Victor had Gengar take off the shoulder bag and helped Shana put it on.
"Is it heavy?" he asked softly, crouching down to place a small, custom-made yellow hat on her head.
Shana shook her head. "It's not heavy."
"Do you want me to have..."
Seeing the sincere look in her eyes, Victor swallowed his words.
He took out the herbal tea order form and instructed her that after each delivery, she could give the customer one of these forms. It had his own notes on it, with detailed descriptions of what each tea did. All Shana had to do was hand it to them.
He then took a hand-drawn map from Gengar, taught her how to read it, and put the string around her neck so it would hang like a necklace.
Next, he put a watch communicator on her wrist so she could contact him immediately if anything happened.
After all these preparations were done, Victor thought for a moment to see if he had missed anything. Seeing that everything was in order, he gave her a few more careful reminders.
"If you really can't do it, that's okay too. Just come back. Gengar and I will be waiting for you at the Breeding House to start our afternoon tea."
"Okay," Shana nodded, then turned and walked towards the door.
"Tinkerbell, let's go," she called out, holding the map in one hand and clenching her other hand into a determined fist.
"Ching~" The Chingling followed her with a light bounce.
"Gengar?"
"Is this really okay? Letting her go?"
Gengar watched her and Tinkerbell's departing figures with concern.
The other Pokémon felt the same.
Victor, however, was looking at the bag on her small back.
"I shouldn't have taken so many orders. I should have just had her deliver two or three bottles. At least it wouldn't be so heavy," Victor said, gritting his teeth.
"She has to take this step sooner or later. Right now, she wants to do this, so all we can do is encourage and support her. You should go follow her," Victor said, watching her figure grow smaller in the distance. He patted Gengar's shoulder, signaling for it to go.
"And be careful not to be seen," he called after Gengar's back.
"Gengar—"
Victor then took out his phone and called Mr. and Mrs. Fujino, explaining the situation and asking them to go wait for her, but not to let her see them.
After hanging up, he comforted the still-worried Petilil and the others, reassuring them that Gengar was following her and everything would be fine.
He then found some blocks of wood and rope and sat down at the counter to work.
Seeing him occupied, the Petilil and the others went back to their own tasks in the backyard.
Meanwhile, Shana and her Chingling were walking along the empty road. The bushes rustled from time to time, but listening to the sound of her Chingling, she didn't feel any fear.
"Tinkerbell, did you know? I really like everyone at the Breeding House. Especially Uncle Victor, and Gengar, and the others. They play with me when I'm sad..." Shana chattered to her Chingling as she walked.
Hiding in the bushes, Gengar, who had just caught a Wurmple that was about to play a prank, was deeply moved by her words. It then saw Shana switch the heavy bag to her other shoulder and couldn't help but want to use its psychic powers to lighten the load for her.
But it managed to hold back.
Along the way, it put to sleep and tossed away any Pokémon with ill intentions. Gengar followed Shana all the way to Twinleaf Town.
Shana wiped the sweat from her forehead. The bangs under her little yellow hat were a mess.
She put the bag on the ground, looked at the map carefully, then bent down, picked up the bag with both hands, and headed for the first house.
Gengar floated up behind a couple who were sneakily watching Shana from an alley and tapped them on the shoulder.
"Gengar—"
"Oh, it's you, Gengar. You scared me," Mrs. Fujino said with a sigh of relief, then immediately turned back to watch her daughter.
And so, Shana and Tinkerbell walked in front, followed by a pair of sneaky parents and one Gengar.
Their behavior was so conspicuous and strange that it attracted the attention of passersby, one of whom eventually called the police to report them to Officer Jenny.
Jenny saw their figures from a distance and knew exactly who they were, but she was still curious about what they were doing. She walked up and tapped them on the shoulder.
"Gengar?" Gengar jumped in fright. When it turned and saw it was Officer Jenny, it patted its chest in relief.
What a scare.
"What are you all doing?" Jenny asked, confused.
They pointed into the distance. Jenny looked and saw Shana, with Tinkerbell beside her, pacing back and forth in front of a house.
Mr. Fujino explained the situation. And so, the tailing crew grew to three people, a ghost, and a dog.
Shana was pacing anxiously. She stared at the house, and after the long walk, she felt like many people were watching her, which made her start to feel scared again.
She would stop and stare at the house, then pace back and forth, then squat down, hugging her knees, trembling.
The three adults and two Pokémon watching from behind felt their hearts ache.
Seeing Shana squat down, hugging her knees and shaking, Gengar couldn't bear it and started to float out, but was pulled back by Mr. and Mrs. Fujino.
"Gengar—" Gengar pointed at the distant Shana, looking anxious.
"We have to believe in her, Gengar," Mrs. Fujino said, her eyes already filled with tears, but she held back the urge to go help.
Gengar looked at the trembling Shana. It couldn't stand it anymore and was about to float over again.
"Gengar, look," Jenny's voice rang out.
Gengar looked. Shana had already stood up and was walking towards the front door with her bag.
Sitting on the ground, Shana had felt more and more eyes on her, and her fear grew. Just as she was about to drop the bag and run home, "Ching~" the sound of her Chingling rang out.
Shana looked over. Her Chingling had gently hopped onto her knee and was looking up at her. Although it didn't know what was wrong, it sensed that its master was upset, so it used its own pleasant music to comfort her.
Seeing her Chingling's worried expression, Shana stopped crying. Images of her parents flashed in her mind, then Nurse Joy, then Officer Jenny, and finally, Victor and Gengar and all the others at the Breeding House.
"I'll be counting on you," Victor's voice echoed in her heart.
She wiped her tears, picked up her Chingling, held it to her cheek, and then stood up. She shouldered the bag again and walked to the door.
She knocked. The person who answered was the very same grandmother who had been to Victor's Breeding House and had recommended it to her parents.
"Oh, my! Little Shana, it's you!" the grandmother exclaimed in surprise, covering her mouth. "Did you come here because you need my help with something?"
Seeing the grandmother, a new wave of fear washed over Shana.
"I... I..." She kept her head down, stammering, unable to speak.
"It's okay, it's okay. You can speak slowly. Or we can go inside to talk, if you'd like," the grandmother said, telling Shana not to be nervous.
Shana looked up and saw the grandmother's kind smile. At the same time, the Tinkerbell on her shoulder chimed again.
"Ching~"
"Oh, is this your little partner?" the grandmother asked, noticing the Chingling. "How cute! Just like our little Shana."
Hearing the grandmother's words and her Chingling's sound, Shana bit her lip and then spoke, all in a rush: "Yes her name is Tinkerbell we just became friends today and I'm here to deliver herbal tea for Uncle Victor because I want to help him and Gengar so they don't have to work so hard anymore."
After getting it all out in one breath, Shana let out a sigh of relief and looked at the grandmother.
The grandmother didn't quite process it at first. Then she saw Shana take a bottle of tea from her bag, and she recognized the Gengar logo from the Breeding House, and the logo on her hat, and it all clicked.
"Oh~ you're here to deliver our tea? My goodness, aren't you just wonderful, my little Shana!" the grandmother said, surprised. Tears of emotion began to stream down her face.
She knew what had happened to Shana, and now here she was, personally delivering her tea.
She quickly took the tea and rushed back into the house, returning with the money and some snacks, which she gave to Shana.
Shana carefully counted the money and then handed her an order form.
"Uncle Victor asked me to give you this."
Shana's voice was crisp and clear. Once you take the first step, the rest gets easier. She wasn't nearly as nervous or scared as she had been before.
After handing over the form, Shana took her Chingling and headed for the next house.
Behind her, the three adults and two Pokémon were sobbing uncontrollably.
Click~
The sound of a camera shutter went off. Gengar turned and saw Victor not far away, having just taken a picture of Shana's brave first step.
"Gengar?"
What are you doing here?
Time rewinds to half an hour after Shana left.
Victor put down his tools, went to the door, brought the business sign back inside, and hung the "Temporarily Closed" sign. After giving a few instructions to Dali and the others, he closed the door, grabbed his camera, and ran straight to Twinleaf Town.
"Hehe," Victor grinned, seeing that they had spotted him. He walked over to the grandmother's door, thanked her, and then continued to follow Shana.
Soon, Shana had delivered all the herbal tea. The process wasn't entirely smooth, but the few families who ordered the tea were all very kind and encouraging.
Finally, Shana handed out the last of the order forms.
"Okay, mission accomplished. I'm heading back to the Breeding House. I'll leave the rest to you all," Victor said. He then took his camera and sprinted back towards the Breeding House.
"Gengar—"
Wait for me!
Mr. and Mrs. Fujino and Jenny staged a perfect "accidental" encounter and then all drove back to Victor's Breeding House together.
Victor had just put the wooden sign back out and re-hung the "Open for Business" sign.
Before he could even catch his breath, Shana and the others arrived.
Victor wiped his sweat, calmed his wildly beating heart, praised Shana a few times, and then began to prepare that day's afternoon tea.
A very lavish afternoon tea.
During the tea party, Shana began to talk more and more, telling everyone about her adventures on the road.
The people and Pokémon all exchanged a smile. Everything was understood without a word.
...
In Shana's room, Mr. and Mrs. Fujino sat by her bed, listening as she introduced her little partner.
"Dad, Mom, this is Tinkerbell. Tinkerbell, these are my mom and dad."
Mr. and Mrs. Fujino's faces were wreathed in smiles.
"Hello, Tinkerbell."
"Ching~"
"By the way, Shana, should we go visit your grandpa's house tomorrow?" Mr. Fujino asked.
Shana thought for a moment and nodded.
"Don't worry, Mom will go talk to your Uncle Victor about it," Mrs. Fujino said, gently stroking her forehead.
"Okay."
"You and Tinkerbell get some rest now. Your father and I will head out."
"Goodnight, Mom and Dad."
Mrs. Fujino and her husband exchanged a look.
"Goodnight, sweetie."
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