"Gren..." Greninja sent out an aura signal.
Lin Hao reached out and pried Greninja's claws loose. "Don't grab my clothes." He patted the hem of his jacket. "I bought this on sale. You can't afford to replace it if you tear it."
May walked over. "Do you have any compassion at all?" she couldn't help shouting. "It's asking you for help!"
"If you need help, find the League's Officer Jenny." Lin Hao yawned. "I'm just an ordinary guy. I don't meddle."
Inside system space.
Mewtwo spoke. "Master, I've read its memories."
"Get to the point," Lin Hao said inwardly. "Any more than three sentences and I'm tuning out."
"It used to have a trainer who was a Senior Investigator," Mewtwo said quickly. "The Investigator uncovered Team Rocket's secrets and was surrounded by their forces. He shoved the confidential files into Greninja's hands and told it to escape, then died on the spot."
Lin Hao fell silent. "That's everything in its memories," Mewtwo said.
What year is this? Lin Hao grumbled inwardly. They're still using this clichéd protagonist script. Can't they come up with something new?
"Do you need me to wipe out all of Team Rocket in Kanto?" Mewtwo asked.
"No," Lin Hao replied. "Stay right where you are."
Back in the real world, Lin Hao crouched, unzipped his backpack, and took out a bottle of Full Restore. "Lucky you." He pressed the spray nozzle, spraying the medicine onto Greninja's wounds.
Greninja shuddered. Its wounds healed rapidly, and its strength quickly returned. It sat up, looked at Lin Hao, then looked at the black hard drive in its hands.
"Gren!" Greninja held the hard drive out to Lin Hao with both hands.
"Take it away." Lin Hao stepped back. "Don't give it to me. I don't want to get dragged into trouble."
Greninja stood there, at a loss. May snatched the hard drive. "If you won't take it, I will!" She glared at Lin Hao. "This is crucial evidence! Its trainer paid for it with his life!"
"Then hold on to it." Lin Hao stood up. "This is work for you Investigators. It has nothing to do with me."
Pikachu jumped down from Lin Hao's shoulder, walked up to Greninja, and pulled half a crushed Seaweed Cracker from its little pouch.
"Pika." Pikachu offered the cracker to Greninja.
Greninja looked at the half cracker, then at Pikachu. "Gren." It took the cracker and put it in its mouth, then lowered its head and wiped the corner of its eye.
"Don't cry." Lin Hao turned his head. "Water-type Pokémon crying is my worst nightmare. Your tears will get my shoes wet."
May looked at Lin Hao. "You're all talk. You saved it, but you still pretend you don't care."
"I just didn't want it dying in front of me. Bad luck." Lin Hao spread his hands.
Greninja stood up, walked over to Lin Hao, and gave him a deep bow.
"All right, all right." Lin Hao waved a hand. "You can come with me from now on. I can't promise much else, but food and a place to stay won't be a problem."
"Gren!" Greninja nodded vigorously.
Lin Hao took out an empty Poké Ball. Greninja touched the button of its own accord, and a red light flashed as it was drawn inside.
"Ding." The Poké Ball clicked shut.
Inside system space, Groudon spoke. "Another mouth fighting us for food."
Ho-Oh spoke. "Master's team keeps getting bigger. When can we go out for a stroll?"
"The day I die," Lin Hao answered inwardly as he clipped Greninja's Poké Ball to his belt.
"Where to now?" May asked.
"Downtown Fuchsia City." Lin Hao rubbed his stomach. "Let's find somewhere to get breakfast. I'm starving."
They followed the coastline toward the city center. Half an hour later, they arrived at a fast-food restaurant in Fuchsia City.
Lin Hao ordered a tableful of burgers and fries. Pikachu sat on the table, wolfing down food too.
May sat across from him with her burger untouched. She connected the black hard drive to her portable minicomputer.
Her fingers flew across the keyboard, and a string of garbled characters appeared on the screen. "The encryption is pretty advanced." May frowned.
"Take your time cracking it." Lin Hao sipped his cola. "Just don't interrupt my meal."
May took out a decryption device and plugged it into the computer. The progress bar began inching forward.
Ten minutes later, the computer chimed. "Ding." The password had been forcibly cracked, and a detailed dossier appeared on the screen.
May leaned toward the screen. After just one glance, she shot to her feet, knocking over the cup beside her and spilling water across the table.
"What are you doing?" Lin Hao hurriedly moved his fries out of the way. "Wasting food is shameful."
May ignored him, staring at the screen. "Lin Hao..." She turned to look at him.
"Shut up," Lin Hao cut her off. "I'm not listening, I'm not listening, I'm not listening!"
"You have to listen!" May said loudly. "The safety of the whole region is at stake!"
"What's that got to do with me?" Lin Hao picked up another burger. "I'm an ordinary guy. If the sky falls, you Champions can hold it up."
"Team Rocket is creating a god!" May shouted.
Lin Hao stopped. "Creating a god? What kind of god?"
"The file says they extracted rare genes and are planning to create an unstoppable artificial Pokémon." May quickly read the words on the screen. "Codename: Mewtwo Project."
"Oh, Mewtwo." Lin Hao took a bite of his burger.
"How did you know that codename?" May froze.
"Lucky guess." Lin Hao chewed his burger.
Inside system space, Mewtwo spoke. "Master, they're creating me."
"I heard," Lin Hao replied.
"Does that count as infringement?" Mewtwo asked.
"Yes," Lin Hao said. "Make them pay royalties next time we see them."
Back in the real world, May paced endlessly beside the table. "Lin Hao, we have to deliver this to League headquarters immediately!"
"Let's finish eating first," Lin Hao said.
"How can you still be eating at a time like this?" May shouted.
Lin Hao picked up a box of chicken nuggets and opened it. "How am I supposed to have the energy to walk if I don't eat enough? Besides, even if you run out now, do you think Team Rocket won't come after you?"
May froze.
"The moment you cracked that hard drive, Team Rocket must have received a signal." Lin Hao popped a piece of chicken into his mouth.
May's fingertips trembled. "Then what do we do?"
"Eat. Hurry." Lin Hao pushed the remaining half box of nuggets toward her. "You'll need a full stomach to have the energy to run."
"Eat, eat, eat! That's all you ever think about!" May sat down. "Team Rocket will be here to kill us any minute!"
"We'll deal with them when they get here." Lin Hao took a long gulp of cola.
Before you continue