Morning sunlight slipped through a gap in the curtains, casting a thin strip of light across the wooden floor.
When Lin Hao woke up, May was already sitting in the chair by the window, holding a cup of tea that had gone completely cold. He rolled over and mumbled, "What time is it?"
"Seven thirty."
"Too early. Let me sleep a little longer." He pulled the covers over his head.
May neither moved nor urged him to get up. That wasn't right.
Lin Hao opened his eyes under the covers. After lying there for three seconds, he slowly pulled them down and looked at May. "How come you're not yanking my covers off today?"
May gripped her teacup tightly. "Lin Hao, how are you going to explain what happened last night?"
Lin Hao sat up and scratched his messy hair. "What happened? The Ghost-type Pokémon scattered. Isn't that a good thing?"
"Who drove them away?" May stared at him.
"Maybe they scattered on their own."
"That psychic power covered the entire street. Even I sensed it." May's voice was soft, but every word was clear. "That wasn't something Pikachu could do."
Pikachu huddled in a corner of the pillow, tail curled around the ears, pretending to be a yellow cushion. Lin Hao fell silent.
"I'm not trying to pry into everything about you." May set the cold tea on the table and rested both hands on her knees. "I just want to know what that voice I heard last night was."
"What voice?"
"What were you talking to?" May looked him in the eyes. "It wasn't Pikachu or the others."
Lin Hao looked down at his fingers and gave a helpless smile before finally sighing. "May."
"Yeah."
"Do you know why I keep saying I'm an ordinary person?"
May shook