For now, Ash could only try to find out what they wanted. "Is there something you need?"
After all, he had already given up on becoming the reigning champion. Surely they weren't here to make trouble over that.
"Heh, pretty cocky, aren't you? You embarrassed our boss at the arena today. We're not letting that slide," the burly Shamate thug leading the group declared self-righteously.
He said it without a hint of shame. Clearly, this wasn't the first time he had pulled something like this.
And how had they managed to block his path here so conveniently? It seemed that referee had set him up.
That made sense. Without an insider keeping him informed, how could a thug like Hao Sheng throw his weight around the club without anyone putting him in his place?
Once he connected the dots, everything made perfect sense.
Naturally, the alley outside this back door had no troublesome security cameras, either. It was the perfect place for a crime.
"What exactly do you want?" Ash asked grimly.
"Hand over all your prize money, then release your Pokémon so our boss can catch them himself," the thug demanded outrageously.
Ash's heart sank as he instantly realized what they were after.
Applin might not be very strong yet, but it was still a Dragon-type Pokémon from Western Europe.
In a country that revered Dragon-type Pokémon, that alone made it extremely valuable. To think they were actually planning to rob him outright!
In this world, Poké Balls were linked to official servers. Stealing a Poké Ball with a Pokémon inside would normally be flagged as illegal, and GPS satellites would be used to track down and arrest the criminal.
The release mechanism on a Poké Ball was also linked to the Pokémon Trainer's account and fingerprint when they