While Xia Huanao and the others claimed to be going to bed, not a single person moved. It was unavoidable; the events of the moment were too thrilling. Closing their eyes now would only bring forth a ghastly pale green face, coupled with Xia Huanao's peculiar and eerie story and music. Anyone still able to sleep at this point would truly have a carefree disposition.
The five of them sat down again and chatted. However, this time, anyone who dared to utter a single word related to ghost stories would be met with collective glares. After another half hour of conversation, everyone finally started to feel sleepy.
Xia Huanao lifted the tent flap. "Alright, everyone get some rest. As the old saying goes, early to bed and early to rise makes a healthy person."
The group quickly arranged their sleeping positions. Zhang Hong had originally intended to place Yu Longdu in the middle, with himself and Yu Tingyun on the left, and Xia Huanao and Shen Yu on the right. But Xia Huanao waved his hand. "Xiao Yu and Tingyun on the left, you two on the right."
From his tone, it was clear Xia Huanao intended to sleep in the middle. The two boys looked at Xia Huanao, who merely pointed to the forest outside. "I need to keep watch. Anyone want to switch with me?"
Upon hearing Xia Huanao mention keeping watch, Yu Longdu and Zhang Hong immediately lay down on their mats, motionless, pretending to be asleep. Xia Huanao shook his head. "What kind of people are these?"
Xia Huanao turned and went outside the tent, leaning against a large tree and gazing at the stars in the sky. "The sky in the forest is truly different from the city, isn't it? You can't see stars like these in the city."
Leaning against the tree, Xia Huanao's eyes occasionally flickered to the campfire beside him. If the fire went out, he would have to rekindle it. Without the campfire here, a pack of Houndooms might surround them at any moment.
Xia Huanao leaned against the tree idly. After an unknown amount of time, he saw a figure emerge from the tent. Xia Huanao looked closely. "A'Du, why are you out here?"
Yu Longdu pointed to the moon in the sky. "Don't you look at the time? You should get some rest too. I can't let you keep watch alone."
Xia Huanao shook his head. "With the dew so heavy and the night so deep, do you think I'm in the mood for sleep? I'm going for a walk and will be back soon."
Yu Longdu looked at the darkness surrounding them. "Is it alright? Are you sure you can see the path?"
Xia Huanao pulled out a pair of glasses and put them on. "It should be fine. Let's see how this night-vision gear works. Don't worry about me; just keep an eye on them."
As a professional night owl, Xia Huanao moved through the dark forest with remarkable ease. The rustling sound of his footsteps accompanied him, and Xia Huanao felt his spirits lift. After walking a short distance, he heard the sound of flowing water. Xia Huanao paused for a moment, then ran in the direction of the water.
By the bank of the small river, Xia Huanao saw a shadowy figure standing and swaying, doing something unknown. Xia Huanao quietly approached a few more steps and saw that the shadow was, in fact, a Meowth.
"A Meowth! So there's another night owl here like me. What is this guy trying to do?"
The Meowth cautiously looked left and right, then picked up a stone and threw it. The stone flew across the river and knocked a blue-purple Oricorio from a large tree on the opposite bank. Seeing this Oricorio, Xia Huanao's eyes lit up. "System, what do you think about me catching an Oricorio?"
The system shook its head. "I don't think it's a good idea. If you insist on doing this, you might as well send in Rotom. Although both are Pokémon with multiple sub-categories under the same name, Rotom at least has multiple forms, and when it changes forms, its Electric-type moves can change. What does your Oricorio have? At most, different resistances. Does its movepool change?"
"It has Revelation Dance, with a base power of ninety Special Attack. And depending on the Oricorio, it can change into four types: Fire, Electric, Psychic, and Ghost. The type coverage is quite sufficient."
"That's what you say, but you've only expanded the Electric and Fire type coverage, and the targets it can hit are only two more types, Steel and Water. If you were to use Rotom, Rotom also has Fire and Electric, and its changing moves have higher power than Oricorio's."
Xia Huanao shook his head. "Mainly, Oricorio has Baton Pass. As the old saying goes, 'One good man needs three helpers, one fence needs three stakes.'"
"Baton Pass? You're just looking for a Baton Passer? Why would you use Oricorio specifically? You might as well find a Diglett! In my opinion, Diglett's value as a Baton Passer is even greater than Oricorio's."
They discussed it for a long time and finally decided to give up on the Oricorio. It wasn't because the system convinced him, but simply because he couldn't obtain the item that could change a Pokémon's type in battle. At least for now, he couldn't create an item that could feed four types of nectar to an Oricorio and make it transform continuously.
After concluding the debate about whether to catch the Oricorio, Xia Huanao continued to hide in the grass, watching what the cat and bird were up to.
To his utter astonishment, these two creatures were actually awkwardly dancing in the middle of the night. Xia Huanao pushed up his night-vision goggles. "What is this? A Meowth and an Oricorio sparring? Isn't that hilarious?"
As expected, the Oricorio won the dance-off, which Xia Huanao couldn't discern the quality of at all. In extreme anger, the defeated Meowth rammed into a nearby rock and immediately stopped moving.
The system asked Xia Huanao, "Aren't you going to save it?"
Xia Huanao shook his head. "Don't worry, cats have nine lives."
"How do you know this isn't the last life?"
As they were speaking, the Meowth rubbed its head and stood up again. Xia Huanao pointed. "See, I told you, cats have nine lives."
The Meowth's self-inflicted demise had left the Oricorio on the other side of the river wide-eyed. The Oricorio happily flapped its wings, making Xia Huanao briefly suspect it wasn't a Baile Style Oricorio, but rather a Sensu Style Oricorio. However, as the old saying goes, "When misfortune reaches its extreme, good fortune is born." The Oricorio lost its footing and tumbled into the river. Fortunately, the Oricorio reacted quickly and stood up in time, thus avoiding drowning. Still, Xia Huanao looked at the drenched Oricorio. "Tsk, I've learned something. I've only heard about it before, but I've never seen it."
The system asked him, "Heard about what? It can't be another old saying, can it?"
Xia Huanao nodded. "Yes, it's an old saying. The saying goes, 'He who walks by the river often will eventually get his shoes wet.'"
The system looked confused. Where did this saying come from? It sounded normal, yet somehow felt slightly off. What was wrong?
Xia Huanao watched the Oricorio climb out of the water, pecked at a tree hollow beside it, and then its feathers changed from blue-purple to red. The Fire-type Oricorio quickly dried itself, glanced at the Meowth, and returned to its tree.
Xia Huanao asked the system, "System, what do you think the Meowth was trying to do? I can guarantee it wasn't for courtship."
"Perhaps there was something very precious in the Oricorio's nest, like a large golden pearl."
Soon, the system abandoned this idea. "I don't think so. With the Meowth's abilities, stealing something from a bird's nest would be simple. And there's no way this Meowth couldn't defeat the Oricorio."
They couldn't figure out the problem, so they stopped thinking about it. Xia Huanao and the system simply watched the Meowth. The Meowth leaped high and low, quickly climbing a tree. It looked around before hopping in a certain direction.
Xia Huanao nodded. "Yes, this is a real thief. Its movements are agile and incredibly cool. No one can catch it."
The system coughed. "Ahem, there are two problems. First, why isn't it walking on the ground? I think it might be faster on the ground."
Xia Huanao stood up. "Do you even need to ask? It's because it's cool, of course. Meowth is a thief, after all."
"That explanation doesn't convince me."
"As the ancient saying goes, 'Even thieves have their code.' Perhaps this is the path this Meowth is choosing."
The system made a confused expression. "Is that what 'even thieves have their code' means? That 'code' can't be interpreted as a path."
Xia Huanao waved his hand. "Never mind that. You said there was another problem?"
The system pointed in the direction the Meowth had left. "It's two-thirty in the morning, and that direction is your tent."
Xia Huanao only heard half of it before he understood what the system meant. "Two or three in the morning is when humans are most drowsy and prone to confusion. As the saying goes, 'When the night owl enters the house, it's not for nothing.' If Yu Longdu were even a little drowsy, the Meowth might have just stolen everything."
As Xia Huanao hurried back, he released Froakie. "Froakie, I'm counting on you. Go back and keep an eye on a Meowth."
Froakie looked around, then leaped onto a tree and quickly disappeared into the forest. Xia Huanao also hurried back towards his campsite. As he walked, Xia Huanao cursed the system. "System, I'm not kidding, couldn't you have mentioned these two problems in order of importance? Don't you know the ancient saying, 'There are good and bad harvests, so grains have value; there are urgent and non-urgent matters, so things have weight'?"
The system swayed its head and conjured a pillow. "You should be aware that at this hour, I should be resting. It's you who insistenly dragged me along, forcing me to continue working. A system operating under such overload is prone to errors. Second, if you dare to utter another 'ancient saying' from now on, regardless of whether you use it correctly or not, I will force a one-hour system shutdown. Do you believe me?"
"No, as the old saying goes, 'A prime minister's belly can hold a ship, and a system's belly can run an airplane!'"