Chapter 123

"Let's rest..."

Phoebe untied her elaborate and gorgeous Dress, preparing to change into her pajamas and take another nap. Working at this time not only made her mentally exhausted, but also caused her judgment to plummet, which was not the outcome she wanted.

However—just as she unbuttoned her dress, carefully folded it, and placed it on the chair, a faint light emanated from the other side of the room.

"What?"

Phoebe froze on the spot, especially when she felt that "familiar" fluctuation, which surprised her even more.

This is her room, her private domain. Countless Ghost Pokémon guard this room, and anyone who wants to enter must obtain her permission. However—this scene still unfolded before her eyes.

--The stone platform, the one where the Long Sword had been stuck, suddenly emitted a mysterious power fluctuation. Then, in a faint light, a humanoid object—or rather, a person—appeared directly in front of her.

"..."

Because everything happened so quickly, and Phoebe was still in shock, she didn't even bother to cover herself immediately, exposing herself completely.

"Ah... I'm sorry."

The first to make a sound was surprisingly the guy who had suddenly appeared.

--He was Qiao Ran, who had just returned from Galar. He was also completely bewildered. According to his thinking, he should have appeared in that Ruins, but strangely, he found himself in a room.

And... in front of him was a little girl wearing only black lace panties.

"Um, should I go out for a bit?"

Seeing that the other party seemed to be frozen in place, Qiao Ran took a deep breath and deliberately looked away from the barren land. This level was not even as good as Dianxi in her child form, let alone Suicune and the like. Qiao Ran it hard to imagine how this guy had lived to be so old.

"You... you..."

Upon hearing Qiao Ran's voice, Phoebe's chest began to heave.

Why is this guy here? Should we notify the others if he suddenly comes back?... She forgot all of that. At this moment, only one thought remained in her mind.

"You you you you you you you you you you..."

"Get out of here!"

Section 238, page 234 [Revisited]

After a period of chaos and confusion...

"So, you're only here because of a location issue? And what's that behind you? Cosplay?"

Phoebe, having straightened her clothes, crossed her legs and looked down at Qiao Ran, who had been pinned to the ground and had his hands tied.

Seeing the cold glint in his eyes, Qiao Ran couldn't help but shudder. Her body had clearly been tempered and strengthened by Zacian's power, so why was she still defeated by this person? How could she be so strong?

Is this guy even human?

Qiao Ran couldn't help but curse the unreasonable old woman in his heart, but he did have to admit that he was in the wrong. Even if "because the other party's figure was too unorthodox, he didn't see anything substantial", he couldn't say that fact directly.

Moreover, even if he did speak out, it would only hasten his own downfall.

He's not that stupid.

"... You can ask Rotom about the specific reason I'm here. As for this sword... it's the same one from back then."

Qiao Ran, who was tied to the ground, never expected that upon returning to this world, he would not receive the warm welcome he had imagined, but would instead be tied up as a pervert. He was quite puzzled by this.

Where is my underwater cave? Such a huge underwater cave!

"Ahem, this really has nothing to do with the master, Rotom. The master was teleported away because of the 'sword,' so when he returned, his location was determined by the sword's previous position."

Rotom, Levitate on the other side, glanced at the huge pedestal placed on one side of the room. Without a doubt, this was the vessel for the "sword" and the culprit that brought Qiao Ran here.

Rotom didn't mention Qiao Ran's ability to travel between worlds, but instead explained it in a way that others could understand. Qiao Ran and Rotom were actually a little wary of Phoebe. This guy's background was far less "clean" than Lillie's and the others', and who knows what special ideas he might have.

However, on the other side, Rotom had already had a deep conversation with Qiao Ran in his mind.

"Master, the reason why this time is different from the previous ones..."

It didn't teleport to a fixed spatial location—actually, it was because a sudden, abnormal traversal of the Rotom was triggered, so the spatial location wasn't recorded directly at the time, but rather the nearest object Rotom, was recorded...

"So... can we use this characteristic to our advantage in the future?"

Rotom's explanation gave Qiao Ran a new idea. If spatial positioning relied on "objects," then he could simply record the vehicle at the starting point, stay in another world for a while, and then return. When he came back, the vehicle he had recorded would have already successfully reached the destination. Wouldn't that be perfect time management, without wasting any time at all?

However, upon hearing Qiao Ran's reply, Rotom immediately and seriously refuted him, shattering Qiao Ran's dangerous fantasy.

"This won't do, Rotom!... It's very dangerous, Rotom, to have an anomalous journey without a record. If the recording fails, we might end up in some strange place, or even trapped in a world where time and space have stopped. We might never be able to come back, Rotom!"

"... Is it that serious?"

Qiao Ran couldn't help but twitch his lips. He just wanted to slack off, but after hearing Rotom's warning about the danger, he decisively gave up the idea.

--This isn't just slacking off, this is downright reckless Max Airstream, pushing the limits of human endurance.

"..."

Rotom's information processing ability is top-notch; while communicating with Qiao Ran in her mind, she was also able to chat fluently with Phoebe.

"Abba aba."

However, Qiao Ran didn't understand much of it.

After a considerable period of time.

Phoebe's door suddenly opened, and two faces that Qiao Ran knew all too well finally appeared in the doorway.

"Qiao Ran?!"

"... Ah! It really is..."

The girl with brown -Black Twin-Tailed Girl and the girl Golden long blonde hair rushed over to Qiao Ran, but Qiao Ran was Bind his hands and thrown to the ground, making it difficult for him to receive guests.

"It was I who sent them over, so they should be grateful for my kindness."

Phoebe squinted, extended her finger and gently traced a line. At the same time, the dark shadow behind Qiao Ran flashed, and the ropes that had been binding him scattered all over the ground.

Phoebe's move seems simple, but this simple yet powerful synergy with her Pokémon surpasses most... no, there are probably very few people who can achieve this.

Even Qiao Ran was slightly taken aback.

The other person didn't have the same convenient abilities as him, so how did she manage to do it? -- Not only did she get her Pokémon to notice that tiny movement, but she also had to make that level of understanding and reaction the instant she noticed it...

However, this surprise didn't last long before Qiao Ran's thoughts were abruptly interrupted.

"Thank goodness!... It's so good that you're alright!"

"Smack!"

A figure bumped into his arms, the Limber cushioning most of the impact—it was a girl with pigtails, her expression filled with immense excitement and joy, emotions that defied description.

A girl with long Golden hair stood behind her, seemingly hesitant to speak. She too harbored the same emotions, but being more restrained, she did not act in the same way.

"Very good..."

The girl with pigtails nestled against Qiao Ran's chest, wrapping her arms tightly around his body. The force of her embrace went beyond that of a hug—in Qiao Ran's mind, he didn't believe any form of hug could be this forceful. If the person opposite him were a muscular man, Qiao Ran would have thought that the other person was about to give him a German backflip.

However, at this moment—at least at this moment— Qiao Ran felt that this power was perfectly appropriate. The other person's actions were like forcefully kneading their bodies together, and Qiao Ran could clearly hear the other person's heartbeat.

Even though they didn't have Pokémon -like connection before, at this moment, Qiao Ran immediately understood the other person's feelings.

"... I'm back."

Qiao Ran hugged the other person tightly. During this time, she must have been worried and scared for a very long time.

Section 239, page 235: [I really... oh no!]

The joy of reunion filled the small room—no one made a sound at this moment, but that was enough.

"Snort."

On the other side, Phoebe stared at Qiao Ran and the others for a while, then let out a soft hum and looked away.

"Alright, alright, now that we've met, there's no need to stay in my room any longer."

Phoebe floated behind Qiao Ran, grabbed his collar, and tried to...

They need to Qiao Ran out.

"Hey? Okay, okay, don't pull me like that! I don't have any clothes to wear lately, what if you tear them?"

Qiao Ran couldn't resist Phoebe's "overpowered" strength and was eventually dragged out of the room. The two girls, Lillie and Mei, exchanged a glance, smiled softly, and followed Qiao Ran and Phoebe out of the room.

Only after losing something do we realize its importance. Perhaps, most of the time, this kind of simple, everyday warmth is the most precious thing.

Upon arriving at the Mansion's hall, Qiao Ran found a place to sit down. The other girls looked at him curiously, each seemingly harboring a lot of unspoken thoughts.

Why has Qiao Ran disappeared for so long? What happened while he was gone? Also, what exactly is that thing behind him? Is it a sword?

If they were meeting in private, Lillie and Mei would probably have asked directly, but since Phoebe is an "outsider" here, they are being quite restrained.

Moreover, for Lillie, after seeing Qiao Ran, the thing she most wanted to do, besides catching up with Qiao Ran, was probably to go to the Aether Foundation on the Alola continent to see Mei, who was all alone there.

However, because Phoebe was present, these ideas couldn't be implemented immediately. After all, Lillie couldn't just drag Qiao Ran away and make him disappear on the spot, right?

Therefore, it's best to wait for now.

Since they've already waited so long, there's no need for them to rush things.

When it comes to more private moments—like at night—they have plenty of room to express themselves.

"Ahem, I know you all have a lot of questions, but please listen to me first."

Qiao Ran and Lillie exchanged a glance, roughly understanding what they meant, and thus preemptively began their "explanation."

According to Qiao Ran's account, he was inexplicably teleported to a strange place with a special ability called "Gigantamax". He solved a problem with the local natives and was then inexplicably teleported back.

Lillie and Mei looked on with strange expressions. Of course they knew what place Qiao Ran was talking about, but after Qiao Ran Sheer Force blurred it out, it sounded like a continent in Otherworld.

"Um..."

Only Phoebe, stroking her chin, was lost in thought with a serious expression. Only she knew the true value of Qiao Ran's words—as an authority on Pokémon Ruins in this world, she had known about the existence of "Otherworld" for a long time. The history of Pokémon in this world was not long, as if they had appeared suddenly.

Moreover, according to her research, some people in history may very well have been connected to that "Otherworld".

But... this is the first time a local has traveled to the Otherworld where Pokémon and then brought back information.

This is absolutely—absolutely an unprecedented discovery!

"As for this sword, it's probably bound to me as well."

Qiao Ran drew the Long Sword from his back and held it in his left hand. Although it was somewhat different from the truth, what he said was not wrong—he was bound to Zacian, and Zacian was bound to the sword, so his binding with the sword was just an extension of that. Moreover, due to the adaptation of his body, he could only use his left hand to use this sword now—only his left hand could unleash its full power.

"Um... is there anything I can chop up?"

Qiao Ran looked up at where Phoebe was, but Phoebe shook her head, propping her head up with her hand.

"Why don't you just cut the ground directly?"

She was still absorbed in the previous intelligence and had never wanted to pay attention to Qiao Ran's self-humiliating behavior.

First, this was an ordinary man, not as strong as her; second, the sword was old and worn, barely resembling a sword; finally, the ground she laid down was made of incredibly hard "special bricks," a material even used in the design of Pokémon Battlefield, capable of withstanding Pokémon moves—how could anything go wrong?

In her opinion, it would be good enough if this guy could only scratch the floor; she could just have it sanded down later, and it wouldn't be too much trouble.

"Cut the ground..."

Qiao Ran stared at the floor tiles in front of him and couldn't help but swallow.

To be honest, he wasn't really sure about the sword's power. Due to his physical condition, he had never tested how far he could go. However, his body remembered the feeling—he could draw upon the sword's power.

Qiao Ran looked around. Apart from Phoebe, who was still deep in thought, Lillie and Mei were looking at him with expectant expressions.

"Did I really cut it?" Qiao Ran confirmed with Phoebe one last time.

Go ahead and chop it.

"I really, really cut it?"

"Just cut it already, why all the talk? Can't you just get to the point?" Phoebe waved her hand impatiently, clearly annoyed by Qiao Ran.

Why is this guy so hesitant in his actions?

"Okay, okay."

Being treated like this by the other party

The run on the bank, which had initially made Qiao Ran fearful of unpredictable consequences, also emboldened him.