Chapter 333: You’ve Got Some Seriously Fat Nerve~

The video continued playing.

{Aurelia} stood stiffly beside the clothing rack, one hand frozen in midair.

It was panicking.

Seriously panicking.

As a Zoroark that had spent years surviving in the wild, it considered its acting skills to have reached the ultimate realm of Able to play a human when needed, and a Pokémon when not.

It had prepared extremely thoroughly for today’s performance.

First, it transformed into Selene and waited at the back entrance of the Experience Center, where it intercepted the real Aurelia and sent her back home.

Once Aurelia left, it transformed into Aurelia instead and went onstage in her place to complete the opening performance.

The entire act had been flawless.

The audience had gone insane.

The livestream chat had exploded.

Every member of the backstage staff had praised the performance.

For that one moment onstage, Zoroark had even felt as though it had been born specifically to stand beneath the spotlight.

But now—

It finally realized something.

These two humans had known it was fake from the very beginning.

The window was only three steps away.

Zoroark suddenly spun around, pushed off with both legs, and launched itself straight toward it.

The movement was smooth and practiced.

Clearly, this was an expert at running away.

And then the next second, it bounced straight back.

More precisely—

It had been repelled by an invisible barrier.

Zoroark flipped through the air before crashing back into the pile of clothes in an extremely undignified pose.

Its head even got stuck inside the collar of the Gyarados bodysuit.

"Mew~"

Mew floated in through the window, circled Zoroark once, then turned toward Aurelia and chirped as though asking for praise.

"Good job."

Aurelia nodded.

Zoroark silently pulled its head out of the Gyarados bodysuit.

Then it glanced around the room, desperately searching for another escape route.

Mewtwo slowly entered through the side door of the office.

It stood there with its arms folded, the golden patterns across its body glowing faintly beneath the dim backstage lighting.

Selene held her juice and leisurely crouched down in front of Zoroark.

"Still thinking about running?"

"You actually dared to disguise yourself as us sisters."

Selene smiled sweetly.

"You’ve got some seriously fat nerve~"

"Ahem."

Zoroark cleared its throat theatrically.

It crawled out of the pile of Gyarados outfits, shook the sequins off its head, and gracefully bowed toward the sisters.

"Since you’ve already seen through me, there’s no point pretending anymore."

"That’s right."

"I am..."

Zoroark suddenly raised one hand.

A cloud of black smoke exploded around its body.

When the smoke dispersed it had transformed into a magician wearing a tall top hat and a black-and-white mask.

It was basically a budget version of Asher’s magician outfit.

"The world’s greatest master of disguise—Zoroark!"

Another cloud of black smoke erupted around it.

Poof!

This time, it became a Pikachu wearing the same top hat.

"Well?"

"I can become anything I want!"

"This is what a true master of disguise looks like!"

Selene cooperatively started applauding.

"Amazing, amazing!"

"Do another one!"

"You got it!"

Zoroark became more enthusiastic the more it performed.

Another cloud of black smoke—Officer Jenny.

Then Nurse Joy.

And then... Steven.

When it transformed into Steven, it even turned toward one of the decorative stones displayed in the room and began acting.

"Ahhh~!"

"The texture of this stone is simply flawless!"

Selene collapsed onto the sofa laughing.

"That’s incredible!"

"Even Uncle Steven would have to call you Master after seeing that!"

Aurelia remained expressionless throughout.

"...Are you done fooling around?"

"So how exactly did you figure me out?"

Zoroark finally returned to its true form and began speaking through telepathy.

"My transformation skills are among the best in my entire clan!"

"Even Arcanine can’t recognize me!"

"How could you possibly..."

Aurelia pointed toward her eyes.

"We can sense the unique psychic signature of every individual."

"So changing your appearance can’t fool us."

Thud!

Zoroark dropped to its knees.

Both hands braced against the floor.

Its entire body entered a state of profound existential crisis.

"My..."

"My transformation technique..."

"The technique I’ve always been so proud of..."

"It was exposed that easily?"

"Oh, don’t be so pessimistic!"

Selene pulled up a photo of Zoroark-as-Aurelia doing the wink.

"Look!"

"This Ciallo~ (∠?ω＜ )⌒★ meme has already hit the trending charts!"

"That proves your talent for performing is still incredible!"

Zoroark’s eyes slowly began to light up again.

"So..."

Selene crouched down in front of it.

"I’m prepared to give you an opportunity."

"Interested in becoming the Sun-Moon Group’s Chief Brand Ambassador?"

"Hmph!"

"The proud lone wolf shall never serve another!"

"I’ll give you your own solo show."

"Simultaneous online and offline livestreaming."

"Merchandise development."

"Performances at our themed Experience Centers."

"Movie cameos."

"Brand endorsements."

"I’ll arrange all of it for you."

"How does that sound?"

"I SWEAR ETERNAL LOYALTY TO THE SUN-MOON GROUP!"

Zoroark immediately sprang to its feet and bowed.

"Boss!"

"What else would you like me to do?"

Selene pulled out a Poké Ball.

"Nothing else."

"Just get in."

Zoroark voluntarily reached out and touched it.

A flash of red light.

The Poké Ball shook twice.

Click.

Successful capture.

[VIP Chat Group]

[Iris]: I knew that wink from "Aurelia" onstage was way too unfair! So it wasn’t even her in the first place!

[Gary]: I thought Aurelia’s expressions seemed a little strange back then, but I couldn’t figure out what exactly was wrong. Mystery solved. Turns out it was literally a species difference.

[Bonnie]: But Zoroark really is amazing! Whether it transforms into a Pokémon or a human, you can’t see any flaws at all!

[Brock]: Heh. Based on my many years of careful observation, there is not a single Nurse Joy in the entire Joy family whose third eyelash on the left eye is slightly shorter, while Officer Jenny’s—AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!

[Croagunk]: Croag! Croag! (Sitting on Brock and repeatedly using Poison Jab.)

[Bianca]: Um... Am I really the only one who thinks Aurelia’s face looks super cute when she winks?

[Elesa]: You’re definitely not! The Ciallo meme has already spread through the entire modeling world—No, wait. It’s already hit the trending charts!

[Bea]: The Regular-Seat Chat Group has already fallen. The spread of this meme is terrifying.

[Lana]: Why don’t we keep the formation going too? Opportunities like this don’t come often.

[Iono]: Great idea! I’ll go first!

[Lillie]: Um... I’ll join too.

[Dawn]: Ciallo~ (∠?ω＜ )⌒★

[May]: Ciallo~ (∠?ω＜ )⌒★

[Liko]: Ciallo~ (∠?ω＜ )⌒★

[Misty]: Enough already! If you keep spamming it, that face is going to be burned into my vision!

[Cynthia]: Ciallo~ (∠?ω＜ )⌒★

[Misty]: CYNTHIA?! YOU TOO?!

[Cynthia]: ...Diantha sent that for me.

[Raihan]: It’s over. The VIP seats have fallen too.

[Steven]: Ciallo~ (∠?ω＜ )⌒★

[Wallace]: Livescreen, could you mute Steven for a few days? I’m begging you.

[Screen]: Ciallo~ (∠?ω＜ )⌒★

[Wallace]: ???

...