The End of the Argument

"Good job!"

Crystal praised the little girl, who shyly rubbed the hem of her clothes.

Meanwhile.

"What's going on with you people?" Falkner asked Heiduo and Jian Zhilang's wife with a stern expression.

The moment Jian Zhilang and his wife saw Falkner, they put on entirely different faces and reined in their aggressive expressions.

Jian Zhilang hurriedly said, "Officer! That little girl ordered her Elekid to attack my son! My son's Teddiursa was devoted to protecting its master and took the attack for him. Now it's unconscious in the hospital! You have to uphold justice for us!"

Twisting black into white, spouting lies, and confusing right with wrong—nothing could describe them better.

Falkner raised an eyebrow and asked Crystal, "Did that happen?"

"No!" Crystal shook her head firmly.

Jian Zhilang hastily argued, "Officer, you can't listen to just her side! This little girl is full of lies. Clearly, it was her Elekid—"

Before he could finish, Heiduo silently recalled Elekid with a Poké Ball.

"Sorry, Elekid is my Pokémon." Heiduo flashed a mouthful of gleaming white teeth, his expression teasing.

Jian Zhilang: "..."

His expression instantly turned as ugly as though he had eaten a pile of shit.

"...So it's your Pokémon. No wonder you came out here to meddle in other people's business!" Jian Zhilang glared at Heiduo through gritted teeth, looking as if he wanted to eat him alive.

Pointing at Heiduo, he shouted at Falkner, "Officer! His Elekid ambushed my son!"

"Whose was it, exactly?" Falkner frowned and said sternly, "You'd better think this through! Spouting nonsense and casually slandering others is against the law!"

At the words slander and against the law, Jian Zhilang's face darkened, but he still insisted, "It was him! His Elekid attacked my son!"

"Fine!" Falkner nodded. Before Jian Zhilang could rejoice, he turned to Heiduo. "What's your side of the story?"

"You should ask Crystal about this. She's the person involved. I only stepped in because these two were ganging up on Crystal, and I couldn't stand watching it." Heiduo shrugged and handed the initiative over to Crystal.

He had figured it out. Falkner knew Crystal, and they seemed pretty close?

"Officer..." Jian Zhilang sensed that something was wrong too. He had just wanted to interrupt when Falkner gave him a cold glance, silencing him.

"Crystal, you tell me!" Falkner tipped his chin toward Crystal.

Crystal hurriedly said, "This is what happened. Their son and those two people came to me and wanted to have a Pokémon battle, with Arcanine as the wager. I refused, and that person used Teddiursa to attack my Smoochum. Then Teddiursa was sent flying by Elekid. After that, they came to me and said Teddiursa's medical fees were one hundred thousand, and they wanted me to pay!"

She briefly explained the cause of the matter to Falkner without exaggerating anything.

But Jian Zhilang and his wife's expressions changed again and again.

"Officer! She's lying! That's only her side of the story! She has no evidence!" Jian Zhilang and his wife hurriedly refuted her. If Falkner believed Crystal, they would be finished.

"Then do you have evidence that Elekid took the initiative to attack your son?" Crystal snapped at Jian Zhilang and his wife.

Jian Zhilang and his wife brought over their son's companions.

The two little boys lowered their heads without saying a word, their bodies trembling slightly. They were clearly terrified.

Jian Zhilang said, "They can testify! They—"

Woo-woo!

A loud police siren rapidly approached from the distance, followed by a gust of wind that swept toward everyone present.

It was Arcanine. A worried-looking woman rode on its back as it stopped beside them.

"Crystal!"

The woman jumped down from Arcanine and hurried toward Crystal.

"Are you alright, Crystal?" The woman carefully looked Crystal over from head to toe. Once she confirmed that Crystal had not been bullied, she breathed a sigh of relief.

At the same time, a police car stopped at the entrance to the Trainer School.

Officer Jenny arrived beside the group with a Growlithe and several officers.

The growing number of people made Jian Zhilang and his wife's faces go pale.

Wasn't this supposed to be some poor school? Why had the police arrived so quickly?

And judging from this situation... she had connections above her!

"Don't say anything else. Whatever it is—mediation, compensation, whatever—go to the station first." Falkner stopped Jian Zhilang and his wife from speaking and half-escorted, half-forced them into the police car.

That included the little boys.

Crystal and her mother got into the car together, but when Heiduo wanted to get in too, Falkner stopped him.

"You don't need to come along. Besides, there isn't enough room in the car." Falkner patted the six-seat police car. If officers did not need to drive Jian Zhilang and his wife's car, it would have been even more crowded.

"My Elekid is involved... the Pokémon involved. Doesn't it need to come?" Heiduo was slightly stunned. Didn't the police take away everyone involved in a case? At the very least, they should take a statement.

Falkner said impatiently, "No, no. Cases like this always end with insufficient evidence and a settlement between both parties. It makes no difference whether you go or not. Even if they get something out of questioning them, they won't file a case because those involved are too young."

So that was it! The Pokémon League's laws had their shortcomings too!

Heiduo understood. Without evidence, Crystal could not prove that Jian Zhilang and his wife had tried to extort her. The matter could only be brushed aside and return to square one.

Well... whatever. He hadn't come to the Pokémon world to study law.

"Big brother!"

Just as Heiduo was about to turn and leave, Crystal called out to him.

"What is it?" Heiduo asked curiously.

Crystal pressed her lips together and said, "Elekid got into trouble because it was helping me. I hope you won't blame it!"

"...Blame it? Of course not. Don't worry." Heiduo waved his hand. If standing up for justice got someone blamed, that would be far too disheartening.

Violet City Pokémon Center.

"Your Pokémon are all very healthy and don't require any treatment." Joy returned four Poké Balls to Heiduo.

Pokémon were naturally strong and recovered quickly, but regular checkups were still essential.

Keeping track of a Pokémon's condition at all times—that was the bare minimum quality required of a Breeder.

"Thank you! Joy, does Violet City have a library?" Heiduo clipped the Poké Balls to his belt and asked Joy.

Joy thought for a moment. "If you're asking about a particularly large library... I remember there being one inside Sprout Tower, but they generally don't open it to visitors."

She gave him an apologetic smile to show that she could not help.

Visitors prohibited? Was it some kind of scripture repository?

Helpless, Heiduo took his room keycard and rode the elevator upstairs.

The sky outside had long since turned dusky. It would probably be dark before long.

It was time to make dinner.

Heiduo had started making his own dinners two days ago. He could cook in his previous life, so as long as he knew how to use the seasonings and ingredients, making Pokémon food or the cuisine of this world was no difficult task.

Perhaps because its prototype was Japan, the Pokémon world had few seasonings, and most ingredients retained their original flavors. Fortunately, the Pokémon world paid great attention to environmental protection, so those original flavors had a unique appeal instead.

Fourth floor, Room 301.

Heiduo opened the door. It was a simple one-bedroom apartment with its own bathroom and small kitchen. Heiduo had left the door open for Shuangye.

The Pokémon Center only had shared rooms, not single rooms. Unless there were enough vacant rooms, Joy would generally arrange for guests to share with others.

There was no need to worry about having your possessions stolen. The lodging registrations at Joy's were connected to a network, containing everything from your own information to your parents' information.

As for sharing a room with the opposite sex... Heiduo had asked Shuangye about it, but the girl had ignored him completely. Since that was the case, Heiduo took it as her agreement.

He released Elekid from its Poké Ball.

"Beep!"

Elekid jumped onto the floor. It looked up at Heiduo, then lowered its head, too afraid to speak.

Seeing how frightened it looked, Heiduo smiled and patted its head. "Alright. You didn't listen to me, but you weren't wrong about what you did. Standing up for justice deserves praise!"

Standing up for justice?

Elekid did not understand the idiom, but Heiduo's smile put it at ease. Its arms spun like little tops.

"Beep!"

A smile appeared on its face once more.

In truth, it did not know why it had acted either. When it saw Teddiursa launch that sneak attack, it had instinctively used Quick Attack.

After all, it hated sneak attacks most. If you were a man, you should fight head-on!

Now it seemed that it had done the right thing?

"But! The fact remains that you didn't listen to me!" Heiduo's tone changed as he became serious.

Elekid's heart skipped a beat.

Heiduo looked down at it. "Originally, I planned to make pancakes tonight. Yes, your favorite Resin Pancakes. But you didn't listen, so there won't be any."

If there was one thing Elekid hated most, it was math. If there was one thing it loved most, it was those three jars of resin—well, one jar.

Elekid had helped, so Heiduo decided it could have one jar all to itself out of the three, while the remaining two would be shared by the others.

Among Heiduo's team, both Gible and Elekid liked sweets, but Elekid alone was obsessed with sweets to the point of madness.

Losing the resin that was already within its grasp was the greatest punishment for it.

"Bee..."

Elekid instantly froze, then its expression turned bleak.

Heiduo said unhurriedly, "However, considering that you helped someone weaker and stood up for justice, I've decided to reward you with two Resin Pancakes!"

Children needed both rewards and punishments. Pure encouragement would lead to arrogance and complacency. Pure blame would make them feel inferior and afraid to take responsibility in the future.

Sure enough, upon hearing that it would be rewarded with two portions, Elekid instantly regained its energetic state.

Pokémon were such simple creatures. They were like human children who were still blank sheets of paper; what they became depended entirely on what colors you painted onto them.