Dawn of Pokémon

X month X day, 20XX.

This small town is called "Linjiang". It is located in an inland mountainous area. It is a remote and backward place with a population of less than [-].

It is located on the north bank of Linjiang River. Although it has beautiful scenery and fresh air, it has relatively little information. The mountain road into the town is dangerous and rugged, and it relies more on river transportation than towns in plain areas.Fortunately, the only railway passing through the area did not make it difficult for the residents of Linjiang Town to walk.

No. 16 Renmin Road, Liang's Orphanage.

"Everyone, come on, this way! Today's game is dodgeball——"

"Wow, I love this game the most!"

"Going right now--"

The cement-paved open space is surrounded by old wooden fences. The small area inside is where the children from Liang's Orphanage play.

"I'm going to lose it! One, two -"

"Hey, wait for me!" The little fat man who was a little slow came to the end. He shouted hurriedly and rushed to the open space. He pushed the short figure standing by the door and said, "Go away, you are really in the way."

"Really, Apeng, you are so slow."

"Coming, coming! Hey, look at my lightning catch!"

"It's either pick it up or hide it, you idiot."

The middle-aged woman sitting on the balcony on the second floor smiled slightly and watched the children laughing and playing.

As the director of Liang's Orphanage, Liang Jing has lived in this small town for seven years.The savings from his youth and government subsidies are enough to maintain the normal business of this orphanage, but he also needs to be careful in arranging expenses.

"Dean Liang, the shrubs in the south courtyard have been cleared." The young man opened the door and walked into the house.He was wearing a dusty uniform, looking like an ungraduated college student.

"Thank you for your hard work, Ziwen. It's rare to see volunteers as active as you." Liang Jing nodded with a smile, pulled out a chair and motioned for the young man to sit down.

"Where. I'm just here to help because I like children very much."

Chang Ziwen was not restrained, threw his coat on the back of the chair, and sat happily opposite the dedicated dean.

"I remember that the younger brother of Ziwen's family is... going to junior high school this year."

"Yes. It's so fast. He was still such a small guy yesterday."

Smiling and looking at the children playing below, Chang Ziwen accidentally saw a little girl in gray standing quietly in the corner.All the children were playing in the open space, and she was the only one far away from the crowd. This scene looked quite strange.

"Dean Liang. That child... doesn't seem to be playing with everyone yesterday?"

Liang Jing stared at the person pointed by the volunteer and was stunned for a moment, "Oh, you mean Xiaoye..."

"Are they not gregarious?" In many orphanages, Chang Ziwen has seen children who are withdrawn and unable to blend in with the crowd.

"Not really."

Liang Jing shook her head, looking a little regretful, "When the child was placed in front of my door, there was a burn scar on the left side of his face."

"Ah..." The volunteer was stunned and immediately understood the origin of such a scene.

Xenophobia is a common attribute of human beings.It is common for young children to reject those who are different from them.Skin color, obesity, disability, and different appearance are all the basis for children to judge each other as "not of their own race."Even if sometimes young perpetrators have no intention of hurting others, they will unknowingly follow the trend and do hurtful things.

They are at such an age of innocence, purity and cruelty.

Thinking of the situation that child might encounter, Chang Ziwen felt a little sympathetic, "Is it okay to just leave it alone?"

"It's okay. That child is always very quiet and won't cause any trouble." Liang Jing's eyes quickly shifted to the other children, her tone a little casual.

The young volunteer sighed.

Running an orphanage is a very demanding job.Even for the gentle Dean Liang, it must be difficult to take into account the conditions of all the children.

No matter what kind of group you are in, there are always those who are ignored.

In the open space inside the wooden fence, the girl stood quietly.She looked to be no more than four or five years old, and her short black hair that reached her ears was a bit messy.

The girl has always lived in this small orphanage since she can remember.

Get up at seven o'clock in the morning, have breakfast, and listen to the dean telling stories; after lunch break, it is time to play, and sometimes you can get fruits distributed by the dean; after dinner, everyone has to take turns to help wash the dishes. If you don't go to bed before nine o'clock, you will be punished by the dean. Criticize harshly.

The girl is already very familiar with all this, including the scene of everyone playing and playing in front of her.

Although she never participated in it herself.

"Hey, look, is that ugly guy staring here all the time?"

"Ah, really! It's so disgusting-"

"What are you looking at, monster, we won't play with you. Get out of the way!"

After receiving a few rude shouts, the girl's expression didn't change much and she silently walked into the back room alone.

What a pity, I wanted to watch it again for a while.

For her, this is not something to be sad about, it is just the normal life in her memory - in addition to her name, there are many names such as "monster", "ugly", etc., and the children who talk to her always have the same name. She looked very unhappy; she loved the afternoon play time, where everyone would laugh and play, but she would never be able to join in.

Girls know that they are different from others.Although she didn't know the specific reason, this knowledge had been deeply imprinted in her mind during the four years she had spent.

There is no joy and no sadness.Everything is as it should be - because it has always been this way, never changing.

The girl's favorite person is Dean Liang, who raised her.She sometimes smiles to herself, and seeing the dean smiling, the girl feels that she will also become happy.

However, more often than not, Dean Liang smiled brightly as he watched everyone playing.

I remember a story said that laughter is an expression of happiness.Everyone made Dean Liang feel happy, so that’s why she smiled so beautifully, right?The girl blinked and thought quietly.

"Then, Dean Liang, I take my leave."

"Goodbye, safe travels."

After sending away the enthusiastic college student volunteers, Liang Jing turned around and saw the girl in gray pushing the door and walking into the room from the courtyard.

"Xiaoye, go wash your hands. I'll give you apples later." Liang Jing greeted this child who was never noisy, and the smile raised at the corner of her mouth was neither warm nor deserted.

The girl blinked, raised the corners of her mouth like Liang Jing, and nodded obediently, "Okay."

During the game breaks, the children gathered together in twos and threes, talking and laughing.

"Xiaoyan, what are you doing?"

"Hmm...there seems to be something inside."

The little girl with braids tried her best to reach into the gap between the wooden fences and took out a translucent, palm-sized object, "What is this?"

"Ah, I know, this is called a lighter!" the boy next to him had already shouted.

"Did Brother Ziwen accidentally drop it?"

"Maybe."

Seeing several girls staring at the lighter with curiosity and confusion, the little fat man Zhang Pengfei snatched the lighter and threw it away with a smile, "Why, you've never seen anything like this before?"

"Apeng, what are you doing..."

"Let me tell you, this lighter is used like this!"

====================

In the mountainous area on the outskirts, a young man dressed in black leaned against a tree, looked at his cell phone that had completely run out of battery, and sighed with his head down.

When he picked up a backpack and embarked on the journey in full swing, he just wanted to buy some tea leaves from a famous nearby tea plantation to give as holiday gifts.As the saying goes, when God closes a door for you, he will definitely use the door to pinch your head - wait, doesn't that seem to be the case?

Forget it, it doesn't matter.

All in all, in the young people's 20-plus years of life cognition, these people who can borrow the power of wind, rain, thunder and lightning and possess "special powers" have never seemed to be associated with the word "good luck". The civilized society of the 21st century does not approve of the fights, killings, and hustling like in martial arts novels. However, whether those with power want to clock in and go to work or break the law, the so-called "original hatred of the older generation" will drag them into a vicious circle that is difficult to escape.

Facing the black gun muzzle, the young man did not want to fight with a few large bags of tea on his back, so he could only run away with his head in his arms while muttering, "If you have money, go to the black market, it is better to pay off the mortgage."

——Until the rat found himself running into the deserted mountains and forests.

The young man was wandering around in agony, wondering whether he should sneak up to the treetops to find a way out, when the vibration from his waist made him look a little surprised.

Under the cover of his long windbreaker, two weapons hung from his waist.The broad-edged sword with a black sheath hung quietly, while the long sword with a white sheath next to it was trembling slightly, making bursts of metallic sounds.

"Lan Yu, you have a 'perfect signal' even in such deep mountains and old forests, huh?" The young man flicked the blade of his sword.

The weapons he carries - the heavy sword Lie Yu and the long sword Lan Yu, are said to be weapons specially made by capable men and strangers in the late Qing Dynasty for people like them. They can carry the power of wind, rain, thunder and lightning, and are priceless treasures.

——This statement comes from his elder who likes to make mysteries. The truth or falsehood is unknown, and it is probably false.

The young man was reluctant when he took over the two weapons.Unless he throws them away and sells them for scrap metal, no matter how "priceless" treasures he has, they will be of no help to his unlucky life of being busy paying off his credit card and mortgage.Besides, you can't even pass the subway security check with this kind of ghost thing - "carrying thunder" is a nice saying, but isn't it just a matter of passing electricity? Doesn't a three-dollar utility knife not conduct electricity?

However, there is something unusual about the two weapons that have been so praised by their elders that they are about to break away from the materialistic worldview.For example, the white long sword "Lanyu" can sense people with similar abilities, and it will use weak vibrations to show the direction of the target.

- Nicknamed "signal detector" by young people.

"It just so happens that wherever there are people, there are towns and villages. No matter how difficult it is, you can still ask for directions." The young man patted the buzzing long knife like a small animal and said to himself, "Leave it to you, lead the way!"

Following the direction of the strong vibration, the young man walked for nearly half a day, and then he gradually saw the shadow of the town.When sparse passers-by began to appear in sight, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The crisis of "lost in the wilderness all his life" has finally passed, and the young man is no longer in a hurry - as long as he finds a fast food restaurant to revive his exhausted mobile phone, he can find out how to return at any time.So, with some idle curiosity, he continued to walk in the direction indicated by Lan Yu.

People with special powers may not necessarily notice their differences, and the young man does not intend to disturb other people's peaceful lives. At most, he gives the "signal source" who saved him two bags of tea as a thank you gift.

After a moment, the young man suddenly stopped.

Gray smoke rose from the other end of the road.Although the distance was too far to see clearly what was happening, the subtle burnt smell and heat lingering in the air could not be hidden from those who could communicate with the wind and rain.

His expression darkened.

"Is it... a fire?"

====================

Liang's Orphanage, east courtyard.

"What happened!" Smelling the choking smell in the back room, Liang Jing quickly ran downstairs and pushed open the courtyard door.

Dean?

It was rare to see such a confused expression on Liang Jing's face. The girl who had just walked out of the bathroom followed her and poked her head.

Then, I was shocked by the scene reflected outside the door frame.

The two-person-high wooden fence enclosing the courtyard was already in flames.The blazing fire burned my eyes, intensified in the wind, and the flames even touched the brick building of the orphanage.The old fence wrapped in flames creaked and creaked, as if it might collapse at any time.

Liang Jing, who rushed into the yard, had lost her usual gentleness and hurriedly searched for her cell phone in her pocket, "What happened?! Everyone, please get out of here!"

Hearing the panic in the usually steady dean's tone, the little fat man who got into trouble was so frightened that he could barely make a sound. He stood in front of the fence, his whole body trembling.Some timid children were already howling, and were dragged away from the flames by several older children.

The girl who followed Liang Jing into the courtyard was suddenly startled.

It's going to be windy.

Although she couldn't figure out where this idea came from, she could clearly "see" at this moment that a strong wind was approaching from the front.

——This is a common occurrence in this mountain town.

The girl looked up.The fence that was burning from the root was swaying and making an overwhelmed sound; while the little fat man was standing aside blankly, his little face burned red by the rolling heat.

If something happens to them...

Will Dean Liang stop laughing?

"Hello, is this 119? There is a fire here, the location is... um!"

The sudden strong wind caused Liang Jing to take two steps back.The ensuing cracking sound made Liang Jing's pupils shrink, and the scene of the burning wooden pillars collapsing was reflected in her eyes.

"Zhang Pengfei, be careful!!"

"……what?"

Rapid footsteps sounded.

"Xiaoye?! Wait..."

boom -

After the violent roar and heat wave, the world fell into darkness.

In the evening, Linjiang Town No. [-] Hospital.

"Thank you for helping me send the children to the hospital." Liang Jing bowed slightly to the black-haired young man.But overnight, this capable dean seemed to have aged five years and became haggard.

His and his children's home was almost burned down. No matter who encounters such a thing, it will not be easy for him.Fortunately, such a huge fire was miraculously extinguished quickly and did not affect the orphanage building itself.Only one child was seriously injured, and the other two only suffered minor scratches.

"No way, it's just a little effort." The young man smiled gently and turned his attention to the girl sleeping peacefully on the hospital bed.

In the entire accident, only the child was injured by the falling wooden pillar, and was wrapped in thick bandages from his right shoulder to his forearm.

Feeling the weak but firm vibration of the long knife at his waist, the young man showed a thoughtful expression.

From an angle that no one else could see, his expression changed repeatedly, as if he was making some important decision.The silence lasted for several minutes before being interrupted by the young man's deep voice.

"Dean Liang, can you tell me about this child?"

He was a child who was too young, weak, ignorant, and incompatible with the world in which young people lived.If her life in this orphanage is happy, the young man thinks that he should leave immediately and never bring innocent people to his side.

but if……

She didn't know how long her consciousness had been sinking in the darkness, and the girl gradually woke up.

it hurts.

The severe pain that surged from her right shoulder made the girl unconsciously clench her teeth, and the memory before falling asleep also came to life.

correct.The fence in the yard was on fire.Then... I wonder how everyone is doing now?

The chaotic thoughts urged the girl to slowly open her eyes.

——Then she saw the most dazzling smile in the world.

"It's all right."

In the orange-red hue of dusk, the black-haired young man smiled brightly, as bright and warm as the sun peeking through the clouds.

"Does it hurt? Don't worry, your injury is not serious and you will recover soon. By the way, Dean Liang asked me to tell you, thank you for saving Zhang Pengfei. Everyone is safe."

Seeing that the girl's eyes immediately opened wide, like a cat seeing dried fish, the speaker couldn't help softening his tone.

"Although it's a bit sudden, but..."

The young man reached out to the girl.

"I want to adopt you."

"——Want to come with me, Xiaoye?"

====================

The early morning sunlight pours into the room through the window, waking up the sleeping people.

The purple-haired girl rubbed her eyes and stared confusedly at the white ceiling of the Pokémon Center dormitory.

I always feel like... I just had a long dream?

Glancing at the clock on the wall out of the corner of her eye, Xiaoye quickly sat up.You have to get up quickly. We have made an appointment to have breakfast with everyone at eight o'clock. We can't be late.

After neatly putting on her coat and washing up, Xiaoye picked up her packed backpack and opened the door.

Although I can’t remember it clearly...but it felt like a very warm dream.

The girl raised her lips and stepped into the bright light of the morning sun.