Officer Jenny

Weedle closed its beady eyes and quietly waited for death to come.

After some time had passed,

the expected pain never came. Instead, the part connecting its head to its body suddenly loosened, and then a pair of hands gently stroked its body while smearing something onto it.

Weedle opened its beady eyes and discovered that the human before it had no intention of killing it. Instead, he was applying something to its body.

Only when a cool, itchy sensation came from its wounds did Weedle realize that the other party was treating it.

"Eeya, eeya."

Roy's Ghost Power could only understand the language of Ghost-type Pokémon. As for what Weedle meant, that was beyond his understanding.

Thinking Weedle was hungry, he took out an energy bar and some Berries Yazi had given him from his Spatial Bracelet and stuffed them straight into Weedle's mouth.

Roy: "Here, eat."

He used the energy bar and Berries to plug Weedle's constantly chattering "eeya, eeya" mouth.

After Weedle had closed its eyes, Roy had picked up the key dropped by the Bug Catcher earlier, unlocked the Thunder Shock collar binding Weedle, and applied the Potion Yazi had prepared for him to its body.

"Alright, this should be about enough."

Weedle's eyes had originally been numb and lifeless, but after Roy applied the Potion, it was in much better condition. It allowed Roy to carry it over and place it on a tree branch.

"You should go. It'd be best if you returned to your original group. Don't let people like that catch you again."

With that, Roy turned and headed toward the main road, leaving behind a dashing silhouette.

Watching Roy's departing back, Weedle was reluctant to look away for a long time, as though it wanted to remember him forever.

Being his Pokémon would probably be very happy... right?

Compared to the Bug Catcher and Roy... alright, there was simply no comparison at all.

Weedle looked enviously at the Litwick on Roy's shoulder.

After swallowing the energy bar and Oran Berry Roy had stuffed into its mouth, Weedle dragged its body, which had recovered seventy to eighty percent of its strength, up toward the highest part of the trunk. It could sense a force within its body calling to it.

Finally, after reaching a branch near the top, Weedle's body began to glow with the light of evolution.

When the light faded, Weedle had successfully evolved into Kakuna.

Naturally, Roy knew nothing about that. He was currently studying his system.

Roy was surprised to find that the 1 on the system's Popularity Points had become a 2. He was somewhat confused. He had clearly only frightened the Bug Catcher just now. Could that Weedle have provided it?

Could Pokémon provide him with Popularity Points too?

Roy had absolutely no intention of catching that Weedle. Although Weedle's talent was fairly good, it did not suit his abilities. How he would train it after catching it would also be a problem.

Compared to Pokémon of other types, raising Ghost-type Pokémon did not require spending money on Berries, nutritional supplements, Pokémon Pokéblocks, and such. His Litwick and Duskull only needed to absorb his Ghost Power every day.

With his current finances, he had no resources left to raise a Bug-type Pokémon. Being able to raise Litwick and Duskull at all was entirely thanks to his Ghost Power.

He was not the sort of person who liked catching a pile of Pokémon, stuffing them all into Poké Balls, and then ignoring them.

Once again, screw those bastard dogs from the Journeys arc.

"Why am I still not there?!"

Roy swore that once he had the chance, he would catch himself a mount so he would not have to walk himself this tired. But what Ghost-type Pokémon were suitable as mounts?

Spectrier would be pretty good. With a base Speed stat of 130, it should run very fast. But that was Calyrex's mount, and he probably could not beat Calyrex.

Giratina would work too. It was a Legendary Pokémon, and at the very least, it had more presence than Spectrier.

Which one should he choose? This was so hard...

While daydreaming, Roy continued toward Lilycove City.

Fortunately, thanks to the system's enhancements, his stamina was still plentiful.

"You there up ahead, stop!"

He had only just sent off one Bug Catcher, and now someone else was looking for trouble?

Roy turned around.

He saw a policewoman in uniform, with wavy hair and a curvaceous figure, riding atop an Arcanine wreathed in blazing flames.

Was this Officer Jenny?

This was Roy's first time seeing Officer Jenny in this world. In that godforsaken place, Mt. Pyre, forget Officer Jenny—he normally could not even spot a traffic cop.

Whether in the games or anime, the Jenny family and Joy family respectively monopolized the police stations and the healthcare industry of Pokémon Centers in the Pokémon World. They were the true great families of the Pokémon World.

In reality, although the Jenny family was powerful, it had not completely monopolized police stations. Others still held posts within the police force, but Officer Jenny's rank and position tended to be higher.

Roy subconsciously scanned her with the system's identification function.

System Scan

Pokémon: Arcanine

Level: 45 (Gym Leader level)

Gender: Female

Ability: Justified (When hit by a Dark-type move, its Attack rises due to its sense of justice.)

Moves: Tackle, Fire Fang, Flare Blitz, Helping Hand, Crunch, Payback, Agility, Ember, Roar, Bite, Leer, Flame Wheel, Take Down

Held Item: Charcoal

Egg Moves: Double Kick, Double-Edge, Covet

Individual Value: 19

Technical Machines/Move Tutors: Protect, Dig, Endure

Arcanine was already level 45. This was a Gym Leader-level Pokémon.

Not someone he could mess with. Not someone he could mess with. Roy was a law-abiding citizen.

Roy put on what he believed was a sunny smile, obediently stopped, and sensibly handed over his ID Card once Officer Jenny approached.

Officer Jenny accepted the ID Card, but the first thing that caught her eye was the four words "Mt. Pyre" in the address.

She remembered that Mt. Pyre was clearly west of Lilycove City, and that it was a burial ground for dead Pokémon, a place where souls rested.

Especially since the specific address on the ID Card was the summit of Mt. Pyre, rather than one of the villages or towns surrounding it.

Remembering the legends within her family about the mysterious clan on Mt. Pyre, Officer Jenny concluded that the boy before her was probably no ordinary person.

Still, as long as he did not cause trouble, it had nothing to do with her.

More importantly, Roy did not look like a bad person. Stopping him had only been a routine inspection.

After carefully comparing the photo and confirming that he was Roy himself, she returned the ID Card to him and reminded him:

"Poaching gangs in the forest have been extremely active lately. Be careful, both you and your Pokémon. Just keep following this main road ahead, and you'll reach Lilycove City."

After thanking her, Roy watched Officer Jenny mount Arcanine and quickly ride away. The important thing was that the flames on Arcanine's body did not burn Officer Jenny.

Having a mount really was different.

Poaching gangs specialized in catching wild Pokémon in Pokémon habitats or engaging in other illegal activities. Most of them were desperate criminals.

It could be said that they were the predecessors of most Hunter Organization members. Hoenn did not yet have the villainous organizations Team Magma and Team Aqua.