Not a trainer this time.

Chapter 683 Death and Growth

Looking at the smile on the chief's face, Qi Shu always felt something was strange.

But she didn't know what was wrong, so she changed the subject: "Chief, was this year's alliance conference going smoothly?"

At this time, Naoki also came in, and the few of them sat by the window and chatted.

Ye Ci nodded gently: "Of course it went smoothly. There are many strong trainers this time, not only Xiaoqing, but also Xiaozhi, the champion of the last eight masters."

"That kid eventually defeated everyone and became the champion of the Padiya region. I wanted to invite him to join the Padiya Alliance, but he refused."

Speaking of this, I feel extremely sorry.

Naoki: "..."

He suddenly remembered that Xiaozhi came to the Padia region just to challenge him, right?

"By the way, during the time I was in the Padia Pit, did Xiaozhi come to the ranch?" Naoki looked at Qishu.

"He has been here, but after hearing that you were not at the ranch, he went back." Qishu slapped her head. She forgot to tell Naoki about this because she had been worried about him all that time.

"I see..." Naoki nodded: "I see, I'll contact Xiaozhi later."

"Oh? Do you know that trainer?" Ye Ci immediately became interested.

"Well, he is a very hard-working trainer. He traveled from Pallet Town and almost all over the world. Now he has finally realized his dream." Naoki nodded.

"I see." Ye Ci nodded slightly.

She looked out the window, and the scene of her first meeting with Naoki emerged in her mind.

At that time, a giant Dragonite crossed the sea and came to the Padiya region. Thanks to Naoki, it was prevented from landing.

In a blink of an eye, almost ten years have passed. She is now in her thirties and heading towards forty.

"Time flies!" Ye Ci couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "I still remember when I first met you, I felt that this trainer was very special."

Naoki smiled. In fact, he admired Yeci very much.

Over the years as chief champion, he has been working diligently and responsibly in handling all matters, big and small, in the Padiya region.

Although the staff of the Padia Alliance seem to have a hard time, compared to other regions, the Padia region can be said to be the place with the best public security and the safest place in the world.

"Alright!" Ye Ci stood up slowly and said goodbye to the two of them as usual: "Let's stop here! There are still some things I need to deal with at the Padiya Alliance. I will come to visit Xiaoshu and Youshu after a while."

The couple nodded and stood up to see Ye Ci out.

On the grass, Xiaoshu was holding a Poké Ball, commanding the Infernape to fight against Entei.

Although she is still young, her movements are quite good.

"Burn bug, use spark!"

The burning insect's body burned with high temperature and it spit out a ball of sparks towards the Flame Emperor opposite.

Although Yan Di could dodge, in order to make the little tree happy, it cooperated very well in the fight against the burning bugs.

The spark fell on Entei. The flames of Pokémon at this stage were very weak in both power and temperature, and could not cause any damage to it.

But even so, Emperor Yan still pretended to cooperate and fell down.

Seeing this, Xiaoshu thought that his Pokémon had been cultivated to maturity and had really hurt Entei.

She quickly ran towards Yan Di and pushed his big paws in panic.

Seeing Xiaoshu so panicked, Yan Di stopped pretending, slowly raised his head, and his eyes revealed unprecedented tenderness.

He looked like a father playing with his children.

The little tree breathed a sigh of relief.

Lei Gong and Shui Jun on the side looked at Yan Di with strange expressions.

Realizing that he had lost his composure, Emperor Yan quickly stood up and resumed his dignified and upright demeanor.

Thunder God, Water God: "..."

"Oh haha!" Looking at that scene, Ye Ci chuckled: "Xiao Shu is very talented!"

Talking about his daughter, Naoki, as an old father, is also full of pride: "Well, her dream is to become the most powerful trainer in the world."

"I'm looking forward to that day." Ye Ci said, "Okay, you guys go back and take care of You Shu! I'm leaving first."

"Be careful on the road!" Qishu said goodbye to Yeci.

Ye Ci nodded, then turned around and disappeared at the end of the road.

The couple watched Ye Ci leave, then turned around and returned home.

While Qishu went to take care of Yushu, Naoki took out the Rotom phone and called Xiaozhi.

Accompanied by a series of beeping sounds, the call was soon connected, and Xiaozhi's face, which had matured a lot, appeared on the screen.

"Huh? Mr. Naoki, are you done with your work?" Xiaozhi asked.

Naoki nodded, and at this moment, he suddenly noticed the scene behind Xiaozhi.

It seemed to be a backyard specially built for Pokémon, and many Pokémon were playing with each other there.

Bulbasaur, Charizard, Geranium, Crab, Pidgeot, Dragonite, Gengar, Infernape...

Obviously, those are all Pokémon that Xiaozhi has encountered during his travels.

"Xiaozhi, what are you doing recently?" Naoki asked.

Hearing this, Xiaozhi immediately became interested. He turned around and showed the scene behind to Mr. Naoki.

"After returning from the Padia region, I stayed in Pallet Town with everyone else. With my mother's support, we transformed the backyard into a paradise suitable for Pokémon life, and brought all the Pokémon that I had previously left with Professor Oak here!"

"Will you travel again in the future?" Naoki raised his eyebrows and asked.

But then again, if you count the time, Xiaozhi is almost twenty years old now.

"Hmm..." Xiaozhi thought about it carefully, and then said: "Let's talk about the future later! I have been away from home for too long, and now I want to have a good rest and accompany everyone!"

As he was talking, Geranium ran towards Xiaozhi from behind and rubbed his cheek affectionately with her big head.

"Alright, alright, Geranium!" Xiaozhi touched Geranium's head: "I will never leave you alone at home again!"

Naoki smiled. He looked at Xiaozhi opposite him, and immediately thought of the travel companions he met during his nine-year journey.

Xiaoxia, Xiaoguang, Alice, Serena, Lilia...

Naoki teased, "Xiaozhi is an adult now. According to the customs of Pallet Town, he should be getting married soon, right? Has he found a girlfriend?"

"No way..." Xiaozhi was a little uncomfortable: "It's too early to talk about those things now!"

Naoki couldn't help but laugh.

Xiaozhi quickly found an excuse and hung up the phone: "Okay, Mr. Naoki, Professor Oak seems to want to talk to me about something, we'll talk later!" "Okay." Naoki nodded.

After hanging up the phone, Naoki suddenly felt that his "childhood" was over.

Although he is now a 29-year-old old man, when he actually heard that Xiaozhi's journey had ended, he still had an indescribable feeling in his heart.

In the anime, the referee commentators introduced Ash as "a ten-year-old trainer with twenty-five years of traveling experience."

But this is not an anime after all, but the real world. Whether it is Pokémon or Satoshi, they will grow up and grow old.

The "plot" he was familiar with has ended, and from this moment on, the fate of everyone will develop in an unknown direction.

New lives are born in this world, and some people begin to die.

In May of the 207th year of the Alliance Calendar, a major event occurred in the town.

Mrs. Dantes, who lived at No. 308, Lanhai Street, came to the end of her life and passed away on a warm afternoon.

Naoki, who was very familiar with the two old people, went to attend Mrs. Dantes' funeral.

Xiaoshu followed behind her father. She looked at the people around her who were all dressed in black and crying non-stop, shrouded in sadness. She felt that the atmosphere in the air was extremely heavy.

The young and ignorant Xiaoshu was unable to understand the meaning of death. She could only hide behind her father, holding onto the corner of his clothes, and nervously looking at everything around her.

Naoki noticed his daughter's appearance, gently touched her head, and protected her to his side.

Naoki looked at the coffin where Mrs. Dantes was lying with complicated eyes.

He couldn't help but recall the scene when he first met the old man.

At that time, Mrs. Dantes went to the ranch to get goat milk in order to help her husband maintain his health.

Now that Madame Dantes had passed away, her husband seemed to have lost his life all of a sudden. He knelt in front of his wife's coffin with lifeless eyes.

The Pokémon that Madame Dantes had raised during her lifetime also gathered in front of the coffin, bidding her farewell with sadness.

Naoki walked up to the old man and said, "Please accept my condolences."

"It's Naoki! Dragonite is here too?" Mrs. Dantes' husband looked up, and when he saw Naoki and Dragonite, his cloudy eyes gradually became clear.

"Ouch..." Dragonite felt very sad about the death of Mrs. Dantes.

It likes the old lady who always takes care of it and makes cookies for it.

Even though Dragon Express developed later, it still did not give up delivering goods to the town, and delivered fresh vegetables and goat milk to Mrs. Dantes on time every day.

And the kind old lady would also cook cookies for it and Naoki.

When thinking about these things, Dragonite's mood became very depressed.

"I'm fine, don't worry. Dragonite, thank you for your trouble over the years. We won't need to use the vegetables from the ranch in the future." The old man spoke slowly.

Naoki was silent.

"Ouch..." Dragonite felt a little sad.

Mayor Thomas, the owner of the seed store, and other people from the town also attended the funeral.

Everyone prayed for the deceased Madame Dantes and then buried her in the cemetery.

After the funeral, Mayor Thomas had a sad expression on his face.

For him, another familiar old friend passed away.

Maybe it won't be long before it's his turn.

He looked at Naoki, as if he had a lot to say, but in the end he could only sigh sadly.

"Naoki! When I get down, if I see your grandfather, I will definitely tell him about your experiences over the years. That old man will definitely be happy for you! It's a pity that he didn't see the birth of Xiaoshu and Youshu..."

Naoki could only say: "Mayor Thomas, you are still very healthy!"

Mayor Thomas smiled, then sighed: "We are old!"

After the funeral, everyone said goodbye to each other and returned home.

On the way back, Xiaoshu pulled Zhishu's clothes and asked, "Dad, what happened to that grandma? What does death mean?"

"That grandma has reached the end of her life and passed away." Naoki held Xiaoshu in his arms and walked towards home with Dragonite and Gulden.

"Will she come back?" asked the little tree naively.

"No." Naoki thought for a moment, and then told Xiaoshu the cruel fact: "After death, people go to another world and can never come back."

"Will everyone die?" Xiaoshu suddenly asked in panic.

"It's okay, Xiaoshu." Naoki hugged his daughter tightly: "Everyone will die, but don't be afraid. Mom and dad will accompany you for a long, long time before that, until you grow up, become a powerful trainer, and then have your own children."

"Our love for you and the beautiful memories between us will remain in your heart forever. As long as you don't forget mom and dad, they will always live in your heart."

However, Xiaoshu's eyes suddenly turned red, and he hugged Zhishu tightly with his little arms: "Xiaoshu, I don't want Daddy to die!"

Naoki was slightly startled. Perhaps the death of Mrs. Dantes today made him feel a little sad. He hugged Xiaoshu and comforted her softly:

"It's okay, little tree. Mom and dad will be with you for a very long time, maybe a hundred years, maybe two hundred years. In short, it is a very long time. Before that day comes, we must cherish every day and cherish our present life."

The little tree seemed to understand, but also seemed not to understand.

She suddenly felt a little tired, so she hugged her father, leaned on his arms, and silently shed tears.

This is the innate fear of death that children have. They are afraid that their loved ones will leave them and that they will be alone.

As a parent, Naoki can only guide Xiaoshu slowly so that he can face this thing that everyone will experience.

"Are you sleepy?" Naoki gently patted Xiaoshu's back: "If you are sleepy, have a good sleep! When you wake up, we will be home!"

After hearing what his father said, Xiaoshu suddenly closed his eyes slowly and fell asleep in his father's arms.

Naoki did not ride on Gulliver or Dragonite. He just held his daughter in his arms and slowly walked through the country road towards the home where they had lived for more than ten years.

So Leton and Dragonite also followed beside him in a depressed mood.

Seeing that the two Pokémon were also sad about it, Naoki shook his head helplessly, and then said:
"You guys, you've become such powerful Pokémon, why are you acting like children?"

"Ah geez..."

"Ouch..."

Dragonite and Gulden looked over sadly.

"Didn't we agree on this?" Naoki smiled and touched the heads of the two Pokémon with his other hand: "Even if my body dies, I will always accompany you in the form of a soul. Besides, we still have a long, long time to go!"

After hearing this, Gulden and Dragonite calmed down a little.

That’s right, this is what Naoki promised them!
Naoki will definitely do what he promised!

(End of this chapter)