After several hours of street fighting drills, the two spent their afternoons in planned independent training. Calling it a vacation, the only difference might be that for lunch, I chose a restaurant recommended by the hotel manager instead of a Pokémon Center with the same taste.
When the sun began to set, they finished work earlier than usual and planned to experience the well-known open-air hot spring bath at Fengmingkan.
It is said that this bathhouse covers an area of thousands of square meters, which is wider than the largest football field. Not only humans, but Pokémon can also enjoy hot spring baths and Fengmingkan's unique massage services here. Charizard and other curious guys were already eager to give it a try, so they almost rushed all the way to the hot spring with the charged flame attack, causing Xiaoye to go around trying to comfort this one and that one, and almost put on the wrong yukata in her panic.
Xiaotian watched the whole process without saying a word, and was deeply shocked by the diversity of trainers - it turned out that they could still work so hard.
Walk to the end of the corridor, then follow the gravel path to the garden, pass through two wooden doors, and what appears in front of you is more like a park than a bathing place.
Lush trees give the bathing area a deep green color. Hot spring pools of different sizes are dotted among the trees. There are lounge chairs and shops selling snacks everywhere by the pool. The sand pool for children to play and the Pokémon activity area are located at both ends of the bathing beach. The latter is made to look like a seaside beach. There are vaguely seen several lazy Alola coconut egg trees standing in it, which is very similar. Coconut trees can be seen everywhere on Nanguo Beach.
There is a bulletin board in front of the arch at the entrance, which reads in round fonts——
[Game this week: Visitors are asked to look for a gray heterochromatic fireball rat in the hot spring bath and take photos to record its appearance. The first person to discover it will receive a generous mysterious gift! 】
Gray fireball rat?
This unheard-of different color type made Xiaoye and Xiaotian both interested. They led the Pokémon inside and looked around.
There are many "work Pokémon" in the bathhouse lingering around the hot spring pool - each one is tied with a scarf or armband with an ukiyo-e pattern, making it easy to distinguish it from the guest Pokémon. Groups of fireball rats gathered around the hot springs, euphemistically saying they were responsible for temporarily heating the spring water, but most guests just held them in their arms and kept touching them.
If someone is dizzy due to the hot spring heat, they can ask for help from the gem starfish on the side and take a cold shower quickly and easily. Guests who like excitement can even experience the "Roller Coaster Hot Spring" - getting into a hot spring water ball created by the mind power of a gem starfish and being lifted up to fly around the venue. Small Pokémon can also participate, with the exception of electric-type Pokémon - it is said that the electric rat who had a guest was frightened midway and discharged electric shock to all living creatures in the water.
Hearing this, Pichu expressed his utmost contempt for his disgraced kin, and shed tears of grief and anger because his eagerness to try was extinguished.
The Pokémon hot spring pool in the open-air bath is large enough that even a guy like Gyarados can easily soak his whole body in it. The wooden sign beside the pool carefully marked the water temperature of each pool and what attributes of Pokémon were suitable for it. So, the two trainers matched their numbers one by one and pushed the Pokémon into the correct pool one by one.
The guys who were experiencing the hot springs for the first time were very excited about it. They imitated the bathing friends in the same pool and relaxed in the water...or imitated the bathing friends and started an earth-shattering water fight. Pokémon that were not suitable for hot springs - such as Snowball or Shakiras - went to the artificial beach to play.
As a fire-type Pokémon, Flame naturally wants to stay away from water. And when it stood on the beach, looking at the fire-breathing dragon swimming happily in the largest hot spring pool not far away, switching to a swimming posture every minute, and its body was as strong as a mosquito repellent... it was suddenly so shocked that the flames on the tip of its tail trembled. He became aware of the situation and realized that if the Quartz Alliance had fought on a water field, it might have been beaten into a mosquito-repellent enemy.
After settling the Pokémon, the two trainers began to wander around the place looking for the gray fireball rat written on the sign. Even the plan to try the open-air bathing hot spring was postponed. Unfortunately, after wandering around, they couldn't find any Pokémon of different colors. Instead, they saw many small fist stones rolling around on the artificial beach, and even a few large rock snakes coiled in the sand.
Looking carefully, it seemed that the area where the rock-type Pokémon were located was a massage experience area - soon, the two of them understood what the job of these Pokémon was.
Gyarados, who preferred cold water to hot springs, came out of the bath first and was led to the massage experience area by the trainer.
Xiaoye had briefly checked online before and found out that the Pokémon massage service at Fengmingkan Open-Air Bath was unique in style and had a miraculous effect in relieving fatigue. but……
Despite being mentally prepared, the so-called "unique style" here still made her and Xiaotian dumbfounded.
A group of small fist stones surrounded Gyarados, and the overwhelming rockfall attacks were aimed at it. The clanking sound of rocks and scales hitting it was endless, almost creating a catastrophic hailstorm sound effect. If it weren't for the fact that Gyarados was twisting in the rain of falling rocks while letting out a joyful roar, this scene would have been a murder scene no matter how you looked at it.
The store clerk explained to Xiaoye that hitting the scales with a hard object with the right force can make the Gyarados feel comfortable and relaxed. It doesn't matter if the scales are damaged during this process, the new scales that grow will be stronger and more resilient than the original ones. But the "appropriate strength" it required was really outrageous. Xiaoye watched it for a while and then decided to give up on learning - unless she used the power of the waveguide, she might not be able to satisfy Gyarados even if her hand was swollen.
The little fist stones seem to be doing it with ease - it is said that this is less than half the force of massaging a rock or steel type Pokémon. As for the big rock snakes standing by...
Xiaoye couldn't imagine which Pokémon these huge "masseurs" were serving.
Charizard, who was full of curiosity about new things, finished eight swimming strokes and applied for a massage right after Gyarados. The person serving it was not a Pokémon, but a skinny young man.
The fire-breathing dragon was so disappointed that it was not his turn to be "baptized by the rock rain" that his wings drooped. In the next minute, he was taught how to be a dragon by a professional masseur - every time the hands that did not look strong at all pressed, the fire-breathing dragon's wings drooped. He howled as if he was possessed by a ghost, and his tears almost extinguished the flames at the tip of his tail. Yan, who was originally a little eager to try, saw this and silently took back his right foot that he had stepped out.
Seeing that the boys and girls were watching intently...or maybe they were dumbfounded, the skinny young man smiled shyly and said, "Actually, I am also responsible for the massage of human tourists. Do you want to give it a try?"
Xiaoye and Xiaotian looked at each other——
He shook his head tacitly and firmly.
In order to escape the warm invitation of the massage guy, the two of them seemed calm, but in fact they left the venue at the speed of light without any choice. They randomly found an empty hot spring pool and jumped into it without even checking the temperature in advance. Fortunately, they Fortunately, I didn't choose the terrible option "only for fire-type Pokémon", so I avoided the tragic situation of being cooked.
The small hot spring pool is filled with green waves, and the edges are built with stones in the shape of clouds. Perhaps the surrounding vegetation is too dense, blocking the sight and footsteps of tourists. The flowers and green leaves create a quiet little world in the noisy bathing beach.
The steamy spring water was at just the right temperature, gently hugging the trainers' bodies, making the two feel comfortable after a day of running around. Watching his friend take off his yukata and hang it up, revealing the very familiar monochromatic swimsuit issued by Zhenxin Town Elementary School, Xiaotian didn't feel strange, and started to think about where he had received the elementary school swimsuit.
A gem starfish wandered over and placed a wooden tray on the water. Two cups of cold drinks stood firmly on it, with mottled water droplets attached to the walls of the crystal clear cups, the only hint of coolness in the warm water.
"Speaking of which, I remember the Liangan Cup is about to start next week?" Xiaoye leaned against the pool wall in a relaxed manner, inserting herself into the cloud pattern just enough to fit a person into it. She turned her head sideways as she spoke - I remember Xiaotian once mentioned on the boat that he signed up for the biggest battle competition of the year on Liugan Island.
"Well, the game will start next Tuesday." The boy replied, his voice hovering in the vague water vapor and seemed to become hazy.
"When do you plan to leave?" Xiaoye stretched out her hand and gently pushed the wooden tray containing two cups of cold drinks and a plate of snacks, making it slowly float towards the person opposite.
"The day after tomorrow." He said, took a drink and pushed the tray back along the original route.
"Well……"
The rising mist made it difficult for Xiaotian to see the expressions of his fellow villagers, and he thought he planned to stay here for too short a time, making his friends feel that they would not have enough fun. Just as he was about to say, "It doesn't matter if I stay a few more days," he heard Xiaoye's voice coming from the other side, carrying a serious look of worry.
"It seems that there is not much time left for the forest lizard. Tomorrow's teaching results will determine whether it can raise its head in front of Riolu."
Xiao Tian:"……"
Xiaotian: "I can help explain it. It's not that it doesn't teach well, it's that the students don't have enough understanding."
Xiaoye: "Oh, thank you in advance for it."
The two were silent for a while. My thoughts wandered along with the warm spring water, focusing on absorbing the comfort; and the dark green branches and leaves just filtered out the noise from the outside world, and only the wooden plate floated around under the tacit understanding of the two, delivering delicious refreshments. , causing ripples to appear on the calm water.
Three minutes later.
Xiaotian: "...Don't just push, you should also get drinks."
Xiaoye: "Ah, yes..."
Hot spring hotels, unique hotels, open-air baths and beautiful scenery - the aura of many elements finally overcame the atmosphere of asceticism, causing the two fellow trainers to no longer only think about training, and began to reduce their working hours , sightseeing and wandering around the town.
On the third day of his stay at Fengming Hall, Cao Miaogui made a perfect ending to the training by successfully mastering the energy ball. When they returned to the city, lanterns of all sizes were already rising in every corner of the island city, lighting up the western sky.
They came to Naipuru Island at the perfect time - August 3rd was the island's summer festival.
Hotel residents took to the streets to experience the annual festival. Xiaoye and Xiaotian also catered to the atmosphere, put on their yukata and followed the flow of people, arriving at the busiest street in Aobo City.
Food stalls line the streets, and the aroma of food fills the air from all directions, making it irresistible. The two of them walked along the main street with the largest flow of people, imitating the appearance of Xiaojie and Xiaoling at the May Festival. They bought a portion of each snack and tasted it - of course, the main reason was that they were forced by training. The crazy golden retriever brother and sister asked them to live broadcast the whole trip with photos, take pictures of all the food in the festival and taste them all for them, so as to comfort themselves, they would round up and count them as eaten.
When buying the most popular Takoyaki, two young trainers were waiting in line while doing quick tactical answering exercises. They were also caught off guard and took a group photo on the way, saying that they wanted to "collect the diverse ecology of Orange Islands trainers" ".
The person who took the photo was a young girl. Perhaps she was afraid of being criticized for taking the photo without saying hello, so she ran away at a speed that even Xiao Ye could not catch up with. In fact, the trainers from Kanto didn't have time to explain, so they had no choice but to give each other helpless looks and accept the reality of being temporarily guest-starred as Southerners.
The longest queue on the island over the years is indeed well-deserved. Xiaoye and Xiaotian waited in line for half an hour before they each managed to get a piece of takoyaki. There were seats placed between the flower beds on the side. The hungry two people paused here and concentrated on eating the food in their hands.
The energetic shouts of the stall owner penetrated the crowd and the bonsai branches, and almost drowned out the chatter of those waiting in line. Xiaoye raised her head unconsciously and saw an octopus bucket with teeth and claws hanging next to the stall owner. If you look closely, you can see that there is a sign with words hanging on its neck——
"Enjoy my corpse!!"
Xiaoye was stunned for a while, and couldn't help but laugh. Pichu, who was on tiptoes to lick the sauce, was shocked by his master. He immediately rolled into the trainer's arms and fell on his back.
"Written as if the takoyaki is actually made from octopus barrels."
After stuffing the last dumpling into Pichu's mouth, Xiaoye couldn't help laughing but saw her friend beside her tilting her head in confusion, "It's true."
Night:"……!?"
The two looked at each other in silence for a moment, and Xiaotian finally read something from the other's expression that gradually turned to horror, and quickly explained, "It's not a corpse - I mean, the raw material of Takoyaki does include octopus buckets. tentacles."
Xiao Ye was stuck on the machine for a few seconds, and then she realized that the tentacles of the octopus barrel could probably fall off and grow naturally, which met the requirements for food collection.
In fact, the page "Collecting available meats" in the elementary school textbook only gave examples of Slowpoke and Crab. The trainer who always travels inland has never seen a wild octopus bucket - and has no money to buy it. The real taste of takoyaki is encountered in a place like this, which is a common sense blind spot that "aboriginals" do not have. Recalling her previous remarks and reaction, Xiaoye felt something was wrong. When she looked back, it was true that the silver-haired boy had a complicated expression on his face.
Just like any ten-year-old child in the previous life knew that there is no wife in the wife cake, "the raw material of octopus barrel yaki is the tentacles of the octopus barrel" - or, "the tentacles of the octopus barrel will fall off and be eaten" is also a common belief among all natives. , the natural understanding of people born in the Pokémon world.
Xiaotian vaguely realized that "misunderstanding his answer" could not explain the reason for Xiaoye's reaction. What's more, he didn't think Xiaoye would have such misunderstandings on simple words.
Since it is not a misunderstanding, then...
The young man's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a scream that was very close at hand. When the cry of "Fire" reached his ears, Xiaotian immediately jumped up, but his friend had already rushed to the source of the sound long before him.
The fire started at a stall selling grilled vegetable rolls. It seemed that the gas stove was hit by an unknown Pokémon. When it fell to the ground, the flames caught the cloth advertising banner.
Fortunately, there was no wind tonight, so the fire would not expand immediately. The two trainers happened to be close and took out their Pokémon to help put out the fire. Within half a minute, the flames were extinguished under the double attack of the freezing wind and the water ring - Water Eevee even carefully avoided the gas stove and the ingredients on the table to ensure that the delicious vegetable rolls would not be implicated.
The other trainers who arrived later were also busy, helping the shop owner lift up the fallen objects and pulling out a few pieces of cardboard to write the name of the shop as a replacement for the burned banners. After the mess was cleared up, Xiaoye and Xiaotian held up their hands full of vegetable rolls that were given away for free, looked at each other, and shook their heads helplessly.
"Go back and change clothes first?"
"I think so too."
Covered in black ashes, the two men returned home in despair. Fortunately, the store prepares more than one yukata, so it won't be embarrassing to change back into your usual clothes.
After quickly changing into new and clean clothes, Xiaoye and Xiaotian exchanged places and walked into the courtyard to comb little Piqiu while waiting for Xiaotian. Unexpectedly, two minutes later, she suddenly heard the sound of glassware being broken from the back room.
"Xiao Tian?"
Xiao Ye made a confused sound, but received no response. Worry suddenly welled up in her heart. She opened the door decisively and saw her friend half-kneeling in front of the table, her head lowered, her expression obscured by her hair. The glass originally placed on the table was smashed to pieces, but the people next to him didn't seem to notice it. Their bodies seemed to be frozen in the air, and their right hands seemed to be holding something shining with blue light.
A certain memory from the special training in Qunshan Canyon suddenly flashed in my mind. Xiaoye waved her hand fiercely without thinking, knocking the triangular prism pendant from Xiaotian's hand.
The moment the crystal separated from the skin, the flickering look returned to the ice blue eyes. Xiaoye didn't dare to relax at all and asked urgently, "Are you okay?"
Xiaotian's expression was still in a daze, as if he had seen some incredible scene. After nodding subconsciously, he caught a glimpse of the pendant that had fallen on the straw mat, and the scene of the object being knocked down came to his mind belatedly.
He did not rush to pick up the pendant. Instead, he inappropriately recalled the inconspicuous episode more than ten days ago. When he raised his head again, only calmness and determination remained in his eyes, "——So, you also saw it that day."
Xiaoye was stunned and couldn't laugh or cry. "I think that's not the point...well, you're right."
She reached out to pick up Xiaotian, then leaned over and picked up the silver chain of the pendant. She quickly touched the surface of the triangular prism under the captain's disapproving gaze, and handed it back after confirming that there was no special feeling.
Seeing Xiaoye's vigilant look as if facing a formidable enemy, Xiaotian sighed, flicked his fingers on the crystal, and the subtle sound blended with his voice, "This is a birthday gift my father gave me when I was five years old. ——As long as the power of the waveguide is poured into it, it will automatically open a shield when it is attacked."
Xiaoye had only thought it was an accessory before, but she didn't expect that the seemingly ordinary pendant was actually a life-saving prop used exclusively by waveguide messengers. But she didn't focus on its original function, "Did it also look like this before...occasionally making people see strange pictures?"
"No, unprecedented." Xiaotian shook his head and looked into his friend's worried purple eyes, "What did you see?"
Xiaoye hesitated for a moment, but briefly described: "I saw the earth turning into scorched earth, as if it was the end of the world. Then, a girl's voice said to me...please ask me to do something."
What could be the second half of that voice?
"At the cost of everything I have" - what is the request?
The phantom of that time is still deeply engraved in Xiaoye's mind, and she cannot forget it no matter what. She vaguely felt that she might be able to find something important from it, but the images and sounds that stopped abruptly left only incomplete information, as if the loopholes in the rules only allowed the rebels to say what they said, and did not allow subsequent attempts to investigate and investigate. explore.
"And you?"
"The first half is the same as you. The second half..." The young man's voice paused before continuing, "The voice said, 'I will save you at any cost.'" "
Silence spread quietly in the air. I don't know how long it took before Xiaoye's voice broke the almost solid atmosphere, "Xiaotian, has Mr. Xinghai told you the origin of this pendant?"
Xiaotian nodded, "This is an ancient artifact passed down from generation to generation in our family. It may have a history of hundreds of years. In the stories passed down orally by the older generation, it has the ability to imprison or protect the soul, but my father has done many experiments. , it has not been found to have any effect on the souls of people or Pokémon. Therefore, we only treat it as an automatically triggered 'Hold' move."
Before asking Xiaoye why he was talking about this, Xiaotian saw his friend open a pokeball with a solemn expression, and said seriously: "Ghoststone, I want to ask you to do something important. Take a look at this pendant." Is there any ancient undead attached to it——"
Xiao Tian:"……"
Xiaotian: "...I don't think that's the case."
The girl seriously wanted to refute, but first glanced at the time on the phone screen.
"ah……"
"how?"
"The fireworks will start in three minutes."
The topic suddenly returned to the usual routine, and the two of them looked at each other in confusion. It's definitely too late to rush to the designated square to watch the fireworks now. If you can't run even two steps outside, you will be stuck in the crowd and unable to move.
Xiaoye thought for a while and said decisively, "Follow me!"
Two minutes later, two figures in yukata appeared on the roof of Fengmingkan.
Xiaotian was amazed by the purple-haired girl's ninja-like climbing ability. Originally she was worried that her injured left arm would affect her movements, but as a result, the other party not only jumped freely, but also felt that Xiaotian might not be able to catch up with Hanabi if she moved too slowly, so she just relied on her intact right hand to pull and pull her along. Transformed into a giant bird and "flyed" to the roof ahead of schedule.
And when they climbed onto the roof and looked down, they discovered that the lanterns were in a continuous line, making the earth look like a starry sky. The night was as clear as water, and the noisy world was at their feet, leaving only the cleanest and most crystal clear scenery in their field of vision.
"I hope the master won't find us." Xiaoye, the instigator, was still a little guilty. As soon as he sat down against the slope of the sloping roof, he suddenly said "Eh" as if he had discovered something.
Xiaotian followed Xiaoye's gaze, and a look of understanding suddenly appeared on his face.
The open-air bath not far away was empty, and only the hot spring water quietly reflected the starlight. On the artificial beach, the big rock snakes and the small fist stones circle together, using their bodies to outline a familiar pattern.
The two looked at each other and showed the same expression in tacit understanding.
"Found it—the gray fireball rat."
After laughing, Xiaoye remembered the gift collection requirements mentioned on the bulletin board, "By the way, I have to take pictures..."
The girl's words were swallowed up by the roar of bloom.
Those are fireworks that are more brilliant than the stars. They bloomed continuously in the night sky, and the gorgeous light and shadow extinguished and ignited again in the dark scene, illuminating the faces and eyes of the young people with their warm afterglow.
There seemed to be music coming from the distant square. It was a piece of music with a very gentle melody. The lingering sound traveled through space and time and merged with the roar, turning it into a symphony with a unique charm. The leaves dance in the breeze, cheers resound among the crowds of people, the aroma of food has already filled the town, the chirping of insects and birds never stops, plus the bright fireworks that fill the sky - all of these are beautifully intertwined and blended. It flowed into the brain along the five senses and was engraved in the hearts of the two people sitting side by side on the roof, becoming the unique atmosphere of Naipuru Island in this midsummer.
The feeling at that moment became extremely long and seemed to be as short as the blink of an eye.
The music has faded, and the fireworks of the festival have come to an end.
The last light point rose far into the sky, and then fell softly. The light turned into two, and the two turned into four, and finally it was like stars gathering into clouds and mist, scattering down the river into a waterfall of dazzling light.
Xiaoye turned her head slightly and found that the silver-haired boy was also looking at her, the color in his eyes was stable and soft.
He seemed to have said something.
"What?" She looked confused amid the roar.
Xiaotian blinked and slightly increased the volume, letting his voice drown out Hanabi's last singing.
"I mean--"
"Come on for the next game."
====================
small theater:
At the open-air bath massage experience center, after the fire-breathing dragon's crucifixion——
Skinny young man: (smiling shyly) Who is next?
Pokémon: ...(all take a step back)
Riolu: (raises head) What do you cowards have to be afraid of? I come!
One minute later——
Riolu: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! ! (crying)
====================
PS:
Friends, long time no see -v-
I mentioned in my previous post that the fanfic will be released in March next year. The expected release time was just after the Snowstorm Chapter ended, but the early plot was longer than expected, and it would be difficult to finish the Snowstorm Chapter in March. Therefore, we decided to release the extra episode in advance!
Starting next week, this fanfic will be released in five installments with a weekly update frequency. Since the content is about Ye Tian CP and has nothing to do with the main text, students who are not interested can skip it.
above.
