We'll give Xia Huna, this classmate of ours, a slow-motion replay. When Mu Zhishui mentioned the cliff beneath his feet, Xia Huna’s eyes flickered downwards. A smile then bloomed on his face, and he plummeted freely into the sea.
Fortunately, while it was called a cliff, the height was only a little over three stories, about ten meters. Falling into the water from that height might cause some injury, but it wouldn't be fatal. For Xia Huna, who had already died once, this was a minor inconvenience.
Xia Huna splashed into the sea with a huge spray, resembling the style of a "exploding fish team." Mu Zhishui looked down from the cliff, "Are you alright? Wait a moment, I'll come down and rescue you right away!"
Xia Huna poked his head out of the water, "I'm fine, still alive!"
By the time Mu Zhishui ran down the small path to the seaside, she saw a Lapras playing with Xia Huna in the water. Xia Huna, held in Lapras's mouth, showed no dissatisfaction, looking up at Lapras pleadingly, "Lapras, my friend is here, you can put me down now."
Upon seeing Mu Zhishui standing on the beach, Lapras directly dropped Xia Huna onto the sand and happily trotted towards Mu Zhishui. It proved that girls, especially pretty ones, were more favored by Pokémon.
Xia Huna crawled up from the sand, spitting out sand from his mouth, "Lapras, how could you do this? My body is weak, what if I got hurt from falling?"
Lapras's eyes darted away. You performed a ten-meter dive that exploded like a fish, and you claim to be weak? Who would believe that? Besides, Lapras had seen many male trainers like you. They just pretended to be frail to latch onto kind-hearted female trainers.
If Xia Huna knew what Lapras was thinking, he would be astonished. This Pokémon had quite a bit of life experience. But then again, what had it seen before?
Mu Zhishui sat on the ground, gently stroking the cute Lapras, and asked Xia Huna, who was examining the shell on Lapras's back, "So, what were you thinking just now? You seemed so happy?"
Xia Huna took out his phone from his pocket, "Let me tell you, I've thought of a way to get home."
Saying that, Xia Huna pressed the power button on his phone. It didn't respond. Xia Huna directly threw the phone onto the sand and then stomped on it twice, "What is this, is it broken?"
Mu Zhishui was stunned by Xia Huna's violent attempt at repairing the phone, "Did the phone get waterlogged? It shouldn't have broken that easily."
"I don't know. Forget it, I'll draw it for you. Look, this is Man Ying, and our current location is roughly here."
Saying that, Xia Huna picked up a stone from the sand and drew a diagonal line directly on the ground, crossing it in the middle with a horizontal stroke to represent their current position. Then, he drew many dots below the diagonal line, and a line at the end of the dots, "These, I assume, are the island chain between Man Ying and our Ming Long Country. At the end of the island chain is our Nan Ming Island."
Although Mu Zhishui could understand the map Xia Huna had casually drawn, this map, represented entirely by lines, lacked any strategic depth. It was best not to show it off.
Mu Zhishui took out her phone from her pocket, "Um, let's use my phone instead."
Xia Huna also knew that he had no talent for drawing. This abstract painting, though he considered himself a disciple of the famous artist Kandinsky, would surely make "Old Kang" jump out of his grave to strangle him if he knew he had such a student.
Taking Mu Zhishui's phone, Xia Huna zoomed in infinitely on a world map, "Look, if we go all the way south from here to the southernmost tip of the Man Ying continent, and then follow this island chain south, we can reach our Nan Ming Island in a few days, and then we'll be home."
Hearing Xia Huna's suggestion, Mu Zhishui nodded, "It's a good idea, but how will we get there?"
Xia Huna pointed at Lapras, who was basking in the sunset by the sea, "What do you think? Of course, we'll ride Lapras. Although this island chain is very long, compared to crossing the ocean directly between Ming Long and Man Ying, the distance between islands is relatively short. For this distance, Lapras can complete the task without us having to catch a Kyogre or something."
Indeed, if crossing the ocean was a feat requiring Pokémon like Wailord or Kyogre, then for these few small islands, Lapras was more than enough to travel the world.
With a plan in place, Xia Huna began to coax Lapras, "Cute little Lapras, would you do me a favor?"
Lapras looked at Xia Huna, who was approaching with a mischievous grin, and retreated two steps into the sea. Her mother had always taught her that boys with such grinning faces were sly and deceitful, and Pokémon hunters who captured them to sell for money. But how could Lapras's backward movement keep up with Xia Huna's accelerated advance? Xia Huna quickly walked over, hugged Lapras's neck, "Lapras, thank you for saving me, would you do me another favor?"
Lapras remained silent, wanting to see what favor Xia Huna had to ask. Xia Huna pointed towards the sea, "Lapras, I might be going to play on the southern islands of the sea soon. Could you possibly give us a ride?"
Lapras was somewhat intrigued when Xia Huna mentioned going to play, but when she heard about giving Xia Huna a ride, her mood immediately soured. Lapras was a girl, how could she let a boy ride on her? It would be different if it were the other girl.
Lapras chirped twice at Mu Zhishui. Xia Huna, feeling defeated, went to Mu Zhishui's side, "Zhishui, you go persuade her. I've exhausted all my tricks. Rotom, go and translate."
Not long after, Mu Zhishui was sitting on Lapras's back, waving at Xia Huna, "Xia Xia, it's settled."
Xia Huna walked up to Lapras and stroked its shell, "How about it, will you give me a ride now?"
Lapras turned her head away, thinking that if Mu Zhishui weren't on her back, she would definitely chase you for kilometers in the sea.
Seeing that Lapras was still a bit displeased, Xia Huna brought out his ultimate weapon. He took out his Berry Pokémon, which hadn't made an appearance in a long time, and poured out a few Poké Blocks, dangling them in front of Lapras's eyes, "Lapras, look what I have here?"
Lapras looked at the energy cubes in Xia Huna's hand. Smelling the fruity aroma, she didn't hesitate and took his hand, along with the cubes, into her mouth with one bite.
"Hey, hey, hey! Open your mouth! It's fine if you snatch the energy cubes, but you can't eat my hand! Move your tongue aside, don't lick my hand!"
After a prolonged battle of wits with Lapras's mouth, Xia Huna finally managed to retrieve his hand. Looking at his wet hand, Xia Huna rubbed it against Lapras's neck, "Girls shouldn't be like this, have you no decorum?"
Lapras chirped twice: My mother told me that it's friendly to do this for those who feed us.
Xia Huna shook his head, "No, your mother definitely didn't teach you that. That's too absurd."
Lapras stared at Xia Huna's Berry Pokémon. She knew that Xia Huna took the Poké Blocks out of this. They tasted quite good, and she could eat a few more.
Xia Huna saw the look in Lapras's eyes and put away the Berry Pokémon, "No, these are snacks, you can't eat too many in one day. Besides, we're going to have dinner and rest. We'll give you more tomorrow morning after we set off."
Having agreed to meet again here tomorrow, Xia Huna and Mu Zhishui went to find a place to rest. However, as they walked, Mu Zhishui had a question, "Xia Xia, is it okay to go back to Ming Long Country this way?"
Xia Huna thought Mu Zhishui was worried about safety on the journey, so he said, "Don't worry, Lapras is a very kind Pokémon. At this time of year, there are no storms at sea, and the journey isn't long. If we carefully confirm the weather, we'll reach Nan Ming Island safely."
Mu Zhishui shook her head and explained, "I'm not worried about that, I'm worried about..."
"The people from Rainbow Star Mall? They won't chase us onto the sea. If they could rely on a human wave tactic in Man Ying, then at sea, they'd have to make a big fuss, and that would be a big problem. He wouldn't be that stupid."
Mu Zhishui still shook her head, "I'm not worried about that either. He just took over the Rainbow Star Group. Sending people to monitor the airport and docks is already his limit. It's impossible for him to chase us down at sea."
"Then what exactly are you worried about?" Xia Huna was increasingly confused. Were there any unforeseen circumstances in this plan that he hadn't considered? That shouldn't be the case.
Mu Zhishui asked, "If we really arrive at Nan Ming Island riding a Lapras, will we be mistaken for illegal immigrants or spies by the Nan Ming Island Pokémon Defense Force and arrested?"
Xia Huna thought about it. He hadn't registered his departure, and arriving at Nan Ming Island on a Lapras, with Ming Long Country having exit records, it did indeed look like smuggling. However, Xia Huna wasn't too worried, "It's fine, I'll just call Yu Longdu and explain."
As he said this, Xia Huna paused, then slapped himself in the face, "I'm such an idiot! Why am I riding a Lapras? I can just call Yu Longdu and use the power of the Ming Long Country Pokémon Alliance! I'm an honorary title holder after all!"
Saying that, Xia Huna glanced at Mu Zhishui again, "Even if my rank isn't high enough, with your status as the eldest daughter of the Rainbow Star Group, it should be enough. Even if the two families aren't on the best terms, there's still the matter of maintaining appearances."
Xia Huna beat his chest in frustration, and finally sat down on the ground, uttering his usual line with practiced ease, "I'm so stupid, really..."