Yue Guan Brought Flowers, Ghost Brought Only Himself

Early the next morning, Yue Guan came in carrying three flowerpots.

Ghost walked behind him, empty-handed.

Pancham inspected the flowerpots first, then circled Ghost once, seemingly suspecting he had hidden something in his shadow.

"No need to look," Ghost said. "I only brought myself."

Yue Guan set the flowerpots on the counter one by one. "For a first formal meeting, I should at least let the other party know what I'm good at."

On the far left was a golden chrysanthemum, its petals unfolding in layers, blooming beautifully. The middle pot held slender leaves and a newly emerged snow-white bud. The pot on the right was the smallest, planted with several wildflowers Yue Guan had brought back from the roadside. Their pale yellow blossoms were no bigger than fingernails.

"The third pot counts too?" Xia Che asked.

"I dug up the soil while moving the first two pots. It would've been a shame to throw it away," Yue Guan said. "The one truly meant for the meeting is on the left."

He took out a sheet of paper folded three times and spread it in front of the three flowerpots.

The first line read: likes flowers. The second: understands flowers. The third: won't casually pluck flowers. Below that were morning sunlight requirements, pollen cleaning, winter insulation, and ways to secure flowerpots while traveling, densely covering half a page.

Xia Che glanced at it. "Are you looking for a gardener?"

"I don't need a gardener."

"Then delete a few lines."

Yue Guan folded the paper back up. "These are the things I can prepare."

"You should've said so earlier."

"You didn't finish reading it."

Rotom floated over and scanned the paper again. Two columns quickly appeared on its screen. The left listed the care Yue Guan could provide, while the right listed the habits he hoped his partner would have.

There was only one line on the right: Don't treat the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum as a snack.

Yan happened to be passing through the front hall and stopped when he saw it. "Would a Pokémon really eat your Martial Soul?"

"No."

"Then why write it?"

"To guard against a first time."

Xie Yue dragged Yan away from behind. "It's time to train."

Magby looked back at the Golden Chrysanthemum and solemnly shook its head, indicating that it definitely would not eat it.

Yue Guan was very satisfied with its attitude.

Ghost also handed over a sheet of paper.

Xia Che unfolded it. There were only two words on it: Ghost.

"And after that?"

"I'll write it after we meet."

"What kind of partner do you want?" Yue Guan asked.

"One I can get along with."

"That's the same as saying nothing."

"It's more useful than your half-page."

Yue Guan was about to retort when Indeedee collected both sheets of paper. She pressed a dried-flower bookmark onto Yue Guan's sheet, then added a pen to Ghost's blank page.

Ghost took the pen with him as well.

Indeedee brought over two wooden signs. One had a flower painted on it, while the other bore a crescent-shaped black shadow. She hung the flower sign outside the well-lit meeting room and placed the shadow sign in the dim room at the end of the corridor.

Zorua poked its head out from behind the door.

The two wooden signs immediately switched places.

Yue Guan picked up the Golden Chrysanthemum and headed straight for the dark room.

Pancham stretched out a paw to stop him, then pointed at Zorua.

The little fox blinked, and the illusion vanished.

"If you like the dark room, I can give it to you," Ghost said.

Yue Guan turned to Xia Che. "Can you lock it up during the meeting?"

"Can't lock it up."

Zorua nodded smugly.

Indeedee placed a stack of cleaning cloths in front of it.

It lowered its head and carried them away, its tail immediately drooping.

The two meeting rooms could be used at the same time. Rotom first led Yue Guan to the door marked with the flower sign, while Xia Che accompanied Ghost deeper into the corridor.

"Why does he get a Pokédex explanation?" Yue Guan asked.

"You have more questions," Xia Che said.

"He speaks little, but that doesn't mean he doesn't want to know."

Ghost had already pushed open the dark room's door. "I'll ask."

The door shut in Yue Guan's face.

"See? He's already said quite a lot today," Xia Che said.

The flower room's window was open, and the last slanting sunlight before winter fell across the soft cushions. Yue Guan lined up the three flowerpots, placing the Golden Chrysanthemum at the very front while casually setting the pot of wildflowers in the corner by the window.

Rotom opened the Pokédex page. "The subject of this meeting is Flabébé, a Fairy-type Pokémon, Roto."

Yue Guan looked up. "How can a flower-shaped Pokémon be a Fairy type?"

"It lives together with the flower it chooses and can draw power from flowers. Its type remains Fairy, Roto."

"I wouldn't mistake a flower."

"You mistook its type."

Yue Guan stared at Rotom.

Rotom lowered its screen brightness by one level.

A very faint cry came from behind the curtains.

Yue Guan immediately turned his head.

Flabébé was only as tall as the edge of a palm, so tiny it could nearly hide behind a single petal. Holding a small blue flower, it slowly floated out from the curtain folds, looking first at Yue Guan, then at the three flowerpots he had brought.

Yue Guan unconsciously lowered his voice. "What do you think of this Golden Chrysanthemum?"

Flabébé flew closer and circled the golden petals twice.

It examined them carefully but did not reach out.

Thinking it was too far away, Yue Guan turned the pot toward a brighter spot. Flabébé immediately followed, extending its tiny hands to straighten a leaf that had been pressed down by the pot's rim.

"You can tell the leaf is damaged. You have sharp eyes," Yue Guan said.

It pointed at the bottom of the pot again.

A small ring of water had accumulated there.

Yue Guan lowered his head for a look. "The person who watered it this morning poured in half a cup too much."

Rotom recorded it. "Flabébé noticed the standing water first, Roto."

"I noticed it too."

"After it pointed it out."

Yue Guan poured out the water, then fetched a dry cloth to place beneath the pot. Only after watching him finish did Flabébé hold its blue flower steady again.

It did not praise him, merely nodding gently.

Yue Guan nodded as well, as if they had completed a very formal handover of a flower garden.

Yue Guan pushed over the white flower bud in the middle. "This flower has not yet bloomed. Its fragrance is exceptionally pure, but it is also delicate to care for."

Flabébé leaned close to smell the bud, then quickly flew away again.

"Your standards are quite high," Yue Guan said.

Rotom offered a reminder. "It may simply not be interested for now, Roto."

"I can tell."

Flabébé landed on the windowsill. Its gaze passed over the two famous flowers and stopped on the pale yellow wildflowers in the corner.

It continued holding its blue flower securely. The pale yellow wildflowers clearly could not replace its companion flower; what it cared about was how Yue Guan would treat a pot of inconspicuous flowers.

Yue Guan followed its gaze. "That pot was just something extra."

Flabébé had already flown over.

Meanwhile, only a small lamp covered in black gauze remained lit in the dark room.

Ghost did not sit down after entering. He first walked along the walls, checking the vent, the window lock, and the shadows behind the door before stopping in the middle of the room.

Xia Che leaned against the doorframe. "Are you here to meet a partner or inspect the room?"

"Habit."

"Finished checking?"

"There's an extra shadow on the wall."

Xia Che turned around.

A tiny gray-black figure was peeking halfway out of the wall. Duskull's face looked as though it wore a white bone mask, with a point of red light deep in its eye sockets as it moved slowly on its own. When it realized Ghost had seen it, it silently withdrew back into the wall.

Ghost took one step to the left.

That red light appeared from the left corner of the wall.

He stepped right again.

Duskull revealed its face from the right side.

"It's playing with you," Xia Che said.

"It's observing."

"Could be both."

Ghost did not argue. He sat on a low padded stool, placed the short blade and token he carried on the table, left both hands empty, and continued waiting.

Duskull slowly floated out of the wall.

It did not come too close, stopping only three steps away. The red light shifted from Ghost's face to the token on the table, then toward Xia Che at the door.

Xia Che waved. "I'm just watching the door."

Duskull slowly rose and drifted beneath the beams.

Indeedee lightly knocked on the door and brought in two small dishes. One held finely sliced dried Berries, while the other contained ordinary tea snacks. She left the dried Berries closer to Duskull and set the tea snacks by Ghost's hand.

Ghost picked up a piece.

The red light beneath the beams moved with it.

He put it back down and pushed it beside the dish of dried Berries.

"That's yours," Xia Che said.

"It's watching."

"Watching you eat."

Ghost fell silent for a moment, then put the tea snack into his mouth.

Sure enough, Duskull slowly descended. It hovered before its small dish and did not immediately eat. It first circled the dried fruit once, then looked at Ghost.

Ghost lifted his teacup.

Only then did Duskull take the smallest piece, retreating to the corner of the wall to eat it slowly.

"You're getting along well," Xia Che said.

"It's still early."

After finishing the first piece, Duskull did not return to the beams. It stayed by the table, secretly watching Ghost drink tea from behind its white bone mask.

When Ghost's cup was empty, it moved a little closer to the fruit dish.

Both sides were quiet, yet the progress was clear enough.

Ghost looked up at it.

One man and one Pokémon remained motionless.

After a while, Xia Che brought over another padded stool and sat down. "Are you two planning to stare at each other until lunch?"

"We can," Ghost said.

The red light in Duskull's eyes flickered softly.

"The kitchen is stewing mushrooms today."

Ghost stood up.

Duskull lowered its head toward the dish that still held more than half the dried Berries.

Ghost pushed the dish toward the wall. "Save them."

Duskull drifted down from the beams as well.

It followed him to the doorway, then stopped without leaving the dark room with him.

Ghost turned back and waited two breaths.

Duskull retreated into the wall, leaving only half its bone mask outside to watch him.

"It hasn't agreed yet," Xia Che said.

"I know."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

"To see whether it changes its mind."

Duskull shrank a little farther into the wall.

Ghost turned and left.

When they returned to the front hall, Yue Guan still had not come out. His voice occasionally drifted from the flower room, his tone shifting from composed to baffled.

"This Golden Chrysanthemum has been cultivated for nine years."

Holding its blue flower, Flabébé remained in front of the pot of wildflowers.

"The white one is also an option."

Flabébé reached out and touched one pale yellow wildflower.

"The soil in this pot was shoveled up from the roadside."

It touched the flower a second time.

Yue Guan moved the pot of wildflowers to the side.

Flabébé flew over after it.

He moved it back again.

It flew back as well.

Rotom faithfully recorded from the side, "Three consecutive choices, same target, Rotom."

"Don't record that sentence."

"Recorded."

Yue Guan carried the pot of wildflowers out of the meeting room, looking far more conflicted than when he had entered. Flabébé followed beside the flowerpot, clearly not ready to give up yet.

Ghost glanced over. "It chose very clearly."

"What about yours?"

"It didn't come out."

"At least mine was willing to follow."

Flabébé suddenly stopped. Yue Guan kept walking, and it clutched its blue flower tightly with one hand while grabbing the stem of a pale yellow wildflower with the other, getting dragged along and swaying twice.

Yue Guan hurriedly stopped and looked down at the few pale yellow flowers he normally would not have given a second glance.

Xia Che reminded him from behind the counter, "Take one more step, and the flower will break."

Yue Guan steadied the flowerpot and did not move again.