Pokémon, but cultural invasion.

It was only after learning about the many fairy tale scripts he had written that I realized just how talented he truly was.

And his first film, like his games and stage plays, must have been prepared with a killer feature that would amaze the world.

'Come on, Izumi-ki, let me see your limits.'

The entire screening room was plunged into darkness, and as the screen gradually lit up, a magnificent melody played by a cello and organ filled the air.

The sound of a piano flowed gently, accompanying the music into the night of Yuhong City.

As night fell, the city lights began to illuminate the bustling streets.

The camera pans past the lit lights and turns to the main entrance of the downtown museum.

Through the glass, you can see the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Pteranodon models in the lobby facing each other across the distance, their movements fierce and menacing.

The fossil skeletons displayed in the glass showcase seem to tell the story of the hardships of ancient times and listen to the sighs of the past.

The camera pans into the museum, where a well-equipped expedition team is poised to set off.

Some people were half-squatting on the ground to survey the footprints, while others were discussing with their companions while holding maps. Meanwhile, Hai Zhe, riding a motorcycle lizard, gazed into the distance with deep eyes.

At the junction of the first and second floors, a stone sculpture of a hero who banished the darkness holds a sword and shield, with his eyes closed and head bowed, and one can still vaguely see his former glory.

In the primeval jungle on the second floor, a group of humans dressed in ancient clothing surrounded the sticky dragon, some holding up mud balls, others pulling up a large net.

One of the girls, wearing a red scarf, remained motionless, appearing out of place.

The camera rotates and weaves between the various booths, displaying lines of introductory text when it hovers over them.

The pauses were just right, and the rapidly changing exhibits were overwhelming.

The grand, epic music and the deliberate use of camera angles to highlight the sculptural qualities of the exhibits somehow kept Xiaoxia, who wasn't interested in past history, from feeling bored.

“There used to be expeditions, just like those described in fantasy picture books.”

"Ancient people didn't use Poké Balls to catch Pokémon; they used these strange mud balls."

Knowledge enters the brain in a strange way.

Xiaoxia opened her eyes wide. The last exhibit was an X-shaped dead tree that emitted seven-colored light.

The tree has no leaves; its bare trunk and branches stretching towards the sky on both sides, along with its roots extending to the ground on both sides, form an "X" shape.

At the center of the tree trunk is a crystal ornament in the shape of a flower.

【The Incarnation of Xerneas and the Eternal Flower】

The white introduction that appeared on the screen left Xiaoxia, who knew very little about history, completely bewildered.

Fortunately, the camera continued to move and eventually settled on a security guard in uniform, who appeared to be on his first day of work.

His name is Larry. He wanders through an empty museum at night and stops in front of a statue commemorating his championship victory.

A look of bewilderment appeared on his freshly shaved face as past memories gradually became clearer, and images began to flash back.

The audience members joined him in experiencing Larry's memories.

The protagonists of the film are no longer brave and powerful knights, noble princes, or mysterious superheroes.

Larry is an ordinary person who grew up in a town in the Kanto region.

Like most teenagers, he also dreams of becoming the world's strongest trainer.

Larry begins his Kanto adventure after taming a green caterpillar crawling at his doorstep.

The roar of Dodrio as it left town, the rainy night with Caterpie huddled in its tree hole, the dim lights of the Pokémon Center late at night, and its first evolution in battle...

The film uses a montage technique to reveal Larry's dramatic transformation from a passionate teenager to a qualified trainer.

Within just two or three minutes, the audience was completely captivated.

In Larry's struggles and hardships, they saw themselves and felt a strange resonance.

During their early days as a trainer, who didn't spend time in the wild with their Pokémon through frost and snow?

Who hasn't had to rush their partner to the hospital late at night due to a travel accident?

No one can forget the explosive excitement and exhilaration of their partner evolving for the first time in battle.

Larry doesn't seem like a protagonist at all; his experiences are too ordinary, too similar to those of the ordinary people present.

So much so that the audience had the illusion that there really was such an ordinary rookie trainer in the Kanto region, right next to them.

They may be indifferent to distant princes, knights, and heroes, but they cannot ignore someone who is very similar to themselves, a person of flesh and blood.

"thump."

With his last Pokémon unable to battle, Larry collapsed to his knees on the Indigo League stage.

The expectant look in the eyes of the audience members below the stage suddenly dimmed.

Unsurprisingly, this is what most ordinary people experience.

His dream of becoming a trainer was shattered. After facing reality, he had no way to continue and looked for other jobs, eventually becoming a full-time office worker.

That's how it should be, but Larry didn't give up.

He traveled to new regions, from Kanto to Johto, from Hoenn to Sinnoh, and without a doubt, he failed in every tournament.

After several years of wasting time, the unshaven Larry returned to the Kanto region.

Faced with the enormous chasm between his dreams and reality, he ultimately gave up.

What a foolish move. If I had realized my mistake earlier, I wouldn't have wasted so many years.

But when the dim light from the screen shone on the faces of the audience, not a single face showed mockery.

On the contrary, there was silence and compassion.

Because if they had made the same choice as Larry back then, Larry in the movie would be a reflection of their reality.

If even you have given up on your dreams, what reason do you have to laugh at him?

Xiaoxia was affected by the atmosphere around her, though she didn't really understand what was hidden in the complicated looks in the eyes of the people around her.

Are regional tournaments really that difficult to win?

Even if someone is not very smart, after traveling for four years, they should be able to make it to the top eight, right?

Is the atmosphere a bit heavy?

Xiaoxia, who had previously been full of confidence in Quanshu, now wavered slightly and a trace of unnecessary worry emerged.

The atmosphere at the beginning of the movie is so heavy, it can't be a good thing, right?

After all, how could anyone in the world like watching a movie where the protagonist is pinned to the ground right from the start?

However, the movie had only just begun, so she remained calm and continued to watch the shaky images on the screen.

Larry finally came to the realization that he didn't have the talent to become a trainer.

Disheartened, Larry raised all his Pokémon except for Eevee, which had been with him the longest, at his old home in the countryside, where his parents took care of them.

He then found a job as a night shift security guard in Yuhong City.

[This is a new job; this security guard position is no easy task.]

If you encounter something you can't understand, read more books; those about history and mythology can be helpful.

A former security guard, who was preparing to leave the company, left behind two pieces of advice.

For trainers with an education level of no more than junior high school, reading is undoubtedly a luxury.

Larry sat down at the front desk in the museum's lobby, taking sips of coffee every now and then, looking quite content.

The camera shifts, and the vast museum is completely silent.

Xia, who had read "Cinderella" carefully, keenly sensed that the "turning point" that Quanshu liked to use was about to arrive.

Chapter 67 The Savage Can Talk, This Dark Room Situation

No thief would target a natural history museum that doesn't house gold and silver jewelry.

In the still of the night, Larry, lying on the armchair at the front desk, could no longer resist the drowsiness and closed his eyes.

He didn't know how much time had passed when he was awakened by the urge to urinate.

Looking at the closed museum doors, Larry sincerely felt that his job was easy, unlike traveling and having to worry about sudden weather changes when camping out at night.

He whistled and twirled his keychain as he walked toward the bathroom.

The moment Larry stepped away from the front desk, he suddenly stopped.

"Is something...missing?"

He looked back and saw a three-person-tall model of a Tyrannosaurus Rex standing in the center of the hall, which any visitor would see as soon as they entered the exhibition hall.

Now it has vanished without a trace, leaving only an empty wooden base in its place.

"Was it stolen?"

Larry's face turned green at the thought of the theft: "What kind of good person would steal a big plastic model?"

His frustrated mutterings made the attentive audience chuckle, dispelling the faint oppression and heaviness in the air.

However, the next second, a heavy thud was heard from the depths of the corridor.

"who is it?"

Alert Larry shone his flashlight toward the source of the sound.

Suddenly, eerie piano music rang out, and the laughter in the screening room stopped abruptly: Could it be a thief?

As the beam of light illuminates the end of the corridor.

"Clap!"

Larry's flashlight slipped to the ground, leaving the audience stunned.

One hundred million years ago, a reddish-brown Tyranitar was using a water dispenser to wash its lower jaw.

So the movie's genre isn't history, but fantasy?

Xiaoxia didn't expect the turning point to come so suddenly. The historical introduction at the beginning of the movie and the protagonist's past memories almost made her forget the movie's promotional slogan.

Every night, the exhibits on display would come down and move around on their own.

Larry blinked hard to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

Reason told him he should run away now, but his trainer's habit made him reach for the Poké Ball at his waist.

"Ibu, prepare for battle!"

Brown Eevee appeared in a white light, letting out a majestic roar upon its entrance.

Upon realizing that its opponent was a giant, skeletal dragon, it instantly ceased its attack and fled into its trainer's arms.

They stared at each other for half a second, and years of tacit understanding made Larry instinctively take off running.

A low chuckle suddenly filled the screening room.

Larry ran back to the front desk and dialed the police using the landline.

"Hello, is this Officer Jenny from Celestial City? There's a Tyrannosaurus Rex in the museum downtown!"

There was no response on the phone. He picked up the signal cable from the back of the landline, only to find it had been bitten off by something long ago.

As the Jawless Dragon charged straight at Larry, just as disaster struck, the ceiling pillars above Larry's head snapped one by one.

The fossil pterosaur, which had been fixed in the air, also came to life, let out a sharp cry, broke free of its restraints, and swooped down.

Two ancient Pokémon were wrestling together.

Larry, who had escaped unscathed, dared not linger in the lobby on the first floor and scrambled up to the second floor with Ibu.

Unfortunately, the second floor isn't safe either.

"Gah!"

Several Archaeopteryx birds flapped their wings and flew down from the second floor, while the Prototype sea turtles skillfully crawled down the steps using their fins.

The sticky dragon, carrying a steel shell, broke away from Larry and fled.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

A group of people washing vegetables, shouting in a difficult slang and carrying rope nets, rushed past.