So charming, you want me to raise Pokémon?

Chapter 344 Zhuang Zhou Dreaming of a Butterfly or a Butterfly Dreaming of Zhuang Zhou?

The wind chime, hovering in the sky, noticed the hooded thug on the ground. The moment its eyes met Cynthia's in the cockpit, its body trembled violently, and the shaking wind chime created transparent ripples in mid-air, sending intense sound waves straight towards the hooded thug on the ground.

Using the dust and sand splashed in the air, Cynthia observed the path of the wind chime's attack.

"A loud roar skill?" Cynthia's eyes narrowed as she commanded, "Headband thug, roar loudly!"

The bandana-wielding thug took a deep breath, puffed out its chest, and unleashed a loud roar at the sky. The malicious rebuke collided with the deafening noise from Chimecho, resulting in a brief stalemate in the air. The bandana-wielding thug was a physical attacker, but its loud roar effectively reduced the special attack power of Chimecho. With the two forces shifting, the power of Chimecho's loud roar was significantly weakened. At the same time, Cynthia controlled the bandana-wielding thug to use Instant Amnesia.

For a moment, the bandana-wearing rascal's pupils dilated, and its mind went blank. Instantly, its Special Defense increased significantly. However, even though it weakened the opponent's Special Attack and increased its own Special Defense, and given that the bandana-wearing rascal's Special Defense was already extremely high, Bellbell's attack still pinned the bandana-wearing rascal to the ground, rendering it unable to move. This also had a significant impact on Cynthia. Under the influence of the high synchronization rate, the intense ringing in her ears and the impact made her grit her teeth in pain.

"That's the downside of Bond Power. While a high synchronization rate can improve a Pokémon's stats and even allow its abilities to break through the limits of its species, the Pokémon's sense of injury will also be transmitted to the pilot. Do the Pokémon usually endure this kind of painful battle?" Cynthia murmured. "You guys really have it tough."

"Wild Mega Pokémon, without a trainer's assistance, will only unleash their instincts and power, even to the point of self-destruction. They won't be able to beat Chimecho if they continue like this."

In the cockpit, Cynthia shifted her shoulders and struggled to stand up.

"Watch closely, myself. This is power beyond the version," Cynthia mused. "When a person and a Pokémon are of one mind and inseparable, the bond between them will give birth to a miraculous fruit. For our common goal, surpass your limits, Bandana Thug."

Instantly, the synchronization rate between her and the bandana thug on the screen suddenly spiked, soaring from 70% to 140%, more than doubling.

"Give me a hand, Azelf!" Cynthia's face twisted in a grimace: "Level cap broken!"

"Norm".

With a crisp cry, a phantom appeared behind Cynthia, imbuing her will into the bandana thug. The bandana thug's standing body suddenly sank downwards, as if a thousand pounds had been placed on his body. He pulled his hands out of his pockets and pressed them to the ground, struggling to support his body.

The operators in the command room stared wide-eyed at the data from the bandana-wearing rascal. The indicator called "level," which judges the development and training of Pokémon, signifies the limit. The Iv100, which all scholars believed could not be improved, began to fluctuate, breaking through from 100 to 120.

"A level 120 bandana thug?"

The scene before them shattered everyone's understanding. Someone exclaimed in surprise, "All the stats exceed the theoretical maximum. Level 100 isn't the limit for a Pokémon?"

"It seems the power of bondage has been transformed into the Pokémon's level, allowing it to surpass the limits of its species. Is this the power of the mind?"

"Is level 120 the current limit? Garchomp could probably reach level 150." Under immense pain and pressure, Cynthia and the bandana thug flashed the same fierce light, the bandana thug's white hoodie turning golden.

Hold your head high.

Locking its gaze on the wind chimes trembling in the sky at this sight, it roared, "Let's go!"

The two wills merged into one, becoming inseparable. The massive body suddenly surged forward, bricks and stones flying everywhere, smashing down the surrounding trees and buildings. It lifted its foot, stomped heavily on the ground, bent its knees to the limit, spread its arms, and leaped high into the sky, over the head of the wind chime, like a golden bird soaring under the dazzling clear sky.

Without hesitation, Feng Lingling released light walls and reflective walls, creating a solid barrier. The hooded thug raised his hand, aimed at the light wall, and slashed down with all his might. Under the immense force, the layers of hard light walls and reflective walls shattered like ice blocks in an instant, dissipating into the sky and turning into pure white light.

However, in the instant when he was only a wall away from the wind chime, countless light particles gathered around the hooded thug, emitting a metallic luster, and blasted out at the hooded thug in the center.

The blinding light was right in front of her. Cynthia made a quick decision, using the last layer of reflective barrier to leap backward. The metallic light grazed the hooded thug's body, tearing countless cracks in the ground.

"So, they weren't waiting for the invincible transformation period, but rather preparing to shatter their desires?"

The hooded thug, staggered and barely managed to regain his balance after being hit by the aftershocks. Cynthia, in the cockpit, gritted her teeth and hissed as she landed on the ground. Ignoring the pain, she stared at the wind chimes in front of her and clicked her tongue in displeasure: "One move from you, one move from me. That's the downside of one-on-one turn-based combat. It would be better if I had teammates to cover for me. Besides, the opponent's level is higher than I calculated."

Seeing that the bandana thugs' fierce offensive had been broken, everyone in the command room looked serious, and Dr. Blatano clenched his fists.

"Even if they break through the level cap, they still can't defeat them. Is this the limit of humanity?"

A purple hand emerged from the ground, pressed down on the wrecked ground, and carried a huge, unrepaired red crystal on its back, with a missile stuck in its center, before climbing onto the surface.

It's a Martian-piloted soul-stealing eye.

"Soul Hook is a support character, he has no combat ability, Mars, retreat immediately."

Dr. Blatano's orders were rejected by Mars.

She said, "Because Akari doesn't want to pilot a Mega anymore, I have to work hard for him too, so I must do it."

After confirming Feng Lingling's location, Mars, operating Soul Hook, resolutely stepped forward, supporting a crystal shield behind Feng Lingling. Blue flames began to spew from the tail of the missile in the center of the shield. Soul Hook lay on the missile, his hands wrapped around the missile whose rear end was flashing with three Mach rings, and rushed towards Feng Lingling at an extremely fast speed.

Sensing the movement, the wind chime, suspended in the center of a huge metal ring, turned 180 degrees around its main body and noticed the Soul-Hooking Eye attempting to launch a rear attack. The Soul-Hooking Eye immediately launched the crystal along with the missile.

"It's a throwing skill!" one player exclaimed excitedly. "Soul Hook uses his own gem as a throwing weapon, and it even has a missile bonus! It's like Tsar Bomba's throw!!!!"

Wind Chime Ling swayed her body back and forth, and the ribbons beneath her flung out countless spiritual blades that struck the surface of the giant red crystal of the Soul-Hooking Eye, causing the crystal to begin to deform and shatter.

However, the expected massive explosion did not occur. The missile was not equipped with a warhead; it only served to accelerate the process. As the gem shattered completely, the mental blade cleaved open Soul Reaper's body vertically from above.

Along with the pilot in the cockpit.

split into two.

"Aaaaaah!" The gruesome scene caused the people in the control room to scream, cover their eyes, and only dare to peek at the battlefield through their fingers.

The Soul-Hooking Eyes' body turned into smoke in the air and then dissipated.

The eyes of everyone peeking through their fingers widened suddenly, and they realized what was going on.

"It's a substitute created by the Soul Reaper."

The true form of the Soul-Hooking Eye, concealed by the gemstone, had already transformed into a purple shadow, baring its teeth and its scarlet gaze emerging from the shadow behind Wind Chime Ling. Using a stealthy attack, it circled around to directly beneath Wind Chime Ling.

After successfully executing its feint, Soul-Hook Eyes also triggered the Trickster skill, significantly boosting its special attack. It clasped its hands together, then opened them again. To prevent the skill from being blocked by the binding force, a dark and deep shadow ball, emanating a chillingly malevolent malice, was placed in its palms and rushed towards Wind Chime Bell.

Everyone in the command room was dumbfounded. No one had expected that Sableye, as the support character, could pull off such a series of incredible maneuvers. The Ghost-type Shadow Ball was extremely effective against the Psychic-type Chimecho, and the Nasty Plot greatly boosted its Special Attack—if it hit—

Feng Lingling's life was already like a candle flickering in the wind.

"We've got it!" Everyone jumped up from their seats, raising their arms in celebration. A deafening roar of cheers filled the operations room. "This is the power of the mind. The mind guides people to accomplish what they can do, and it helps them accomplish what they cannot do, creating miracles."

"No, it's not over yet!" Dr. Blatano said, and just a fist's distance from Wind Chime, a transparent barrier was faintly visible in the sunlight.

"There's one last layer of light wall. If the Shadow Orb hits it, even if it breaks through the light wall, the power of the skill will be greatly reduced. Sableye doesn't have a cleave skill."

At the most crucial moment, a figure stood on the ground. Cynthia, piloting the bandana thug, bent her knees, placed her arms behind her back, clenched her fists, and the thick veins on her thighs spread like earthworms.

Aiming at the wall of light in the sky, I pushed off the ground and launched myself forward. Just before the shadow ball hit, I unleashed a hand chop, smashing the wall of light from below.

Just before the Shadow Ball was about to hit, Wind Chime Ling gave up resisting. Instead, a pink mist emanating from her ring-clad body completely enveloped Soul Hook and the bandana thug.

"Mist Terrain? Now that things have come to this—" Enveloped in pink mist, Cynthia was stunned for a moment before realizing that both Hoodie and Sableye were in the sky and couldn't use the mist to change their trajectory. Both Sableye and Hoodie were Dark-type and would be severely damaged by Fairy-type moves. "It's Mist Explosion. Even if you die, you want to take two of them down with you? Chimecho, you bastard."

Immediately afterwards, a purple hand emerged from the mist, grabbed the bandana thug's arm, and flung him and Cynthia outwards together.

Mars smiled in the cockpit and said sincerely, "Run, you bandana thug, thank you."

The bewitching eyes disappeared from sight, and the hooded thug flew backward with a pink mist tucked under his arm. Immediately, in the middle of the pink mist, countless lights appeared and disappeared, accompanied by scorching and dazzling flames and heat waves, as well as deafening roars. Ring-shaped air waves continuously surrounded the flames that exploded in mid-air, churning towards the sky.

The violent impact swept across the entire ground, sending countless pieces of steel and brick flying and piling up to form a massive crater. In the very center of the mist and dust, the silver bells stopped abruptly, plunging into deathly silence.

Everyone remained silent, anxiously awaiting the final outcome. Could the combined efforts of everyone, which had exhausted their wisdom and strength, resolve the crisis?

However, after a long silence, the sound of silver bells rang out and spread to the surroundings. Everyone looked at the screen and saw a huge, round black shadow staggering and slowly rising amidst the smoke and mist. Feng Lingling's life was like a candle flickering in the wind, but it was nothing more than a candle flickering in the wind.

It still had a little energy left.

Despair ensued.

Akari hugged his knees, crouching in the dimly lit shelter, listening to the sounds in the distance. After a series of shaking and rumbling, the shelter wall was smashed open, and the hooded thug's body was stuck outside the wall, his huge head hanging limply in front of Akari through the white hood.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" Cynthia opened her eyes, clutching her throbbing head from the impact, and met Akari's bewildered gaze. "Oh dear, the female lead... wait, how did I become the male lead? Could it be that my memories have returned—then why am I still in the dream?"

"Male lead, female lead, memories—" Chi Ri murmured, then realized, "So you're also one of those who entered this dream, Wei Xin, or Xi Lunna?"

"That's not important," Cynthia said indifferently. "As the protagonist of the story, it's time for you to take the stage, show your skills, and save everyone from disaster. Go and save the world, Sun Lord."

"Save what?" Chi Ri laughed self-deprecatingly. "Isn't everything here just a dream, a virtual reality? What's there to save? Anyway, everything will disappear when I wake up."

"Virtual, dreamlike—who told you everything here is fake?" Cynthia retorted. "Red Sun, have you ever seen the true face of the world? Have you ever witnessed the moment of someone's complete death?"

"What are you talking about?" Chi Ri asked, puzzled. If the dream wasn't fake, then what was fake? The merchants' promotions on Singles' Day?

Let me show you the real world.

Cynthia manipulated the bandana-wearing thug to stand up, raised her hand, and gently grasped the Crimson Sun.

Chi Ri curled his arms to protect his head, huddled in his palms, and resisted with his eyes closed, saying, "Whether it's here or in reality, everything in the world is meaningless, so leave me alone. At least let me stay here in peace for a while."

"That's not up to you," Cynthia said with a laugh.

"Now it's Cynthia's turn to teach. According to the Sinnoh creation myth, we know that the world is divided into two parts: the material side, which is built on the basis of the two gods of time and space, Giratina, and the Flip World, and the consciousness side, which is built on the basis of the three legendary mushrooms, respectively, based on memory, emotion, and will."

"Consciousness and matter combine to form what we call the real world. From this, we can propose a hypothesis: if the human body represents matter, what does the human soul, or mind, represent? And what is the relationship between the two?"

Sitting in the palm of the hoodlum's headband, Chi Ri opened his eyes, his gaze wide. Turbid dust drifted before his eyes, like thin sand, enveloping everything. Trees were withered and swaying precariously. Everything in sight was a blur. In the center of this desolation, countless lights flickered. Women, men, children, and the elderly had vanished under the deadly impact, but their figures lay prostrate on the ground, even slowly crawling on the ground, clinging to their obsession, struggling to crawl towards their loved ones, until their hands clasped tightly and they embraced.

"soul?"

Then those figures gradually dimmed and became transparent, until they completely dissipated into the atmosphere.

When a person dies, their soul dissipates.

"It's like data, right?" Cynthia said.

"Let me use trainers as an example. Being a trainer is a dangerous profession. Many trainers die in the wild, but no one goes out to look for them because they can't be found. There are many single parents in society who raise their children alone, but as you know, if there is no love between parents, a child will not be born. They cannot simply abandon their loved ones. So, where do these people who disappear go?"

"When people die, they disappear; this has always been a consensus in our eyes. But why is that? Chi Ri, have you ever thought about it?"

Chi Ri looked completely bewildered.

"If the world is a giant game, our bodies are like accounts built into the game, that is, the birth of life, or in other words, our bodies represent matter. We can move around in this world because we depend on this account. What drives these accounts are our accumulated memories, flowing emotions, and self-will, that is, consciousness, or mind."

"Similarly, what possesses memory, will, and mind can be called a soul. So the question arises: does a person's life depend on the existence of consciousness or the survival of the physical body?"

"Consciousness," Chi Ri said without hesitation, and in a daze, he understood something.

Those trainers who can't be found have actually had their consciousness completely disappear from the world; in other words, their accounts have been deleted.

"Yes, and whether the world of consciousness, or the world of mind, exists or not is a question that has been established for a long time, but no one has been able to fully answer it. At least no one has been able to answer it in your time. But in the future, thanks to a certain philandering doctor, through his research, we will be able to glimpse the true face of the mind and the world of the mind, which we will name the dream world."

"Darkrai, the God of Nightmare, and Cresselia, the God of Dreams, have the ability to enter other people's dreams and live in them. Some Pokémon can also feed on dreams. In other words, dreams and reality are actually connected, they really exist, and they can even interfere with each other."

It was based on this theory that the person designed the project called Ultimate Emerald, using dreams as a blueprint and a means to save the world. Unfortunately, due to various unforeseen circumstances, the project failed to be carried out.

Cynthia's words suddenly jolted Red Sun's thoughts. He remembered some things: when fighting the Crystal Lamp Spirit, he saw the will that people showed in order to protect and defend; he felt emotions in Mars and Jupiter; and everyone living here had memories accumulated over a long period of time.

If Cynthia's theory is correct, the soul is composed of memory, will, and emotion.

So, who were the people he spent all this time with?

He saw in the distance that, in order to gain the ability to act again, Wind Chime floated to the side of the battered Soul-Eye, extended a ribbon, pierced Soul-Eye's body, took out the cockpit, and took the unconscious and powerless girl inside into her body.

The sounds around him and the scene before him made Chi Ri's eyes widen in disbelief; his long-established worldview shattered.

Cynthia continued softly, "Returning to the original question, the two gods of time and space and Giratina constructed the material basis, so what would a world without matter be like?"

"Red Sun, what you are seeing now is a mental world dominated by consciousness, after time, space, and material foundations have been stripped away."

Hirona's voice was soft, but it was deafening.

When you have a deeply unforgettable dream, with tears in your eyes, and wake up feeling heart-wrenching pain, have you ever realized this?

"Everyone you meet and everything you encounter is not a false dream; they are real, and they are no different from us."

"Knowing all this, Akari, will you still remain unmoved?"