Chapter 68 - 68 - A Walk in the Park at Night

By 7:19 p.m., the five of them are having dinner at Campillo's vacation house later that night, the five of them are in good spirits and in happiness, celebrating Rico's meeting with Detective Trevor and other events that happened in that day. Their food are: the popular Yellow Curry, freshly steamed rice, loaded veggie wraps, vegetable-filled onigiri, calamansi juice and lemon juice-sprinkled sliced cucumbers, and homemade fried potato chips. The dining table in the house is filled with fun, happiness, and conversations. The food are hot and the drinks, which is water and lemonade, are cold and filled with ice, except that Emerson doesn't like a glass with ice. Their Pokémon are around them eating their special food with harmony. The atmosphere around was good and harmonious, with the lights illuminating through the room in consistent wattage and brightness. And as they eat and drink, Campillo settled the noise with an announcement, "Alright, everyone, stop the noise. I had a plan for tomorrow: We will go to the Komati River Valleys, where we will join their harvest festival." This causes the rest to be delighted and excited.

"Wow, a harvest festival?"

"Sounds like fruits and vegetables being harvested and sold."

"Very nice festival."

"I would like to try their products!" Rico's Riolu, Juan's Oshawott, and Campillo's Emolga then responded with happiness and enthusiasm.

Later on, Campillo came back from the kitchen with a medium-sized macha tea and chocolate cake complete with choco cookie toppings and chocolate and vanilla icing in his hands. And upon placing the tray at the center of the table, everyone got amazed and excited for it, as if it was time for dessert.

"This is my homemade cake," Campillo showed his work towards them. "Macha Tea and Chocolate Cake with Vanilla and Chocolate Icing and Choco Cookie Toppings; or should I call it, Campillo's Cake." They got amazed at its new name. And after that, Campillo began slicing the cake in small, equal slices and gave them to his friends' plates. Looking at it in attracting amazement, they took a bit of it using their spoons and forks and shoved it to their mouths, tasting its flavor in their taste buds. Then, moments later, they got amazed and allured by it.

"Wow, it's so good and sweet!"

"Man, it's spreading in my tongue!"

"It's so delicious!"

They then all say thank you to Campillo for the wonderful dessert they ever had. Later on, when he's about to pour milk into his glass, Campillo found out that he had ran out of milk. But, upon hearing that, Rico stand up and volunteered to buy some milk for him. So, agreeing with him, Campillo gave him some money before Rico would go to the nearest convenience store, which is a few blocks away from Campillo's vacation house.

Over half an hour later, while going back to Campillo's vacation house, Rico and his team decided to go through the neighborhood's plaza as a shortcut for their way back. The plaza was quiet and lit up with lamp posts; trees and shrubs rattled against the mild winds as the winds blew against the plaza, producing a nightly, eerie atmosphere around the plaza. Some of the houses and businesses nearby are still lit up and open for this time of night, but others are closed and had their windows covered by curtains and blinds so they could have privacy and comfort for the night.

"Wow, quite peaceful here," Rico commented in a little cautious and calming state. Riolu and Starly then responded with agreement. They then stopped walking a meter away from the center of the plaza, which contains the plaza's gazebo, which was producing some sounds of the wood moving due to the winds. The lights are moving back and forth in a pendulum motion. Then, suddenly, the same masked man, this time with a hood on, appeared from the left and stood on front of the kid and his team with a serious look, especially the mask he was wearing. Rico and his team got terrified and felt that they were being intimidated for no particular reason. Rico then shivered from bottom to top in one direction.

"What in the world?" Rico responded in terrifying shock.

"Hello again, kid," the masked man greeted him in a serious, deep tone.

"W-What are you doing here?" Rico asked for a reason what and why. "And w-why are you here?" But the masked man didn't respond or answer his questions, and just stood there with a scary look. The mask and appearance makes Rico and his team turned back and fled the scene in an opposite direction, hiding behind a wall. After a few seconds, they peeked at the gazebo again, but the masked man was nowhere to be seen, as if he disappeared into thin air, again. They were surprised and shocked by this encounter, just like at Galen City.

"What's up with that guy?"

They then got reminded that Professor Campillo was worried about them being too long to get back with a few cartons of milk, so they hurried up to go back.

Later, 3 minutes before 8 o'clock, they arrived back, apologizing for being too long on their task.

By 9:26 p.m., after preparing for bed, at Juan's bedroom, while Juan was busy listening to an audiobook about his favorite novel, Rico was in the upper bunk talking to his parents about his day, in every detail and event.

"What? That same masked man just appeared in front of you tonight?" Lucas commented. "What did he say to you?"

"He just said hello to me, and... nothing else," Rico witnessed to his parents.

"And he disappeared like last time?" Rosario raised a question to her son. Nodding to say yes, Rico answered back, "Yes." This follows with a short silence.

"Ah, I see," Lucas responded breaking the silence. "I think you should watch out for those kind of people. And also, stay away from their radiuses. Okay?"

"Thanks, dad," Rico positively replied in response.

"Well, I have work to do tomorrow," Lucas said his last message to Rico. "Good luck on your adventure there."

"Thanks for that, dad," Rico said his last message to his father. "Good night." He and his father then ended their conversation for the night.