Pokémon, Ash is going to become a perfect man from now on.

"Anyway, we'll split up tomorrow. Miss Kona will invite the mayor to the briefing, and Lila, Misty, and Jian will accompany 'me'; I'll take the opportunity to investigate the mayor and try to find some clues; and finally, Lucario and Alakazam, you two go into the sewers ahead of time and try to find the submarine used for smuggling!"

The plan was finalized, and Ash assigned tasks to everyone... but Cynthia suddenly offered to intervene.

"Why don't you count me in too? I'll go investigate the sewers with your two Pokémon."

"Uh... Miss Cynthia, are you serious?"

Honestly, the fair-skinned and beautiful Sister Baicai is completely out of place in the dirty and dark sewers!

"You're all working so hard to rescue the Pokémon, of course I can't just stand by and do nothing!" Cynthia's attitude was firm. "Besides, don't let my appearance fool you, I'm an archaeologist after all. Some of the ruins I've encountered before weren't much cleaner than sewers!"

"Alright, then I'll leave it to you." Since they've put it that way, it would be too much for Xiaozhi to refuse.

And after that, Ash finally showed the proper politeness.

"Miss Cynthia, I apologize for my attitude just now, and I am very grateful for your help!"

"I may have been a bit presumptuous, I hope you won't mind." Cynthia adopted an attitude of equality, smiling gracefully, "So, after this is over, how about a battle with my Lucario... Let me see your so-called overpowered strength?"

"No problem, we promise to give it our all!" Xiao Zhi readily agreed.

And so, everything is arranged, just waiting for tomorrow!

Chapter 273 The Orange Islands: Whose Achilles' Heel?

The next day, Lorelei's presentation was finally about to begin, and Ash and the others also began their actions at the same time.

Blue's Ditto was already teleported over last night. Upon hearing about Ash's actions, Blue, even though she was in Alola, didn't forget to 'care' about Ash, repeatedly reminding him to make a good impression on Lorelei and Cynthia.

"Both of them are master-level figures. Although winning over an older man might be more difficult, I believe you'll be fine. After all, my darling is going to be the king of the harem~"

beep~

Speechless with both physical and mental exhaustion, Xiao Zhi decisively hung up the phone.

Wait... what's wrong with this girl's thought process?

So, in her eyes, I really am attractive to everyone from three to thirty years old?!

Ash says that if Blue is willing to start a yuri harem, he wouldn't mind accepting the title.

Despite the complaints, Xiaobai's transformation skills are indeed impressive, perfectly mimicking Xiaozhi.

Using his superpower of farsightedness to observe for a while, Ash discovered that the presentation had officially begun and the mayor was enjoying himself in the VIP section. Without hesitation, Ash teleported into the mayor's office in the city government.

Using his superpowers to see through things, Ash scanned the office and his gaze landed on the bookshelf in the corner.

"Heh... I didn't expect to actually find something. Looks like I don't need to make another trip to his house."

Setting up mechanisms or concealing hidden doors on bookshelves is a really old trick.

Come to think of it, these secret cubicles in the boss's or CEO's office are usually used for things like having sex with the female secretary...

However, the mayor might be at a disadvantage in this regard, since his personal secretary... is a man.

In short, Ash felt that what he was looking for should be in this secret room, otherwise the mayor would not have specially placed a Pokémon inside to guard it.

boom!

By violently dismantling the bookshelf, Xiao Zhi easily broke into the secret room and was quickly drawn to the several safes in front of him.

So much so that he 'overlooked' that on a cabinet in the corner of the secret room, there was a strangely shaped sculpture-like ornament whose eyes were quietly emitting a barely perceptible blue light.

"It should be in here... Hmm!"

Just as Ash was about to force open a safe, a strange bluish-gray Pokémon suddenly appeared in front of him. The Pokémon immediately used its psychic powers to control Ash's body and then tried to invade his consciousness!

"Ash…"

"You little gray monster, huh? Trying to ambush me... You're still too green!"

"Gray?!" The strange Pokémon was taken aback, only to find itself bound instead, and all its psychic powers were no longer under its control!

Immediately afterwards, it felt a sharp, cone-shaped superpower pierce through its brain, and its vision went black as it fainted...

"It's quite an unexpected discovery that the mayor's personal secretary is actually a member of the public."

Things have become a bit complicated. When Ash was investigating with his phone, Porygon II found information about networks in other regions behind the mayors' media outlets, but he didn't say it outright at the time because of Cynthia's feelings.

But now, in the mayor's office, he has discovered a Psychic-type Pokémon unique to Unova... and its owner is the mayor's personal secretary!

Incidentally, this secretary did not attend the presentation with the mayor today; I don't know where he went.

However, whatever the secrets behind it, Ash's operation today can be considered a complete success.

This little gray monster had been in the secret room the whole time, and it knew where all the evidence Ash needed for this trip was hidden.

For example, Ash found the notebook used to record the mayor's accounts of Pokémon smuggling that he had instructed his personal secretary to do over the years. Every transaction was recorded in detail, from the content to the recipient!

Fortunately, Ash didn't find any record of Pink Nidoran at the end of the ledger, which means that the poachers have not yet successfully shipped it and are still stuck in the city!

There are also some documents that record the private conversations between this mayor and officials from other islands, and even the so-called "high-ranking members of the Orange Alliance" on Orange Island, and all of them are related to Orange Island's independence!

The part involving money and power transactions was so impressive that even Xiao Zhi was amazed.

If this information were submitted to Mr. Watari, the Kanto Alliance would probably fire all the officials in the Orange Islands!

As for the mayor's collusion with the news media to secretly control online voting, although there are no paper documents here, 3D Dragon II still found some clues online, which have now become evidence in Xiao Zhi's phone.

It can now be confirmed that the media and the internet in Big City and even Little Orange Island are controlled by foreign media.

That was fantastic!

When Ash contacted Officer Jenny to search the office, he couldn't help but sigh.

He had initially thought that the mayor was just a clueless trainer who didn't know how to raise Pokémon and threw his starter partner into the sewer, but now it seemed that this guy had quite a few tricks up his sleeve.

They shelter poachers, clamor for Orange Islands independence, and use foreign media to control public opinion on the island. They're betraying their own country and turning their own hometown, Orange Island, into a mess...

But he's already the mayor, so what's the point of all this?

Putting everything else aside, he went to great lengths to set up this dark network in Big City. Was it just for smuggling Pokémon?

Not only is the risk high, but the input and output are also disproportionate...

wrong!

Staring intently at the little gray monster in front of him, Ash seemed to have figured out the key to the problem!

This little gray monster is the mayor's secretary's Pokémon. It possesses the superpower to skillfully invade human minds and even alter memories. So, let's look at it another way...

What if it was actually there to spy on the mayor?

If the mayor is controlled by this little gray monster, then it means that the secretary, who is in charge of Pokémon smuggling and comes from Unova, is actually the mayor's superior!

Yes, that must be it!

If we view the mayor's actions as being subject to others, then everything becomes much easier to explain.

The mayor was successfully elected with the help of his secretary and foreign media, but in return, he had to protect the dark web that smuggled Pokémon.

However, the value of this dark web is not only for illegal profit-making, but also for creating leverage against the mayor, making him even more powerless and forced to obey others!

So he was ordered to act as a go-between, using various means to corrupt officials throughout the Orange Islands, with the ultimate goal of making the entire archipelago independent!

Is the target Kanto...? No, that's not right~

Ash initially thought they wanted to attack Kanto, but quickly dismissed the idea.

Kanto was already struggling under Team Rocket's pressure. If this outside force really wanted to destroy Kanto, wouldn't it be better to just fund Giovanni?

Creating divisions here will not have any impact on Guandu at all!

Therefore, the result of their actions was that the Orange Islands themselves declined drastically and even completely lost the protection of Kanto!

But why... Xiaozhi couldn't figure it out.

To put it bluntly, the Rockets only ever used this remote and impoverished place as a hiding place; they never intended to develop their business here long-term.

Who exactly would consider this place a thorn in their side...?

Chapter 274 Miss Cabbage Has Came to See the World

At the same time, in the intricate sewers of Big City, Cynthia was also leading three Pokémon in a relentless search.

To be precise, it should be Ash's two dog-type companions leading her and her Lucario on their journey.

Once the operation truly began, Cynthia realized that she might not have come to help, but rather to broaden her horizons.

Ash's two Pokémon are both extraordinary. Alakazam is almost like a human with a mind of its own and is exceptionally intelligent, always able to solve problems in the simplest way.

For example, when they were entering the sewers and happened to run into a special forces unit sent by the mayor for a search, Alakazam simply teleported them underground... and even used his powers to clean up the filth at their landing spot!

Lucario also surprised Cynthia. Despite being in this dark and intricate underground labyrinth, it seemed completely unaffected and could clearly remember every fork in the road they had taken!

Its waveguide perception seemed to be far stronger and more accurate than Cynthia's own Lucario. At first, when she saw it leading everyone through various forks in the road, Cynthia thought it was looking for directions... but gradually she realized that it had already found the shortest path and was approaching its destination without wasting any time!

“Da…Da Nai…”

Soon, Lucario led the group onto a side road, where a small, wounded beast was whimpering in pain in a puddle.

"It's Bulbasaur? Oh my god... it's badly injured!" Cynthia frowned with worry upon seeing it, and without caring about the dirt and grime around her, she immediately knelt down and used medicine to treat it.

"Relax, it'll be fine soon~" She sprayed the healing spray onto Bulbasaur's wound, and couldn't help but sigh, "But it's already twice the size of a normal one, it's really rare for one to not evolve even at this size."