Hong Meiling Sleepwalks Through the Heavens

The Pokémon food took a while to be eaten by Plusle and Minun, but Heatran could simply eat it all in a single bite.

But before he could lower his mouth onto the bento, a large rock fell on top of his head.

“Excuse me! Are you bullying Plus and Mine?” Hong Meiling interrogated.

Plus and Mine are nicknames that she gave to her newly acquired Plusle and Minun.

She originally wanted to bonk at Heatran’s head, but remembered that her hand was burnt to a crisp from doing that the last time, so she simply hurled a large enough stone on his head.

His head hung down helplessly. If somebody else had hit him, he would’ve been enraged, but when it’s Meiling, he couldn’t help but bow his head in respect.

Her beating him up is still a lingering nightmare for him – he quickly stood up and stood by the side with an accused expression, as if it was saying, “Sorry for being emotional, but doesn’t it feel like I’m the one getting abused because you aren’t feeding me?”

Even if she could read his mind, she wouldn’t care. She simply patted Plus and Mine’s head and smiled, “You two enjoy your food. After you’re full, it will be Heatran’s turn.”

Heatran lowered his head in shame and hid his face in his hands, as if he was crying out, “And I get leftovers too?!”

He could only growl displeasingly to himself.

Plus and Mine, still hugging each other, did not step near the bento from how close Heatran was.

Meiling knelt down on the floor and nudged them closer, “Eat. If he tries to hurt you, I’ll beat him up!”

However, the two Pokémon did not eat, and Meiling could only sigh and turn to Heatran, “You could back up a little bit. You’re scaring them.”

Reluctantly, the Fire-Steel Pokémon backed up a couple of meters – Plus stepped forward with a newfound sense of bravery, but Mine was still a little scared. Plus hopped over, took Mine’s hand in his, and led her towards the bento.

The two ate in silence, occasionally glancing upwards to gauge Heatran’s reaction. Seeing Heatran defeated, however, the two let go of their worries and continued to stuff food into their mouths like before.

Heatran’s eyes were red with vengeance, as if it was thinking to itself, If I could do a sneak attack, knock my Trainer down, and then teach those two little rascals a lesson…

Then, it was as if she could read his mind, and she glared at him. He faltered slightly, and went back to hiding his face in his paws.

After about ten minutes, Plus and Mine were done eating, with their cute bellies slightly bulging.

They felt themselves getting very attached to their new Trainer – a Trainer who could provide them with delicious food! The two simultaneously leapt to Meiling’s side like koalas on a tree.

Meiling, in turn, felt extremely happy that they were acting like so. She sat cross-legged on the grass, and gingerly placed the two of them to rest on her thighs as she patted through their fur.

Heatran grumbled, as if he was thinking, I can do that too! I can give pats to them too! I’m sure you would let me pat them, right?! Forget it. Forget about my biased Trainer. My turn to eat.

Trudging over to the bento, he sighed. Only half of the food was left for him, which was just two bites at most for him.

Gulping down the food in swift bites, Meiling put the bento away and unsummoned Heatran. As for Plus and Mine, she let them sit on each side of her shoulders.

She continued her journey down the direction of Veilstone City, searching for Pokémon as she walked. Of course, none of them fit her aesthetical standards.

If the wild Pokémon weren’t powerful, she would send out Plus and Mine to fight them. Otherwise, she would simply kick them away with a dazzling rainbow kick.

Meiling soon encountered a Ralts and jumped in joy, but this startled the Ralts, and in a graceful twirl, it vanished instantly.

Missing out on a Ralts is equivalent to losing a Gardevoir. She couldn’t help but grumble at herself.

About 30 minutes later, she noticed movement in the air, and looked up to see a group of Pokémon flying overhead.

Two Altarias, and five Swablus.

Swablu is a Normal and Flying-type Pokémon, and it resembles a cute, blue bird with two antenna-like feathers on its head with cotton-like wings.

Altaria, on the other hand, is an evolved form of Swablu. It is much larger than a Swablu and possesses a longer neck. Moreover, it swaps out its Normal attributes to Dragon and Flying-type instead.

And naturally, it is very cute. Altaria is one of the few Pokémon who still retains its appearance after an evolution. Plus, it is incredibly strong, and is able to undergo a Mega Evolution (though it may not be widely used currently). Once it does that, it becomes a Dragon and Fairy-type Pokémon, and possess Pixilate, which causes all Normal-type moves to turn into buffed Fairy-type moves. This is strong enough to fight Dragon-type Pokémon, so it is widely known as Dragon Slayer, being a Dragon itself.

No matter what, Meiling is eager to capture an Altaria for herself.

Although they were at an altitude of more than 100 meters, naturally, Meiling had no issue reaching them. Unsummoning Plus and Mine, she leapt towards them like a cannon, flying through the air with visible wisps of dust left behind.

Seeing a strange girl-in-green hovering before them, the Altarias and Swablus were stunned.

The Swablus are young, and don’t quite understand what’s happening, but the Altarias are relatively well-informed Pokémon, and they know humans enough to know that they should not be up here with them.

What’s going on? They thought. Although she has a kind smile, there is no way that she’s kind!

Meiling simply took out her Poké Balls and smiled at the two Altarias, cooing, “I am not looking for a fight. I just hope that one of you can become my Pokémon.”

The avians aren’t stupid. They are informed enough to know what happens when humans take out their Poké Balls. Despite being known as a friendly Pokémon, that doesn’t mean that they’ll willingly let a human capture them.

One of the Altarias immediately launched Dragon Pulse towards Meiling, while the other one flew up higher into the sky.

She simply tanked the Dragon Pulse and sighed. Seems like she was forced to fight.

She concentrated her qi into her fist, then punched the oncoming Dragon Pulse, instantly dispersing it.

Meanwhile, the other Altaria swooped down towards Meiling, utilizing Sky Attack to dash towards her after accumulating enough speed in the air.

Sky Attack is a Flying-type move that requires charging time. Once this is done, it can be used to launch a powerful attack. Weaker Pokémon usually succumb or get killed by this single move.

However, Meiling did not move. She instead stretched her palms out, as if she was ready to tank the incoming bird-projectile.

The Altaria let out a battle chirp, imbuing itself with a gust of air, and slammed straight into Meiling.

However, the moment it hit Meiling’s palm, its forward momentum came to an immediate stop. She didn’t even flinch or move from her spot, as if the Altaria had hit an immovable object.

The ranged Altaria seemed anxious, and immediately, it began to sing a melodious harmony.

Meiling was visibly shocked when she heard this. These birds should be panicking for their lives, but why is the other Altaria singing?

Oh.

It must be…!

The first thing that comes to mind when she thinks of ‘Sing’ is Jigglypuff, and Sing has a chance to cause the target to fall asleep.

That would be fine, but if the Altaria was singing Perish Song, that would be a different story.

In game, Perish Song inflicts doom on the target, causing them to fall into a near-death state within three rounds.

Even though she knows that it would probably not have an effect on her, to practice prudence, she felt that she couldn’t let the song finish.

Swiping away the Altaria stuck to her palm, she immediately dashed towards the one who was singing. Instantly, she stretched out her right thumb and index finger, pinching the Altaria’s beak to stop it from singing.

It tried to flap its wings to get away from Meiling’s iron grip, but to no avail. The grip of her two fingers were like steel shackles, and it couldn’t break free no matter how hard it thrashed.

The other Altaria collided into Meiling again, but this time, it was using Take Down.

Take Down is not as powerful as Sky Attack, but of course, it does not need to be charged. In addition, Take Down self harms.

Of course, when Sky Attack doesn’t even budge Meiling, Take Down was even more powerless.

Holding the beak of the previous Altaria, she turned slightly to the side and stretched out her left hand to catch the other Altaria that would crash into her.

As soon as its beak touched her palm, the jaws of her palm slammed shut, causing the Altaria to thrash in her grip.

And just like that, Meiling scored herself two Altarias in just a few seconds.