He knows Pokémon better than me.

"A few days ago, the cunning fox said that one night it saw a sneaky, sturdy shield-and-sword monster, Bali."

It's not surprising to see elusive, ghost-type wild Pokémon appearing in the Wild Area.

Ash even occasionally sees Gastly and Driftballs floating above the Watchtower; these Pokémon mostly like to live in these corners of the city walls.

However, upon seeing many powerful Pokémon below, they mostly floated straight past without daring to land.

"Foxku, Foxku"

The cunning fox continued speaking.

At that time, the Shielded Sword Monster merely floated to a corner of the castle, dropped something thin and long, and quickly floated away again.

It wasn't an invasion by any foreign enemy, so the cunning fox didn't pay any attention.

"Luca~"

Lucario shrugged, generally not paying any special attention to Pokémon that just pass by.

Ash picked up the vine from the corner. He didn't know how long it had been there, but it still felt soft and supple to the touch, unlike any natural plant.

Is this it?

He waved the large, cunning fox in his hand and asked a question.

The latter pushed up the thief mask on his face, squinted his eyes to recall carefully, and then nodded emphatically.

There was indeed something greenish about it back then.

As for the end, after the shield-and-sword monster finished throwing its items, it quickly and stealthily drifted away again.

"I understand, thank you so much, you've been a great help this time."

Xiao Zhi expressed his gratitude, and the cunning fox and the sly little fox immediately puffed out their chests as if they had won a battle, looking triumphantly at the other side of the city wall.

On the other side of the wall, the pickpocket cat and the cool leopards had their eyes downcast, each baring their teeth in annoyance.

These damned foxes stole the spotlight!
Ash didn't care about the fight between the fox and the cat. Zarude was standing with his arms crossed, staring straight at him, demanding an explanation.

He could only gesture for people to calm down and try to soothe them for the time being.

"A Shielded Swordsman?"

Ash stroked his chin, saying that in the Wild Area, on foggy days or at night, one can indeed see some wild ghosts and Dark-type Pokémon.

I don't know where they usually hide, but they seem to automatically "refresh" and appear at certain times.

But he doesn't seem to have seen a Shielded Sword Monster spawn before, does he?
"Bari".

Mr. Mime nodded in agreement. Wild Aegislash monsters might appear near the dusty depressions in the northern wilderness, but the probability was extremely low here.

"So, it's not a wild Aegislash, but someone else's?"

Xiao Zhi scratched his head, looking completely puzzled.

So the real thief deliberately tore a vine off Zarude, whom he had captured, and then instructed the Pokémon to throw it back into his house.
"That shouldn't be the case, I don't have any enemies."

He was quite friendly throughout the trip, wasn't he?

If we're really talking about any grudges, after thinking about it, it seems like there are some—

For example, there's Peter with that grandma-style haircut, but this guy has absolutely nothing to do with poaching Pokémon.

Wait, there are two more people who fit the criteria!
Immediately, two arrogant men in suits with flamboyant hairstyles flashed into Xiao Zhi's mind.

By the way, wasn't the Pokémon one of them using Aegislash?

"Bee-huh!"

Upon hearing that it seemed to be related to his opponent, even Flame Ace came over and gave a cold snort of agreement.

Those two really do seem like the kind of people who would do something like that.

Xiao Zhi's eyes narrowed. It seemed that the two upper-class nobles were the biggest problem. Given their personalities, it was perfectly reasonable for them to hunt down a large number of Thunder King Kongs!

"Is it because they couldn't get the Cinderace, so they're targeting the other starter Pokémon?" They ended up unexpectedly catching Zarude.

When they passed by, they even dumped the blame on themselves.

This made Ash a little annoyed by these two guys.

"In short, it was done by two other people."

However, Sarud did not believe his explanation at all.

In its mind, humans are just humans, all the same.

Seeing this, Xiao Zhi could only guarantee:

"Alright, I'll take responsibility for this and help you find that Zarude."

There's not much to worry about regarding Zarude's safety, since those two upper-class nobles only want powerful Pokémon subordinates.

After seeing Zarud's beast-level combat power, even the Thunder King Kong probably wouldn't be impressed.

However, the high-intensity, demanding training, and even the occasional whipping, are probably unavoidable.

"cowry"

Flame Ace nodded in deep agreement; it was an experienced player.

Thinking of this, Xiao Zhi immediately called Sonia—

When we parted ways in Zhanjing Town, the other party mentioned that they wanted to investigate those two nobles, and even planned to interview them personally.

Beep beep!
However, Rotom rang for a long time without being answered, so Ash could only send a text message to Sonia about Zarude, asking her to contact him as soon as possible.

Now all he can do is wait; he doesn't even know where those two men in suits live.

There are company stores owned by Soder and Syldi in the machine engine market.

Hmm, we can ask Uncle Pierre later. Their shops are close together, so maybe we can get some information.

As for the current Zarud
"Anyway, you can stay here until I find those two people. Of course, you can also go find them yourself."

Xiao Zhi suggested.

However, Sarud stubbornly continued to point at the vine in his hand.

It has already found the poachers, so where else does it need to go?
Xiao Zhi: "."

It seems that this evil ape will not believe itself until it actually finds those two nobles.

There was nothing else Ash could do but say:
"Then you can stay here for now. Once I find those two people, the truth will come out."

After thinking for a moment, he quickly added:
"But you have to promise not to cause any damage here."

“Sa-Saru!”

Zarude was about to pound his chest and roar, but before he could even utter the first word, several menacing glares turned towards him from all around, and Zarude's voice immediately weakened.

Especially martial arts master Xiong Shi and Meilu Meta, who have been eager to fight for a long time.

It's rare to see such a powerful ape, especially one that's a rare mythical Pokémon. Who could resist the urge to battle it?

Most importantly, Zarude also possesses powerful healing abilities—

It's also a punching bag that can "automatically replenish health"!

Sarud: "."

Investigating the two upper-class nobles would take some time, so Blaze Ace took the initiative, beckoning with its hand to signal them to spar with it first.

"Saruru!!"

Sarud immediately showed a look of shame and anger, and let out a low growl.

It had been holding back its anger for a long time, and then a wild rabbit dared to hop around in front of it?!
Perfect, let's vent our frustrations by eating a rabbit first!
The two immediately set up a practice area within the castle, while Melo Meta, Martial Arts Master Xiong, and the others around them looked disappointed and could only watch from the sidelines! (End of Chapter)