Chapter Sixty-One: Alpaca! Alpaca!

Chen Ou was a bundle of nerves right now...

How on earth had he gotten mixed up in this mess?

Thinking back carefully, it seemed to have started when Rotom discovered a new type of Poison Pokémon. Then, excited and eager, Rotom had dragged him along to see what sort of powerful being he hadn’t encountered yet.

Wait a minute... So he already knew that any Pokémon he hadn’t collected was bound to be some legendary? Why did he have to go looking for trouble with them?

The joke was on him—he was the clown all along.

No, he wasn’t going to take the fall for this. Rotom, this was all on you.

Rotom: ???

Of course, now wasn’t the time to start shifting blame. The real problem at hand... was figuring out how Chen Ou was going to get out of this alive.

Damn it, he could already see the alpaca’s head!

Yes, the alpaca—Arceus himself—was lying dormant within this cave.

Wait, had he really been transported straight into Sinnoh?

He turned his head and shot Xue a questioning look.

"Weren’t you here to look for the tablets? What, are you planning to snatch them straight from Arceus?"

Xue looked just as bewildered. She’d never actually seen Arceus, but she had sworn to serve him when she joined the organization. At the very least, she’d seen his statues.

But hadn’t their boss said Arceus was asleep and the tablets were scattered all over the region?

So what was this living, breathing figure walking straight toward her?

"I have no idea!"

Chen Ou saw the confusion and despair in her eyes. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say either, so he simply stayed silent.

But Chen Ou was becoming more and more convinced that this world was far more dangerous than he’d ever imagined.

It was nothing like the worlds he’d read about in novels, seen in anime, or played through in games...

In the original stories, there were no organizations running around collecting tablets.

But in this world, after all the villainous teams had vanished, every sort of organization seemed to spring up like weeds.

Still... shouldn’t a creator god like Arceus have a bit more dignity? What kind of creator god bursts onto the stage barely sixty chapters in?

Yet Arceus ahead of him had no intention of answering questions—or of worrying about his image.

He simply advanced, each step echoing like a death knell.

For the first time, Chen Ou felt death breathing down his neck. He had always sought power to protect others, never imagining he might be in danger himself.

After coming to this world, he finally understood how Enel must have felt—so arrogant, so untouchable.

When nothing and no one can truly harm you, arrogance is almost inevitable.

Since arriving in this world, Chen Ou hadn’t been injured once.

He always joked about how out-of-place it was to use the Flame-Flame Fruit in a Pokémon world, but deep down he was satisfied with his cheat.

After all, in this world, he didn’t even have to worry about Logia counters or Armament Haki.

He was the ultimate invasive species!

Unfortunately, he had a gut feeling that, if this alpaca in front of him so desired, he would be judged and punished on the spot.

There’s no greater despair than having your life and death out of your own hands.

Of course, giving up without a fight wasn’t in Chen Ou’s nature. Was he really going to be so terrified at the sight of Arceus that he’d lose all composure?

Don’t underestimate Earthlings, you fool!

So...

"Honored Arceus, Creator God, may I ask what brings you here?"

Chen Ou straightened his posture, adjusted his clothes, and offered an elegant, polite smile.

Did you think he would just attack outright?

How reckless!

Even Doctor Strange knew the wisest move was to say, "Dormammu, I’ve come to bargain!"

Did you expect Chen Ou to just charge in blindly, spewing flames in Arceus’s face?

Ridiculous! Chen Ou was not an unreasonable man. At the very least, he’d wait until the opponent showed hostile intent...

Why not wait until the other side made the first move?

Because Chen Ou wouldn’t survive that long...

Arceus gave no reply, continuing at his own measured pace.

But as Arceus drew nearer, Chen Ou noticed something odd...

This Arceus... was in the Poison Plate form...

That didn’t make sense. Arceus, who was always eager to lend out all his plates, would never maintain any form other than his default.

Moreover, Chen Ou felt he should trust these villainous organizations to be as devious as ever. Arceus might truly be sleeping, and this alpaca in front of him... was probably a fake, or at best a projection.

After all, this guy didn’t seem all that bright...

After a few more steps, Arceus halted, standing just a handful of meters away. The oppressive aura radiating from him was nearly suffocating Xue.

She turned to glance at Chen Ou, only to find him as calm as ever.

Arceus looked down upon Chen Ou from on high.

"Human, you do not belong to this world. Why have you come? Who sent you?"

Chen Ou thought to himself that this was a good question—he’d like to know what that unscrupulous game developer was up to as well.

"...It was a twist of fate, nothing more," he replied. What else could he say? That he’d been playing a game and suddenly crossed over? That he’d made a pit stop in the world of pirates along the way? That in his original world, he’d captured Arceus with a single Ultra Ball?

Say something like that... and he’d be dead for sure...

The less you say, the fewer mistakes you make. Stay silent, and you can’t go wrong.

People who can hold their tongues rarely end up badly.

Chen Ou smiled and said nothing more, his demeanor suggesting "Don’t ask, or I’ll kill myself."

Arceus was silent as well. A wordless standoff began between them.

The scene was so shocking that Xue’s worldview shattered.

The god their organization had tried so hard to awaken was now conversing with another person on nearly equal terms.

Truly, the gap between people was greater than the gap between a person and a dog...

Here they were, racking their brains on how to serve the great one, but he might not even want their service. Meanwhile, Chen Ou was already daring to stare Arceus down.

Who could compete with that?!

Was it too late to defect to the League?

It really felt like there was no future in her organization...

And then, she fainted. Arceus withdrew his gaze from her.

"At the very least, tell me your purpose here, outsider," Arceus asked again.

Chen Ou raised his head, calm and unwavering.

"I have no purpose here. If I could, I wouldn’t have come at all.

"All I want now is to enjoy my life and become an excellent trainer. I have no interest in ruining this beautiful world."

His expression was resolute.

"I’ve already given up on returning to my homeland. I no longer wish to be a traveler between worlds. This place—this is my home now."