Chapter 85: The Darkness Surges Anew
The Pokémon stolen by the poachers were escorted back to the reserve by the staff.
Finally, only the police, who were cleaning up, and Ming Rizhao with her two little companions were left at the messy scene.
After a long day of going to the police station, disguising herself as a poacher, and having a Pokémon battle with Rio, Ming Rizhao was getting a little overwhelmed by sleepiness.
"Hooo, hoo, so sleepy..."
Watching his new trainer swaying as she walked, Rio even suspected she might just fall asleep on the ground in the next second.
He pulled Ralts over and asked in a low voice, "Should we find a hotel for her to rest?"
"(Pokémon Language) But our wallet was stolen. We have no money now. We usually just find a place to rest at the Pokémon Center."
Speaking of which, Rio suddenly remembered the pink wallet he had picked up before being captured.
While the person and Pokémon weren't paying attention, he quickly took out the long-hidden wallet from his [Backpack].
"Speaking of wallets, I happened to pick one up."
"Ah, my wallet!!"
Ming Rizhao, who had been full of drowsiness, instantly became energetic upon seeing the familiar wallet. She immediately took the wallet from Rio's hand and, first thing, opened it to check inside.
Rio, on the side, saw that Ming Rizhao's first reaction was to check if the folded photo was still there, rather than prioritizing how many banknotes were left in the wallet, and he nodded to himself in approval.
"Thank goodness, thank goodness, the photo is still here. Ruru, we have money for a hotel now... hooo, hooo."
"Oh my god!"
Rio, flustered, took a step forward to support Ming Rizhao's falling body. With a feeling between amusement and exasperation, he asked Ralts, "Is this girl always like this?"
Ralts had a look of complete unsurprise. "(Pokémon Language) Stay calm. You'll get used to it."
Then, Ralts very skillfully manipulated its psychic power, gently lifting Ming Rizhao up.
"...No wonder her Confusion is such a high level. With this kind of constant practice, it'd be strange if it didn't get strong."
Rio complained inwardly, following behind them as they headed towards Verdant Leaf City.
There weren't many pedestrians in Verdant Leaf City in the early morning. Wild Pokémon occasionally darting out from the side of the lush green roads filled the city with a sense of harmony.
Of course, quite a few people who were up early to open their shops saw the bizarre scene of a young girl floating down the street.
Ralts, unfazed, "controlled" Ming Rizhao, completing a series of unbelievable operations: going to the Pokémon Center—retrieving the stored crossbody bag—finding a hotel on the street—using psychic power to take money from the wallet to pay—using psychic power to receive the change—and finally, laying the girl flat on the bed.
Then she sat on a chair in the room, taking small bites of the Berry Rio handed her.
Having finally settled down, Rio also ate a Berry and chatted leisurely with Ralts.
"(Pokémon Language) What species of Pokémon are you? I don't think I've ever seen one before."
Ralts's large, innocent eyes were full of curiosity.
"Ah, I'm a Riolu, a Fighting-type Pokémon. But I have a name, you can call me Rio."
"(Pokémon Language) Riolu, huh? Hmm, still haven't heard of it... I'm Ralts, you can also call me Ruru."
"Alright..."
For a moment, the two Pokémon ran out of things to say and could only munch on their Berries.
"Um..."
"(Pokémon Language) Um..."
The two Pokémon asked at the same time.
"(Pokémon Language) You first," Ralts smiled shyly.
"Can you tell me the story of you and Ming Rizhao? I want to get to know more about what kind of person my new trainer is."
Ralts fell into reminiscence.
"(Pokémon Language) When I hatched from my egg, the first thing I saw was Xiao Zhao's smile. She was only 5 years old back then, very smart, but also often made some silly mistakes. When she got a little older, she fell in love with the profession of a Pokémon trainer, becoming so engrossed in studying related knowledge that she would even forget to eat. I often had to worry about her. For so many years, she has been like my family."
Ralts shared many of Ming Rizhao's embarrassing stories:
For example, when studying Pokémon battles, she was so focused on taking notes that she accidentally used ink as soy sauce for her food; at the age of 6, during her first battle with other children in the town, she excitedly wore mismatched socks; and even yesterday, eagerly wanting to visit the Pokémon Ecological Reserve, she was scammed out of her money by a fraudster, and then at night, she ran into that same person, who turned out to be a poacher, and finally defeated him and took his overcoat to disguise herself as a poacher (Rio: Hmm? Wait, so that's how you infiltrated them?), and so on.
A slight smile appeared at the corners of Rio's mouth, but he also keenly captured a lot of key information.
"At the age of 6, she was able to defeat most of the town's rookie trainers with a Ralts she had only raised for a year. If she hadn't gone to a Pokémon school for a few years in between, her Ralts probably wouldn't still be at such a low level as lv10."
"But even so, a lv10 Ralts possesses the highest level Confusion move for that level."
"And in the battle just now, her tactical thinking was also quite impressive, unlike some trainers who only know how to recklessly use moves."
"So it seems, whether in terms of Pokémon nurturing ability or combat ability, she is a cut above the rest among rookie trainers."
Rio's gaze fell upon the peacefully sleeping Ming Rizhao on the bed, his heart filled with anticipation.
…
In an underground base somewhere.
The poacher captain, having failed his mission, strode angrily through a dimly lit corridor, constantly muttering something.
"Where are the goods we want?"
Suddenly, a figure in a hooded cloak emerged from the shadows beside him.
The poacher captain gritted his teeth and turned his head to his subordinate behind him, saying, "Go, get the goods from Warehouse #1."
"I hear your operation this time was a failure."
"Mind your own business. As long as the transaction can be completed, that's all that matters," the poacher captain replied forcefully, his face grim.
"Hmph," the cloaked person snorted coldly. "I have no interest in minding your business. Just don't affect the transaction."
He then added, "You should know that the consequences of violating the agreement are something neither you nor I can bear."
Hearing this slightly threatening warning, a trace of fear flashed across the poacher captain's face.
The two of them, along with a few silent poachers, waited for a moment. From one end of the corridor came the "clatter, clatter" of a trolley.
"Inspect it. These goods are enough to meet your short-term needs. As for the subsequent goods," the poacher captain slammed his fist fiercely on the corridor wall, "I don't believe I can't snatch the things from that reserve."
The cloaked person bent down slightly, picked up a Poké Ball from the trolley, examined it for a moment, then observed the other Poké Balls on the trolley for a while before nodding in satisfaction.
"Acceptable. The quality is not bad, much better than those shoddy goods from before."
Nonsense! These are our best stock items. Of course, they're better than the uneven quality goods we snatched from outside before, the poacher captain thought, his heart aching as he gritted his teeth.
This time, their operation was thwarted by something unknown, leading to failure. And the delivery time for the agreement signed with the mysterious organization of the cloaked person was approaching. He had no choice but to take out some of the precious goods he usually poached to ensure the transaction wouldn't fail completely.
Because the consequence of failure...
The poacher captain couldn't help but shiver, remembering the cruel methods of that mysterious organization.
"Very good. I estimate our boss will also be quite satisfied with this batch of goods."
"We look forward to your next shipment."
Several similarly dressed cloaked figures popped out from nowhere, deftly collected the batches of Poké Balls on the trolley, and then disappeared to who knows where.
This manner of coming and going as if it were their own home made the poacher captain's forehead throb with veins.
"By the way, I'll give you a piece of news while I'm at it." The first cloaked person was also preparing to leave. As he was leaving, he said as if suddenly remembering, "That Pokémon Ecological Reserve where you stumbled this time... somewhere in that park, there is an extremely mysterious Pokémon hidden. If you have the chance to obtain this Pokémon, I believe its value will be dozens of times higher than all the goods here."
"Clack," something fell to the ground.
The cloaked person's figure gradually disappeared, leaving only a final sentence.
"I believe you will certainly not let this opportunity go... Use it. Consider it an investment from our organization."
The poacher captain's face was dark. He took a step forward and picked up the object that had fallen to the ground.
They were two black Poké Balls. One was empty, while the other's shell was covered in a piercing frost.
Gripping a Poké Ball in each hand, the poacher captain suddenly roared loudly, "You bastards! Go check the base's security immediately! How can you let these people come and go as they please? Do they think this is their own base?!"
…
At the same time, on a small island in the Borean Sea, north of the Middel Region.
The island was rugged, with cave entrances dotted all over its rocky mountains.
In one of the caves.
A man with light cyan hair stopped the pickaxe he was using to mine ore and took out a constantly ringing mobile phone from his pocket.
"Yes, it's me."
"…"
"Is it that thing? Where?"
"…"
"It's there?"
"...The Speaker wishes for you to go and investigate."
"Understood. I'll go over."
Hanging up the phone, the man wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel. His originally calm and unperturbed face finally showed a slight ripple of emotion.