Pokémon: Starting as a Farmer Instead of a Trainer

Chapter 405 Is this the Ether Foundation or a winery?! (Seeking monthly votes)

With her first victory, Mingyou looked at her ranking, which had jumped from 999th to 851st. It seemed that defeating opponents with a large ranking gap would yield more points.

"Not bad. Let's finish things up here before moving on to the next match. I'm getting more and more excited to see what kind of opponents we'll face next!"

Putting away her Rotom phone, Mingyou smiled and waved in front of Ponpo's live stream. She knew without a doubt that the school in Beishang Township was bustling with activity right now, but compared to that, this place was...

The area around the helipad was quiet. He had intended to use Mingyou as a stepping stone to show his family how much he had grown over the past two years, but now he was completely outmatched by the other side in less than five minutes.

Such a crushing defeat left him with no room for resentment; the difference in strength was simply too great.

"Hello!"

"Um?"

Hearing the voice from ahead, Gladion looked up and saw Mingyou smiling at him. Without any politeness, he retorted coldly, "Laughing at me... Indeed, the loser should be thoroughly humiliated by the winner, but today's defeat, I will..."

"Are you mistaken about something?"

Mingyou interrupted him directly, her tone gradually calming down as she continued, "Is winning or losing that important? Shouldn't you have more important things to deal with right now?"

As he spoke, his gaze fell on Lusamine and Lillie in the crowd not far away, and he muttered to himself, "You've made your family worry, no matter what the reason, and no matter why you suddenly came back, shouldn't you... apologize to your family now?"

"Hmm..."

Ponpon looked up at him. There was another guy here who often worried his family...

Hearing his words, Gladio trembled. He had returned to prove to his family that he had the power to protect them, but now that he had lost so easily, he had no face to stay any longer.

Just as he hesitated about leaving, Lillie took off her hat, her delicate eyebrows furrowing slightly, a hint of anger appearing on her porcelain doll-like face. She shouted at her good-for-nothing brother, "Cheer up, you idiot brother! Even if we lose, we can try again next time. So this time... don't leave us without a word, okay?!"

"That's right!"

With the young lady taking the lead, other employees of the Ether Foundation also joined in the commotion.

In the crowd, Lusamine crossed her arms and gazed at Gladion with a slightly sad expression. As a mother, she had never been able to fulfill her responsibilities, being too busy with work and neglecting her children. She felt indebted to both Lillie and Gladion.

Therefore, she has been constantly thinking about how to make up for her children. She feels that Gladio's running away from home was because she hadn't cared for him enough, and now that her runaway child has finally returned home, she wants to have a good talk with him and understand her child better. So...

"sorry!"

Lusamine stepped forward and apologized to her child in front of so many people.

Under the puzzled gazes of the crowd, Gladio's pupils contracted, and he looked at his mother with a face full of surprise.

Mingyou sighed softly and shook her head: "Even when I'm not home, I still have to deal with problem children and their family issues..."

At Lusamine and Lillie's urging, Gladion finally stayed. However, he hadn't seen his family for over two years and didn't seem to be doing too well outside, which made him hesitant and timid at home, somewhat afraid to communicate with others.

But when he learned that his sister was no longer afraid of Pokémon, a hint of happiness appeared on his face. He has always valued his family very much.

"So what have you been doing these past two years? Secretly developing physical attributes, coming back to surprise your family?"

Mingyou impolitely interrupted their conversation, but everyone seemed quite interested, including Lusamine and her daughter, who all wanted to know about Gladgio's experiences over the past two years and the reasons for his running away from home.

Gladio glared at Mingyou, still showing some displeasure at this guy who had beaten him so badly, but he had to admit that the other party was right before, and he had indeed overlooked some more important things.

"But about running away from home... I think I mentioned it before, right? Don't you guys know?"

"It's not good at all!"

Lillie clenched her little fists. If she had said anything, how could she and her mother have worried for so long, and even had some misunderstandings that almost caused a rift in their family relationship, making them increasingly distant?

Hearing his sister's words and seeing the expressions of those around him, Gladio was slightly taken aback: "Didn't Zaobo tell you?"

"Za Aobo?"

"Yes, because I was afraid that my mother would refuse my going out on adventures alone, so I only told her about it and asked her to tell you after I left Alora."

"..."

Lusamine frowned slightly, a hint of unease creeping into her heart. She then continued, "Tell me in detail what happened back then, and about Silvally!"

"Um……"

Gladio began his story, which began four years ago.

At that time, Lillie was angry with her mother because Lusamine had used a Moon Stone to evolve her favorite Clefairy into Clefairy without her permission. So she ran into the abandoned and closed underground passage alone.

Gladion, worried about his sister, followed her inside. Unexpectedly, he saw Lillie being attacked by a Pokémon he had never seen before. He rushed to protect his sister but was powerless to do anything. At the critical moment, Silvally appeared and saved them.

"Is that so?" Lillie was a little confused; she didn't remember it.

Gladion nodded gently: "It's possible that you were too frightened at the time and forgot about it. But ever since then, you've developed a phobia of Pokémon, and that's probably the reason."

"Is that so...?"

"Yes, but I haven't forgotten it. That scene often comes to mind when I have nightmares, so I started investigating on my own to find out the secret of that Pokémon and about Silvally."

Gladion continued his story, explaining that two years ago, he finally found Sildenafil locked in a jar in the underground of the Aether Paradise, though he didn't know who had imprisoned it there.

Although they didn't get along well at first, they eventually became partners. Just as he was about to continue his investigation, Zaobo suddenly appeared and told him something: a group of powerful people had their eyes on the Aether Foundation.

He listened to Zaobo's words and recalled how he had failed to protect Lillie in the past. So he decided to go on an adventure to hone himself and planned to return only after he had the strength to protect his family forever.

"So you want to use me as a stepping stone?!"

Mingyou finally understood why the other party wanted to go home and fight her; how could they look down on her?

You're a head shorter than me, even ten layers of height-increasing insoles wouldn't be enough to stand on such a tall stepping stone? Huh?

But Lusamine was concerned about something else. She looked at Gladgio, her face finally showing the sternness of a mother, and shouted, "Why didn't you tell me something so important!"

"Because all you do is work, and all you do is make decisions for Lillie and me without my consent. Today it's piano lesson, tomorrow it's etiquette class... you leave us to the teacher's care. Our family has never even been to an amusement park once. You never care about us, and even if I tell you, you won't listen!"

Gladgio's words left Lusamine speechless, after all, she had indeed been such an irresponsible mother before.

Mingyou stood not far away, feeling somewhat superfluous. Although he wanted to chime in, he couldn't keep meddling in other people's conflicts; they had to resolve them themselves.

But getting back to the main point, he stroked his chin and asked curiously, "So this guy named Zaobo is very suspicious, isn't he? He deliberately sent the young master away who was conducting the investigation and concealed his whereabouts. I don't believe this has nothing to do with what happened four years ago."

"really!"

Lusamine nodded, putting aside the family conflict for the time being. Now she finally remembered about Silvally and said, "That Silvally is very similar to a Pokémon created in a project that was terminated more than ten years ago."

"That Pokémon was created based on the mythical Pokémon in the Sinnoh region's literature, to fight against Ultra Beasts. The person in charge of this project was Zaobo, but I felt that this research was against human ethics, so I terminated the project. Later, Aether Paradise was built on the research base, and everything was buried deep underground."

After hearing this, Mingyou guessed the answer: Zaobo was definitely unwilling to have his project rejected by his boss, so he hid in the long-abandoned underground research base and continued to develop Silvally.

Mentioning this, he recalled what happened at the banquet yesterday, and looked at Rosamund, asking, "Since this matter is also related to Ultra Beasts, can you tell me if you need my help?"

"Um!"

Lusamine nodded. Now, apart from Mizuki and Naruyu, everyone else had already left, so even if she said it, it wouldn't have any impact.

"I need your help to catch the rat lurking within the Ether Foundation!"

"Catching mice... that means an inside job, right?"

Mingyou sighed softly. This Ether Foundation is just like a winery, always catching rats. I hope that in the end, everyone except the boss is a rat.

Lusamine looked slightly helpless, then her tone became much more serious as she said, "It's true what Zaobo told Gladion. There really is someone eyeing the Aether Foundation... or rather, my research on Ultra Beasts and Ultra Void!"

"What?!"

Hearing this, Lillie and Mizuki were both incredibly surprised. The Aether Foundation had been targeted by bad guys? And what exactly was Ultra Beast?

Gladion's eyes sharpened instantly. Mingyou scratched his head. Things had gotten complicated. Well, let's listen carefully to what it was all about!

……

(End of this chapter)