chsdbacks Chapter 252 Everything I said was the truth, but you just wouldn't believe me...
Chapter 252 Everything I said was the truth, but you just wouldn't believe me...
Chapter 252 Everything I said was the truth, but you just wouldn't believe me...
Sinnoh, the Great Wetlands, the Goome region.
"Aaaaaah—"
"Stinky Swamp Tree! Bad Swamp Tree! Evil Swamp Tree!"
Looking at the sticky creatures buried in the damp ground, replenishing their moisture, Higana wiped away the mud that the sticky creatures had spat out as they passed by, and squatted down on a rotten tree with her knees drawn up in frustration, muttering to herself in a resentful tone.
Ze Shu left her here, saying he was going to appoint her as the "Temporary General of the Sticky Meadow" and have her guard this Sticky Meadow area for a while. He said he would come to find her the next day.
But it's been four days now...
She's still squatting here!
Higana's face was filled with resentment:
"Ze Shu isn't coming, and Xiao Lan isn't coming either..."
"Could they have abandoned me and gone off to start a new adventure somewhere else?!"
"That can't be...it's absolutely impossible!"
"With me, Queen Higana, being so powerful, how could they leave me out..."
"You can't just forget about me here!"
Higana puffed out her cheeks, thinking angrily, and also angrily clenched her fist.
Then, a "crack" was heard beneath her feet, as if from the pressure of her punch; the rotten wood she was standing on snapped. Higana: "?!"
The rotten wood broke, and beneath it lay the filthy mud of the wetlands. ::, That's not...
"Wow—"
Thump!
Today, this vast wetland has gained another unfortunate soul who slipped and fell, ending up covered in wolves and foxes.
"Stop! Who are you? I've never seen you before!"
Upon seeing three complete strangers enter the tavern, the tavern's customers nervously stared at them. There was no other reason than that, after all, compared to the renowned Hunter J, they were just small fry, and the only way to protect themselves from being captured by the League was to be vigilant.
"Ha... Who am I? That's not important."
The man in the middle of the three scoffed.
He glanced at the old and dilapidated tavern. The building was made of wood, and the wooden floorboards creaked with age. After all, it was an isolated island, so such conditions were understandable.
After observing for a while, he disregarded the hostile looks from everyone present and, with an air of arrogance and even a hint of swagger, led the two women behind him to an empty wooden table in the tavern and sat down.
"Where are the drinks? Who's in charge? Don't they have any sense of propriety when business comes knocking?"
He emphasized the word "business".
A thin man in a worn leather jacket immediately came out from behind the tavern counter. He approached and chuckled, "I'm the manager of this tavern. What would this customer like to drink? I'm not sure about the business..."
"Give me a bottle of refreshing soda first."
"Well... this is a tavern, and most of what we sell is..."
"No?"
"Yes, yes! It seems our customers have quite a diverse range of tastes!"
The pub manager immediately went to the front desk, and a short while later he returned with three bottles of refreshing soda, placed them on the table, and even helped open the caps. "Three customers, please enjoy."
At this moment, the hostility in the eyes of the other people in the tavern remained undiminished, and their suspicion even increased when Ze Shu asked for "energetic soda".
Ze Shu, seemingly oblivious to everyone else, took a sip of his soda and said, "Okay."
Xiao Lan, who had dyed her brown hair blue, picked up her soda and took a small sip.
Finally, someone couldn't hold back any longer. It was a rather chubby man wearing a cowboy hat at the next table: "Coming to a pub for soda?! Are you some kind of unkempt kid who wandered in by mistake... or did you come here on purpose...?"
Ze Shu looked up and interrupted, "Why are you talking about all this roundabout stuff?"
"You just want to suspect that I'm a member of the Alliance tasked with capturing cowards like you 'Sewer Rada' guys, don't you?"
The man retorted, "Isn't it? Ha, it's a refreshing soda!"
Ze Shu sneered and retorted, "If I were a member of the League, you wouldn't just be facing me today, but the Sinnoh Champion! And her Garchomp!"
"The League's hatred for people like you is plain for all to see. Do you think you can escape it?"
Zhu Lan, sitting opposite Ze Shu, looked at him with some confusion and disbelief.
No, is your disguise as an investigator really this outrageous and arrogant?!
In Zhu Lan's memory, shouldn't investigators usually be careful and try to minimize their presence when they are disguised?
But this actually works?!
After Ze Shu finished speaking, Zhu Lan could sense that the suspicion in the eyes of those present had lessened somewhat.
The man in the cowboy hat then asked Ze Shu, "So, what are your identities?"
Ze Shu said coldly, "Didn't I just say? Those who brought 'business' were arrested by me personally..."
The man asked, "Are you a Pokémon hunter?"
Ze Shu laughed and said, "Well, I have indeed caught quite a lot. And I'm not in the same league as you stinking fish and shrimp who only know how to hide in the sewers."
The man had clearly misunderstood, and he scoffed, "The Pokémon we collect are rotten fish... What makes you think that!"
"And what did you catch? Let us see!"
Ze Shu raised his eyes and said, "Ha, what makes me think I can?"
"I already said, the 'goods' I catch are nowhere near the level of you lowly fish... Do you know Hunter J?"
Man: "Who doesn't know..."
"Um?!"
He realized he had made a correct guess.
"So you were Hunter J's former subordinate!"
"No wonder you're so confident about the quality of the Pokémon you caught. Let us see!"
This was the only guess he could come up with.
Surely the "goods" this person is referring to that were captured are Hunter J himself?
That's impossible, absolutely impossible! If it were even possible, he'd rather faint on the spot!
Ze Shu took a sip of his refreshing soda and remained silent.
Zhu Lan, sitting across from him at the table, was also somewhat speechless.
What Ze Shu is saying is all "the truth".
It was like they were on completely different wavelengths... but the man on the other end completely filled in the blanks for Ze Shu!
"The Pokémon I caught? Hmm, fine, let me show you how precious it is."
The man retorted defiantly, "Fine! I'd like to see just how valuable the goods you've captured really are..."
Then, with a flash of white light, a harmless, plump white fox appeared in Ze Shu's hand. He laughed and said, "Look, look! This is what good stuff looks like!"
With Ze Shu grabbing it by the scruff of its neck, Liuwei blinked its bright eyes. After a moment of stunned silence, it understood what was happening. It immediately let out a "meow" and showed an extremely aggrieved expression—this aggrieved expression was so convincing because it had been bullied by Ze Shu so many times in the past.
Complementing its aggrieved expression were the frantic flapping of its four little feet, making it resemble a pitiful and helpless little fox in Ze Shu's hands.
When Ze Shu took out this "white fat fox".
The breathing of those around them quickened.
This white fox has glossy fur, with fine downy hairs arranged in neat "garlic clove" patterns, a sign of excellent care. Even if you don't know what kind of Pokémon it is, its chubby and adorable appearance alone could easily fetch a hefty price.
"This is unique to the Alola region...: Vulpix?!"
"Even in the Alola region, Vulpix is extremely rare and seldom seen..."
"This...this is absolutely top-quality stuff!"
The people around him who made a living by reselling Pokémon all seemed to have a greenish gleam in their eyes when they looked at Vulpix.
"What other good stuff do you have? Let us take a look!" they pressed.
"Want to see more?" Ze Shu glanced at the store manager who wasn't moving at the front desk and pondered for a moment.
He casually tossed another Poké Ball, and a cute, bald Ampharos appeared on the scene. The Ampharos was stunned to see so many people gathered around it.
"?!"
The electric dragon's "bullying radar" sensed that these people were all ill-intentioned and wanted to bully it, the easiest sheep to bully within dozens of miles... Hmm, bald sheep guys!
It immediately shrank into the corner that Ze Shu had released, crouching down with its head in its hands, looking both skilled and pitiful, like a wronged punching bag.
"It's the Ampharos, hailed as the 'Beacon of the Lost'! Even this final form of Pokémon has been captured!"
Those around looked at the electric dragon crouching with its head in its hands, looking pitiful, and couldn't help but look at Ze Shu with shocked eyes.
To be able to "scare" an upright electric dragon into such a timid and submissive personality, this person must be incredibly powerful!
At this moment, the tavern manager finally couldn't hold back any longer. He pushed through the crowd and stood before Ze Shu, laughing heartily, "As expected of Hunter J's subordinate! To be able to capture such a precious Pokémon!"
"So..."
He said in a low voice, "Shall we talk privately? How about we talk about 'business'?"
Ze Shu smiled happily: "Of course."
Before leaving, Ze Shu turned back to his two "subordinates" and said, "You two wait here and don't leave," and then followed the manager into the tavern through the door.
Once inside the door, Ze Shu realized that the "hall" of the tavern they had just been in was only the tip of the iceberg, and what lay beneath was its true form.
Following this so-called store manager, the first thing that came into view was a staircase leading down to the bottom, and after descending the stairs, there was a narrow and long tunnel.
Steel gates lined both sides of the tunnel, tightly locked with exaggerated chains. Ze Shu could even faintly hear shouts, cries, and struggles coming from inside the gates.
"Hahaha one"
"These are the cargo holds where we stored goods before the 'buyers' arrived!" Misawa paused for a moment, and the store manager, who was walking in front, explained.
Ze Shu moved around again and casually remarked, "Judging from the sound, they're probably trapped in an iron cage inside, right? Why not use Poké Balls? After all, they'll get all injured if they're in an iron cage, and then they won't fetch a good price."
The shopkeeper explained nonchalantly, "Even though the Poké Balls are locked, some annoying guys will struggle to get out. If even one manages to break free, it'll cause trouble. So we just put them all in iron cages to solve the problem once and for all. If they get hurt, so be it."
Ze Shu said in a low voice, "I see. :::"
Following the tall, thin store manager, we walked along the narrow passage. Along the way, we heard noises coming from both sides. Even Ze Shu couldn't help but frown slightly at the amount of noise – this was the amount that had been "temporarily stored" before the buyers arrived.
"Wow, that's a lot," Ze Shu remarked.
"Haha—" the shopkeeper chuckled with a hint of smugness, "but they're all of rather low quality, just as you said—rotten fish and shrimp. And it's precisely your goods that fill this gap in terms of high quality."
"Heh." Ze Shu chuckled meaningfully.
The "rotten fish and shrimp" he mentioned wasn't referring to Pokémon.
"Hmm, we're here!" At the end of the long, narrow tunnel was a locked room. The shopkeeper pulled out a large bunch of keys and fumbled for the door. "This is the room I usually use for transactions. It's very sturdy and soundproof; no matter how much the goods struggle, no one outside can hear a sound!"
Entering the dark room, the shopkeeper rummaged around for a bit, then took out a notebook from a drawer and said to Ze Shu, "Alright, let's make the transactions one by one."
Ze Shu glanced at the notebook in his hand and casually asked, "What's this?"
The store manager said, "The ledger."
Ze Shu asked, "Are the buyers and destinations of the goods also recorded?"
The store manager proudly said, "Of course, in my profession, I have to keep meticulous records. Look at that drawer; it's full of my carefully kept ledgers!"
"You're asking a lot of questions!"
"If you weren't such a distinguished guest, I wouldn't have said this to an ordinary person. Well, enough said, let's get started... um?!"
you?!"
As he spoke, the store manager's pupils suddenly contracted.
However, only two ghostly chirping sounds were heard.
He felt his feet and body gradually grow cold, stiffening as if they were blocks of ice frozen for a hundred years.
"You, you, you..."
He stared at Ze Shu in disbelief, his mind blank, unable to comprehend why he had launched an attack. He tried to touch the Poké Balls at his waist, but for some reason, they were all frozen solid.
A moment of anxiety.
"Help! Help! Save us..."
He could only shout with the last remaining bit of his voice that hadn't frozen, begging for help.
But they completely forgot what he had just said: "This room is very soundproof. No matter how much the goods inside struggle, you can't hear a sound outside."
Yes, although the outside world couldn't hear it, Ze Shu's ears were a little deafened by the noise.
"Shut him up."
"Chirp chirp!"
A gust of icy wind swept by, and the shopkeeper's voice suddenly turned cold. No matter how hard he shouted, it was like a Psyduck being choked, only able to produce a faint, hoarse croak.
He felt a tightness in his heart and couldn't help but look at Ze Shu, who was surveying his surroundings.
"You...you...who exactly are you...?"
"Oh? Who am I?" Ze Shu looked at him amusedly, flashing a small badge and twirling it between his fingers. "I wonder if you recognize this?"
But upon seeing the badge, the shopkeeper's pupils constricted, and a look of despair and defeat suddenly spread across his face:
"Investigator...."
"Th-those two outside are...:"
Ze Shu smiled and said, "Didn't I just say outside? If I were a member of the Alliance, then... it wouldn't just be me here today, there would be others too..."
Store Manager Qie Ran: "The...the Sinnoh Champion..."
"Yeah, I was telling the truth before..." Ze Shu sighed and said, "but none of you believed me."