Miserable Pheobe

"Where are we going next?"

Steven stood at the exit of Meteor Falls and asked his friend beside him.

"Lavaridge Town, of course."

"It's already evening. Let's head straight there and find somewhere to stay. Tomorrow we can soak in the hot springs, and the Elite King Exhibition Match is the day after."

Steven thought that made sense too. He had long heard how relaxing Lavaridge Town's hot springs were.

He hadn't properly tried them when he last came to challenge the Gym. This time, he had to take a soak.

After that, Steven sent out Skarmory, who carried the two of them straight toward Lavaridge Town.

Outside Lavaridge Town, the two climbed off Skarmory's back. Just as they were about to enter town, a pitiful cry suddenly rang out.

"Brother Chen Shi!!"

They turned to see a bedraggled girl racing toward them.

She cried as she ran, a sight so heartbreaking it could have brought anyone to tears.

When Chen Shi spotted those two familiar big red flowers, he couldn't help bursting into laughter.

"Pfft, hahahaha!!"

"Pheobe, how did you end up looking like this?"

"What happened? Did you get a part-time job begging?"

Pheobe reached them, utterly distraught. Tears kept streaming down her face as her little hands wiped at them.

She looked pitiful.

"Brother Chen Shi, I ran into scammers."

"Several people tricked me out of all my money, and they beat me up too."

"I haven't eaten in two days."

At that, Steven abruptly turned his head away, fighting back laughter so hard that his handsome face turned red.

He remembered now. Wasn't this the girl Chen Shi had asked him to scam?

He hadn't expected his people to be so efficient. They had left the poor girl without food for two whole days.

Chen Shi's expression froze. He suddenly remembered that he had been the one who asked Steven to arrange this.

It had slipped his mind for a moment.

"Ahem, well!"

"You must be starving. Let's go inside and get something to eat!"

"Yes, yes, yes! Thank you, Brother Chen Shi!"

Steven let out a laugh before he could stop himself, only to meet Chen Shi's gaze. He forced it back down and started looking around instead.

This poor girl. If you knew your Brother Chen Shi had arranged everything that happened to you, would you still thank him?

Chen Shi coughed awkwardly, then took Pheobe to the best hotel in town, booked a private dining room, and ordered a whole tableful of food.

Watching Pheobe wolf down her food, Chen Shi actually felt a little guilty.

He hurriedly shook his head. I can't think like that. I'm doing this for her own good. It's for her own good.

Once Pheobe had eaten enough to take the edge off her hunger, she began pouring out her woes to Chen Shi, telling him how she had met the scammers and how they had tricked her.

She also told him how much she had suffered lately.

The more Chen Shi heard, the more awkward he felt, and he kept putting food on the girl's plate.

Beside him, Steven was trembling all over from holding back his laughter.

Chen Shi leaned over to his ear and whispered, "Don't forget, your people did this to her, so you're an accomplice too."

Steven's expression froze. He did seem to have a point.

But then he immediately caught on. "Weren't you the one who asked me to arrange it?"

"I was following your instructions!"

"Oh, give it a rest. We're in the same boat. Neither of us has any right to point fingers."

That really irritated Steven. How were they in the same boat?

Weren't you the one who asked me to help scam this girl?

And now somehow I'm your accomplice.

Just then, Pheobe asked curiously, "Brother Chen Shi, who's this?"

"What are you two talking about?"

The two immediately moved apart, and Chen Shi introduced Steven to Pheobe.

"This is the heir to the Stone family, Steven Stone. Just call him Steven."

Then he turned and went through the motions of introducing Pheobe to Steven.

"This girl is from Mt. Pyre. She specializes in Ghost-types. Just call her Pheobe."

"Hello, Miss Pheobe. It's a pleasure to meet you." Steven politely stood to greet her.

"Oh, oh!" Pheobe blinked, then hurriedly stood as well and gave Steven a ninety-degree bow.

"Hello, Brother Steven. I'm very happy to meet you too."

The corner of Steven's eye twitched slightly. This girl really was far too innocent.

She was even making him feel guilty.

If I'd known, I wouldn't have listened to Chen Shi. How could you bear to trick such an adorable girl like this?

What a scumbag.

"Come on, come on, sit down and eat. The food's getting cold."

Chen Shi pushed them both back into their seats and urged them to eat.

Suddenly, Chen Shi remembered something. He opened his backpack, took out a fossil, and placed it in front of Pheobe.

"Here, this is for you!"

Pheobe thought he had a little gift for her and eagerly looked up, only to discover a lousy rock. She immediately lost interest.

"I don't even like rocks. What would I want this for?"

Chen Shi shot her an exasperated glance. "This is a Dreepy fossil. I dug it up at Meteor Falls."

"Didn't you say you wanted a Dreepy?"

"You can take this fossil and have Steven revive it for you."

"I've already talked to him about it."

Pheobe scratched her head and asked in confusion, "You can revive fossils?"

"Aren't they already dead?"

Steven immediately understood. This girl had never heard of fossil revival before and apparently didn't quite believe it.

So he had no choice but to explain, "Fossils can be revived."

"Our Devon Corporation revived an Aerodactyl a few days ago. Your fossil looks very complete, so there shouldn't be any problems."

Hearing that, Pheobe hurriedly picked up the fossil and cradled it in her hands, unable to hide the delight in her eyes.

She really loved Dreepy, with its Dragon and Ghost typing. Unfortunately, this Pokémon seemed to be extremely rare and valuable.

In that place called the Galar region, Dreepy was even classified as a pseudo-legendary Pokémon.

She had pretty much given up hope, yet she had never expected Brother Chen Shi to give her such a wonderful gift today.

At the thought of having a Dreepy of her own, Pheobe stared at the fossil and couldn't stop grinning foolishly.

"Little Dreepy, little Dreepy, hehehe..."

Has this kid lost her mind? Chen Shi thought speechlessly.

Then he gave Pheobe a nudge. "Stop grinning like an idiot and eat."

"The Revival Machine used to revive fossil Pokémon is still being repaired. You'll have to wait a while before you can revive it."

"Make sure you keep that fossil safe. If you lose it, I'll give you a beating."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Pheobe nodded like a chick pecking at grain.

"Oh, right. Why did you come here?"

"I heard there's an Elite King Exhibition Match here, so I came."

Pheobe bobbed her little head, absolutely delighted. She had clearly forgotten all about her miserable experiences over the past few days.

"Then do you have money for a ticket?"

"Huh?"

"I need to buy a ticket?" Pheobe was dumbfounded. Nobody told me that!

They only told me there was an Elite King Exhibition Match here. Nobody said I had to buy a ticket.

No one could say no to a Greninja.