Take the Plushie You Caught Home

In the commercial district, rows of umbrellas brushed past one another, but who knew what the people holding them had seen beneath those umbrellas that made them voluntarily step aside.

Xingye walked through the crowd with Cyclizar. His entire body was wrapped in bloodstained bandages, one eye covered, while the signature goggles hanging around his neck had cracked from the fall.

He looked ridiculously edgy, but under the dark skies and in this setting, it was downright terrifying. Halloween was already over...

"Even if I've become a battle-damaged limited edition... I absolutely can't skip my daily check-in!"

Xingye had his own stubborn convictions. Even though he had been hurt worse than last time, he still stubbornly ran out of the hospital. Of course, it definitely wasn't because the hospital rooms charged by the hour.

But that wasn't the main reason either. More than ten minutes ago, while he was eating at the hospital, he had suddenly received a message from the claw machine shop owner.

It said that someone had pried open the machine and stolen the Gengar plushie while no one was around, so Xingye rushed over without even removing his bandages.

"So those little brats finally made their move!"

He did not even need to think about it to know those guys were responsible. He had kept an eye on them every day while working. It was impressive that they had managed to hold out for half a month.

He and Cyclizar arrived at the shop. There was still a long time before closing, but there were no customers left. Only several maintenance employees remained, carrying out their daily inspection before getting off work.

When they saw him suddenly arrive, they were startled. Xingye ignored them, placed his umbrella by the entrance, and went to inspect the machine. Sure enough, the Gengar plushie was gone, and there were pry marks beside it.

"Cyclizar!"

Cyclizar pointed at the surveillance cameras nearby, telling him to check them. Xingye nodded and headed straight for the front desk.

The young woman at the front desk was feeding Honey to her Cutiefly. She was about to tidy up and head home when his sudden appearance startled her so badly that she nearly knocked over the jar of Honey.

"Um... I need to check the surveillance footage. Thanks."

"Y-yes..."

Xingye had genuinely frightened her. Before long, he reviewed the footage from that period. Although the camera angle did not show who had pried open the machine—

Ten minutes before it happened, a child had entered the shop and did not leave until after the theft. That child also looked somewhat familiar.

It was the little brat from half a month ago who had loudly claimed there was something wrong with the machine. Xingye saw the kid sneaking around every few days, though he never knew what the kid was up to.

It looked like the theft had been planned all along. The kid had just been waiting for Xingye to be absent before secretly making a move.

"He left twenty-one minutes ago. That's a little while ago, but he didn't even take an umbrella, so he can't have gone far. Let's go. How can something I protect be stolen by a brat like that!"

"Cyclizar!"

They had spent half a month trying and failing to catch that Gengar plushie, only for it to be stolen. It was absolutely unforgivable. The culprit had to be punished three times over!

Xingye led Cyclizar outside. A map of the entire commercial district instantly appeared before his eyes. The cameras at the entrance had caught which direction the culprit had gone, so they just needed to follow the route!

Meanwhile, in an alley outside the shopping plaza, several children seemed to have encountered something terrifying and came screaming out of it.

In their panicked escape, those kids casually tossed a pink Gengar plushie into a puddle.

Rain continued to fall rapidly from the gloomy night sky, striking the Gengar plushie as the water level in the puddle slowly rose.

After becoming soaked, the plushie's cute girlish pink gradually faded into gray. Having absorbed the rainwater, it became heavier and could not even roll itself over.

It lay on its side, its eyes giving off a faint red glow as it watched those fleeing children through the hazy rain...

Who knew how long passed before Xingye finally caught the little brat who had stolen the plushie at a street corner on the other side of the commercial district.

Half a minute earlier, he had seen the group running through the rain at full speed. With quick reflexes, he had directly yanked the kid out from among them.

"You're bullying a child! Have you no shame?!"

"If I cared about shame, I wouldn't be here. Hand over what you stole from the shop!"

Cyclizar held the umbrella for him and stood nearby with an equally unhappy expression. How could it possibly be cheerful in a situation like this?

"What did I steal?! I don't have any plushie! You're slandering me for no reason! You call yourself a Trainer? I'm going to report you to Jenny!"

Seeing the brat still refuse to admit it, Xingye stopped wasting words. He grabbed the kid by the ear, curled his lip, and coldly said, "Huh? Want to come back with me and check the surveillance footage? Or should I call your parents over?"

"Waaah! He's hitting me!"

The pain in his ear immediately made the kid burst into loud tears. But Xingye noticed the children's smartwatch on his wrist, removed it at once, and the corner of his lips curled upward.

The moment the kid saw that, he stopped crying and panicked, reaching out to snatch it back.

But how could someone so scrawny possibly compare with the battle-damaged limited edition that Xingye had earned through fighting wits and courage against Pokémon?

He pinned the kid down with one hand, then pressed the speed-dial button on the watch. After a few buzzing sounds, someone answered.

"Hello? Son, why aren't you home for dinner so late? Your mom bought your favorite Da Zui Ba Zai today. Hurry home."

Hearing his father's voice, the kid's expression turned frantic. He hurriedly shouted, "I'll talk! I'll talk! I threw that haunted plushie into an alley outside the shopping plaza! Please don't call my dad over!"

"A haunted plushie?" Xingye froze slightly.

"That's right, its eyes can glow..."

"..."

He pondered for a moment, then calmly said into the watch, "This account of yours is beyond saving. Just start a new one."

"Who are you?! Where's my son?!"

Xingye ignored the other man's curses. After releasing the kid, he tossed the watch back to him, then left with Cyclizar. What happened afterward was no longer important...

Night gradually deepened as the rain continued to wash over the pavement, and there were even fewer pedestrians on the streets. Yet beneath Hau'oli City's neon reflections, the entire city possessed a different kind of beauty.

In a dim, gloomy, deserted alley, the Gengar plushie lay on its side in a puddle that had submerged half its body, enduring the relentless downpour.

It still held its belly, its face still wearing that mischievous smile. Its eyes gave off a faint red glow as it watched humans walking freely beneath the neon lights in the distance. Then a raindrop slid from the corner of its eye...

But in the next instant, through what seemed like tear-blurred vision, two figures appeared to be rapidly approaching, accompanied by delighted voices.

"Found it, found it."

"Cyclizar~"

"That little brat didn't give me any details, so I could only follow the glowing spots and search all over."

Xingye picked the ice-cold Gengar plushie out of the puddle. Not caring whether it was dirty, he immediately held it against his chest and softly said with some concern, "It's completely soaked. We'll need to dry it properly. This little dress looks like it can come off..."

"Gengar..."

Seeing the familiar face of the person holding it, the Gengar plushie's eyes glowed a little brighter, as though it was about to cry.

"Why are you crying? At a time like this, you should be smiling." Xingye squeezed the water from the Gengar plushie and curiously asked as he looked at its glowing eyes, "So you really are a Pokémon?"

"Gengar~"

"No wonder. So why were you staying there? Did you have nowhere else to go?"

"Gengar..."

"Is that so..."

Xingye could more or less understand what it meant. He then smiled and asked, "Would you like to come to my home? There isn't much space, but there's definitely room for you to stay. You can also visit downstairs anytime."

"Gengar..."

After a long while, Gengar finally responded with that one sound, its voice somewhat low. It had clearly declined the offer. Xingye looked at its ever-present mischievous smile and understood what it meant.

"Cyclizar..."

"Alright, let's go back to the shop. Since it's a plushie that was stolen, it should naturally be returned to where it belongs. That's our job."

Xingye held the Gengar plushie in both arms as Cyclizar helped hold the umbrella, and they headed toward the claw machine shop. Though they had been delayed for quite a while, fortunately the shop had not completely closed, and the owner was still inside.

Arriving before the machine that had been pried open, he wrung out all the water from the Gengar plushie and placed it back inside. Once again, they looked at each other through the glass.

"Cyclizar..."

Cyclizar pressed against the glass and looked at the plushies inside, unable to understand why he was doing this. It wanted to smash the glass and take the plushie out.

However, Xingye, who had quietly left for a while, returned. As usual, he sat before the machine, inserted the two coins he had just exchanged, and began operating it with a serious expression.

The claw easily grabbed the Gengar plushie again, but this time it lifted it steadily. Gengar did not interfere anymore.

As Xingye watched the claw slowly move above the prize chute and release it, the plushie fell out with what seemed to be a happy cry...

Xingye had finally achieved the goal he had pursued for more than half a month, breaking through the limit.

He held the Gengar plushie in his arms again, gently stroked it, and said with a smile, "If it's a plushie you like, then you have to catch it yourself and take it home, right~?"

"Cyclizar~"

"Let's go. Let's go home together!"

"Gengar~"

At that moment, Gengar's mischievous smile seemed to become a truly happy one...