I caught a Pokémon

It raised its arm and pointed in that direction.

"Over there?" Xia You asked.

Gardevoir nodded.

Xia You glanced back at the girls and said, "Let's go."

Behind the rest stop was a dirt road, with waist-high weeds growing on both sides. The road was paved with gravel, which made a rustling sound when you stepped on it. After walking along the dirt road for about two hundred meters, a low wall appeared in front of us. Inside the wall, rows of gray-white stone tablets stood neatly, looking particularly silent under the gray sky.

cemetery.

Xiao Guang's pace slowed noticeably, and his voice unconsciously lowered: "It's so quiet here..."

It was indeed quiet, but not the kind of quiet that makes you feel relaxed; rather, it was a quiet that felt oppressive, as if even your breathing was amplified.

Even the wind subsided here, with only occasional gusts of coolness brushing past from behind, as if something had silently passed by.

Gardevoir walked at the front, its steps light and silent. It moved among the tombstones without stopping, heading straight to the innermost corner of the cemetery.

Xia You followed behind it, her gaze sweeping over the words and photos on the tombstones—there were elderly people, middle-aged people, and even some young people; each tombstone represented a once vibrant life.

Gardevoir stopped.

In front of it was a very inconspicuous tombstone, smaller than the surrounding ones, with a girl's name and birth and death dates engraved on the grayish-white stone surface.

The girl in the photo has two braids and is smiling brightly, but that brightness, under the gray sky, makes one feel uneasy.

Below her name were a few lines of small characters recording the girl's life story—she died of illness at the age of twelve.

Xiao Guang stood behind Xia You, peeked out, and said in a trembling voice, "It's her... just like the one I saw on the bridge earlier..."

"It should be." Xia You's gaze fell on the tombstone, and she remained silent for a few seconds.

The rain finally started to fall.

It wasn't a torrential downpour, but a fine, dense drizzle that felt cool and refreshing on my face, like countless icy fingers gently brushing against my skin.

Xia You looked up at the sky, then turned around and urged the others to put on their raincoats.

"Aren't you going to wear it?" Xiao Guang pulled a raincoat out of his backpack, looking puzzled when he didn't move.

"This little bit of rain is nothing to me," Xia You said casually, her gaze sweeping over the three of them. "You're different. It's troublesome for women to get cold into their bodies, so be careful."

Yami glanced at him lightly, said nothing, and put on her raincoat. Xiaoguang and Zhengu did the same. Only Xiayou stood in the drizzle, her hair and shoulders quickly covered with a layer of fine water droplets.

He looked at the tombstone again.

"What do we do next?" Makomo pushed up her glasses, a few raindrops clinging to the lenses. "We can't just break the tombstone, can we?"

Xia You did not answer.

He stepped forward, squatted down in front of the tombstone, and carefully looked at the girl's smiling face in the photo. The photo was faded, but you could still see what she looked like back then. She should be the same person as the blurry figure on the bridge just now.

“We’re here to help you,” he said softly, as if speaking to the tombstone or to the soul that might not even still exist in this world. “If there’s anything you can’t let go of, you can tell us.”

The wind blew through the cemetery, and the rain fell obliquely, but there was no response.

Xiao Guang whispered, "Could it be that it's not here?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the air in front of the tombstone suddenly distorted.

It was as if something squeezed out of the void; the distortion lasted only a moment, and then a Pokémon appeared in front of the tombstone.

A Casey.

It's obvious that they arrived here via teleportation.

Upon seeing it appear, Xia You knew that she had indeed chosen the right target.

Casey spread her arms and stood in front of the tombstone.

It made no sound, but its posture said it all: do not approach, do not touch the tombstone, do not disturb her.

Xiao Guang was stunned: "It..."

“It’s this.” Makomo’s voice was very soft, as if afraid of disturbing something. “It’s the one that left that girl’s soul here.”

Casey's eyes were fixed on Xia You, and a faint blue light began to emanate from them, a sign that her superpowers were about to be activated. Clearly, she was trying to drive them away.

But this power...

Gardevoir calmly walked up to Xia You, met Abra's gaze, and the next second, a surge of powerful energy erupted from its body, instantly suppressing Abra!

Xia You chuckled and said, "There are two possible outcomes. First, you bring that girl's soul before us, and after we inquire about her last wishes, we will decide whether to help her. Second, we defeat you and then go find her ourselves. So, which one do you want to choose?"

Chapter 1410 Not everything has a resolution

Faced with Xia You's choice between two options, Casey made her choice by attacking.

Those blue-glowing eyes suddenly lit up, and a surge of superpower energy shot straight towards Xia You.

This wasn't a test, nor a threat, but a real attack. It seems that Casey genuinely wanted to drive them away.

But it chose the wrong opponent.

Gardevoir didn't even move; it simply raised its hand slightly, and a transparent barrier unfolded in front of Xia You, blocking the energy completely.

Casey's superpowers struck the barrier, scattering into tiny specks of light that failed to cause any ripples.

Seeing this, Casey looked down at her palm, seemingly puzzled.

He wondered why he couldn't break through the barrier of the Pokémon in front of him.

But Gardevoir didn't care about any of that. Seeing that the other party had already made a move, and having received Xia You's orders, she launched a counterattack.

It was just one move.

A powerful psychic strike, several times more concentrated than Abra's attack, surged from Gardevoir's palm and struck Abra squarely.

Casey was instantly blasted away, rolling several times on the slippery grass before crashing into a low stone monument and coming to a stop.

Its body trembled slightly as it struggled to stand up, but it couldn't get up no matter what it did.

The difference in strength between the two is evident.

After defeating this Abra, Gardevoir did not continue its attack. It simply withdrew its hand and calmly looked at Xia You, seemingly waiting for his further orders.

Xia You stood still, looking at Casey.

After being knocked down, perhaps realizing the absolute power difference between itself and Gardevoir, it stopped struggling and used its last bit of strength to crawl towards the tombstone.

Its tiny paws left marks in the mud and water, and the rain drenched its already dull yellow fur.

Just then, a semi-transparent figure appeared in front of the tombstone.

That girl.

Just like on the bridge, she wore a white dress, had long hair, and her features were indistinct. But now, she was no longer blurry and distant like on the bridge; she was truly standing there, blocking Cassie's way, with her arms outstretched.

Don't hurt it.

No one heard her voice, but everyone understood what she meant.

Xiao Guang stared blankly at the semi-transparent figure, his lips moved, and he mustered his courage to take a step forward: "You... were you forced to stay here by Casey?"

The girl's figure swayed slightly.

She nodded first, then shook her head.

Xiao Guang was confused: "What does this mean?"

Makomo pushed up her rain-soaked glasses and said softly, "She was probably saying—that Casey left her here, but it was voluntary."

"Voluntary?" Xiao Guang was even more puzzled. "Why? Being trapped here, unable to reincarnate or go anywhere... why would it be voluntary?"

No one could answer her.

Xia You stared at the semi-transparent figure blocking Casey's path and remained silent for a moment.

"Do you need any help?" he asked calmly. "If you don't want to be trapped here any longer, I can find a way to free you from this constraint."

The girl's figure trembled slightly.

She slowly turned around to face Xia You. Something seemed to be changing on her face, which was indistinct, before she shook her head.

It was light, slow, but resolute.

Xia You looked at her, then at Casey, who was still struggling to crawl forward in the mud, and suddenly smiled.

“I understand.” He shrugged. “You’re doing this willingly, wanting to stay here with it forever, even if you can’t be reincarnated, even if you’re forever trapped on this bridge, you’re willing, right?”

The girl's figure swayed slightly, as if she were nodding.

Xiao Guang opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found that he couldn't say anything.

She looked at the semi-transparent figure, then at Casey, covered in mud but still struggling to climb toward the tombstone, and her eyes suddenly welled up with tears.

Yami gently held her hand without saying a word.

"Looks like we've been meddling in other people's business." Xia You patted the rain off her clothes and turned around first. "They don't need any help at all, let's go."

He turned and walked out of the cemetery, took two steps, then stopped and looked back at Casey.

It finally crawled to the tombstone, curled up at the girl's feet, its small body rising and falling slightly as if it were panting. The girl squatted down, and her transparent fingertips gently touched its head, as if she were stroking it.

The friendship between humans and Pokémon...

Or rather, they must have considered each other as family.

Under the watchful eyes of the group, the girl's figure swayed slightly, as if she were nodding or smiling.

Then she disappeared.

Casey disappeared as well.

Only that gray tombstone remains, standing silently in the rain, and the girl in the photo still smiles so brightly.

The group left the cemetery and walked back along the gravel path.

The rain was still falling, fine and dense, making a rustling sound as it landed on the raincoat. Xia You walked at the front, his hair already soaked through, water droplets dripping from the ends of his hair, but he was completely unaware.

Xiao Guang walked behind, looking down at the wet pavement, and suddenly said, "I still feel... a little sad."

"Why?" Yami asked softly.

"It's just... she died so young, and then she was left here, unable to go anywhere." Xiaoguang's voice was a little muffled. "Even though it was voluntary, it still..."

“But she did it willingly.” Makomo pushed up her glasses. “Didn’t you see it? When she stood in front of Casey, the feeling… wasn’t fear, it was protection. Maybe, besides Casey, she had nothing left.”

Xiao Guang thought for a moment and then remained silent.

Xia You walked ahead and heard their conversation. He didn't turn around, but like them, his mood inevitably became heavy after witnessing such a scene.

In fact, he has seen many similar things during his travels, but each time he encounters them, he is filled with endless emotions.

They can't handle everything they encounter.

Let the local folk tales continue to be passed down.

By this time, the rain had become so heavy that it could no longer be ignored. In such a downpour, the group had no choice but to put the matter aside and seek shelter at a guesthouse near the rest stop.

They ate dinner there, dried their clothes, and stayed another night. They left early the next morning to continue their journey westward.

Further on, after passing through the Enchanted Forest, we arrive at Raven City, the location of the last gym that Xia You needs to challenge in the Unova region.

Once he obtains the badge there, it essentially means that all his travels in the Unova region will come to an end.

Chapter 1411 The Sudden Attack

After resting for a night, the four of them walked north along the west bank of the river for less than half an hour after descending from the Fantasy Bridge and entered a forest.

At first, everything was normal, with some wild Pokémon occasionally appearing. But as they ventured deeper, the dense forest closed in from both sides, obscuring the sky and leaving only a narrow, gray-blue slit.

The trees here are very tall, with thick trunks and dense foliage that blocks out all light. Even though it's cloudy outside, the forest is already as dark as dusk.

Xiao Guang walked in the middle of the group, with Bo Jiaman huddled on her shoulder, his small eyes looking around warily.

"It's so quiet in this woods," she whispered.

It was indeed quiet.

It wasn't the quiet of an ordinary forest with the occasional chirping of birds and insects, but a silence that was almost deathly still.

There was no sound other than footsteps, no rustling of wind through the leaves, and even the sound of one's own breathing became exceptionally clear.