A Windfall

"Mr. Mime, use Barrier!"

"Jiejieje~"

Zorua's Taunt was faster, and Mr. Mime was instantly enraged. It completely forgot the Wall-type moves it was good at and only wanted to rush forward and teach Zorua a harsh lesson.

Unable to use Barrier, Mr. Mime struggled for a while before finally firing a rather weak Psybeam, which Zorua easily dodged.

The sky suddenly darkened. A huge single eye quietly opened behind Mr. Mime. It seemed as though something had locked onto it, and the cautious Mr. Mime instead calmed down somewhat.

"Surprise Attack! Shadow Ball!"

"Mr. Mime, hurry and use Substitute to block it! Psychic to deal with Haunter! Pinsir, use Brick Break!"

Seeing Sato attack without a word, the middle-aged man could only launch a hasty counterattack. He shot a vicious look at the Little Friend charging toward him and directly released Pinsir!

"Bari!"

Mr. Mime disobeyed orders once again, skipping Substitute entirely and unleashing Psychic!

But it was completely useless. With a swift dash, Zorua had already arrived at its side, wrapped in Dark-type Energy as it crashed into it viciously!

"Jiejieje!"

Haunter circled around the Psychic that could very likely have killed it instantly, secretly turned invisible, and floated behind Mr. Mime. Shadow Ball and Surprise Attack struck at the same time! "Bari!"

Mr. Mime had had its Wall-type moves sealed from the beginning. It took both hits head-on, leaving it critically injured and unable to get up for a long while.

"Fairy-types and Bug-types again!" As a Dark Power Ability User, how could he possibly have any fondness for them unless they were his own Pokemon?

"Kaka!"

Pinsir attacked the ten-year-old Sato without hesitation. Clearly, it was not the first time it had gone through something like this! Then its owner was absolutely not just trying to steal Jigglypuff! A flash of black light passed through Sato's eyes as he grew serious for once. Pinsir was incredibly strong, not something Sato could withstand head-on. An assassin was best at speed and agility.

He slipped past Pinsir's Brick Break like a fish through water, gripping his dagger tightly in his right hand and pretending to attack its back. Just as he was about to strike, he withdrew the dagger, pivoted on his left foot, turned, and hurled it viciously at the middle-aged man! "Huh-huh!"

The sharp dagger pierced straight through the man's neck. Blood gushed out wildly, and with terror in his eyes, the middle-aged man slowly collapsed.

"Kaka!"

Pinsir reflexively turned around, wanting to attack Sato, but after seeing its owner fall, it froze where it stood.

"Bari bari!"

"Kakaka~"

Pinsir and Mr. Mime completely ignored Sato and the others. There was a hint of relief in their eyes as they then gave Sato, surrounded by black mist, complicated looks.

Bang! Bang!

Pinsir searched two Poké Balls from the middle-aged man and violently crushed them underfoot. Seeing this, Mr. Mime nodded lightly at Pinsir, then dragged its serious injuries into the forest and disappeared.

Pinsir stared blankly at the middle-aged man, whose eyes had lost all light, for a while. Only after a long time did it turn its head, glare viciously at Sato, and disappear into the forest as well.

"Kuso?"

Zorua was still young and completely confused by the whole matter. Logically speaking, shouldn't they have wanted to Fight to the Death with them?

"Some humans can't see who the true protagonist of this world is. Sooner or later, they suffer for it." Sato did not explain much. He stepped forward and began searching the body, At the Same Time Did Not Forget to tell Haunter to bring over Jigglypuff's Poké Ball.

Before long, A Pile of miscellaneous items had been searched out and laid on the ground.

"Jiejie!"

Haunter hurriedly tossed over Jigglypuff's Poké Ball, then turned around and grabbed a talisman from the ground. Sato looked up and recognized it at once. It was a Pokemon Item that could increase the power of Ghost-type moves: a Spell Tag.

"Jiejie~"

Haunter floated ingratiatingly before Sato. Its two Shadow Claws rose to his shoulders as it fawned over him, kneading his shoulders and pounding his back.

"Take it. It's not anything valuable."

"Jiejie!"

Haunter happily ran off with the Spell Tag. Sato continued sorting through the items, growing more shocked the more he found. "Special Poké Balls, High-Grade Energy Cubes, a Dusk Stone... this one's nice!" Sato put the Dusk Stone into his pocket first. Due to the effects of Dark Power, Sato preferred using Dark-type Pokemon, and quite a few of them needed a Dusk Stone to evolve.

"This guy really was an Underground Hunter, and the bold kind at that!" Sato muttered as he held two Pokédexes unique to the Johto Region.

Most New Trainers who set out with Pokédexes had decent family backgrounds and connections. Those who operated in gray areas were generally unwilling to provoke them.

Underground Hunters were different. Neither the legal world nor the underworld thought much of them. They were like meat-stealing hyenas, burrowing wherever there was flesh, with neither principles nor allegiance.

It was very possible that Pinsir and Mr. Mime were not Pokemon he had obtained through normal means, which was why they had not thought of avenging him.

Unfortunately for him, he had encountered the highly deceptive Sato. Before the Underground Hunter could make a move, Sato had caught the thief by first catching the king and taken him down in one strike. He had also found three Poké Balls containing Pokemon on the Battle Belt.

Momo took out the Data Analyzer and gave the Poké Balls a light scan. Before long, the data of the Three Pokemon appeared before him.

Two were Elite Beginner, namely Sandslash and Victreebel. One was Normal Advanced, a Fearow. Together with Pinsir and Mr. Mime, it was a very solid lineup.

"Larvitar, help dig a hole."

"Yuji!"

Sato threw the Underground Hunter, who deserved death, along with everything on him that could not be converted into resources, into the hole. He then ordered Larvitar to bury it.

With the Jigglypuff he needed to hand over and the supplies the Underground Hunter had generously delivered, Sato went straight through the forest and arrived at a new city.

Jihua City, a city with special regulations where Trainers were not allowed to catch Pokemon such as Quagsire within city limits.

Sato first went to the Pokemon Center to restore his Pokemon's condition, then contacted the person who had posted the task and sent Jigglypuff over.

Only after the other party confirmed that Jigglypuff was not one of those lifeless Pokemon bought from the Black Market did they transfer the payment to Sato.

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Sato. My daughter finally has a good companion."

"Mm." Sato did not want to exchange empty pleasantries like a businessman. Once he received the money, he hung up directly.

He found a hotel with a pleasant environment near the Suburbs, checked in, and then found detailed information about Jihua City's Underground Trading Market on a special website.

Other than the Dusk Stone and the Spell Tag, everything Sato had obtained from the Underground Hunter needed to be dealt with.

Pokemon Items could be used directly without much risk. But man-made items, such as Pokédexes and Special Poké Balls, were different. Sato did not know much about them, so naturally he did not dare use things of unknown origin carelessly.

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