Chapter Forty-Two: This Setting Seems Prone to Incidents

“So you’re Sonoko’s friends? What a coincidence! Please, do come in!” Ayako greeted them even more warmly.

Xiaxia finally relaxed completely—since Sonoko was here, it was obviously not some “haunted house.”

But now Amu was the one feeling uneasy…

If Sonoko was here, that meant…

“Huh? Amu? Xiaxia?” Ran’s voice sounded, followed by a kid with dead-fish eyes.

Just as expected!

Deep in the mountains, a villa, Conan…

If a “coffin of the Grim Reaper” jumped out the next moment, Amu wouldn’t find it strange at all!

“Maybe we shouldn’t intrude…” Amu began to say, only to realize Xiaxia was already walking into the living room with Sonoko.

“Amu, what are you doing? Hurry up!” Sonoko called out from afar.

Helpless, Amu changed shoes and stepped inside.

“You’re in luck today—my big sister is cooking herself! Her culinary skills are the pride of the Suzuki family…” Sonoko said excitedly.

“Oh? When you travel with Ran, is it you who cooks, Sonoko?” Amu asked curiously.

Sonoko paused for a moment, then replied, “Well… how should I put it… Usually it’s Ran.”

“Ran, are you alright?” Conan looked at Ran with concern.

“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing.” Ran seemed distracted.

Seeing this, Sonoko tried to comfort her, “Ran, are you still worried about that strange person you saw earlier? Don’t worry, it’s probably just someone from the area. There are several villas in the hills around here.”

“Strange person?” Amu picked up on the key point.

“Yes! Just as the sky was getting dark, we saw someone wearing a trench coat, wrapped in a scarf… and sunglasses!” Conan volunteered.

Amu thought carefully, but couldn’t recall which episode this was from.

To begin with, Amu’s memory of “Conan” plots was already vague—only a few movies and some classic cases left an impression.

And in this world, the cases from “Conan” had long since become unrecognizable—for instance, locked-room murders were already far-fetched.

With Pokémon, there were so many ways to create a locked room, weren’t there?

To distract Ran, Sonoko and Xiaxia began to chat. Xiaxia mentioned that Amu had caught a Nidorino, she herself had caught a Horsea, talked about the rumored Bajil, described the scenery of White Dew Lake…

Sonoko, on the other hand, spoke of the Tauros rider robbery incident, the haunted inn theft, the long-distance bus hijacking…

“I see! So many things happened—your journey really is exciting.” Xiaxia seemed a bit overwhelmed.

Amu: …

She felt that she and Xiaxia’s route, though similar to Sonoko’s group, had a completely different tone!

And from the look of things, Ran’s worries seemed entirely justified.

Just then, three other men, Ayako now dressed in home clothes, and another woman in a purple outfit helping in the kitchen, all came to the dining room.

“I’ll help out too!” Seeing Ayako and the other woman serving dishes, Amu quickly got up to lend a hand.

After all…

Someone might get murderous later, and it was best to remain harmless and obedient!

“You men should learn from my little brother,” Ayako half-joked to the three men.

The square-faced man Amu had seen earlier was now holding a portable camera, filming as he said, “I’ll record your hard-working selves—this is rare footage, hahaha…”

Another man with straight shoulder-length hair and a headband remarked, “Hiroki, you really haven’t changed—still so fond of filming.”

“That’s right, I haven’t given up yet!” Hiroki replied with a laugh.

“Next time, don’t call a flashing Crobat a Ho-Oh,” the straight-haired man said, pretending to be serious.

“Asheng! Don’t bring up my embarrassing moments! Hahaha…”

Amu, sweating nervously, saw that they truly were joking and not mocking each other, and relaxed.

The last man, in glasses, sighed, “I envy you for sticking to your dream…”

“Wait, Ryoichi, you’re not hiding from us, are you? You’ve been secretly auditioning for movie crews, right?” Hiroki swung the camera toward him.

The man with glasses quickly waved his hands, “Just some bit parts and stand-in roles… Don’t tease, don’t tease.”

Sonoko then introduced, “They’re all old friends from my sister’s university film club—every couple of years, they get together like this.”

Yes, those without trainer talent could only go to university.

But even ordinary people usually had at least one Pokémon—without Pokédex assistance, they could only carry one Pokémon ball.

Non-trainers, as they grew older and their spirits faded, could only carry three Pokémon even with a Pokédex—just like Kogoro’s business card, which listed only three Pokémon.

“By the way, Sonoko, weren’t you thinking of becoming a coordinator? If you want to get into movies, you should have a good talk with Chikako,” Ayako said.

Embarrassed, Sonoko replied, “Oh, it’s just a thought—being a coordinator isn’t just about looking good, hahaha…”

Amu: …

Well, she didn’t seem all that embarrassed.

“Chikako’s new drama is about to premiere, right? How about an interview?” Hiroki pointed the camera at her.

“Oh, enough…” Chikako, in purple, rolled her eyes.

“Ah! Chikako… Now I remember, you’re the writer and director of ‘Blue Crow’s Sky,’ right?” Ran suddenly realized.

“That’s right. Chikako wrote the script back in university—it even won Best New Work, and now it’s finally getting released,” Hiroki added.

Amu, now distributing tableware with Ayako, saw the atmosphere remain harmonious and breathed a secret sigh of relief.

However…

Ayako had just sat down when she sighed, “If only Atsuko were here…”

At her words, the faces of the other old friends immediately changed!

“That’s enough!” Chikako suddenly slammed the table, then slowly sat back down. “I didn’t come here to talk about someone who died two years ago.”

Seeing Chikako’s attitude, Asheng immediately sneered, “Oh? Fame really does change your tone…”

Ayako hurried to mediate, seeing they were about to argue.

Amu, meanwhile, buried his head in his meal, silently resolving to let all his Pokémon out tonight, just in case something unexpected happened…