Vita Magicis (HP SI-WC) (Patreon)

Chapter 61: Farewell, For Now

It took me a few long moments to process the revelation that the Pidgeot I had raced earlier that morning was actually a fucking Mew in disguise.

Moreover, that this same Mew, one of the mythical Pokémon that was supposed to be extraordinarily rare, had somehow decided it wanted to follow me… and had willingly allowed itself to be captured.

‘Could my Blessed Talent perk, along with Creature Defense, have played a role in Mew taking a liking to me so quickly?’ I wondered silently.

Before I could dive deeper into the implications of accidentally catching a literal Mythical Pokémon, the girls finally snapped out of their stunned silence.

Then came the squeals.

“It’s soooo cuuuuteeee~!”

“Is that a Mew!? Oh Merlin, it really is, isn’t it?!”

“It’s even cuter than the pictures showed~!”

“Doesn’t it look like the softest pink cat ever?!”

“Its paws are sooo soft~!”

“Awwww, it’s adorable~!”

On and on they went, crowding around the floating pink Pokémon and absolutely smothering it in affection.

And Mew?

Mew was eating. It. Up. The little traitor.

The tiny psychic cat purred happily as it was passed from girl to girl, nuzzling cheeks, batting at hair, letting out pleased little chirps as it basked in the sea of attention.

‘Someone likes being the center of attention,’ I thought in amusement as I watched it melt into a pile of very enthusiastic female affection. ‘You’ve got excellent taste in women too. I respect that.’

Eventually, Mew’s bright blue eyes locked onto mine from Illya’s arms. It tilted its head mid-air and let out a cheerful little cry.

“Mew, Mew~!”

I exhaled, finally surrendering to the absurdity of the situation.

“Haah… I can’t believe I accidentally caught a Mew.”

Stepping forward, I gently scratched under its chin. Mew immediately cooed and slipped free of Illya’s hold, floating straight into my arms and pressing itself against my chest as if it belonged there.

The girls collectively melted.

“Meew~”

“Well,” I murmured, smiling down at it as I stroked its soft pink fur and earning a delighted coo, “even if you weren’t actually a Pidgeot… I still really enjoyed our race.”

Mew blinked up at me.

“And I’m happy you’re here.”

I adjusted my hold slightly, meeting its gaze properly.

“So let’s do this the right way. Welcome to the team, Mew.”

“Mew~!”

The Mythical Pokémon let out an excited chirp and spun once mid-air in obvious delight.

“Aww, you two look so cute together, Senpai~” Sakura cooed, blushing softly.

“Huhuhu~ this scene is priceless,” Illya giggled, already snapping rapid-fire photos while Astoria leaned over her shoulder, equally amused.

“You seriously have ridiculous luck, Aether,” Hermione groaned, arms crossed. “I wanted a Mew too! But I figured our chances of even seeing one were microscopic, so I settled for Abra.”

“Hihihi…” Luna hummed dreamily. “I wonder if Mew can transform into things that aren’t Pokémon?”

Mew paused mid-spin.

Its eyes gleamed.

Oh no.

It took several minutes for the chaos surrounding Mew’s capture to finally settle.

Well… “settle” might have been a generous word. The squealing had simply dropped from hysterical to manageable.

Now, with slightly more restraint than before, the girls stood a safe distance away as I reached for another Poké Ball.

Mew was currently perched on my shoulder, which of course caused the girls to gush all over again while Illya took another rapid-fire series of photos of the “adorable scene,” according to her.

“Alright,” I warned, glancing back at them. “Stand back. I don’t know if it’ll still be hostile.”

A few of the girls tensed immediately.

I tossed the Poké Ball toward the center of the room.

“Come on out, Zapdos!”

In a burst of white light, the legendary bird of lightning materialized.

Zapdos collapsed onto the ground the moment it appeared.

Still unconscious.

“You really did a number on it, huh?” Rin asked, one brow raised.

“How exactly did you defeat it?” Daphne leaned forward curiously. “A powerful spell?”

I scratched the back of my head with a sheepish smile. “I might’ve had a fistfight with it… and since it didn’t want to go down, I had to get a little rough.”

Silence.

“…A fist fight?” Hermione repeated flatly.

“Yeah…” I nodded slowly.

Hermione inhaled.

“That is the—”

“—stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“—most awesome thing I’ve ever heard, hihihi~!”

Hermione and Ginny spoke at the exact same time.

Rose shook her head fondly. “Only you, Aether.”

“That does sound like him, alright,” Astoria added with a wide, pleased grin.

“Haah… anyway,” I sighed. “Let me heal it. Like before, stand back for a moment.”

Stepping forward, I extended my hand toward the unconscious Legendary and began the chant.

“Curaja.”

With one of my strongest White Magic spells, radiant energy poured over Zapdos. Within moments, its wounds faded and its breathing steadied.

Then its eyes snapped open.

“Grrr…”

Zapdos rumbled low in its throat as it rose slowly to its feet, taking in its surroundings. The moment its gaze landed on me, recognition flashed in its sharp eyes.

I stayed perfectly still, meeting its stare calmly, doing my best to project that I wasn’t a threat.

Mew, meanwhile, tilted its head from my shoulder like this was the most entertaining thing it had seen all day.

Behind me, several of the girls tensed, especially the less combat-experienced ones, their hands already drifting toward their wands.

Zapdos rose slowly to its full height, feathers crackling faintly with residual electricity. It studied me in silence, head tilting slightly one way… then the other.

A long pause.

Then—

It let out a softer cry and lowered its head toward me in what was unmistakably a gesture of respect.

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding and smiled.

“Glad to have you on board, Zapdos.”

Moving slowly, I stepped closer and gently ran my hand along its neck. Its feathers were surprisingly smooth beneath the faint electric hum.

Zapdos cooed lowly, wings relaxing.

That was all the permission the girls needed.

The tension in the room broke instantly as they began carefully approaching, and soon a familiar scene repeated itself, though this time Zapdos was far less enthusiastic about being the center of attention. It allowed a few cautious pets before firmly pulling away when someone got too grabby.

“Seems less attention-hungry than someone,” I muttered, glancing at the pink creature currently grooming my hair.

“Mew~,” it chirped innocently.

After a few more minutes of careful admiration, I withdrew Zapdos back into its Poké Ball.

“Alright. That’s enough for today.”

Several disappointed sounds followed.

“We’ve got a big day tomorrow,” I continued. “With it being our last day here, I’m sure all of you want to do some last-minute shopping before we leave.”

Predictably, several eyes lit up.

Mew floated off my shoulder, spun mid-air, and then promptly flopped back down like it had no intention of being recalled.

I raised an eyebrow.

It blinked at me.

“…You’re not going back in the ball, are you?”

“Mew.”

Yeah. That’s what I thought.

=====

Following Day

Knowing this would be our last day in the Pokémon world for a while, at least until we returned better prepared and I was significantly stronger, the girls did not hold back on their shopping.

They went absolutely feral.

By midday, they had bought nearly everything that caught their interest and had already been politely, and not so politely, kicked out of more than one store.

I, of course, wisely chose to stay far, far away from that disaster.

Instead, I spent the day playing with Mew.

The little gremlin clearly loved having fun and quickly roped me, and several of my Pokémon, into an extended game of tag in the forest south of the city.

It was… honestly pretty fun.

Actually finding Mew, however, was a nightmare thanks to its ability to turn invisible or transform into whatever Pokémon it felt like at the moment.

If not for my Bounty Tracker perk, we would have been chasing the little menace for hours.

The only time it willingly went easy on us was when food was involved. Whenever it was time to eat, Mew would immediately abandon stealth and plop itself either into my lap or onto my head, happily devouring whatever I handed it like a tiny pink glutton.

Like all good things, though, our time eventually ran out.

By late afternoon, I headed back toward the city where I was supposed to meet the girls after their shopping spree. After that, we’d be saying our goodbyes to Nurse Joy and returning to the Harry Potter world.

Honestly… Nurse Joy was one of the staples of this world whose company I genuinely enjoyed, even if we might have driven a few of them slightly up the wall.

“Hmm… I wonder if I can convince a Nurse Joy to travel back with us next time,” I mused aloud.

Mew, currently disguised as a Pichu, chirped in agreement from my shoulder.

“Pichu~ Pi!”

“You like that idea too, huh?” I muttered, scratching the little gremlin under the chin.

It cooed happily.

“Pi~”

“I’ll make a note of it,” I continued thoughtfully. “Though now that I think about it… we might need more than one Nurse Joy with how many Pokémon we already have.”

I hummed.

“Well… if it becomes a real issue, I could always buy a few clones from the Company.”

With that practical solution filed away, the Poké Center finally came into view. I slowed to a stop for a moment, taking in the scene.

“…Haah,” I exhaled softly.

“As short as this visit was… it’s definitely one of the most memorable trips I’ve ever had. Not to mention getting to actually visit one of my dream worlds since I was little.”

On a whim, copying the girls for once, I pulled out my phone and snapped a selfie with the Poké Center in the background and “Pichu” perched proudly on my shoulder.

Then we headed inside.

The girls were already waiting in the lobby when I arrived, surrounded by an alarming number of bags.

I made the executive decision not to ask about how much they spent today. It was better for my mental health that way.

“Hey, girls. Get everything you needed?” I asked calmly.

“Yeah, we got everything,” Rose answered with a nod.

Pichu hopped off my shoulder and immediately launched itself into Luna’s arms. Already aware of its true identity, she happily cuddled the little impostor while it purred in delight.

“Good,” I said. “Then let’s get moving. I’d like to get back a bit early, we still have a lot to unpack, and we need to get the Pokémon settled into their new home.”

With that, I headed toward our shared room, the girls following behind me.

“I wonder how much time has passed back home,” Ginny mused aloud, likely thinking about her family, and her mother’s potential reaction.

“Hopefully not much,” Hermione replied calmly. “Aether did say time flows differently between our worlds.”

“I wonder where we’ll go next time,” Rose added thoughtfully, which immediately sparked a lively discussion among the girls.

Thankfully, I was walking ahead of them.

Because if they could see my face right now…

They’d notice me sweating nervously.

‘Sorry, girls,’ I thought quietly.

‘But next year… I really need some me time.’

=====

After quickly storing everything the girls had bought into my inventory, we made one final sweep to ensure nothing had been left behind before finally making our way out of the Poké Center.

On the way, we spotted Nurse Joy behind the counter, surprisingly not busy for once, and, as one, we called out our goodbyes.

“Thanks for everything, Nurse Joy. You were wonderful. Also… sorry for any trouble we caused,” I called across the room with a wave.

“Yeah, thanks for everything— Wait!” Rin’s head snapped toward me. “Are you implying we were the ones who caused trouble and not you?”

“You said it, not me~” I shot back teasingly.

She immediately drove an elbow into my ribs.

I took it like a champ.

The rest of the girls stepped forward in turn, offering their own enthusiastic thanks, which only seemed to make the pink-haired nurse more and more flustered by the second.

“P-Please, everyone, there’s no need to thank me,” Nurse Joy said nervously, waving her hands. “I was just doing my job, hehe.”

“Even so, thank you for putting up with us,” I said, giving her a small, polite bow. “I hope we meet again in the future.”

With that, I turned and headed for the exit with a small smile.

The girls quickly followed suit, each offering their own farewell and leaving one very overwhelmed Nurse Joy behind the counter.

As we stepped outside, Illya slid up beside me and hooked one of my arms, looking up with a thoughtful little grin.

“Don’t you think we should recruit our own Nurse Joy?” she asked. “It would be really handy having a Pokémon doctor working for us.”

That immediately got everyone’s attention.

All eyes turned to me.

I simply shrugged, causing the “Pichu” on my head to squeak in protest as it nearly lost its balance.

“Already thought about it, actually,” I said calmly. “If it becomes essential, I can always buy some clones of her later.”

That answer seemed to satisfy them, and the group relaxed as we continued walking out of the city, chatting idly among ourselves.

Eventually, we left the main road and veered into a quiet clearing, where I came to a stop.

“Well,” I said, stepping forward while pulling out my phone, “it looks like our adventure in this world has come to an end for now.”

With a few quick inputs, a familiar portal shimmered into existence in the air before us.

I turned back to the girls with a small smile.

“Don’t worry, though. Now that we’ve been here once, a portal to this world will always be available whenever we want to visit.”

I paused slightly.

“Preferably when we’re stronger.”

Then I gestured toward the portal with a small flourish.

“Well… ladies first.”

One by one, the girls formed a line and stepped through the portal. As each passed, they left me with a quick kiss on the lips before disappearing to the other side.

Soon, only Mew and I remained.

The little mythical had already reverted to its true form and was now lazily circling the portal with open curiosity, its tail swaying behind it.

I smiled faintly.

“Ready to explore a brand-new world, Mew?”

As expected, the psychic legendary seemed to understand perfectly. It bobbed happily in the air, zipped around me in a quick loop, then settled onto my shoulder and rubbed its head affectionately against my chin.

“Mew~!”

I chuckled softly. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

With that, I cast one final glance back at the world around me, the skies, the distant treeline, the faint hum of a place that had been far more eventful than I’d planned.

Then I stepped forward and passed through the portal.

My thoughts were already shifting ahead.

That’s right…

The Triwizard Tournament should be happening this year.

Which meant—

A small smile tugged at my lips.

I’ll finally be meeting Fleur Delacour.