Pokémon Beyond the Blue

"Okay, be careful and put this on him!"

"Be gentle, don't wake him up!"

"I know, I know, that's okay..."

"No, no, that's it. Wow! He's so cute. I really want to hug him."

Early in the morning, Riolu, who was sleeping soundly, was awakened by the small voices of several people.I went to bed very early last night. I was probably too tired as Ikki said, so I seemed to have overslept a little.

Drowsily, Riolu sat up from Ikki's bed and rubbed his sleepy eyes. Riolu slowly opened his eyes and saw four people standing or sitting beside the bed, with Pikachu also lying beside him.

"Olu? [What happened?]"

Feeling that there seemed to be something on his neck, Riolu raised his paw and touched it. Judging from the feeling, it should be a cloth product.

"I just told you to be careful. Really, Xiaoxia, you are too sloppy." This was Xiaogang's voice.

"I'm obviously very careful~" This was Xiaoxia's fault.

Ikki did not participate in the three people's actions. He stood by the wall.Seeing that Riolu had woken up, he picked up a small mirror from the dressing table, walked to Riolu, and said helplessly: "Although I have told them not to disturb you, they didn't listen, so I didn't There is nothing you can do, just see for yourself."

With that said, he placed the mirror next to Riolu.Riolu held the mirror up to him with his paw, knowing immediately what they were doing.

'What are these people doing?Why are you putting this on me? '

A red silk tie was tied around Riolu's neck, and there were two small golden bells attached underneath. As long as the movement range was slightly larger, the bells would make a pleasant sound.

"Riolu, don't be angry. You are very cute like this. Can you let me hug you?"

Although Riolu, like Ikki, could not refuse other people's requests in some respects, this time, he decisively stretched out his paw to block Xiaoxia.

He was a little depressed after being woken up, but these people staged this act again, which made him dumbfounded.

Turning to look at Ikki, the latter just waved his hands helplessly to show his innocence.

Now that everyone is awake, it's time for breakfast.

Riolu could only lament once again how big Xiaoxia's house was, and the restaurant was still on the second floor.

"In this case, everyone come out!"

Ash took off a few pokeballs from his belt and released all the pokemon.

"Wait, I'm coming too!" Xiaoxia also released the elves she brought with her. Anyway, there is a fairly small pool.

"Charmander is all I have."

Because none of the elves following him wanted to stay in the elf ball, so Ikki only had one elf ball.

"Okay, okay, everyone has a share, don't grab it!"

Xiaogang is responsible for preparing breakfast. After all, he is a person who can do all the housework.

"Pika pika! [Riolu, let's eat together, Xiaogang's food is delicious!]"

Pikachu jumped up and down, holding one of the lunch boxes that Xiaogang had placed on the ground on his head and walking towards Riolu.

"Olulu. [Okay.]"

Breakfast time was passed happily, and everyone took their elves back.

"Okay, okay, what should we do next?"

"Hmm... going shopping or something?" As expected, it was a girl. Xiaoxia's first thought was shopping.

"Well, that sounds good, Ikki, let's go together and see if there's anything interesting."

It was rare to see Xiaogang actually asking to follow him. Riolu looked at Ikki, who nodded.

"Then let's go together. There's nothing to do at home anyway."

When he was about to go out, Riolu felt strange.Four people actually put on cotton-padded jackets or down jackets at the same time.However, once outside, Riolu understood.

The outside world has completely changed, as if it had been swept by a blizzard overnight, and everything has turned white. Moreover, whether it is the trees beside the street or the red triangular hats worn on people's heads, everything is a hint. looking at the present time.

"Wow! It's Christmas, we can have fun again!"

Xiaoxia rushed out, spinning happily in the falling snowflakes.

"Hey, what a kid."

Xiaogang waited for everyone to go out and locked the door.

'No wonder these people put these things on themselves early in the morning, it's already Christmas...'

Because I had been in the forest before, I didn’t have much chance to go to Ikki’s house, so I forgot about the festival, and I didn’t have much chance to see snow, because since I came to this world, except for the snow made by elves, , I have never seen natural snowfall.

As he said this, Riolu began to shiver.

"Ah, sorry, sorry, I forgot that you are afraid of the cold!"

Riolu's pace slowed down because he felt cold. Ikki noticed that Riolu was missing. When he turned around, he noticed something strange.

"What's wrong?"

Xiaogang and the others saw Ikki turning around and running back, and seeing Riolu moving slowly, they also followed him.

"Riolu feels cold, is there anything you can do?"

Ikki held Riolu in his arms and looked to Xiaogang, the elf expert, for help.

"Well... I don't have much else to do. Just go to the city center quickly. It should be better there."

Ikki looked at the shivering blue figure curled up in his arms. He bent down and used his body to resist the cold wind that blew from time to time. Pikachu also climbed up along Ikki's trouser legs and pressed his body against Leo. The road warmed him.

Even in his previous life, Riolu was very afraid of the cold and rarely went swimming, so he still can't swim. In winter, he could only stay at home or wear bulky clothes.But now, he has nothing on him, so it's no wonder he's so cold.

Cerulean City is larger than expected, and the shopping area in the city center is filled with all kinds of tourists and carefully dressed elves who act as mascots.

Fortunately, the city center is surrounded by high-rise buildings, and the wind cannot blow in. In addition, every store has heating equipment, so compared to other places, the city center is still much warmer.

Riolu motioned for Ikki to put him down.If he really let this child hold him like a child, he would definitely be ashamed to death.

I don't know whether the world's technology is too advanced or the staff is working too hard, but Hualan City was covered in colorful lights and various decorations just overnight.The surrounding stores also put up special signs for Christmas products on this day.

Xiaozhi, Xiaogang and Xiaoxia each bought a Christmas hat to wear on their heads, and gave one back to Ikki.

"Christmas should have a Christmas atmosphere. The most important thing is for everyone to get together and be happy, right?"

Xiaoxia is indeed a girl, and she is much more independent-minded than these three men when it comes to shopping. The only thing that gives Riolu a headache is that she always wants to wear some weird things on herself, such as: deer antler headdress, Of the Christmas wreaths, the thing that Riolu couldn't accept the most was the pink hairpin that Xiaoxia insisted on wearing for herself.

"Xiaoxia, please don't embarrass Riolu. I don't think he likes this very much."

The previous few times, Ikki just stood aside and watched the excitement, but this time, he could feel that Riolu was already a little impatient.

"Really? It obviously looks good."

Xiaoxia silently retracted her hand and put the hairpin back to its original place.

"My water elf doesn't have a chance to dress up, so when I saw such a cute Riolu, I couldn't help it. I'm sorry, Riolu."

Misty apologized playfully to Riolu.This was also the first time Riolu began to doubt, was he really so lovable?

After walking for a while, Ikki proposed to split up, which was of course unanimously approved by everyone, so Ikki separated from them at the next corner.

Ikki had already been here once yesterday, so this time he only came to accompany Xiaozhi, the others, and Riolu.The things that should be bought were all ready yesterday, it just depends on whether there is anything Riolu wants.

Just as he was talking, Riolu suddenly stopped and stared at something displayed in the store next to him in confusion.

"Have you found what you want? I can give it to you."

Because Yukino provided a lot of funds, he didn't forget to tell Ikki not to treat Riolu badly. Plus, he already liked Riolu very much, so if he wanted something, Ikki could give it to him easily. give him.

Riolu shook his head, turned his gaze forward, and continued to look at the surrounding shops.

"Ah ah ah, I'm satisfied, I'm satisfied!"

As soon as they returned to Xiaoxia's home, Ikki and Riolu heard Xiaoxia's voice coming from inside.

"Speaking of Xiaoxia, you bought so many things, what are they?"

It seemed that they had just returned. When Ikki and Riolu came to the place where the sound came from, a drop of cold sweat immediately appeared on their faces.

"Fortunately, we separated just now. For the first time, I feel that my decision was so right."

"Oluolu."

Xiaozhi and Xiaogang were holding large and small gift boxes that were much taller than them. Since they didn't know where to put them, they kept holding them with Mo. But when you saw the protruding veins on their faces, you knew that these Things don't feel very light.

"We'd better leave it alone and go back."

As soon as he returned to the room, Ikki jumped on the bed and lay on the bed in a big letter shape.

"Riolu, would you like to buy you some clothes?"

Ikki felt that there was no solution for Riolu to always be so afraid of the cold. Out of concern, he felt the need to think of a solution.

Riolu leaned on the bed and thought for a while, then shook his head.

"That's right. If you put clothes on the elves, their movements will be greatly restricted. Let's forget it..."

In fact, Riolu didn't expect Ikki to help. As long as the temperature was not too low, he could still hold on.

"That's right!" Ikki suddenly lay down beside the bed, looking down at Riolu who didn't know what he was thinking, "Before you woke up in the morning, Xiaogang said that he seemed to be preparing a big meal for us in the evening... It’s been a long time since we’ve had good food, so it seems we’re lucky.”

When it came to eating, Lulili ran out of nowhere, standing on her big blue tail and jumping back and forth towards Riolu.

"Lili~ [Is there something delicious? I want it too, I want it too!]"

Ikki smiled slightly and stretched out his hand to touch Lulili's body, who showed a very comfortable and happy expression.

"This is what Xiaogang taught me. It seems that I learned it well."

Before Riolu could ask the question, Ikki explained to him.

"Want to try?"

[No, I’ll take a rest first]

Riolu rolled onto the bed, lay down next to Ikki, covered himself with the quilt, called to Ikki and closed his eyes.

Anyway, there is nothing to do. Since Xiaogang has to prepare "good things" at night, let's wait.

"Hey, forget it, Lulili, let's go shopping again."

"Korea!"

I don't know where Ikki got the energy to go again just after he came back. But judging from the situation in the morning, Riolu felt that there was no need to follow him, so he ignored him and continued to sleep.

But what he didn't notice was the smile on Ikki's face as he turned the doorknob.

I don’t know why, but ever since that match with Wu Neng, I always felt like sleeping, especially on the first day after that. I was so sleepy that I couldn’t open my eyes. It wasn’t until today that I finally got rid of that state.If you want to say why, the most likely reason is

It's that stone.

Riolu took over the small backpack placed on the bedside table - it was his own backpack, which Ikki had replaced for him. The original one was too old, so just yesterday, Ikki went out of his way to help He prepared this.I took out the stone and looked at it carefully, but I couldn't see the meaning in it.

'What are the triggering conditions? '

The changes at that time were not caused by him. Riolu knew this very well. However, except for him who was holding the stone, no one else even came close. Why?

After all, the Phoenix King is the most mysterious spirit in the legend. He can only meet it but not seek it. He is not sure that he can find the Phoenix King again.

After thinking about it for a while, I finally decided to give up.Putting the stone back into his backpack, Riolu covered himself with a quilt and began to take a nap.

This sleep finally made Leolu feel no longer sleepy. After all, when Ikki came back later, he saw that he was sleeping soundly, so he did not disturb him, so that he slept until about four o'clock in the afternoon.

After getting up, Riolu looked at the quartz clock hanging on the wall and was stunned. He immediately came to the door and knocked hard.

Why knock on the door instead of just walking out?Because he couldn't turn the doorknob.

Hearing the sound, Ikki immediately put down what he was doing, quickly came to the door of the room and opened the door.

"Oulu! Oulu! Oulu! Oulu! Oulu~"

Even without a translator, Ikki knew that he was complaining about not waking him up in time.

"I'm sorry, I wanted to call you later because I saw you were sleeping soundly. Then Xiaogang asked me to help again, but I was so busy that I forgot about it."

Ikki scratched his head sheepishly and picked up Riolu.

"Olu... Lu!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please don't be angry again."

The two came to the kitchen. Xiaogang was already very busy. The kitchen was very big, and Xiaogang was very confident in using three pots to cook. Although he was busy, Xiaogang was still able to do it with ease. The only question was whether he could continue to hold on. .

"Ikki, come help me quickly and wash this dish for me!"

When he saw Ikki coming back from running away just now, he immediately threw the vegetables on the table into the pool not far from Ikki.

"Let's help together. It would be too late for the two of us alone. Riolu is also very good at cooking. I remember correctly."

Even though he wanted to help as soon as he got up, Riolu still nodded in agreement.He is very confident in cooking. In order to hide it, he hasn't done it for a long time, so he can take this opportunity to practice.

After Xiaogang poured out the contents of a pot, Riolu used the small escalator that had been moved long ago to stand at the right position and took over the next task.

"Ikki...is this?"

Xiaogang was a little confused and didn't know what he wanted to do, so he had to ask Xiang Yihui.

"Riolu can also cook, and he's very good at it. I guess he can compare with you, Xiaogang."

Hearing the praise, Riolu felt a lot better. After all, if he could make something that everyone liked, no matter who he was, he would be happy.

"Really, then as someone who inspires me to become the world's number one breeder, I can't lose to an elf. Okay, I'm going to work hard!"

Because it was winter, it got dark very early, around six o'clock, it was already dark.

"Everyone! Come out!"

Once again, everyone's elves appeared collectively and gathered around the table, waiting for the meal to be served.

"Xiao Gang, are you okay..." Ikki walked out of the kitchen carrying a plate, with Riolu following behind him. He asked with a wry smile towards Xiao Gang, who was walking towards him and was about to continue taking things.

"Of course it's okay...that's weird! As a breeder, I actually lost to an elf in cooking. I'm so embarrassed to see anyone!"

Riolu shrugged. He didn't expect that this incident would have such a big impact on Xiaogang. He would have been better off if he had known better.

Xiaozhi and Xiaoxia spent an entire afternoon retrieving a pine tree about two people tall from outside, firmly inserted it in front of the door, and hung colorful decorations and small lights on the tree.

Anyway, at night, it finally felt a little like Christmas.

"Okay, okay, everyone, calm down and listen to what I have to say!"

As the host, Xiaogang did an excellent job of hosting.Everyone and the elves quickly fell silent and turned their attention to Xiaogang, who was standing tall.

"Since today is Christmas, the traditional rule of giving gifts must be indispensable, so let me start first!"

I don’t know where Xiaogang took out the things. Xiaozhi, Xiaoxia and Yihui got three gift boxes, and what he gave to the elves were small hats and candy canes.Although the gift is not expensive, the intention is understandable.

Then everyone exchanged gifts one after another, everyone was very happy, and this session passed just like that.

"Now that everyone has gifts, we won't be singing any Christmas songs anymore. Let's start singing without being polite!"

"Oh!"

It can be seen that Xiaogang is very attentive. Even the elves eat not easy-to-make elf food, but the same dishes as them.

Even so, there were still disputes. Not long after they started eating, Lulili and Pikachu got into an argument, and then overturned the plate while grabbing the food. The two elves were also covered in vegetables. Making everyone laugh.

Riolu felt a little uncomfortable in such a joyful and warm occasion.He couldn't tell what kind of emotion it was, he just felt that his chest was tight and he couldn't get into it no matter what.

When no one was paying attention, he quietly left the restaurant and climbed to the roof.

Although he thought he was very careful, he still did not avoid the gaze of a pair of eyes.

There was already a thick layer of snow on the roof, and his paws stepped on the snow, leaving a series of small paw prints.

Although the weather outside is not as good as in the morning, it is still very cold, and there are bursts of white mist coming out of the mouth when breathing.

Riolu found an eaves with relatively little snow and sat down, looking at the humans and elves having snowball fights and making snowmen in the distance, feeling infinite melancholy in his heart.

'It's snowing again...'

Although "again" is used, this is still the first snow we have seen in three years, and it was so heavy all at once.

"Why did you come here alone?"

Ikki pushed open the skylight, kicked off his feet and jumped onto the roof.

The roof has railings, so Riolu isn't worried about Ikki falling off.

Riolu didn't look at him, but just wrote two words with his claws on the snow beside him.

【fine】

He came to Riolu, cleared away the thick snow, and sat down directly, looking at him curiously, wanting to know what he was thinking, but he couldn't tell anything.

Riolu sighed, and just as he was about to write something, a gust of wind blew by, and he subconsciously hugged his body with his claws.

"Is it cold?" Ikki asked worriedly.

Riolu shook his head and told him not to worry, but Tails was very dishonest and surrounded him.

"If you are afraid of the cold, go in. Be careful of catching a cold."

He shook his head again.

Ikki moved closer to him again and put the plush hat made of the wool of the Meri sheep on Riolu's head.

"This might be better."

Facing Ikki's bright smile that could melt ice and snow, Riolu pulled his hat down and turned his head away to prevent Ikki from seeing his expression.

"Um...I haven't thanked you properly for the gym competition before. You suffered such a serious injury because of me. I really feel sorry for you."

Riolu actually didn't care about what happened before. After all, it was Wu Neng who deceived him first. Although it was resolved satisfactorily in the end, it was the best thing.

Seeing that Riolu was not willing to chat, Ikki said nothing, folded his arms around his knees, and looked at the people in the distance with Riolu.

"Oh! By the way, I have something for you, wait a minute."

Ikki suddenly remembered something, told Riolu, and returned to the house. Soon, he brought up a blue and white striped gift box, placed it next to Riolu, and handed him the illustrated book.

【This is? 】

"A Christmas present for you, I hope you like it."

Carefully pulling apart the decorative ribbon with his claws, Riolu slowly opened the lid.

"do you like it?"

Inside the box was a scarf, gray in color, and of a very ordinary style. The only difference was that there was a metal oval-shaped object in the middle of the scarf.

Riolu picked up the scarf, looked at it carefully, and looked at Ikki again.

【For me? 】

"Well, this way you won't be so afraid of the cold."

【thanks. 】

This scarf was not bought by Ikki on a whim.It was this scarf that caught Riolu's attention when he was shopping, so he decided to buy it and give it to Riolu.

Riolu expertly wrapped the scarf around his neck and nodded towards Ikki.

Thinking of his previous life, he had always worn a scarf, also dark gray. It was almost exactly the same as the one he wore now, except that the person who gave it to him was different.

The first person to give him a scarf was a girl, and Ikki was the second one.That girl's appearance was not a stunning one, but she was still rarely beautiful.

Their encounter was just a passing stranger, leaving no impression on each other, but who can say clearly about fate?Meeting again allowed them to leave their place in each other's hearts.And that scarf was also received in the winter of the same year, which happened to be at Christmas. He would never forget the way she looked when she blushed and shouted his name angrily. Even now when he thinks about it, he still finds it funny.But at that time, he had nothing to repay her with, so he could only make a note in his mind and prepare to find an opportunity to surprise her again in the future.Unfortunately, this incident can only become a lifelong regret for him.

【Thank you, much better】

Riolu tugged on the scarf. Although it was only wrapped around his neck, he really didn't feel that cold anymore. The only drawback was that it was a little too long. When he stood up, it was almost dragging to the ground.

'Is this even that similar...'

The scarf the girl gave me seemed a bit too long.

"Great, I thought you didn't like it!" Ikki seemed to have finally breathed a sigh of relief, lying on the roof behind him and pressing the snow into a hole as big as him. "I'm still nervous what if you What should I do if I don’t like it? I have to thank Xiaoxia. After all, it was she who helped install this small box.

Riolu touched the metal object in front of his neck, not knowing how to open it.

"I'll help you."

Ikki stretched out his hands, opened the secret button of the small box with some difficulty, and then put the Riolu stone in his pocket into it.It was obviously not custom-made, but the box was just big enough to hold the stone, neither too big nor too small.

After Ikki was done with it, Riolu patted the snow off his body, exerted slight force on his two claws, and his body trembled slightly irregularly.

"Okay, I think we'd better go in, we'll catch a cold if we stay here all the time."

Riolu lowered his head and rubbed his eyes, then nodded vigorously.

"O...Olu!"

Back in the restaurant, everyone was waiting for the two to arrive. Pikachu rushed over and grabbed Riolu's paw, jumping up and down to the sofa.Riolu just smiled.

It had been a long time since he felt like this. Riolu felt that today must be a day that he could remember for the rest of his life.

……

Just like that day...

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Merry Christmas everyone!Yo ho ho ho ho! ! !