Outside the Interrogation Room, Wang Yan sat in his seat playing on his phone, excited one moment and silent the next, utterly absorbed in whatever was on the screen.
Beside him, his Charizard looked at him helplessly. How could he play on his phone so brazenly in such a serious place? Its Trainer was simply too embarrassing.
Just then, the Interrogation Room door opened, and Li Gang emerged with a file bag in hand, his expression somewhat unpleasant.
Seeing him come out, Wang Yan put down his phone as well.
"Hey, bro, how did it go?" Wang Yan asked with a playful grin, looking utterly out of place beside everyone else's solemn expressions.
His voice was loud too, adding a touch of bustle to the formerly quiet corridor.
Naturally, Li Gang gave him no pleasant look. "Watch yourself. Stop treating this place like your own home. You haven't even gotten into the League yet."
Wang Yan scratched his head innocently. "Got it. Honestly, you're as naggy as my sister. Sooner or later, I'll get in here."
"Your sister has far better manners than you. If you don't rein in that temper of yours, getting in here will be a long shot." Li Gang tried to advise him kindly.
Li Gang glanced at the Charizard beside him and looked a little surprised. "Your Charizard feels much stronger than it did last time. In this condition, I never expected you to be this good at raising Pokémon."
"Of course. Who do you think I am? I'm a very strong Trainer." Wang Yan looked proud, though inwardly, he could not help sighing at how effective a Legendary Beast's guidance was. Since Entei had trained it once, Charizard's strength had indeed improved considerably.
Its progress over the past few days was roughly equivalent to two months of his previous training.
Hearing someone praise it, Charizard held its head high, looking extremely pleased with itself.
"So, what did you find out?" Wang Yan brought the topic back around.
Li Gang's somewhat softened expression turned serious again. "This isn't a convenient place to talk. Come to my office later."
After a while, Li Gang finished handling some matters and returned to his office, where Wang Yan was already seated and waiting for him.
"How about I make you some tea? You look pretty busy."
"Forget it. Are you the owner here, or am I? Let's get to the point."
The two began discussing the matter.
As he listened to the information Li Gang revealed, Wang Yan's previously idle expression gained traces of surprise and confusion.
"What you said is true? They really intend to target the Legendary Pokémon in our area? And they even have a systematic capture plan?"
Li Gang nodded.
"No way. With that little strength of theirs, how could they possibly do anything to those powerful beings?"
Li Gang silently wiped his watch. "Those people really aren't that strong, but they're nothing more than minor lackeys. The force behind them cannot be underestimated."
"I still don't believe they can pose a threat to beings that powerful. Those are Legendary Pokémon. Though we don't know exactly how much stronger they are than other Pokémon that have reached their limits, they definitely aren't something a few random criminals can handle."
Humanity knew very little about Legendary Pokémon, so the Pokédex contained almost no information about them. Still, anyone who had looked into the matter even a little knew they existed.
"According to that Hunter from earlier, their higher-ups have already made one move. We couldn't get the details out of him, though. These people weren't deeply involved in the plan, so they don't know much." Li Gang threw away the tissue in his hand, his expression largely unchanged, though his slightly furrowed brow exposed his true thoughts.
"This..." Wang Yan did not know what to say. He was not like other people; he had truly seen Legendary Pokémon. He still remembered the first time he had met Entei and the other Legendary Beasts. That overwhelming Pressure had made his legs go weak. Would anyone really dare set their sights on Pokémon like that?
"However, after investigating through several channels, we obtained some information. Last time, they captured Articuno from the Kanto Region, but Articuno later escaped successfully, and their plan failed." Li Gang's expression relaxed slightly.
"There are traces of those criminals in our neighboring region too? I really don't get it. Why would they go after those Pokémon? Are they asking for trouble? Do they think that if they subdue those beings, they'll gain their power?"
"The human heart is unfathomable. There have already been quite a few incidents around the world involving Legendary Pokémon, though none of those people succeeded. Even so, they truly damaged those beings' impression of us. In our region, Ho-Oh and the Legendary Beasts have grown increasingly distant toward us. Ho-Oh especially has not appeared before people for decades. This matter absolutely cannot be taken lightly. It must be dealt with seriously." Li Gang's gaze grew firm, as though he were determined to arrest those lawless criminals.
Wang Yan nodded. Even if those people could not do anything to Entei and the others, they could not be allowed to damage the Legendary Beasts' impression of humanity.
"Oh, right. There's something I wanted to ask you. That person said the Pokémon that defeated them was Entei, one of our Legendary Beasts. You were once the Brave of the Rainbow, so you should know something, right?"
"Uh... do you know how many years ago that was? Ever since I failed the challenge, I haven't seen them again. How would I know what they're doing?" Wang Yan thought for a moment but ultimately did not reveal anything about Entei. He had promised Entei not to disclose any information about it or Yan Yang, so naturally, he could not break his word.
But this matter was important. He had to find a way to notify Entei. Yet he did not know where Entei lived. Without any other information, searching for a reclusive Legendary Pokémon was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
He could only wait for Entei to find him again, but there was little hope of that. Entei had said it would send Yan Yang back here in a few years, so it probably would not appear before anyone else during that time.
Li Gang was a little disappointed. Even the former Brave of the Rainbow had not seen the Legendary Beasts, so there was even less chance for anyone else.
As if suddenly remembering something, Li Gang asked, "Have you heard that news from a few years ago about Entei appearing in a certain town? They say Entei traded some children's clothes with the witness. Do you think a new Brave of the Rainbow might have appeared, and he asked Entei to bring him children's clothes?"
He had no idea why Entei wanted those clothes and could only make a guess.
"Also, those criminals said that at the time, there was someone in a mask riding on Entei's back. Maybe that was the new Brave of the Rainbow whom Entei had acknowledged." The more Li Gang spoke, the more reasonable he thought his words were. Perhaps his guess was right.
No one else knew whether his guess was correct, but Wang Yan knew perfectly well. The person on Entei's back could only have been Yan Yang, and that news could only have been about Entei helping the child find clothes to wear.
If others learned this, they would probably be shocked. There had been cases of Pokémon raising humans before, but it was the first time anyone had heard of a Legendary Pokémon raising a human.
Thinking of Yan Yang's shy appearance, Wang Yan's lips curled up slightly. That child was quite adorable. No wonder Entei liked him.
With Entei by his side, that child was very fortunate.
With that child by its side, Entei would also be less likely to lose faith in humanity.
He only hoped this incident would not drag Entei and Yan Yang into it.
"Report!" A frantic voice came from outside, as though something urgent had happened.
"Come in."
A police officer entered. His panicked expression quickly steadied as he began his report. "Reporting, sir, those people have already made their move."
"So soon?" Li Gang looked somewhat surprised. "Which Pokémon is their target?"
"Their target this time is Raikou, one of the Legendary Beasts."
Meanwhile, over in the forest, Yan Yang and the others were still helping Pidgey search for the stone it had lost.
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