Pokémon: Starting as a Farmer Instead of a Trainer

Chapter 141 Riolu's Past

Upon hearing that his theft had caused all the stray Pokémon to be unable to survive in the coastal city, Riolu's eyes went completely blank.

"..."

Mingyou glanced at it but didn't say anything. She quickly looked at Miss Joey again and asked curiously, "Isn't anyone objecting to this one-size-fits-all policy from above?"

"We received your feedback and will wait for further instructions... That's how they responded to us."

"..."

Mingyou was speechless for a moment, not knowing how to comment on it. In the end, she scratched her head helplessly, feeling that it was a bit too real.

Just then, a commotion was heard. From not far away, a figure emerged from behind the Pokémon Center, accompanied by other Pokémon. Riolu's gaze was immediately drawn to it.

"Leo!"

Upon meeting his gaze, Riolu saw that Arcanine, now fully recovered, was looking at him. He instantly became excited and, disregarding his inability to move, escaped from Snorlax and headed towards Arcanine.

But Mingyou was quicker, waving and saying, "It looks like you've fully recovered, which puts my mind at ease."

"Awoo~"

Arcanine nodded. Although it was the first time he had met the other party, he had heard about how the other party had saved him and had been wanting to thank him.

Seeing this, Riolu, who had fallen to the ground, was full of surprise. This human also saved Arcanine? When did this happen?

"It seems you have a lot of questions to ask, well... let's start from the beginning."

Naruto didn't want to be the riddle teller, so he recounted what happened that day. Riolu, on the other hand, was caught by Team Galactic and didn't know any of this.

After learning the situation, Riolu looked bitter and guilty, hanging its head. It couldn't understand why the other party would help it, and even help Arcanine and the others, when it had already done such a thing.

"What is the reason... I'm also trying to find out. Maybe it's just because I like Pokémon and want to help out when I can."

Mingyou smiled and nodded gently, while Arcanine stepped forward, looked at Riolu, and sternly criticized it, saying that although it knew that Riolu did this for their own good, it could not be based on a criminal stance.

"Leo..."

Riolu is very honest. To it, Arcanine is like a father who takes care of everyone, and it also admires Arcanine very much.

Seeing its attitude, Mingyou nodded in satisfaction: "Alright, now it's time to talk about your business. You're so skilled at stealing that it took me a long time to notice. You definitely couldn't have learned that in a day."

"Leo..."

In the past, it would definitely not have been willing to say it, but now it only feels gratitude and guilt towards Mingyou. It has caused so much trouble for the other party and has been saved by him time and time again. This is the first time it has met such a person.

So now, it's simply telling everyone its story...

It was born a year ago in an incubator in this city, and most of the details are now hard to recall.

All I remember is that some children, only a few years old, placed the Pokémon eggs they found in the breeding center to take care of them.

In the first few days after it hatched, the children all liked it very much. They took turns secretly bringing it home without their parents' knowledge and even cuddled it while sleeping.

But after a few days, those children started imitating the trainers on TV, taking their Pokémon to challenge the Salamence that was taking a nap and sunbathing in someone's yard nearby. The result was predictable...

Because it was considered too weak, unable to even defeat a Salamence and being instantly defeated, and because the novelty wore off, no children wanted to play with it anymore and went to find new Pokémon. As a result, it successfully degenerated from a city dweller into a stray Pokémon.

Living alone in this desolate city, the hustle and bustle of the surroundings felt alien to it. It gradually fell into depravity until, during a battle for territory at the garbage dump, it was severely injured by other stray Pokémon...

When it was on the verge of death, it was Arcanine that appeared and saved it. Arcanine had escaped from a Pokémon hunter's cage a few years ago.

Originally, I wanted to return them to the wild, but after seeing too many abandoned Pokémon in the coastal city who had no ability to survive in the wild... or even survive on their own, I decided to stay and take care of them, hoping that one day they could return to that free world.

Riolu, deeply inspired by Arcanine's dream, turned over a new leaf and began living and helping everyone... until a month ago, when the coastal city began a campaign to clean up stray Pokémon.

Many trainers brought their Pokémon to drive them away, showing no mercy and completely disregarding the life or death of the stray Pokémon.

Arcanine was trying to save some of its companions who couldn't react in time and escaped when it was hit in a vital spot by a Tyranitar's Hyper Beam...

Enraged, Riolu returned to his old ways and that very night sneaked over to retaliate by breaking the limbs of the trainer who had instructed Tyranitar to use lethal force.

But Arcanine was seriously injured, and this couldn't go on. It heard that there would be a lot of tourists recently, and some thieves were waiting for this opportunity to buy goods at the train station and airport. So it followed suit and started stealing too, using the money it earned to take care of Arcanine and its companions.

It overheard Team Galactic's conversation at the underground exchange, where they claimed the location of a treasure was hidden inside a glass bottle. Taking advantage of their inattention, it stole the bottle, intending to keep the treasure for itself and then bring everyone else along to live together…

"You're really ruthless, taking revenge on someone while they're sleeping by breaking their arms and legs... Is this some kind of dark will? It's a wonder you weren't caught afterwards!"

Mingyou was indeed shocked. It wasn't that it was impossible, but that it was too violent... But Riolu was a negative number. It hadn't done many good things before. It had finally grown to zero under Arcanine's influence, but it turned back to its original state.

Environment influences growth. If one had a normal environment, things wouldn't have turned out this way. But one must still bear the consequences of their own actions!

"So you should just go to the police station and turn yourself in. This whole mess started because of you, so you'd better think about the consequences before you do anything!"

"Leo..."

Riolu nodded honestly. Since it was its doing, it would naturally bear the consequences and didn't want to implicate its companions.

Seeing that it had made its decision, Mingyou nodded with great satisfaction, then looked at Miss Joey and asked, "If it turns itself in, will the authorities still approve the matter regarding the orphanage?"

"It's probably difficult..."

"Alright, I'll handle this!"

Mingyou decided to take charge himself. Although it might seem like he was meddling, so many people were willing to crowdfund to set up an orphanage to take care of stray Pokémon, so he wanted to do his part.

And there's another point... He was indeed somewhat dissatisfied with the people who made these decisions in Binhai City.

Violent methods to recklessly drive away stray Pokémon, disregarding their lives, and dumping sewage into the ocean—do you really think no one will come to deal with this?

When Miss Joey heard Mingyou offer to help, she was very surprised. Could it be that the other party had some special identity? Like a prosecutor from the Alliance or something...?

"Haha, I'm actually nothing."

Mingyou smiled and shook her head, then said seriously, "Although I'm nothing special, don't underestimate my connections now!"

……

(End of this chapter)