Pokémon, but cultural invasion

We sat hand in hand on a bench under the night sky, with the brightly lit street below bustling with people, and a tranquil lake further away reflecting the full moon.

The hustle and bustle seemed to belong to them, as if the whole world consisted of only the two of them.

Suddenly, all was silent.

From the depths of the indigo sky visible through the strange tree's eyes came a series of sharp buzzing sounds—the sound of fireworks breaking through the night sky, carrying an eagerness to burst into bloom.

A shooting star flew backwards into the night sky, exploded into countless points of light, and thousands of sparks fell like a rain of stars, leaving silvery-white trails that illuminated the night sky.

Before the brilliance of the first firework had faded, the second had already soared into the clouds, exploding into a golden bouquet. Before the bright colors could fully unfold, the third followed in quick succession...

Multicolored light and shadow brushed across the face of the spring tree.

In fact, from the second firework onwards, Kiju's gaze never left him.

The roar of the test fireworks abruptly stopped, and she came to her senses, rummaging through her bag.

"For you."

A palm-sized wooden plaque, its back charred black, was shoved into Quanshu's hand.

He flipped it over and saw that the front of the wooden sign had several words written crookedly, not in Pokémon language but in Chinese characters for "long-awaited reunion".

"Guaranteed success in the college entrance exam?"

As he uttered those four strange characters, Quanshu's brain almost went blank.

"The exhibition match is over, and I'm returning to Parthia, so I made you a gift."

Qi Shu hesitated, feeling embarrassed about the imperfect product he had hand-made: "Although the back was accidentally injured by the electric frog, the overall quality is the best."

"What I really want to know is where these words came from?"

Qi Shu looked at the scribbled pattern he was pointing to and explained, "Back then at the research institute, we could actually see a very small part of your dream from outside."

"When you were about to wake up, this wooden plaque hanging above your bed was on display for a long time. Was it a talisman?"

"So I made one based on that design. Does it look similar?"

Qishu spoke haltingly, implying that since Qishu kept appearing in his dreams, Qishu must be very important to him.

If I give this to Izumi, he should like it.

"You've been acting all mysterious in your room these past few days, just fiddling with the wooden plaque?"

"Like it?"

"I'll definitely win the college entrance exam... haha... I really like it."

Quanshu couldn't help but laugh out loud. How could anyone use the guarantee of success in the college entrance examination as a talisman?

"If you dare not like it, I'll bite you to death. Making things by hand is too much trouble."

Seeing that his feedback was good, Qi Shu, feeling relieved, began to complain bitterly: "The wood I bought in Golden City at the beginning was impossible to saw..."

......

The fireworks ended, and the vendors packed up their stalls.

Quanshu listened quietly as she recounted many stories: the difficulties and amusing anecdotes she encountered while making the wooden plaques, the mischievous electric frog...

He escorted her to the dojo master's villa, and only reluctantly let go of her hand after she had held it for a long time.

Are we going back to Parthia tomorrow?

"President Ye Ci is urging me urgently, saying that my vacation has exceeded the allotted time."

Qi Shu suddenly pounded his forehead heavily on his chest, took a few steps back, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

"Don't forget me after you leave."

"Of course, we will continue to cooperate."

"Is it just a collaboration?"

A hint of disappointment lingered in her eyes.

"So we're... friends?" Izumi asked, carefully choosing his words.

"Friends are friends, I don't really care about you."

Qi Shu twitched his eyelids and made a face: "Well—, I just tried holding your hand with you, it was just so-so."

"Then I'll go first."

"...Wait a minute—"

She ran and closed the door. A series of thumping sounds came from inside the villa, and a moment later the lights on in the second-floor room came on.

"—You can go now!"

Qi Shu poked his head out of the window, a bright smile on his face.

"Good night."

The streetlights in the night illuminated the lush foliage of the two rows of street trees, making them sway gently. The trees stretched far, far away.

He picked up the wooden sign, stroking the wood grain, and then, as if possessed, looked back at the villa at the end of the street.

The girl remained on the windowsill illuminated by the warm yellow light, and waved vigorously after he turned around.

At this moment, her slow, sluggish heartbeat finally responded to her every move that day.

Emotions are merging, and longing is accelerating.

As he talked to himself, his heart pounded faster, and Quanshu suddenly realized—his gratitude towards Qishu might have been mixed with something superfluous.

Chapter 113 Farewell to the Strange Tree, Farewell to Erii

When Izumi went to the dojo master's villa the next day to see Kiju off, she learned that Kiju had already boarded a plane to Padia.

"Buried Electric Frog: I'm gone, don't worry about me, don't touch my room. (Magneto spinning.jpg)"

Based on his understanding of the strange tree, it was very strange that he would sneak back to Padiya. After thinking it over, he came up with a reasonable guess.

Are you shy?

She asked to hold hands and gave me gifts, but when I woke up and my outburst ended, it was too late to realize what I had done.

Finally, without further ado, they simply fled Guandu.

He was scrolling through the live streamer's room when he saw the notification that the live stream had resumed normally.

Forget it, the days are long.

......

"Mr. Quanshu, the float is about to start."

The guards called out to him.

"Oh."

Quanshu left the colorful sunflower float, and the nighttime parade slowly moved forward amidst the crowds lining both sides of the road.

Are you spacing out?

"Is there something wrong? We can help."

Several prop masters cast concerned glances at him, but Quanshu waved his hand and said, "It's nothing, I was just spacing out."

He found an empty stone stool and sat down.

"Attention Quartz Convention visitors, the fireworks display is about to begin..."

After a long broadcast, a continuous stream of fireworks suddenly rose into the night sky, illuminating the lake as if it were daytime.

This dazzling light also marks the successful conclusion of this year's Quartz Convention.

The tournament's first-place winner was no match for a host of Dragon-type Pokémon, making A-Lv's championship title as secure as a rock.

Izumi didn't watch the match much. He glanced at Sato Seiyo's ranking and saw that she was eliminated in the first round—in the top 256.

Perhaps it was due to a lack of ability, or perhaps it was bad luck.

He has passed the age of youthful passion and no longer jumps for joy at a competition.

The following day, after President Damaranchi expressed his gratitude repeatedly, he and several employees from Tingxiang boarded the train back home.

Quanshu and Tie Dumbbell were flipping through a stack of drawings in their seats.

After decorating the float, Iron Dumbbell suddenly developed an interest in painting.

Unlike the Impressionist style favored by Tutu Dog, Iron Dumbbell's works are more like prints than paintings.

It can meticulously depict people and objects with a paintbrush, making them look indistinguishable from photographs.

Iron Dumbbell even drew hundreds of stills from the movie Crazy Elf City after watching it.

When asked about the reason for its creation, it replied: "Painting and film are both highly creative and imaginative activities. Delving into them may free my thinking from calculation patterns."

He was very interested in Izumi's various plays, believing they were full of unrestrained creativity and imagination.

Since Iron Dumbbell is interested in this, Quanshu doesn't mind giving it a hand.

With this guy's mechanical brain, he might be able to create inhuman works of art.

With this in mind, he took out the manuscript from last night—"Goodbye Eri."

"This is the script prepared for your comic, but there is one requirement."

“Simply copying a pattern cannot be called painting, so you must first learn techniques such as paneling and perspective from TuTu Dog before you can start drawing.”

The iron dumbbell hovered, nodding up and down, solemnly turning to the first page of the script.

The pages flipped rapidly under his mental power; the quantum speed reading technique kicked in, and the complete story was entered into Iron Dumbbell's mind.

Unlike any other story collected from the internet, the story titled "Goodbye Eri" has a unique narrative structure and logic.

But... that's exactly the kind of creativity it's looking for!

"The original author used a cinematic approach in the camera work of this comic, and your experience in imitating Crazy Elf City comes in handy."

Izumi generously shared key points to note about this short comic with Tetsuya Rin.

However, he didn't expect Iron Dumbbell to produce any amazing works; he just considered it an extracurricular activity for his child.

The pen and paper on my lap wrote automatically: "Thank you, the creativity I lack is right here."

Iron Dumbbell clutched the script as if he had found some treasure.

"As long as you like it."

Quanshu smiled wryly and looked out the car window at the shimmering lake.

Sure enough, it got much quieter after Qishu left.

......

"Saria, aren't you at the Goldenrod Gym?"

At the villa entrance, Kadira and Espeon peeked out, while Izumi bumped into Sabrina, who was wearing a sun hat.

She wouldn't lie, nor would she say things like, "It's just a coincidence," like Qi Shu did, and then try to cover it up.

"I searched for your ticket in the database."

Is it even possible to do this?

Quanshu recalled the dojo master's immense power and asked, "What happened?"

When confronted with questioning gazes, Naz turned her head away, a rare occurrence for her. She was not good at lying, nor would she lie.

“At first, my superpowers returned intermittently a few times while you were away, leaving me with a sense of helplessness, as if I had nowhere to use them.”

"I got used to your bickering and arguing with Qishu, and then I felt a little... lonely."

Sabrina lowered her eyelashes quietly. The Goldenrod Gym was empty, and although she had Pokémon with her, she still felt lonely.

"Come in, Qishu has returned to Padiya."

Iron Dumbbell returned to the villa. It hadn't accumulated much dust in five days, but it still started a thorough cleaning.