"Good morning, Torchic!"
"Chirp!"
It was Su Feng's third week in this world, and he had settled into the villa. He woke up early to prepare breakfast for Torchic.
"Hey, Torchic, where should we go next?" Su Feng asked during breakfast.
"Mountains? Snowfields? Volcanoes? Swamps?"
"Chirp."
"Where?"
"Chirp!"
"Swamps?"
"Chirp chirp chirp!"
"No, no, let's start with something easier."
Torchic: "..."
It had been trying to say "volcano" the whole time. Realizing its efforts were futile, Torchic gave up.
"Wait, why not let the viewers decide?"
Su Feng quickly set up a public poll, open until noon.
"Where should I explore next? Vote for the type or terrain you want to see!"
The options included various Pokémon types and terrains.
By noon, the results were in. Tens of thousands had voted, with Dragon-type topping the list, followed by Ghost-type and Fairy-type.
Dragon-type made sense—this was the Dragon Nation, after all. But Ghost-type in second place? That surprised Su Feng.
Scrolling through the comments, he found more discussions about Ghost-types than Dragon-types.
[Brother Sun still hasn't woken up. Ghost Pokémon are terrifying.]
[Feng-ge warned them, but they didn't listen. What can you do?]
[Brother Sun liked to stir the pot, but he didn't deserve this.]
[Ghost Pokémon might be the most dangerous. I hope we can learn more.]
[I still have the recording of Brother Sun's stream. It's… unsettling.]
Su Feng searched for updates on Brother Sun.
[Shocking! What happened to famous streamer Brother Sun!?]
[You won't believe how dangerous Ghost Pokémon are!]
[The untold story of Brother Sun and Ghost Pokémon.]
"Wow, these headlines are straight out of a tabloid," Su Feng muttered.
One article detailed the incident: After Su Feng left, Brother Sun and his crew entered an abandoned villa. The cameraman and another member vanished, prompting Brother Sun to search for them. He encountered what appeared to be a Haunter and fainted.
Rescuers later found all three unconscious. Despite multiple searches, no trace of the "thin, white-dressed girl" captured on camera was found. The case went cold.
After digesting the story, Su Feng called Brother Jin.
"What's up, Xiao Feng?"
"I want to livestream from the villa Brother Sun visited."
Brother Jin paused. "Is it dangerous?"
"Probably not."
After a long silence, Brother Jin replied, "You know more about this than anyone. If you've made up your mind, go ahead. The villa's in City D, about an hour's drive from you."
"But remember: Your safety and Torchic's come first. You're not alone. Call for help if things go south. I'll be there."
Su Feng nodded. "Understood. I won't take unnecessary risks. Besides, Torchic's got my back."
"Chirp!"
An hour later, Su Feng arrived at the villa. It looked unchanged, though reports claimed frequent searches had turned up nothing. Su Feng knew better—Haunter and other Ghost-types were still lurking inside.
He set up his drone, adjusted his gear, and started the stream.
"Welcome to the Pokémon Popular science show! The good man is me, and I am (eyebrow raise) Su Xiaofeng!"
[Holy crap! Grandpa, your favorite streamer's back!]
[Where's Torchic? My adorable Torchic!?]
[Move aside, Pokémon! I'm here for the streamer!]
Thousands of viewers flooded in, with more joining every second.
Su Feng panned the camera to the villa. "Guess where I am!"
[Looks familiar…]
[This place feels haunted.]
[New viewer here. Wild guess: the haunted villa near City D?]
[The one where Brother Sun got messed up?]
"Bingo! This is the infamous haunted villa."
"Brother Sun ignored my warnings and ended up comatose. Since there's high demand for Ghost-type Popular science
, I'm here for two reasons."
"First, to introduce the Ghost Pokémon I encounter."
"Second, to see if I can find Brother Sun's soul and wake him up."