her eyes caught Michael’s attention.
Being cautious was a good thing, but wasn’t this little girl’s guard a bit too high?
After some thought, Michael decided to calm her down through conversation first.
Then he’d bring her back to his house so she could at least change out of those soaking wet clothes.
Staying dressed like that for too long would make her catch a cold.
“Hello.
My name is Michael.
I’m the owner of this farm.” After briefly introducing himself, he continued, “This is my partner, Serperior.
Could you tell me your name?” “Serperior~” Serperior did her best to soften her expression.
Unfortunately, the regal aura she was born with wasn’t something she could simply turn off.
Nemona first glanced at Serperior, then looked back at Michael, who was smiling kindly at her.
After hesitating for several seconds, she timidly replied, “My name is Nemona…
Thank you for saving me, mister.” “Mhm.
Nemona?
That’s a beautiful name.” Michael nodded instinctively, praising her in a gentle voice.
Then, his eyes suddenly widened.
His expression became dramatically exaggerated.
‘Wait, wait, did I hear that correctly?
This fair-skinned, adorable little girl…
is the future student-president Nemona?
The energetic Champion-ranked battler nicknamed the ‘Iron Simp,’ with her healthy tan skin?
She doesn’t look anything like her!’ Whether it was her personality or appearance, aside from her facial features looking somewhat similar, nothing matched.
‘Is it just someone with the same name?
Or did I accidentally get caught in the Infinite Tsukuyomi?’ But…
She really was wearing Naranja Academy’s uniform.
Still unwilling to give up, Michael asked one final question.
“If you don’t mind…
Could you tell me where you live?” “I live in Cabo Poco.” This time, Nemona answered immediately.
For some reason, her instincts told her this mister wasn’t one of the bad people who had kidnapped her.
“…” Michael inhaled sharply.
Now there was no doubt.
This little girl really was the future human-shaped Paradox Pokémon, the battle maniac affectionately nicknamed the Iron Simp, Student-Council President Nemona.
As someone who had once jokingly shouted online that he wanted to become Nemona’s Arcanine or Lycanroc, Michael felt an overwhelming sense of disconnect.
His brain had completely shut down.
It seemed that the personalities of the Scarlet & Violet protagonists had changed quite a bit compared to when the game’s story began.
No…
More accurately, these childhood personalities gradually developed into the ones they would have as they grew up.
Michael was just about to ask Nemona to come back to his house with him.
However, she suddenly grabbed his hand with a panicked expression.
“Big bro, let’s get out of here!
What if the people who kidnapped me are still nearby?” The smile on Michael’s face froze.
“…Huh?”