#text pist

Alright first off: wanted to start off with Mystery because HOOO BOY. This doggo. This poor canine.

When Shiromori and Vivi start fighting, he watches in surprise--not lending a hand to either side.Instead, he watches them fight until Vivi gets cut.

That’s when Mystery gets off his laurels and throws Shiromori away (Team Rocket’s blasting off agaiiin!)

And here’s what I wanted to point out. Mystery decidedly did not get involved in their fight until one of them is about to, or gets hurt. Case in point, he didn’t transform until Vivi was nearly beheaded by Shiromori in the beginning, using his own blood as a lure.

After Shiromori blasts off again, he takes Vivi and they work together to defeat Shiromori--but where Vivi is firm and ready to take her life, Mystery looks sad.

He steps in Vivi’s way. Despite Shiromori wanting his blood, he doesn’t want her dead.

Vivi accepts this, but even as she walks away, she’s suspicious of Shiromori. Mystery just sends Shiromori a sad look... like he doesn’t want to leave her, but can’t stay either. Why?

Shiromori’s look is also interesting: she’s surprised, like she wasn’t expecting him to save her. She was surprised when during Hellbent she found him by Vivi’s side, seeing The Ancestor in her, but more on that later.

When Vivi and Mystery walk away, Shiromori is pissed. And she runs with her blade at Mystery again--only to be stopped by Vivi... and then Vivi gets hurt. For real. Not just a nick, this time.

And then Mystery loses it.

Oh would you look at that: Mystery now has eight tails.

Also note the green around his pupil and in his mouth for later, folks--also the bandaid where the blue light burst from.

And in his rage (also note the RAGE!), he attacks Shiromori... becoming injured.

And she’s crying. She drops her weapon, and she sheds a tear. Why?

Mystery tried to stop her, and showed her weakness--and Vivi took advantage.

But watch his reaction.

He’s horrified. More horrified than when Vivi got injured--he cares about Shiromori. And watch Shiromori’s actions too.

She reaches out for him--like she’s asking for help.

And she becomes what looks like (I forget the exact word for it, but they’re brought to life as soldier or such in japanese mythology. I’ll edit this post when I figure out what I’m thinking of, but just think of her as an animated figure like a golom.)

There’s the white light. Note the bandage, once again.

Oh, would you look at that: nine tails.

Oh boy. Generally from the little I’ve researched, Kitsune gain tails by how old they are and by how powerful they are. In Mystery’s case, I wouldn’t be surprised if he gains tails because of everything that he’s lost. I do remember reading somewhere that Kitsune can also gain tails by gaining wisdom, but I can’t find the source of that.

Now, I want to bring attention to the lights.

I think we can all agree that this is Mystery’s heart. Broken, battered, cracked and full of holes. If we take out the two lights we saw before, the blue and white, we have six lights... six tails. Add the original tail, and you’ve got seven during the beginning of Future.

In the original Mystery Skulls, we can see that Mystery had six tails.

But see this:

It’s a little hard to see, but you can count nine tails here. A flashback of The Ancestor that Shiromori sees when she first fights Vivi in Hellbent. Nine tails. We see the bandaids covering Mystery’s heart, exactly where two spots of light are. Important? I think so, but we’ll get back to that later.

I also recall seeing a gif of Mystery’s model where he has seven tails, a preview for either Freaking Out or Hellbent, but someone else will have to find that for me.

Now then: REMEMBER THE GREEN?

HOO BOY. MYSTERY. BUDDY. PAL. (also note: nine tails here as well!)

We also see Lewis and his deadbeatz covering their ears like it’s hurting them, and Arthur’s arm going haywire...

Now, this isn’t particularly hidden, but...

Pretty safe to assume that whatever possessed Arthur took advantage of his moment of a hurt heart. But we also know that it only possessed half of him... while for Mystery--

It took it all.

(also note the smile. Jesus, this thing likes smiling at despair.)

Just. Just. WhooOOOOO BOY.

His tails also reflect the colour of the lights... now, who wants to bet that the orange and the purple is Lewis and Arthur? Blue is Vivi of course, and the White being Shiromori.

Speaking of Shiromori, let’s rewind a bit back to Hellbent.

Here, we see Mystery looking at a flower. The forest around them is dead, devoid of life.

And then we see Mystery giving his blood to the flower...

And the forest, now in full bloom. Would you look at that: Nine tails. Wonder where those tails went, Mystery?

In the next scene in Hellbent, we also see The Ancesor and Mystery fighting... and Shiromori’s outrage when she sees him working beside Vivi. Somewhere along the way, either Mystery and The Ancestor became buds (evidence by the flashback with the Ancestor protecting Mystery) or The Ancestor chained Mystery somewhow. I’m putting my faith in the former, though.

And here’s what I wanted to bring to light.

It seems obvious that Shiromori was created by Mystery--or at least, nurtered to full bloom by him. And he cares for her too... but when she starts seeking out his blood actively, he’s forced to leave, to preserve his own life. Despite knowing how to kill her, he never does. Instead, he runs.

And remember how he looked when she was finally killed? And the way she reached out to him? It makes you think, doesn’t it? He didn’t want either of them (Vivi or Shiromori) to get hurt or killed. But they were at odds... and the bandaids holding together his heart finally broke.

How much of his actions were performed out of loneliness? He nurtered Shiromori, brought her to life... but in the end didn’t kill her, even though she wanted his blood. And even when she did slice him in Future, she cries. She cries for him, like she didn’t want it to come to this. Why?

Why did Mystery lose two of his tails? What are the other four lights, assuming that Arthur and Lewis are two of them? How did the fight between The Ancestor and Mystery end up with him accompanying Vivi?

There are so many questions and definitely not enough answers, and I don’t have the smarts to come up with theories for them all.

I hope this analysis helps some people, though! These were just a couple of things I noticed while watching about Shiromori and Mystery--Mystery especially because he’s been my favourite since day one, and I always wished he could get the limelight at some point... though not like this.

I also know I probably missed so many things about them, so if you catch any that I forgot or missed, please let me know! I hope you enjoyed reading!

EDIT: Wow, I thought I edited this but I guess it didn’t save. Thanks, tumblr.

Wanted to point out that I completely forgot to mention my previous thoughts about what Shiromori was--I believe she could be a jubokko.

According to folklore, it appears in former battlefields where many people have died, and its appearance does not differ that much from ordinary trees. Since it becomes a yōkai tree by sucking up large quantities of blood from the dead, it lives on human blood. When a human being happens to pass by, it supposedly captures the victim and, changing its branches into the shape of a tube, sucks the blood out of the victim. A Jubokko that sucks life out of human beings in such a way is said to always maintain a fresh appearance.