Chapter 141: Xiaoxia’s Purpose

At a little past nine in the evening, when Mu returned to the Pokémon Center, he happened to run into Misty, who had also just returned.

"Huh? Did you go to the Battle Club to train?" Misty asked, looking at Mu in surprise.

Misty had been down at the port negotiating ship rentals—comparing prices across different vendors and bargaining—which was why she was only returning now. How could Mu have finished at the exact same time?

Did finding a day-care center really take that long?

Although Mu had contacted Misty earlier, she had been in the middle of haggling at the time and only knew that Mu was out eating dinner and that she didn't need to wait for him—though in reality, Misty herself had missed the Pokémon Center's buffet time as well!

"You'd never guess what I spent the afternoon doing," Mu said with a mysterious air.

"Hah? Weren't you looking for a place to board Clefairy and Haunter? Could it be... did you run into a case?" Misty had been seeing that kind of scenario happen around Sonoko quite a bit lately.

"No, no, no. I just happened to run into Ash over at Professor Cerise's place..." Mu shook his head repeatedly, making it clear that he wasn't tagging along with the "Grim Reaper" again.

"So you guys had a battle?" Misty was still puzzled. Even with a battle, it shouldn't have taken this long.

"We did battle, but mostly I went over to Kanto North High School afterward and became a guest trainer for the Kanto North Poké-Basket team!"

Misty: ???

What on earth was all that? They had been traveling together for over two months, and Misty certainly didn't remember Mu having any interest in Poké-Basketball!

Mu talked all the way until his throat was dry before he finally managed to explain everything that had happened during his trip.

Misty was left completely speechless by Mu's "sudden" part-time gig as a guest trainer for a high school Poké-Basketball team.

"You really are busy..." Misty said, wearing a speechless expression.

"Oh, right. Don't tell Sonoko and the others about this for now," Mu reminded her.

"Huh? Why?" Misty asked, confused.

Naturally, it was because he didn't want them coming to watch the match!

Otherwise, it would be bad if a murder case happened. Hell... with a turnout that big, an explosion case wasn't out of the question either. He'd better not curse the League High School Poké-Basket team.

"Well... after all, Kanto North isn't that strong yet, and I don't know how to command Pokémon in a Poké-Basketball match either!" Mu made up a random excuse.

Hearing this, Misty nodded understandingly, assuming that... Mu just didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of Sonoko!

On one hand, she felt a bit awkward knowing that Mu seemed to care so much about Sonoko's opinion, but on the other hand, she felt a strange sense of comfort knowing that Mu was clearly closer to her... after all, he hadn't kept secrets from her...

"Do you need to use the restroom? This elevator is so slow..." Mu saw that Misty's expression looked like nature was calling urgently, so as a placebo effect, he pressed the elevator's floor buttons a few more times.

Misty: ......

"Oh right! Has 'Haunter' already been boarded? Could you possibly... retrieve it for the next few days?" Misty asked suddenly, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Why?" Mu asked, looking puzzled.

Just then, the elevator reached their floor, and Mu didn't stand on ceremony, walking straight into Misty's room to continue the conversation.

"Well... I heard today that someone spotted a Lapras roaming around Maiden's Peak," Misty said, putting on a serious expression.

"So?" Mu clearly didn't understand what the two things had to do with each other.

Lapras was indeed a very rare Pokémon. Along with Kangaskhan, it had once been placed on the Quartz League's special protection list, and there were strict reviews for catching wild Lapras...

It wasn't until the last two years, after the previous conservation efforts had shown results and groups of Lapras began appearing again, that it was removed from the special protection list.

Since Lapras was a Water- and Ice-type Pokémon, it was completely normal for Misty to be interested, only...

What did Gengar have to do with it?

Since Lapras were roaming around Maiden's Peak, couldn't they just rent a boat and head over?

He had never heard of Lapras having a liking for Gengar!

"Well... how should I put it... Maiden's Peak... hehe..." Misty started evading the question and beating around the bush.

At that moment, Mu noticed a flyer on her desk. He could vaguely make out the drawing of a full-body female stone statue on it—it seemed to be a flyer for Maiden's Peak!

So Mu stepped forward and picked it up...

The title of the flyer read: *The Mystery of Maiden's Peak? [A Millennium of Waiting] Festival!*...

Seeing this, Misty opened her mouth to stop him, but then pretended she hadn't seen anything.

After skimming through the promotional content for a few moments, Mu understood the reason for Misty's strange reaction just now!

Maiden's Peak was located not far to the northwest of Vermilion City, though it was out to sea in the northwestern direction.

As a port, its bustling atmosphere certainly couldn't compare to Vermilion Port, and as a tourist destination, it wasn't as good as Porta Vista, so... it relied heavily on "legends" as its main gimmick.

Its symbol was a stone statue located in front of a sea cliff at Maiden's Peak.

According to legend, this stone statue had been there for a thousand years. Back then, the Kanto region was in the midst of a chaotic wartime era, before even ninja villages existed...

A maiden's lover went off to war and never returned.

And that maiden stood by the seaside, gazing in the direction her lover had left for, until she turned into a stone statue...

Of course, when Mu paired this legend with the main image on the flyer, he immediately sensed a heavy atmosphere of hype!

A thousand years ago? Turned into a stone statue?

The stone statue was located on a high platform outside the cliff, roughly the same height as the cliff itself, and the maiden's statue stood on that platform, gazing into the distance... Could this possibly be a stone statue from a thousand years ago?

It would have been eroded by the sea breeze ages ago! Even Saffron City's Ninja Rock was maintained and repaired every year...

However, these people really knew how to make things up. The rest of the text mentioned ghost stories and the like. In short, every year around this time, the maiden's soul would return, so people held a festival, and the local "Maiden Shrine" would exhibit a painting from a thousand years ago...

"Is this just finding an excuse to host an event? After all, the local tourism resources aren't as good as Porta Vista's, so they have to take an unorthodox approach and use ghosts and ghouls to attract enthusiasts!" Mu said without a shred of romanticism.

"I... think so too, hehehe..." Misty chuckled awkwardly.

Judging by Misty's reaction, she didn't think that at all!

Actually, she was secretly terrified of the legend, but she didn't want to miss the chance to catch a Lapras, which was why she wanted Mu to bring Gengar along.

After all, Gengar was a Ghost-type Pokémon...

Maybe it could communicate with "ghosts"!

Having a Ghost-type Pokémon would make her feel a bit safer in a situation like this.

However, Mu had his own considerations—what if Professor Cerise was already regretting it and wanted to "return" Gengar and Clefairy now, but felt too embarrassed to bring it up?

He'd better not contact him just yet...

"Don't worry! I'll go with you. Whatever ghost Maiden's Peak has, it's definitely... well, just hype." Mu patted his chest and promised.

Yet, in a daze, Mu vaguely felt that this "ghost of Maiden's Peak" felt somewhat familiar, though he didn't dwell on it too deeply at the moment...