The Missing Vaporeon

Morning.

Heiduo swept away the mist outside the door. Visibility in Azalea Town was strangely low today, perhaps because it had rained last night.

Even stranger, sirens had sounded continuously last night. Could that Mole Poaching Group really have appeared near Azalea Town?

Or perhaps Ursaring Mountain had caught fire last night, and they had summoned a large number of Pokémon capable of Drizzle to put it out, ultimately causing last night's rain and this morning's fog?

Thinking about it that way, Heiduo almost believed it himself.

After all, Azalea Town was a small town that relied entirely on Slowpoke Well for water, which indirectly showed just how little rain Azalea Town received.

In any case, it had little to do with him. The Johto authorities would handle it themselves; it was not his place to meddle.

Counting up the lessons, today was Tuo Nan's last day teaching him. It was not because she was unwilling to teach, but because she had already taught Heiduo nearly everything she could. The rest depended on his own understanding.

Today's lesson was not at Tuo Nan's villa, but at Pokémon School. Bugsy also held a teaching position there, mainly teaching ruin excavation and Bug-type education.

After passing through the main gate and changing his shoes, Heiduo strolled down the corridor.

Perhaps because it had been modeled after Japan's Kansai region, this Pokémon School was extremely similar to a Japanese high school.

The athletic field, outdoor swimming pool, and gymnasium all carried the atmosphere of a Japanese school. There were also quite a few other guests among them.

On a battlefield made of piled sand and dirt, a Hitmontop was battling an Ursaring. Their Trainers were respectively a handsome boy dressed in a karate uniform and a chubby boy.

Ursaring's right hand glowed reddish-brown as it drove down a vicious punch, only for the spinning, top-like Hitmontop to deflect it.

"Attack from below! Hit its head! Use Fake Out!"

The chubby boy shouted, and Ursaring stretched out its red-glowing fist under his encouragement.

"As if! Counter!" the handsome boy immediately yelled. Hitmontop's body glowed brown. After taking Ursaring's Fake Out head-on, it spun at high speed and kicked both Ursaring and the chubby boy flying.

The chubby boy and Ursaring rolled across the ground, crying out in pain.

Heiduo looked away. Pokémon had always been quite fragile and generally could not withstand many moves. Sometimes, they could not even endure the damage from Toxic.

After passing the teaching building, Heiduo arrived at the arts building. He went up to the third floor, pushed open the glass door, and followed the soft mats on the floor inside.

In the innermost room, a mature woman with her long hair tied up and a graceful figure sat in the center, surrounded by three people of varying ages.

"Heiduo!" Tuo Nan greeted him with a smile. "Come sit down! There are still students who haven't arrived yet!"

"Good morning, Teacher Tuo Nan," Heiduo said respectfully.

He sat beside the three of them. They each greeted Heiduo, and he nodded back.

"Heiduo! Did you hear? Ursaring Mountain almost had half of it burned down yesterday!" said the only boy among the three.

Beside him stood a strange creature that looked both like a cycad and a coconut tree, with faces growing on its fruits.

Heiduo looked at the level thirty-five Exeggutor, then casually shifted his gaze away. "What happened? I went to sleep fairly early yesterday. I only heard the sirens..."

A girl sitting in front of the boy turned around. "You slept that early? Your schedule is really healthy. That wildfire lit up half the sky! I heard it could even be seen from Route 34!"

Unlike the tiny map in the games, where it only took five minutes to run across the entire region, Route 34 in the real world was at least dozens of kilometers away from Ursaring Mountain.

"I heard it was man-made!" Another girl joined the conversation. Tuo Nan glanced at Heiduo and the others but did not stop them.

There were no forbidden words in this world.

Man-made? Who was bold enough to do that? Arson in the mountains would land someone behind bars!

A fire on the mountain, a police station below!

A wisp of smoke on the mountain, eight thousand in fines behind bars!

A fire on the mountain, and I'm in prison!

In an instant, countless sayings flashed through Heiduo's mind, all emphasizing the severity of arson.

"Did they catch the culprit?" Heiduo asked.

The girl shook her head. "No. I heard the Police are still searching the mountain for them. I don't think the chances of catching them are very high."

The four of them chatted for a while longer, until all the students had arrived in the room.

Tuo Nan began the lesson.

Without exception, everyone present was interested in becoming a Breeder, so they often arrived at school one or two hours early just to attend Tuo Nan's massage class.

An hour later, most of the students left for their first class of the day, leaving only Heiduo in the spacious classroom.

That made it convenient for Heiduo to let his four little guys out.

"You really don't plan to study at Pokémon School? You would definitely become an outstanding student!" Tuo Nan brought up the matter again. Talented people were always more favored.

Though Heiduo's talent came from cheating.

"No, Teacher Tuo Nan. Thank you very much for the invitation, but I have my own plans." Heiduo refused again. He would ultimately focus on being a Trainer, with Breeding as a secondary profession. He could not afford to let his fighting ability decline.

Seeing that she could not persuade Heiduo, Tuo Nan smiled and stopped discussing the matter, continuing to teach him Pokémon massage techniques.

Unlike Chinese massage, which emphasized acupoints and force, Pokémon massage mainly targeted muscle groups. Generally speaking, Pokémon of the same species had roughly the same sensitive areas, though a very small number might have different sensitive points due to significant bodily variations.

Massage techniques included rubbing, kneading, rolling, tapping, pressing, and pulling. Among them, tapping and pulling were the most difficult, as both required extremely precise control of force. Even the slightest excess or deficiency would not do.

But for Heiduo, whose control over his body was exceptionally strong, those were all easy.

The only thing giving Heiduo a headache was the ointment that had to be applied to Pokémon during massages. Different types of Pokémon required different materials, and some of those materials were extremely rare. The preparation process was also slow, greatly delaying Heiduo's progress.

And draining his wallet.

Besides Pokémon massage, Heiduo also asked Tuo Nan about diet. Tuo Nan pointed out many mistakes in his choice of ingredients and even gave him a sample meal plan for free.

Pokémon training was nothing more than a few things—daily training, diet, recovery after training, observing and mastering techniques, and so on.

They were the most basic things, and none could be neglected.

At eight-thirty in the morning, Heiduo's week-long Pokémon course came to an end. There was still much he wanted to learn, but his financial pressure could only support him up to this point.

Tuo Nan had said that if he enrolled, she could teach him for free.

But there was no need to continue revisiting that old topic. If Heiduo's time had not been so tight, perhaps he might have agreed.

Just as he said goodbye and thanked Tuo Nan, an anxious voice burst in from outside.

"Mom! Mom! Vaporeon is gone!"

The newcomer was Tuo Nan's daughter, Elena, a twelve-year-old genius Breeder and Coordinator Trainer. Her Vaporeon had once won four Cute Ribbons.

At this moment, this genius young lady, who could jokingly be called the neighbor's kid and a once-in-a-century talent, was filled with panic and at a complete loss.

Behind her stood a weathered middle-aged man in work clothes.

Tuo Nan froze, then embraced Elena as she threw herself into her arms. "What happened? Slow down and tell me."

Elena choked back sobs, her words broken and incoherent as she cried.

Tuo Nan's husband sighed. "This morning, Elena took Vaporeon to play on the hill behind Kurt's house. While Elena went to get water, someone took Vaporeon away."

"Someone took it?" Tuo Nan cried out. "What exactly happened? Did you tell Officer Jenny?"

The more difficult the situation, the more one needed to stay calm. It seemed this genius young lady's mental fortitude was lacking.

That was what Heiduo thought, before mocking himself for his hypocrisy. When a problem had not happened to oneself, everyone thought they could handle it better than others.

But in reality? They might very well panic even more.

"It was a Pokémon thief! Officer Jenny said that based on the surveillance footage, the suspect should have entered the mountain! She said she would notify the mountain patrols and told us to wait patiently!" Tuo Nan's husband said solemnly. Ursaring Mountain was currently heavily sealed off by the Police, who were searching the entire area for the criminal suspect. Who would dare go up the mountain now? Only someone tired of living!

That also meant they could not enter the mountain to search.

Tuo Nan took a deep breath. The situation was more complicated than she had imagined. They definitely could not go up the mountain now. They could only hope the Police would coordinate with one another and intercept the person who had stolen the Pokémon.

But they absolutely could not sit around and wait!

"I'll mobilize my friends and have them search for that person's trail at the foot of the mountain! But don't act alone, understand, Elena? Stay calm! Ursaring Mountain isn't large! He can't escape!" Tuo Nan comforted Elena and asked her husband to seek help from their friends.

As long as that person wanted to sell the stolen goods, he would have to come down the mountain eventually. Then they could intercept him!

This was when the importance of connections became apparent.

Watching from the side, Heiduo felt that he should lend a hand. He had accepted so many favors from her; it would be unreasonable not to help.

"Teacher Tuo Nan, I'll help too! I'll search at the foot of Ursaring Mountain. I won't go up the mountain!" Heiduo did not give Tuo Nan a chance to refuse and turned to leave the classroom. Since the thief had stolen rather than robbed, it meant his strength could not be very high. Besides, a truly powerful Trainer would not stoop so low as to steal Pokémon.

With his physical abilities, subduing a thief should not be difficult.

Tuo Nan felt somewhat gratified. Was this not what she had hoped for by putting so much effort into helping others? Usually, when you helped people, they would take the initiative to help you when you faced difficulties.

Except for ungrateful wretches. No matter how well you treated that kind of person, it was useless.