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The fire trucks arrived first, followed by the ambulances.
Then came the police escorts.
Bian Zhen received basic first aid from the paramedics but refused to get into the ambulance, choosing instead to wait outside the fire zone for the firefighters to finish extinguishing the blaze and clear the area.
No amount of persuasion could change her mind. She crouched alone by the emergency lane barrier, her Salamence standing guard beside her like a bodyguard.
The dragon Pokémon snarled at anyone who approached, its fierce expression and raised claws deterring even the most persistent medical staff.
Several paramedics considered forcing her to comply, but with Bian Zhen's stubborn attitude, what else could they do?
They could only move on to treat other injured victims.
In the distance, Li Xiang sat on the roof of their RV with Riolu and the others, watching the scene with a strange mix of emotions.
The torn, half-destroyed RV. The missing man. The suspicious landslide. The explosion caused by improperly handled diesel in the van—likely smuggled.
With all these factors combined, who would believe there wasn't something fishy going on?
At the same time, the target of the attack seemed to be Bian Zhen and her missing companion.
What exactly were those people after?
As he pondered this, his father's voice came from behind.
"I've washed up. Your turn."
Li Zhehan wiped his damp hair, exhaustion still evident on his face. He had driven for hours, then rushed into a burning building to save people. If not for his relatively young age (early thirties) and the naturally robust physique of people in this world, he might have collapsed already.
"Got it. Go get some sleep, Dad."
Li Xiang nodded. He was genuinely worried his father might keel over from exhaustion—after all, he might have died that way in his past life.
Of course,
Li Zhehan worked out daily. Just a few days ago, he had demonstrated his strength by squeezing orange juice with his bare hands. Unlike the office-bound Li Xiang from his previous life—half-disabled from sitting too long—there was a clear difference.
"You guys worked hard."
He rubbed his Pokémon's heads one by one before returning them to their Poké Balls.
But when he reached for Torracat, the fiery feline took a step back, avoiding the recall.
"Huh? What's wrong?"
Li Xiang blinked in confusion.
"Meow."
Torracat let out a soft cry, its amber eyes locked onto Li Xiang before flickering toward the distant plumes of smoke and flickering flames. Its expression was steeled with determination.
Twenty minutes earlier, Li Xiang had told his mother he couldn't just sit in the car—he was worried about his father. So he ran off with Riolu and Frogadier, leaving Torracat behind to guard the RV.
But did he really think Torracat could just sit still? That it wouldn't worry about him? That it wouldn't want to follow him and help?
Of course it did.
But it hadn't gone.
Torracat knew it couldn't help. As a Fire-type, it was useless in a fire. And as it watched the inferno from the RV's window—the towering smoke, the violent explosions—
It felt its claws digging into its own heart. Every second spent waiting in the car was torture.
Torracat wanted to go with Li Xiang. It was terrified something might happen to him.
The thought of Li Xiang being swallowed by a secondary explosion made fear and anger boil inside it, impossible to suppress.
Why couldn't it go?
Because the fire was too big, and it had no way to extinguish it.
Why didn't it have a way to extinguish it?
Because its bell could only absorb tiny flames—nothing on that scale.
And then there was the Buzzwole attack. A single punch had knocked it out cold, leaving it injured for weeks.
If Li Xiang hadn't been lucky enough to encounter Frogadier, he might have died that day.
And the root of all that helplessness?
Weakness.
Torracat realized now that the strength it had once been so proud of was nothing.
It had only been bullying other weak Pokémon.
"Meow."
Torracat crouched low, flames flickering in its amber eyes, its desire for power burning uncontrollably.
On the other side, Li Xiang just looked puzzled. Without words, he couldn't fully grasp Torracat's thoughts—let alone the emotional journey it had gone through.
If it didn't want to go back into its PokéBall, fine.
"Let's head down. Don't keep them waiting."
He patted Torracat's head. He had always been a little biased toward this one—his first Pokémon, the one who had stuck with him through his clueless early days.
Torracat watched as Li Xiang climbed down the ladder, then silently followed.
After his shower, Li Xiang stepped out of the cramped RV bathroom, towel drying his hair, only to find Torracat waiting right outside the door.
"Regressing to old habits?"
He raised an eyebrow. Back when Torracat was still a Litten, it used to love sitting outside the bathroom, greeting him with a meow when he came out.
But after evolving—and after Riolu joined the team—that habit had disappeared.
So why now? Was it nostalgia?
Before he could ask, loud voices came from near the RV's front door.
"Please, sir, ma'am—just give me a ride! I'll pay you when we get there! Just take me to the City, I'm begging you!"
The speaker was none other than Bian Zhen, her body wrapped in bandages, her face streaked with dirt and desperation.
In front of her, Li Zhehan and Mrs. Yin exchanged uneasy glances.
"Miss, you should be heading to a hospital. If you need to contact someone, you can use my phone," Li Zhehan said firmly. "Your injuries are serious. An infection could be dangerous."
"He's right. It's not that we don't want to help, but you really need medical attention," Mrs. Yin added.
Under normal circumstances, they would've agreed without hesitation. But Bian Zhen's condition was critical—who knew what might happen if they ignored it?
"I'm fine, really!"
Bian Zhen reached for her bandages as if to tear them off and prove her resilience—
But before she could, she swayed dangerously, her vision blurring.
Behind her, her Salamence growled in concern.
Flying in this cold weather would be suicidal, and her injuries made it impossible anyway.
"Miss!"
Mrs. Yin moved to steady her, but Bian Zhen waved her off.
"Please… just take me to the City. It's not far. I'll go to the hospital there. I'll pay you well—anything you want!"
Then, to Li Xiang's shock, the woman dropped to her knees and prepared to kowtow.
Li Zhehan and Mrs. Yin grabbed her before she could.
"No, no—you'll shorten our lifespans!"
Li Zhehan sighed. "Miss, you're putting us in a difficult position. This isn't about money."
"Kind sir, I know you're the one who saved me. Please, just help me one more time. I'm desperate. A phone won't work—they won't answer!"
Tears welled in Bian Zhen's eyes. "My partner… my lover is missing. I can't waste time. The firefighters will just send me to a hospital!"
'That's a lot to unpack.'
Li Xiang wanted to tell his parents to refuse.
Bian Zhen was clearly trouble. Letting her into their RV was asking for disaster.
But she was on her knees, begging despite her injuries. She hadn't used her Salamence to threaten them—just pleaded.
That had to mean she wasn't a bad person, right?
…Unless this was all an act.
But if this was acting, Li Xiang mused, staring at the blood still seeping from her head, then she was one of the best performers in the world.
His parents were kindhearted.
Li Xiang knew that. If he spoke up now and urged them to refuse, they'd probably agree just to teach him a lesson about compassion.
Besides, did he have proof Bian Zhen was dangerous? No. Just gut feelings and speculation.
And let's be real— A thirteen-year-old didn't exactly have veto power in family decisions.
In the end, Bian Zhen boarded the RV.
Li Zhehan bought extra medical supplies from the ambulance, and with their own first-aid kit, they could at least stabilize her for now.
In the bedroom, Mrs. Yin helped Bian Zhen change her bandages and administered some basic medication. She wasn't a doctor, but she knew enough to handle emergencies.
Li Xiang slipped into the passenger seat, watching his tired father rub his face as they waited for the road to clear.
"Dad, you actually let her on?"
Li Zhehan pulled out four Poké Balls from his pocket. "She got on her knees and begged. Handed over her Pokémon, too. Covered in injuries. How could I say no?"
"But what she said—"
"Li Xiang, not every place in the world has signal towers or fiber optics," Li Zhehan said seriously. "Saizhou isn't like Qingcheng. There are places phones just don't reach."
I know that.
Li Xiang held back a sigh. He still thought Bian Zhen was suspicious.
"Helping others… sometimes helps yourself too, son." Li Zhehan reached over and pinched his cheek. "If I were in her position, I might not be as strong as she is."
Li Xiang fell silent. His father was good at empathy—always thinking from others' perspectives, just like him.
So despite his earlier refusals, Li Zhehan had probably already decided to help. He'd just been waiting to see what Mrs. Yin thought.
"Saving a life earns more merit than building a seven-story pagoda," Li Xiang muttered under his breath.
If his father, after all his kindness, still couldn't escape the fate of his past life…
Then Li Xiang would never believe in "good people get good rewards" again.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
Li Xiang stood. "Mom's driving next, right? Where are you sleeping?"
"The couch, obviously. I'm not stealing a bed from an injured woman." Li Zhehan winked.
Technically, there was another bed above the driver's seat, but it couldn't be lowered while the RV was moving.
"Living saint," Li Xiang said, clasping his hands in mock prayer.
"Why do you keep doing gestures I've never seen? Is it a school trend?"
Li Zhehan, still in his early thirties, was young enough to care about staying hip.
"An old man in my dreams taught me."
Li Xiang brushed it off with a half-truth.
Before long, the road ahead cleared.
Mrs. Yin emerged from the bedroom, taking over the driver's seat and adjusting their GPS route.
Li Zhehan groaned as he stretched out on the couch—he was exhausted.
Li Xiang glanced at his parents, still uneasy about Bian Zhen, and decided to check on her in the bedroom.
With that, the family set off once more.