Pokémon Heart Journey

Chapter 284 Confession in the Lighthouse

Exit the Pokémon Center

Looking at Sundae who was leading the way in front, although he was not quite sure where the other party wanted to take him, but seeing the smile on his face, he seemed to be in a good mood, so he did not ask any more questions.

"Sundae has a really good attitude, even though he just lost the game. Don't you think so, Pikachu... Pikachu?"

Not getting a response, Xiaozhi couldn't help but look around and found that Pikachu, who had been following him, had disappeared.

At this time, Pikachu, Xiaoyang and Yulongyuan were quietly following behind Xiaozhi and the others.

"Forget it, he must be hungry, so he ran back to the Pokémon Center to eat." Thinking that it was already five o'clock and the other party hadn't eaten anything, Xiaozhi said as a matter of course, feeling a little hungry himself.

"What are you daydreaming about? Hurry up and catch up!"

At this time, Xiaozhi realized that he and Sundae had become a long distance apart, so he hurriedly waved and ran over.

.........

The twilight is like a layer of ink blurred by water, from orange to indigo, covering the sky layer by layer.

The wind blew past the harbor lighthouse, making the iron chains under the pier jingle. Sundae walked in front with his hands behind his back, occasionally kicking up a piece of broken shell with his toes, making a crisp "clacking" sound.

She didn't turn around or explain her destination, simply letting the afterglow stretch her shadow like a guiding ribbon. Xiaozhi followed behind, his hands tucked into his hoodie pockets, his gaze drawn to the shadow. He wanted to ask, "Where are we going?" several times, but the words kept coming to his lips.

He turned and began to look at the surrounding environment, muttering unconsciously: "I didn't expect there is such a place here. It feels so quiet and can calm my mood very well."

At the end of the pier is an abandoned lighthouse.

The wooden door was pushed open with a creaky sound. The handrail of the spiral staircase was wrapped with wisteria. When the wind blew, the shadows of the flowers swayed in the wall lamp.

There was a light on the top floor of the lighthouse.

Outside the glass window, the sea was dotted with golden spots; inside the window, three folding chairs were placed in a semicircle, with a picnic blanket in the middle, on which lay three cups of hot fruit tea, and a small candle flickered between the two people - Serena and Nancy had been waiting here for a long time.

Xiaozhi stood at the door in a daze. Even if he was slow-witted, he could sense that something was wrong with the air around him.

The wooden door creaked and Xiaozhi stepped in. His steps were lighter than usual, as if he was afraid of crushing the golden spots on the wooden floor.

Sundae stood with her back to the window, the evening glow cast a soft and shiny edge on the ends of her hair; Serena leaned against the railing, her fingertips unconsciously touching the remaining wisteria flowers; Nancy sat at the bottom of the steps, her hands clasped around her knees, her eyes as quiet as a lake without waves.

The three of them didn't say a word, but they filled the entire floor of the lighthouse so tightly that even the wind went around them.

Xiaozhi was frozen at the door by the weight of silence.

He raised his hand and scratched the back of his head, his eyes darting from side to side under the brim of his hat like a bobcat suddenly breaking into the garden.

"that……"

His voice was stuck in his throat and was broken into pieces by the candlelight.

Sundae moved first.

She tilted her head slightly, and the smile on her lips receded far away like the tide, then quietly turned back.

"Xiaozhi," she said softly, her voice melting into the wind, "I lost the game, so I want to win something more important."

She didn't come closer, but just stretched out her hand with her palm facing up, as if inviting or handing over something.

The fingertips trembled slightly due to nervousness, and the trembling was magnified by the candlelight, casting a small, swaying leaf on the wall.

Serena walked forward and gently closed the door, kicking the light spots on the floor with her toes unconsciously, again and again, as if counting her heartbeats.

"I'm about to start chasing my own dream, all thanks to you guys, Xiaozhi. I actually have plans and want to visit many cities." After she finished speaking, she lowered her head and smiled. That smile seemed to gently put aside all the fatigue along the way, and then she looked at Xiaozhi with a gentle expression.

"But I hope that my destination will always circle back to you."

When he said this, Xiaozhi's heart had begun to tremble constantly, but he still patiently turned his gaze to the last person, and at the same time made a certain determination.

Nancy remained silent. She raised her eyes, her gaze passing through the candlelight, resting on Xiaozhi's face. Her gaze wasn't intimidating, but it reminded Xiaozhi of the glass dome of the Golden City Gym—transparent, yet able to reflect all shadows.

"I used to think that someone like me wasn't worthy of being loved." Her voice was low, but every word was clear, like ice falling into warm tea. "But after meeting you, I've felt a lot, things I've never felt before, but the most important thing is always..."

After saying that, she looked at Xiaozhi deeply, then tilted her head slightly, and her purple hair fell to cover the slightly red tips of her ears.

Xiaozhi took a deep breath and took off his hat. The baseball cap, which was usually pulled down low, was now held in his hand.

"Although……"

His voice was caught in his throat, hoarse and unlike his usual self.

He simply squatted down and gently placed his hat on the wooden floor, as if putting down all his uncertainties. "It's late, but I already know where the end is."

He raised his head, his eyes passing over Sundae's trembling fingertips, the strands of hair by Serena's ears, and the tips of Nancy's ears hidden under her purple hair—

It's like passing three different roads, but they all lead to the same name.

"It's just that I never dared to say it."

He smiled wryly, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing over the old cracks in the wood grain.

"I'm afraid that if I say it out loud, it will become a multiple-choice question; I'm afraid that if I choose one, the other two will disappear."

The candle flame popped and burst into sparks.

He stood up and walked to the center of the semicircle formed by the three people. "Until just now, I saw you sitting here-"

He lowered his voice, but it was as if he had gathered the entire lighthouse into his arms.

He held out his hand, palm up, as clumsily as if he were throwing a Poké Ball for the first time, but with determination. "Sundae, Serena, Nancy."

He called out the names one by one.

"I can't divide my love into three parts, because each part is all." The fingertips trembled slightly in the air, but did not retract.

"so--"

He raised his eyes, his gaze as clear as the stars on a summer night. "If you're willing, I want to walk the rest of the way with you."

Outside the lighthouse, the tide receded and the wind blew from far away. The candle in the window flickered but did not go out.

"Boom~"

"?!!!"

Looking at the girl who had occupied all his vision without him knowing, and feeling the soft touch on her lips, the boy couldn't help but widen his eyes and waved his hands around in a bit of a panic, but finally they stopped on the girl's slender waist and back, and he began to respond to the girl.

Sundae and Nancy, who hadn't expected this to happen, were stunned for a moment before they reacted. Their faces flushed as they tried to say something, but in the end, they just stood aside in anger.

"... "

For a long time, the lips are divided.

Serena's forehead was still pressed against Ash's, their noses lightly touching, their breaths warm and rapid.

Her eyelashes trembled, as if she just realized what she had done. Her ears instantly turned red, but she did not take a step back.

Xiaozhi still maintained the posture of half-encircling her, his fingertips frozen on Serena's waist and back, as if he was burned but was reluctant to let go.

The heartbeat was so loud that it seemed as if the entire lighthouse could hear it - or perhaps it did, because the candle flame jumped and made the four shadows overlap.

"……foul."

Sundae was the first to regain his voice, but it was so soft that it was almost inaudible.

She clenched her fists, the tips of her ears red as if they were about to bleed, but she simply turned her face away and muttered softly, "Kissing me all of a sudden... How cunning."

Nancy's fingers hanging at her sides tightened slightly, and her purple hair fell, covering her equally red face.

She raised her eyes, her gaze passed through her hair and fell on Xiaozhi's left hand, which still had nowhere to rest. She seemed to want to say something, but in the end she just took a deep breath.

Serena finally took a half step back, her fingertips touching her lips, her voice as thin as a mosquito's buzz: "...I'm sorry, I couldn't help it."

She raised her eyes, glancing at Sundae and Nancy, a little timid but more stubborn, "But if I had to do it again, I would still do it."

Xiaozhi looked down and saw that the warmth from Serena's waist was still lingering on his palm.

He took a deep breath, as if he had finally recovered from the lack of oxygen. When he raised his eyes, his eyes were brighter than before.

"Then...be fair."

He spoke softly, his voice a little hoarse, but with the seriousness that was unique to teenagers.

Sundae was stunned.

The next moment, Xiaozhi was in front of her.

He raised his hand and lightly touched Sundae's clenched fist with his fingertips - the fist slowly loosened like a leaf blown away by the wind.

He lowered his head and placed a very light kiss on her forehead.

It was just a touch and then a break, but it was enough to completely disrupt Sundae's breathing.

Nancy didn't move from where she was, just looked up at him.

Xiaozhi turned around, walked in front of her, and squatted down to look at her at eye level.

He held out his hand, palm up, just as he had when he first offered it to her in the Golden City gym so long ago.

Nancy stared at the hand for two seconds, and finally placed her fingertips on it.

Xiaozhi gently pulled her to her feet, then leaned over and placed an equally gentle kiss on the top of her head.

It was so quiet in the lighthouse that only the sound of the wind could be heard.

The candlelight flickered, separating the four shadows again, but causing them to quietly overlap at a certain point.

Serena lowered her head and gently kicked the wooden floor with her toes. Her voice was soft: "...So now, what is our relationship?"

Xiaozhi scratched his cheek, his ears were red as if they were about to bleed, but he narrowed his eyes and smiled like a trainer who had finally found his direction.

"Probably--"

He paused, and said in a light but firm voice, "Let's go forward together, companion."

"Together?" Sundae raised his eyes.

"Together." Naz repeated softly.

Serena curved her eyes, like a crescent moon falling into the sea.

Outside the window, the night wind swept across the abandoned lighthouse, blowing up a field of locust flowers.

"Speaking of which, Sundae, why did you come to this lighthouse?"

"Oh~, about this~"

.........

【Lighthouse——Returning Tide】

【Main text of the legend】

A long, long time ago, before the sea receded into the inland, this lighthouse stood at the most dangerous reef mouth, guiding ships sailing at night back home.

The caretaker is a young boy named "Chao", who has a young Lapras named "Chaoge".

The sound of Chao Ge's voice pierces the mist, resonating with the bronze mirror atop the lighthouse, allowing the beam to shine thirty miles even on rainy nights. In late summer one year, a merchant ship ran aground during a storm. Chao, aboard Chao Ge, rescued the sole survivor—a young girl named Xing, who had traveled far aboard the Qixi Bluebird.

Xing, who came from inland and had never seen the sea, heard the sound of the wind from her hometown in Chao Ge's singing, so she stayed and guarded the tower with Chao. They made a pact: whenever Chao Ge's singing sounded, Xing would release the Qixi Bluebird, letting its feathers intersect with the lighthouse's beam, telling ships in the distance that someone was waiting here.

Three years later, on the same day, a red tide, rare in a century, swept across the bay. To protect the shipping lane, Chao and Chaoge had to divert the huge waves; Xing remained atop the tower, using his feather light to guide the returning ship.

Before leaving, Xing tied the Qixi Bluebird's feather flute to Chao's wrist and said, "When the feather flute sounds, I will come here." The huge waves were finally calmed down, and the ship returned, but Chao and Chao Ge never came back.

Xing guarded the lighthouse, playing the feather flute every day at dawn until her hair turned white. In the seventh year, the feather flute suddenly sounded by itself.

There were no waves on the sea, but a beam of aurora rose from the bottom of the sea, transforming into the shadow of Laplace, with a smiling boy sitting on his back.

The stars rushed towards the reef, and the light from the lighthouse and the feather light merged into a rainbow bridge.

Legend has it that they eventually sank into the depths of the aurora together, and Chao Ge's voice echoed across the Glazed Sea from then on. Whenever moonlight fell on the bronze mirror, the beam would cast a silhouette of the two on the sea surface, fleeting but enough to convince the traveler:

“If you are truly connected, even the farthest sea will still bring you back.”