Athena, Hermione’s Daughter

ID: 0128.

Name: Blue Skin Bass.

Danger Level: B.

Place of First Discovery: Malaysia.

Skill: **Self-Destruction.**

Remarks: Although the Blue Skin Bass looks harmless, once it gets startled, it can't help but self-destruct. It even self-destructs from time to time when it's unhappy. Self-destruction is how they express every emotion.

Lake stared at the appearance of the so-called Blue Skin Bass in the Pokédex and blinked. If he removed the cute little limbs and tiny head from the Blue Skin Bass, then, damn it, if this wasn’t Pokémon Koffing, Lake swore he would gouge out his own eyeballs and swallow them alive.

But after adding another tiny head and a few little claws, it was completely different from Koffing. The Blue Skin Bass looked somewhat like a large…

"Exploding Ant?"

Lake looked at Jack, who had come over to watch, and said, "Doesn’t it look like an Exploding Ant?"

Animals that could self-destruct weren’t common in nature, but they weren’t nonexistent either. The Stink Bug was one of them, and then there was the Exploding Ant.

These ants had a huge sac at the end of their bodies, filled with poisonous gas. Whenever they encountered an enemy or sensed danger, the Exploding Ant’s body would burst apart in an instant.

Jack took a look, nodded, and then frowned at Hermione. "You mean this explosion was caused by the Exploding Ant?"

Even if it was a mutation, this was still a little too ridiculous.

Department of Homeland Security Building!

Inside a small conference room.

After Hermione entered, Lake looked at her. "Since you know so much about them, and you came here because of these escaped animals, can I assume that you have a skill or item capable of tracking them?"

If they wanted to use the cleanup of Fantastic Beasts that had escaped onto federal land as a pretext to take over the Wizarding World here, then they ought to have come prepared.

As for Ginny and Harry Potter?

They had been invited to the large conference room.

Hermione pulled something resembling a handheld radar from inside her robe. "You mean the Fantastic Beasts Detector?"

What the hell.

Lake inwardly exclaimed at how impressive that was. Then, after thinking for a moment, he looked at Hermione. "Don’t tell me you also have Poké… no, Poké Balls?"

Hermione frowned. "What’s that?"

Lake flicked his right hand.

A Poké Ball that was entirely red—or rather, a Cherish Ball—appeared in Lake’s hand.

Lake looked at Hermione. "You don’t have this?"

Then what the hell had they made a Fantastic Beasts catalog and a Fantastic Beasts Detector for?

Hermione’s eyes lit up. She took the Poké Ball from Lake’s hand. "I can sense that this seems to contain magic similar to folded space, as well as something resembling a pulling force. This… bang!"

With a bang.

Hermione raised her eyebrows. The Cherish Ball in her palm opened directly, and a yellow light shot out of it, landing on the table in the small conference room.

"Pika?"

A juvenile Pikachu the size of a palm rubbed her bleary eyes. She had pointed ears with black tips, a tiny mouth that looked like the number three from the side, black eyes, two red circles on her cheeks, and a jagged tail that seemed to form a heart at the end. She appeared to be looking around to see who had woken her.

Pikachu’s lightning-bolt tail rose high into the air. She looked at the unfamiliar woman before her—whom she was seeing for the first time—blinked her large eyes, and then turned around at the familiar presence to look at Lake. "Pika?"

She was asking Lake why he had summoned her.

Hmm.

This was a female Pikachu.

You could tell from the tail. Males had lightning-shaped tails, while females had heart-shaped tips on theirs.

He had drawn her along with Eevee in the previous lottery.

Eevee’s Poké Ball was a Luxury Ball. However, other than when Skye sent Eevee into it for class at school, she usually kept Eevee outside and by her side.

As for this Pikachu, Lake had only looked at her once when he drew her. The rest of the time, she stayed inside the Cherish Ball. He had no interest in carrying a little Pokémon around with him.

What would that look like?

He was the dignified Deputy Director of Operations for the Department of Homeland Security, head of the New York State Department of Homeland Security, director of the Supervision Bureau, and an Army Major. Didn’t he need to maintain his dignity?

Lake made his way in the world through strength, not his looks or some cute little creature.

Women were all helpless against adorable creatures.

Hermione was better than most, but she still walked over to Lake and looked at the standing Pikachu on the table. "What kind of Fantastic Beast is this? I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before."

Never doubt a top student’s store of knowledge.

Lake had no intention of fooling Hermione either. "Pikachu. A Pokémon!"

Pikachu?

Hermione blinked. Looking at Pikachu standing on the table like a giant rat, she greeted her. "Hello, I’m Hermione."

Pikachu’s pointed ears twitched slightly. She looked at Hermione, her large eyes filled with confusion. "Pika?"

Lake took the Cherish Ball back.

Clang!

Lake recalled Pikachu and then returned to the previous topic. "How do you usually handle Fantastic Beasts after catching them?"

Those with gentle temperaments were easy enough. They could find a way to transport them and then release them together somewhere.

But what about those with explosive temperaments, like the Blue Skin Bass that had self-destructed at the slightest disagreement in the dock explosion? Would they keep exploding all the way back?

Hermione took out something resembling a cloth pouch. "We usually use this, but yours seems more convenient. Perhaps I could study it and see whether I can improve ours."

Lake put away the Cherish Ball containing Pikachu and flicked his right hand. Another Cherish Ball appeared in it.

All right.

Actually…

In his previous lottery, Lake had drawn almost an entire set of Pokémon. Almost, at least. He hadn’t seen Mewtwo or anything like that among them.

"Pikachu can’t be given to you. You can use this one, but don’t open it yet."

"This is…"

"Arceus!"

"…"

Lake intended to leave this Pikachu to Helen when she grew a little older. After all, among his three daughters—biological or otherwise—Helen seemed to need one the most.

His eldest daughter, Katherine, wanted one too. Lake had let her choose at random, but she hadn’t shown him what she got. That had left Lake puzzled for quite some time.

Skye had Eevee.

As for Helen, it would be Pikachu.

Just now.

Lake suddenly felt that perhaps having Fantastic Beasts escape wasn’t a bad thing. At the very least, even if the Pokémon he had drawn in the lottery displayed strange abilities, it seemed like it wouldn’t be a big deal anymore.

Hermione toyed with the Cherish Ball in her hand, then looked at Lake with the corners of her mouth slightly raised. "Is this for me, or for our daughter?"

Lake chuckled. "For you."

As for verbal traps, Lake could play with them all day without getting tired.

Hermione nodded and put away the Cherish Ball. Then she looked up at Lake. "What about our daughter’s?"

Lake raised his eyebrows and looked at Hermione.

More precisely, he looked at her stomach.

She wasn’t even pregnant.

Seeing this, Hermione said, "I’ll save it for our daughter first."

Lake rolled his eyes. "The value of the twelve Zodiac signs isn’t inferior to Pokémon."

As they spoke.

Knock, knock, knock!

Assistant Tiffany knocked and entered. "Sir, a warehouse at a paper mill three miles from New York Harbor has exploded."

Lake raised his eyebrows.

Half an hour later.

A Department of Homeland Security helicopter appeared directly above the paper mill. Lake sat in the helicopter and looked down.

What the hell.

It really was running and exploding at the same time.

A Blue Skin Bass at least three meters long and resembling an Exploding Ant was fleeing in panic, exploding as it ran.

Lake rubbed his chin. "Is this thing attacking, or is it being attacked?"

Hermione took a look as well and explained, "The Blue Skin Bass is a social creature. When it lacks a group, there is a one-percent chance that the lone Blue Skin Bass will use self-destruction to force its own growth. So it must have taken a liking to this place and plans to use self-destruction to quickly pass through its juvenile and growth stages and enter maturity."

Lake blinked. "What’s the point of that? Even as an adult, it would still be the only one. What’s the difference?"

"Of course there’s a difference," Hermione said. "Once a lone Blue Skin Bass confirms that it can’t find its group, after that one-percent mutation, its form will change and develop in the direction of something resembling a queen bee or queen ant. Look at its tail."

Following Hermione’s words, Lake looked toward the Blue Skin Bass on the ground. It was spinning in circles, then seemed to have found a certain spot and began digging rapidly with all four claws. Its tail was constantly exploding as it dug, sending dirt flying everywhere.

What the hell.

Liquid was already leaking out.

The helicopter slowly descended.

After they got off, Hermione said, "If we hadn’t hurried over, this paper mill would probably have completely transformed into the home of a Blue Skin Bass colony in ten days."

Lake directed Jack to go over and communicate with the NYPD officers who had arrived at the scene. Then he looked toward Hermione, Ginny, and Harry Potter, who had gotten off another helicopter. "Can you handle it?"

If they couldn’t, Lake would simply send Saga out to put out the fire.

Forget one.

Even if it were a whole group, could they withstand a single punch from Saga?

Hermione, Ginny, and Harry Potter exchanged glances, then Hermione said to Lake, "If you don’t want your people to be hit by our Memory Charm, they should at least stay out of there."

Lake nodded. He had no desire to go in and watch the battle either. "How long do you need?"

"Five minutes."

"Fine."

Lake whistled toward the cordon, pointed at the three of them, and gestured for them to be allowed inside. Then he ordered over the radio, "Seal off this area. No one is allowed in. Keep the fire trucks out until I give the order."

"Understood!"

"Yes, sir."

"Received!"

"…"

Fantastic Beasts or Pokémon aren’t part of the main plot. They’re just being used to subtly familiarize the happy citizens with the supernatural setting, so don’t pay too much attention to them.