Chapter 290: From Socially Anxious Girl to God of the Trash Can

The video continued playing.

4:27 a.m. In a corner of the backyard behind the Solaceon Town Pokémon Center—

A trash can was being moved aside.

Extremely.

Slowly.

Two golden eyes appeared through the gap.

They swept left three times.

Then right three times.

Only after confirming that there were no suspicious targets nearby did Hina finally emerge from behind the trash can.

"Hina, it’s already early morning."

Shaymin poked the top of Hina’s head with one paw.

"Shaymin just checked the front entrance. Nobody’s lining up anymore."

"Thank you, Shaymin."

Hina reached up and rubbed Shaymin’s belly.

"But just to be safe..."

"Let’s still leave through the back door."

After putting Shaymin into her backpack, Hina tightened the straps and began tiptoeing toward the rear exit.

The Pokémon Center was exceptionally quiet at this hour.

Only the faint glow of emergency lights illuminated the hallway.

The back door was right in front of her.

Hina took a deep breath.

Her hand was already resting on the handle.

The cool night breeze slipped through the crack beneath the door, brushing against the back of her neck.

No problem.

Hina reassured herself.

At this hour—

There couldn’t possibly be anyone outside.

After all, no matter how fanatical someone was...

They still had to sleep.

[VIP Chat Group]

[Dawn]: Hina... my poor Hina... How did she end up like this...?

[Johanna]: This might be the first time she’s ever been this miserable in her entire life.

[Lorelei]: She’s such an interesting child. She’s ridiculously strong, yet she’s so afraid of being caught by people that she spent the day hiding behind a trash can.

[Iono]: I know I should feel sorry for her, but why can’t I stop laughing? Hahahaha!

[Iris]: Hahaha! Did she seriously hide behind that trash can for an entire day? That’s adorable!

[Shauntal]: Another burst of inspiration! I’ve already started writing From Socially Anxious Girl to God of the Trash Can. An epic battle royale starring the ultimate socially anxious heroine. My next bestseller is already guaranteed.

[Lana]: Miss Shauntal’s writing speed is kind of terrifying.

[Raihan]: That’s a veteran novelist for you. That imagination is absolutely monstrous.

The scene shifted to the Pokémon Center’s back entrance.

4:30 a.m.

The moon was shining brightly overhead.

Five Trainers wearing matching Hina-and-Master-Ducky fan shirts were crouched suspiciously on either side of the back door.

They had formed a fan-shaped formation.

Their leader was a young man with a tall pompadour.

He lowered his voice and looked seriously at the four people behind him.

"Everyone ready?"

"READY!"

All four answered in unison.

The pompadour guy nodded in satisfaction.

Then he pulled a small mirror from his clothes and checked his hairstyle.

"We deliberately chose the middle of the night because there’d be fewer people around."

"Princess Hina and Master Ducky will definitely be able to feel our sincerity!"

"But we haven’t slept in three days..."

A bearded man beside him spoke with a hollow expression.

"Stop whining!"

"For Princess Hina and Master Ducky, forget three days!"

"We could hold out for thirty!"

"Exactly!"

"Having the honor of performing a dance for Princess Hina and Master Ducky is worth any sacrifice!"

The pompadour guy put away his mirror.

His expression sharpened.

"Then..."

"Begin."

All five simultaneously raised their arms.

"Three circles to the left, three circles to the right~"

"Twist your neck, wiggle your butt~~"

They began swaying their bodies.

Their movements possessed a bizarre, almost supernatural quality that seemed to transcend generations.

Even the nearby Bibarel were so startled by the strange dance that they jumped straight into the pond.

"Move your hands, move your feet~"

"Remember to take deep breaths~~"

The five danced more and more enthusiastically.

Their movements grew increasingly unrestrained.

The pompadour guy had already closed his eyes, completely immersed in his own world.

"MASTER DUCKY!"

"PRINCESS HINA!"

"CAN YOU FEEL OUR SINCERITY?!"

"PLEASE ACCEPT THE BURNING PASSION IN OUR HEARTS!!!"

Just then—

Creeeak.

The back door actually opened.

All five people instantly froze mid-wiggle.

Their heads turned toward the door in perfect unison.

Half of Hina’s head slowly poked outside.

Her golden eyes looked especially bright in the darkness.

The five fans stared at her.

They were practically about to cry.

"P-Princess Hina!"

The pompadour guy’s voice trembled.

"It’s really Princess Hina!"

"Our sincerity worked!"

The lenses of the chubby man’s glasses were already covered in tears.

"Princess Hina saw our dance!"

The five fans hadn’t even recovered from the ecstasy of meeting their idol when—

A brilliant pink light surged straight toward them.

"S-Sorry..."

The moment the light swept over them, Hina turned around and left.

Her footsteps became faster and faster.

Within seconds—

She disappeared around the corner of the alley.

Because Asher had once taught her—True badasses never look back at explosions.

[VIP Chat Group]

[Bruno]: Hahahahaha! Three circles left, three circles right?! That counts as dancing?!

[Raihan]: What do I do?! My Duraludon is next to me copying them! I can’t even stop it!

[Leon]: Isn’t that a good thing? Weren’t you trying to teach Duraludon how to dance?

[Raihan]: I wanted it to learn the magnificent dances of Quaxmen! Who the hell wants to learn this dance?!

[Lana]: To be fair, opening a door in the middle of the night and finding five people outside doing a bizarre dance would be pretty terrifying. Hina used Mesprit’s power on them immediately, right? What’s going to happen to them now?

[Kiawe]: After getting hit by Emotion Manipulation, they’ll probably either hug each other and sob uncontrollably or start laughing like lunatics.

[Mallow]: Five people crying and laughing together in an alley in the middle of the night... that’s even scarier.

[Sophocles]: Even ghost stories don’t go that far.

[Hala]: Those fans still lack fighting spirit. Back in my days at the Masked Royal’s arena, the fans would charge straight in and fight me themselves.

[Olivia]: Hala, I don’t think your situation was remotely comparable to Hina’s.

The video continued playing.

Sunyshore City.

The moment Hina stepped off the boat, the sea breeze struck her head-on and made her narrow her eyes.

"The last Ribbon..."

Hina lowered her gaze toward her Ribbon case.

"If I can win the Sunyshore Contest..."

"I’ll be able to enter the Grand Festival."

Shaymin poked its head out of her backpack.

"Hina, your voice is shaking."

"I-I know..."

Hina took a deep breath.

"No problem."

"Mom won her final Ribbon in Sunyshore City back then too."

Just then—

An exceptionally energetic voice came from behind her.

"Dawn?"

"No..."

"You’re Hina, right?!"

Hina’s entire body froze.

She slowly turned around.

A brown-haired woman wearing a red bandanna was jogging toward her.

"A-Aunt May?!"

"Don’t call me Aunt!"

May immediately protested.

"Just call me Miss May!"

She reached out and gently fixed Hina’s bangs, which had been blown out of place by the sea breeze.

"I watched the recording of your Contest in Hearthome City."

"You did really well!"

"When your mom called me, she spent a full twenty minutes bragging about you!"

Hina’s face instantly turned red.

Her fingers intertwined nervously.

"Mom, honestly..."

"I still have so many things I need to improve..."

"Don’t say that."

May patted her shoulder.

"Since you and your mom are both going to compete in this Grand Festival..."

"She specifically asked me to come help with your special training~"

"Huh?"

"Mom asked you to?"

"Of course!"

May gave her a confident smile.

"Don’t worry."

"With me here to help you—you’re definitely going to win!"