Pokémon: Trainers Returning from Monster Hunter

Chapter 101 Uncle Aoki, Can I Borrow Your Tanabata Bluebird?

West Zone 1.

Deep within a hidden cave atop a high peak in the northwest.

A huge rockbird was sleeping soundly.

"So, what exactly was that Pokémon?"

Aoki was very puzzled.

It's obvious that the one in front of us is the original owner, the Stone Bird.

"Maybe it's a shapeshifter."

"A Ditto?"

Aoki glanced at Oreki, who was talking nonsense with a straight face, and thought to himself, "You mean I can't even beat a Ditto?"

Oreki seemed to know what Aoki was thinking, "Pokémon's potential is limitless."

"Even so, where did Ditto get its teleportation ability?"

Aoki pressed for an answer.

Due to Ditto's racial ability, it can indeed transform into any Pokémon and even learn the corresponding Pokémon's moves.

The problem is, the Stone Bird can't teleport instantly.

"What if that Ditto is exceptionally gifted and learns teleportation on its own?"

For once, Aoki's usually expressionless face showed a look that seemed to say, "Do you think I'm an idiot?"

He finally understood; Oreki must know some inside information.

That strange stone bird didn't just teleport to his side for no reason and then observe him curiously for so long.

If you really don't know them at all, and they touch your Pokémon, aren't you worried at all?

Who are you kidding!

However...

It's one thing to know something, but another thing to do.

Oreki was determined not to reveal anything, and he couldn't possibly dig into it.

only--

A thought suddenly popped into Aoki's mind.

If we can subdue that stone bird, can Chairman Yeci step down and hand over the reins to a more capable person?

Tsk, what a pity.

"Huh? What's this?"

Aoki noticed that Oreki had suddenly walked past the sleeping Shishitori and gone inside, and asked him curiously.

"Let's gather some herbs to take back."

Oreki instructed Tiremy to use grass-type energy to uproot some secret bitter ingredients.

He then explored the entire cave with Kirullian.

As he thought, the rock slabs were probably just a coincidence.

The stone slabs did not reappear in the caves of the two subsequent Pokémon.

Seeing how familiar Oreki was with the place, Aoki really wanted to ask what kind of herbs these were and how they knew about them.

But because he had expressed quite a few doubts, he swallowed his question back.

He was a rather quiet person by nature.

If he weren't quite familiar with Oreki, he would probably speak even less.

Bending down, Aoki began to check on the condition of the treasure master, the stone bird.

Given the strength of that stone-falling bird, it could easily knock this stone-falling bird unconscious.

If the injury is too serious, he also has to spray some medicine on the other party.

At this time.

Oreki returned after digging out the seasonings.

"They were probably just hypnotized."

"So you found out?"

"So, what were the results after Uncle Aoki finished his examination?"

"Okay—" Aoki was speechless. "It was indeed hypnosis."

Oreki shrugged, giving Aoki a "I told you so" look, which annoyed Aoki.

It feels like this kid has become a completely different person after spending some time in Hoenn. It makes me really want to beat him up.

You know, he might not experience as many emotional fluctuations in a week as he did today.

"That's more like it, Brother Aoki."

Oreki suddenly laughed and patted Aoki on the shoulder.

"Don't work like a machine all day long; a little more emotional fluctuation will help you work better."

After saying that, without waiting for the other party's reaction, Oreki walked outside.

Behind.

Aoki was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized what was happening.

"That kid—"

Outside the cave, Origami carefully wrapped the seasonings.

The system's backpack cannot hold living creatures; these seasonings are still alive, so they can only be carried on your person.

Standing on the edge of the cliff, gazing into the distance.

The Padida Sea was bathed in the golden light of the setting sun.

Looking further north, there is a vast desert.

Oreki's next destination was there, the Booming Desert.

I wonder if the owner of that treasure is a paradoxical being from Dunjia.

"We need to hurry."

"What is it?" Aoki asked, stepping out of the cave. "Is there anything else?"

Oreki turned around, his eyes lighting up.

Yeah, isn't there a ready-made thug here?

"Brother Aoki, are you alright now?"

For a fleeting moment, Aoki saw a shadow of Chairman Yaji in Oreki.

Without the slightest hesitation, he said, "It was fine before, but now it is."

This kid is either Uncle Aoki or Brother Aoki.

Very cunning.

"It's okay."

Oreki said he has a thick skin.

"Go ahead and do your work, just lend me the Qixi Bluebird for a moment."

When he was still doing research in Padiya after graduation, Aoki would have the Tanabata deliver any artifacts that the Alliance needed to authenticate to him.

Over time, he and the Qixi Bluebird developed a certain affinity for each other.

"I really can't help you."

Aoki sighed and took out Altaria's Poké Ball.

Ok?

It's a Sweetball, just like Kirlia's.

I never expected Aoki to be this kind of person!

Oreki made a series of malicious speculations.

Seeing the look in his eyes, Aoki's forehead veins bulged, and he quickly handed over the Poké Ball.

"You'd better leave quickly, or I'm afraid I'll really lose my temper and beat you up later."

"Tsk, it's clearly for your own good."

Oreki said no more. At least in that short time, he had successfully made Aoki more human.

It's no longer so lifeless.

Really are.

The three cities and nine towns of Parthia bear a heavy burden on your shoulders; they cannot collapse.

At that time, Chairman Yeci might just kidnap himself to Padiya.

After releasing the Tanabata Bird and engaging in a recognition session with the other party, Oreki rode it.

"See you tomorrow, Aoki-nii."

"Tomorrow—what? See you tomorrow?!?!"

Aoki's tone suddenly rose.

But the bluebird of the Qixi Festival has already flown far away.

Upon seeing this.

A sense of dejection crept back into Aoki's body. "Sigh, it feels like the holiday is over just like that—"

As the sun gradually sets, the sand in the scorching desert still retains its warmth.

Clumps of Natalia tectorum rolled in the desert wind, and the hippos and ground squirrels that had been hiding in the sand during the day came out to get some fresh air.

-

However, they were quickly frightened by the loud noise coming from afar and burrowed back into the sand.

At this moment, inside a rocky terrain in the center of the desert.

A massive Donphan slowly collapsed during a mixed doubles battle between Tiremon and Kirlia.

This Donphan's strength is already very close to that of a Gym Leader, but unfortunately it encountered two well-coordinated little guys.

"So it was just a Donak after all."

Origami muttered to himself.

He had thought about this problem before he came.

It seems that the majestic tooth or iron tracks in the story haven't yet broken through the barrier of Zone Zero.

As before, Kirlia and Tirene had a clear division of labor: one scouted, and the other dug for seasonings.

Oreki also took out the wound medicine he had prepared beforehand and treated Donjaw.

A moment later, the Qixi Bluebird flew out of the cave and headed straight for Daguo Lake.

On its soft feathered back, Oreki smacked its lips.

"These stone slabs are really hard to find."

No stone slabs were found inside the cave of Dongyal.

Next, only one treasure master remains—the pseudo-dragon treasure master of Daguo Lake.

To be honest, Oreki had given up hope.

Furthermore, he even felt that Tire Meow and Kirullian might not be able to defeat the underworld's Roaring Tyrant and Milion combination.

This is why he asked Aoki for the Tanabata Bird; it wouldn't be very elegant for him to get involved in the fight himself.

A fake dragon, right?

Next, you will face the first traitor in the history of the Dragon Clan, the Seven-Headed Bluebird!

Although it has not undergone Mega Evolution, its moves include a host of "dragon-slaying" divine techniques such as Moon Power, Ice Beam, and Dragon Pulse.

The sea level swallowed the last rays of sunlight, and night fell.

A one-sided battle is underway on the central island and beach of Daguo Lake.

Similar to the game's storyline, Oreki first went to the island in the lake and found the special Milion.

The opponent turned out to be a gigantic Roaring Tyrant.

As Oreki had predicted, his strength had reached the level of a gym leader.

However, for some unknown reason, Milion did not choose to combine with Roaring Beast immediately. Instead, it was left to fight alone. Milion was bombarded by Tiremon's Falling Petals and Kirlia's Thunder Fist, and eventually ran away due to exhaustion.

They chased it all the way to the cave where the secret seasoning was hidden. The Milion seemed to finally realize the danger and crawled into the mouth of the Roaring Beast to combine with it.

In the entire Pokémon ecosystem, only Meereen and Groudon, both with the Command ability, engage in this kind of combined battle.

Furthermore, their combination is not simply a matter of swallowing; rather, it utilizes the characteristics of the Milion to provide a boost to all of the Groudon's attributes.

With all abilities doubled, in the doubles environment of the game at that time, if you didn't have a way to deal with the Roaring duo, you could expect your team to be swept.

Later on, one of the team members was a mischievous Dark Raven, who would use its Black Mist Clearing ability whenever it saw the Roaring Boss combo.

With this unreasonable enhancement, Chihouba's strength successfully reached the level of an ordinary Heavenly King.

Oreki doesn't have Murkrow, but he does have his ace Pokémon, Altaria!

Against a mediocre team like Chihouba, it's a complete rout.

At this moment, Chihouba and Mililong were devastated.

They thought the humans opposite them were the challengers, but as the fight went on, they discovered that they were the challengers.

We've now triggered the second phase of the boss fight.

If you had told us earlier that there were these unreasonable cotton birds, we wouldn't have resisted!

"Tanabata, the final Dragon Pulse!"

"Li~~"

On the night of the Double Seventh Festival, the bluebird flaps its wings and soars high, its fluffy feathers resembling a delicious cotton candy under the moonlight.

But beneath that charming appearance lies an exaggerated fighting prowess.

As a torrent of dragon energy erupted from its mouth, the battle, which was a foregone conclusion, came to an end.

"Li~"

The bluebird descended slowly, its two tufts of feathers on its head fluttering in the wind, looking quite elegant.

"Thank you, Tanabata Bluebird."

Since there were no energy cubes, Oreki had no choice but to take out an Orange Fruit, which was the food of Tire and the others.

"Li~"

The bluebird did not refuse, and lowered its head to hold the fruit.

This scene reminded it of the time it had met Oreki before.

At that time, the other party seemed to be somewhat resistant to and afraid of Pokémon, and at first they only dared to look at it from a distance.

After several visits and getting to know each other, every time it went to deliver something, it would find a freshly made sandwich in the same place, along with Oreki still peeking from a distance.

Over time, this became a tacit understanding between the two of them.

Regardless, it acknowledges or cares about this human in front of it.

After all—the sandwiches they made were really delicious!

Under Tirey's slightly resentful gaze, Oreki stroked the soft feathers of the Tanabata Bluebird once more.

It feels amazing!

I can't even imagine how comfortable it would be to make a down comforter from the feathers of the Tanabata bird.

After that, there was another round of exploration and excavation.

"Okay, now I can give up."

Oreki was somewhat helpless; in the end, he still didn't have the luck to find another stone slab.

Fortunately, all the secret seasonings were gathered.

Especially this last flavor, which is the spicy flavor that Tillie and the others love the most.

This is not.

The three little "people" each had a secret spicy seasoning, and they ate it with great relish, making "sizzling" noises. The Qixi Bluebird watched in disbelief, feeling a ticklish sensation on its body and its mouth drooling uncontrollably.

It hates spicy food the most.

It's better to say something than to say it.

As expected of one of the most resilient Pokémon, Groudon was about to spray some medicine on the other Pokémon after Oreki finished his work when it suddenly woke up on its own.

Shaking its massive head to figure out the situation, Chihouba carried Mililong into the cave on the beach as if fleeing.

It dared not retaliate again; the cotton bird had left it with a deep psychological scar.

Seeing this, Oreki stretched.

I've unknowingly walked the legendary path in the game, only missing Batman Padia by my side.

Thinking of Pipa.

He couldn't help but sigh.

He empathized to some extent, since everyone's experiences were quite similar.

Previously, when Dr. Orin went to explore the deeper parts of the Padia Crater, he had worked with her for a period of time and was definitely an outstanding doctor.

At that time, Pipa was still a cheerful little boy.

But now—

"Ugh."

Oreki shook his head slightly.

Now, he is probably the only one who knows that Dr. Orin has perished, and that the one who was actually in contact with Piper and the Alliance was her AI.

But he simply couldn't be honest about this.

You can't just go to Pipa and say, "Your mother is no longer here," can you?

"Chiru?"

Kirlia, who is very sensitive to emotional fluctuations, reached out and poked Oreki's shoulder to show her concern.

"I was thinking about people I used to miss." Oreki snapped out of his reverie and smiled. "Now that things are settled here, let's go to Taiga Lake Waterfall with Tanabata Bluebird."

"Li."

Having finally managed to get out of the house, Oreki had already decided to camp out tonight and experience the life of a traveling trainer.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have told Aoki "see you tomorrow."

at the same time.

In the Jinjin Desert, Dongyal, who had been physically lulled to sleep, quietly awoke.

Moonlight shone into the cave.

After a brief moment of confusion, it suddenly turned its head to look at its precious medicine.

"Pause—"

Thankfully, only a small portion is missing.

It seems that the human who came here just got the news from somewhere and came to pick some.

I will remain the ruler of this region forever!

Thinking of this, Dongyal was in a great mood.

however.

Just as it was about to eat a medicinal herb to recover its strength, the moonlight at the cave entrance was suddenly blocked by something from the East.

look up.

Through the sparse beams of light, Dongyal could vaguely make out the culprit.

It was a creature somewhat similar to itself, with longer, curlier fangs and a back covered in bright red scales.

only--

I only got this big because I took some kind of growth-enhancing drug, how come you're this big too??

Huh?

Why are there humans and Pokémon lying on its back?