Elf: Rewriting the script, starting with Black Stocking Hanako

When Hanako walked up to Kasumi, Kasumi was kicking pebbles on the roadside with her head down.

A pebble was kicked out, bounced twice on the dirt road, and rolled into the grass.

"Xiaoxia".

Hanako's voice was soft, as if she were afraid of startling her.

Xiaoxia's shoulders stiffened slightly. Without looking up, she kicked another pebble.

Hanako wasn't in a hurry, and they walked side by side. The morning breeze blew, making their hair flutter. Hanako reached up and tucked a stray hair behind her ear, turning her head to look at Kasumi's profile.

Xia's ears were still red.

As Hanako watched, her own face flushed again. She bit her lower lip and gently touched the back of Kasumi's hand.

"Still shy?"

The moment Xiaoxia's hand was touched, it felt like she'd been electrocuted, and she jerked it back. But she stopped halfway, her fingers curled slightly, and finally it hung limply at her side; she didn't flinch again.

"...Who's shy?"

Xiaoxia's voice was muffled, and she was very stubborn, but there was no confidence in her tone.

Hanako smiled, pursing her lips.

She took half a step forward and gently bumped Xiaoxia's shoulder.

"Your face is so red, and you still say you're not ashamed."

Xiaoxia was jolted off balance by the bump and almost stepped on her own foot.

She finally looked up and glared at Hanako, her expression full of panic and embarrassment.

"Hanako, your face is red too, and you're still talking about me~" Xiaoxia said, then laughed shyly.

Hanako paused for a moment, then smiled.

The two girls stood by the roadside, their laughter drifting through the woods, startling several bobbleheads in the treetops into fluttering flight.

After laughing, the awkwardness seemed to have dissipated quite a bit.

Hanako reached out and took Kasumi's arm, and the two walked side by side. Their steps gradually aligned, one to the left and one to the right, in perfect rhythm.

"Actually..." Hanako's voice was soft, "I thought about what happened last night, and it's not a big deal."

Xiaoxia didn't say anything, but her ears were clearly perked up.

Hanako continued, "Our relationship with Egawa is... well, it's all like that. It was bound to happen sooner or later."

Her voice grew softer and softer, and as she spoke the last few words, her face flushed even more. But she finished speaking nonetheless.

Xiaoxia remained silent for a few seconds.

Then she suddenly stopped, turned around to face Hanako, her expression a mixture of shame, anger, and a sense of recklessness.

"Okay, let's talk it out."

Hanako was taken aback by her sudden seriousness and instinctively stood up straight.

"You saw it last night, and I saw it too." Xiaoxia took a deep breath. "Let's call it even, okay?"

Hanako blinked, then smiled and nodded.

"Okay, deal."

Xiaoxia stretched out her hand, sticking her little finger up.

"We have to pinky swear. Anyone who makes fun of what happened last night is a Growlithe dog."

Hanako suppressed a laugh and extended her little finger, hooking it around Kasumi's finger.

They hooked their two little fingers together and shook them three times.

After making the pinky promise, both of them felt a significant weight reduction on their shoulders.

Xiaoxia let out a breath, her whole body visibly relaxing. She stretched her shoulders and suddenly turned to look at Jiang Chuan walking behind her.

Jiang Chuan was looking down at the Pokémon encyclopedia, his fingers swiping across the screen, completely unaware of what the two girls were saying.

Xiaoxia looked away and lowered her voice to say to Hanako, "But seriously, that Jiangchuan guy..."

"Um?"

"Wasn't he a bit too much last night?"

When Xiaoxia said this, her tone didn't sound like a complaint, but rather like the shy and reproachful tone of girls whispering to each other.

Hanako's cheeks flushed again upon hearing this. She gently patted Kasumi's arm.

"You think so too, right?"

"Nonsense!" Xiaoxia's voice was low but full of emotion. "He's a big bad guy!"

Hanako couldn't help but chuckle.

"You're still laughing!" Xiaoxia's eyes widened.

"I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing..." Hanako paused, her eyes curving slightly, "I was thinking, how come his brain, which is so sharp in battle, is also so sharp in this kind of thing..."

She couldn't find the right words and paused.

"That's so mean," Xiaoxia said for her.

"Yes, that's bad." Hanako nodded, her smile growing even sweeter.

The two looked at each other and sighed simultaneously.

There was helplessness, indulgence, and a little bit of affection hidden deep inside that even he didn't want to admit.

Xiaoxia suddenly spoke up excitedly: "Let's team up next time."

Hanako turned to look at her.

Xiaoxia's eyes now held a hint of defiance.

"We have to join forces; we can't let him be so smug anymore."

Hanako tilted her head and thought about it seriously.

"You mean, we should work together to suppress him..."

"Yes." Xiaoxia clenched her fist, her face flushed even more, but her eyes were firm. "I don't believe that the two of us can't beat him."

Hanako couldn't help but laugh again when she saw her so full of fighting spirit.

"Okay, let's team up next time."

Xiaoxia, now with an ally, seemed much more energetic. She straightened her back, glanced back at Jiang Chuan, and a new light shone in her eyes.

"Jiang Chuan, you just wait!"

Jiang Chuan looked up from the encyclopedia, staring blankly at Xiaoxia suddenly shouting that at him.

"...What are you waiting for?"

"It's nothing!"

Xiaoxia turned her head and strode forward.

Hanako followed behind her, smiling gently.

Jiang Chuan smiled. With Hanako in the backyard, Jiang Chuan felt quite at ease. After leaving the wilderness area, he resumed his long-stalled leveling journey.

The journey was filled with sparks and lightning, the leveling up was smooth and unobstructed, and the team's level increased significantly.

[Pokémon: Pikachu, Level: lv52→lv53]

[Pokémon: Bulbasaur, Level: lv50→lv51]

[Pokémon: Pidgeot, Level: lv40→lv42]

[Pokémon: Wartortle, Level: lv29→lv34]

[Pokémon: Charmeleon → Charizard, Level: lv34 → lv40]

[Pokémon: Infernape, Level: lv36→lv38] (Perfect Rage Punch usage count: 13)

[Pokémon: Gastly → Haunter, Level: lv23 → lv26]

[Pokémon: Dratini, Level: lv9→lv11]

[Pokémon: Zapdos, Level: lv65]

After Pikachu and Bulbasaur cross level 50 and reach the Gym level, their experience bars increase significantly, making leveling up slower.

Everything else is leveling up normally. Charmeleon has accumulated experience from special training, and it also gained experience in the protected area's wilderness.

So it evolved into Charizard as soon as the battle began.

Its level also increased the fastest, successfully reaching the near-gym level.

Finally, the leveling up of the Dratini is a bit slow.

Because Dratini is a typical late bloomer, its experience bar is longer than most Pokémon even from the beginner level.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have taken 30 years, or even longer, to withstand the current level 40+.

Of course, the long experience bar also makes it sturdy, so there are few opponents for Dratini of the same level.

Moreover, the length of the experience bar is not a problem. Jiang Chuan also has the concept item Magic Candy. No matter how long the experience bar is, eating the Magic Candy will level you up.

However, Jiang Chuan did not immediately push the Dratini to level 30, because the Dratini had been living with its mother in the lake and had not fought much.

Jiang Chuan still planned to let it hone its skills and learn how to fight perfectly before tackling the candy.

After all, he's a Dragon-type champion, so we can't let his talent go to waste.

After leveling up, Jiang Chuan led the team back to the rest camp that Hanako and Xiaoxia had chosen.

...............

About ten minutes later, the camp came into view.

Hanako sat by the fire, stringing something onto a shelf.

The dragon coiled around her, its long body forming a semicircle, its head resting on its tail, its eyes half-closed, and its mouth constantly chewing something.

Upon hearing footsteps, Hakron's ears twitched first.

Then it suddenly raised its head, and before it could even swallow the food in its mouth, its eyes were already locked onto the miniature dragon that was walking out of the forest.

"Ah~~!"

Hakron let out a cheerful low cry, slid away from the campfire, and flew over.

It circled the dwarf dragon, its tail swishing behind it, and then brought its head close to the dwarf dragon, smelling it from the top of its head to the tip of its tail.

"Ah, ah~~" Hakron's voice was soft and affectionate, his eyes full of concern, "Baby, you're back! How was it? How was it? It was your first time fighting with your comrades today, how did it feel?"

The dwarf dragon shrank its neck a little embarrassed after being examined so closely by its mother.

But it didn't dodge; instead, it gently nuzzled the dragon's chin and curled the tip of its tail.

"Meow~~"

Its voice was soft, tinged with a hint of weariness, but mostly filled with excitement.

Pikachu, following behind, hopped over, stood next to Dratini, twitched its ears, and nodded at Dragonair.

Bulbasaur also walked over from the other side, its petals slightly opening and closing.

The Dratini rested its head on the scales of the Dragonair and said in a soft, sweet voice, "It's so much fun, so exciting... even though I'm clumsy and weak, I can't beat many of my opponents..."

"But my owner was always there to guide me and encourage me."

"Pikachu and Bulbasaur helped me a lot. They were the ones who set up the moves first so I could follow up with my own moves."

As Hakron listened, its eyes crinkled into crescents, and with a twist and coil, it wrapped the entire Dratini into its long body.

"Mmm, my baby is the best! Mom has always known that. But, you know..." Hakron lowered its head and nudged the Minidragon's forehead with its nose.

"Even with your owner's guidance and your companions' help, you still need to be careful. Your mother is very worried about you here; she's even lost her appetite from worry."

The Dratini peeked out from its mother's arms, blinked, and looked at the Dragonair's face, which seemed to say, "I'm so worried, so worried."

Then its gaze shifted downwards.

Around the corner of Hakron's mouth, a ring of food crumbs gleamed. There was the red of jam, bread crumbs, and a small piece of some kind of biscuit scrap.

The Dratini stared at the ring of debris and remained silent for two seconds.

Then I turned my gaze back to Hakron's face.

"Mom." Its voice was calm.

"Um?"

"Are you really not eating well?" The tip of Dratini's tail curled up from the coils of Dragonair and gently touched the corner of Dragonair's mouth. "When I came back just now, I clearly saw you eating heartily."

Hakron's movements froze for a moment.

Its eyes blinked, then blinked again.

Then it loosened its grip on the miniature dragon's body, cleared its throat, and began to explain in a serious tone.

"Ah, ah, that... Mom was helping Hanako's owner try out the new product."

"It's not about eating, it's about tasting. Tasting is a fundamentally different thing."

"Hanako's new dish needs to be tasted by someone, and this is a great responsibility that Mom cannot refuse."

As Hakron spoke, it turned and swam back to the campfire, taking a piece of pastry from the plate next to Hanako. Its movements were fluid and seamless, as if it had rehearsed it countless times.

"Come on, baby, try this! It's really delicious. Hanako's owner just made it. It's crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I ate three pieces and still wanted more..."

It placed the treat in front of the miniature dragon, its nose still covered in the powdered sugar from the previous treat.

The mini dragon looked down at the snack.

I looked up and saw my mother's face again, which seemed to have completely forgotten what she had just said.

It chuckled softly.

"Mom, I'm not in a hurry to eat. I'm so hot right now. On my way back, I saw a small pond over at the campsite. The water was so clear. I want to go for a swim to cool off first, and then come back for dinner later."

The snack that Hakron was holding paused for a moment.

Then it retracted at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Oh, okay, okay." Hakron's tail flicked happily, the speed and magnitude of which far exceeded the normal range of concern for his daughter.

"Go ahead and swim, then come back for dinner."

As it spoke, it stuffed the pastry into its mouth, chewed it twice, and swallowed it, its face beaming with a smile as bright as if it had won the lottery.

"Okay, you're back safe and sound, so Mom is relieved. I've got a good appetite now, so go ahead and eat!"

Before he could finish speaking, Hakron had already turned around and slid back to the campfire, the whole process incredibly smooth.

It coiled up next to Hanako again, rested its head on Hanako's arm, and stared longingly at the skewers of meat that Hanako was grilling. Its mouth was slightly open, and it had entered that standard "waiting to be fed" state again.

The dwarf dragon stood still, watching its mother's retreating figure.

There's a campfire, a trainer who cooks delicious food, and an endless supply of snacks and roasted meat.

For a mother, this must be heaven.

The dwarf dragon shook its head, smiled, turned around, and swam out of the camp.

As it passed Jiang Chuan, the Dratini paused, raised its head, and gently touched Jiang Chuan's calf with its tail.

"Meow~ Master, I'm going to swim in that pool over there, I'll be right back."

Jiang Chuan was sitting by the campfire drinking water when he glanced down at it.

He reached out and patted the Dratini's head, his palm still warm from the battle.

"Go ahead, but don't swim for too long. Come back for dinner early."

"Meow!"

The dwarf dragon responded cheerfully, drew a small circle in the air with the tip of its tail, then twisted its body and swam towards the pool of water not far from the camp.