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[Lyca]

Warning: This story will will be pretty mature in themes and speech. Proceed with caution. Will edit warnings when they happen in-story.

Table of Contents

0 - Introduction (this post)
Prologue - The Dust Settles
Chapter 1 - Three Years later

...

Introduction

The world of Pokemon shouldn't need a lot of explanation. Get thrown into the region of your game, collect your starter, challenge the gym leaders, stop an evil crime organization, become champion and Pokemon master. Or, you know, anything that Ash Ketchum is not doing at any given time, especially the last few bits.

However, in the midst of the Pokemon games that have been released all over the world, there is one certain bootleg that this story will be about. A bootleg of Pokemon Crystal, shoddily translated from Japanese to Chinese and then to English, was discovered somewhere in the far east and was thus named "Vietnamese Crystal". It gained fame mostly for its translation, which was so bad, it actually broke the game at certain points (or any point, really).

What prompted me to create the following piece of writing was the inherent lewd and sometimes downright scary nature of the awful translation, ranging from "[Player] found a Potion! [Player] put the Potion into his/her bag" becoming "[Player] DRUG! BAG FUCK" to the renaming of several healing items into "drugs" as the example shows. After quite a bit of thinking, I threw together a concept and ran with it. I have already completed this story somewhere else, but I wanted to do it justice with a re-write of the entire thing.

This is the result. The names for Pokemon, cities, NPCs and mostly everything else will be changed to how they are named within the bootleg, with footnotes explaining their origin.

This story will follow the main protagonists Baba (Kris) and Deku (Silver) on their journey through this world, presented in a first perspective kind of way. Occasionally, like in the upcoming prologue, other characters will speak. Who is speaking during a specific chapter will always be apparent by the subtitle of the chapter.

This story is loosely based on TwitchPlaysPokemon's 9 month long "one-input-at-a-time" run of Vietnamese Crystal that happened during 2015. There is absolutely zero knowledge of TPP required to enjoy this story, however.

I also took slight liberties with the in-game canon, for example:

• Giovanni is not Silver's father, but grandfather.
• Clair and Lance are siblings instead of cousins.
• Anime!Bill is a thing who is not the same thing as Ingame!Bill.

To get you started, I shall provide a short glossary of the terms which will appear in the following prologue:

• The names for Tohjo, Johto and Kanto are changed to Chengdu, Shangdao and Guandong respectively.
• Pokemon are named Elfs now.
• The Elite 4 are now named the Four Emperors.
• Likewise, Pokemon Trainers are called Elf Coaches now.
• Red is now named Sho, and the then member of the Elite 4 Lance now wears the very fancy name Wangdalu, or being affectionately shortened to "Du".
• Team Rocket also received a new title, that being Missile Bomb.
• Dragonites are now called Guail, Blastoises Guiki.
• Yifuji is Clair, and Jialun is Karen.

Should you have any issue with these translations, I will provide a mouseover translation of the terms in every story if it appears.

With that out of the way, let us begin. If you wish to immerse yourself in the horrifying translation of this bootleg beforehand (And I recommend doing that), consult the TVTropes page of Vietnamese Crystal and the Let's Play of DeliciousCinnamon on Youtube.

[Solymr]

PTW

[Lyca]

Prologue - The Dust Settles
In which Wangdalu is stressed out


Oh my.

I hadn't expected to not only being challenged by one snotty teenager, but by two of them.
However, this one was far more well behaved than his counterpart and rival, so I took full pleasure in the fight that unfurled right before my eyes.
This boy, Sho was his name if I remember right, excelled in the control and speed of his commands, and his Elfs followed his orders with such swiftness, I could have thought they communicated telepathically and all his shouting did was to obscure his abilities.
Nevertheless, I was down to my last Elf while he still had three at his disposal. Me, Wangdalu, leader of the Four Emperors, the group of the four strongest Coaches in the entirety of the Chengdu region, being beaten down twice today?
Not going to happen. This last one shall overpower all of his.

"GUAIL! Show this chump what we're made of!" I yelled and released my most well trained dragon. His only loss was a fluke, a lucky hit by the opponents horn drill attack, KO'ing it instantly. This wouldn't happen again.
The boy remained silent and ordered his gigantic turtle to get ready.
"Listen, this beast beat all your siblings, be careful." I ordered Guail to remain vigilant, as I feared the ice beam attacks of this boy's Elf could eliminate my partner quicker than I could react.
"Guiki, make this quick. Ice Beam." Sho wasted not a single second. Luckily, I did not need to issue any command myself, as the survival instincts of my partner kicked in and it flew in a large arc around the turtle.
However, the Guiki hadn't used its full power until now. When it defeated my other Elfs, it was only the arena floor that froze up slightly. Now, I was treated to the entire building being put into a thick layer of ice; thorns and clusters of spikes littered the wooden ceiling, the walls, and the floor itself in a span of seconds.
Soon, Guail wouldn't have a place to land on, and the range it could fly around freely would be greatly diminished, especially at the high speeds it was naturally capable of. I hadn't expected such a change in power.

Quick.

"Guail, aim a Hyper Beam at him, mid-flight!" I screamed over the cackling sounds of the ice beam that was still being fired at full force. I wondered when that turtle had to stop ever so slightly to breath again, it just couldn't continue on like this.
Shooting such a massive laser while constantly dodging the frosty avalanche was a massive gamble, but I could neither let it close the distance to deliver a hand-to-hand blow, nor could any other attack even put a dent into the sturdy shell of this magnificent Elf. My precious fossil bird paid the price just minutes prior.
Guail was a smart creature, but what happened in mere seconds, played out like an eternity in my eyes. It stopped in the air directly behind the Guiki to buy the precious time needed, took a deep breath in hope to have bought enough time to fully execute the move, but the destructive beam of ice caught up to it way too fast and encased it in a frozen tomb.
"Was that all?" Sho remarked as he observed my partner, his voice as cold as the room we stood in.
I let out a sigh. I was surprised anyone knew of the key weakness of dragons, but... I had that boy as an opponent. I should've known. I really should've known and prepared myself.
"Yes, I'm afraid. That was my all. Well done Sho. Well done." I hid my frustration and weakly raised my Elf ball to recall Guail through the icy barriers.
I took solace in the fact that this was merely a battle of friendly competition, and not a situation of life and death. Quite unlike what must've happened to Sho's previous opponents, and my mortal enemies.

He was the reason the dreaded organization that called itself Missile Bomb was finally disbanded, all of their members were either dead or hid away. I did not know what fueled the vendetta Sho had for them, but it was a surprise to have him as an ally when he suddenly took up arms against them. He almost singlehandedly broke into their main hideouts, viciously tore up everyone who stood in his way and essentially ended the stalemate our honourable clan had with them after years of heavy losses on both sides.

I was indebted to him, to say the least.

I observed Sho as he withdrew his partner as well, and I caught a smile escaping the stoic face I was used to. A smile, directed at the Elf ball in his hands which faded slightly as he approached me. But by the time he reached me, it had disappeared again.
"Sho," I greeted him, "I can only repeat myself. You're truly a tremendous coach and it had been an honour battling you. I fully understand how you've defeated Missile Bomb now."
"You're Wangdalu, huh? New leader of the dragon clan?" Sho sneered at me.
I extended my hand in a friendly gesture. "Indeed I am. This war was a tragedy on every side and I am truly grateful that you were the deciding factor. I-"

I was instantly cut off by Sho. "Don't bullshit me. I have no interest in your petty political play. I don't care about the reasons you started killing each other, I don't care about neither your nor their ideals, if you even have any. The only reason I became involved is because I became stuck in the crossfire, by Missile Bomb. And because you were too incompetent to end it, I did." He said in a mild fury, his rage clearly contained behind his frozen expression.

I stood there dumbstruck, my hand still extended. "I see… I apologize if I came off the wrong way. However, even if you don't want any part of it, I feel like I am in debt. If I can help you with something, let me know." I reasoned. Now with Missile Bomb gone, I should have enough resources to fulfill this man's every wish.
Sho eyed me for a second, probably unsure if I was telling the truth or hiding behind forced niceties. He took a deep breath. "Silence." He said at last. "I want silence. All of you piss me off. I… just want to be alone."
I smiled. I knew the perfect place. "Consider it done." I answered and his face lit up slightly. "I know a place where you can settle, if you wish."

He hesitated for a moment, but then grabbed my hand and shook it. "Good," he said in a serious tone, "Now where can I register myself in your little Hall of Fame or rather 'Don't-fuck-with-me' list of coaches."


I started to frown. I had expected that the two rivals would know where the other was at all times. Apparently, that was not the case. "Although you have beaten all four Emperors, and technically qualify as champion of the Chengdu League, there is a small technicality in the rules that I had stumbled upon myself back when I challenged the League some time ago." I sighed, and took a deep breath. Sho surely wasn't going to like it, and his expectant look confirmed his tension for me. "Basically, there can only be one person being crowned champion for the day and thus enter the Hall of Fame. Any other day would have been fine, especially as it is so late already, but with someone else having beaten me today, you need to compete in one more fight before you are allowed to register yourself into the Hall of Fame.
"And that person would be your rival." I ended my lengthy speech about this bureaucratic nonsense.
"No. Fucking. Way." Sho exploded in response to my explanation. He angrily adjusted his red and white cap and stormed off towards the stairs into the next room. "Fine then," he stopped just short of the door. "I'll beat that idiot too if I need to. Wangdalu, after that shitshow has ended, you have one chance to fulfill your promise. Don't, and you can kiss your ass goodbye. Heard me?"
I recoiled at the sudden change of attitude of the young man. "Absolutely." I answered as I saw him leave through the door.

Truly a difficult case.


***


Late at night, although exhausted from the battles and appeasing the unstable nature of Sho, I found myself leaning over every single document I could find about Sho and his rival in my living room at home. Their birthdays, their relationship towards each other, their family - or lack thereof - , their education. Everything I could get my hands on.

And I would've been much more successful about memorizing the information if it weren't for two annoying feet burrowing themselves into my right hip. "Du, you haven't even taken your uniform off since you came home. Which happened about three hours ago." I heard from the other side of the couch.
My sister Yifuji crammed her delicate body into the remaining space of the couch to read a novel some time ago, and I didn't remember for how long she had been observing me.
"This is important, sis." I merely replied, focussed on the papers.
She wasn't having any of it. "Oh come on. You haven't been this stressed since you had your final exams in dragon mastery. What's up?" She nagged me.

I threw up my hands in resignation. "Okay. Fine. Listen, even though we should celebrate, I got beaten by two coaches today. The same ones who beat Missile Bomb. If I want to have any chance of not suffering the same fate as them, I need to learn everything about them. Everything, you hear me? So yes, I am stressed."
My rant was met with stunned silence.
I heard Yifuji closing her book and putting it away. "S-s-someone beat you?" She stammered.
With how competitive I had been all throughout my life, and with how many battles I had lost prior to this day - a marginal amount - it must've been quite a surprise for her too.

To suppress the shame I hesitated with an answer and instead avoided the question entirely by staring at the papers. I caught a sentence here and there, but my sight became unfocused and blurry.
I was soon gently kicked out of my stasis and noticed her legs now laying on my lap. "Everyone loses from time to time. And there is no shame to it, not against those two." She tried to cheer me up.
I resigned against her motivational speech and fell back against the cushions and looked towards the ceiling. "There isn't?" I asked, embarrassed.
"Yea. Come on," she answered and tried to motivate me further, "It had been so long since we had fun. Everything is so serious now, and just once, it would do you good to let go, just for a second."

Not deterred by her pleas to goof off, I leaned in towards the papers again, but was promptly held back by something pressing against my chest. I looked down and saw Yifuji's leg firmly pressed against my chest and pushing me backwards. "No more work," she said, "You'll be more productive when you had a good night's rest and can think straight again."

I followed the source of the force pulling me back and gazed upon absolutely clean shaven legs draped in beautiful, dark blue overknee socks and a dress that ended barely above her socks. The dress itself had been a gift from our grandmother, covered everything deemed necessary at the time - a bit too much for my taste - and shone brightly in varied blue hues under the dim light. While I took in her graceful presence, it dawned on me that she actually attended an official gathering today, and I completely forgot to attend myself.
Crud. Hopefully the date who accompanied her was adequate. She had a habit of rejecting men for completely trivial reasons.
I was a wonder she even accepted me.
"So?" Yifuji asked me directly. "You go to sleep, rest, and then we both go on ensuring everything will turn out for the better? To be honest, I'm incredibly tired too," she noted, "You know, this Jialun woman you recently recruited. She's all over you and didn't stop pestering me about you. You should do something about it."

I grunted displeased. I noticed Jialun acting weird towards me, but I clearly didn't need her to confuse doing her job with wanting to do me favours.
I didn't have time for that.
"Ok, fine," I wearingly answered and got up from the couch. The papers would have to wait. "Let's sleep."

[Haspen]

PTRL.

[Lyca]

Chapter 1 - 3 Years Later
In which Baba celebrates her birthday

***

"You really want to start from the beginning?"

"You wanted us to share, so why not?"

"Figures. Sure, go ahead."

***

A ray of sunshine invaded the awful hole I called my room and violently woke me up way earlier than I felt like I wanted to. The light burned itself onto my face and made my head hurt. Just a few more minutes, I wanted to sleep.
I turned around and buried myself completely under my thin, wooly blanket. I didn't want to wake up. Not another day of this.

I tried desperately to fall asleep again, to block out the world for a little longer, but a screeching alarm that went off soon after wouldn't let me. Without looking, I reached over to the nightstand to turn off the loud noises, but then realized in my sleepy state that it wasn't my phone that wanted me to wake up, but actually a clock that stood on my desk that was ringing away like some cruel monster. I rubbed my eyes and prepared myself to face the sun, which shone through a dirty window directly onto me.
It took me a moment to adjust to the brightness, but I managed to move my tired body to my desk and turn off the unholy noise. The clock dutifully told me that is was 7 o'clock in the morning through my blurred vision. A normal time, but somehow I felt much more tired than usual.
Must have been the laundry I had done the day before. That took longer than expected.
With my hand still resting on the clock, I looked around. The clothes from yesterday were scattered across the floor and were still wet and dirty, so I ruled those out. Plus, mom would be so mad if I wore those again. Especially on my own birthday.

Ugh.
As if that mattered. She never cared about anything but how I made her look in public. All those things in my room - dirty old electronics, the mirror, the wall scrolls - were only given to me to make her look like a generous mother. Most had stopped working or started to break down soon after I received them. Except my phone. That one held out for the longest, even though it had been in repairs for a while now. I missed it, as it was the only way to convince her to let me leave the house at all.

I sighed, went over to my wardrobe, and extracted my last set of fresh clothes from it. A tight red shirt whose colors were all washed out and a yellow pair of biker shorts - I had grown out of them years ago, but they would have to do.
I looked to my left and saw myself in the mirror. Kinda presentable, now that I was dressed, but my hair was still a mess. Mom wouldn't like that, so I quickly straightened it with an old brush that lay next to the mirror on the dresser and bound them together into two pigtails. While they now didn't look like my pillow had styled them, they still stuck out like two gigantic bushels of grass. Nervously, I reached over to a can of hairspray, and to my relief, there was still something inside.
After a lot of brushing and a generous helping of hairspray, I hoped these half-straightened, gravity-defying blue pigtails would be enough to avoid too much of a reprimanding.
Cautiously, I exited my room and made my way downstairs, into the kitchen. She probably expected me to make breakfast, as usual, so I was surprised to see her already fully awake and idly chatting away with a friend of hers. And even more unusual, breakfast had already been prepared.

How? She never made breakfast. She was nearly never awake so early, either.
I eyed the table from the stairs in disbelief as something caught my attention. My phone was on the table, right next to my mother's cup of tea! My steps became faster and the last few stairs were taken with a single jump out of excitement.
"Haven't I told you to not rush the stairs like that, Baba?" I heard immediately after I landed. "That's why your phone broke in the first place, silly."
You really didn't need to remind me, mom.
"Gee, Don't make me reconsider giving you your phone back. I really fear that  same thing will happen again," she said with a heavy focus on every word. I always shivered during those kinds of sentences - it usually meant I was in trouble.
Her friend was silent during her lecture and just eyed me from the sidelines, so I was on my own here.
I braced myself for whatever was about to come next; my throat got twisted, and my stomach was turning itself, and not only from hunger.
"Buuut…," she continued, "because it is your birthday, I'm willing to overlook it just this once. Your phone is as good as new, and all the data you need is on it again. Promise to me that you won't endanger yourself like how you just did and treat this with care."
I froze up. "Yes mom, I will. Sorry," was all that came out of my mouth, slightly relieved that this is all what it took.
My mom took a sip of her tea and looked pleased, with her stupid, ominous grin and her dominating face. "Good."

"Won't you tell her about the big news?" I heard her friend suddenly say, slightly concerned, but also expectant, like it would be something to excite me. I swore, if my mother got herself another boyfriend, I'd…
"Oh, right. Yes," my mother jerked up and her previous concerned expression reappeared. "It's just… it really bothers me. Baba. You're eighteen now. Legally an adult. That means…" she trailed off. I didn't know what she was after, but I saw her producing some crocodile tears for effect. She never cried for real. "...Baba. You've run away so often in the last few years. You gave me so much trouble, but I just couldn't let you go into the world all on your own. I still had to teach you so much, and I still need to," she said as she pointed towards the phone, probably referring to how I'd broken it with my own stupidity. "However, now that you're an adult, I can't hold you any longer. And I understand your wish to leave me alone, just… know that I love you."

And here she started lying again. The reason I snuck out at first was that she took me out of school when I was thirteen and forbade me to meet my friends back then, out of a twisted fear I'd have friendships she wouldn't approve of. The "bad crowd," as she put it. "Boys" too. Or anyone else she deemed unfit or a bad influence for her "little troublemaker." She left me with no choice. Okay, over time I began sneaking out to just get away from her constant bickering and berating, but surprise surprise, I was caught each and every time and promptly reminded how much she "loved" me. I still had a small, rather unnoticeable scar near my hips from one of her punishments a year ago.
But no one ever questioned her; everyone else just thought of me as an ungrateful daughter that made my mother unhappy, despite her best efforts.
All of this didn't stop her from making her rant overly dramatic. She simply enjoyed herself way too much to be humble about whatever she was doing a any given time. "I have made arrangements with the local researcher and professor, Dr. Wujisi. He is willing to give you a job to support yourself while you travel to your heart's content," she explained.

Wait a moment. Was she serious?
"Just promise to call me," she ended her speech and handed me my phone back, which I accepted quickly.
"Okay," I appeased her. If she was lying, I could too. And I wasn't going to let that opportunity pass me by.
Freedom, here I come!
"I expect that you will not cause the doctor any trouble and to be on your best behaviour at all times," mom remarked when she saw my beaming eyes. "I have prepared a new backpack and a nice, white jacket for you to make a good first impression, so don't blow it."

Hah, even when she was doing me a favour she still only thought about herself. I confirmed that I wouldn't cause any trouble, grabbed everything she prepared for me, and exited the house with a smile and a wave.
But when the door closed behind me, I wasn't sure what to feel.
She wouldn't chase me, she basically said. I could just skip on meeting this strange nerd… but, oh damn, money. Yeah, I needed money to stay afloat.
So off I went. Hopefully he paid well.

***

"Your mother really sounds like a handful. She pulled you out of school?"

"She didn't like me interacting with anyone she couldn't control, I guess. She never liked me having friends on my own."

"What a bitch."

"Bitch is putting it nicely. You know nothing yet."

***

It didn't take long to find the professor's lab, as it was one of the bigger buildings in this village. However, with every step I took I felt more and more uneasy. Like I was surely about to be stopped. There had to be something, somebody lurking behind a corner, ready to get me. A creeping thought appeared inside my head that constantly told me to run, just run very far away in hopes of not being caught again.

What if this was a play from my mother? This could be her way of testing me, or something stupid like that.

But the closer I got to the laboratory, the more I realized that nothing was going to happen. I'd been walking for a solid thirty minutes and nobody was onto me. In fact, except for a few fleeting glares here and there, nobody bothered with me and those who did, probably were wondering why I was frantically looking around everywhere.
I was at a loss once I crossed the street that led to the lab; too many conflicting thoughts made it too difficult to grasp a single one of them. But I reasoned with myself that nothing could really be worse than spending any more time in that prison my mother called home, so I walked right through the big, double-wide door of the building and was immediately greeted by chaos.
Not just what she would've called chaos, actual chaos. Piles, no,  mountains of paper, books, suitcases and who knows what else littered one corner of the lab, while some men in lab coats cleaned up the other parts. The bookshelves were bursting and creaking under the weight they had to carry as one of the men near me sorted some books.
I wondered if they were doing some kind of spring cleaning, then remembered that it wasn't spring. Regardless, I wandered into the main room and asked where the doctor was; I was promptly directed towards the end of the room, where a nearly bald guy was fussing with some of the wild paper notes on a desk.

"Uhm, hello?" I spoke up, which got me the man's attention.
"Huh? Oh, ohhh, hello! You must be Baba, right? I'm Dr. Wujisi, pleased to meet you," he said while he hastily got up from his seat to greet me with a handshake. Surprised by the sudden jump, I nervously accepted.
He just didn't stop, the words came out of his mouth like the wild torrents of water from the rivers near our village. "So glad to see you, I hope your trip was safe," he spoke without a pause. "You got here just at the right moment. I have a friend who wants something from me, but as you can see, we are extremely busy ourselves, and I wanted to ask you if you could help us out here. Research papers don't write themselves, so any assistance would be greatly appreciated."

When he finally remembered to breathe, he quickly went over to a desk on the other side of the room. I followed him and saw three Elf balls in perfect condition sitting on top of a wooden table, each hooked up to a strange machine that stood in the back. I had seen this type of Elf ball a few times; they were brought to this country about seven years ago to replace the berry-made ones that were the standard here. They were even advertised in this village. "I know that the trip across multiple towns and routes can sometimes be dangerous, especially for such a young lady like you, so I'd like to give you one of my Elfs. Each one of them is something special, and I'll let you choose one. Here," he said as he grabbed some papers, "I've prepared some info on each of them, so feel free to look them over to make your decision."

I hesitated, still unsure of what to think about all of this. I'd heard a lot about Elf ownership from my old friends and from mother, and they all said that it was a lot of work to properly care for them. My former friends thought it was worth the effort, but my mother demonized it, as she never allowed any pets in the house.
I shook my head and reminded myself that this could be the ticket out of my mom's control, so I accepted the reports from Dr. Wujisi. I focused on the pictures - ignoring the complicated text that looked like nerd speak - and a cute mouse called Rided instantly stood out to me. I liked it.
"What about this one?" I asked the doctor and held up Rided's info.
"Oh," he remarked, "that one's clearly the best! Do you like him?"
"Yeah, he looks cute!" I answered truthfully.
The doctor smiled in a kinda creepy way. "Very well then." He grabbed Rided's Elf ball, loosened a few hinges and pushed some buttons to unlock it from the machine, and lightly threw it to the ground, where the mouse Elf immediately jumped onto me once it was released. I had massive trouble keeping him in my arms as he excitedly wiggled around, he even tried to climb on top of me as he sniffed me up and down. When I finally managed to keep him somewhat still, I noticed that his warm, soft fur was so calming to hug. I had never felt something this comforting before.

I made up my mind. I just couldn't pass up travelling with this guy. "Ok, I'll take the job!" I said.
"Great, thank you Baba. Do you want to give him a nickname?" the professor suddenly asked me.
A nickname, then... I looked deep into the slim eyes of the hyperactive little guy. He was still moving around like crazy and I could barely keep hold of him. "Heh… well, I'll call him Best then!"
He was the best, according to Wujisi after all, I reasoned with myself. So that's what he should be called. Best seemed to agree with my choice and let out a happy cry.

"Excellent," Dr. Wujisi said as he moved back to his desk. "Alright, now to business. As I said, a friend of mine wants something from me. A maniac who always comes around with unusual things regarding Elf culture or nature, so we started calling him Elf Grandfather. This time, he tells me he found something truly amazing, but we lack the time to meet up with him. I want you to go over to his house on R30 and see what the fuss is all about."
As he spoke, he arranged another stack of papers and handed them to me in a small folder. "These are the directions. You can't miss it. Also, my phone number is inside, if you need to call me. And don't worry, your mother already gave me your number, so if I need anything from you, don't be surprised if I give you a call. Also, there's some money for you to buy food on the way and to book a hotel room if need be." I opened the folder - no small task with the energetic mouse in my arms - and saw everything he had mentioned. Luckily, the direction were filled with a lot of pictures and mentions of important landmarks to guide me, so I was sure to be able to follow them.

I decided to recall Best inside his ball before he caused any trouble - like messing up the neat stack of books next to Wujisi's desk - and clasped it to my backpack. I gave the folder another look and then stored it away as well.
"That should be everything you need. If Best needs any healing, I have a machine that can heal Elfs in a matter of seconds. Use it whenever you want. Now, go! It should be about a day's walk to his house and back to at least the nearest Monster Center to rest, and I wouldn't like it if you wandered around at night," Dr. Wujisi noted and sent me on my way.

This Wujisi was an interesting man. Overly eager, very enthusiastic about his work, a lot of energy, and probably the most important thing, he was friendly. A lot more friendly than my mother, to the point where I wondered how these two ever could have exchanged any words with each other. Additionally, he seemed to be honest about what he did, as nothing in this laboratory looked like it was out of place. I swung the backpack onto my back and headed towards the exit, but was stopped by an assistant of his.

I looked at his face and glasses thicker than my fingers obscured his eyes. It didn't help that they reflected the lab's lights so heavily, too. "Excuse me," he said, "my name is Daji, and I work here with the professor basically around the clock. I'd like you to take something with you." He handed me a few bags with differently-colored candy that he took out of his dirty lab coat. "This is Elf food, sweets to be exact, but it can also be eaten by humans. We usually send Wuji's friend this stuff regularly, but due to the increase in workload we've been neglecting our duties. Would you be so kind as to deliver it to him as well?"
"Uh, I don't see why not," I answered and let him store them inside my bag. They weren't particularly heavy, but with the sheer amount he had given me, I definitely felt my backpack dragging me down a bit. Who needed this much candy?

As I waved both of them goodbye and exited the building, I still had this strange feeling that something was amiss. My mom didn't hate me all too much of a sudden, even let me go outside. In fact, she had actually kicked me out. Not that I was against it, but it was so... out of character for her.
Maybe the police got tired of her antics? Maybe they actually can't force me back against my will and she decided to not cause drama?
And what about the doctor and his assistant? They seemed so nice overall, but how did they come into contact with my mother, and how did they convince her to let me go?
Eh, whatever it was, I felt like freeing Best from his ball again as I wandered off towards R29. Watching my newfound friend running around me, totally excited to go on an adventure, cheered me up enough to stop caring about my stupid mom and her antics.

***

"What a bunch of sweet talkers."

"Tell me about it."

"At least Best was innocent and happy. They weren't complete monsters."

"Wuji's work. He had control over the research and was very nice to them."

"Don't make me feel bad about stealing the other Elf from him."

"Nono, you made an okay decision…"

***