Pokémon: Starting as a Farmer Instead of a Trainer

Chapter 116 Capturing Team Rocket as Laborers

Mingyou greeted him with a smile, and Xiaozhi also came to his senses, looking somewhat puzzled. Although he felt that the man looked familiar, he couldn't recall where he had seen him before.

"Pikachu~"

Compared to Ash, who usually has a bad memory, Pikachu does have some recollection of him, even though they only met once.

"Haha, it was during the Kitakami-go Face-Covering Festival that you helped me stop Snorlax."

Hearing Mingyou's explanation, Xiaozhi clenched his fist and clapped his hands, suddenly realizing, "I remember now, so you're also here for the Lily of the Valley Conference?"

"No, I'm here to do business. The Lily of the Valley Convention is such a lively place, I, a fruit stand owner, certainly can't miss it. But what are you doing here? And this Hunting Ball..."

As she spoke, Mingyou handed over the Hunting Ball she had just picked up. Ash gratefully reached out and took it. Brock, who was standing nearby, recognized her as an acquaintance and began to explain.

"That's how it is..."

After hearing the explanation, Mingyou stroked her chin and nodded slightly: "Hmm, Team Rocket stole your Poké Balls, and they all fell into the forest... I understand, then I'll help too!"

He suddenly had an idea...

Upon hearing this, Ash smiled and replied, "Thank you so much, but I've already found all five Poké Balls, so there's no need to trouble you any further."

As he spoke, he opened all five Poké Balls he had picked up, but the next second, the smile on his face vanished abruptly. Dawn and Brock were also stunned. All five Poké Balls... were completely empty!

"How could this happen!"

Xiao Guang looked worried and anxious, while Bogaman sat down on the ground with a long face.

After observing for a moment, Mingyou said, "It must have been blasted away by the explosion and landed on the ground, triggering the Poké Ball's switch. But in such a short time, the Pokémon wouldn't have gone far. Let's search the vicinity. Which Pokémon were they again?"

"Little Alligator, Lobster Soldier..."

After hearing Ash name the five Pokémon, Naruto wrote them down and then said, "I'll look for them near the venue building."

"Thank you for your help."

"fine."

The group then separated, and Mingyou led Ponpo and the others to the vicinity of the venue building. This building provided accommodation for the trainers, and all trainers participating in the Lily of the Valley Tournament could stay here for free.

"Waaah..."

Latias followed behind, her expression somewhat resentful. She couldn't understand why, when they could simply go shopping, she suddenly had to help these people find Pokémon.

"Don't be angry, you'll find out soon enough."

Mingyou smiled and replied that helping was indeed only one aspect, but another aspect was to lure out Team Rocket. As long as Ash was here, these people would definitely show up again.

When the time comes... we can capture them and use them as laborers!

He has already asked the stag to have all the fruits and vegetables he wants to sell delivered to the port via SF Express by the giant gull, and they should arrive by tomorrow morning.

Then, after the qualifiers start tomorrow, he'll set up a stall to sell things, but he also really wants to watch the games live, not just sit in front of his stall watching the live stream... so he needs to find some laborers, like the Rockets!

Just like when he asked Xiao Zhao to help promote his products, this time he's asking the Rockets to help sell his products and pay them a small salary. I'm sure they'll be happy to do so.

"After all, I'm a boss with a conscience~"

Mingyou shamelessly introduced himself, then looked ahead and said, "Alright, let's help look for it first. The view here is quite open, so it's possible that some Pokémon have run into the building."

They entered the building and began searching. This seemed to be the direction of the kitchen. They could smell the aroma of grilled meat with sauce in the corridor, which was so tempting that the little Snorlax couldn't resist.

"Gambit~"

"Hey! Don't run around!"

Seeing the little Snorlax rushing into the kitchen, Mingyou was startled. If it got inside, he'd probably have to pay for his pants today.

He rushed in after them, only to find that the little Snorlax had slightly raised its head and stopped at the door. He quickly grabbed its ear and then subconsciously looked ahead at the giant blue fat cat being watched by some bewildered chefs...

[Snorlax: The Sleepy Pokémon, it does nothing but eat and sleep. It's a very docile big guy, but it's not careless when it's hungry or serious. Give it plenty of food, and you should be able to win its favor easily.]

"Looks like we've been beaten to it..."

Mingyou breathed a sigh of relief, then patted the little Munchlax's head and said, "You can't be like it, eating other people's food like that."

"Gambit..."

The little Snorlax looked at Snorlax, a hint of admiration flashing in its previously dull eyes... What a big fat Snorlax! With that size, it can eat more, right? It won't get stuffed so quickly.

"Gambit~"

"Gambit~"

Upon hearing the little Munchlax's cry, Munchlax turned around and shared a long loaf of bread with it. The little Munchlax took it and started eating.

"Gambit~"

"..."

Mingyou patted her forehead, genuinely feeling a bit scared from the chefs' shifting gaze.

Just as he was about to apologize, one of the chefs made a request: "Trainer, you can have this food, but please help us take this Snorlax out of here."

"Um...no problem, leave it all to me!"

Since that's been said, Mingyou naturally agreed to help. She then looked at Snorlax and asked, "You're not a wild Pokémon, are you? Where's your trainer?"

"Gambit~"

"what?"

With Latias's help, Mingyou understood what was going on. She was a little confused. This Snorlax had come from the forest because it smelled the aroma from the kitchen. The Poké Ball was lying on the ground, and she couldn't see the trainer anywhere.

"Could it be... that's strange, Snorlax wasn't among the Pokémon Ash mentioned?"

With a puzzled look in his eyes, he looked up and asked, "Is your trainer named Ash?"

"Gambit~"

"As expected... take all the food that was delivered with you, he's looking for you outside."

Although she didn't understand what was going on, Naruto still managed to help Ash find one.

When I took Snorlax out, the little Snorlax followed me around. It wanted to grow that big too, so how can it evolve? I don't understand.

"..."

Mingyou noticed its gaze, thought for a moment, but didn't pay it any attention for the time being...

Once outside, they successfully found Ash and his friends in the forest. After seeing Snorlax being recalled, Naruto explained what had happened. Ash, after realizing what had happened, also felt a little strange.

"Professor Oak probably sent the wrong information, but we've already found Totodile and Corphish. Counting Snorlax, there are two left!"

"Okay, then I'll go take a look around the neighborhood."

After saying that, the group separated again. Mingyou planned to go back to the conference building to search, but just then, Latias's mental power seemed to sense something approaching.

And it's big!

"Waaah!"

Something big has hidden in the forest over there!

"What the heck?"

Mingyou looked out over the woods and could indeed faintly feel a tremor, so out of curiosity, she went with everyone to investigate...

Right there in this forest, a purple rocket-shaped robot with a red "R" logo on its head is slowly moving, hovering by thrusters on its bottom.

No one knows how this thing, with such a large size, managed to get into the forest without anyone noticing it; it remains a mystery.

"That wretched brat! He insisted on forcing us to use our secret weapon. All the money I've earned from my part-time job lately has been poured into this newly developed robot!"

"Let's try to capture all of those brats' Pokémon... No, since we're already here, we definitely have to capture all the powerful Pokémon of all the trainers participating in the Lily of the Valley Conference and give them to Boss Giovanni as a gift!"

"That's right, meow!"

"Sonas~"

Team Rocket's trio are sitting inside the robot's cockpit, using the radar on the screen in front of them to search for nearby Pokémon.

"Found it, meow!"

Meow suddenly spotted something on the radar, and Mingyou had already arrived in front of the robot, standing still and observing it, but his expression was somewhat indescribable.

"Although this is the first time I've seen a robot in person, how should I describe its appearance... It's clearly shaped like a rocket, but it somehow looks a bit like... well, you know..."

Yes, the purple Dick!

……

(End of this chapter)