10 Chapter 9 - The Festival Night Out

But, in the same time, Ryan and Isobel are there, along with their friend named Jason. Jason was separated from them, wandering around the crowdy place. In the same time, Greninja, Braviary, and Rayquaza are on the roof of a two-storey building looking around like they were patrolling. So, Rico and his group are walking down a crowdy street in experiencing the festival. They decided to try out the street food the vendors are offering, in very cheap prices. At one food stand, Rico tried on a handful of takoyaki balls, a Japanese snack. And when he tasted it after paying for it, Rico was surprised by its taste, even up to the point of taking a selfie with it using his phone. Ash and Serena, meanwhile, are trying on corndogs and ice cream in vanilla and strawberry flavors. They were having a bonding and good time with each other. They watched shows and plays with a great interest in various cultures, especially depicting ninja scenes, and they even bought a few souvenirs like key chains and postcards in cheap prices. The night was cool and the atmosphere around was busy and full of harmony. But the time to being targeted by Black Mirror is still not yet happening.

Later that night, Rico and his group stopped at a food court area that offers cuisine, both local and international. The food court area consists of little food court stands occupying one-sixth of the round area, with one or two stands are similar in the cuisine they are offering. Tonight, since it's dinner time, the place was busy and full of people eating, drinking, cooking, grilling, slicing, mixing, serving, frying, and boiling. With empty stomachs, they browse through the fully-roofed stands to buy the best and delicious foods they could ever eat. Searching, choosing, and selecting, the trio looked at the various foods of different kinds, tastes, and spices, like in a buffet. Eventually, Rico got adobo chicken with potatoes, a popular Filipino food, a bowlful of freshly steamed rice, and a glass of Iced tea. Ash and Serena, however, had bowls of ramen noodles with pork, vegetables, and sliced boiled eggs and a glasses of Iced tea. After they pay for it, they went to the tables and settled on a table for four. They then dig in and eat up, tasting the food they had bought. The atmosphere around was busy, yet good and harmonious, like in any typical restaurant or food court.

"Wow, this ramen noodles are so delicious!" Ash commented the ramen noodles' taste.

"Yeah, this is so good," Serena added a comment.

"Oh, man, this adobo chicken is so sour," Rico commented the adobo chicken's taste. "Even their cuisine was strange, but still, I loved their way of cooking." They really embraced the taste of their meals, adjusting their lives to that world's cuisine.

But, 10 minutes later, as the trio are about to finish their meals, Jason saw them from the outside of the food court, and became familiar with Ash's looks.

"Woah, who's that guy?" he thought to himself. But suddenly, Ryan and Isobel found him, asking him what he was looking at. Jason then responded that he saw someone that is familiar to his reading of a strange story from another world.

"Are you reading something that is unfamiliar again?" Ryan responded by asking.

"l know it's strange, but that guy in blue was familiar to the descriptions in that story," replied Jason back in trying to convince them. Then, Ash overheard them, and became alerted by it, telling his friends to leave the food court and hide from Jason and the others.

"Why?" Rico asked back while wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"Yeah, why?" Serena added as she finishes her glass of Iced tea.

"Because two of them, according to my research, are doubtful to be trusted," Ash answered back in a low voice. Finishing his glass of Iced tea, Rico agreed with him. Then, Ash picked up messages from Greninja and Rayquaza through an earphone, and signal and tracker systems applied on them. The messages were: "Ash, those two are close to us."

"On it, Greninja, we're leaving," responded Ash seriously. After that, the three of them put their belongings in their bags, stand up, and left the table, leaving the food court immediately and quickly. Luckily, they pay for their meals before going to that table. And when Jason, Ryan, and Isobel entered the food court, they found out that they had left. The table was vacant, leaving the trays, plates, utensils, extra small plates, and utensils behind and dirty. They then became puzzled by this, thinking, "Where are they? And who are they?"

Meanwhile, Ash, Rico, and Serena are running through the mildly crowded path away from Jason's location as Greninja, Rayquaza, and Breviary flew beside them.

"Thanks, that was a close one," Ash thanked them.

"You're welcome, Ash," Greninja and Rayquaza responded gratefully and seriously. They then turned left and stopped at the wall of a restroom building, catching their breaths quickly. That area was barely busy and almost empty.

"Hey, Ash, why is that?" Rico asked.

"Well, we will meet that kid when he's in need of help," replied Ash back. Rico then get his Lucario from his shoulder bag and put it on his left shoulder, believing that the place was perfect for talking to their Pokémon mecardimals

"Help?" Lucario asked. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean, actual help," replied Ash back. "You know, help in battle." The rest then got what Ash said. They then all put their Pokémon mecardimals onto the pavement in a big group. The trio then sat down on the pavement.

"Finally, we could talk," Ash's Lycanroc commented.

"Yeah," Pikachu added.

"I really don't like being in that crowdy bag," Luxray responded. "But finally in an open space."

"Yeah, it's like a bit hot in there," Rico's Krookodile added as well. Scratching his head in mild embarrassment, Rico replied, "Sorry about that. Next time, we'll talk more often."

"So, how's the status?" Greninja asked. Thinking about this, Ash then replied, "It's getting closer to how to use you. By tomorrow, if my research and procedure are correct, it is possible to use you in battle." This gives the mecardimals a positive response.

"Oh, man, finally."

"Back to action!"

"Yeah! Aura power!"

"Electrifying power!"

"Flying in action!"

Ash then smiled in response. Rico and Serena then delightfully became positive.

In the meantime, Ryan picked up several presences of more than 8 mecardimals west from his location.

"What? Again?" he commented in puzzling surprise. Jason then take a look of it, and then got mildly surprised by it.

"Woah, a lot of them," he commented.

"But...how?" responded Ryan back.

"I think we had discovered something new and unusual," Isobel suggested something. With suspicion, Jason replied, "Right. Something's fishy here." Will they find what is going on their trackers, or maybe, the Pokémon Trainers and their Pokémon mecardimals? In the same time, back at the Pokémon world, Rico's family became very worried about Rico's absence, especially his father was suspicious of his disappearance. So, in desperate, they began to call their friends, neighbors, and a few relatives for information on Rico's whereabouts.

Later, by 7:59 p.m., back at their hotel, while Ash is in the shower, Rico was at the desk writing his diary log in one of his newly bought notebooks while Serena was brushing her hair. He had already taken a shower and had made a colorful front page of his new journal. He was writing his thoughts and detail-interlaced sentences on paper, with almost every paragraph is in a different color, as well as switching from pencil to pen. The three-page log was filled with decorations and embellishments made of pens, pencil, and pastel highlighters. His Pokémon mecardimals are with him, parking around in the desk observing Rico's creative side.

"Wow, you're super creative," Empoleon commented its Trainer's creativity.

"Yeah, really good in journaling," Serperior added. Capping his red highlighter, Rico responded positively, "Thanks. I think my summer adventures are getting more awesome than before, but I hoped I could find my place here. And also, the mystery of that masked man."

"Yeah, that guy was really suspicious," Lucario agreed with him in suspicion. Closing his journal, Rico responded, "Well, today is really a strange day for us, but in the same time, really adventurous and cool."

Later, by 9:22 p.m., as Rico and Serena are asleep peacefully on their beds, Ash, Pikachu, and Greninja are at the balcony looking at the view of the city at a clear night. The mild, cool winds are blowing against Ash in low, mild speeds.

"Our adventures are getting more and more strange," he commented on his new life in another world, or dimension. Pikachu and Greninja are on an outdoor table.

"Yeah, really strange," Pikachu responded.

"So, when our training will resume?" Greninja asked Ash.

"I think by tomorrow we will," Ash answered back.