Chapter 162: I No Longer Seek

"You... found Arceus?" Mewtwo asked with a hint of surprise.

This was genuinely something she had not expected. After all, the Creator Pokémon, which she had searched for over such a long time without a trace, had just been found by Chen Ou like this?

And what exactly was the "bridge" that Chen Ou had spoken of?

Perhaps this, too, was the very meaning of her existence.

A flicker of eagerness appeared on Mewtwo's face.

Chen Ou shrugged. "I didn't go looking for him; he came looking for me. And on top of that, he orchestrated the whole thing to trap me."

Red decisively rolled his eyes, while Leaf looked at Mewtwo with a trace of worry.

Would Mewtwo feel a bit upset? She had searched for Arceus for so long, yet without Chen Ou even looking, Arceus had come looking for him instead. The differential treatment was simply too obvious.

If you asked whether Mewtwo felt upset, she was undoubtedly quite upset.

How could she not be? Everyone present was non-human, so why such blatant preferential treatment?

Actually, this couldn't really be blamed on Arceus. For one, Chen Ou was indeed much more active among the legendary Pokémon. For another, Arceus was sufficient to handle the coordination of the legendary Pokémon; what he needed was someone who could communicate normally with humans.

Between Chen Ou and Mewtwo, Chen Ou was naturally the better choice.

In that regard, Arceus choosing Chen Ou over Mewtwo was entirely understandable.

"However, Mewtwo, searching for Arceus won't help you achieve your goal," Chen Ou took a sip of his berry juice, then shook his head as he spoke.

Mewtwo snapped out of her thoughts, looking at Chen Ou with sudden incomprehension.

"Things like meaning are never something that others can bestow upon you. Meaning requires self-realization. Whether it is needed or not, meaning must be found by oneself."

Chen Ou said with a somewhat helpless tone. In truth, once you experience enough of these things, you naturally understand them. For those who haven't experienced them, no matter how much you explain, it remains nothing more than illusory grand principles and empty platitudes.

"I understand your confusion and helplessness."

Chen Ou looked at Mewtwo.

"We are the same kind, Mewtwo. Both of us are things that本来 should not exist in this world."

"Yet, since we already exist here, our lives inherently have meaning. Your current confusion stems merely from being lost about your own positioning."

"Go on a journey, Mewtwo. Go and seek it. Until you find it, or until you no longer need it."

Chen Ou smiled as he said this.

Mewtwo gazed at Chen Ou's face, momentarily lost in thought. She did not know what kind of struggles and confusion Chen Ou had experienced, but the Chen Ou before her now gave her the feeling of a reliable senior.

"I understand. I shall continue my journey."

After a moment, Mewtwo nodded.

"That settles it then. Matters are not actually that complicated. Walk around a bit more, and you'll naturally find your own answers."

Chen Ou nodded, then said, "Drink up, everyone. It'll get cold if you don't."

With that, everyone picked up their respective cups and silently drank the beverages within.

The taste must be experienced by oneself; warmth and cold are known only to the drinker.

Such is the way of the world.

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Mewtwo departed shortly after.

Red also took his leave, returning to Mt. Silver to continue brooding in isolation. Blue made the rare decision to head to Viridian City to check on his Gym. Leaf went to find Professor Oak, while White went off to share a late-night snack with Eri and Yuyue. I have to admit, the friendship among these three young girls was truly astonishing to Chen Ou—how did they manage to get along so well in such a short span of time?

"Then why didn't you just ask her directly?" Hearing this, Cynthia asked with a puzzled expression.

"I did ask," Chen Ou wore an expression of utter helplessness. "She said I wouldn't understand."

"I said, 'How do you know I won't understand if you don't explain?' She replied, 'If you say you don't understand, then you don't understand.' After that, I didn't want to talk anymore."

Chen Ou wore a helpless look on his face, completely devoid of the carefree, transcendent demeanor he had worn while chatting with Mewtwo earlier, as if he had seen through all the affairs of the mortal world.

Seeing Chen Ou's expression, Cynthia chuckled, then handed the last washed cup in her hand over to him. Chen Ou placed the cup into the cabinet and closed the door.

"What you said to Mewtwo just now—were you really not just blowing smoke to fool her?"

Cynthia was still rather skeptical, especially since everything Chen Ou had said actually sounded quite reasonable, like the profound maxims of a life mentor.

Yet, upon careful reflection of Chen Ou's words, she realized something.

From beginning to end, it seemed he had essentially just been telling Mewtwo:

"Go on a journey, young maiden! The journey will surely hold the answer you seek!"

Chen Ou shook his head, sat down on the sofa, and said helplessly, "Fooling her does me no good. Like I said, Mewtwo and I can be considered the same kind—both of us linger on the boundary between humans and Pokémon."

Cynthia sat down beside him, leaned her head against his shoulder, and continued to ask, "Then why didn't you just tell her what the so-called 'bridge' is? That would be the 'meaning' most suited for her, wouldn't it?"

Cynthia naturally knew what the bridge meant, but Chen Ou hadn't mentioned the significance of the bridge during his exchange with Mewtwo.

Mewtwo had been so thoroughly talked into submission by Chen Ou that she had even forgotten to ask.

Everyone present at the time knew what the bridge meant, but since Chen Ou didn't bring it up, they all assumed he had some deeper meaning in mind and thus refrained from asking further.

Chen Ou scratched his head and said, "The problem is that with Mewtwo's current mindset, she isn't suited to be a bridge."

"What do you mean?" Cynthia asked.

"A bridge requires having one's own stance. My basic stance will undoubtedly lean toward humanity. Therefore, I need a comrade who stands on the side of Pokémon. But Mewtwo right now... has no stance," Chen Ou said with a slight headache.

He could only sigh at how strange parallel worlds could be; this world's Mewtwo had neither counter-attacked nor awakened, but was instead still living in confusion, wandering the mortal realm.

"Is that why you decided to prepare drinks for everyone yourself?"

"No, there's no particular reason. Just because everyone was here, so I wanted to whip up some drinks for everybody," Chen Ou kept it simple. In truth, that was the actual reason; it wasn't a big deal to begin with, just a sudden impulse of his.

If every little thing had to carry a profound meaning... how exhausting would that be!

Cynthia hadn't expected this answer from Chen Ou. But after a brief pause, a smile bloomed on her face—and really, that wasn't bad either.

Why on earth torment oneself by overanalyzing everything?

"Still, Mewtwo probably wants to integrate into human society even more right now," Chen Ou remarked out of the blue.

"Is it because she wants to drink coffee?"

Cynthia rested her head against Chen Ou's shoulder without lifting it.

Chen Ou nodded. "I know she possesses the body and power of a legendary Pokémon, but her mindset is actually much more like a human's."

Pausing for a moment, Chen Ou said helplessly, "Too bad she doesn't look like a human... Humans could never accept her. Humans are just such superficial creatures."