There seems to be something wrong with these Pokémon

The door frame of the Pokémon Tower is carved into the shape of a Gengar's wide-open mouth. Anyone who wants to enter the Pokémon Tower must enter through its "mouth".

This made Xiaoye think of an interesting rumor about Gengar that Professor Oak once told him.

Pokémon researchers generally believe that Gengar's body contains a space that does not belong to this world. Whenever it encounters an unsolvable crisis, it will open its mouth wide and swallow the crisis, allowing the crisis to spread in a place where it cannot be disturbed until it disappears.

The gate of the Pokémon Tower is made to look like Gengar opening its mouth to swallow something. Was this a special interpretation of the Pokémon Gengar by ancient people?

Perhaps many modern people think that their knowledge is newly discovered, but in fact it was lost in the long river of history, but was just salvaged by them by chance.

It seems that except for the outer edge which is made of special stones to resist the wear and tear caused by the passage of time, the interior of the entire Pokémon Tower is mostly built with wood, which was the best method used by people at that time.

From time to time, the ancient wood made a creaking sound under people's feet, as if the old tree was wailing in pain.

"There's so much dust." Sakura fanned her face with her hands and whispered with her mouth closed, "Isn't the Pokémon Tower the landmark of Lavender Town? Why does it feel like no one has come to clean or repair it in a long time?"

"Haha, that's a long story." Shen Qiliang smiled awkwardly and explained, "In the oldest times, it was probably the fear of ghosts and gods. In recent times, it was the fear of ghosts and monsters. Now, because ghost Pokémon are so hostile to outsiders, we can't bring tools to move around here. They will misunderstand that we are going to attack them."

"what?"

Sakura sneered, fanning away the dust that was about to gather into mist in front of her eyes, "Didn't you say that not long ago? There are fewer and fewer ghost-type Pokémon in the Pokémon Tower, almost none. Do you still have to come up with such a lame and inconsistent excuse?"

To be honest, the girl actually felt a little angry inside.

Although ghost-type Pokémon all like dark environments, it does not mean that they like this completely uninhabitable environment.

The decreasing number of Ghost-type Pokémon is probably related to the poor living environment and the residents of Lavender Town who live and reproduce with the Pokémon Tower.

What made her feel most sad was that she thought the increasingly scarce Ghost-type Pokémon would awaken the townspeople's conscience towards their ancestors for carefully maintaining the Pokémon Tower, but in the end what they got in return was the tower being completely abandoned and demolished, destroying the home of the few remaining Ghost-type Pokémon.

"According to the history of Lavender Town, ghost-type Pokémon have been living here since the town was first established."

Xiao Ye walked to the wall, raised his hand and wiped it repeatedly several times before wiping away the dust that had gathered, and looked at the mural hidden behind the dirt.

"In other words, Lavender Town is not only the home of humans, but also the home of these ghost-type Pokémon."

"And now, you are disregarding their wishes and are tearing down their homes out of your own selfish desires!" Sakura gritted her teeth and growled at Kamikira, who lowered his head and said nothing, "Really, you are really going too far!"

Shen Qiliang was speechless and could only touch his nose, feeling pain in his heart that he couldn't express.

Although he didn't deliberately glance to the side, the girl's gaze, which seemed to be about to spit fire, kept following his footsteps.

So he had no choice but to follow Xiao Ye's example and raise his sleeves to wipe the porcelain that had been stored for who knows how long and was now covered with cobwebs, and said softly.

"There's nothing we can do. The ghost-type Pokémon need to survive, and the people of Lavender Town also need to survive."

"If we were not left with no other options, we would not want to demolish this historic monument that has accompanied us for dozens of generations."

Just listening to Kamikira's words, Sakura felt a sense of helplessness and was overwhelmed with mixed emotions.

Yes, even she, an outsider, knew the value of this historical site, so how could a native local not know it?

But the girl couldn't understand why the ghost Pokémon and humans complemented each other and prospered together in ancient times, but why did they become competitors in modern times? Only when one side completely abandons the living environment of the other can it develop.

“The murals here...”

Xiaoye's sudden voice interrupted Xiaoying's thoughts which had turned into a dead end. She looked in the direction of the voice and saw the boy holding a flashlight and shining it on the picture that had been wiped to reveal the picture buried underneath.

“It seems to be telling a story.”

"Maybe it's some ghost story again."

Shen Qiliang carefully put the porcelain back in place, walked over to take a look and said, "The Pokémon Tower was built because of these bizarre stories, so it's not surprising that some ghost stories are engraved on it."

After saying this, he interrupted the two's exploration of this place again and guided them.

"Why don't we continue walking up? The first floor is relatively empty and there's nothing worth seeing."

However, Xiao Ye still stood in front of the mural that had not faded after hundreds of years, as if he had been captivated by it.

There was a hint of doubt in his eyes and his brows were slightly frowned.

The content of this mural is not difficult to understand, even someone like him who has no artistic background can understand it.

A bright moon hung high in the sky, and many people knelt beside a body that was lying flat on the ground with its eyes closed, looking very peaceful.

The person lying flat is probably a deceased person, and a tear in the eyes of the people around him is enough to prove their sadness.

There was a bonfire burning next to the deceased, and the flames were burning so fiercely that they were about to devour the corpse closest to it.

----

Do the murals record the death of a loved one?

If interpreted according to this mural, it does fit with the history of the Pokémon Tower.

After all, it is a common horror plot that people turn into ghosts and gods after death and are obsessed with not wanting to reincarnate.

But the face of the deceased was obviously very peaceful, and it didn't look like he died unjustly at all.

What exactly did the people who carved this mural in the Pokémon Tower want to express?

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted, Xiao Ye looked up in the direction of the person calling him, Shen Qiliang was waving his hand and calling him.

Perhaps, the other murals are on the upper floors.

And all the murals together are the real reason why this Pokémon Tower was built.

----

According to Kamiko, this Pokémon Tower is seven stories high.

Moreover, there are many secret places in this tower that have not been explored yet, and there are some secret doors hidden.

As for where those secret doors lead to, it is unknown.

Therefore, many townspeople believe that the Pokémon Tower was originally built for the purpose of providing a resting place for "ghost Pokémon", and the deliberately hidden rooms are their "homes" for sleeping.

This is not without reason. I believe that anyone who has been to the Pokémon Tower will easily find that the Pokémon Tower is two different places when viewed from outside and inside.

From the outside, the tower is extremely tall and covers a very large area.

But when you actually step into it, you will find that the tower is not as vast as you expected. When you knock on many walls with your hands, you can hear some empty echoes.

And just as Xiaoye had previously speculated, there is one of these murals on each floor.

They were now walking up the stairs to the top floor, and Xiaoye was going over the murals on the previous floors in his mind.

A close relative died in an accident, and the family members were heartbroken and mourned for him according to the customs of the town.

The second, third, fourth and fifth murals all tell about the family members' vigil and preparations for coffin placement. There are also some distorted and painful abstract objects mixed in, making it difficult to discern their meaning.

The condolences from relatives and friends and the endless crying day and night are enough to prove the family's respect and love for the deceased.

The sixth picture shows the burial in the coffin. The people gathered in a circle have sad faces but are shedding tears.

The first six murals alone do not seem to have any special meaning, as if it is just an ordinary funeral process.

But why did the people who built the tower carve them into the tower?

What is the connection between them and the Pokémon Tower?

"I seem to have some impression of the seventh painting."

Shen Qiliang stepped on the creaking stairs and lowered his voice and said, "Not long ago, my father took me to the seventh floor to clean it. After moving a heavy wooden box and cleaning it, I seemed to find a mural there."

"Why do we have to clean the seventh floor specifically?"

Sakura stared at the slightly swaying staircase below her feet. It looked like it would fall apart in the next second, which made her extremely worried. "Is there something particularly important up there?"

"Not really." Shen Qiliang shook his head and explained, "According to my father, this is a major event that can change the reputation of our town, and it must be taken seriously."

"Where are the murals?" Xiao Ye asked.

"Oh, right, right, I got off topic accidentally." Shen Qiliang quickly returned to the main topic and continued, "The content of the murals at that time was similar to what you saw on the previous floors, Mr. Shuoya. It seemed that a family gathered together to worship."

"but..."

Shen Qiliang shuddered suddenly, and his feet suddenly felt heavy. "I didn't pay much attention at the time, but now I think that mural is a bit weird."

"Weird, weird?!" Sakura's expression froze for a moment. She took a small step back without leaving a trace and asked from a distance, "For example?"

But at this moment, Shen Qiliang, whose nerves were as if pierced by lightning, no longer cared about the frightened girl. Even he himself felt cold all over and could not move a step.

"The people in that painting are all smiling! Laughing heartily!"

"How is this possible? According to our customs, we must not play when worshiping the deceased! And their movements are not traditional worship, but more like welcoming something..."

"unless..."

An extremely terrifying thought flashed through the minds of the three people at the same time.

"Those people who were paying homage believed that their deceased relatives were not dead, so they could smile without any scruples and welcome the return of their relatives." Xiao Ye swallowed and expressed his guess.

"That is..." Sakura said tremblingly with a pale face, "Are you pretending to be dead?!"

thump—

A loud noise came from above his head, Xiaoye's eyelids jumped and he quickly looked up.

A few will-o'-the-wisp flames had been hanging above their heads for a long time, as if they were quietly listening to the three outsiders' speculations about the Pokémon Tower.

Countless plates, knives and forks were suspended in the air, and their sharp heads were pointing at them in a silver glow under the illumination of the will-o'-the-wisp fire.

At the same time, a mournful melody quietly sounded from soft to loud.

“Ahhhhhh! Ghost!!!!!!!”