"Spheal?" Heath recognized the Pokémon: Spheal, a Water- and Ice-type. Its cute appearance made it fairly popular, but why was there a Spheal here? Heath was a little confused. After all, this was Petalburg Woods, where Grass- and Bug-type Pokémon were the most common. He had just heard plenty of Grass-type Pokémon talking, though their remarks were all brief, things like "Have you eaten?" "Find food," "Hungry," and "Run." Still, that proved how many Grass-type Pokémon there were here, and Spheal was a Water-type Pokémon that was rather afraid of Grass types. In theory, it should not have appeared in a place like this.
Although Spheal was also an Ice-type Pokémon, it was still weak to Grass. And while some Grass-type Pokémon were herbivores, others ate meat. If this little one died in Petalburg Woods, Heath thought it would soon vanish without a trace. Even Beedrill ate meat, after all. This was practically a horror story.
"It really is a Spheal. And it's hurt, badly." Cynthia came over too, crouching down to examine the Spheal. She quickly assessed its injuries, and her expression darkened. There were many wounds on its body, most of them scratches. She wondered whether it had run into someone who abused Pokémon.
Although the League prohibited Pokémon abuse, there were always people who brazenly broke the law, so cases still came to light from time to time. As Champion, Cynthia knew even more about the world's dark side. She had seen people the League had dealt with in secret. Those people had even created a dedicated group where they shared videos of themselves abusing Pokémon and made money from it. When Cynthia saw that, she had wanted to hit them with a Giga Impact and put them down on the spot.
Cynthia could also understand the