A Strange Poké Ball

A little later, Mingyou returned to the living room. Once all the Tangerines were packed, he sent Misty a message reminding her not to eat the red ones, just in case.

But after waiting a good while, he still hadn't heard back from her. Maybe it was too early and she was still asleep.

So he stopped waiting and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. Just as the corn porridge finished cooking, the courier arrived.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the young courier from yesterday, but an older man...

"It's going to Cerulean City. Sorry for the trouble."

"Don't worry. It'll get there in no time!"

"Great. Bye!"

After seeing the courier off, Mingyou returned to the living room, planning to stir-fry some cabbage to eat with the corn porridge.

But as soon as he stepped inside, he saw Ogerpon, now awake, rushing down the stairs in a panic. It seemed she had noticed he was gone and gotten terribly worried.

At that very moment, Munchlax caught the smell of porridge drifting from the kitchen and ran toward it. Munchlax collided with Ogerpon as she charged down the stairs...

"Slow down, you two!"

Mingyou slapped a hand to his forehead. He could barely watch.

He went over and helped Ogerpon up. Munchlax didn't even bother getting to its feet; it crawled straight toward the kitchen, as if afraid someone would steal its food.

Once Ogerpon was standing, she grabbed Mingyou's hand. She had been so worried she wouldn't find him.

"Wum..."

"I'm right here. I just didn't want to wake you. I thought I'd let you sleep a little longer."

"Wum..."

"All right, all right. Let's eat first."

Mingyou soothed Ogerpon and went with her to the kitchen. When he saw Munchlax trying to carry off the rice cooker, he hurriedly shouted, "Hey, save some for us! Don't eat it all!"

"Munch!"

In the end, they managed to wrest away a little porridge. That was just life with Munchlax.

Mingyou was used to it. He looked at Ogerpon, who was holding her bowl and drinking porridge, and said, "Oh, right. I'm going to Verdant Town to buy some things later. Want to come?"

"Wum? Wu..."

At that, Ogerpon put down her bowl, torn. She didn't want to go to Verdant Town...

Seeing her expression, Mingyou quickly said, "Then wait here for me. I won't be long. After that, we can go to Oni Mountain together. How does that sound?"

"Wum~"

Ogerpon nodded obediently.

A little later, Ogerpon hid herself. Only after she saw the Flying Taxi take Mingyou away did she dare come out.

But suddenly, she was alone again...

"Munch~"

Still a little hungry, Munchlax walked up beside her and invited her to search the Orchard for wild Berries and mushrooms to eat.

"Wum?"

"Munch~"

Come on, let's go~

You bring me Berries every day. I want to find some food for you too, to thank you. Otherwise, you'll think all I do is eat and sleep.

"Bellsprout~"

Hearing that Munchlax was going to look for food, Weepinbell and the others jumped out too, ready to tag along. They hadn't had breakfast yet, either.

Seeing everyone at the Manor inviting her, Ogerpon covered her face, suddenly a little nervous but also curious. Was everyone really this welcoming?

"Wum~"

All right, then. I'll play with everyone~

Ogerpon happily joined them. Led by Munchlax, the group's "big brother," they ran all over the place. Even with Mingyou gone for now, Ogerpon lived at the Manor with everyone, and without realizing it, she no longer felt lonely...

Meanwhile, in Verdant Town.

Mingyou exchanged some LP for cash with the Flying Taxi driver. The Momozawa Shop still only took cash, so he had no choice.

As he walked toward the Momozawa Shop, he noticed identical advertisements on the streetlights and noticeboards. Each featured silhouettes of the three members of the Loyal Three who had once protected Kitakami.

"Is there some kind of event?"

Curious, he arrived at the Momozawa Shop and found Grandma Momozawa sitting outside, breaking apart a few pastries to feed Vulpix.

When she saw him, Grandma Momozawa smiled. "You're here early today, young man. The bean sprout seeds you wanted have arrived."

"That fast? Thank you, Grandma."

"Haha, it was nothing."

"I still ought to thank you."

Mingyou spoke politely. Grandma Momozawa had made a good impression on him. In fact, most of the Verdant Town residents he'd met seemed down-to-earth, apart from the Administrator and a few younger people...

He looked toward the advertisements nearby and asked curiously, "Is there some kind of event going on?"

"Summer Vacation starts at the end of the month, and lots of people come here to travel. So they put the ads up early, then shoot videos to promote the place. They do it every year. The Administrator also approaches schools and companies about organizing Summer Camps..."

"I see..."

Mingyou rubbed his chin and nodded. So visitor numbers in Kitakami would soar over the next two months? Could he bring some crops from the Manor to Verdant Town to sell?

It seemed doable. The only problem might be Yao Qian, the Administrator. Mingyou hadn't seen him since refusing to sign the contract, but who knew whether he might try to sabotage him behind the scenes?

Still, there were more than ten days left. No need to rush.

He entered the shop, bought all ten bags of bean sprout seeds, then picked up some ingredients. Ogerpon didn't seem to dislike any foods, so he bought extra fish and meat. It had been a while since they'd had a proper meat dish.

As he reached the counter to pay, Grandma Momozawa came in from outside.

While she began tallying his purchases, Mingyou asked curiously, "By the way, Grandma, have you heard of a monster in Kitakami that only appears at night when it's foggy and eats people?"

"...A monster that eats people?"

"That's right!"

Mingyou wanted to gather information, and Grandma Momozawa had lived in Kitakami for so many years. She might actually know something...

"Hmm... Let me think. That does sound familiar. I heard about it a long time ago..."

Grandma Momozawa thought for quite a while, then shook her head. "I've never seen it. But when I was little, I loved sneaking out at night to catch fireflies. The wilderness wasn't nearly as safe back then..."

As she spoke, Grandma Momozawa seemed to recall something fondly. "So to keep us from running around outside at night, our families would scare us with stories about monsters that ate people. It kept us quiet and well-behaved for ages."

"So there really was a monster?"

"I don't know if it really existed. It might only have been a story. Not many people know that tale anymore, though. Haha."

Grandma Momozawa laughed, a little wistful at how quickly time had passed. Then she said, "That monster supposedly lived in the forest to the north, but I can't remember anything else. If you want to know more about the story, you could ask the Administrator."

"Huh? Ask him?"

"Of course. To develop tourism in Kitakami, the Administrator dug up every legend and tale he could find, hoping to attract visitors."

You've got to hand it to him...

Mingyou didn't even know what to say. Yao Qian hadn't made a good impression on him, but to the people of Kitakami, he was probably the person they most wanted to thank.

Mingyou shook his head and glanced over the counter, looking for a little snack, maybe some candy, to bring back for Ogerpon.

But just as he spotted some lollipops, his attention was drawn to a ball lying nearby. It was shaped like a Poké Ball, but its surface faded from green to white. It was quite pretty.

"Grandma, what's this?"

"Some kind of toy Poké Ball, I think. My Vulpix went out to play the night before last and brought it back from somewhere. Then she left it lying around and stopped playing with it, so I picked it up and put it here."

Grandma Momozawa glanced at it without much interest. "It's a convincing toy. It's got some weight to it, but it won't open... It's a solid piece. With those colors, it might look nice as a decoration at home."

"I see..."

Mingyou nodded and picked up the Poké Ball to examine it closely. Its surface was perfectly smooth, without a mark on it, and its craftsmanship was excellent, better even than an ordinary Poké Ball.

He recognized it. It was actually a type of Poké Ball called a Strange Ball, though this kind didn't seem to be on the market yet...

He shook the Strange Ball in his hand. It did have some weight, but it didn't feel solid. It felt more like there was a Pokémon trapped inside!

"Wait... Could there really be something in here?"