You are not allowed to be a Pokémon Trainer!

Chapter 106 Mysterious Tales: Dad?

"I'm starving! When will this lousy match ever end?!"

Inside the gym, Nemo, with the help of Babu Tubo, was doing bench presses while venting her frustrations about being cooped up in Beishang Township.

Like Xia Chi, she didn't come to participate in the competition for any regional honor.

However, Xia Chi was aiming for the rewards from the system's second battle round.

Nemo, on the other hand, wanted to battle against different trainers.

In the two weeks since she arrived at the resort, she has already battled most of the trainers who came to participate in the competition, so the novelty has long worn off.

At this moment, she naturally wanted to escape from this cage that confined her and prevented her from taking any risks.

While doing stretching exercises, Ziyu comforted her, "It's not a good time to travel to any place this season. Yesterday, Dad even video-called to tell me that it snowed in Fanba City too~"

Xia Chi, who was on the treadmill next to him, felt a chill.

Huh? The burly, cold, pragmatic, and righteous Boss Ju is actually such a tender-hearted tough guy in private?
Even the snowfall requires a special phone call to report to his daughter who lives thousands of miles away. Is this just an excuse he made up so he can video chat with her?
But there's nothing we can do about it. Anyone who has a perfect daughter like Ziyu, who is so beautiful, cute, and gentle, would probably become a doting father!

Nemo replied, "Yeah, my dad told me yesterday that it snowed in Padiya and asked if I wanted to go to Alora for the winter after I got back."

The two women's conversation left Xia Chi in silence for a moment.

Do we always have to bring up our parents for no reason?
This will make it very difficult for us to have anything in common!

Lapa, where are you?

miss you.
After finishing her two-hour workout, Xia Chi walked out of the gym, took a hot shower, and prepared to go out for some fresh air.

Winter nights come early in Beishang Township; by four or five o'clock, the sky is already a deep, dark blue.

Tire Cat followed closely behind Xia Chi, leaving tiny paw prints in the large footprints Xia Chi had left in the snow.

This inexplicable connection makes Tire Cat feel at ease.

While secretly following behind Xia Chi and playing this boring little game, the figure in front of her suddenly stopped, and Tire Cat bumped into it before she could stop in time.

"Tire Meow, look at this."

Xia Chi squatted down and pointed to the snow.

Tire Cat looked curiously and discovered that where Xia Chi was pointing, a series of small, round footprints led to the grass not far away.

These must be the footprints of some kind of spirit.

Tire Cat was a little confused, "Meow Tire?"

What's wrong? Is Xia Chi going to play a game of guessing elves based on footprints with me?

Xia Chi said thoughtfully, "Do you think it looks a bit like the footprints of the elf we met that night?"

Tire Cat instantly stopped giggling and put on a sad little cat face.

It's her again!
Trainer, why are you paying so much attention to a strange Pokémon?

Tire Cat got angry just thinking about how that elf acted all pitiful and manipulative that night.

And it seems that everything Xia Chi has been doing these past few days has revolved around that unknown elf, right?

Xia Chi was unaware of Tire Miao's jealousy at that moment, and instead carefully examined the footprints.

Its size and depth are very similar to the petite size of the Egui Pong.
Are there any other bipedal elves in Beishang Township that weigh over 30 kilograms and have round footprints?
Xia Chi thought back for a moment, and it seemed that there really wasn't one?

It's pretty much a done deal; Ponpo finally couldn't resist coming to get the Green Grass Mask back from me!
Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Xia Chi stood up and said, "Tire Meow, let's go back."

Now that Ergui Peng has found the resort, there's no need to do anything unnecessary now.

Just wait quietly for her to come to us on her own.

"Nya!"

Unaware of the situation, Tire Meow thought that Xia Chi had finally stopped paying attention to the elf, and happily followed after her.

------

Late at night, everything is silent.

Tirey and Misdreavus went out for a stroll early in the morning, while Tyranitar was sound asleep in the corner of the room.

Outside the French windows connecting to the courtyard, a small, grass-green sprite peeked into the room. Having confirmed that the two powerful sprites were gone, and that the only one left was the one that ate and slept, Ergui Peng shifted his gaze to the bedside.

On the bedside table, the familiar green grass mask was indeed displayed in a perfectly restored state.

On her forehead, a grass-green gemstone emitting a faint glow was particularly eye-catching.

Did he really fix the Green Grass mask?

Egui Peng's bright yellow starry eyes stared unblinkingly at the green grass mask that was exactly the same as the one he remembered from that summer.

Their mouths were slightly agape in surprise, revealing two sharp little tiger teeth.

Egui Peng, who had no other intentions and was only thinking about getting the mask back, suddenly had another thought pop into his mind.

Does this human really believe I'm not the murderer?

As Erguipeng recalled the first time he eavesdropped on his conversation with his friend, tears welled up in his eyes and blurred his vision again.

My father was clearly killed by those three bad guys, yet they treat the real murderer as a hero!

This thorn has been stuck in Egui's heart for hundreds of years.

No matter how harsh her life had been or how long she had endured loneliness over the years, it couldn't compare to even a fraction of the harm caused by that incident.

Egui Peng longs to integrate into the community of Beishang Township and wants to tell everyone the truth about what happened back then.

But she has already been deeply imprinted with the identity of a [ghost] in the history and culture of Beishang Township—

The elderly would tell that history to newborn children;
Mothers would use ghost stories to scare their children away from running around outside;
Road signs would warn outsiders of the legend of "cruel ghosts";

Even the annual Summer Masked Festival, held every year, is to celebrate the Three-Handed Demons defeating the evil spirits and protecting the village.
Egui Peng thought that time would wash away the truth of history.

So over the past few centuries, she has not been without attempts to make contact with humans.

Without exception, everyone expressed negative emotions such as fear, disgust, and dread towards themselves.

Egui's heart had long since turned cold and numb.

But one winter night, when she overheard the stranger say, "If the Evil Pine were still here, it would be very sad,"

Egui Peng finally released the tears that had been hidden in his heart for many years.

Just as Ponpo was lost in thought, a voice rang in its ears.

"Isn't it cold outside? Would you like to come in and sit down?"

"Boni?!"

Having not been in close contact with people for over a century, Egui Peng was startled by the sudden sound.

Like a little Rattata discovered by a New Leaf Cat, it instinctively searched for a place to hide.

Just as he spotted a hidden, dark corner and was about to escape, the next words from the owner of that voice made Ergui Peng freeze.

"Are you sure you don't want to come in? Green Grass's mask has been repaired~"

The ominous creature looked up.

The stranger from another place, whom I had met twice before, was smiling at me from inside the window.

There was no disgust, no fear, and no terror in his eyes, only warmth and pity.

Having not seen such a gaze for countless years, E Guipeng's eyes stung with tears. The scene before him seemed to overlap with that warm figure long buried in his memory.

Ergui murmured, "Boni."

Is it Dad?
Perhaps it was an emotional surge, or perhaps it was because he had been outside for too long in a state of hunger and cold.

Egui Peng felt her vision gradually blurring, and before she completely lost consciousness, she vaguely heard voices talking.

"Dad, Xia Chi is calling you Dad Luo Tuo!"

"Rotom, are you deaf? Shut up at a time like this!"

"."

(The relationship between Evil Spirit and the man is not definitively established. Players jokingly call her the Little Widow, which is just a meme. When I played the game, I always treated them as father and daughter, and that's how it's set up here as well.)
(End of this chapter)