With cautious curiosity, Aoki slowly extended his psychic energy toward the strand of fur.
He attempted to establish a telepathic link.
And then—everything went black.
He collapsed onto Mew's soft bed, unconscious.
Slowking, standing nearby, watched in confusion. Sensing no immediate danger through its psychic abilities, it determined that Aoki's mind had been overloaded with information, leaving him disoriented.
So Slowking settled beside him, waiting patiently.
Meanwhile, Aoki found himself in a hazy, dreamlike space. The surroundings were indistinct, as if obscured by fog.
But beside him, he could sense a small, pink Pokémon.
Mew.
It had to be Mew.
Aoki strained to see more clearly, but the harder he focused, the more blurred his vision became. Only Mew remained visible—a tiny, catlike creature with a long, curling tail.
He tried to move, but his body wouldn't respond. In fact, he wasn't even sure he had a body here.
Time lost meaning. Aoki drifted alongside Mew, shifting between locations he couldn't recognize.
Then, abruptly, Mew grew agitated.
A massive fissure tore through the sky—whether it was a black hole or something else, Aoki couldn't tell.
From it emerged a dark Pokémon, its form indistinct but vaguely winged.
Mew, though small and not a natural fighter, clashed with the creature.
The battle was brief. Mew was injured, and the dark Pokémon retreated into the rift, which sealed behind it.
Returning to its dwelling, Mew curled up on the bed, licking a wound that seeped golden blood. Most of it was cleaned away—except for a single drop that had soaked into the fur Aoki now held.
Mew never noticed.
Aoki realized he had just experienced years of memories from the fur's perspective. The blood, once golden, had faded to red over time.
Then—
His eyes snapped open.
Slowking still sat beside him. The room was unchanged.
A sharp, throbbing pain pulsed in his skull, as though his mind had been forcibly stuffed with foreign knowledge.
Five minutes passed before the dizziness subsided. His face was pale, but his thoughts finally settled.
He had lived as Mew's fur.
It was a surreal experience.
In hindsight, recklessly probing the strand with psychic energy had been unwise. But he hadn't expected this.
Thankfully, his own psychic resilience had spared him worse harm. Even so, his head still ached.
The fur in his tweezers now felt strangely familiar.
"System," Aoki murmured, "rename this item 'Mew's Blood.'"
Beep! Renaming complete. Database updated.
Another scan provided clearer details than before.
"System, record the additional memories in my mind. Analyze everything I've encountered and create a dedicated file labeled 'Mew.'"
Beep! Task initiated. Scanning commenced.
How the system extracted the memories didn't concern him.
Rubbing his temples, Aoki stood.
Mew's bed was undeniably comfortable—whether as fur or as himself, the plush surface was irresistible.
From his storage, he retrieved a small, sealed glass container, placed the fur inside, and secured it in the farthest corner.
This might be the most valuable treasure he'd obtained in Neverland.
While he was unconscious, the system had finished scanning the room. Aside from the fur, nothing else of use remained.
It was time to leave. Team Rocket would find Mew's DNA here one way or another—Giovanni would tear the place apart if necessary.
With Slowking's Teleport, Aoki vanished from the room.
He already had an idea for how to use the fur. His accidental "trial run" had given him insight.
But this wasn't the place to experiment.
Unseen by Aoki or Slowking, spatial distortions flickered briefly as they departed, the door sealing shut behind them.
When Aoki's vision cleared, they stood near the Ancient Tree of Life.
The area was deserted—most wild Pokémon had fled during Drake and Regis' rampage—making it a safe temporary camp.
Aoki released Honchkrow and the others, then settled against a thick tree trunk. His headache lingered, demanding attention.
Closing his eyes, he revisited the fragmented memories.
Now, they played back like his own recollections.
Piece by piece, he processed them.
Gradually, he sensed it—a slight expansion in his psychic limits.
As he absorbed more, his powers grew.
The realization thrilled him.
His psychic talent had always been static, improvable only through rare items. Yet Mew's blood had unlocked progress.
Of course—as a pure Psychic-type Legendary, Mew's essence was unparalleled.
Night fell. After feeding his team, Aoki resumed meditation.
Today had revealed one of Neverland's greatest secrets.
Where Drake and Regis were recovering, or how they'd regain their strength, didn't matter to him.
The night passed in silence.