Pokémon: Starting as a Farmer Instead of a Trainer

Chapter 282 The Melody of Love, Officially Dating Xiao Zhao (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

"Hmm..."

Seeing that the Rockets had taken Meloetta as bait to force Naruto to come over, Ponpo forced herself to calm down and hid the letter.

It could sense that Lance was still watching it. It couldn't let Lance become suspicious, nor could it let Mingyou and the others notice anything unusual and disrupt their date.

So it walked behind Mingyou, who was buying cotton candy, took off its ghost mask, and called out softly.

"Mmm~"

"Um?"

Hearing Ponpo's call, Mingyou turned around, smiled, and asked, "Want some cotton candy? Why are you alone? Where are the others?"

"Mmm~"

Ponpo simply replied that they were wandering around nearby, then deliberately used her cloak to block the view from behind, and handed over the errand fee that Lance had given her.

After hearing the answer, Mingyou nodded with satisfaction: "The pocket money you earned by delivering things for others? You're starting to learn how to earn money on your own."

"Mmm~"

"Let me save it for you? Okay, just let me know whenever you need it."

As she spoke, Mingyou bent down gently, reached out and took the gift, then handed one of the two pink cotton candies she had just bought from the Wind Fairy Boss to Ponpon, saying she would just go and buy another one herself.

"Don't drop it, okay? This is very sweet, and the ingredients are made with fructose from our own fruit. If you like it, come back and buy some more later. By the way, ask Meloetta if they want some too. If you want to buy something, just use your Rotom phone to swipe my card."

"Hmm..."

"What's wrong?"

"Mmm~"

It's nothing~

Ponpo smiled, without revealing that Meloetta had been captured by Team Rocket. After a brief response, she put on the demon mask, took the cotton candy, turned and left, disappearing into the crowd.

Mingyou looked at Pengpeng's disappearing figure with a slightly puzzled expression. After spending so much time together, how could he not see that the child was hiding something from him?

Should we follow them and take a look?

The idea popped into his head, and he was ready to act on it immediately.

Only after looking at the change that Ponpo had just handed him did he realize that his child had grown up and it was normal for him to have private matters he didn't want to share with him.

Just like the day he spent using the synchronizer last time, he saw many scenes of Ponpo helping his companions. He usually had no idea about these things because he was the one who usually did them.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing that he hadn't come over yet, Xiao Zhao walked over with the prizes from the goldfish scooping contest. Mingyou gently shook his head, a smile on his face, indicating that they would talk as they walked, and then accepted the change that Ponpo had given him.

Not far away, Lance was still watching this side, staring at Mingyou with a serious expression on her face one second as she looked at the paper in her hand, but then she hid the paper and smiled as her girlfriend came over.

Ponpo was still careless, thinking that he would only keep an eye on her and leave after she delivered the things. But Lance was careful and didn't see Mingyou see the letter with his own eyes, so he naturally wouldn't leave.

"Heh~ After seeing the contents of the letter, you don't want to drag that woman into this, so you're putting on a fake smile and pretending nothing happened... Too bad, I was originally planning to thoroughly destroy her right in front of you!"

Lance was slightly disappointed. As the most ruthless executive in the Rockets, he had naturally planned a variety of ways to torture Mingyou, make him spit out the core technology of the manor, and then die.

But let's finish this as soon as possible. We can't make the same mistake as Lambda, who disobeyed Boss Sakaki's orders and acted on his own, which caused the whole plan to collapse. Let's get rid of Naruyu as soon as possible, then tie him to a rock and sink him into Ripple Bay to be the Savage Bass's midnight snack!

Lance turned and left with a cold smile, heading towards the agreed meeting place. His men were already lying in ambush there. In such a short time, even if Mingyou really wanted to find help, it would be impossible for him to arrive in time.

As he headed towards the beach, Ponpon had already run ahead of him...

"Mmm!"

At this moment, Ponpo has put on the stove mask. The mask reflects its current mood, which is full of anger, while underneath the mask is a face full of self-blame.

It felt that it had heard Meloetta's location in the woods but hadn't gone to find her, which led to its capture by Team Rocket.

It had clearly promised Mingyou that it would protect Meloetta... It was a promise, and it wanted to be like Mingyou, always fulfilling its promises to others no matter what. This was what it liked most about Mingyou.

but now……

"Mmm!"

At this moment, on a beach far from the bustling city, compared to the bright lights in the distance, this place is calm and quiet, a place where even the moonlight cannot reach.

The beach is dotted with many rocks, which are the nests of some clams and starfish. However, at this moment, these Pokémon seem to sense the danger outside and are hiding, afraid to come out.

The Rockets members were already lying in ambush here. They had just received a message from Lance and were all preparing to welcome Mingyou.

"Has Lord Lance returned?"

"Still on the way. By the way, I wonder if Mingyou will arrive first?"

"How could that be? Lord Lance saw him accept the letter before he left, and even if he came now, what could he do without Pokémon? He couldn't do anything!"

"That's true!"

The Team Rocket members chuckled softly, but what lay hidden here wasn't just Houndoom, Tyranitar, Salamence, Hydreigon, Metagross... so many powerful Pokémon under Team Rocket's control, giving Mingyou an unexpected surprise!

Just then, several Houndooms simultaneously caught the scent of tangerines. The Team Rocket member in charge of reconnaissance immediately alerted them: "Something's coming! It's not Lord Lance, it looks like something... an orange!"

"ha?"

Everyone was immediately dumbfounded. Oranges?

While they were still bewildered, a fierce aura suddenly approached, alerting all the Pokémon, and they finally came to their senses.

However, it was too late. The flames of anger raged, and the vines wrapped around the thorny stick turned fiery red. They were wielded like swords of fire, and the dazzling flames completely illuminated the stove mask!

"Damn it! It's Kamen Rider!"

"Mmm!"

It's not Kamen Rider, it's Ponpo the God of War!

Ponpo slammed a stick into the face of the Team Rocket member who had just spoken, sending him flying dozens of meters away. The others, who had recovered, immediately commanded their Pokémon to attack it, while also taking out various Team Rocket equipment and pulling out their electric stun guns to prepare to fire.

But at that moment, Ponpo slammed his thorny vines into the sand, and many fiery red vines instantly sprouted from the beach with the intense heat, grabbing all the Team Rocket members and slamming them against the beach rocks like toys, smashing all their weapons and giving them no chance at all.

"Damn it! What is that thing?! Attack it! Kill it!"

The Team Rocket members, lying on the beach, continued shouting, and Salamence immediately launched a fierce attack, flapping its blood-red wings and unleashing a hurricane.

But Ponpo's mask instantly switched to a base stone mask, and the rock-solid thorny vine was thrown out like a boomerang. With just this one blow, the storm dissipated, and the flying dragon crashed on the spot.

At the same time, Ponpo rushed forward, grabbed the falling thorny vine, and immediately switched to the green grass mask. She spun around 180 degrees and swung the vine, sending the attacking Tyranitar flying dozens of meters, crashing into many rocks, and lying paralyzed in the sea.

But Metagross's attack finally arrived at this moment. Its metal claws grabbed Ponpo from behind, and a terrifying force that could crush even mountains burst forth instantly, trying to squeeze out the juice from it.

But the next second, it was astonished to find that it could not squeeze the puffin even a fraction of its strength. Even with its computing power surpassing that of a computer, it could not figure out what was going on.

"Mmm!"

Ponpo's strength was not something that this guy could shake. He grabbed its claws and slammed it to the ground, causing it to shut down instantly. Then, he used a windmill slam to knock the three-headed dragon, which was about to unleash a meteor shower, to home run...

In less than two minutes, Team Rocket's Pokémon were all wiped out. The few remaining Team Rocket members who had not yet lost consciousness did not hesitate to play dead in an attempt to bluff their way out, while their hearts were filled with terror.

What kind of terrifying power is this?!

Could it be a legendary Pokémon?

But why did they approach them?

They clearly didn't offend anyone at all!

This was the question on everyone's mind at that moment. Ponpo could tell whether someone was pretending to be dead or not, but it found that there seemed to be no trace of Meloetta here. So it grabbed one of the Team Rocket members who was pretending to be dead and slammed him onto the sand.

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"

In a life-or-death situation, no orders matter; survival is the most important thing.

But Ponpo always knows how to act and would never kill anyone. It just wants to know where Meloetta is. Worried that the other party might not understand its calls, it even used its Rotom phone to type a message to ask.

"Meloeta... isn't here. Capturing it was Hilla's mission. Lord Lance doesn't even know if he's caught it yet. He's just saying it's been captured to lure Mingyou into a trap."

"Hmm?"

Upon hearing the answer, Ponpo was slightly taken aback. She knocked the other person unconscious. Oh, so that's how it is. Is it too late for me to go find Meloetta now?

Yes! We have to go right away!

After quickly dealing with the remaining people who were pretending to be dead, it immediately turned and ran away, but by sheer coincidence, it ran into Lance, who was heading this way.

"you……"

Lance spotted Ponpo and froze instinctively. Wasn't that the child from earlier? What was she doing here?

The moment these questions crossed his mind, the thorny vines struck him on the forehead. Lance didn't even have a chance to react before losing consciousness and collapsing on the beach.

Long after Ponpo left, Hilla, who had been assigned to capture Meloetta, quietly arrived. She walked to Lance's side, observed his miserable state for a moment, then glanced around and muttered to herself.

"It seems that scheming alone won't be enough to take down Mingyou. I only received the news a few minutes ago, and he's already completely wiped out. Even if I go to him to avenge Yalo and Cliff, I'm afraid it's too late..."

A serious expression crossed Hilla's mature and elegant face. As if venting her anger, she stomped her high heel on the unconscious Lance's face, lost in thought: "I didn't go to Meloetta either. How am I going to explain this to Boss Sakaki?"

"I guess we should just run away..."

The Team Rocket members covered in starfish weren't discovered until the next morning when fishermen went out to sea to fish, but that's another story.

Let's go back to the present...

"Mengmeng..."

Zhenyi and the others continued to follow Mingyou and the other two, but they were a little puzzled. They had just seen Ponpon suddenly appear and take away a cotton candy, and then suddenly disappear again. Moreover, they had not seen Meloetta at all.

But as it approached 8 p.m., they gradually became immersed in the atmosphere and anticipation of the upcoming fireworks display.

It's been many years since Zhenyi Fa has seen fireworks. I remember the last time was seven or eight years ago when he and the Naruto family watched them in Niangguang City. As for Fujinigiri, needless to say, Blueberry Academy has never done this before.

However, Riolu and Garchomp didn't share the same anticipation. After all, they had seen it several times in Kitakami Village, and they even released it themselves during the Lunar New Year, which made Snivy and the others extremely envious.

Mingyou and the others were still unaware that they were being followed. He and Xiaozhao arrived at a strait that was a little away from the city. The location was quite high, there were fewer people, and the fireworks were even more spectacular.

"Let's stop here. There doesn't seem to be anyone else around, just the two of us."

Xiao Zhao glanced around, put her hands behind her back, looking slightly nervous. Then she looked at Ming You and said with a smile, "Why don't we call Ponpo and the others over? They can watch the fireworks here with everyone. It reminds me of last year's Masked Festival."

"It said it would be fine if we just looked."

Mingyou put down her phone, smiled helplessly, and felt that Ponpo was acting really strange today. She decided to wait until she got back and ask her about it.

He pulled himself out of his thoughts, walked over to Xiao Zhao's side, and looked down at the lively celebration with the girl. Recalling their date tonight, he said softly, "Tonight was really fun. It's the first time I've ever... gone shopping with a girl all by myself."

"Me too, it's my first time with a boy... Can we continue like this in the future?"

Xiao Zhao smiled and turned to look at him, her face flushing slightly again. In this ambiguous situation where the two of them were alone, something must have happened, right?

She was somewhat expectant, but also somewhat worried, fearing that the other party might cause another mishap.

Sensing her gaze, Mingyou took a deep breath, turned around to look at her, and their eyes met. Her heart began to race. At such close range, if she didn't speak now, she might never have another chance.

"Say whatever you want to say!"

Xiao Zhao spoke again. She understood the other person's feelings. Although she didn't like being passive, there were some things she still hoped the other person would take the initiative to say, instead of her always taking the opportunity away.

After all, the two are quite similar in some ways. In the past, whenever she and Mingyou thought of the same thing, she would always speak first and be the one to complain. Therefore, this time, she hoped that the other person would go first and give her the opportunity.

Looking at Xiao Zhao, who was all ready, Mingyou bit her lip, still feeling very nervous. As she watched the expectation on Xiao Zhao's face gradually turn into disappointment, she felt a pang of self-reproach.

But just then, in the night sky, accompanied by a beautiful melody, Meloeta, who had disappeared for some time, flew towards this place, stepping on shimmering musical notes.

"Melo~"

"Mengmeng!?"

Seeing Meloetta suddenly appear at this crucial moment, the wings and the others didn't even have time to stop it and could only watch it get completely close to the two of them.

As they listened to the melody, Mingyou and Xiaozhao's attention was drawn to it, but they didn't look at Meloetta. Instead, they were immersed in the emotionally charged melody.

Unconsciously, the two recalled their past interactions, from their first meeting in front of the Momozawa store, to the goldfish scooping contest, working part-time selling fruit, dressing up as Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, making dumplings together, spending New Year's Eve together, and their first kiss...

As Mingyou's tension gradually subsided, he saw himself. He had missed so many opportunities, and in this melody, he also saw himself from Xiaozhao's perspective.

The person he considered the best and worthy of his admiration, he secretly thought was the best and held a similar admiration for.

"I see... "

The two of them uttered these words simultaneously, and the last remaining obstacle was completely eliminated at that moment.

"We're kindred spirits after all," Mingyou thought with a faint smile, gazing at the girl before her whose eyes were once again filled with anticipation. She spoke softly, "Finally, I can say those words... I like you!"

"Finally, you said it!"

Xiao Zhao parted her lips slightly and smiled in response. She then realized that the other person's reluctance to speak was not due to being slow-witted, but rather because they admired her. However, she was not such a perfect person after all.

However, under the melody Meloetta composed for the two of them, she finally truly understood Mingyou. Taking a deep breath, she completely relaxed and said with a smile, "Then it's my turn! I'm not the kind of girl who'll let herself be taken advantage of!"

"Um?"

Mingyou was slightly taken aback. What did that mean? So did this count as consent or not? He was completely puzzled, not understanding what the other party wanted to do.

At that moment, Xiao Zhao suddenly leaned forward slightly, slowly closed her eyes, stood on tiptoe, and, just as the fireworks burst in the night sky, kissed Ming You deeply on the lips...

"!!!"

Mingyou was completely stunned, feeling the soft, moist touch on his lips. At that moment, it was as if time had stopped, and his body felt like it had been electrocuted. He never expected the other party to be so proactive.

But he gradually began to cooperate, reaching out to pull Xiao Zhao into his arms. Their bodies intertwined in their awkwardness, and the girl's face grew increasingly flushed.

After a long while, their lips parted, and Xiao Zhao took a step back, her face full of shyness, seemingly at a loss for what to do with her bold actions.

Then she looked at Mingyou, her hands behind her back, letting the sea breeze gently blow through her hair, her lips slightly parted, a hint of playfulness in them, and said, "Well, that's how it is, let's date!"

……

(End of this chapter)