The Twinleaf Town mayor's home.
It was a small courtyard with a Japanese-style building in the center of town, with gray walls, wooden corridors, enormous floor-to-ceiling windows meeting the floor, and several cherry trees and other plants in the yard.
A stone path paved with pebbles led from the gate to the house. Every corner of the courtyard held the poetry of everyday life, revealing the lady of the house's refined taste and conveying life's beauty and tranquility.
"You're here too, Luxray..."
Walking into the courtyard, Xiaoyun waved to the big blue lion lying by the door.
Luxray, also known as the Thunder Lion, had a blue face, hind legs, torso, and the backs of its forelegs, while fluffy black fur covered most of its body, forming a mane around its head. Its tail was slender, with a yellow four-pointed star at the tip.
"Roar~"
Luxray raised its head and nodded its lion head at Xiaoyun, then went back to lounging by the door, leisurely basking in the sun.
"Mom, I'm home!" Xiaoyun called into the house before he had even entered.
Lina was cleaning the living room. Seeing her son, she said in exasperation,
"Where did you run off to play this time? Your dad spent ages looking for you and couldn't find you anywhere. If he hadn't happened to run into Dawn, who said she knew where you were, he was about to send Staraptor out to find you."
Despite her words, Lina still walked over to Xiaoyun as he changed his shoes and used a towel to wipe the fine beads of sweat from his forehead.
"Huh? What's so urgent that he was even going to send Staraptor? Did our family go bankrupt?"
Xiaoyun stood still as Lina wiped his face. Looking at her, it seemed the years had left no trace on her face. Her elegant bearing and ever-gentle smile seemed capable of soothing all weariness and sorrow.
"Pah, pah, pah! What kind of child says that about his own family?"
Lina instinctively gave Xiaoyun a light thump on the chest. His words of such devastating filial devotion nearly shattered her elegant composure. After calming herself, she spoke.
"Then did Dad get stripped of his position as mayor? I told you ages ago, with the way he is, an Alliance inspector would suspend him sooner or later."
Xiaoyun immediately thought of another possibility, tapping his right fist against his left palm in affirmation.
"I can't take this. What is he even talking about? Maybe I should just give up on this kid. Why does he keep hoping his family goes bankrupt?"
"Whew, don't get angry, don't get angry. He's mine, he's mine. This is my own son, the one I spent over ten hours giving birth to."
This time, Lina could barely maintain even her gentle smile.
"It's good news this time. Your dad has a gift for you. He said he asked someone to arrange it, and it took ages to get here."
As expected of a former Coordinator, her control over her expressions was excellent. In just a few seconds, Lina regained her usual bearing, as though she had never heard her son's devastatingly filial words or entertained the thought of throwing him out.
"?? A gift ٩( 'ω' )و?"
Xiaoyun first thought back over whether he had asked his dad for any gifts recently.
Emmm... had he?
"What's with that expression? Why do you look so confused?"
Lina looked at her silly son as she spoke.
"But I don't think I've mentioned any gifts to Dad lately. If anything, he's been thinking about getting me to take Luxray out to help patrol the town every day."
As he spoke, Xiaoyun recalled his dad acting weak and pitiful in front of him.
The scene shifted to Xiaoyun's memories.
"Xiaoyun, your dad has it rough."
"Being mayor isn't easy. Not only do I have to run around every day for the town's future development, but I also have to patrol the whole town to keep it safe. Look, Staraptor has gotten so thin it's barely recognizable."
In the mayor's office, a certain unscrupulous mayor sat on his desk, spouting nonsense as he shamelessly squeezed labor out of his dear son, who had only just turned ten.
"Uh..."
"Staraptor is so thin it's barely recognizable? Are you sure?"
Looking puzzled, Xiaoyun first glanced out the window and waved in greeting to the muscular, sharp-eyed Staraptor that was just passing by on its aerial patrol.
"Staraptor~"
Seeing Xiaoyun, Staraptor smiled and waved a wing, then beat its powerful wings and flew toward the mountain behind town like a streak of light.
"Of course. Just look at how skinny Staraptor is now. Back when it challenged the League with me, it was huge and as steady as a mountain. It often won through sheer weight alone. That Body Slam helped me beat who knows how many powerful opponents," the unscrupulous mayor continued to prattle on, probably almost believing his own tall tales.
"Uh..."
Leaving aside whether Staraptor could even use Body Slam,
Xiaoyun roughly pictured an enormous Staraptor plunging from the sky, then defeating its opponent with Body Slam.
Eww~ What a lovely image. And Dad, are you sure that wasn't Flying Press?
He really was a mayor, all right. His way with words was certainly impressive. If Staraptor hadn't watched over Xiaoyun as he grew up, his dad might have actually fooled him.
"So, Xiaoyun, won't you do your poor dad a little favor?"
"Then... all right."
Xiaoyun really didn't want to help. The main problem was that his dad, a middle-aged man, was looking at him with such pitiful eyes.
Who could withstand that?!
Fine, fine. Who made this guy his dear father, anyway? It was like beating your kid on a rainy day-he had nothing else to do anyway.
"That's my boy! I knew you wouldn't leave your dad working here all alone. I've got high hopes for you." Seeing his son agree, the unscrupulous mayor before him looked thoroughly gratified.
"I can help, but let's get this straight first. I still have school, so I can only help after three in the afternoon. And don't give me too much work."
Xiaoyun turned his head away from his dad's smug grin and spread his hands with a hint of helplessness.
"Of course, no problem. As long as you agree. There's not much to do. Just take Luxray around to patrol the town, and when you're free, check the mountain behind town for any potential dangers."
Hearing that, the unscrupulous mayor casually reclined in his chair and spoke at a leisurely pace. With that capitalist air about him, he made it look as though Xiaoyun had volunteered for the work himself.
"That's everything, right? If there's nothing else, I'm leaving." Looking at his unscrupulous dad's infuriating manner, Xiaoyun couldn't bear to stay a moment longer.
Right now, he only wanted to visit Dawn's house or stop by his mom's Pokémon Day Care to see if there were any new Pokémon.
"Now, now, don't be angry." The unscrupulous mayor got up from the desk, walked over, and draped an arm around his neck with a smile.
"How about this? You won't be working for nothing. Once it's done, Dad will give you a gift. I guarantee it'll surprise you. What do you say?"
After noticing Xiaoyun's lack of reaction, the unscrupulous mayor decided to give the little fellow some motivation.
"Mm-hmm, sure, sure. Thanks, dear Dad. I'm really looking forward to your gift. I'll be going now."
Xiaoyun didn't take it seriously at all. He felt that his unreliable dad couldn't possibly give him a gift that would surprise him. After that indifferent, perfunctory response, he left the office.
"Little brat. So young, yet already acting like an old man. Not cute at all."
"But I hope you can keep that serious face when the gift arrives. I specially asked Professor Birch in Hoenn to help get you one. Heh heh heh."
Hanyu Qing'an let out a strange laugh, already imagining the look of delighted surprise on his perpetually serious son's usually unruffled face-commonly known as a dead-fish face-when he saw the gift.
Well, he really was looking forward to it.