Pokémon: Trainers Returning from Monster Hunter

Chapter 112 Zhu Lan: I Believe in You

Oreki wasn't deliberately video chatting with Takeran because he was worried that Cattleya would throw a tantrum at him.

Seeing the haughty young lady's sullen appearance simply reminded me of Zhu Lan.

As the youngest mythology scholar, the other party must have a deeper understanding of Sinnoh's predecessor, the Seiryu region.

So Oreki wanted to ask her what she thought.

Judging from the actions of Steven and Professor Solans, the information about the Greenland region, like those legendary Pokémon, seems somewhat mysterious.

Legendary Pokémon are fine, as they often span thousands of years of history, but the present day is only two or three hundred years apart from the present.

He didn't know if the history of the Xicui area in reality was similar to the setting in the game.

"Washing green?" The bamboo orchid on the Rotom phone screen showed a moment of surprise, then its eyes suddenly brightened. "Have you discovered some historical relic?"

Her expression of seeing a treasure was just like Daigo's when he talked about stones.

Everyone has their own passions.

Oreki lowered the camera, and a curious glint flashed in the little eyes of Growlithe through its fur.

What is this thing? Why is there a beautiful human moving inside?

Huh?

Does the small box in the upper right corner contain your own clan members?

"Woof!"

It greeted us.

As a result, the other Growlithe in the small box opened its mouth at the same time, but no sound came out.

This puzzled and frustrated Growlithe.

Tilly, who had been watching Growlithe's every move, couldn't stand it any longer and ran over and purred a few times, finally explaining to the out-of-touch Growlithe what the trainer was holding.

No matter how angry she was before, when she saw Growlithe looking at her with such an adoring expression, Tirith's heart melted, and her vanity surged again.

"Meow!"

From now on, you'll listen to your older sister and I'll show you the world!

Tire Cat patted her chest and assured her.

"Woof woof!"

The Growlithe was very happy and raised its head, wanting to rub against him.

Startled, Tire Cat quickly distanced herself.

It couldn't quite handle the hard head of this guy.

"What a lovely Growlithe!"

Zhu Lan had witnessed the entire interaction and confirmed that it was a live, freshly made Shinged Growlithe.

"Do you think I'd trick you with a toy?"

Oreki said irritably.

"What exactly is the history of the Xicui region, and why does even Dr. Solans know so little about it?"

"Hmm? Why does Dr. Solans know so much?" Zhu Lan countered. "Isn't he a researcher of minerals and meteorites? He's not in our field, so he doesn't need to know so much, does he?"

"Oh, this—"

Is that all there is to it?

Oreki was speechless.

He thought there might be some earth-shattering conspiracy theory at play.

After all, Wang Luo, who is suspected to be the ancestor of Zhu Lan in the game, is the mastermind behind all the events, and it is no exaggeration to call him the main villain.

As its descendant, the bamboo orchid can understandably conceal some of its history of being washed clean.

So it turns out that it was simply Solans and Daigo who didn't bother to find out?

But thinking about it, it makes sense. One of them is a mining expert, and the other is a research expert when it comes to ore.

It's understandable that they don't know.

Everyone has their own area of ​​expertise.

Not everyone is as omnipotent as him.

Then what else is there to say? We'll just incorporate the history of jade washing into the course from now on!

Then we'll have Growlithe demonstrate—

Ok?

A little Growlithe?

Why does it sound so weird when I call out like that?

It's all that Sinnoh fanatic's fault!

"However, the Sinnoh League is indeed deliberately avoiding mentioning some of its history of whitewashing —"

Zhu Lan changed the subject and began to recount her and Dr. Yamanashi's discovery.

original.

They saw the words "Galactic Team" in the written description left by Dr. Yamanashi's ancestor, Magamu.

Unlike Team Magma and Team Aqua of Hoenn, which have been largely absent from the scene, Team Galactic, the evil organization of Sinnoh, has been active in various parts of the region for a long time.

But that's precisely where the problem lies.

According to the written description of Ma Jiamu, who claims to be the founder of the Galaxy Team, the Galaxy Team not only existed three hundred years ago in the Xicui era, but was also the founder of Zhuqing Village, the predecessor of Zhuqing City, and focused on the ecological research of the Xicui area.

It can be described as a research and investigation organization.

This is completely different from the evil organizations that are now committing all sorts of evil deeds and promoting their own "ideal new world" concept.

Cynthia and Professor Yamanashi worry that if this history is made public, it could be exploited by Team Galactic to whitewash their past and attract more unsuspecting trainers.

This will cause even greater turmoil in the Sinnoh region.

So, it turns out they were hiding something after all!

Hmm? That's not right!

Can I still talk about the history of jade washing then?

Oreki asked this crucial question.

Zhu Lan paused for a moment, then gave a wry smile: "I don't recall ever telling you about the history of the Galaxy Team's 'washing green' before. Are you already planning to talk about it in class? Where did you get this information from?!"

Zhu Lan felt helpless about her childhood sweetheart.

So all her explanations, from stating facts to analyzing benefits, were just a waste of breath?

Don't you already know that?!

"Hahaha—"

Oreki scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed.

I accidentally let it slip—

Since that's the case...

"Were your ancestors Wangluo?"

He decided to give up entirely.

Men should always have the courage to face failure.

You can't just choose to be a loser for life because you had one bad day, can you?

"!!"

Zhu Lan almost failed to manage her facial expressions.

Oreki's words were even more shocking to her than the appearance of a Growlithe Dog.

"Did Grandma tell you?"

"Never mind how I know, just tell me if it's true or not."

"yes--"

Zhu Lan was defeated. She, who always liked to take the initiative in conversations, was out of options for the first time.

She truly didn't understand why Oreki could always surprise her, or even frighten her, time and time again!

She didn't believe it was her grandmother who told the other person.

"From this day forward, the name Wang Luo shall not be mentioned in any setting!"

This rule was set by my grandmother herself back then, and she couldn't possibly break it herself.

"So now can you tell me how you knew?"

"Do you believe me?" Oreki asked back, his expression serious.

Zhu Lan looked into his eyes through the phone screen. After a couple of seconds of eye contact, she looked away and was about to speak when Jia Deliya's coquettish voice came from the other end first.

"Stop being so lovey-dovey, it's annoying! I'm hungry, I want to eat, Oreki the old bastard, take me to eat!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Lan's carefully constructed composure was instantly shattered. She smiled and said, "Let's stop here for today. You can talk about everything else in class, except for Wang Luo and the Galaxy Team. Take Cattleya out to eat first."

"I'm not young anymore!!"

"Oh right, and—um—I believe you—"

The last four words seemed to slip out between her teeth, and after saying them, Zhu Lan quickly ended the video call.

"Phew, weren't we talking about Xicui? How did we suddenly get onto this topic?"

How exactly did Oreki know about Nozomi and Team Galaxy?

"Forget it, I already said I believe him, so there's no need to dwell on it anymore. Let's go beat up Da Ye before we eat."

Lunch break after lunch.

Oreki's office.

For some unknown reason, Cattleya insisted that she had never slept on this high-end sofa since ordering it, and that she absolutely had to take a nap there today.

Anyway, Oreki has never had the habit of taking a nap, so I just let her be.

As for whether he can fall asleep, he can't guarantee it.

After all, one:

:

Ding ding!

shhhhh!

"Woof woof!"

The office was filled with the sounds of hammering, boxing practice, and barking dogs.

The young blacksmith, sweating profusely, hammered the flaming orb.

Two weeks have passed.

Even though it only strikes the hammer once every three days to temper it, the Flame Orb has shrunk considerably, and it looks to be no bigger than three or four fingernails stacked together.

At this rate, it will take at most another week for it to completely destroy the Flame Orb.

Three weeks, 1.2 million.

Oreki didn't dare to think about it too much, afraid that he wouldn't be able to breathe.

The guy on the sofa, who's a "dog tycoon," is probably only good at raising Pokémon!

However, the results are also significant.

Not only did it successfully elevate the little blacksmith's strength to a mid-level ecological niche, but it also imbued its hammer with a considerable amount of fire attribute energy, even changing its color from purple to purplish-red.

On the half near the hammer handle, flame patterns are engraved from the inside out.

It's obviously extraordinary.

Indeed, Oreki personally experienced the blacksmith's hammer attack.

Not only is it incredibly powerful, but you'll also feel a burning sensation after being hit.

An attack that could cause him to feel a burning sensation is, in a battle of equal strength, no less than unleashing a powerful fire attack.

The blacksmith's fire-attribute attack?

It was as if Lip's mom opened the door for Lip—Lip was home!

Now, none of his Pokémon are really legal anymore.

Aura, psychic powers, fire hammer, and even a Pokémon that shouldn't exist at all.

In a sense, everyone was an "outlaw."

"Young blacksmith, don't push yourself too hard."

Oreki couldn't help but offer a reminder.

"Kanon!"

The young blacksmith, with a serious expression, indicated that he could still persevere.

"Woof~"

The curious Growlithe ran up to the little blacksmith and barked softly. The scent emanating from the small ball being hammered made it feel comfortable.

The young blacksmith blinked his big eyes and handed over the Flame Orb with a puzzled expression.

"Kanon?"

Do you like this?

"Woof!"

The Growlithe lunged forward and then immediately retreated, its rear end sticking up high and its curled tail wagging wildly.

The little blacksmith glanced at his own hammer, then at Growlithe, who was behaving exactly the same way as when he asked Sister Tire for the Hot Jade. A conflicted look appeared on his face.

But soon, it remembered the scene that night when Kirlia decisively gave it the Flame Orb to use alone, and a smile spread across its cute face.

"Kanon~"

Then I'll take it.

As it spoke, it imitated the trainer and threw out a miniature Flame Orb.

As luck would have it, the direction was exactly towards the sofa.

Growlithe watched the small ball fly high into the air, and without thinking, it leaped up and forcefully twisted its body in mid-air to bite the Flame Orb.

Then-

The thick bangs were blown up by the sudden fall, revealing a panicked look in the eyes beneath.

"Cattleya, get out of the way!"

Oreki forced a laugh and called out.

But whether it was intentional or not, he was clearly late in calling out.

boom! !

Growlithe suddenly appeared out of nowhere and kicked Gadlia in the face.

It's only because she was annoyed by the noise that she kept using her superpowers to surround her head and block out the sound; otherwise, if she had kicked her, she probably would have had a dog paw print on her face.

Clang!

Growlithe tumbled and fell to the ground, accidentally swallowing the Flame Orb it was carrying in its mouth. But without thinking much about it, it immediately looked up at the human on the sofa.

I felt a little uneasy.

For some reason, even its brave nature was startled by the scent emanating from its feet for a moment.

Cattleya opened her eyes and got up expressionlessly, only to see Growlithe lying on the ground looking like it had done something wrong and was waiting to be scolded.

My heart softened immediately.

Even Oreki sometimes can't resist a Pokémon's cuteness, let alone the girlish Cattleya.

She could only turn her head silently and look at Oreki.

"You did this on purpose, didn't you?"

"Do you believe me?" Oreki asked with a smile.

The familiar words startled Cattleya, and her eyes widened suddenly.

Wasn't that what he asked Zhulan at noon?

Most importantly, did Zhu Lan ultimately reply with "I believe you"?

"You despicable old thief Oreki, you definitely did this on purpose!!"

Cattleya is very angry, and the consequences are adorable.

Putting everything else aside, I feel that her blushing is getting cuter and cuter.

Even though she was so angry, she was still able to suppress the restless superpowers within her, and only her hair flew wildly.

You've made great progress!

It seems that he is not far from fully mastering superpowers.

Bamboo Orchid, it seems I'm going to win this bet!

I just don't know what requests to make when the time comes.

"Woof—"

Only then did Growlithe finally relax and let out a whimper.

Oreki looked over and immediately noticed something was wrong.

How come you've gotten a red fever too?

Quickly walk up to the Growlithe, squat down, and pry open its mouth.

"—You didn't get swallowed by the Flame Orb, did you?"

"Waaah—"

Growlithe nodded, indicating that it was innocent.

The impact of the fall was too great, and it was worried about hurting the girl from before, so it swallowed her. At first, it felt quite comfortable, but now it's getting hotter and hotter.

Without thinking, it stuck out its tongue and began to exhale hot air.

Oreki pondered, "Aren't you a Fire-type Pokémon? You shouldn't get burned, right?"

But then I thought, who swallows their Pokémon's held items?

"Kirullian, come and help scout around."

When in doubt, use a waveguide.

This is what he summarized during this period.

Kirlia silently withdrew her fist, and a blue aura appeared.

At the same time, Oreki noticed an incongruous light red tinge appearing on the abdomen of Growlithe's blue aura.

It was clearly a flaming orb that had just been swallowed.

Just as Oreki was debating whether to induce vomiting, Growlithe let out another "woof".

A bizarre thing happened.

Near the light red area within its body, three dark blue auras suddenly emerged, completely merging with the light red area in just a few seconds, making it look like three hunters devouring their prey.

As the pale red faded, Growlithe stabilized and returned to its mischievous self, barking affectionately at Kirlia twice.

It felt that its rapid recovery was entirely due to Kirlia's blue aura.

"Hey, something feels off about the art style."

Oreki looked strange. Is this the art style that should be in the Pokémon world? Is it some kind of fantasy or martial arts game where you're refining rare and precious materials?

"Props can be used like this??"