noveltune Chapter 289: On their first date, Xia, mustering her courage, confesses her feelings.
Chapter 289: On their first date, Xia, mustering her courage, confesses her feelings.
Chapter 289 A One-Day Date: Xia, Mustering Her Courage, Confesses Her Feelings.
The Quartz Convention may not be considered a major event in other regions, but in Kanto, it is one of the biggest events. It is because of this event that people who set up stalls and sell things in the Quartz Plateau can make a fortune.
If the champion of the Indigo League came to help promote the booth, it would be an epic boost to the booth's popularity. That's why the booth owner was so eager to help when he saw that Ash was the visitor.
As the stall owner deliberately shouted loudly, people around were all attracted to come over.
"Ash? Is that Ash?!"
"It really seems to be true! I didn't even recognize him at first. Shouldn't he be on Dragon Island by now?"
"I knew it! How could someone imitate Ash so perfectly! Not only does he look like him, but even Pikachu looks exactly the same!"
"Stop exaggerating, don't all Pikachu look the same?"
Ash's Pikachu is special!
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People around Ash started talking because of his appearance. Ash finally understood why so many people had looked at him strangely along the way, but no one had come up to him for autographs or anything like that.
He clearly didn't ask Mewtwo to cover it up.
It turns out that everyone thought he had already gone to Dragon Island, so it was impossible for him to appear in a place like this. The person who appeared here was just someone who imitated Ash very well, which is why no one came up to look for him.
As for why the stall owner recognized you at a glance—he didn't care whether you were the real Ash or a fake Ash. Since you appeared at his stall, even if you were fake, you had to be real!
That's how his stall's popularity explodes!
Even he didn't expect that the Ash in front of him was indeed the real Ash!
Seeing the crowd gathering around, Ash sighed and rubbed his forehead. It seemed he would have to ask Mewtwo to cover them up again after they finished playing in this place, otherwise they wouldn't be able to go anywhere else.
"Give us twenty rounds first!" Xiaoxia noticed the crowd gathering around her and quickly said to the stall owner.
First, let's get the starfish plushie!
"Alright, here you go." The stall owner handed the long gun loaded with rubber bullets to Ash. Ash saw the longing look in Misty's beautiful eyes and said, "Misty, you go first. Togepi, give it to me."
"Should I come?"
"Okay, you play ten times first, then save half for me." Actually, one shot is fine, but if he saves ten, he can help Xiaoxia get all the toys except for the starfish.
Upon hearing this, Xiaoxia handed the Togepi to Xiaozhi and took the toy gun from Xiaozhi's hand.
"Hiss—whoosh—" Xiaoxia took a deep breath, nervously lifted the spear, and carefully aimed at the Starmie plushie. To be honest, even gym battles didn't seem as nerve-wracking as playing this game.
"Bang!!" After aiming for a few seconds, Xiaoxia fired the first shot, and unsurprisingly, it missed.
For someone handling firearms for the first time, even with a toy gun, it's difficult to accurately hit the target, even though that starfish doll wasn't a small target.
Xiaoxia was a little disappointed when she missed the first shot, but she quickly cheered herself up and fired the second shot, the third shot—it wasn't until the seventh shot that her bullet finally hit the starfish!
Before Xiaoxia could cheer, the rubber bullet that had hit the starfish fell limply after making contact with it.
"How—how could it be? It didn't fall down?!" Xiaoxia exclaimed in disbelief. She was certain that the bullet had hit the starfish with absolute accuracy, so how could it not fall?!
"Please, young lady, if I could just snatch the doll and knock it down, how could I possibly keep doing business? After all, the doll is so big, it wouldn't be difficult to hit it at all," the stall owner said bluntly, shrugging his shoulders.
Some unscrupulous vendors would place fixed cans behind the dolls so that the dolls wouldn't fall even if a bullet hit them. He didn't do anything like that; he simply reduced the force of the gun.
A single hit will move the doll a little distance, but it takes multiple hits to make it fall down; this is common knowledge in this area.
It's not like he's playing any tricks or anything. If he could shoot you down in one go, even the worst person would be able to hit the target once or twice out of ten shots, right? If he could guarantee you a toy for two hundred dollars, wouldn't he be in business?
Aside from playing a trick when calling Xiaozhi's name, the boss was really unreliable. If you bought those dolls on the wall separately, they would cost more than two hundred dollars each!
So no matter what, it's impossible for someone to knock it down with a single shot unless they are extremely skilled and can hit the doll's balance point, causing it to fall. Otherwise, normally, to make the doll fall, you would need to hit it at least five times.
After hearing what the stall owner said, Xiaoxia felt that there was some truth to it. With such a large size, even a beginner like her could easily hit it. If it could be taken down with one shot, wouldn't that be a huge loss?
Misty fired three more shots, but unfortunately, none of them hit their mark. Somewhat disappointed, she handed the toy gun back to Ash, then took Togepi from Ash and encouraged him, "Good luck, Ash!"
"Don't worry, I'll definitely get you what you want!" Ash promised Misty with a bright smile.
After he finished speaking, he didn't even look at Xiaoxia's flushed cheeks, but instead pointed the gun in his hand at the doll above and gestured for its name.
The boss leisurely smoked a cigarette, completely unfazed by Ash's appearance. Although Ash was the champion of the Indigo League, Pokémon battles and shooting were two completely different things. No matter how someone without professional training played this game, he would always come out ahead.
Generally speaking, if you can get a plush toy after playing three or four times, you're considered to have good skills. Some people can't even get one after playing ten times, and they might even give one to the other person out of pity.
Therefore, the boss can rest assured and is not afraid of losing money at all, which is the result of long-term market accumulation!
"Bang!" Without warning, Xiao Zhi fired a shot. He didn't even aim; he just picked up the gun with one hand and fired. This action startled the boss. Could this kid really know how to do it?!
However, Ash's first shot missed. The bullet was still a bit far from Starmie, not even managing to graze it. Seeing this, the boss breathed a sigh of relief, but the next second, the gunshot rang out again!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Ash pulled the trigger three times in a row, and three bullets flew out one after another, hitting the three corners above Starmie solidly. Starmie lost its balance and was knocked down.
"Alright, got one first!" Ash excitedly pumped his fist, then aimed the gun at the next plush toy, a Goldeen, one of Misty's Pokémon, which Misty would surely like.
It was another three shots in quick succession, each hitting the weakest point on the doll's balance. In the blink of an eye, Ash also got Goldeen.
After getting used to the recoil of the toy gun and the trajectory of the bullets, Xiao Zhi took down a jellyfish with his last three bullets. Except for the first shot which was a miss, all the other bullets hit their targets!
All of this happened in the blink of an eye. By the time the boss realized what was happening, he had already lost four dolls!
"Wow—that's amazing! Ash, how are you so good! Ahhh! These are all my favorites! You're so awesome, Ash!" The stunned Misty only reacted a few seconds after the last bullet fell. She excitedly hugged Ash, squeezing the Togepi in her arms flat.
However, this level of pressure is nothing to Togepi. Despite her small size, Togepi is already at the advanced level, and even a stronger pressure would be nothing to her.
Ash was enveloped by arms as white as jade around his neck, and the warm fragrance emanated from Misty's body. Her soft, delicate body pressed against his, making him somewhat flustered. It was the first time he had ever been treated like this by a girl.
When Xiaoxia and Xiaozhi embraced each other warmly, the stall owner was dumbfounded. He wanted to use Xiaozhi as a source of traffic to attract people, but he did not expect Xiaozhi to be so good at fighting!
It's one thing to be good at fighting monsters, but why is he so good at shooting too? Ten bullets took down three dolls, and one of them even missed! That's just too outrageous!
If everyone were a sharpshooter like Xiaozhi, he wouldn't need to do this business anymore; he could just pack up and leave!
The boss looked at Xiaozhi with trepidation, afraid that Xiaozhi would say "do it twice more".
After excitedly hugging Ash, Xiaoxia realized what she had done and quickly let go, then hugged Togepi tightly in her arms, her face as red as an apple, unable to say a word.
Pikachu, standing to the side, covered its mouth, trying not to laugh, looking just like a mouse that had stolen some food.
After a brief moment of surprise, Xiao Zhi said to the boss, "Um, could you please wrap up those dolls I shot down?"
"Okay—okay, I'll pack them up right away!" Hearing Xiao Zhi's words, it was clear that he had no intention of continuing to play, which relieved the boss. He then hurriedly helped Xiao Zhi pack the dolls, putting the three dolls into three separate bags and handing them to Xiao Zhi.
Ash noticed that Misty didn't seem to have any hands to carry it, so he carried it himself and let Misty go with him to the next location.
After Xiaozhi left, some people followed him, while others played around at the shooting booth. Since Xiaozhi had demonstrated how to make the doll fall down, everyone knew how.
Knowing the method is one thing, being able to do it is another. In the end, the best score for everyone requires about three rounds of shooting, which means it costs 600 yuan to get a doll. Some people with poor skills need to shoot seven or eight rounds.
For the boss, although he lost money in one round, he made more than one round of profit. The influence brought by Xiao Zhi later directly made him exceed the turnover of several days. He didn't expect Xiao Zhi's name to be so useful. He should have given Xiao Zhi two dolls to take away as a token of gratitude.
After Ash left the shooting stall, he led Misty around, turning left and right. With the help of Mewtwo, they shook off all the people who had followed them. Then, using Mewtwo's psychic powers, they blurred their presence. When they went out again, no one was following them.
The two then spent some more time exploring the Quartz Plateau before heading back in the evening. Xiaoxia had a very fruitful day, not only getting several plush toys but also catching a ton of goldfish. She ate and drank to her heart's content, and when she got tired, Xiaozhi even carried her on his back.
For Xiaoxia, today was an incredibly happy day.
For Ash, today was also a special day. Even though he had been traveling with Misty all along, Misty gave him a completely different feeling today.
Before, they were just ordinary companions, but today Xia is special. From the moment Xia said the word "date," they may have already begun to move beyond being just ordinary companions.
The two walked all the way to their temporary home. After today, they would be going back to Pallet Town. In five days, Ash would be heading to Dragon Island. The two stood at the door for a long time before finally speaking in unison.
"that----"
"Ash————"
Both were taken aback when they saw the other speak. Xiao Zhi scratched his head and said, "You go first."
"Hmm~ I wanted to say—I'm really happy today, Ash!"
Me too.
"I like you."
"Me too—ah?" Xiaozhi was about to reply with the same sentence, but he immediately realized what Xiaoxia had said.
Ash stared blankly at Misty, whose pretty face was flushed red under the glow of the sunset, but her emerald green eyes met Ash's gaze without flinching. She wouldn't run away.
Xiaoxia could tell from their interaction today that Xiaozhi wasn't indifferent to her, but she was waiting for this blockhead to confess, and who knows when that would be.
Although it might seem a bit too forward for a girl to confess her feelings, you should actively pursue things that are truly good!
She is the Gym Leader of Cerulean City. Even though she can travel with Ash for a short time now, she still has to go back to Cerulean City to take charge. She can't travel with Ash forever.
Ash's journey has only just begun. How long can she stay by Ash's side? Maybe a month, maybe two months, before she has to go back to the Cerulean Gym. That's why Misty doesn't want to have any regrets.
Whether it was the spontaneous invitation to date that day or the sudden confession now, it was all prepared in advance. No matter how shy or how difficult it was to say it, she was determined to express her true feelings.
Whether a girl confesses her feelings or she rejects her, it doesn't matter. The important thing is to have no regrets!