Chapter 125

Let me think about it.

Qiao Ran remained silent, staring at Mei for a while. He did not immediately agree to her request, even though he was somewhat moved inside.

"Rotom-- "

Qiao Ran summoned Rotom, which disappeared into the room in a faint light.

Neither Lillie nor Mei showed any strange reaction to this. They already knew about Qiao Ran's abilities in this area, and they needed to give Qiao Ran some time.

So, what's your take on this?

At Pokémon Pioneer Land, Qiao Ran sat on the grass, surrounded by a sparse circle of Pokémon Zacian, who had previously expended a lot of energy.

Qiao Ran explained Mei's situation to them and wanted to hear their opinions.

After all, if Mei becomes a "Pokémon," she'll be their partner, and it's impossible to keep it from them.

"Master is saying strange things again..."

After listening to Qiao Ran's explanation, the leading Pokémon all showed helpless expressions. One human had already come to their group, and now they had to add another?

"What do you guys think? Should we let her...?"

Qiao Ran pressed for an answer, but no one responded; the Pokémon around him were all looking at him with Grudge expressions.

"That..."

Having just survived a major battle, they should have been enjoying their time. Qiao Ran should have also fulfilled many of his promises to them. They had assumed that Qiao Ran had come over that night for their sake, but who knew it was for this kind of thing.

Why ask these questions? What does it have to do with me?

Finally, Yveltal flapped its wings and descended from the sky, pinning Qiao Ran beneath it.

"What you told me during the battle... it's about time..."

A bead of sweat rolled down Qiao Ran's forehead. "..."

He knew exactly what Yveltal was talking about, but he had just unleashed that sword strike during the day, which had drained a lot of his strength. If Yveltal were to use the Tokiwa Power to perform a full set of attacks on him, he estimated he would be bedridden for the rest of the week.

"Down..."

"Down?"

Yveltal glared at Qiao Ran, making Qiao Ran swallow back his promise of "next time." Looking at her, Qiao Ran even had the feeling that if he didn't agree now, she would just pin him down right there.

No... wait, it seems he's already been pinned down!

"..."

Beads of sweat trickled down Qiao Ran's forehead. Mei and Lillie were waiting for him outside; he couldn't very well go out looking weak and completely naked, could he?

This isn't right!

"Wait... wait!"

Suddenly, just as Joe...

Just when Ran felt hopeless, two figures suddenly stood in front of him.

Qiao Ran looked up and saw that the newcomers were Vulpix and Dianxi. They were both Pokémon Humanoid Transformation, making them extremely conspicuous among all Pokémon.

"Hmm..."

Qiao Ran's eyes welled up with tears as he watched the two figures disappear. He hadn't expected that Dianxi and Vulpix would come to his rescue at this crucial moment; they truly were his original companions.

However, what Vulpix and Dianxi said next left him completely stunned.

"We should have been first! Yveltal, you should have been last!"

A bunch of question marks popped up above Qiao Ran's head, "...???"

Wait... wait!

What exactly are you two here for???

Section 242, page 238 [Why, why, why]

Qiao Ran thought that the arrival of Dianxi and Vulpix was like a timely rain after a scorching sun, or the Sun in the cold winter. But to his complete surprise, these two suddenly stood up and were just adding fuel to the fire!

"What do you two mean? Hmm?"

Seeing Vulpix and Dianxi suddenly appear, not only Yveltal frowned, but the surrounding Pokémon also began to discuss among themselves.

What's going on with those two...?

"Could it be... that Master secretly told them something?"

"We had no idea... it would turn out like this..."

The discussion grew increasingly noisy, but as it escalated, they didn't turn their anger towards Vulpix and Dianxi. Instead, they looked at Qiao Ran with increasingly resentful eyes, as if everything was Qiao Ran's fault.

"Hey! What's going on?"

Yveltal looked at Qiao Ran, whom she had pinned down, and tried to force him to reveal the truth. As she asked the question, some Chaos Neutral Pokémon approached and repeated the same question.

"Yes, what exactly happened?"

What happened? What happened?

Faced with this overwhelming onslaught, Qiao Ran was completely flustered. He could explain the Yveltal matter—they were simply having a legitimate massage using the Tokiwa Power, which was very beneficial for restoring strength and strengthening the body. However... as for the Vulpix and Dianxi, that was a long story.

The agreement made that night wasn't something that could be discussed publicly. If Qiao Ran were to reveal it, who knows what those Pokémon would think of him?

He developed a desire for his Pokémon and even made that kind of promise.

His dignity as Trainer is probably beyond repair.

Qiao Ran glanced at Vulpix and Dianxi standing to the side. They seemed equally surprised by the current situation. When they saw Yveltal so proactive, they jumped out without thinking, but now the situation was becoming increasingly out of control—even the Humanoid Transformation Nihilego had Fury Swipes Qiao Ran's left hand and start licking it on the spot. There were also many Nihilego around her acting as natural meat shields, blocking the pressure from all sides.

"Speak quickly!"

"Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"Lick lick lick..."

The scene became increasingly chaotic, almost to the point of collapse, until finally, Suicune stepped forward.

"Everyone, please stop arguing!"

In her hand, she held a strangely shaped object resembling a cell phone.

"Rotom, is there something you want to say?"

"Cough... Uh cough cough cough..."

Suicune's identity is rather unique; she usually acts as Maid and helps Qiao Ran relay messages, but she doesn't have the power to make everyone obey. However, Rotom might actually be able to do that.

--At least for now, everyone's attention is focused on that red smartphone. After all, no matter how unreliable she is, Rotom still has the title of "System Spirit".

This title is still quite useful.

Rotom, who was being held in Suicune's hand, coughed lightly.

"Ahem... It's like this, Rotom. I just wanted to tell Master that it's getting late, and if we don't set off for Alola soon, I might have to Charge, Rotom."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Ran immediately raised his head and looked at Rotom, whose expression was strange and who, from his perspective, was practically winking. Qiao Ran seemed to suddenly realize something—

"What? Is it already that late?"

He raised his left hand, and a burst of emerald energy emanated from it, turning the nearby Nihilego back into a mollusk. Taking advantage of Yveltal's inattention, he slapped her directly on the lower abdomen.

"...!"

Yveltal was on top of Qiao Ran, widened her eyes. This wasn't enough to make her lose control, but when Qiao Ran's hands started to move erratically, her massive body still collapsed.

As Yveltal lay on the ground, he looked at Qiao Ran, who had stood up again, and a look of resentment appeared in his eyes.

You... you're despicable!

"I'm sorry." Qiao Ran dusted himself off, a hint of apology in his eyes. He didn't really want things to turn out this way.

There's not much time left tonight. I'll come find you again after I finish taking care of other things. I promise I won't refuse then.

Lillie and Mei were waiting for him outside, and he also needed to go to Alola to see Mei —he definitely couldn't go out looking so weak.

"Rotom!"

"Received Rotom!"

Qiao Ran stretched out his right hand, and Rotom flew straight into his hand. With a flash of light, Qiao Ran disappeared from the spot, seemingly having left the Wild Area.

"Hateful!"

Lying limp on the ground Yveltal looked at Nihilego, who was lying next to her, her eyes filled with boundless rage. However, she was not able to recover for the time being.

"They actually ran away!"

"What is going on?"

"I have a guilty conscience..."

Qiao Ran's actions once again sparked discussion among the Pokémon, but Dianxi looked in Suicune's direction and met his gaze.

Suicune seemed momentarily stunned; Dianxi was actually looking in her direction. Had she discovered something?

Looking into Dianxi's clearly questioning, rose-red eyes, Suicune felt a growing certainty.

"... Shh."

Suicune placed his finger to his lips and blinked gently.

She was the one who made Rotom step forward, and she was also the one who Fling Rotom out, allowing Qiao Ran to make contact with Rotom immediately and thus escape successfully.

--Everything she did before was not only to help Qiao Ran out of trouble, but also to help Dianxi and Vulpix.

That night, Suicune was perhaps the only one who discovered the "tip of the iceberg" of what had happened. Her master... must have gone to the Cave where Dianxi lived, and Vulpix was also present at the time.

Something very special must have happened that night.

Although Suicune didn't know the details, she had a premonition that if she revealed this, the peace of the open world would be broken—something she didn't want to happen.

"But..."

With her eyelids slightly lowered, Suicune looked down at her hands, and the smile on her face slowly faded.

But... what exactly is the cause of this distressing feeling in her heart?

Section 243, page 239 [Sight]

"Phew... that was close."

Back in the Real World, Qiao Ran patted his chest, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

That situation was absolutely hopeless; if we had stayed there, who knows what might have happened.

--Although Qiao Ran could understand their feelings, after all, they had just experienced so many dangerous battles, and even crossed three different worlds. Each time, it was a crisis that could threaten their life and death. The pressure on them was unprecedented.

"Looks like we need to think of something to help them relax, otherwise what happened today will probably happen again..."

Being constantly on edge is extremely disadvantageous in the face of a battle that could come at any moment. As a Trainer, Qiao Ran must consider the future, but right now... he obviously has more important things to deal with.

"Master, this is a one-time exception, Rotom."

Rotom floated in the air for a while before returning to its Poké Ball and heading back to the Wild Area. In any case, assisting Qiao Ran in fleeing from justice was quite damaging to her good reputation. If it happened a few more times, she would probably be hated by everyone.

"Um."

Qiao Ran responded and stood up from the bedside.

He was still in the same room he left in, but Lillie and Mei didn't seem to be there. Had they gone out on some urgent business?

"It'll be just in time to tidy things up a bit."

Qiao Ran went into the bathroom and took a Scald shower, washing away the fatigue from the previous commotion and also changing her clothes.

When he came out of the bathroom, Lillie and the others had just returned from outside, but—seeing their tiptoeing movements, Qiao Ran couldn't help but ask a question.

"Where... did you all go?"

"Sh--"

Mei gestured for Qiao Ran quiet, then pointed to the bags in her and Lillie's hands. The bags were dark and their contents were unknown, but they looked bulging and seemed to contain a lot of things.

"These are... We managed to get some familiar Ghost Pokémon to collect some food and necessities. Mei will definitely need them if we're going to Alola."