Morning.
Zarude is eating a prepared breakfast with Koko. Said breakfast was actually just a few berries. Luckily, the berries are really very nutritious, and some of them even provide enough plant protein, otherwise if they eat the fruits alone, I'm afraid Koko would die of malnutrition first.
After all, this was a forest, without the synthetic meat that was common in the outside world. Zarude, on the other hand, though fierce-looking, is indeed a vegetarian by nature. After all, eating tree fruits doesn't delay survival, and finding them is far easier than hunting. Normal Pokémon don't have much need to prey on other Pokémon.
At most, they would just catch them for a toothsome meal.
And just as the father and son were enjoying their own breakfast, the sound of bodies rubbing against the bushes reached their ears.
The father and son looked at each other, then nodded to each other.
Zarude shot the vines he was holding in his hands in the direction the sound came from. Then he himself flew and landed on a branch near there to observe the situation.
Koko, on the other hand, ducked to the side, hiding her form. Gently shaking the rope wrapped around his wrist, which had small sharp stones tied to the front end. Sharp, cold light glinting in the early morning sunlight.
This was their father and son's territory, no ordinary Pokémon would normally come near, and only Skwovet, that little guy, would often come to Koko to hang out.
But Skwovet wouldn't even make that much noise while traveling.
The reminder of the visitor was not a small one.
Zarude was experienced to the core in living in the forest, and he was certainly able to determine the general size of his opponent. This was nothing difficult for him, Zarude.
His palms had emerald green grass energy coalescing in them, ready to give the other party a cheerful meet and greet.
Not a moment later, a man's figure emerged through the trees.
The man's face wore a curious expression as he looked around as if he had never seen the forest before. It also didn't see Zarude's presence at all.
Zarude was relieved to see the man so unguarded. A human who was this relaxed in the forest was either very strong or very weak. And if it was a very strong human, the eyes looking at this forest should generally not be curious, but appreciative.
Then the human in front of him should be a weak one.
Zarude gestured towards Koko behind him, signaling Koko not to appear and just let this man leave their territory.
But as soon as he finished the gesture, he heard the sound of breaking wind behind him.
Zarude instinctively sensed something bad.
As expected, Koko's fast moving body almost turned into a stump before appearing in front of the man.
The man looked at the teenager who suddenly appeared in front of him, he was first startled, his whole body backed up, and in a bit of a panic, he removed the genie ball from his own waist letting it be placed in front of his body.
"You you. Don't you come over! I'm very powerful!"
The man had written the word panic on his company. There was absolutely no appearance that a so-called strong man should have.
Seeing this situation, Zarude was kind of relieved even though he was a bit angry at Koko for not listening to his command. If this was a strong human, Koko would be dead by now.
But it was now that he truly panicked...
Because this person was a human, and he was Koko, his true kind.
Koko pushed her nose into the human in front of her, sniffing.
The man was a bit overwhelmed by the boy's actions, and for a moment he didn't know how to react, not to fight back, but to let him sniff his body seemed a bit perverted as well.
"That, little one, can you step aside for a moment and give me some space. I'll let you know if you have any questions."
The man's smile was forced, obviously feeling really embarrassed by such behavior in front of him. But Koko was oblivious. In his perception, this was an act to show friendliness. Though with a hint of testing. But there was no malicious intent.
What's more crucial was...the current him, he couldn't understand human language.
"Sasa..."
Koko said towards the man with some confusion after sniffing for a while and realizing that there was nothing he was familiar with.
The man just shook his head in confusion at the sound of his voice.
And just then, an Umbreon suddenly popped out of his Pokeball.
Then Koko happily climbed in front of the Umbreon, and the man and the rabbit communicated with each other without any obstacles.
A few moments later, Umbreon walked back to the man's side and spoke to his master about what Koko had just said. Although it was unintelligible, when trainers and Pokémon reached a certain level of tacit understanding, they were always able to hear roughly what their Pokémon was saying.
The man finished listening to Umbreon's expression, then looked at Koko rather surprised.
"You're actually able to understand the language of Pokémon. That is truly incredible. Of course you are a human, a human like me, not a Pokémon!"
The man spoke cheerfully, but Koko was in a daze.
Yeah, he was a human. And not Zarude. both his own inner truth and the reality that he resembled this man even far more than he resembled his Abba were telling him that.
He was human, not Zarude...
Then, Abba had lied to him.
And just then, Zarude appeared in front of Koko's eyes, his eyes harboring a hint of apology. Of course he knew what the situation was like. He had been hiding it from Koko, but he didn't realize that all those years of hiding would come to naught when a human broke into the forest.
The connection between races was always an instinct!
"Koko, I'm sorry, all this time..."
"Dada, why?"
Zarude's words were interrupted by Koko before he could finish them. Zarude listened to Koko's voice with a sobbing tone and raised his head to see the tears in the corner of Koko's eyes. He opened his mouth but in the end he just shook his head.
"I..."
He didn't seem to have any room to explain...
What's wrong is wrong isn't it. Maybe he should have just told Koko the truth back then instead of lying to Koko because of his own selfishness.
"I'm sorry..."
After Zarude finished speaking, he planned to turn around and leave.
But before he could make the move to turn around. A sharp pain came from his waist and abdomen.
He lowered his head to see that a hooked eye had appeared somewhere not when, and then a claw viciously stabbed into his stomach, even as it stirred.
"Heh heh heh heh."
Hook Eye laughed heartily.
"Dada!"
Koko didn't care about his body at this point when he saw this. With a flick of his hand, the rope in his hand that was tied with stones attacked towards Hook Eye.
And the conjunction of the soul's eyes did not change half a bit, as if this sharp stone blade did not exist at all. And naturally, it was impossible for this stone blade to hurt a Ghost-type Pokémon.
And at the same time, Koko gets clawed from behind by Umbreon and passes out.
Zarude's eyes widen in anger and he forces a punch to turn the Hook Eye on. And the Hook Eye doesn't bother with the brain, it just hides with the darkness a little later.
Just as Zarude was about to attack Umbreon, and the man, a fierce looking ring bear appeared in front of Zarude's eyes.
Not only was it ferocious, the aura of the ring bear in front of him also pressurized Zarude to the point that he could hardly breathe.
This Ursaring...
He didn't have time to think much before he saw a white light glowing from the Ursaring's claws before it glued a claw to his face.
"Tsk, thought it was some powerful Pokémon? Turns out it's just that."
The man's voice carried a trifle of sarcasm.
Originally, he had thought that this cherished Pokémon had equally strong strength. But now, it seems that this fellow is once again like some Pokémon, just looking rare, its own strength, not worth mentioning...
Of course, that's an exaggeration, Zarude's strength isn't that strong, but it's still not a problem as a Gym Leader's Pokémon.
Just using a Champion-level Ursaring against him would really be a descending blow.
But as far as Malkin was concerned, he had nothing to be ashamed of about his behavior.
After all, the profession of hunter was already invitingly ruthless.
"Ursaring, take these two guys with you, and by the way, vandalize their house to mislead the people who are coming to check it out."
Although he didn't think that there would be anyone here, out of habit, Malkin still instructed.
Then he headed towards the other side of the forest.
———————————————
Malkin wasn't a fool. How could he not realize that the man and monkey in front of him were a liability for him in the middle of the mission?
Against Arceus's Plate doppelganger, even if it was just a doppelganger, it couldn't be taken lightly! After all, even the strongest trainers have to be careful when facing the legendary God of Creation.
He didn't have the heart to go up against Arceus' Plate doppelganger with two enemies.
So he planned to sell these two babies now.
"Hello, is this Mr. Lawrence III?"
Malkin reached the famous collector by phone.
"You are... Malkin? ha! Do you have any more goodies worth a trip for me?!"
A somewhat frantic voice came from the other side.
Malkin listened to his contemptuous tone with more than a little resentment in his eyes. In fact, they hunters didn't like doing business with Lawrence III, this son of a bitch, either.
After all, this son of a bitch had his eyes high above the ground and hated to look at people with his nostrils.
There was no sense of respect or equal treatment for these 'partners' of theirs, and to say that he treated them as servants was already a sign that the hunters were putting gold on their own faces.
The way Lawrence III looked at them was not looking at servants. Rather, he was looking at trash.
But everyone would still be the first to contact this scum when they got a really good quality collection.
There was no way around it, he was giving too much.
Earning money is not chilling. Earning on your knees is also earning.
"I got a very rare Pokémon here ah! I haven't even seen it before."
Malkin maintained the smile on his face and said.
"There are plenty of Pokémon you haven't seen before! Don't talk so much, as long as it's in my collection, the number you'll like it too."
Lawrence III trimmed his nails on his leather couch. Full of disinterest, he said.
This Malkin guy does have a few things going for him, but he's still way off from the real big boys.
The collectibles he gave Hunter J before she was beaten into oblivion were really good. But after Hunter J was sanctioned, there were no more collectibles that could really satisfy him.
He looked up at the light screen in front of him.
On it was a video. The video had an uncountable number of Water-type Pokémon, and they were surrounding a giant silver bird.
And wherever the silver giant bird passed, the sea was calm, without a single ripple.
And the silver giant bird pranced up and down in the seawater like a god walking in his divine kingdom.
"How beautiful!"
Lawrence III looked at the figure of the giant silver bird with near obsession, sighing and praising his name.
"Lugia!"
Now that's the collector's item I crave! A true beauty!
His engrossed state was interrupted when the communicator in his hand gave a crunch. Then shook his head, he knew the terror of the God of the Sea, it really wasn't a power that humans could fight.
Even if he had made that huge flying machine with the help of some researchers, it was still too far to provoke the God of the Sea.
Even if he was crazy enough to disregard losses. But he still cared about his little life.
So many water-based Pokémon even in unison with water guns, as long as they could form a combined force, this was hardly a force that could be stopped by humans.
At least he, Lawrence III, couldn't do it.
He sighed and looked at the picture Malkin had sent himself.
There were two photos, one had a dirty child on it with fierce eyes and a grim expression.
Lawrence III looked puzzled.Was Malkin stupid? Since when did he, Lawrence III, collect things like humans that had no beauty at all.
And a kid who just looked dirty, wild and innocent?
What's the value of collecting something like this dirt dog?
Of course Lawrence III was more than patient. He decided to ask why after looking at the photos in the second chapter. If Malkin couldn't give himself a reasonable explanation...
Then Malkin would never be able to get a penny out of his hand again.
And just as he saw the second photo, his brows steeply furrowed.
On the photo, a black-colored Pokémon with a white pattern and green vines wrapped around its hands and body was lying on the ground in a very weak state.Lawrence III was also a very experienced person, so of course he knew that although the injuries in front of him looked very serious, they weren't actually difficult to treat.
What surprised him was that he had never seen this Pokémon before either...
He prided himself on being a Pokémon collector, even if a hunter like Malkin would still be unfamiliar with some of the Pokémon when faced with them, but he was just able to know them like the back of his hand.
Because most of these Pokémon were his 'family favorites'.
But this Pokémon in front of him... he really didn't seem to have seen it before...
He was tempted to question Malkin about what kind of Pokémon this Pokémon was.
But on second thought, Malkin wouldn't necessarily know... no, that illiterate, he must not know.
So he shook his head and decided it would be better to start at the beginning.
"What's up with that kid in your first picture? I don't collect humans. And it's one of these things that you can smell through the screen."
Lawrence III was reluctant to describe Koko as human by the end of his sentence.
Malkin gave a smile and said, "This little thing is something, even though it can't speak human yet. But it's teachable!"
Lawrence III's frown deepened, and if Malkin didn't have some credibility with himself, he'd just hang up now.
Can't even speak human, and this is merchandise? Send it out as a monkey?
"The most valuable point of this little guy, Mr. Lawrence III, is that he speaks Pokémon's language and is able to communicate with Pokémon without any barriers!"
Malkin was also very excited when he said this, because how much a human with this trait was worth, he just couldn't imagine!
Lawrence III was equally excited, but his excitement wasn't the same as Malkin's. He was thinking about a human who could communicate with Mémon.
He was thinking about a child who could communicate with Pokémon. This proved that Pokémon language could be learned by humans. Then the superpowers' advantage in elf breeding would be cut down.
If this child was raised to be a teacher, then it was thought that the benefits this child could bring would be even greater.
Although Lawrence III despised the businessman himself. But there was no doubt that without all that money, he wouldn't have been able to do collect such a large collection.
But he didn't act fanatical about it either. Because this had little to do with his collection...
Human cubs, were not on his collection list.
Therefore, he asked with some lack of interest, "What about the second picture? Is that just Pokémon?"
Malkin had a sarcastic smile on his face.
He thought to himself, "I thought you really didn't have any Pokémon you didn't recognize? With the words you just said, those who know you know you're Lawrence III, while those who don't think you're Professor Oak or Professor Rope!
Of course, the sale still has to be done, so of course these words in the heart cannot be said out.
"Oops, I'm not really sure, I can just hear them Zarude Zarude."
Lawrence III thought for a moment, and seemed to have heard of this kind of Pokémon, but he didn't seem to have much of an impression.
He could only say that even if he had read something about it, those descriptions were just words.
This was a very unpleasant thing for Lawrence III. He felt like a piece of his collector's compulsion had been knocked off.
"Ahem! I think I've heard of this kind of Pokémon, but I'm about to forget all about the specifics, so I'm going to go back and look up the information."
"Let's talk about the trade first. How much did you offer, and where do we trade?"
Lawrence III decided to change the topic first, although this big monkey is not pretty and has no beauty, but in the end it's a cherished Pokémon that he hasn't seen before so naturally saying that he can't lose out by buying it is. That child can also be bought, the collection value is not much.
But no matter whether you use it to educate yourself or give it to some Pokémon language researchers, you can also get a lot of explicit and implicit benefits.
Although he, Lawrence III, hated his identity as a businessman, he was indeed a shrewd businessman.
"The price thing... you know, this rare Pokémon and this child are both the type that are worth a lot of money. So..."
What Malkin said was nothing short of lustful. It was obvious that he was going to raise the price of the Pokémon!
If it were a normal person, he would have opened the show with him, and then Malkin would have asked for the price and the buyer would have paid it.
But who was Lawrence III?
"I'll give you 20 times the price of a normal Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon. Tell me where to trade."
People may not realize what 20 Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon is.
There are a total of nine known Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon. With the exception of the Hoenn region, which had two types of Salamence and Metagross, all the other regions had one and only one type of Pokémon.
This shows how rare and valuable they are.
And 20 of them, even if you get two of each kind, you still need two more.
At this price, you can't even describe it as high, you can only say Lawrence III, people are stupid and have lots of money...
Of course Lawrence III himself doesn't think so.
Because everything has a price in one's mind. What people say is worth it or not is more about that. Not the difference between his real price and quality.
It's like some licking dogs, knowing that their goddesses are the playthings of some tycoons, but still licking as if intoxicated. Can not wait for the liver, brain and lungs. In their hearts, the goddess has not been the tycoon toyed with is not important at all.
The goddess only had to be licked by them.
That's pretty much the state of mind that Lawrence III has for these collectibles.
That's why such a price doesn't seem too much to Lawrence III.
Malkin, on the other hand, didn't feel it was too much! He was simply satisfied to a fault!
"I'm in the middle of the sub-kindred forest in the town of Beautiful Home, in the Galel region. I'll send you my location, and hopefully Mr. Lawrence III will be able to come and receive your shipment as soon as possible."
Lawrence III on the other end of the phone spoke in a calm tone.
"En, 50% of the payment for the goods will be credited to your account later. You pay attention to receiving it."
After saying that, Lawrence III did not speak and silently hung up the phone.
And the corner of Malkin's mouth first hooked up in a brilliant arc.
Although this mission was dangerous, the resources given by Mr. Arceus were generous enough. And I didn't expect to actually earn an extra amount of extra money this time.
Although I'm very reluctant, after this job is done, it's best if I keep my promise and wash my hands of it.
It's also good that I can find a city to be a small detective and help people investigate some things. It doesn't matter if it's money or not, it's mainly just for fun.
After all, this single, is enough for me to earn enough money to spend for the rest of my life.
Malkin thought with some excitement.
In the place he didn't notice, Zarude, who was lying on the ground, had a green spot of light converging into his body from his back.
More crucially, Rope and Leon, the two of them were leading those wild Pokémon, were constantly approaching in this direction.