The walk from Twinleaf Town to Sandgem Town should have taken only two days, but Chen Yan's constant photography along the way had stretched it into five.
Over those five days, he had captured some shots he was very pleased with. Once he reached Sandgem Town, he planned to find somewhere to develop the photos, put them into an album, and mail it home to Grandmother.
Chen Yan had already decided to make a separate album for each type.
Since the route between Twinleaf Town and Sandgem Town was mostly populated by common early-route bugs and other Bug-type Pokémon, most of his material featured those Pokémon.
As for the other subjects he had photographed, he planned to wait until he had enough before sending them home to Grandmother.
There were videos, too. After Chen Yan had taught her, Grandmother had learned to use electronics, so he intended to edit his footage and send it back to her.
Beautiful as photos were, capturing and preserving something's finest moment, they could not give you the feeling of being there.
Videos could. Watching the footage unfold frame by frame let you see a Pokémon's entire life-for instance, the Wurmple Chen Yan had spent three whole days filming as it evolved into Silcoon, then into Beautifly.
Although Bug-type Pokémon developed quickly and easily reached their final evolution, seeing a Wurmple evolve into Beautifly in just three days was still exceedingly rare.
Chen Yan was incredibly glad he had seized that opportunity.
Chen Yan snapped the dry branch in front of him by hand, checked the navigation on his Rotom Phone, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Great news, Gengar. We'll reach Sandgem Town soon! We can finally have a proper meal, take a good bath, and get some sleep."
When buying supplies, Chen Yan had never considered that he might take longer than expected to reach Sandgem Town, much less that both his and Gengar's appetites would grow.
They had run out of food on the third day. For the remaining two days, they had barely survived on Gengar begging for food, picking Berries, and fishing.
"Gengaar-"
I want good food. Lots of it...
Gengar looked just as listless, floating beside Chen Yan with the backpack on and slumping all over.
Although Gengar was better suited to wilderness life than Chen Yan, food out here really was nowhere near as tasty as food in human society.
Weedle had had the easiest time of all. There were still plenty of the leaves Chen Yan had won in the draw, and Weedle had been eating wonderfully these past few days. In that short time, its build had grown a little sturdier.
"Let's go. We're heading straight in for something good to eat."
Chen Yan put away his Rotom Phone and walked forward.
It was worth mentioning that the Rotom Phone Chen Yan was using was the one the rich guy had mailed him. He had discovered by chance that it worked much like an ordinary phone, except it had an AI assistant and could fly. It was extremely convenient.
While climbing a slope, Chen Yan heard Aipom cries nearby. He climbed to the top and looked around for a while, spotting an Ambipom standing in a tree, rummaging through a bag as sheets of paper drifted around it.
Chen Yan walked over, picked up a sheet, and took a look. It was part of a Pokémon research report. He looked up at the briefcase in Ambipom's hands. That had to belong to a human.
Had someone nearby passed out, leaving it for Ambipom to find? Or had it stolen it?
"Ambipom," Chen Yan called out.
Ambipom looked down at Chen Yan, scratching its head with one of its hand-shaped tails as it regarded him in confusion.
"Amba?"
Are you calling me?
"Yes, I'm calling you, not your mother."
Ambipom: ???
"Never mind that. Can you tell me where you got that bag?"
Ambipom's eyes darted around before it shook its head.
"Amba."
I'm not telling you.
Then it even wiggled its backside at Chen Yan.
"If you don't tell me, I might give you a beating."
"Amba!"
A fight? Bring it on!
Both tails behind Ambipom raised their middle fingers and curled them at him, making the provocation unmistakable.
Chen Yan took a deep breath. That was beyond anyone's tolerance!
"Weedle, String Shot!"
An extremely dense stream of silk shot toward Ambipom. It blocked with its two tails, but the silk instantly wrapped around them on contact.
Looking at the Weedle lying beside Chen Yan, Ambipom felt nothing but contempt.
It's just a Weedle. I can easily yank it up and throw it... away...
Throw it away...
No matter how hard Ambipom tried, it could not budge Weedle an inch.
Ambipom: ???
It tried to snap the silk, only to find it incredibly tough. It would not break at all.
"Pull it down."
Weedle threw its head back hard, trying to pull Ambipom toward it.
Ambipom began pulling back with all its strength, too.
The two Pokémon entered a tug-of-war.
Whoosh!
In the end, Ambipom lost. Weedle yanked it straight out of the tree, sending it crashing face-first into the ground.
Gengar seized the chance to hook the briefcase over with a thin bamboo cane.
"Gengaar-"
It's mine now.
Ambipom: You bandit! Give it back!
"Gengar."
Go ask around! What kind of Pokémon do you think I, the great Lord Gengar, am? What comes in never goes back out. You want me to return it? Fine. Beat my swordsmanship, and I'll give it back.
Ambipom looked at Gengar's thin bamboo cane pressed against its neck, then sneaked a glance at the Shadow Ball swirling in the palm Gengar held behind its back. It promptly shook its head.
"Amba..."
I don't want it anymore. You can have it.
"Gengaar-"
Spineless.
"Oh, please. Stealing a briefcase makes it yours? Shameless."
After inspecting the briefcase, Chen Yan found no dirt on it, ruling out the possibility that Ambipom had picked it up after someone collapsed. That left only one explanation: it had stolen it.
Pokémon like Aipom and Ambipom were fond of pranks. Ash's Aipom, for instance, had been caught after stealing his hat.
Though he had later traded it to Dawn.
Unfortunately for this one, it had run into the king of pranksters. Chen Yan picked up all the research papers scattered nearby, stuffed them back into the briefcase, and turned to Gengar.
"Gengar, let it go. Let's search nearby and see whose briefcase was stolen."
"Gengar."
Fine. I'll let you off this time. Be a good Pokémon from now on, and try to become an upright, kindhearted Pokémon like me.
Ambipom hurriedly clutched its sore spots, scrambled up the tree, and fled.
Never in its life had it met such a shameless Pokémon.
Gengar had asked whether it thought Gengar's swordsmanship was impressive.
When it said yes, Gengar had said they had never fought, so how could it know? Then Gengar had whacked it several times with the bamboo cane for being dishonest.
After that, Gengar had asked again. This time, it said no, only for Gengar to accuse it of looking down on Gengar and hit it even harder.
Gengar had clearly just wanted to beat it up!
Gengar floated back to Chen Yan's side. Chen Yan glanced at Gengar and asked, "Were you bullying it again?"
"Gengaar-"
Of course not. I only asked it a question.
"All right. Anyway, Weedle, you did really well today. You actually pulled that Aipom down. You're even stronger than it! Great job. You get ten extra leaves today."
"Weedle!"
Hooray!
Simple and short. Just one word.
Chen Yan glared at Gengar. This is all your fault. You've made my Weedle so cold.
Gengar discreetly retreated to Weedle's side and asked in a whisper:
"Gengar?"
How did you pull it down?
"Weedle."
I eat a lot, so I'm strong.
"Gengaar-"
Then you can tell yourself stories tonight.
"Weedle."
I tied myself to a rock with silk beforehand. I only pulled it down after it had exhausted its strength.
"Gengar!"
Well done. A true martial arts master should be full of wisdom (cunning and treachery) and use that wisdom to win.
Weedle nodded earnestly, wholeheartedly agreeing.
Chen Yan glanced back at the two Pokémon whispering together and rolled his eyes.
He did not even need to listen to know Gengar was cooking up another dirty trick.
They certainly lived up to being Poison-type Pokémon.
They were practically the low mountains and stinking waters duo.
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