I run an orphanage in the Pokémon world.

"Sure enough, this thing is a product of the future. There could never have been such a clever combination of fruits in the past," Teng Shu remarked. However, Teng Shu himself was also looking forward to the future, after all, it was the future.

However, Teng Shu could understand the Alliance's decision to seal off the Padia Crater. After all, people's exploration of the future has been endless over the years, and something that can clearly lead to the future cannot be made public casually. Once it is confirmed that something can lead to the future, many wealthy people will rush to enter it.

This thing is like a time machine. Although you can't come back once you go, what if the future world allows people to live forever? What if it can cure diseases?

This is why, although there has always been investment in cryonics in the past, there has always been opposition from scientists. The reason is that if this technology is developed, many people will choose to escape through this method and go to the future, at which point the entire world order will collapse.

The league probably thought of this as well, which is why they chose to block the news about the Padia Abyss.

"Here, Dream, have a taste." Teng Shu smiled and poured Dream a cup. Dream curiously picked up the cup and took a sip, then pouted in disgust. Teng Shu was a little amused by this, as he thought the drink tasted quite good to him, but he didn't expect Dream to dislike it.

"Then I'll make you something else to eat." Teng Shu twisted his neck and said to Meng Huan, who nodded expectantly after hearing it.

Tengshu didn't say much, but turned around and started making food for Meng Huan.

However, Tengshu didn't plan to make anything else this time. Instead, he planned to make a Wellington steak. He had intended to make it before, but he didn't because he thought it wasn't suitable for breakfast. Now, it's a pretty good choice to serve it to Meng Huan.

Thinking of this, Tengshu became interested. He chatted with Mew while making Wellington steak. Before long, Tengshu finished cooking, and Mew was very satisfied with the meal. It left Tengshu a big pot of Future Juice. Mew also left a Poké Ball. At first, Tengshu was quite worried that there might be something wrong with the Poké Ball, but when he found that it was empty, he didn't think much of it.

As for this ball, it's just a fairly ordinary Poké Ball. Although it has some colored paint on it, making it look like it's not an ordinary Poké Ball, Tengshu knows that these days, it's very common for trainers to use "painful balls".

After all, everyone wants their Poké Balls to look unique, which has led to the emergence of various anime-style Poké Balls, mecha-style Poké Balls, and more.

Chapter 558 The Strange Poké Ball

The Pokémon League doesn't really restrict the use of "Pain Balls" in Pokémon. If you had to say something, it's that Pain Balls can't affect the use of the Poké Ball itself, meaning you can't do things like welding Poké Balls.

The Pokémon League's retailers naturally set their sights on this special market for "ita-balls," offering products for all sorts of Poké Ball designs.

Tengshu had seen before that people could shape their Poké Balls into all sorts of shapes, and there were even people who would put their Poké Balls in a Poké Ball launcher and say "My turn, Doro!" during every Pokémon battle.

It can only be said that the market for Poké Balls is as big as people's imagination. And this is not just about sticking on some strange little gadgets, but about making a radical change to the entire Poké Ball, so it still has a very large market.

Teng Shu himself had considered whether or not to do it, but he thought it wouldn't make much of a difference, so he eventually gave up the idea.

After giving up for a few days, Tengshu was even less inclined to want it. So sometimes, if you're in a hurry to buy something, you can think about it and then stop for a while. If you really don't want it anymore, then it's not too late to change your mind. If you want to buy it, then you can buy it. This can help you avoid the problem of impulsive consumption.

So, Tengshu put the ball away. The ball was quite pretty, but that was all. Tengshu started cooking for the Pokémon and the professors. After finishing the meal, he also brought out some juice. However, this time, Locke and his wife returned during the meal.

"Why did you come back to eat?" Teng Shu looked at Locke with some confusion. He remembered that Locke had said he wanted to experience the special cuisine of the Carlos region in Miare City.

"Ahem, stop talking, Dean. I really didn't expect the specialties of the Carlos region to be so interesting." Locke's face was dark. Seeing this, Teng Shu became even more curious. So what exactly happened? Why was Locke's mood so unusual?

Professor Oak, standing to the side, revealed a knowing smile. Teng Shu looked at Professor Oak, and Locke had already begun to speak. Seeing this, Teng Shu did not interrupt and listened quietly to Locke recount his tragic experiences.

"My wife and I were incredibly excited and decided to try the most unique cuisine of the Carlos region..."

It turned out that Locke, who had split up with his wife, heard that the food street in Miare City gathered the specialties of the entire Carlos region, so he excitedly took his wife to that mysterious food street.

Upon hearing this, Teng Shu's expression became somewhat strange.

The so-called food street reminded Teng Shu of some unique memories. It seemed that when he traveled in his previous life, there were food streets all over the country, but the food inside was more or less the same, and it was difficult to find regional specialties.

But this is the world of Pokémon, so it shouldn't be like this, right?

As soon as Locke walked in, he noticed a number of food stalls. The stalls on the street were emitting an enticing aroma. When he went over to take a look, he found that they were takoyaki, a specialty of the Kanto region.

Locke was somewhat disappointed, but his wife spotted a unique restaurant with a sign that read "Carlos Traditional Cuisine." Excitedly, Locke pushed open the door, found a seat by the window, and ordered the "Specialty Pie" recommended by the waiter.

Not long after, the waiter brought over a plate of oddly shaped pies. The pie crust was golden and crispy, and the surface was decorated with a few bright green herbs, making it look very tempting—provided that one could ignore the pathetic fish heads on top of the pie.

"What...what is this?!" Locke's eyes widened. The fish's eyes stared straight at him, as if mocking his stupidity. There were six or seven such fish, all with their heads upright, looking particularly eerie.

"Sir, this is a traditional dish from our Carlos region. The fish is tender, and the head is the most prized part, called the Stargazing Pie," the waiter said proudly, his tone full of excitement.

"This is... Stargazing Pie?" Locke asked in a trembling voice. He had never imagined that he would eat such unique food in a respectable restaurant.

The waiter nodded confidently and strongly recommended that Locke and his wife try it.

There was no other way. Since he was already here, Locke forced himself to endure the nausea and took a bite. It shouldn't be too bad, right?

The result was even more despairing after eating it. The fish meat was loose and the seasoning was extremely strange. It was so salty that it tasted bitter, and it also had an indescribable fishy smell. He even suspected that the chef had stuffed the whole fish directly into the pie without cleaning out the internal organs.

"Stop eating, wife." Locke silently stopped his wife and daughter.

Locke silently picked up his water glass and tried to rinse his mouth, but no matter how many times he rinsed, the taste remained deeply imprinted on his taste buds and wouldn't go away. Locke looked around and saw that other customers were enjoying their food, and some even praised the dish as authentic.

"Thank you for the recommendation, but... I might not be used to this flavor." Locke waved his hand, he really couldn't eat anymore, and the waiter nodded naturally, politely took back the plate, and enthusiastically recommended another specialty dish, which Locke quickly waved away, afraid of eating something unusual again.

Teng Shu was both amused and exasperated when he heard this. Locke's experience was truly outrageous, and it was no wonder that Locke felt so peculiar. However, he never expected that there would be stargazers in this world. So, there might also be live maggot cheese and canned herring, right?

The thought of this made Tengshu feel uncomfortable all over. This unique feeling was almost suffocating. Tengshu himself didn't like to eat it, after all, the taste of these things was really unacceptable.

"Actually, if you eat this stuff from childhood, you'll find it tastes pretty good." Professor Oak said with a chuckle. Teng Shu thought what he said made sense. It's like douzhi (fermented mung bean juice). People who are used to drinking it can drink it, but people who have never tried it will spit it out after just one sip.

So it's hard to say whether this kind of stargazing pie is actually a very popular local delicacy in the Carlos region.

"Indeed, but I personally still can't accept it." Locke curled his lip after hearing this; he wasn't used to this so-called gourmet food.

It's still better to eat the food cooked by Dean Tengshu, but this unique juice is quite interesting.

This made Locke feel much more at ease. He was already happy that he no longer had to eat those strange foods, and he was very content.

Chapter 559 The Extremely Difficult Beacon Mission (Part 2)

After finishing their meal, Locke and the others went home, while Tengshu handed over the task of washing the dishes to Akai. Akai was becoming more and more skilled at washing dishes, and he washed them exceptionally clean.

However, watching Akai wash the dishes, Teng Shu's expression was a bit strange. He didn't know why, but he suddenly thought of some strange things, like those classic articles in public intellectuals from a certain civilized country that said "dishes need to be washed seven times to be considered clean".

"Superpowered dishwashing does make the dishes even cleaner." Teng Shu nodded in satisfaction as he watched the dishes and chopsticks flying around. With Kai's superpowered dishwashing ability, Teng Shu felt that the cleanliness of these dishes and chopsticks had improved by many levels.

Kai's superpower can remove all the debris from the dishes and utensils. Every time he washes the dishes, it's like giving Tengshu a brand new one. Tengshu thinks it's no wonder that no one in this world has developed a dishwasher. After all, can a dishwasher be as useful as a Pokémon? Obviously not.

Watching Kai wash the dishes was a pleasure. Teng Shu watched for a while, then went to check on things. Finding nothing wrong, he hummed a little tune as he returned to his room to play the videos that Tire and the others wanted to watch, and to prepare the workbooks and other things for Tianxi.

However, looking at the certificate in Diancie's hand, Tengshu's expression was a little strange, because the certificate Diancie was holding was her Pokémon lawyer qualification certificate.

"Tianxi, are you planning to take on legal cases?" Teng Shu asked Tianxi. Tianxi paused for a moment after hearing this, then closed the book in her hand.

“I’ve looked at it. Now I either need to slowly build up my reputation, or I need to get affiliated with one of those big law firms.” Tianxi looked very energetic, but looking at Tianxi, Tengshu still felt a little uneasy. After all, Tianxi was becoming more and more fluent in her speech, and chatting with her always felt like chatting with a friend.

Diancie's point is valid. After all, that's how lawyers are these days. They either work under contract or slowly build up their reputation. To be honest, it's very difficult for a Pokémon lawyer like Diancie to stand out. Although Diancie is famous now, this kind of fame doesn't really have much to do with being a lawyer.

So at this point, there's practically no one who would look for Diancie, and even if there were, they'd probably be the type with ulterior motives.

“I think…” Teng Shu was about to comfort Diancie when he heard a phone ring. Diancie jumped up, picked up the phone, and excitedly tapped it.

This phone was bought by Teng Shu for Diancie. After all, if Diancie wanted to become a lawyer, she would need a way to contact people. But what surprised Teng Shu was that he was just thinking about how to comfort Diancie and tell her not to worry, and now she's calling? Is that so absurd?

"Hello, this is Diancie... Ah, okay... okay, okay... I have no objection, I'm willing to take the call, thank you very much! I will definitely do my best!" Diancie was very excited, and Tengshu was as excited as a weasel that couldn't get a melon from the melon patch. Only after Diancie hung up the phone did Tengshu have a chance to go over and ask her.

After asking around, Teng Shu finally learned what had happened.

"You mean, the Alliance's legal department wants to provide you with legal aid?" Teng Shu was somewhat surprised, while Tianxi nodded happily. However, Teng Shu really hadn't expected things to turn out this way.

So-called legal aid actually existed in the past. Generally, it was applied for by plaintiffs and defendants who were in dire financial straits. The good news was that it was free, but the bad news was that the lawyers who provided it were usually not very competent.

But since everything is free, we can't expect too much.

Although those who meet the criteria don't need to pay, the alliance does provide some subsidies to such legal aid lawyers. After all, you can't really expect someone to work for free, right? However, the subsidies are relatively small, so some law students who pass the bar exam may end up paying to work.

The purpose is to gain work internship experience, so as to lay the groundwork for taking on cases independently in the future, which is similar to those accounting firms.

Therefore, when choosing a major in college, there is a saying: "Advising someone to study medicine will get you struck by lightning, advising someone to study law will get you torn to pieces." This saying means that it is not easy to find a job.

"That's good, but what kind of case is it?" Teng Shu was a little curious. Although he had some understanding of the laws in the Pokémon world because of Diancie, this was his first time participating in a case, so he was quite curious.

"She didn't say much, just about the divorce dispute." Tianxi shook her head. Teng Shu's lips twitched when he heard this. A divorce dispute?

These kinds of cases sound very troublesome, after all, even an upright official finds it hard to settle family disputes. However, the good news is that there isn't a particularly serious gender antagonism issue in the Pokémon world, otherwise it might have become a major problem.

"Keep it up!" Teng Shu encouraged Diancie, who nodded happily. Meanwhile, Tirei glanced at Diancie and Teng Shu, snorted, and then lay down on the sofa watching the magic video in front of her, her little eyes darting around, seemingly lost in thought.

Teng Shu didn't notice Tire Miao's little mood. He had already gone back to sleep. After all, the dream he had today was very strange, making Teng Shu feel like he hadn't rested well.

Just as he fell asleep, Tengshu saw the familiar stone gate.

"...No, how did I get back in here?" Teng Shu was a little confused. What was going on? How did he get back in here?

But this time, Teng Shu found that the stone door in front of him looked somewhat illusory, and the things around him also looked somewhat illusory, giving him the feeling of "I'm dreaming." Teng Shu tried to add some things to it, since if this was a lucid dream, then he should be able to add some things, but he couldn't add anything.

"This is really strange." Teng Shu was a bit of a headache. He hadn't walked the path ahead before, but he figured there wouldn't be anything wrong with it. Besides, the distance was quite far, and Teng Shu didn't want to walk it all over again. So, Teng Shu decided to figure out how to get through this door.

As soon as he reached out his hand, Teng Shu paused for a moment, because he realized that he could actually walk straight through the door in front of him.

The door in front of him was like a pool of water, and Teng Shu slowly squeezed through. After squeezing through, Teng Shu turned his head and glanced at it. The stone door behind him was still standing there steadily, and there was nothing wrong with it.

"What's going on?" Teng Shu was a little confused. He tried the other walls, and even tried the floor and the ceiling, but none of them worked. Only the door from before worked, but when he was dreaming about it this afternoon, the door felt like stone and he couldn't get in at all.

Teng Shu felt as if he had been drawn into something strange, and that he had a very deep connection with the little cursed doll that the cursed doll had brought over, but Teng Shu didn't know what was going on.

"Oh well, we're already here." Teng Shu sighed, then glanced around.

Near the entrance were walls, thick walls, but there seemed to be some white stuff on them. Teng Shu didn't pay attention; sometimes there would be white frost or salt deposits on the rock walls, nothing strange about it.

Then Tengshu realized that he seemed to have suddenly walked from underground to the surface. He was surrounded by soil and flowers and plants, which looked very vibrant. However, when Tengshu looked up, he could not see the sky. There were still rock walls above him. What was even more absurd was that although there was no sun, it was daytime here, and sunlight-like light shone on Tengshu.

"Is this something from the ancient Dark Kingdom era?" Teng Shu pondered. It was practically a miniature ecosystem, but its only drawback was its extreme quietness; not a sound could be heard...

None...

Teng Shu paused for a moment. He saw a Piplup dart past him, but the Piplup seemed to ignore him.

"Bogaman?" Teng Shu was somewhat surprised. What exactly was this place? Why could he see Bogaman?

Just as he was thinking this, Teng Shu saw a Greninja and a Yaohu Red Fox also rushing over, moving very fast, as if something was chasing them.

Teng Shu turned his head in confusion, and then saw a gray hue spreading over from not far away.

It can't be considered a spread.

Teng Shu watched helplessly as several trees, each as thick as three people could hug, withered and died instantly after being stained with this gray color. And that so-called gray color was actually the color of death for all things.

"Holy crap." Teng Shu was somewhat taken aback. What kind of place was this?

Just as he was thinking this, the gray creature came up to Tengshu and brushed past him. However, Tengshu didn't feel anything. He calmly nodded. It seemed that what he thought was true. He was in a very special state, so the Pokémon couldn't see him, and this strange gray creature couldn't hurt him.

Teng Shu thought of the Greninja frogs that had just run past, so they were avoiding the black thing?

But the problem is...

Teng Shu thought of something.

He ran quickly in the direction the Greninja frogs had gone, but the gray one was faster than him. Almost instantly, everything in front of Tengshu lost its color and became lifeless, making the whole world seem extremely desolate.

Teng Shu saw the wall, and then his steps slowed.

Because he saw a group of Pokémon.

Greninja, Fennekin, Piplup, and even a Gardevoir that Tengshu spotted, along with all sorts of other Pokémon—at least a hundred in total.

But at this moment, all of these Pokémon are dead, their bodies have lost all vitality, and they all seem to be covered with a layer of gray.

Teng Shu walked over in silence.

He saw the solid walls, made of some unknown material, which the Pokémon couldn't break through.

"This is..." Tengshu's pupils were wide open in shock. He quickly walked to the wall, his body passing through the Pokémon. Then Tengshu saw many claw marks on the wall in front of him, densely packed claw marks, white claw marks with some scattered red spots.

Teng Shu looked at the Pokémon; the claw marks were numerous, very dense, and...

"No, no..." Teng Shu suppressed his emotions and kept running forward. He ran very fast, and even stumbled and almost tripped. Although he could pass through Pokémon, soil was still not an option.

Teng Shu ran in silence, the only sound the echo of his rapid breathing in this deathly still world.

Teng Shu arrived at the door, then stared blankly at the white claw marks near the doorway.

These little guys...

what's going on?

Just as Teng Shu was wondering, he suddenly saw a flash of green light in the center of the gray area, at the center point of the horizon.

Teng Shu stared blankly as the green light swept across, then everything around him came back to life, returning to its previous state. Teng Shu looked on, a hint of fear in his eyes. So this was...

“No, I just…” Teng Shu squinted. He had just seen something familiar flash by when the green light flickered.

Although it was very small, the vine tree still managed to make it out.

It's the control panel.

Pokémon information panel.

So, is there an abandoned Pokémon here?