"Creak!"
The house's front door, worn down by age and long neglect, let out an extremely sharp, grating screech as it was pushed open.
The moment the door opened, a decayed, dilapidated stench rushed at them.
The room was incredibly dark. Dongshu took a flashlight from his bag, barely illuminating the surrounding area.
"Click!"
A flash of white light emerged from the Poké Ball at Dongshu's waist. Squirtle had apparently worried that its Trainer might be scared, so it had voluntarily come out of its Poké Ball to keep him company.
"Squirtle?" Dongshu looked at the little turtle.
"Squirtle, Squirtle!"
Squirtle could not help turning its head to look around. Gazing at the gloomy surroundings, it could not stop images from surfacing in its mind—terrifying ghosts emerging from the darkness and dragging it away.
That made Squirtle clutch Dongshu's pants with its tiny hands.
Dongshu: "..."
It was clearly scared too, yet it had still insisted on coming out to keep him company?
Dongshu patted Squirtle on the head and comforted it instead. "Don't be afraid, Squirtle. Dad and I are both here."
"Squirtle, Squirtle!"
The first floor was a living room. There was a sofa, an old-fashioned television, a dining table, a crib, and some building-block toys scattered across the dust-covered floor.
Looking at those toys, images surfaced in Dongshu's mind.
He saw Matsuda, his father in this life, teasing him with those toys, while his mother, Yumiko, gently cooked dinner for her husband and child nearby.
Back then, they had also kept a Meowth at home.
His human parents in this life had been a very gentle couple. They had loved him dearly.
Dongshu's thoughts returned to what had happened that year. Perhaps because his soul was that of an adult, he still remembered the events from that