With a steady gaze, Chen Ming looked at the Old Man, knowing full well what he needed to do. "Grandpa, can you answer a question for me?"
The Old Man grinned. His already half-closed eyes vanished entirely into the wrinkles on his face, making him look just like a Maitreya Buddha.
"Go ahead and speak."
"What on earth does Xie Feng want from me, or what is it about me that makes him refuse to let me go even in death? I didn't even do anything to provoke him, did I?"
Watching the events of his future unfold like a movie—with the only difference being that he was the protagonist—felt somewhat surreal.
Since it felt like watching a film, it naturally failed to evoke any deeper emotional response, and Chen Ming, of course, could not comprehend it.
Chen Ming was not born with an emotional deficit; rather, it was shaped by his upbringing, leaving him unable to understand complex emotions as deeply as ordinary people.
"Haha, you're an interesting kid. But then again, this isn't something I can explain clearly. Why don't you go and experience it for yourself?"
The Old Man smiled cheerfully, seeming eager for Chen Ming to choose this option, as it was undoubtedly the easiest way out.
Chen Ming stood frozen in place. Go back just for someone he didn't even know all that well?
If he asked himself honestly, Chen Ming simply couldn't do it.
Could he still invest his heart into experiencing those affairs of the Human Realm?
Even reincarnation seemed utterly pointless in Chen Ming's eyes.
Looking at the Old Man before him, Chen Ming shook his head.
The Old Man understood instantly, leaving only one option.
After pondering for a long time, Chen Ming finally spoke: "Grandpa, you must know my temperament. I simply cannot muster any enthusiasm for the idea of going back."
"As for the 'experience' you mentioned, I'll just consider it something to ponder after I go to another realm."
Stroking his goatee, the Old Man said unhurriedly, "As you wish. It's rare to find someone as agreeable as you who doesn't try to push their luck. How about the old Taoist picks a world for you and sends you there?"
So this wasn't your first time messing up? No wonder your service is so practiced.
Chen Ming recalled the Pokémon anime he had accidentally stumbled upon. Even though he was already a man in his twenties, he still loved it like a child, drawn to the pure and simple joy found within it.
Before he knew it, Chen Ming's room was piled high with Pokémon merchandise, plushies, and games...
Speaking of games, Chen Ming had even wanted to take a shortcut and designed a powerful cheat program, though he had never actually gotten the chance to use it.
"Grandpa, can you send me to the Pokémon World?"
Without even realizing it himself, the mere thought of Pokémon brought a curve to the corners of Chen Ming's mouth, outshining the flowers in the sky.
Seeing the resolute gaze in Chen Ming's eyes, the Old Man readily agreed, waving a hand to cut off whatever explanation Chen Ming was about to give concerning what the Pokémon World was. The Old Man was well aware of that sort of animation.
In the three thousand great thousand worlds, there were countless realms, and the birth of such a world was naturally among them.
It was just a pity that place was a bit tricky; that realm wasn't easy to send someone into. Whether one lived or died upon entering truly came down to individual fortune.
The Old Man was no villain, so he naturally explained the situation to Chen Ming.
Upon hearing that the world of his imagination truly existed, Chen Ming didn't care in the least about the danger. For the first time since he had gained consciousness, this was a spontaneous impulse of his own.
"Since that's the case, get ready. I'll send you over right now."
"During your travel across worlds, your memory naturally won't be wiped. However, I must give you a word of warning: once you get there, whether you remain human is no longer certain."
"Though I previously promised to keep you safe, I'm powerless when it comes to this world. I can only gift you a few things to help you settle in."
With that, the Old Man directly summoned a thick mist to envelop Chen Ming, and in an instant, both of their figures vanished from each other's sight.
A formidable power radiated from the Old Man, pouring with all its might into Chen Ming's soul.
Having died, Chen Ming no longer had a physical body, leaving behind only his frail soul.
"Experience it well. What you once desired yet never attained will now take physical form to accompany you throughout your life."
The Old Man's voice echoed from the depths of the mist, lingering and low.
As if stirred by something, Chen Ming's greatest regret was never getting to personally use the Pokémon super cheat he had created.
Deep within the mist, the Old Man was foaming at the mouth, muttering curses under his breath: "I've been ripped off big time. That's tens of thousands of years of my power! Whatever that brat wanted, even running at full blast I could only manage to craft half its potency."
"I'm never drinking that old Taoist's fake wine again. It's ruined me."
Recovering his breath, the Old Man shook his head and strolled away at a leisurely pace.
***
Chen Ming felt his vision go dark, and an overwhelming wave of drowsiness washed over him, making it impossible to stay awake even if he tried.
Traveling across worlds felt rather bizarre, in a way Chen Ming couldn't quite put into words. It felt as though he were in a state between sleeping and waking, able to sense very strange flows of *qi*.
Every time it brushed past his ears, it didn't feel like wind, but rather like whispering—yet not quite. Sometimes it was soft and gentle, while other times it suddenly turned hot or cold. The only constant was that it lacked any texture of actual wind.
At the very end of infinite time and space, deep in the center of a swirling vortex, slumbered a strange creature. Its form was tall and bright white, resembling a horse or a kylin, and when upright, it looked even more like a centaur.
A ring of light encircled its midsection, and twelve slates floated around it.
Accustomed to perpetual slumber, it unexpectedly opened its eyes, its azure pupils holding a hint of confusion.
If Chen Ming's consciousness had been awake, he undoubtedly would have recognized it. This was the being revered as a god in Pokémon—Arceus, commonly known as the alpaca...
Chen Ming's feeble soul wandered haphazardly into the realm, completely without a home.
Stirred from its slumber for the first time in an age, Arceus took a single step forward, channeling its power.
Space and time were entirely distorted, yet the surroundings remained completely unharmed.
The accidents mentioned by the old immortal were always so reliable; while piercing the barriers between worlds, Chen Ming's soul had indeed crossed over safely. However, lacking a physical body, his current state was truly somewhat bizarre.
Arceus stared with its alpaca eyes, closely examining the sudden appearance of something that did not belong to this realm.
That's right, just *something*.
Housing a soul required the shackles of a physical body; this was both a restriction and a protection.
The first stop Chen Ming reached was not the Pokémon Planet, but the distant depths of outer space.
During the transit, Chen Ming's soul fused with a meteorite drifting in space. The meteorite held its own inherent energy, accumulated over a thousand years—or perhaps through uncounted ages.
Rocks possess no consciousness. For the self-preservation of the soul, the moment it reached the Pokémon World, Chen Ming's consciousness was tucked away into the deepest recesses of his soul. Perhaps it would never wake, or perhaps he would simply end up as a Rock-type Pokémon—who could say?
Normally, Arceus should not have awakened. It still required a long period of slumber until the appointed time arrived to welcome a future that, all things considered, wasn't too bad.
Presently, it was missing five of its slates, its life had become finite, and even its power had weakened considerably.
With such thoughts in mind, Arceus tilted its head and looked at this unusual meteorite. There was a living soul inside, but why was it so incredibly faint?
It seemed to have been sent over by a powerhouse from another world, and there was no malice attached to it.
"So be it. Let me see if you have the qualifications to stay here."
Arceus radiated the energy from within its body—a mental power even stronger than telepathy, the Aura originating from Arceus's lineage.
Chen Ming had never helped anyone, nor had he ever committed evil driven by darkness in his heart. All his profound emotions and goodwill were buried deep within.
When it came to perceiving minds, Arceus was among the absolute best. Naturally, whether someone was foul or kind-hearted, it could see through them instantly.
The eyes it had kept closed for so long slowly opened.
The instincts of Chen Ming's soul had sealed his consciousness away far too tightly; it could only sense the pure nature of his mind, making true dialogue impossible.
Still, knowing that the visitor had not arrived with malicious intent was enough.
After a moment of thought, Arceus carried the meteorite—now endowed with a certain fragmented life—back to the place where it slumbered.
The region where it slept was rich with its residual power, making it an excellent environment for recuperation.
Arceus had been solitary for a long time, rarely finding any existence it could converse with, nor did it intend to chat idly with other life forms, given its duty to maintain the world.
Chen Ming's arrival was an accident. When it originally lost the Life Orb, it had a premonition that a major event would occur in the future. However, since that future was not a bad one, it had simply let things take their natural course, entering a quiet slumber while awaiting the arrival of those events.
As Arceus guarded and watched over the world, it naturally learned all sorts of things. It had long harbored many things it wished to say, and the arrival of this meteorite suddenly triggered its deeply buried desire for conversation.
And so a long time passed—who knows how many years? Whenever Arceus occasionally woke up, it would chatter away for a bit with the meteorite, though unfortunately, this listener couldn't hear a word.
On one particular occasion, when Arceus woke up once more, the energy contained within the meteorite and the soul deep inside had both been thoroughly nourished. The outer shell of the meteorite had even reached the hardness of a weakened version of the Steel and Rock-type slates.
Arceus sleeping here was both a way to replenish the power of its missing slates and the most comfortable environment for itself, but the same could not necessarily be said for the meteorite.
While it was still in a deficient state, that was one thing; now that the meteorite had been fully repaired from the inside out, it naturally had to be sent away, otherwise, it would start posing a hazard to the soul residing inside.
The Psychic Slate floated upward, emitting a radiance far brighter than any of the other slates. Arceus's wheel of light shifted from gold to pink, though not entirely pink—resting somewhere closer to a blend of purple and pink.
Soon, Arceus and "Chen Ming" arrived together at the Pokémon Planet. Having kept it company for years, it wasn't without affection for him. The Aura originating from Arceus swirled around them, slowly merging with Chen Ming's soul.
Before sending him off, Arceus glanced back a few times, murmuring softly from the depths of its heart.
Then, it sent the meteorite plunging into the planet. Relying on that stored energy, Chen Ming would surely evolve into a unique kind of Pokémon on his own.
Well then, see you later, little one.
Having finished all this, Arceus took a few steps and returned to its slumbering sanctuary.
In order to look after "Chen Ming," it had been forced to wake up multiple times; now, it truly needed to enter a deep, profound sleep.