'Maybe I'm just being too sensitive,' Shiro thought to himself as he slowly walked toward the entrance of the Rowan Research Institute.
Along the roadside, a few elderly people sunbathing even greeted him warmly.
Sandgem Town had a peaceful environment with a research institute nearby. It was the perfect place to settle down and retire with family.
The townspeople were all simple and friendly, and naturally, the researchers were also very easygoing. There had never been any serious conflicts here.
Thinking about that, Shiro stepped through the open entrance of the institute and entered the main hall.
Even from the doorway, he could already hear children noisily arguing inside.
"Ah! That's my Piplup!"
"It's mine!"
"Why did you follow us all the way to Sinnoh?!"
"Mine!"
"..."
Shiro quickly walked inside.
In the center of the hall stood Dawn and Sapphire. The two girls stood on opposite sides while tugging on a blue penguin Pokémon between them, Piplup.
Piplup's blue flippers had already been stretched more than ten centimeters longer from being pulled. Its round white face was completely red, and the pain on its expression was obvious.
"Piplup! Piplup!" (Help! Help me!)
Piplup shook its tiny legs desperately while frantically swinging its head around.
Shiro followed the scene toward the nearby Rowan and Dawn's father, Rei, both of whom looked troubled.
"What happened here?"
Rei answered first. "After the two girls arrived, they wanted a Pokémon to play with together..."
Rowan continued helplessly, "So I brought over one Piplup. Who would've known they'd, uh..."
Children fighting over toys?
Dawn was Rei's own daughter, while Sapphire had been entrusted to their care by Professor Birch… though Shiro had no idea how Birch had somehow forgotten to come pick her up again.
When Shiro saw the scene, he felt a strange sense of familiarity.
Years later, the Piplup in the middle would become the clueless Ash, while two generations of heroines fought over him.
That thought went too far.
Shiro rubbed his forehead lightly. This kind of situation really was difficult to handle.
He could not exactly separate them by force and then scold both of them equally, could he?
"Why not just bring another Piplup over—"
Before Shiro could finish speaking, Rowan interrupted him.
"We already did. It's over there."
Following Rowan's finger, Shiro glanced toward a corner table that nobody was paying attention to. Another round-headed Piplup was sitting there quietly eating Pokéblocks.
"They still refuse to let go." Rowan looked utterly exhausted.
Handling conflicts between children was even harder than solving research problems. One wrong move and one of them might end up emotionally hurt and scarred.
Shiro did not have any brilliant solution either. He was not a child psychologist. He could only spread his hands helplessly while trying to walk around the two girls.
Who would have thought that the moment Sapphire noticed Shiro passing behind Dawn, she immediately let go of Piplup's tiny blue flipper.
In truth, Sapphire was much stronger than Dawn. She could have dragged both Piplup and Dawn over together if she wanted. If the struggle had continued for another few dozen seconds, Sapphire probably would have completely pulled Piplup away and forced Dawn to let go.
That was exactly what Rowan and Rei, who stood nearby watching, had been thinking too.
Just like children fighting, if Dawn lost, then there was nothing anyone could really do about it.
But now Sapphire had suddenly released her grip.
Under the strong force of inertia, Piplup shot toward Dawn like a spring. Its round face showed an expression of overwhelming relief.
Dawn also widened her eyes as her body unconsciously tilted backward. All she could see was Piplup's shadow crashing toward her.
"Dawn!"
Rowan and Rei hurried over at once. One caught Piplup while the other grabbed hold of Dawn.
Shiro, meanwhile, was still a little stunned.
He glanced at Dawn's side first before turning toward Sapphire standing in front of him.
Sapphire's face was round, and her two little canine teeth stood out especially clearly. Her wide eyes were filled with expectation.
Expectation for what?
Shiro scratched his head.
Because Birch rarely spent time with her or properly looked after her, Sapphire seemed to have developed a somewhat withdrawn personality. Usually, whenever people asked her something, she would only answer with a simple "mm."
But now Sapphire had actively walked over to block his path, yet she still said nothing.
Out of convenience and to save time, Shiro used his psychic powers.
A faint light flashed through his eyes, and Sapphire's thoughts appeared clearly in his mind.
'I want Growlithe! Growlithe! Growlithe...'
"Oh..." Shiro raised his brows in realization, then took out Growlithe's Poké Ball.
Sapphire's eyes instantly became even brighter.
"You want Growlithe to play with you?" Shiro asked while holding the Poké Ball.
"Mm-hm! Mm-hm!" Sapphire nodded repeatedly.
"Come out, Growlithe."
As the words fell, the majestic Growlithe appeared with its tongue hanging out. Its face looked as though it were smiling.
Sapphire immediately rushed forward and tightly hugged Growlithe, burying her face deep into its soft beige fur.
"Growl~"
Growlithe lifted its head and barked once before rubbing affectionately against Sapphire.
"Good." Shiro rubbed its head hard. "You're on vacation now, so go play with the kid."
Growlithe happily wagged its tail.
"Growl! Growl!"
Shiro patted its neck twice, then resumed walking through the hall toward the yard.
Haunter floated out from behind him while grinning mischievously at Growlithe.
"Hauuunter!" (This is wonderful!)
Its good friend had been sent off to babysit children again, and Haunter was extremely happy about it.
This meant it could secretly train and secretly become stronger.
Haunter's current strength had already surpassed big brother Corviknight. If it worked just a little harder, maybe it could even surpass Drakloak!
As long as it kept working hard, it would definitely amaze everyone someday…
At that point, Growlithe would only be a toy beneath its claws.
Haunter's round chubby body floated after Shiro as they left.
* * *
Back in the hall.
Sapphire still clung tightly to Growlithe without letting go.
On the other side, Dawn hugged Piplup tightly, but her eyes remained fixed on Sapphire.
Dawn was angry.
That girl had clearly been the one who ran over to steal her Piplup in the first place, but now she was suddenly... Then why did she even come to steal her Piplup at all?!
Bad Sapphire!
"Piplup! Piplup!"
Piplup's flippers hurt terribly from being squeezed. After crying out desperately a few times without result, it could only close its eyes in complete exhaustion.
Faced with this situation, the researchers all looked somewhat helpless. Even though they could already sense another round of fighting about to begin, they still could not think of any better solution.
From their perspective, both girls already had Pokémon to play with now. That should have been the perfect ending.
"Uh..." Rowan tugged on his beard before speaking carefully. "Why don't you kids go play in the yard instead?"
As both a research assistant and a father, Rei immediately stepped forward to lead Dawn away.
But Dawn suddenly shook his hand off.
"No!"
She threw Piplup aside.
Piplup slid nearly half a meter across the floor before finally stopping. Its bright red flippers trembled slightly while a weary expression filled its face.
"Piplup..." (Humans are terrifying…)
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