Elf: Re-employment of retired champion of Padiya

Chapter 720 Homecoming in Glory: The Messenger Bird

Sinnoh region.

At the foot of Tianguan Mountain, amidst a dense forest.

Compared to the first impression of her as capable and ruthless that most people had of her, Hunter J's current state is probably the third most pathetic moment of her life.

The second most embarrassing moment was when he was sitting in the dock of the International Criminal Court, being pelted with rotten eggs by the people below.

She memorized those faces and vowed to get revenge someday.

As for the first humiliating moment of his life, Hunter J really didn't want to recall that shameful memory.

However, during his time in prison, Hunter J remembered exactly how many bricks were in his cell, and what patterns and cracks were on each brick, and had touched them countless times.

There was only one belief that sustained her through that hell called "life imprisonment".

She was determined to make that man experience the same, no, a thousand times worse, humiliation and pain as she had!
However, this matter requires further consideration.

After all, during her imprisonment, the Galactic Team, who had been secretly contacting her, had provided her with a lot of information about that man.

She knew very well that the other party was likely a strong player on the same level as Sinnoh Champion Cynthia.

Taking retaliation rashly is no different from suicide.

You must strike hard at his weakest and most vulnerable spot.

This matter needs to be considered carefully, at least until I can make a comeback.

Wiping the thick layer of dust off her face from crawling over the exhaust pipe, she looked up at the blue-haired man with cat-ear-like hair who was looking down at her.

Galaxy Team Officer, Zhenxing.

It was he who used the mole that Team Galactic had planted within the Sinnoh League. After contacting him several times, the mole acted and helped him complete his escape.

"Do you need a little push, ma'am?"

Noticing Hunter J's gaze, Zhenxing smiled and extended his hand in a gentlemanly manner.

"No need, I can stand up by myself."

Hunter J dusted himself off and stood up.

She's not the kind of woman who's so fragile she'd collapse at the slightest breeze; there's absolutely no way she'd show any weakness.

Even if the person in front of her, Zhenxing, was the one who rescued her, it would still be the same.

"That's good."

Zhenxing's expression remained unchanged, showing no sign of anger or embarrassment at being rejected.

"Your Pokémon are now in your possession, and the promised funding and technical support will be provided as well. I hope you won't be so unlucky in the future and accidentally fall into a trap again."

"After all, our Galactic Team didn't go to the trouble of using our hidden agents to rescue you; it wasn't for charity."

They're all seasoned veterans in the underworld, so how could Hunter J not understand Zhenxing's meaning?

She said with a serious face, "Of course, I remember the contents of the contract very clearly, and you will soon see my results."

Although she was very unhappy about being controlled by others, she still needed the help of Team Galactic if she wanted to make a comeback.

The price was merely helping Team Galactic capture three somewhat rare Pokémon after rebuilding his poaching team.

This price wasn't something she had to pay immediately; she had to wait for notification from Team Galaxy, giving her ample time to prepare.

During this time, she can rebuild her poaching team.

Hunter J stroked the few Poké Balls in his pocket, pondering in his mind.

Although these guys are all useless trash, they won't last long against that man.

But undeniably, she still needs their strength now.

At least wait until a better option becomes available before disposing of or selling these "failures" to interested buyers.

After fleeing all the way, Hunter J wanted to hide in the sparsely populated dense forest at the foot of Tianguan Mountain for a while, rest, and then sort out his thoughts.

But she noticed that Zhenxing, who had just been leaning against the tree trunk with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes. As if he had heard something through his earphones, his expression immediately became playful.

He looked at Hunter J and said succinctly, "It's time to go."

"Interpol has somehow determined our coordinates and has joined forces with the Sinnoh police to track us down."

"The one leading the team is still that Elite Four member, Aryu. He should have been sent by the Sinnoh League."

Hunter J frowned: "Coordinates?"

"Who knows? Are you sure you haven't had a tracking device implanted in you?" Zhenxing shrugged.

"I've already dug that one out."

Hunter J showed off the still-unhealed wound behind his ear with a blank expression.

She was certain that she had only had a tracking device implanted in her body, and that she had dug it out herself when she escaped from prison.

"No wonder the rumors say you have a ruthless personality."

Zhenxing clicked his tongue in amazement, then his expression changed.

"Well, if I can't find the reason, then forget it. Anyway, I'm leaving now."

"I'll contact you later."

He waved his hand, then held his head and walked deeper into the dense forest.

Hunter J stared at his back for a few seconds, then summoned Salamence.

"Let's go too."

Hopping onto the back of the Salamence, Hunter J decided to leave the area around Mt. Coronet first.

There are still many things to do.

Finding easily manageable subordinates, rebuilding warships, and taking on poaching missions to erase his past humiliation—the tasks are piled up higher than a mountain.

Of course, something even more important is to make that man regret what he did.

Luo Mu, let me start by taking revenge on your weaknesses, one by one.

4 month 12 day.

Pingdie Town, Padiya Region.

"Yeah!"

The bear disciple stood in the backyard of the dojo, constantly punching the sandbag in front of him, training his punching speed, power and control.

"Sonana!"

With her little hands drooping like ears and a smiling face, Xiao Guoran looked eager to try.

But with the X-Rayet cat blocking its way, it couldn't push the X-Rayet cat aside and go up itself.

Luo Mu saw all of this.

But don't get me wrong, Xiao Guo didn't want to learn from Xiong's apprentice; it simply wanted to replace the punching bag.

Of course, this isn't exactly a masochistic tendency; it's simply the "personal preference" of each Wobbuffet and Wobbuffet. Probably.

After staring at his bear apprentice for a while to make sure that its movements were not distorted, Luo Mu continued to lazily lounge on the recliner, a lollipop dangling from his mouth, and flipping through the "diary" that Shinji had sent him that day.

That's right, a diary.

Ever since Shinji sent him that letter, this kid has gradually become more and more unserious.

It's like documenting my life; I record my daily training routine and then send it to myself via email. Who keeps a diary, anyway?

However, there are some advantages as well.

Through the daily "diary emails," Luo Mu could indeed see Shinji's growth from the words, and could also more clearly extract the points of doubt or struggle in him, and give advice from his own perspective.

Shinji is indeed quite talented in both theory and training; he has a plan for raising each Pokémon.

But there was one Pokémon that played the role of the confused and underdog in the "diary email" sent by Shinji.

Little Flame Monkey.

Since that incident, Shinji has never seen Chimchar unleash that amazing flame again.

No matter what methods Shinji tried to use to help Chimchar activate, he just couldn't get it to work.

Judging from the contents of the letter, Shinji has used almost every method except for forcibly putting Chimchar in a fatal crisis.

Without that "fiery" power, Chimchar's performance became somewhat mediocre.

Its physique was weaker and more feeble than the grass turtle that Shinji got from Dr. Yamanashi and the crocodile that Luo Mu got from him.

It's not terrible in any aspect, but it's definitely not outstanding either; it can only be described as mediocre.

Therefore, the text in Shinji's recent emails has also been tinged with a sense of anxiety.

He felt he was still too dull, unable to unleash the hidden power within the little fire monkey no matter what he did.

The content of today's emails is similar.

Except for one iron dumbbell, which, under his nurturing, successfully evolved into a metal monster.

In addition to the two new pieces of news, Shinji has finished his training in the forest near Sandstone Town and has officially set off to challenge the gyms to obtain badges.

The following long passage is Shinji's various speculations about the triggering conditions for Chimchar's "Firestorm".

After reading the letter, Luo Mu considered it carefully and replied to Shinji with two paragraphs.

Why not try approaching it from an emotional perspective?

For example, if you and Chimchar are in a state of spiritual connection, feeling excited and emotionally resonant, you might succeed.

Luo Mu had just sent the message when he expected that Shinji, who had already started his trip and often camped out in the wild, would not see and reply to it for several days.

But what surprised him was.

A few seconds later, Shinji's reply arrived.

【.】

"Shall I give it a try?"

Even though Shinji isn't the type to use emojis, Luo Mu could still tell from the brief message that the other person was speechless.

"Ugh"

Luo Mu shrugged and sighed helplessly.

It's indeed a bit difficult for a rational trainer like Shinji to stir up emotions and resonate with Chimchar.

But there was nothing he could do; that was the only way he knew Ash could activate "Blazing Fire."

He couldn't offer any further advice because he hadn't actually seen it.

"Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore."

Luo Mu chose to give up in just one second.

Time slipped away quietly, and a morning had passed.

Oranguru, with its arrogant Delibird, returned to the backyard from the Gym Challenge area in front.

Judging from the messenger bird's expression, you can tell it had a good run of business this morning.

After Luo Mu beat up the strange tree and then debunked the urban legend.

Challengers at the Flat Disc Dojo no longer lined up in long queues like they had that day.

However, this might be because the "real master" of the gym, Qishu, suffered a crushing defeat despite sending out his main force.

Challengers who lacked confidence stopped coming, and the quality of the challengers gradually improved.

Some challengers, like the Bear Apprentice and the Master Blacksmith, are no longer suitable to participate; it's up to the Messenger Birds to fight them.

These past few days, besides his usual practice at the waterfall, the bear disciple who's been sitting on the sidelines has been forced to come to the backyard to punch the sandbag.

Otherwise, if it actually went on the field, it would most likely be used as a punching bag.

"Yale Yuta." (Have a safe journey.)
Zhihui waved to the messenger bird, nodded to Luo Mu, and then turned to leave the gym through the back door and return to the farm.

"Bye-bye~"
The refreshed messenger bird waved in response, a hint of anticipation in its eyes.

Having seen all this, Luo Mu raised an eyebrow, stood up, and stretched.

"Then I'll go get ready, and we'll set off in a bit."

"Deli!"

The messenger bird nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

Seeing its excited appearance, Luo Mu couldn't help but smile.

He turned and walked towards the RV parked in the corner of the backyard to take stock of the supplies.

This time, he is going to Frostmog Mountain.

As for the reason for going to Frostmog Mountain...
After Ragnarok went on a "vacation" to the Hoenn region, the Delibird that reunited with him returned to the Padina region with him.

It's been more than a month already.

Now that the messenger bird has rested enough, it plans to choose a time soon to continue its journey.

But before that, there is one more necessary thing to do.

--go home.

It's not the farm that's the messenger bird's second home, but its original home and its original population.

Luo Mu's encounter with the messenger bird took place on a stormy night.

He remembered that he had just returned to the farm from Glass Bottle City when he saw Röntgen carrying a black thing back to the farm.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an extremely unlucky messenger bird that had been struck by lightning.

Furthermore, the messenger bird developed a psychological trauma from being struck by lightning, and briefly became a free-range chicken for a period of time.

It wasn't until, under the guidance of Dragonite, that it overcame its psychological trauma, conquered the typhoon, and achieved its goal of wanting to go on adventures and see the vast world.

The messenger bird began to travel alone and experienced many things afterward.

Examples include Mewtwo's comeback and the birth of a creature without Lugia.
However, the messenger bird itself has a background that has been overlooked. If the messenger bird hadn't mentioned it this time, even Luo Mu himself would have forgotten about it.

—Its hollow tail is enormous compared to others of its kind, which is why it was once the leader of a messenger bird flock.

After all, the messenger bird species doesn't care about strength or lineage; they only care who has the biggest tail.

Counting the time, it's been almost a year since the messenger bird left its flock to go out on its own, was struck by lightning, and was then retrieved by the X-ray cat.

The messenger bird recently had the idea of ​​returning to its colony, even though there may now be a new leader.

In layman's terms, it's like Delibird is planning a Pokémon version of a triumphant homecoming!
(End of this chapter)