"Manga?"
Xia You raised his eyebrows; he had never considered that direction.
Sakuragi Yoshino said, "That's right! Compared to text and illustrations, manga can interpret the story's excitement more directly, and it's also more popular with young people."
"Won't it be too much trouble?"
Sakuragi Yoshino's tone was full of anticipation as she chuckled, "It will be a bit troublesome, but the structure and framework of the story are already complete. Now, all we need to do is express them. Besides, I'm idle at home, and if I can draw a manga like this, it would fulfill a dream of mine."
Since she put it that way, Xia You had no reason to refuse. He then discussed some details with Sakuragi Yoshino before hanging up the phone.
Because the plan had changed, he sent a message to Xiao Xia, telling her that they didn't need to wait for him and could continue their journey after challenging the Goldenrod City Gym.
For the next two days, Xia You gathered material at Maiden's Peak, maintaining contact with Sakuragi Yoshino to provide her with relevant supplementary information.
It wasn't until the third day, after receiving her call and learning that she had completed over twenty pages of the first draft, that Xia You set off and returned to Vermilion City.
Professor Sakuragi's house was a typical Japanese detached home, not far from the research lab. Knowing Xia You would be coming, Professor Sakuragi didn't go to the lab but waited for him at home.
And since it was a Saturday, the entire family of four, including Koharu and her younger brother Sota, came out to greet him.
Seeing Xia You, Yamper wagged its tail and circled around him excitedly.
Looking at the neatly assembled family, Xia You couldn't help but feel a bead of sweat on his forehead.
Strange, why did it feel like he was visiting his mother-in-law for the first time, empty-handed?
As the host, Professor Sakuragi was the first to speak: "Welcome, welcome, please come in quickly."
Xia You nodded politely, his gaze sweeping over Sota before resting on the hostess: "Nice to meet you for the first time, I am Xia You. I apologize for the intrusion."
Sakuragi Yoshino wore red-rimmed round glasses. Her appearance was somewhat similar to Koharu's, but her face was rounder and more mature. Her long, cherry-colored hair was styled into a side braid, draped over her left shoulder.
As for Sakuragi Sota, he resembled Professor Sakuragi more. The little boy was somewhat cool, a typical handsome young boy. Although he was a few years younger than Koharu, he seemed mature for his age and appeared even more reliable than Koharu.
Slightly reserved, he changed into slippers and entered the house, making his way to the living room.
Sakuragi Yoshino took out a transparent bag and retrieved the twenty-odd pages of manga from it.
"For now, I've only drawn these. I estimate I'll need another one hundred ninety-five pages to present the rest of the story, but since there aren't many complex compositions, the speed might be even faster."
To calculate it so precisely, she must have put a lot of effort into it.
Xia You flipped through them carefully, admiringly saying, "What excellent artwork! It's such a pity that Auntie isn't a professional mangaka."
As a full-time housewife, being recognized for her abilities was naturally a very happy thing.
"Your story is also very good," Sakuragi Yoshino chuckled, having an excellent first impression of Xia You. "Only a wonderful story combined with excellent artwork can become widely popular."
"You're right," Koharu agreed. "I'm the first reader of this story, and after reading it carefully, it's really captivating."
"I'm the second, and Dad's the third," Sakuragi Sota said, resting his hands behind his neck, a relaxed expression on his face.
However, whether it was his illusion or not, Sota suddenly felt as if there was a round head in Xia You's shadow, making a big scary face at him!
He rubbed his eyes, leaned his head closer, and looked carefully. The next second, something like a black ball suddenly appeared, giving him a huge fright!
"Whoa!!!"
Sota jumped high and fell behind the sofa.
"Hehehe!" Gastly materialized, a mischievous grin on its face. "What a scaredy-cat!"
"Is this the Gastly mentioned in the story?" Professor Sakuragi helped his son up, looking at Gastly with astonishment.
"That's right," Xia You stopped Gastly, then nodded. "To some extent, it's actually the main character of the story."
Sota got up from the floor. Although he had fallen, he wasn't scared. Instead, he circled around Gastly, curiously examining it, clearly very interested in why it was in the shadow.
At noon, the Sakuragi family's warm invitation led Xia You to have lunch at their home. The group chatted and laughed, and for a while, the dining table was filled with ease and joy.
And when Xia You took out the photos he had taken at the bottom of the St. Anne, the four of them gasped in surprise.
Professor Sakuragi's eyes widened. "The news of the St. Anne sinking a few days ago caused a huge stir in Kanto. I can't believe you not only experienced the event but also sank to the bottom of the sea with the ship and then managed to escape!"
Koharu also looked Xia You up and down, as if seeing him anew.
As for Sota, his eyes were practically sparkling with extreme admiration for him: "Xia You Gege, you are just too—cool!"
...
After finalizing the completion date with Sakuragi Yoshino, Xia You set off again, heading to Goldenrod City.
Goldenrod, meaning the brilliant color of gold.
This time, the only Pokémon accompanying him, besides Kirlia, was Gastly, hidden in his shadow. As for his other Pokémon, they were all stored in their Poké Balls.
Nothing else happened along the way.
By the time he arrived at this super metropolis in the Kanto region, Ash and his companions had already left for other Gym cities.
However, according to Xiao Xia, they faced many difficulties when challenging the Goldenrod Gym. After failing their first attempt, they endured many hardships and had to go to Lavender Town's Pokémon Tower. Only after catching a Haunter did they rely on its power to successfully obtain the gym badge.
Because of this, they also wasted two days, so their current distance from Xia You was not very far.
Goldenrod City was filled with skyscrapers. It was not only the central business district of the Kanto region but also boasted the largest infrastructure in the region. There was even a maglev train station connecting to the Johto region, with countless trains traveling between Goldenrod City and Goldenrod City at speeds up to 550 kilometers per hour, bringing economic vitality to these two equally important cities.
Passing through the bustling streets, Xia You went directly to the Goldenrod Gym.
He looked up.
Its exterior resembled many white umbrellas tightly packed together, full of design flair, but it was too monotonous. In Xia You's opinion, it was slightly inferior to other Gyms.
As the current official Gym of Goldenrod City, its Gym Leader was Natsume, who specialized in Psychic-type Pokémon and was very formidable. However, upon defeating her, one could obtain the Golden gym badge.
Entering the Gym through the automatic doors, Xia You looked around.
The lobby was empty, and no one was there to greet him. After walking a few steps forward, he looked through a door and saw a group of people in white coats sitting at a table in a nearby room, holding spoons and staring intently at them, seemingly practicing some Psychic abilities!