Xia You wasn't very knowledgeable about perfumes, but he knew that as long as he listened to the advice of professionals, he wouldn't go wrong.
Lijia then took out a sample of the perfume she had bought for Natsume, rolled up her sleeve, and sprayed a little on her wrist.
"Smell this, isn't its scent wonderful?"
Glancing at her fair and smooth arm, Xia You leaned in and sniffed lightly. He indeed smelled a pleasant fragrance, fresh and not pungent.
Besides the perfume, there was also a girl's scent that made his heart race.
This scent was different from Natsume's, which also indirectly reflected the distinct personalities of the two girls.
Lijia smiled and said, "This perfume, besides our shop, cannot be bought anywhere else. It's our unique blend."
Clearing his throat, Xia You said, "Alright, I'll take these four perfumes. Please wrap them up for me."
After paying, Xia You bid farewell to Lijia and left the perfume shop. He wanted to contact Handsome, but his phone call couldn't go through.
Strange, didn't he say he wanted to meet when Xia You arrived in Celadon City?
However, remembering his mysterious identity, Xia You didn't dwell on it.
Perhaps he was on some mission.
And as a Gym Leader, since Lijia was currently at the perfume shop, even going to Celadon Gym would be futile; he wouldn't be able to challenge her at all.
After a moment of thought, Xia You turned and headed to Celadon Game Corner.
Since he had nothing to do, he might as well kill some time there.
Celadon Game Corner was located in the southeastern part of the city. When Xia You finally saw it with his own eyes, he realized that its scale was far larger than in the game. It not only had hotels and restaurants but even a movie theater and several dance halls!
People were coming and going in the Game Corner. There were not only groups of young people but also many middle-aged people. Looking inside, there was a wide variety of claw machines, arcade machines, slot machines, dance machines, balloon guns, and pachinko machines, all looking very lively.
At the counter, he bought a dozen game tokens, and just as he was about to walk to the claw machine, his gaze was suddenly drawn to a nearby stall.
The Mr. Shop Owner of this stall was just an ordinary uncle, and the goods he sold were rows of Pokémon masks of various styles.
"Mr. Shop Owner, how much is that mask?"
Xia You reached out and pointed to a half-gengar mask.
The upper half of this mask was identical to Gengar's deep purple large face, covering most of the wearer's face, while the lower half was missing a piece, perfectly exposing the wearer's mouth.
"You truly have good taste, customer." Mr. Shop Owner introduced, "This mask is my treasure of the stall. It's not only very sturdy, but its eye parts are also made of glass. Wearing it, your vision won't be obstructed at all! It usually sells for 300 yuan, but today's a special price, I'll sell it to you for only 250 yuan."
"That number…" Xia You frowned, haggling, "Will you sell it for 100 yuan?"
"Customer, you must be joking. 250 yuan is already a very cheap price." Mr. Shop Owner looked sincere, as if he would never budge.
Xia You shook his head lightly, using his old trick, and walked away without looking back. Seeing this, Mr. Shop Owner quickly lunged forward and pulled him back.
"Alright, alright! I see we have a connection. How about you add a bit more, and I'll sell it to you for 150 yuan?"
Xia You chuckled inwardly. This trick, as expected, was still foolproof.
However, his face remained unmoved. He only took out a hundred-yuan bill. Seeing this, Mr. Shop Owner sighed, but still quickly took the bill and shoved the mask into Xia You's hand.
His speed was so fast that Xia You couldn't help but wonder if even a hundred yuan was too high a price…
After leaving the stall, Xia You put the gengar mask into his backpack, carefully preserving it.
Since the last time he revealed Zapdos at Silph Co., Xia You could clearly feel that showing his true face easily caused unnecessary trouble. Although this mask was simple, it could effectively divert attention and greatly reduce his chances of exposure.
He took out a game token and inserted it into the claw machine. While he was concentrating, outside the Game Corner, several pairs of eyes simultaneously fixed on him.
"Hey, hey, are we really going to attack him?" Kojiro hid in a phone booth, asking in a low voice. Beside him, naturally, were the inseparable Musashi and Meowth.
"Of course, it's the boss's order." Musashi nodded, "And didn't we abandon the brat and his Pikachu and rush back to Celadon City specifically for this person?!"
"But…" Kojiro hesitated, "He's really a good person! Didn't he help us escape from the bottom of the sea last time? Wouldn't doing this be ungrateful?"
"Idiot, we're bad guys! How can you say such things?!" Meowth jumped up and harshly scratched Kojiro's face.
"Wah! My face!" Kojiro fell down in pain but quickly got back up. "But the place he's staying at right now is the entrance to our secret base! Do we really have to act here?"
"Of course, we can't act here!" As the true leader of the trio, Musashi made the decision, "We'll wait until he leaves the arcade, then we'll find an opportunity to make our move!"
…
After having fun in the Game Corner, Xia You, carrying two doll trophies, was about to leave when he suddenly received a message.
The message was from Handsome, and besides a location, there wasn't even a single word.
What did this mean? Was he supposed to meet there?
Alert, Xia You followed the location, walking towards the edge of the city until he stopped in front of a few warehouses next to the freight train station.
It was quiet here, with no one in sight, and besides the occasional freight train passing by, there was no other sound.
"Haunter, go check the vicinity. Kirlia, stay alert."
Xia You softly instructed, then immediately put on the mask he had just bought.
He hadn't expected this mask, bought so recently, to come in handy so quickly!
Before long, Haunter returned and shook its head at Xia You.
"There's no ambush here, but in the warehouse ahead, there's a severely injured person!"
A severely injured person?
Xia You was startled, knowing that Haunter hadn't seen Handsome and didn't know what he looked like. He nodded and, following its guidance, quickly arrived in front of a damaged warehouse door.
At this time, the warehouse door was already damaged, the iron door ajar, and to his surprise, a pool of blood extended from outside the iron door, from far to near, all the way inside.
The bloodstain was exceptionally conspicuous, and the strong smell of blood seemed to constantly tell a story.