"..." Shiro waved a hand. "Then sit across from me. Don't block my view."
Looker twisted his hips and sat down. He reached out, wanting to pet the two Piplups lying on the table rubbing their bellies, but both dodged away.
"Hm?" He looked confused. "Shiro, did you catch two Piplups too?"
"Yeah," Shiro answered casually.
Although he had many questions in mind, like what Looker's mission was, whether it had anything to do with him, and if the Hunters Guild was involved, he did not intend to discuss those things with him in a public place like this.
"Alright then..." Looker lazily leaned against the table and rested his chin on one hand while also looking toward the family in the distance.
The couple sat at the other end of the restaurant with a little girl.
The man wore round glasses. Though he looked gentle and refined, his expression was very cold, as if that was simply his personality.
The woman wore long sleeves and a long skirt. A sweet smile always hung on her face as she played with her daughter.
The little girl looked around five or six years old. She had delicate features and was not even taller than the tabletop, but she was extremely lively, constantly chatting with her mother about forests, Pokémon, and all sorts of things.
"Is there anything special about them?" Looker glanced briefly before withdrawing his gaze.
Shiro shook his head without speaking.
But he still felt that couple was suspicious.
The bespectacled man wore a white shirt and suit pants, looking exactly like an ordinary office worker from a big city. However, this was a remote mountain town. If they were not traveling trainers or people with special tasks, then they could only be locals.
And there were no companies here where people dressed in suits to work.
Unown A rubbed its stomach as it spoke up. 'But I already checked them with psychic power. They only have two Intermediate-level Pokémon with them, and there aren't any hidden Pokémon in their shadows… what if they're just back in their hometown visiting relatives?'
"..."
Shiro fell silent.
Unown A actually made a lot of sense.
"Cream puffs are here~"
During their conversation, Beth lightly pushed aside the curtain and quickly made a round through the restaurant.
She carried a large tray of cream puffs and placed around ten at every table before finishing just as she returned.
'Cream puffs, cream puffs…'
Piplup A and G immediately rolled over. Even though they were already stuffed full, the fragrance of the cream puffs still lured them over.
'Mine!' Mesprit flashed by.
Half the cream puffs instantly vanished.
The Looker sitting across from Shiro shuddered and furiously rubbed his eyes, only to discover the cream puffs really were gone.
"Uhh..."
He looked up at Shiro in shock.
Where were the cream puffs?
Shiro felt a headache coming on and could only say, "I secretly ate them."
Looker gave him a meaningful look and casually stuffed a cream puff into his own mouth.
* * *
On the other side, the little girl jumped off her chair and carefully asked in a tiny voice, "Mom, can I..."
Her eyes were fixed on the Piplups scratching their bellies on the nearby table. Desire sparkled in her eyes.
Due to the environment she grew up in, she rarely had chances to interact with Pokémon, much less one of Sinnoh's highly popular starter Pokémon like Piplup.
The woman kept her sweet and gentle smile. She first carefully straightened her daughter's collar, then after glancing at the two men sitting across from each other at that table, she pursed her lips slightly and paused for a moment before speaking.
"Anna, those are someone else's Pokémon."
Anna blinked and looked back once before obediently sitting down again.
But her eyes still remained glued to the two Piplups.
The woman frowned while watching her daughter for a long while, unable to bear it.
"Anna, if you really want to go..." She took out a box from her bag and handed it over. "Take this to that big brother. Remember to be polite."
Anna immediately turned around in delight.
"Okay!"
At the same time, the father eating across from them pushed up his glasses and let out a cold snort.
"Hmph!"
The little girl, who had been about to hop over excitedly, froze in fright. Only after her mother lightly patted her arm encouragingly did she quietly and nervously walk over.
"You always scare the child..." the woman complained unhappily to her husband.
The man acted as though he heard nothing and continued lowering his head to eat.
* * *
"The little girl is coming over," Looker muttered while holding his face.
Shiro ignored him and silently glanced over.
The little girl walking over from the other side looked very restrained. Even her short ear-length hair trembled slightly from nervousness, as if she were afraid of something.
She finally arrived at the table. Because she kept her head lowered, she nearly bumped into the edge of it.
"B-Big brother... This is for you. Can I pet the Piplup?"
The quieter Anna spoke, the lower her voice became. She raised the small box high with both hands.
Shiro said nothing. He used psychic power to pull the blue paper box onto the table and opened the lid.
Inside was a cake coated with green jam. It gave off a refreshing fragrance, almost like crystal-clear green apple jam.
Unown A instantly perked up.
'It smells amazing!'
"Piplup, piplup!"
It was just about to pounce forward when Shiro stopped it with one hand.
'Check it first. What if it's poisoned?' Shiro reminded.
Unown A jumped in fright internally and hurriedly stopped moving. Unown G behind it also slammed on the brakes and landed on its butt on the table.
The two immediately began inspecting it with psychic power.
Seconds later, Unown A could not help complaining, 'How could there be poison? You're way too suspicious. Everyone here is obviously good people…'
While it spoke, Mesprit flashed by once again.
Half the cake instantly disappeared.
'Ah! My Wiki Berry cake!' Unown A clutched its head and wailed.
"Piplup, piplup!"
Since Unown A currently looked like a Piplup, its speech only sounded like Piplup cries. To outsiders, it simply looked like Shiro was stopping Piplup from eating cake, causing the Pokémon to complain angrily.
Which was honestly not far from the truth.
The emotional cries quickly attracted Anna's attention.
Little by little, she raised her head. Pressing herself against the table, she carefully stretched out her small hand.
On the tabletop, Piplup A buried its head in the cake box while squeezing against Piplup G beside it.
Anna swallowed nervously. Reflected in her large dark eyes were the two blue penguins. Her chubby little face looked incomparably serious.
She slowly reached out her hand again and again. Just as she was about to touch Unown A's backside, her gaze suddenly shifted toward Shiro.
"Big brother, you agreed, right..."
Anna was not completely sure. Although the box had been accepted and the cake had already entered the Piplups' stomachs, she had not actually heard any response.
What if this fierce-looking big brother suddenly changed his mind while she was touching them? That would be terrible.
Only after Shiro gave a slight nod did she continue reaching forward and touch Piplup A's backside.
"Hehe..."
The little girl felt the soft fluffy feathers and let out a happy laugh.
Shiro glanced around the restaurant and met the girl's mother's eyes. The woman revealed a gentle smile and quickly nodded in thanks.
Across the table, Looker was half-lying on the table now. The hand supporting his chin had slipped to his cheekbone, and his expression looked completely relaxed.
"Ah... What an adorable little girl. Your name is Anna, right?"
"Um!"
Anna's hand moved toward Piplup A's blue flipper.
**
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