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Early the next morning.
Sunlight spilled into the room through the gaps in the curtains, spreading fine gold across the quilt.
Delia woke up first.
She didn't move, just lying on her side, watching Roy who was close at hand.
The man was sleeping soundly, his breathing steady, with his arm draped across her waist in a possessive posture.
Delia thought of last night, and her face suddenly turned red.
This bad guy, when he said "I want it all," he really meant he wanted it all.
Roy was exceptionally vigorous yesterday.
Delia vaguely felt that it might be because she wore that purple hollow-out lace last night, which sparked Roy's intense interest, leading to her own "suffering."
But she loved it.
She loved the way he lost control for her.
She loved how he pressed tightly against her.
She loved how he bit her ear and whispered things that made her toes curl in embarrassment.
Delia gently reached out, tracing the outline of Roy's brow bone, bridge of the nose, and lips.
This man was hers.
Thinking of this, the corners of her mouth couldn't stop turning up.
Her waist was a bit sore, and her legs were a bit weak.
But it was worth it.
Next time she would wear something even sexier to see just how vigorous he could get.
While Delia was lost in thought, Roy's eyelids flickered.
He didn't open his eyes, but his hand around her waist tightened, pulling her into his arms.
"Awake?" His voice carried the low rasp of someone who had just woken up.
"Mm..." Delia responded softly.
Roy opened his eyes, met her gentle, watery gaze, and smiled.
"What are you thinking about? Your face is so red."
Delia buried herself in his chest and said muffledly, "Nothing..."
"Are you thinking about last night?" Roy's palm slid down her spine. "Which part? The beginning, the middle, or..."
"Oh stop! Don't say it!" Delia shyly pounded his chest with soft, weak blows.
Roy chuckled and dropped a kiss on the top of her head.
"Alright, let's get up, otherwise Misty will come knocking on the door."
Delia nodded obediently.
Roy followed her gaze and smiled nonchalantly, "Just need to tidy up a bit."
Delia nodded, thinking to herself that she must wash the bedsheets herself while Jenny wasn't paying attention.
Otherwise, letting Jenny help clean up this would be too embarrassing... Breakfast was prepared by Jenny.
It was simple: fried eggs, toast, milk, and some local specialty pickles.
Misty was already sitting at the table, looking in good spirits.
Seeing Roy and Delia come out of the same room one after the other, her eyes flickered, but she said nothing, just burying her head in her milk.
Delia sat down opposite her, picking up a piece of toast as if nothing had happened.
Jenny came out of the kitchen carrying the last plate of fried eggs, glanced at the dining table, and said with a smile, "Everyone's here? Eat up, there's a lot to do today."
Roy nodded and stuffed a piece of toast into his mouth.
"Are we still handing out flyers today?"
"Yes." Jenny sat down. "The festival has officially begun, there will be more tourists, and the publicity work cannot stop."
Roy thought for a moment. "Is the content of the flyers still those 'Danger Zone Warnings'?"
Jenny nodded. "Yes, the same old content."
"I have a suggestion." Roy put down his toast. "Instead of just handing out cold warning flyers, why not print a batch of pamphlets and systematically organize the legendary stories of Maiden Gorge?"
Jenny's eyes brightened slightly.
"The stories inherently contain warning meanings," Roy continued. "The thousand-year-old maiden waiting for her lover, committing suicide by jumping off the cliff—these tragic cores can be remembered. By organizing the legends to be more vivid, it's both cultural promotion and a disguised warning—don't run to remote places at night."
"This line of thinking is good." Jenny became interested. "How exactly do we do it?"
Roy took a sip of milk. "Simple, merge several versions of the legend into one short story. Add illustrations and print them as pocket-sized booklets. When tourists come to the festival, they can take one as a souvenir. When they flip through it, they'll naturally know which places in Maiden Gorge have 'legends' and won't wander around at night."
Jenny nodded repeatedly, her gaze toward Roy showing a few hints of admiration.
Misty chimed in from the side, "Then we can go print the booklets today!"
"Right," Roy said. "I roughly conceptualized the content during my walk last night. I'll write it out later."
Delia looked at Roy tenderly, not saying a word, but her eyes were full of pride.
Jenny immediately made the decision: "Let's do it! After breakfast, we'll split up. I'll go contact the print shop."
...After breakfast, Delia took the initiative to stay behind.
"I'll stay home and help clean up," she said. "I dirtied the guest room sheets yesterday and felt quite embarrassed, so I'll just wash them today."
Jenny was stunned for a moment, then smiled. "Miss Delia, you're too kind, there's no need to trouble yourself..."
"It's no trouble at all," Delia waved her hand. "You're usually so busy with work, it's rare for someone to help you tidy up. Leave it to me."
Jenny felt a warmth in her heart.
She was indeed busy usually—police station affairs, patrols, paperwork—she often came home too tired to move. Although the house wasn't messy, she really couldn't manage a detailed cleaning.
"Then thank you, Miss Delia." Jenny's smile was sincere.
"Just call me Delia."
The two women shared a smile... Roy took Misty and went out with Jenny.
They first went to the town's print shop.
Jenny was well-acquainted with the owner. After a brief communication, the owner said they could expedite the printing and it would be ready for pickup in the afternoon.
Roy borrowed the shop's computer and organized the story of the Maiden Legend in twenty minutes.
He used the simplest and most direct narrative style:
A thousand years ago, a maiden met her beloved traveler here and pledged her life to him.
When the traveler left, he said he would definitely return, so the maiden stood by the cliff every day waiting.
Spring went and autumn came, flowers bloomed and fell, but the traveler never returned.
The maiden waited from her youth until her hair turned white, and finally, on a night with a full moon, she threw herself into the sea.
Legend says her soul still wanders the cliffside to this day, waiting for the person who will never return.
Therefore, after nightfall, there are often sobbing cries at Maiden Gorge.
Therefore, under the moonlight, there are often flickering Will-O-Wisps in the forest.
It's not to scare people; it's the maiden looking for her lover lost for a thousand years.
The story wasn't long, but it was full of emotion.
After Jenny finished reading, she was silent for a few seconds.
"It's written so well..." she said softly. "It's much more moving than those stiff warning phrases."
Misty leaned over to look and blinked. "Roy, you have this talent too?"
Roy smiled. "Just something I wrote casually."
Following Roy's suggestion, the owner added a few blank pages at the end of the story, marked with "Can be stamped with commemorative seals."
Jenny's eyes lit up. "This is great! Tourists can take the booklets to various festival stalls to get stamps, and if they collect them all, they can exchange them for a small gift."
Roy nodded. "That's the idea."
The print shop began typesetting and printing.
Jenny then contacted Joy.
"Miss Joy, I'm having a batch of brochures sent over to be placed at the Pokémon Center for tourists to pick up."
"Alright, Miss Jenny, no problem!"
Hanging up the phone, Jenny looked at Roy with a smile in her eyes.
"How is your brain wired? You can think of all these details."
Roy shrugged. "I've seen similar practices while traveling in other cities before, I just borrowed the idea."
...In the afternoon, the booklets were printed.
The first batch was five hundred copies, with a dark green cover featuring a silhouette of Maiden Gorge and a crescent moon.
Opening the first page was the story Roy had written.
Jenny took Roy and Misty to distribute the booklets to the tourist center, several hotels, and the Pokémon Center.
Joy received the booklet and flipped through a few pages on the spot.
"It's so well written... I didn't even know the legend of Maiden Gorge was like this before."
She carefully placed the booklets in the most prominent position on the information rack... The response to the Maiden Legend booklets was even better than expected.
By evening, while Roy and Misty were handing out flyers at the festival venue, they already saw many tourists holding the dark green booklets.
Some were queuing at the stamping stations, showing their booklets to each other.
Some were sitting in the rest area, flipping through the booklets and reading the story seriously.
A young girl finished reading and said to her companion, "Let's not go to Maiden Gorge tonight... it feels quite desolate."
The companion nodded repeatedly. "Not going, not going. We'll just stay and play at the venue."
Misty heard this and quietly tugged at Roy's sleeve.
"Look, it's working."
Roy gave an 'um' and continued handing out flyers.
In his heart, however, he was thinking that what was actually more effective was the "horror atmosphere" he had set up last night.
The Thousand-Year Gastly indeed didn't come out to cause trouble again.
Those speakers, scales, and shadows, combined with the rendering of the booklet story, were enough to make ordinary tourists stay away.
Tonight should also pass peacefully... At night, the Fireworks Display began.
Huge fireworks bloomed over the sea, in red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple, dyeing the night sky into a brilliant canvas.
Tourists gathered along the coast, looking up in awe.
Jenny stood on the outskirts of the crowd, watching the fireworks fill the sky with a smile on her face.
This was the most stable Summer Festival she had experienced since taking office at Maiden Gorge.
No missing persons cases.
No panic reports.
The tourists were having fun, and the townspeople were making a fortune.
She turned her head to look at Roy, who was nearby.
The man was looking up at the fireworks, with Pikachu perched on his shoulder, its little paws waving around as it called out "Pika Pika" to the rhythm of the fireworks.
Delia stood to Roy's left, gently holding his arm.
Misty stood on the right, pretending to focus on the fireworks, but her body unconsciously leaned toward Roy's side.
Jenny suddenly felt a bit envious.
Not envious that they had a man.
But envious of this kind of... tacit understanding and trust that didn't need to be spoken aloud.
The Fireworks Display lasted for half an hour.
After it ended, the crowd gradually dispersed.
Jenny let out a long sigh of relief and said to Roy, "This year's festival is a complete success."
"Yes." Roy nodded. "Good work."
Jenny smiled and said nothing.
But in her heart, she thought, actually, you're the one who worked the hardest.
She didn't know exactly what Roy had done.
But she knew that the "supernatural events" that happened every Summer Festival in previous years didn't happen at all this year.
This was no coincidence.
It was just that Roy never said anything... That night, everyone went back to their rooms to rest.
The night passed in silence... Early the next morning.
Roy opened his eyes, and a system notification sounded in his mind.
[Mission Complete: Safeguard the peace of the Maiden Gorge Summer Festival.]
[Amulet x1 — A single-use consumable. Upon use, provides immunity to all Psychic, mental, and magical effects for 24 hours. Placed in system inventory.]
[Spell Tag x1 — A Pokémon held item. Increases the power of Ghost-type moves by 20%. Placed in system inventory.]
Roy's eyes flickered slightly.
The Amulet was another trump card to deal with Sabrina.
The Spell Tag, a Ghost-type damage-boosting item... His gaze shimmered.
The thought of catching that Thousand-Year Gastly became even stronger... After eating breakfast, Roy said to Delia and Misty, "I'm going out for a bit to handle some business."
Misty looked up in Confusion. "Handling business again? Why do I feel like you're becoming more and more like a local?"
Delia said tenderly, "Come back soon."
Roy smiled and nodded, then left with Pikachu. As soon as he exited the courtyard, he headed straight for the mountainside where the Thousand-Year Gastly lived... Roy took Pikachu and walked up the mountainside along the mountain path in his memory.
The morning air in Maiden Gorge was fresh, and the sea breeze blew through the woods, carrying a faint salty scent.
After walking for about half an hour, the dilapidated small wooden hut appeared in his field of vision.
Pikachu jumped down from his shoulder, hopped to the front of the door ahead of him, and looked back with a "Pika Pika" cry.
Roy raised his hand and knocked on the door.
"Old Ghost, you there?"
A cloud of purple mist drifted out from the crack in the door.
The Thousand-Year Gastly floated in mid-air, grinning, its eyes curved into crescents.
"Yo, kid, so early? I thought you'd sleep until noon."
Roy didn't bother to respond to its banter and directly pulled an envelope from his waist bag.
"Fifty thousand, the final payment."
Gastly's eyes instantly widened, the mist suddenly contracted, and the next second the whole cloud of mist pounced on the envelope, using Confusion to hold it floating in mid-air while counting the bills one by one.
"One, two, three, four..."
It counted extremely seriously, the smile on its face deepening with every bill it flipped.
"Fifty thousand exactly! Hahahaha!" Gastly stuffed the envelope into its mist and spun in place. "I have money! I can eat delicious food! I can go play in haunted houses! This is great!"
Pikachu tilted its head while watching, thinking this old fellow was a bit silly.
Roy wasn't in a hurry either, leaning against the doorframe waiting for it to finish its celebration.
Gastly spun for a good while before stopping, happily approaching Roy. "Kid, you're a pretty good person, keeping your word and paying promptly."
"Of course," Roy shrugged. "I never go back on things I've promised."
Gastly nodded and was preparing to float back into the house.
"Old Ghost," Roy spoke up to stop it.
"Hmm?"
"Do you want to train with me?"
Gastly floated in mid-air, its mist stagnating for a moment.
"Train? Train for what?"
Roy looked at it. "Challenge Gyms, compete in the League Tournament."
The air was silent for three seconds.
Gastly burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha! Kid, what did you say? You want me to go and compete in matches with you?"
Roy didn't laugh; his expression was serious.
After Gastly had laughed enough, it floated in front of him and poked his forehead with Confusion.
"Kid, I know you humans are very good at training Pokemon now, with move combinations, type advantages, tactical coordination..."
It paused.
"But that whole set of things doesn't suit me."
Roy didn't speak, waiting for it to continue.
"I don't like being trained," Gastly said, its tone unusually serious. "And I don't like fighting."
"Besides," it floated back to the doorway, its back to Roy, "I have to keep my promise."
"The maiden who jumped off the cliff?"
"Yeah." Gastly's mist swayed gently. "I watched her jump, watched her soul get trapped on this coast."
"She's been waiting for that person to return."
"I promised her I would help her find news of her lover."
Gastly turned around and grinned, but the smile lacked its usual cunning.
"Even though I haven't found anything for a thousand years, I can't just give up halfway."
"And this is something I promised her; she was very good to me."
Roy was silent for a moment, then nodded. "I understand."
"Actually~ I'm not very good at fighting..." Gastly began to speak from another perspective.