Pokémon: Starting as a Farmer Instead of a Trainer

Chapter 46 Have you ever heard... ghost stories?

When Xiao Zhao suddenly spoke, Ming You couldn't help but feel nervous and signaled to her with her eyes not to say anything.

At the same time, he had already secretly taken Ponpo's Poké Ball into his hand, ready to seize the opportunity to put Ponpo back into the ball and prevent others from seeing it.

But then, Danyu looked at Xiaozhao and asked, "What's up in the tree?"

"Well……"

Xiao Zhao originally wanted to say that she had just seen a strange Pokémon in a tree.

But after seeing Mingyou's expression and eyes, she reacted quickly, smiling as she replied, "Well, I just saw a gust of wind blow and knock the mask that someone had put on the tree down."

"Is that so..."

Seeing that there was nothing unusual, the others stopped paying attention. Only Wu Li seemed not to believe it and still wanted to come and see for himself.

But suddenly...

"Hey! Pay me!"

A shout came from not far away. Everyone, including Wuli, looked over instinctively and saw that Snorlax had run to the stall across the street and snatched a few candied grape skewers that someone had just made.

Mingyou seized the opportunity and used a Poké Ball to retrieve Ponpo from the tree. However, Xiaozhao still caught a glimpse of these small actions out of the corner of her eye, and even made an awkward eye contact with Mingyou. However, she didn't say anything and just pretended not to see it.

"..."

Then, Mingyou rushed forward, grabbed the little Snorlax by the ear, and ran back to pay the owner of the candied grapes who had been robbed and apologize.

"I told you to keep your Pokémon under control."

Shui Lian couldn't help but say something more. Then, seeing that there was nothing else to do, she said goodbye to Dr. Kukui and took Mao to the shrine to find other friends to play with.

"Ha ha……"

Mingyou smiled awkwardly, and at the same time breathed a sigh of relief. It was all just for show. The little Snorlax deliberately went to attract attention. It was quick-witted and agile.

After all, if it really wanted to steal food, it would definitely do so stealthily, avoiding me first, rather than doing it so openly, not to mention that there are plenty of apples at my stall that I can eat as much as I want.

"Gambit~"

Snorlax happily ate the candied grapes. They tasted great. He regretted not grabbing more earlier; after all, Meiyu would definitely pay for them…

Wu Li glanced at the tree; there was nothing left now. He looked at the mask in Ming You's hand, then at Xiao Zhao, but didn't say anything. He simply returned quietly to Dan Yu's side.

Dr. Kukui also turned his gaze away and walked to Mingyou's stall, saying, "Sell me all these apples. I was looking for a place to rest, but now I can kill time with apples."

"OK!"

Mingyou happily packed the apples, and to prevent anyone from not being able to identify them, he also put a label on the apples to make it easier to identify what kind of move it was.

After accepting the apples, Dr. Kukui continued, "Then I'll be going now. Also... here's my contact information. If you have any new kinds of fruit to sell, please let me know."

"no problem!"

After watching Dr. Kukui leave, things suddenly became much quieter. Mingyou gently patted her forehead and looked at Danyu and the others: "Aren't you leaving yet? Or do you want to buy some apples from me?"

"Who would eat that!"

Danyu retorted again; that's always been her temper. However, Wuli, looking at the ghost mask in Mingyou's hand with a hint of nervousness, asked softly, "Can I take a look at this mask?"

"what?"

Mingyou was slightly taken aback, and Danyu looked at her younger brother in confusion, asking, "Don't you have a ghost mask at home? Haven't you worn it enough? I really don't know what's so great about ghosts!"

"..."

After being reprimanded by her sister, Wu Li lowered her head again and fell silent. Ming You sighed softly and replied, "Sorry, I'd also like to study this mask. It's the first time I've ever seen such a cool mask."

"What's there to study about this?"

Danyu couldn't understand what they were thinking, then suddenly remembered that Mingyou seemed to be from somewhere else, so she asked, "You don't know what this mask is, do you? And you actually think it's cool."

What's the significance of this pastry?

Upon hearing Mingyou's question, Danyu immediately became interested and smiled, "Have you heard... the story of the evil spirits of Beishang Township? Oh, I haven't heard of it. Then let's listen to it properly!"

"Year X northward, the village of Kitakami was ravaged by evil spirits. The villagers, who were supposed to die that night, were saved by three Pokémon that came from afar."

"The three Pokémon exerted all their strength to weaken the demon's power and drove it into Ghost Mountain, preventing it from continuing its evil deeds, but they also died from their severe injuries..."

"Later, to commemorate the heroic deeds of these three Pokémon, the villagers built Pocom Plaza for them and affectionately called them Pocom. They not only added Pocom masks but also held a Demon Slayer Festival during the most important Masked Festival!"

Danyu recounted the legend of Beishang Township from hundreds of years ago, and the ghost mask represented the evil spirit that was driven away by the three treasure companions with their lives.

As for the Ghost Festival, it involves attacking balloons with ghost mask patterns. Within a limited time, the more balloons you defeat, the richer the prizes become. Every year, many people participate in this activity, making it a very lively event in Beishang Township.

"Everyone just doesn't understand anything..."

Wu Li retorted in a very soft voice, while secretly glancing at Ming You with a faint smile on her face, seemingly pleased that the other party had just said the ghost mask was cool.

However, Mingyou's expression remained calm after hearing the story, but how could he not understand? The evil spirit in the story was Ponpo.

How could someone as cute and sensible as Ponpo possibly go to Beishang Township to commit arson, murder, and looting?

No wonder Ponpo is so afraid of and hates the people of Beishang Township. Being bullied like this every day, and even having a ghost-beating ritual performed, who can stand it?

As for the reason for his calm expression, it was simply that he didn't want others to notice anything unusual, and also...

Mingyou's gaze shifted, and she noticed that Xiaozhao was still secretly sizing her up. Did she really enjoy staring at her like that? Although she knew she was good-looking, she thought, "Stop looking! Didn't you say you needed to see the siblings? Go find them!"

Fortunately, Danyu finally noticed Xiaozhao was there and asked, "What did you want to see us about?"

"It's the administrator's side. Since Blueberry Academy is also a school participating in the summer camp, and you happen to be students of the academy, he wants you to bring other students from the same school to visit Emerald Town."

"Tsk... What a nuisance, I'm leaving."

With that, Danyu left the Northbound Center with Wuli, but Xiaozhao did not leave. She was not a student, but a staff member of the summer camp, responsible for providing some help to the students.

So in the blink of an eye, only the two of them were left. Xiao Zhao smiled and waved, "We meet again."

"Yes, it's quite a coincidence..."

Mingyou responded, and at the same time noticed that the horned deer had woken up. She then looked away and said helplessly, "Thank you for what happened earlier."

"But lying is no good, really... You even made me lie to cover for you. Luckily I reacted quickly and didn't ask you what happened right away."

"Ha ha……"

Mingyou smiled awkwardly, but she was actually quite grateful to the other party for smoothing things over.

Xiao Zhao sighed softly, then asked in a low voice, "Was that your Pokémon in the tree earlier? Although I didn't get a clear look at it."

"That's right."

Mingyou nodded in agreement, but Xiaozhao could tell he seemed to have some kind of difficulty, so she didn't ask any further questions. Instead, she said, "Consider it a thank-you gift for yesterday. You can continue with your work; I'll be going now."

"Okay, take care."

Watching Xiao Zhao leave, Mingyou finally breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, she couldn't help but admire Xiao Zhao's abilities and high emotional intelligence, which was on a completely different level from someone like Danyu who was brainless.

Moreover, it seems that they are still friends. Even though Xiao Zhao is around, Dan Yu still has this kind of personality, and the good thing is that she doesn't learn it at all.

"Really..."

Mingyou took out Ponpo's Poké Ball and glanced at it. Unexpectedly, although it said it didn't want to come, it still quietly followed her over, wanting to stay with her.

"...Let's go, time to pack up and go home!"

……

(End of this chapter)