chsdbacks Chapter 272 Campfire
Chapter 272 Campfire
Chapter 272 Campfire
Sawaki had no idea that the Hoenn Weather Research Institute had been destroyed.
"It was destroyed three days ago, so the news is under a blackout and hasn't spread yet—" Furong explained. "Currently, Interpol has deployed a detective codenamed 'Handsome' to investigate this matter."
"No one is missing; at most, they just suffered some burns."
"Hmph, to destroy an important building in Hoenn overnight, come to think of it, Mr. Sawaki has done something similar before."
"If the culprit hadn't been hiding and hadn't failed to show up, and hadn't caused the same destructive power as when you, Zeki, used the legendary Pokémon, we might have suspected you first, Zeki..." Furong joked.
"Daigo originally wanted to resign, but he had to keep running around because of this, which made him very resentful."
"Oops! I accidentally went too far!"
"But the reason I bring this up—" Fleur held up the cursed doll in her arms, "is because of the resentment that the weather research institute needed for all the cursed dolls to recover. Whether it was from the researchers or from those affected by it, it was very beneficial for the dolls' restoration.
"Oh right, it can also absorb the resentment curse doll of Champion Daigo!"
"Furthermore, if you, the legendary investigator Ze Shu, can discover anything at the scene and offer some guidance, perhaps you can find the culprit!"
Furong smiled.
Ze Shu and Xiao Lan exchanged a glance, then Ze Shu said, "In that case, let's go take a look."
Sawaki had visited the Hoenn Weather Research Institute once before, with Professor Birch. Now, returning to western Lilycove City, he found the institute destroyed, just as Fuyumi had predicted, and the scene drastically changed.
The fire that destroyed the research institute has long been extinguished, leaving only a few remnants of the weather research institute at the scene.
The charred ruins, the League members surrounding the site, the researchers and Pokémon searching the scene in an attempt to salvage the remaining data...
Ze Shu could still see a silver-haired champion standing in the center of the charred ruins, looking distressed.
An atmosphere of resentment and despair permeated the scene.
Especially the researchers working at the Weather Institute.
"Destroyed...all destroyed..."
"The data and results I've painstakingly accumulated over a decade are gone... even the floating bubbles have vanished..."
They were as if the meaning of life had vanished, and they searched the scene in a daze, trying to find some information or the last remaining floating bubble.
But after so many days of searching, Pokémon's efficiency is no joke; what should have been found should have been found long ago, and what wasn't found obviously shouldn't be here. Yet they are still doing useless work, as if trying to squeeze a little bit of fish out of this parched land.
No wonder Fu Rong said this would be the best place for the cursed dolls to recuperate.
The despair and resentment emanating from this group of researchers could be deeply felt by Ze Shu even from the outside.
"Gurgle....Gurgle..."
In this atmosphere, the cursed doll seemed to be bathed in warm water, its eyes narrowing comfortably as it nestled comfortably on the Commander of Slash's shoulder.
That's right, it's on the shoulder of the cleaver. After leaving Hibiscus's room and successfully healing half of it, this cursed doll seems to have fallen in love with the cleaver, the culprit who split it in two, and likes to stay on the cleaver's shoulder whenever it has free time—the cleaver's shoulder is the only place on it without a sharp blade.
After learning the specifics of the situation, Furong explained, "Perhaps it was because its original trainer used it as a shield and attacked it without hesitation that it is now willing to stay with its opponent, Bisharp."
But Ze Shu, the cleaving commander, was also the culprit who attacked it...
Hmm, so that means... Stockholm syndrome?
What's the big deal?
Ze Shu was helpless.
But seeing that the cursed dolls were willing to cling to the Slashing Commander and that the Slashing Commander did not object, Ze Shu let them be.
Anyway, the ugly doll with the cursed appearance has already been patched up many times. It doesn't matter if it gets accidentally grazed a few times by the sharp blade on the Commander's body. Just sew it up again, it won't make a difference if a few more stitches are added.
"It seems the cursed doll really likes the resentment emanating from these researchers. Judging from this, it should be able to fully recover after absorbing it for a while longer," said Hibiscus, watching the cursed doll's blissful, pupa-like appearance.
Ze Shu nodded.
"So much resentment..." Hibiscus turned to look at the charred ruins of the Weather Research Institute and sighed, "I wonder who caused this, what their purpose was, and how all those floating bubbles have vanished..."
"
Just then, seemingly having found no clues, the silver-haired champion in the center of the ruins was about to step out when he saw Ze Shu and Fu Rong chatting on the periphery, and his eyes lit up.
"What are you doing here! Weren't you in Padia?!" Daigo took a few steps to Sawaki, bumped fists with him, and said happily, "You came to help me because of what happened here, right? It's so good to have you here..."
Ze Shu: "Don't say that yet. I didn't come here to help you. I just came to soak up some of the resentment here."
Daigo: 「————」
Furong laughed heartily beside her.
Daigo sighed, "Anyway, this period has been incredibly stressful for me. I was planning to go through the handover process with Michael to become the champion, and after successfully resigning, I would go to Padia to talk to you..."
"
No, you want to go mine for crystals, don't you?
Zeki glanced at the plump, white Cocoa that was following closely beside Daigo.
Daigo followed Sawaki's gaze: "You know, Cocodora is my best mining assistant. No matter how complicated the mine is, it can accurately locate the ore I need. But even it couldn't find any useful clues in these ruins. This is really..."
"Didn't they say Interpol was in charge of this?" Ze Shu asked.
"That handsome guy?" Daigo pondered for a moment and said, "He appeared here to investigate the day after the incident. I don't know what he found out, but he didn't talk to us and left to investigate on his own. And we haven't heard from him since, even after two days."
"Well, compared to Interpol, his style is more like that of an unconventional investigator."
Ze Shu nodded: "I see."
Daigo nodded in agreement, but hesitated to speak.
Seeing his hesitant expression, Ze Shu asked, "You want my help?"
Daigo then smiled happily and said, "I really want to! I knew it..."
Ze Shu: "Oh...."
Daigo choked for a moment: "What do you mean by 'oh'?"
Ze Shu said, "You all gathered the entire alliance's strength and still couldn't find any clues, so I probably don't have much to search either. Burning it all to the ground, if you ask me, that's more like the Lava Team's style."
Daigo said solemnly, "We've had our doubts too, are you sure?"
Ze Shu: "I just said it offhand, I'm not sure."
He looked at the cursed doll and said, "Because of this thing, I have to stay near this destroyed research institute for a while to let it heal. I can't go around investigating, and I can't say I can help you—but who knows, maybe the culprit will come back here to admire this masterpiece she created?"
Daigo: "I hope so..."
The weather research institute was burned down, but the surrounding environment was not affected. There were many flat grassy areas along Highway 119, making it a good campsite, and there were also several rivers. So, Ze Shu camped there.
"It is said that this is the only body of water in Hoenn where Feebas can live."
After letting the Pokémon play by themselves, Sawaki threw down the pole and sat quietly by the river.
Glaceon strolled over casually, yawned, and then, in a panic, collapsed to the ground with a "Ee!"
In my arms. After falling into my arms, it even nuzzled against me quietly and casually, its cute face showing a satisfied expression.
Ze Shu saw all of this but didn't expose its act. Instead, he reached out and rubbed the sensitive skin under its neck.
"Bu-i~~"
Ice Eevee raised its head like a kitten, squinting its eyes.
A sickeningly sweet, coquettish voice emanated from its mouth, accompanied by warm breath, its face flushed.
"Bonito?"
Seeing Eevee's condition, Eevee, who had just trotted over to Ze Shu's side, tilted its head – it didn't quite understand, but was deeply shocked.
It simply sat down against the swamp tree, took out a tangerine from its bosom, peeled it, gave a large segment to the swamp tree, and ate the other small segment slowly with its eyes half-closed, keeping the swamp tree company as it fished. It was already quite content.
But instead of saying he was fishing, Ze Shu was actually feeding his Pokémon.
The silly, shiny carp, a family of three wild bass, and a small but voracious wakizashi that could burst into tears at any moment are his "regulars" when fishing.
For their sake, Ze Shu replaced all the fishhooks with harmless plastic fishhooks.
Sure enough, the fishhook had only been in the water for a short while.
The tilapia couldn't wait and "whoosh" it bit the hook.
Without Ze Shu needing to reel it in, it flapped its tail fin and skillfully leaped onto the shore.
While stranded on the shore, it swallowed all the bait that was tangled on the hook.
"You..."
'
Sawaki was speechless. He unhooked the fishhook from the shad's mouth and threw it back into the water.
For the sake of food, it didn't even care about being stranded. No, rather, this wakiwa knew that the swamp tree would definitely not let it die on the beach and would throw it back into the water.
Zeshu cast his hook again.
"This time, bite slowly, don't bite as soon as I hook it."
After all, if the fish bites as soon as it's hooked, then Ze Shu would become a fully automatic feeding machine for these five "bait-eating teams," never having a moment's rest, constantly repeating the process of casting the hook, being bitten, and casting it again.
The "bait-eating squad" understood Ze Shu's words. After all, he was providing food, so they had to respect his words. No matter how much they wanted to eat, they did not immediately bite when Ze Shu cast the hook.
But they didn't bite immediately...
Underwater, a rapid current surged in from the outside, as if it had been watching for a long time, and with lightning speed, it made a "plop".
It took the bait from the swamp tree.
Weakling: ∑(OAOIII)!
My house got robbed!?
Ze Shu was also taken aback.
Because the fish that took the bait wasn't his "bait-eating squad".
He pulled up the fishing rod and discovered that the fish had bitten the bait with lightning speed...
It was an ugly fish that was so thin it was almost unrecognizable.
On the grass on the other side.
-
Higana lit a campfire with the Salamence, put her hands on her hips, and wanted to take advantage of the many new friends she had joined to tell her "heroic deeds," which was actually a "story she had just made up," at this "campfire party."
But no Pokémon paid any attention to her.
The Pokémon were all gathered around Hoopa.
"Hoopa! Laolao!"
Hoopa waved his hands, and the two rings, under his control, were separated at opposite ends.
Then, with a "whoosh" sound, a rope suddenly emerged from one of the rings, connecting to the other end, and began to swing in a circular motion.
"Hehehe~~ This is a Hoopa brand jump rope!" Hoopa said proudly. "Ze Shu just showed me how to use it! It's definitely fun!"
Dream and Victini are already jumping rope on the jump rope machine.
Although they're called "jump ropes," they can actually fly, just moving up and down following the circular motion of the rope. But even so, every time they successfully "jump" over a rope, they both let out a joyful "Wow!"
This attracted many Pokémon to join.
Foam Chipmunk, Lugia, Ancient Sword Leopard... Higanbana's Gooey, Whitey's Tepig, Blue's Nidorina, Little Tail...
For a moment, the place was filled with the joyful laughter of the little Pokémon.
Huba, who was controlling the jump rope, also chuckled.
It felt that using its abilities to make others happy seemed like a good thing.
Seeing how happily the others were jumping, the six-tailed cat, who was munching on its snacks, became excited and wanted to jump into the "jump rope machine".
But after hopping in, it was accidentally hit on the bottom by the rope with a "smack" after only a few jumps, and ran out again, looking aggrieved and clutching its bottom.
"Ooh... Ooh...."
It was complaining, complaining that the jump rope machine was very unfriendly to its "chubby" Pokémon!
But after making its accusation, it turned its face and happened to meet the gazes of Psyduck and Jigglypuff, who were also unable to handle jump rope.
"Huh?" Psyduck tilted its head in a daze.
"Ooh?" Six-Tails seemed to be infected as well, tilting its head as well.
"Puttingting?" Fatty tried to tilt its head, but its head was its body. As soon as it tilted its head, it fell to the ground, thrashing its limbs but unable to get up. It cried out for help in a panic.
Seeing this, Xiao Lan covered her head and exclaimed, "Let's float away!"
Jigglypuff can return to its original shape as soon as it is inflated and floats up.
But Jigglypuff never thought of this, and in the end, with the help of Vulpix and Psyduck, it straightened up.
After pulling Jigglypuff up, the three little ones decided to ignore the jump rope machine and channel their grief into their appetite, planning to go on a feast—well, most importantly, that's what Six-Tails wanted.
"Hehe... These are all such cute Pokémon..." Suddenly, a voice appeared.
"Who are you..
'
Xiao Lan turned her head and looked at the red-haired girl who suddenly approached. The girl was accompanied by a fiery red nine-tailed fox.
The red-haired girl tilted her head, glancing sideways at the campfire that Higana had lit, and suddenly said, "I...I want to join you, is that okay? My name is...Campfire, and like that name, I really like the atmosphere around a campfire..."
"bonfire...?"
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