It was ten in the evening. The sun had long since dipped below the horizon, leaving the realm to Lunayala, the moon goddess. Xia Huanao sat alone by the sea, gazing at the calm, unrippled water, lost in thought.
Meanwhile, in the Minglong Kingdom's camp, a figure crept stealthily from their quarters. They tiptoed to Xia Huanao's room and peered inside, only to find him absent. With a sigh, they turned to leave.
Moments after the figure departed, another emerged from the shadows. This new arrival first glanced at Xia Huanao's room, then at the departing figure, before finally deciding to follow.
At the seashore, Xia Huanao, still watching the waves, reached for a stone at his side and tossed it into the ocean. With a soft *plop*, it disappeared into the water, sending a few ripples outward. He didn't linger to admire them, however, but turned his head to face the figure behind him. "You're here."
The figure nodded. "Yes. I didn't expect you to ask me out, and in such a cliché way..." They held up a crumpled piece of paper, on which Xia Huanao's hurried, crooked handwriting read: "Meet me by the sea at ten tonight."
Xia Huanao took the note, tore it into pieces, and let them drift into the ocean. He then turned back. "It might be cliché, but this way no one else will know. It’s for the sake of secrecy."
The figure shrugged indifferently. "Honestly, if it weren't you, I wouldn't have come. A man and a woman by the sea late at night… things can easily get out of hand."
Xia Huanao rubbed his temples, looking at the girl with a helpless expression. "Chu Xiaodie, you really watch too much trashy television. Did you bring the Pokémon?"
Chu Xiaodie nodded, fumbled at her waist, and produced several Poké Balls, which she handed to Xia Huanao. He tossed them out one by one. "Hm, Butterfree, Beautifly, Vivillon, Ribombee. Good, they're all here."
Chu Xiaodie watched as Xia Huanao arranged her four Pokémon into a square formation. Puzzled, she asked, "Coach Xia, what are you doing?"
Xia Huanao rubbed his hands together. "Have you ever heard of 'like attracting like'?"
Chu Xiaodie shook her head. "No. Isn't it usually 'like repels like, opposite attracts opposite'?"
Xia Huanao waved his hand. "No, it's more like 'similar names attract.' It means that when multiple Pokémon with similar names exist simultaneously, you can summon other Pokémon with the same name."
Chu Xiaodie shook her head even more vigorously. This was more outlandish than all the bizarre theories from Ling Yaoxing. Seeing her disbelief, Xia Huanao continued, "Generally, the more Pokémon sharing a character in their name, the higher the success rate of the summoning. But since you only have one Pokémon left with 'butterfly' in its name that you haven't caught, which is not Kapu-Kapu, the success rate should be quite high."
Chu Xiaodie tapped buttons on her Pokédex, then said, "So, if what you say is true, then if I caught Parasect, Haunter, Gengar... and a series of other Pokémon, and used this method, could I summon the deceased Arceus?"
Xia Huanao stroked his chin and nodded with conviction. "Yes, of course. But Arceus is at too high a level. After all, it's a deity in mythology that created the world. The success rate would probably start with seven or eight zeroes. I don't recommend you try it."
Hearing Xia Huanao's words, Chu Xiaodie pointed at the magic circle he was drawing on the ground. "Then, can these four really summon Kapu-Kapu? I think the success rate would still be in the decimals. Will this take all night?"
Xia Huanao finished drawing the circle and pulled Chu Xiaodie into it, instructing her, "Stand here and don't move. I'll go buy some Oran Berries..."
As soon as he spoke, Xia Huanao spat twice. "Pah, that's a habit. Uh, you stand here and don't move. I also think four Pokémon aren't quite enough, so I've added you, a trainer whose name contains 'butterfly,' to the mix. Now, I just need to begin the ritual."
Though Chu Xiaodie was skeptical, she had already come this far, so she had no choice but to trust Xia Huanao. Still, she was curious about his so-called ritual. She couldn't help but wonder if it was some kind of shamanistic dance, which wouldn't be very respectful.
However, Xia Huanao pulled a microphone from his bag and began to sing with abandon on the beach.
It must be said that everything Xia Huanao had done up to this point was complete nonsense. He didn't need any of it to summon Kapu-Kapu. This was a small privilege granted to him by Kapu-Kapu itself; whenever he wanted to undergo a Z-Crystal assessment, he only needed to silently utter Kapu-Kapu's name, and it would appear to assist him. All his elaborate charade was merely a cover.
Soon, Xia Huanao finished his song. He looked around, but Kapu-Kapu was nowhere to be seen, which furrowed his brow. Seeing Xia Huanao stop, Chu Xiaodie asked, "So, can I come out now?"
Xia Huanao shook his head. "Wait a moment. I have a question I can't figure out."
What Xia Huanao couldn't understand was why his first attempt to summon Kapu-Kapu had failed so spectacularly. While Ling Yaoxing did have a rotation, Pokémon didn't need to adjust to time zones; they slept and woke as they pleased. Pokémon like Kapu-Kapu should have possessed the ability to "come when called."
Xia Huanao pulled out a few strands of hair from his head and came to a conclusion: his singing was too awful. Otherwise, with four butterfly Pokémon, Chu Xiaodie, and the butterfly music buff, it should have worked.
The system, however, disagreed. "I think... your singing isn't that bad. The problem might be that the song you're singing is wrong."
Xia Huanao retorted, "What's wrong with me singing 'butterfly' to summon a butterfly?"
"Yes, 'butterfly' does mean butterfly, but you should know its origin."
"Origin... the origin..."
The system, with its vast encyclopedic knowledge, explained, "Although 'butterfly' is pronounced 'butterfly,' when it's written, there's a symbol in the middle. And this is the opening theme from Digimon Season 1, isn't it? You're using a Digimon song to summon a Pokémon. Aren't you disrespecting this world a little?"
Xia Huanao chuckled awkwardly. But this was the only butterfly-related song he knew that he could use. He couldn't possibly be expected to sing "Can't Fly Out of the Flower World," could he?
Xia Huanao prepared to mentally call Kapu-Kapu's name again. But just then, a figure suddenly appeared behind him. Upon seeing this shadow, Chu Xiaodie became visibly flustered. "Um, Sister Xiaoxiao, what are you doing here?"
Xia Huanao turned and saw Zheng Xiaoxiao staring at them with a playful glint in her eyes. "You sneak out of the room I share with you, and you thought I wouldn't know? At first, I thought you were hooking up with someone and planning something in the middle of the night. I didn't expect you to be invited out by Little Xia Zi."
Xia Huanao glanced at the nearby bushes. "So, is there something wrong with coming out with me?"
Zheng Xiaoxiao walked around Xia Huanao to Chu Xiaodie and bent down to examine the magic circle Xia Huanao had drawn. "If it's with you, then nothing undesirable will happen. But what are you two doing? Is this some kind of cult ritual?"
Chu Xiaodie pointed at the magic circle at her feet. "He said he could summon Kapu-Kapu with this ritual, but after all this time, I haven't seen it."
Zheng Xiaoxiao affectionately patted Chu Xiaodie's head. "My silly sister, only you would believe what Xia Huanao says. If he could summon Kapu-Kapu, he wouldn't do it this way. But I must admit, his singing just now was quite good."
Chu Xiaodie looked at Xia Huanao with teary eyes. "So, is Sister Xiaoxiao telling the truth? You were just playing with me?"
Xia Huanao first marveled at how quickly girls could start crying, then quickly explained, "No, I really did call Kapu-Kapu with this ritual. Right, Kapu-Kapu, explain yourself!"
Xia Huanao called out to Kapu-Kapu in the bushes by the beach, causing both Zheng Xiaoxiao and Chu Xiaodie to look towards the foliage. However, after more than ten seconds, Kapu-Kapu remained absent, not even a shadow appearing.
Seeing that Chu Xiaodie was about to cry again, Xia Huanao quickly ran over, grabbed her hand, and began to drag her towards the small grove of trees. This action sent a chill down Zheng Xiaoxiao's spine. "No, Little Xia Zi, you can't do that! You can't drag a girl into the woods against her will."
Zheng Xiaoxiao knew Xia Huanao had his limits, so she decided to egg him on, curious to see what would happen next. Chu Xiaodie was clearly no match for Xia Huanao's strength and was easily pulled into the grove.
Inside the grove, Xia Huanao and Chu Xiaodie looked at a lustrous, purplish-pink cocoon. Xia Huanao reached out and poked it. It was very springy, like poking jelly. He poked it a few more times, and then a girl's voice echoed from within the giant cocoon. "Honestly, you can't just go poking a girl's face whenever you want!"