-062- Sneezy Bear and Blue (1/3)

Wandering endlessly through the Verdant Leaf Forest, Tong Si searched for a long time but still could not find the Zongxu Gang’s truck.

“Those guys sure move fast! But by now, the investigators in the forest must have already sprung into action,” he muttered to himself.

Jiang Tao and the others had parted ways with Tong Si some time ago. According to his plan, they should have reached the entrance by now and informed the staff about the Zongxu Gang’s presence in the forest. The staff would then immediately notify all the investigators scattered throughout the woods, urging them to move at once.

Tong Si checked the time. Although his phone had no signal, he could still see the clock. It was around four in the afternoon; even if the time was a little off, the difference wouldn’t be much. In another two hours, night would begin to fall. If he still couldn’t find any trace of the Zongxu Gang by then, he would have to camp in the forest for the night.

Just then, he heard the sounds of a Pokémon battle. Following the noise, Tong Si hurried forward. Pushing through a thicket, he found two trainers locked in combat.

Sitting upright on a fallen log, Tong Si watched their battle with keen interest. The trainer to the left was using a Sneeze Bear, while the one on the right commanded a Snubbull. The match was rather clumsy—neither Pokémon seemed very experienced—but both trainers were in high spirits.

Tong Si noticed that, despite the absence of a referee, there was a Poké Ball placed beside a tree. “They must be battling for that Poké Ball,” Tong Si surmised. There was likely a Pokémon inside that both trainers desired.

Such things happened often in Verdant Leaf Forest. It was not uncommon for two people to lay eyes on the same Pokémon and then fight for the right to capture it.

“Who’s there?!” Suddenly, one of the trainers shouted in Tong Si’s direction. Apparently, Tong Si had accidentally made a noise, and the trainer had caught it.

Tong Si had no choice but to stand up and step out from behind the tree.

“Who are you?” the first trainer asked sharply.

“That’s Tong Si, you idiot! Don’t you recognize Jiahua City’s Best Rookie?” the trainer on the right exclaimed with a hint of annoyance.

“Tong Si? The name rings a bell.”

Hearing their exchange, Tong Si realized that not every rookie trainer paid attention to or participated in the Rookie King tournament. It seemed there were still quite a few who didn’t know him.

“Carry on. I’m just passing through,” Tong Si said, waving his hand, not wanting to get involved in their quarrel.

“Wait! Tong Si! Be our referee! We’re battling for a Pinsir!” the trainer who recognized him called out, eager for Tong Si to officiate their match.

“Pinsir? You mean the Pokémon in that Poké Ball?” Tong Si asked, pointing at the ball on the ground.

“No,” they both replied, shaking their heads.

They went on to explain what had happened since they entered the forest. They had arrived together and, along the way, encountered a Pinsir with tremendous grip strength. Both wanted to catch it, but neither was a match for the creature. So, they agreed to battle each other; the winner would have the right to capture the Pinsir, and the loser would have to assist.

Upon hearing this, Tong Si couldn’t help but cover his forehead. These two were quite the pair. But where was the Pinsir now? He hadn’t seen it at all. He had assumed they’d already caught it and were now fighting over its ownership. But as it turned out, they hadn’t even caught the Pokémon yet, and were already brawling? Ridiculous!

“Look, I think you two ought to join forces and catch the Pinsir first. Then you can fight over it,” Tong Si advised.

If he let them continue battling here, they’d probably go at it until nightfall. Their skills were evenly matched—neither could gain the upper hand. Meanwhile, the true culprit, the Pinsir, was long gone.

What was the point even if one of them won? The Pinsir would be nowhere to be found. Wasn’t the most important thing right now to track down the Pinsir?

After Tong Si’s words, both trainers came to their senses. Of course, they should chase after the Pinsir first.

Tong Si couldn’t help but question their intelligence.

“Tong Si, would you be willing to help us?”

After some conversation, Tong Si learned their names: the trainer with the Sneeze Bear was Qi Bingyuan, and the one with the Snubbull was Wei Nansi. Both were rookie trainers from Jiahua City, and both came from families of means.

Sneeze Bear mainly lived in the far north; you’d never see such a Pokémon in ordinary places. If a beginner wanted a Sneeze Bear, they’d have to pay a high price to import one from the Arctic. As for Snubbull, it was typically a pet of the wealthy; while not especially powerful in battle, its price was always steep.

Scanning their Pokémon with his lens, Tong Si found both had premium potential—no less than several hundred thousand in value.

“I can help, but I have some matters to attend to, so I can’t promise I’ll be much use,” Tong Si replied, still preoccupied with tracking the Zongxu Gang. He didn’t want them running amok. Even if the investigators were probably already on their trail, Tong Si still wanted to do his part.

Ah, that troublesome sense of justice!

“No problem! If you help us, we’ll reward you!” Wei Nansi promised.

“I will too,” Qi Bingyuan chimed in, producing from his bag a blue stone engraved with a snowflake pattern—a rare Ice Stone.

Tong Si’s eyes lit up at the sight. If he wanted his Eevee to evolve into Glaceon, he could either level it up in the snowy far north or use an Ice Stone. Though no paper on Eevee’s Ice Stone evolution had yet been published in this world, Tong Si knew it was possible.

Just as Leafeon didn’t have to evolve only in the mossy boulders of Verdant Leaf Forest—a Leaf Stone would suffice as well. However, Leaf Stones and Ice Stones were much rarer than the more common evolutionary stones, making them much harder to obtain. Ordinary clubs or shops didn’t sell them; they could only be exchanged at the Pokémon Association’s reward center.

That was why so many trainers took association missions to earn points. The items at the reward center were not for sale with League coins!

…(To be continued)