Are You Telling Us to Get Lost?

The extended luxury car soon arrived at a manor not far from Canalave City's North District.

The manor's decor was rather old-fashioned, but the landscaping was exceptionally well done. Even in autumn, lush green plants could be seen everywhere, while the flowers in the beds bloomed brilliantly.

Pokémon could be spotted at any time amid the grass and woods.

Oddish, showering beneath the fountain and keeping its leaves tender and verdant; Sunkern, leaning against a tree and swaying sleepily; Butterfree and Beautifly dancing among the flowers—it was easy to tell from the smiles on these Pokémon's faces that they were living happily here.

Just then.

A man in a purple suit, sleeves rolled up and a white cloth wrapped around his head, was squatting on the ground and tinkering with something, drawing the attention of Jing He, Steven Stone, and Gastly as they got out of the car.

"Father!" Steven clearly recognized the man at once and stepped forward. "What are you tinkering with this time?"

Hearing that, Stone Mokuren turned around with a cheerful smile. "Steven."

His gentle face was covered in dust, though he seemed entirely unaware of it. Before him stood a rather bizarre-looking machine.

At his side floated a Castform.

"Father, Teacher Jing He is here," Steven reminded him.

Only then did Stone Mokuren notice Jing He and Gastly behind Steven. He froze briefly, then hurriedly stood up. "Look at me, I nearly forgot—"

Before he could finish, perhaps because his hand had left the machine, it exploded with a bang! Flames burst outward from within.

"Koujie!"

Gastly jumped in fright.

It was not the only one. Castform, standing even closer to the machine, had tears welling up in its eyes.

"Wuuu~~"

Its body swiftly changed from grayish-white into a blue water droplet, and rain came pouring down. Amid a hiss, the flames on the machine were extinguished.

Steven and Jing He both let out a sigh of relief.

"Sorry, sorry, Teacher Jing He, I've made a fool of mysel—"

BOOM!!

Golden lightning flared around Castform, and the flashing bolt struck Stone Mokuren directly.

Th-Thunder? For a moment, all three of them looked stiff, especially Stone Mokuren. Arcs of electricity still danced across his body, and black smoke drifted from his slightly open mouth.

Was this the real-life version of Ash?

President Stone's Ash content was really something.

"Cough." Stone Mokuren coughed out another puff of black smoke, but rather than getting angry, he smiled again and comforted Castform. "It's all right, it's all right. I'm sorry, I scared you."

"Wuwu~~"

Under Stone Mokuren's soothing words, Castform gradually calmed down and returned to its original grayish-white balloon form.

"Koujie~~"

Gastly's gaze shifted between Stone Mokuren and Jing He.

Was I too gentle before? This... wouldn't kill anyone at all!

"Steven, go see how dinner preparations are coming along in the kitchen," Stone Mokuren said after calming Castform down.

Steven instinctively glanced at Jing He. He knew his father wanted to speak with Jing He alone. Seeing that Jing He did not object, he nodded and headed toward the house.

"Teacher Jing He, I've made you laugh."

Stone Mokuren pulled off the white cloth around his head, wrung out the rainwater Castform had soaked into it, then casually wiped his face. His previously soot-blackened face immediately looked much cleaner.

Jing He smiled and shook his head.

It was hardly something to laugh at. After all, he had a Gastly at his side that could paralyze or poison him at any moment.

What he saw instead was a scene of humans and Pokémon living together harmoniously.

"Shall we take a walk?" Stone Mokuren asked.

"Sure."

The two began strolling through the manor's vast garden.

Gastly's eyes rolled.

It went to find Castform.

It wanted to learn from it.

How to control its strength so no one would die.

"Wuu—"

But Castform seemed a little afraid of Gastly. The kinder Gastly's smile became, the farther away Castform floated.

Before long, the two Pokémon were actually chasing each other around the garden.

Meanwhile, Stone Mokuren and Jing He chatted as they walked alongside the little river in the garden.

"That year... Steven was only six, wasn't he? I took him on a field expedition and gave him a Beldum, along with a strange crystal I'd just dug up. From then on, he completely fell in love with Pokémon and all kinds of stones..."

"Looking back now, he really was so innocent, so adorable, and so happy back then..."

As he spoke, a fatherly smile naturally appeared on Stone Mokuren's face.

Jing He had actually heard Steven talk about much of this back in Lavaridge Town.

But Jing He said nothing, simply listening quietly.

"Actually, I invited you here today, Teacher Jing He, partly because I wanted to properly thank you. For what happened in the alley some time ago, and what happened in Lavaridge Town, thank you for looking after him. I also heard that Steven gets along very well with you at the academy and is quite willing to listen to you."

Without waiting for Jing He to reply, he continued.

"The other reason is that I'd like to hire you as Steven's private tutor."

"Private tutor?"

Jing He was startled.

He had considered what Stone Mokuren might say, but he truly had not expected him to ask Jing He to become a private tutor.

"That's right." Stone Mokuren crouched down and carefully straightened a flower that had grown crookedly.

"Or perhaps a consultant for Devon Corporation. I know you're very busy, Teacher Jing He, but I believe it won't take up too much of your time."

Jing He stopped as well. "What would you like me to teach Steven? How to become an outstanding heir to Devon?"

Stone Mokuren smiled and shook his head.

"Quite the opposite."

"I want to ask you, Teacher, to help him learn to enjoy the happiness in life—to be a proper Trainer and a proper stone enthusiast."

Jing He smiled.

Wasn't it strange?

Although Steven loved Pokémon and stones, his greatest wish was to inherit Devon as soon as possible, so that his father, Stone Mokuren, could retire early and live the life he wanted.

Yet Stone Mokuren was willing to set aside the vast business empire he had built from nothing, all so his son could be happy and do what he truly wanted.

Dinner.

The table was filled with dishes, yet Gastly hung its head as it floated off to the side.

After cautiously glancing at Jing He's stern face, it hurriedly lowered its head again.

It looked like it had made a mistake and sincerely knew it.

Seeing it like that, Jing He could only look helpless.

"Koujie, koujie..."

It had only wanted to say hello to Castform. They were supposed to be friends. Besides, Castform was a Normal-type Pokémon, so it was immune to Ghost-type moves, wasn't it?

Jing He's face darkened.

Was that the issue? Who wouldn't get frightened after turning around and seeing a scary ghost face, especially when it was waving around that huge tongue?

"Teacher Jing He, it's fine. It was only frightened a little."

Steven pushed the door open and walked in. Seeing Jing He and Gastly, he could not help but smile.

"Koujie?"

Upon seeing Steven, Gastly looked as though it had found its savior.

"Then where are President Stone and Castform?" Jing He asked, secretly relieved.

When visiting someone else's home, frightening their Pokémon unconscious was embarrassing no matter how thick-skinned he was.

"Oh, they went to the hospital," Steven said casually.

Jing He: "..."

"Oh, right, Teacher. Father asked me to give you this. He said it's a token of thanks."

As he spoke, Steven took out a cube-shaped box. Inside was a Pokémon Egg! "K-Koujie..." Gastly cautiously spoke up.

Giving us an Egg.

Is he telling us to get lost?

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