Chapter 377

Aside from a few individuals who might prefer night raids.

"At night, there are some very beautiful things."

Lana smiled mysteriously, her gaze sweeping over Qiao Ran and the Tapu Lele behind him.

I want to take you to see it.

She seemed somewhat surprised that Qiao Ran had brought Tapu Lele along.

"... Is it that sentence you said before?"

"What? Did I say anything?"

Lana blinked, pretended to be clueless, and then smoothly changed the subject.

"... Now is the perfect time. I'm only telling you this secret, okay?"

"I'm already down here, so let's go take a look together."

Qiao Ran certainly wouldn't expose her, so he could only play along with her performance. Moreover, he had already gone downstairs specifically, so he certainly didn't expect to leave empty-handed. However, he was still somewhat surprised that Lana would invite him in this way.

"... Speaking of which, why me? You should be closer to Acerola Mei, right? Why didn't you invite them over too?"

"..."

Lana was walking ahead, didn't reply, seemingly lost in thought. After a while, she finally answered.

"Because we only have one fish to catch today, and they've already taken the bait too many times."

She didn't seem very willing to explain the issue, and sometimes she really didn't have that many whys. Among these people from outside the island, besides the relatively familiar Acerola Mei, and a few "elders" whom she respected very much, the one who interested her the most was probably the very eye-catching Qiao Ran.

This was perhaps the first time she had seen such an outstanding male of her age. He had very strong leadership skills and seemed to be very powerful in Pokémon battles. Not only did Mei and the others acknowledge him, but even senior figures like the Sinnoh Champion praised him highly, and Tapu Lele liked him very much.

Of course, besides these, Qiao Ran himself is also very outstanding. According to Lana's secret observation, his movements in the wild are very decisive, and his strength is also amazing. Through Qiao Ran's thin clothes, she could roughly guess Qiao Ran's physique. If Qiao Ran could change into the swim trunks of the Swimmer, he would definitely be a tough guy on the beach.

Lana seems to like this approach quite a bit.

So, all things considered, Lana also hopes to learn more about Qiao Ran. Since they are leaving tomorrow, tonight will probably be their last chance. Even if the time is short, it would be good to get to know him better.

There's no need for any reason for these things, and she doesn't even know what her reason is. She just... wants to know a little more.

The Konikoni City at night is quite different from its daytime appearance. Due to the widespread lack of electricity, it is pitch black all around, with only occasional faint lights emanating from certain places.

Along the way, Lana didn't seem to say much, simply leading the way while Qiao Ran and Tapu Lele followed behind.

From this perspective, Qiao Ran realized once again that Lana's height was indeed on par with Acerola's. However, according to information Qiao Ran had gathered from certain sources, Lana's mother didn't seem to resemble Lana at all; rather, she was remarkably beautiful in every way. Could it be that... Lana simply hadn't started developing yet?

If, after a few years, Lana has changed, while Acerola remains the same, that would be quite interesting.

"Arrive."

They hadn't walked very far, only about ten minutes, when Lana turned around and announced to Qiao Ran that they had arrived at their destination.

Qiao Ran looked up and found that this place looked like a "Large Courtyard". The high steps and the surrounding walls made it very special and very much in line with the appearance of some "wealthy families" that Qiao Ran had seen in some film and television works.

"Come in, there's no one inside right now."

Lana turned around, stuck out her tongue at Qiao Ran, and made a funny face. This further confirmed Qiao Ran's idea that this place might really be someone's home.

To get Qiao Ran catch up with her quickly, she grabbed his hand and walked in with him. After stepping over the high wall, they found a hidden world inside. In addition to the uniquely decorated small buildings, there were also very special landscaping features, making it look like a garden.

"This seems to be the vacation home of some important person, but given what happened, they must have had something else to do to be unable to come."

Lana wore a mischievous smile. She found it quite "interesting" to sneak in here and enjoy the scenery that ordinary people couldn't see from inside the walls.

"But Sister Olivia has always forbade me from coming in, even after something like this happened, so I won't tell her."

Lana walked along this route with practiced ease, occasionally glancing back at Qiao Ran with a smug look on her face.

"... Indeed, it's a very unique place. Building a courtyard like this must have cost a lot of money."

This was the first time Qiao Ran had ever seen something so luxurious.

The courtyard, with its corridors, houses, pavilions, and flowers and plants, appears somewhat messy now that no one takes care of it, but even a glimpse reveals its former beauty.

"No matter how much money is spent, it can never be as extravagant as the Artificial Island built by the Aether Foundation."

Lana remarked that these were things she would never say to others.

"... Chairwoman Lusamine truly, truly amazing."

As they chatted, they walked deeper into the courtyard. Passing through a circular stone gate, they finally arrived at their true destination. When Qiao Ran saw the "scenery" before him, he finally understood why Lana had said those words to him earlier.

What appeared before Qiao Ran was a huge "Pond".

--The shimmering water and the cool breeze blowing from it.

Even in the wild, this area is enormous. It's hard to imagine such a thing appearing in someone's "yard," which explains why Lana is so fond of this place.

"In Konikoni City, this is probably the largest 'lake,' nowhere else can compare. That's why I put all my Water-type Pokémon here."

"Such a wonderful place shouldn't be kept to oneself; it should be shared with everyone."

As she spoke, the once calm water surface began to shimmer with tiny fluorescent lights, a soft, natural glow emanating from the depths.

In the oceans of the Pokémon World, a large number of Water-type Pokémon inhabit. Some scholars who specialize in studying Pokémon population ecology have even written that there are many undiscovered Pokémon in the ocean. In this ecosystem, which is many times larger than the land, countless secrets await to be discovered.

In the pitch-black water, "light" becomes something extremely important.

Tentacool, Tentacruel, Finneon Chinchou, Lumineon, Wishiwashi... these Water-type Pokémon all possess a faint, shimmering glow, and the pitch-black night is indeed the best time to Water-type Pokémon.

The light that is usually invisible during the day can now be fully seen.

"... I have never seen... a scene like this before."

Watching the various Water-type Pokémon swimming in the Pond, their figures rising and falling in the waves, and the light disappearing and reappearing, Qiao Ran was somewhat stunned.

Having traveled for so long, this was probably the first time he had ever seen such a scene.

If it weren't for Lana, Trainer specializing in Water-type Pokémon, bringing him here specifically, he probably wouldn't have been able to experience these things for a long time. And this... was just a fleeting glimpse that Water-type Pokémon naturally produced.

"It's a pity, though, that all the Pokémon here are ones I'm familiar with, so I can't experience fishing... Most of them have nowhere else to go because of Ultra Beast."

Lana sat on a rock by the Pond and quietly shared her thoughts with Qiao Ran.

She started by talking about recent events and then moved on to some trivial matters in her family. As the Captain of the island, she was naturally given high expectations when such a serious incident occurred on the island. At home, she had two younger sisters who were even younger than her. Although Lana looked young, she was actually much more mature than Qiao Ran imagined.

Qiao Ran listened quietly, Tapu Lele also remained silent, lying in Qiao Ran's arms. All around was quiet, with only the sound of the wind and the Water-type Pokémon splashing and swimming.

In exchange, Qiao Ran also revealed some of his own experiences, though this was all on the premise of not revealing certain core secrets. He also mentioned his ability to travel between the two worlds while in this world.

Since he was planning to leave tomorrow, Qiao Ran intended to leave some supplies he had bought in the Real World for the people on the island as a return gift for the Present they had given him today. Compared to him, who could return to the Real World at any time, the other people on the island clearly needed these things more.

"Huh?? You're from another world?"

Lana was startled when she heard Qiao Ran's words, but she, who usually liked to make up stories about fishing, quickly looked at Qiao Ran with a suspicious gaze.

"... You're not lying to me, are you?"

Why would I lie to you? I was just short on time and didn't have much of a chance before, so I didn't explain further.

Qiao Ran rolled his eyes at Lana, but to be honest, it was indeed his mistake not to explain these things to Mallow and Olivia in detail. They were both trustworthy Trainer, and explaining these things to them would have been more beneficial to his future activities.

"However, I must never tell anyone about this, and I won't easily tell anyone that I come from another world."

"Where are Mallow and Olivia?"

"They... are okay, right?"

"Eh..."

Upon hearing Qiao Ran's words, Lana drawled out her words, as if she had suddenly lost interest. Perhaps in her opinion, Qiao Ran was just joking with her.

You'll find out tomorrow morning.

Qiao Ran shouldn't bother Rotom right now.

Ugh, I asked her to help me perform a magic trick for Lana. If Rotom knew that this was the reason he was bothering her in the middle of the night, he'd probably lose all face as her Trainer.

Most importantly, once Rotom finds out, it will basically spread throughout the entire Wild Area the next day, and everyone will start teasing him about how he ended up like this.

Therefore, even if Qiao Ran really wants to show her the truth about his "coming from another world," he has to wait until tomorrow.

"Oh, right, how about you take a look at this?"

Qiao Ran suddenly remembered something, so she took out her phone.

To prepare for any eventuality, Qiao Ran had prepared a number of fully charged Charge banks in the Wild Area. Moreover, with the help of the Electric-type Pokémon in the Wild Area, his phone was able to keep running smoothly. So, even when he arrived at Akala Island, where electricity was scarce, his phone was still working perfectly, although it still couldn't connect to the internet.

"This is... a cell phone?"

"Let me show you the video on my phone."

Sometimes, to pass the time in the evenings and relax a bit, Qiao Ran would Download some videos from the Real World. Of course, this was also partly to learn how others made videos, since in the Real World, they still had to make a living by making videos.

If Qiao Ran relied solely on the allowance from the Pokémon League, Pokémon be able to support such a large group of Pokémon. Generally, Trainer are just starting out only train three Pokémon to challenge Gym. They only consider gradually increasing the number of Pokémon in their team after acquiring more Badge. It's only when they actually challenge the Pokémon League that they can afford the expenses of six Pokémon.

As for Qiao Ran, although she saved a lot of effort by Wild Area and didn't buy those supposedly incompetent Pokémon products like some misguided Trainer, even just covering the Pokémon's extra food and drink, plus any other things they occasionally wanted, the Pokémon League's money was far from enough.

"Hey... you're still Charge your phone all the time."

Lana took Qiao Ran's phone and couldn't help but ask curiously. After what happened in Alola, although everyone was initially a little uncomfortable, gradually, everyone gave up on Charge their phones. After all, a phone that can't access the internet or make calls is just a brick that can only look like it can Illuminate.

Therefore, Lana found it quite novel to see Qiao Ran take this out.

"Let me see what's in here... Hmm? I don't recognize these icons... Is this software from another region? And this... How do I use this?"

Seeing Lana awkwardly pointing and gesturing, Qiao Ran couldn't help but reach out and Coaching. Although it was partly because she hadn't used a phone in a long time, the main reason was that Lana wasn't someone who liked using them.

After all, she likes to go swimming in her swimsuit whenever she has free time, so carrying these things would be a complete burden. Besides, you have to concentrate when you're fishing, and what she hates most is this kind of sudden loud noise.

Normally, she wouldn't carry this with her at all, unless there was a really special reason.

"Ah... really, it's open! When was this video released? It must have been ages ago...!"

Lana still stubbornly believed that Qiao Ran was from another region. After all, she could understand the text on the phone, and recalling her previous behavior in front of Qiao Ran, she felt that Qiao Ran was definitely playing a trick on her.

However, as the video continued, Lana began to increasingly doubt herself.

"... Hmm? What is China? Longjiang Food Street... Where is this?...?"

She had never even heard of many of the things inside. Most importantly, some of the items, decorations, and furnishings gave her a very strong sense of unfamiliarity.

This feeling is indeed subtly different from seeing things from other parts of the Pokémon World.

"... That's why I said I come from another world."

Qiao Ran then showed her some videos uploaded to his "Trainer Diary" account. If the other videos only reflected this fact indirectly, then his videos basically confirmed it completely.

Lana watched several videos in a row. Finally, her gaze settled on the battle between Qiao Ran and Nian Hai, and she hesitantly pressed the pause button.

"Wait... wait a minute, is this you???"

During this battle, Lana Lian saw several legendary Pokémon: Zacian, Dianxi, Yveltal, each a formidable opponent, and all of them were obeying Qiao Ran's commands.

"And... and that guy you fought, was he Elite Four from which region???"

What surprised Lana even more was that the old man opposite her was actually able to fight Qiao Ran to a standstill, which was a bit too exaggerated.

"She was the Former Gym Leader of Magic City in my world. The current Gym Leader is Sabrina... who is also the Gym Leader of Saffron City in the Kanto Region. She's currently in my world too."

Qiao Ran patiently soothed Lana's emotions, who was filled with a "????" expression, and then patiently explained a lot of things to her.

It took Lana quite a while to finally accept this fact.

"It's true!"

The level of excitement was like when she told someone she could capture Suicune with a single ball, and the next day they found out she actually had. It was as if something completely impossible had actually happened right before their eyes.

Qiao Ran... he didn't lie to me at all!

Isn't this a bit too exciting?

"Another world..."

Lana couldn't help but feel a strong attraction to this term and concept. Her love for fishing stemmed not only from her fondness for "water" and "Water-type Pokémon," but also from the sense of the unknown that followed each cast. Every time was a completely new experience, and no one knew what might happen in the underwater world.

The unknown is always Captivate, just like how Swimmer and Bikini Babe always attract so much attention on the beach.

"If I have the chance, I'd like to go and see it too."

Naturally, she also said something similar. Having lived and grown up on the island, she had always wanted to go swimming and fishing in other oceans and lakes, but she hadn't planned to before. After all, she had two younger sisters who were still young, and she definitely couldn't manage on her own if she didn't help her mother take care of them. And now, with such a huge disaster, she was even more helpless.

There will be other opportunities in the future.

Lana is not very old, so it would be very easy for her to travel. Moreover, judging from her ability to become the Captain of the Alola Region, her strength must be quite formidable. Although Qiao Ran has never fought against her, if we compare her to Acerola, who is very similar to her in terms of height and build, Lana must be quite capable.