Hearing these words, the girl's face showed some reluctance, but soon she seemed to make up her mind and nodded in response: "I'm sure!"
"Bagon!"
Bagon shook its head repeatedly, unwilling to be separated from the girl in front of it.
Seeing this, the girl named Jun looked troubled, then said quietly: "Be good, Long! I'll come find you here once I shake off those bad people!"
Bad people? Carver was somewhat surprised.
However, after hearing these words, this Pokémon immediately became even more anxious.
Carver noticed its mood beginning to shift from bad to worried, anxious, and other emotions.
"It's very worried about you," Carver said with some surprise. After thinking for a moment, he still asked: "I just heard you mention bad people. Did something happen?"
Jun looked at the boss in front of her, recalling how he had interacted with the Pokémon at the breeding house these past two days, as well as how he had rescued that Zigzagoon.
She opened her mouth and finally chose to speak:
"Actually... Long isn't my Pokémon."
Carver raised an eyebrow, signaling her to continue.
The girl said: "My name is Jun. I'm a trainer who started traveling from Littleroot Town. Not long ago, when I was traveling through a forest, I discovered Pokémon hunters capturing Pokémon there."
"Long was one of them... I waited until the Pokémon hunters weren't paying attention, had my Dustox use Sleep Powder on them, then quietly released the captured Pokémon."
"After that, I kept running away with Long. Because Long is very rare, those Pokémon hunters wouldn't give up on us and kept tracking us. Yesterday at Meteor Falls, we finally shook them off, but somehow they can always find our location."
Hearing this, Carver immediately realized something.
He quickly lifted Bagon out of the bag and, under Jun's confused gaze, carefully examined its body.
Sure enough, Carver soon found a small tracking device in an inconspicuous spot on Bagon's body.
Seeing this thing, Jun's expression changed.
Carver said: "Just as I thought, this Bagon has a tracking device installed on it."
"No wonder!" Jun's face looked unpleasant. No wonder those Pokémon hunters could always find her and Long's location.
Pokémon hunters... this kind of situation couldn't be handled by a little girl's strength alone. After thinking briefly, Carver asked with some confusion:
"Why didn't you call the police? I happen to know Officer Jenny from nearby Autumn Leaf Town. Maybe she could help you."
"Call the police..." Jun shook her head: "It's useless. I tried calling the police when I was in Rustboro City before, but those Pokémon hunters appear and disappear like ghosts. After they discovered I called the police, they immediately vanished without a trace. Officer Jenny searched for several days without results."
"Officer Jenny can't stay by our side all the time, and I can't stay in the same city forever, so..."
Because she was a traveling trainer who needed to go to various places in Hoenn to challenge gyms and collect badges.
So the best solution she could think of was to secretly entrust Long to someone else's care while she led those Pokémon hunters away.
But now it seemed this was impossible.
Long had a tracker on it—those bad people would soon catch up!
"Now there's a solution," Carver said, looking at the tracking device in his hand. He knew the nature of Pokémon hunters in this world and couldn't just watch a little girl face Pokémon hunters alone.
"Eh?!" Jun was somewhat confused.
There were currently two solutions. The first was to install this tracking device on a flying bird Pokémon and have it carry the tracker away from Autumn Leaf Town, flying to the ocean or other regions to mislead the Pokémon hunters.
The second was to use this tracking device as an opportunity to capture the Pokémon hunters.
Thinking that those Pokémon hunters would likely continue capturing other Pokémon after they left, Carver turned around without hesitation and used the breeding house phone to call the Autumn Leaf Town police station.
This world's laws had very severe punishments for Pokémon hunters.
Because such behavior went against the main principles of the various Pokémon Leagues.
Once caught, criminals would face prison sentences ranging from ten to fifty years in ocean prisons, and in more serious cases, they could even be sentenced to life imprisonment.
The phone rang a few times.
Soon, Jenny's voice came through.
"This is Autumn Leaf Town Police Station. I'm Jenny, the stationed officer here. What can I help you with?"
"Jenny, it's me, Carver. I have a trainer here who's being tracked by Pokémon hunters. Her Pokémon has a tracking device installed on it. I think those Pokémon hunters will be here soon."
Hearing this, Jenny's tone immediately became serious.
"Stay safe, I'll be right there!"
With that, Jenny left the police station, mounted her motorcycle, gunned the engine to the max, and headed straight for Carver's breeding house.
"Alright, Officer Jenny from Autumn Leaf Town is already on her way here," Carver turned to tell Jun.
"I'm so sorry!" Jun quickly bowed in thanks: "I've caused you trouble!"
"Don't mention it," Carver smiled and shook his head. He turned to look at Bagon beside them.
Seeming to realize it no longer had to be separated from Jun, Bagon's joy level and mood immediately began rising at a visible rate.
Along with that, its friendship toward Carver also increased from 0 to 20.
Then, a line of text appeared before Carver's eyes.
[Bagon's mood improved. Joy Level +130! Received Bagon's gift: Bagon's Habitat.]
[Bagon's Habitat: The place where Dragon-type Pokémon Bagon live. A Bagon lives alone there. Your actions moved Bagon, and it gave you its companion's habitat as a gift.]
The text didn't stop. After Bagon's gift came Jun's gift.
[Jun's mood improved. Joy Level +70. Received Jun's gift: Dragon-type Pokémon Affinity.]
[Dragon-type Pokémon Affinity: Naturally possess affinity with Dragon-type Pokémon. Dragon-type Pokémon will find it easier to become friendly with you. You helped Jun, and she gave you this talent as a gift.]
Carver: "?"
He looked at Bagon affectionately jumping into Jun's arms beside them, and the human and Pokémon eagerly celebrating their safety, as well as the text that had appeared before his eyes, and was stunned in place.
Bagon's habitat and Dragon-type Pokémon affinity?
Carver's mind stirred.
He remembered that among the Mega Stones Steven had given him was the evolution stone corresponding to Salamence.
Could it be... he could also have a Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution?!