Pokémon, but cultural invasion

Carving the stone statues and aging them took a lot of effort, and he felt heartbroken at the thought that two of them would be destroyed later.

"Don't worry, if it doesn't work the first time, you can use glue to fix it and use it a second time."

Ah Che leaned against the gate with a grin.

Guangtai rolled his eyes at him: "Is that what I'm worried about?"

After placing the three stone statues, they locked the gate.

The first day of filming went smoothly, and only the night shift security guard remained at the location that night.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, all subsequent special effects scenes will be filmed in this stadium.

Therefore, it contains valuable equipment and props handcrafted by Guangtai. It would be troublesome if someone who doesn't know their value dragged them away and sold them as scrap.

"The first day of filming went so smoothly, how about we have a barbecue to celebrate later?"

Quanshu rubbed his hands together.

After an expansion of the film crew, experienced veterans mentored newcomers, making filming exceptionally smooth.

At this rate, once he's halfway through filming, he'll be able to negotiate the price per episode with major TV stations and online platforms.

......

Streets in the western district of Jinhuang City.

The summer heat had not yet dissipated by nightfall, and the asphalt road was still warm.

A barbecue stall set up on the street corner has a few plastic stools and chairs next to it, with an oscillating electric fan mounted on it.

The charcoal in the iron-welded oven glowed red, and the grease on the owner's brush dripped into the charcoal fire, sizzling and sending up wisps of white smoke carrying the aroma of meat.

"Twenty more skewers of kidney, extra scallions, please."

Ah Che, with his loud voice, casually stuffed the empty bottle back into the liquor box.

"Don't blame me for not reminding you, you have to go to work tomorrow."

Guangtai took a bite of a skewer of grilled tendons. He doesn't like drinking and doesn't drink alcohol.

"What do you know? Life is so much better now, unlike before... hiccup..."

Ah Che hiccuped as he muttered to himself, "Keeping up this run-down camera shop, my bones are practically rusting."

"I'm having so much fun filming movies and eating late-night snacks with my buddies every day."

"Drink today, for tomorrow we may die" was his motto; as for tomorrow, he would worry about it tomorrow.

Quanshu turned his head to look at the boss, whose two sides had openwork iron frames with a mass of deep red lava flowing inside.

The mass of magma seemed to notice him, its bright, yellowish eyes, with pupils no bigger than sesame seeds, staring at the spring tree.

"Hey!"

He said hello.

As if in response to him, the mass of lava began to swirl.

"Fuck-"

The temperature under the charcoal fire suddenly rose, and several flames shot out from the iron frame.

"Lava worm!"

The skewers in the owner's hand were almost burnt, so he quickly reminded him.

The crimson lava worms calmed down and maintained a constant temperature.

"Die!"

The barbecue stall was doing good business. The long-tailed monster carried three plates and delivered freshly grilled skewers to the customers' tables.

"I really don't understand some organizations. Why do they have to make such a mess of this wonderful world?"

Quanshu was eating a skewer of pork belly.

The streets were bustling with people taking a stroll; they had just finished dinner and were out enjoying the evening breeze with their sprites.

Most people in the world are not trainers; they live ordinary lives.

Go to work, eat, sleep.

Many people's jobs are related to Pokémon, such as the owner of a barbecue restaurant, who is definitely too busy to handle everything by himself.

Even if you don't need help at work, having a caring companion in daily life is a wonderful thing.

The trainers' journeys and battles with wild Pokémon, regardless of victory or defeat, are all cherished memories of their youth.

Quanshu couldn't help but think that if he hadn't awakened his memories of his past life, he probably would have given up his dream to become one of them and lived a mediocre life.

"What organization?"

Mitsuyasu had never left Kanto, but he had heard that there were two bandit groups in Hoenn that committed all sorts of evil deeds.

"It's nothing... Please keep an eye on the filming location tomorrow. I have something to do and will arrive in the afternoon."

Quanshu threw a stack of wooden skewers from the table into the trash can.

Ah Che's face flushed, and he waved his hand, saying, "No problem, your brother Che will take care of everything."

"Quanshu, look, that kid in the shop is playing a game called Tingxiang."

Guangtai suddenly noticed that an eight or nine-year-old boy was sitting alone on a stool inside, holding a mobile phone in his hands.

I could vaguely see scenes from Plants vs. Zombies, and Quanshu ate another string of enoki mushrooms.

"Not bad, better than Qishu's operation."

He burst out laughing for no reason.

It seems that bringing games and movies over here is still somewhat worthwhile.

......

Guangtai escorted Ache back to the villa to rest.

After thinking about it, Quanshu decided to go back to the orphanage.

He didn't bring Ibrahimovic because the guy said he was going to the fancy hotel where Kisuke was staying that night.

Once on the train, the journey is short.

The reasons for going back this time are twofold: first, to confirm the lead actor for Ratatouille, and second, to show up in front of Lanxing and a bunch of Pokémon so they know I didn't die outside.

The moon, like a newly polished silver plate, was steadily embedded in the gray-blue sky, its clear light spilling over the field ridges and engulfing the country lanes.

Upon returning to Tingxiang, it happened to be night patrol time.

A bright yellow lantern wandered across the lawn not far away.

"Hey! Miss Dean, I brought you some barbecue."

Quanshu leaned against the iron gate, shaking the plastic bag in his hand.

The lantern shifted its direction, and the high-powered, strong beam of light illuminated Quanshu, almost blinding him.

I almost forgot, he upgraded the Dean's work equipment.

"Thank you."

After opening the door for him, Lanxing took the plastic bag.

"Aren't you going to eat?"

Seeing that she seemed to want to continue patrolling, Izumi asked.

Lan Xing turned around and said in a serious tone, "It's working time now. We'll eat after we finish today's tasks."

"Okay, I'll wait for you in the lobby. I have something to tell you."

......

Ten minutes later, the dean sat down at the table.

After finishing her work, she changed out of her navy blue work uniform and into a conservatively styled, plain-colored knit sweater.

"It's nothing serious, let's eat and chat."

Quanshu gestured to her that she didn't need to sit so formally and be so on high alert.

"..."

"I see."

Lanxing ate the pork tenderloin in small bites.

"I want to expand the welfare home and then add more Pokémon that are commonly found in the city."

She listened quietly.

"The soil on the back mountain is fertile and suitable for planting blue orange trees. I'd like to cultivate Paras mushrooms in the orchard, and let the Pokémon take care of them most of the time. What do you think?"

Lan Xing asked in confusion, "You want to develop a farm?"

"Not entirely. Pokémon in the city are smarter than those in the wild. I think they can still take care of fruit trees and grow mushrooms."

"Then I want to create an account, mainly to post the results of their daily work, and then create a platform to record the daily lives of all the Pokémon in the welfare home."

"Let netizens experience their charm and help them find suitable owners more quickly."

"In short, it's still a general idea. The specific details need to be conceived, but this is the general direction."

After pondering for a long time, Lanxing asked, "Are you helping the city's Pokémon, trying to change the impression they have on people?"

"Could you explain your motivation for doing this?"

Izumi looked away; he couldn't very well say that he had been threatened by Mewtwo.

"You might think it's naive to say this, but I want to bring about some change to this world, whether it's for better or worse."

Lan Xing put down the bamboo skewer and said seriously, "I understand."

"The number of Pokémon will increase later. If you feel pressured, let me know, and we can hire one or two daytime workers."

Quanshu kept rambling on, but given her personality, the fact that she dared to accept the task meant she was probably mentally prepared.

...

Their conversations usually ended here, but those amber, crystal-clear eyes remained fixed on the spring tree.

"And... thank you."

Lanxing offered a strange thank you.

"Thank you for what?"

Quanshu was completely baffled. Could it be that the barbecue was so delicious that he thanked him twice?

“It happened a long time ago, when you had a fireworks party on the lawn in your yard.”

"Maybe what you did has nothing to do with me, but the colorful beams of fireworks I saw in the attic that night were really beautiful."

Lan Xing spoke each word clearly and sternly in her voice.

Quanshu thought for a while before he remembered that such a thing had indeed happened.

He told Lanxing about her grandfather's death and worried that her stubborn nature would lead her to do something foolish because of her grief, which is why he staged this scene on the lawn.

However, there's no need to thank him. Some Pokémon have keen senses and can detect human sadness, so they spontaneously start making a fuss.

"Then...why thank me now? So much time has passed, I might have forgotten."

The Dean has a wonderful personality; she answers all questions seriously and expresses her gratitude readily. This makes Izumi even more curious as to why she has been dragging her feet until now.

"I don't know."

A rare look of bewilderment appeared on Lan Xing's face.

"Perhaps it was because he knew you would be leaving the orphanage tomorrow that he was able to say it."