Pokémon: Starting as a Farmer Instead of a Trainer

Chapter 111 Investigating Riolu (Please subscribe and vote with monthly tickets)

That evening, in a hotel near the port area in Binhai City, Mingyou was sitting in her room, using the hotel's computer to look up relevant information.

Ponpo and the others were already asleep, only Smocha circled around him, investigating together what had happened in Binhai City these past few days... especially starting with the stray Pokémon!

"If Riolu knows about that Pokémon, then the one who did this is most likely a stray Pokémon... Why didn't it say anything? Was it bullied and therefore too afraid? Or are they close friends?"

Mingyou considered many possibilities, but she never thought that the thief was Riolu, nor did she realize that even though she treated Riolu to fried chicken, she still couldn't get the card that would have earned her favor.

Although the other party's behavior was somewhat suspicious, the contrast with the thief who would use his ID to commit crimes was too great.

"Let me see..."

You can just browse the official website for fun; the main thing is to read the replies from locals on the forum. That's the good thing about the internet age. He then looked at the replies to some posts on the forum...

"Regarding the seawater issue, I go fishing near the port area every day, but recently the seawater here has started to smell bad for some reason, and it's even started to grow stinky mud. I can only catch carp when I fish here."

"Is that so? It's alright here in the port area, with so many people every day, I haven't smelled anything."

"That's true. I smelled it when I took my pet weasel there for a walk a couple of days ago, and it hasn't wanted to go there since."

"I remember there was a large sewer outlet near the port area; the smell must be coming from there, right? It should be fine in a while."

"..."

Mingyou didn't pay much attention to the first post, and quickly scrolled down for a while before finally finding one about stray Pokémon...

"Has anyone seen that charming cat with the frizzy tail? It's next to the convenience store on Fourth Street. I used to feed it every day, but I went on a trip to the Carlos area for a few days about two weeks ago and haven't seen it since."

"A stray Pokémon?"

"That's right, I originally wanted to take it home, but my parents wouldn't let me..."

"They must have been driven away, right? Didn't they issue a notice at the beginning of the month saying that in order to prepare for the Lily of the Valley Conference, all stray Pokémon on the streets would be driven to other places to avoid affecting the city's appearance?"

"Huh? Where did they rush off to?"

"I don't know, maybe it's in a more remote part of the city. Anyway, it will definitely come back after it relaxes for a while. But I have to say, the streets have been quite clean these past few days. There were no skunks fighting over food in the trash cans, which resulted in them fighting and making the place stink."

"..."

After reading this post from a few days ago, Mingyou stroked her chin, tilted her head, and fell into thought.

"Is a thorough cleaning of the coastal city being done in preparation for the Suzuran Tournament? After all, it's the closest place to Suzuran Island, and many tourists and athletes will be coming here, so this approach makes sense..."

As he continued browsing, he came across some posts about stray Pokémon and even found a post about Riolu!

The post was published two days ago, and it even included pictures...

"This Riolu with the backpack is so cute! Every day at noon and in the evening, it comes to the convenience store where I work, buys lots of food, and leaves. It's also very polite and will greet us!"

"Is it for the trainer?"

"No, this child is a wild Pokémon. It probably has companions to take care of. Sometimes I would secretly give it a few pieces of bread. I originally wanted to improve our relationship and try to catch it, but I gave up in the end because I didn't have time to take care of it. I also have a Meowth to raise."

"The tears of the working class."

"..."

Looking at the convenience store in the picture, Mingyou took out her phone and searched for it on Rotom. She found that it was near the port area, quite close to her.

"I buy a lot of food at the convenience store every day at noon and in the evening... but where does the money come from?"

Mingyou was a little curious. If it was just once in a while, that would be normal, but it's not normal for a stray Pokémon to go there every day.

"Mommy~"

I told you, this guy was suspicious!

Smocha twirled the tea ladle in his hand, pointing at the picture on the screen, seemingly having locked onto a target.

At this moment, Mingyou shut down her computer and stood up: "Let's go, let's go take a look. This convenience store is open 24 hours a day, hopefully we can catch the cashier on her night shift."

"Mommy~"

Mingyou and Simocha left together; perhaps they could get more information from the poster.

During this season, the temperature on the streets of Binhai City at night is less than 10°C, but under the neon lights, it is a bustling scene with cars, people, and Pokémon, all enjoying their own nightlife.

I walked to the "Narumi Convenience Store" on the map. Although it is open 24 hours a day, it was already 10 p.m. and there were very few customers.

Mingyou stood at the door for a while, then walked in with Simocha. The convenience store doors slid open automatically to both sides.

The girl with the single ponytail, who was alone at the cashier holding a cat to warm her hands, immediately stood up and greeted the customer with a smile when she saw him arrive.

"Welcome!"

"Um."

Mingyou nodded politely in response, then took two bags of bread from the shelf that Riolu had bought in the picture, and walked to the cashier.

"The total is 16 yuan. You can pay by scanning the QR code here."

The cashier girl pointed to a QR code on the side, and Mingyou scanned it with her Rotom phone. Then she deliberately said, "This bread is pretty good. I saw a post online saying that a wild Riolu often buys this kind of bread at a certain convenience store."

"Haha, actually it's this convenience store. I'm the one who posted that message."

The cashier girl had no suspicion that this was a deliberate attempt to trick her into revealing information, or perhaps she was just too naive.

Upon hearing this, Mingyou immediately feigned surprise: "Is this the place? What a coincidence! Does it really come here every day?"

"Yes, but I've been working the night shift these past two days and haven't seen it. But today, my colleague who works the day shift said that it seemed to have been chased by some people dressed in black with a Black Lululemon this afternoon..."

"Um?"

Mingyou was slightly taken aback, while the cashier girl said with some self-reproach, "Maybe it's because my post made it to the homepage and attracted the attention of some bad people. Although no one replied to ask me about it, I just had this guess for no reason."

"..."

Mingyou was speechless for a moment, feeling inexplicably like he was being subtly insulted, since he had indeed read the post before coming here...

"Ahem... By the way, does anyone know which direction it escaped in?"

He asked instinctively, but the cashier girl immediately became alert, picking up her phone and staring at him nervously: "You're not a bad guy, are you?! I think you've been asking about it the whole time!"

"..."

How come you realized it so quickly!

Mingyou looked embarrassed and replied with a smile, "Don't misunderstand, I was just a little worried when you said it was being chased by bad guys."

"Really? (Doubtful)"

"Of course it's true..."

"Alright then, I'll believe you. They should have headed towards the port area, but so much time has passed, I don't know their current situation."

"They've probably already escaped..."

Mingyou recalled the very fresh wounds on Riolu's body, which seemed to have been inflicted by these people, but in the end, Riolu still managed to escape.

Furthermore, if they were running towards the port area, coupled with Riolu's injuries, it must mean that a battle had taken place between them.

However, the port area is crowded, yet this incident was not reported by the media, which means that the battle took place in a less populated area.

So here's the question: Riolu could have easily escaped by running towards crowded areas and asking passersby for help, so why did it insist on running towards less populated areas? Is there something it's hiding?

As Mingyou pondered these questions, her thoughts gradually became clearer. Where in the port area could Riolu escape? There was only one answer...

"It's the sewer!"

"What?"

Simocha was a little confused. Had they gone off-topic?

Mingyou shook his head because when he wiped Riolu's body before, he smelled a faint sewer odor on the other party.

The online post mentioned that there has been a foul smell in the waters near the port area recently. This means that Riolu used the sewer outlet there to evade pursuit, and Houndoom can no longer use the smell to track them.

"Hehe... Let's go explore the sewers over there, maybe we'll find a surprise!"

With that, Mingyou left the convenience store with the Simocha. The cashier girl, who was holding Miaomiao, watched her leave and muttered to herself, "He's such a good-looking person... why does he get excited about crawling through sewers? He's not some old man in a red hat."

……

(End of this chapter)