Pokémon: Trainers Start as Bounty Hunters.

Miss Joey smiled and packed the non-melting ice and feathers for Tetsuya: "Okay, this place is very close to the Ninja Academy. There's a transport team coming around at noon, and I'll have them take it to the principal."

Of course she knew the origins of both things.

But as everyone knows, this is Joey.

While a typical trainer might be tempted by greed, Nurse Joy is completely different.

You can always trust Joey and Officer Jenny—unless they're being controlled.

"Thank you for your help." After thanking Nurse Joy, Tetsuya went to the Pokémon Center's cafeteria to have his breakfast.

Now that the mission was complete, he did not intend to linger in the Snow Mountain any longer.

This place was ultimately not so friendly to his companions.

Judging from their sleep last night, except for a few, the rest of them unusually chose to stay in their Poké Balls.

......

The terrain in the northern part of the Jodo region is extremely complex.

Forests, mountains, grasslands, and inland lakes—their forms vary greatly at almost every distance.

This also makes the elf ecosystem here quite complete.

It can be said that the northern part of the Johto region is home to almost the vast majority of the Elf types found in the Johto and Kanto regions.

To the southeast of Snow Mountain, separated by about two forests and a lake, lies another high mountain, Leibo Mountain.

It can be called a mountain or a Leibo Cave.

From the outside, Leibo Mountain looks like an ordinary mountain range, but at its foot lies a vast natural cave system that boasts an endless expanse of open space.

It is inhabited by all sorts of spirits and also nurtures all sorts of precious items.

If Mount Snow Mountain attracts many trainers because of the legend of Articuno, then Mount Raibo is more appealing because of its abundant resources.

This is also the symbol of the Electric Beasts baseball team.

It is rumored that Tyranitar, a pseudo-god from the Johto region, even appeared in the story.

Of course, most people scoffed at this rumor.

After all, given Tyranitar's appetite, if it really lived in Mt. Leviathan, the cave below would probably have collapsed from its eating long ago.

Despite this, many trainers continue to venture into Mount Raibo based on this rumor.

Tyranitar most likely doesn't exist. It's quite difficult for a pseudo-legendary to grow to its final form in the wild, but its initial form, Tyranitar, is entirely possible.

They hadn't considered that even if they encountered it, they might not be able to catch it, and even if they could, they might not be able to afford to raise it.

Compared to the energy required to raise a pseudo-legendary, Snorlax's gluttony is nothing; at least it's not picky about food, it just eats a lot.

Today, Mount Leibo welcomed yet another trainer guest.

"What a thick fog!" Tetsuya exclaimed, looking at the dense fog around him.

"Buwoo"

The electric dragon, acting as a light bulb, nodded in agreement.

Even its tail, in this dense fog, could only illuminate a hundred meters away.

Hmm, that sounds a bit like Versailles, since not everyone can afford to use a near-Elite Four member's Shiny Ampharos for lighting.

Walking through the misty mountain forest, Tetsuya's ears twitched: "Dianlong, did you hear any strange noises?"

"Buwoo?"

The electric dragon with its glowing tail tilted its head. "No."

"Sir, your perception is indeed very keen."

A woman with nine tails suddenly appeared under a tree not far away.

"Buwoo!"

The electric dragon's pink skin trembled and rippled. Holy crap, this is unbelievable!

In its perception, the appearance of this human and the elf came without any warning.

It instinctively assumed a fighting stance and stood in front of Tetsuya.

"Don't be nervous, I mean no harm," the woman in traditional clothing said with a smile, covering her mouth.

A bead of cold sweat trickled down the electric dragon's forehead.

Its electromagnetic feedback told it that the woman did not exist, but what about the other party's words?

"Mmm~"

The nine-tailed fox next to the woman let out a soft cry.

"Oh, I almost forgot." The woman bowed apologetically. "I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Luo Ke, and this is Jiuwei. We are residents of this mountain range."

"Hello."

Tetsuya patted the electric dragon to signal it not to be so nervous, and responded in a friendly manner.

He still had some recollection of this person and the elf—or rather, only the elf.

If I remember correctly, this woman named Luo Ke is just an illusion created by the Nine-Tailed Fox using its own power.

Its trainer, however, never returned after going on an expedition 200 years ago.

That's right, this is a nine-tailed fox that has lived for a full 200 years.

Although there have been rumors in the Pokémon world that the Nine-Tailed Fox can live for a thousand years, no one has ever witnessed it with their own eyes—and probably no one can live for a thousand years together anyway.

Tetsuya felt that the huge thing in front of him was good proof of this.

Their long lifespan endowed them with immense power, as can be seen from the illusions that were difficult to distinguish from reality.

Zero's panel rated Nine-Tails' strength as Uranus.

This is also the source of Tetsuya's confidence in not panicking at all.

If the opponent is a near-champion or even the champion, he will prepare to run away without saying a word, even if the opponent may not have any malicious intent.

He didn't even consider a mere superstar a threat.

"I wonder what you want to see me about?" Tetsuya asked curiously.

He remembered that the owner of this nine-tailed fox looked a lot like Xiao Gang, and it was Xiao Gang who "saved" it later.

"Luo Ke" bowed and said, "I can feel the powerful aura emanating from you. I wonder if you can rescue me."

The thought processes and logic of humans and elves are ultimately very different.

Even though it conjured an illusion, Nine-Tails' way of speaking was still very much like that of an elf—very direct.

Tetsuya raised an eyebrow: "Sure, but what's in it for me?"

He's also very direct.

There are quite a few Pokémon in the League history that are trapped and unable to escape due to the accidental death of their owners. Usually, all you have to do is smash the opponent's Pokémon.

The quality of handmade Poké Balls used to be much better than it is now.

The main problem is that the elves won't destroy their own homes for fun, so we're at a loss.

But he didn't consider himself a great philanthropist, and besides, why release a Nine-Tails of the Heavenly King level who was proficient in "illusion"? It might not be a good thing.

"Luo Ke" was stumped by the question.

"In other words, what are you planning to do after you get out?" Tetsuya asked with great interest.

"I think..." it hesitated for a moment, "I want to go find my master again."

Even though it knew a hundred years ago that its master was unlikely to return, what if it was possible?

It still held onto a sliver of hope.

"Could you tell me how you acquired the ability to create illusions?"

Tetsuya's thinking is very jumpy.

"Luo Ke" paused for a moment: "I don't know either. It's just that I suddenly mastered this strange ability 150 years after my master disappeared."

Both Tetsuya and the intelligent Kurama knew very well that it was impossible to create such a realistic illusion using only superpowers.

There must have been assistance from other forces involved.

Tetsuya looked thoughtfully at the nine fluffy tails of Kurama.

The most likely explanation is the ability hidden within its tail, but unfortunately, this Nine-Tails only knows how to use its power and doesn't know the source of that power.

There's nothing we can do about it; it's lost its trainer.

"Miu"

The nine-tailed fox's red eyes looked somewhat pitiful, and it lowered its body and let out a cry.

Tetsuya tilted his head and thought for a moment, then took out a photo from his spatial backpack.

Nine-Tailed Fox's tail instantly spread out, and its entire aura immediately solidified. Its eyes emitted a dazzling red light: "This is my master! Tell me where my master is!"

Its words changed from their previous respectful tone.

"Blazing Chicken".

In response, Tetsuya simply called out his ace.

"Down"

Blaziken couldn't contain its excitement any longer and ran out of the Deluxe Ball.

It also unleashed its king-level aura.

"Calm down and look at this. This isn't your master." Zhe didn't intend to fight the Nine-Tails and simply showed him the photo.

Kurama calmed down a bit and used its superpowers to control the photo, making it spin around in front of it.

"Loko" reappears.

"This is indeed not the owner. I'm sorry I got a little too excited."

"It's nothing." Tetsuya's lips curled into a sly smile. "But I can introduce you to the person in the photo."

That's right, the photo he showed was of Xiao Gang.

Chapter 427 Calling for People (Under revision, will be available in half an hour)

From Tetsuya's perspective, this Nine-Tails is quite suitable for Gon.

Of course, I'm not referring to the phantom of the beautiful woman that was created, but rather the coincidence between the two.

After all, not everyone can look so alike, and not every elf can live for such a long time.

In the world of elves, this could perhaps be considered a unique kind of bond.

Maybe Xiao Gang is the reincarnation of the Nine-Tails' deceased master.

However, everything depends on the choice of the nine-tailed fox in front of you.

If the other party simply wants to gain freedom, Tetsuya wouldn't mind helping it out.

Judging from the reaction just now, this Ninetales is quite friendly and easy to talk to when its past trainer is not involved, and it will not cause any bad consequences.

It's a trainer's Pokémon, and it wasn't one that was actively abandoned, so it's very accepting of humans.

Nine-Tailed Fox and Luo Ke fell silent as they looked at Xiao Gang's photo.

Its ruby-red eyes sparkled.

"As you can see, I am nothing but a phantom."

Two hundred years ago, my master entrusted me and the servants to look after the house, and then went on a trip by himself.

Logically speaking, the master should have returned within a month, but... ten years have passed and the master has not returned.

Ten years after the master left, the last person in the mansion also left, leaving only me here waiting for the master to return.

Then twenty years, thirty years passed, and the mansion grew increasingly dilapidated, but I continued to wait, believing that the master would surely return.

Luo Ke held up an umbrella that had suddenly appeared, her eyes glazed as she gazed into the depths of the dense forest not far away.