Terrance tapped the Poké Ball lightly with his hand, signaling Carbink not to worry.
Sensing the commotion outside, Carbink became aware of Terrance's conversation with Master Wikstrom and the others, and began to worry about its companions.
Taking Carbink's feelings into account, Terrance fell silent.
During the time he trained the other Carbink, he had learned about this one's past. At the very beginning, this Carbink hadn't been part of that group; it had only joined later.
The Carbink that Terrance had captured had once experienced its habitat being eradicated by poachers. As the sole survivor that managed to escape, it was no surprise that it developed such a strong sense of vigilance. Even now, toward anyone who sought to harm its companions, this Carbink still harbored deep hostility.
If Terrance hadn't trained those other Carbink to become stronger than it, it would never have agreed to follow him.
"No problem. I'll stay behind to guard Geosenge Town," Terrance said.
After spending seven days with those Carbink, Terrance had formed some attachment to them. Even if the chances of them being affected were small, he wasn't willing to take the gamble.
However, if the poacher gang's main target was the Pokémon of Trainers, they likely wouldn't dare to openly damage a town. If they did, they would be unable to withstand the wrath of the Pokémon League. By then, the pursuit wouldn't just be as simple as having a team led by an Elite Four.
Terrance chose to remain because he intended to bring those Carbink over and take care of them for a while. If they were dragged into the battle, it wouldn't be good.
After exchanging a few more words with Wikstrom, Terrance departed immediately, heading back to the cave where the Carbink lived.
Once Terrance had left, the Elite Four candidate named Blue spoke up: "Senior Wikstrom, can we really trust this Terrance?"
Wikstrom nodded. "Not only is he a Gym Leader, but he also has some ties with the International Police. The incident of Pokémon attacking a town in the Kanto Region a month ago was resolved by him."
If it weren't for these connections, Wikstrom wouldn't have trusted Terrance so readily, nor shared the details of this mission with him. After all, the League had been wanting to reclaim that airship for a long time, and there was no room for risk.
"There shouldn't be much of a problem in Geosenge Town. The real concern is the mountains. You and I must be ready, this time we'll eradicate these tumors completely!"
…
…
After his exchange with Wikstrom, Terrance also received a communication device, temporarily making him an auxiliary member of this task force. He was responsible for guarding Geosenge Town and making sure that the battle wouldn't affect this place.
"Mr. Terrance, don't be nervous. It's just a poacher gang. With Elite Four Wikstrom taking the field, success is guaranteed," came Blue's voice through the communicator.
Though he knew Terrance was far from weak, he worried that Terrance might not have experienced such a situation before, so he spoke up to reassure him.
"Don't worry about me," Terrance replied. He was stationed at the Pokémon Center, but by now, one of his Poké Balls was already empty. It was Mismagius's Poké Ball, and he had sent it out to fully observe this battle. This showed how bold Terrance was.
The six Carbink were also arranged by Terrance to stay inside the Pokémon Center. This move caused the Carbink he had captured to gradually change its attitude toward him, finally accepting Terrance.
The illegal trading of Pokémon has always been a highly profitable black market. Excluding the most common Pokémon like Magikarp and Caterpie, the lowest price for any other Pokémon could easily equal more than half a month's salary of an average worker.
If it was a rare Pokémon such as Vulpix, Froakie, or Ralts, its black market price would be even higher, far beyond what an ordinary family could afford. Yet it was precisely because of such enormous profits that so many people risked everything for it.
Currently, the only places for legal Pokémon trading are the official Day Cares recognized by the League. However, since these Pokémon are personally raised from a young age by Breeders, the prices are often quite high, making it unaffordable for families of ordinary means to purchase more valuable Pokémon. Poachers exploit this loophole, targeting wild Pokémon in various regions and Trainers' Pokémon for illegal trading.
Speaking of the largest criminal organization that relied on illegal Pokémon trading as its primary source of profit, it was none other than Team Rocket of the Kanto Region.
A day later, while Terrance was stationed at Geosenge Town's Pokémon Center, news broke out that a Mega Stone had appeared in the mountains, sparking fierce competition among Trainers, with none willing to give way.
A real Mega Stone had appeared!
Hearing this, and seeing countless Trainers rushing toward the mountains, Terrance couldn't help but frown.
Could it be that the poacher gang had deliberately thrown out bait to gather Trainers?
It might also be fake. After all, without proper instruments, one couldn't determine a Mega Stone's authenticity. Creating a fake stone that looked like a Mega Stone but had no effect was all too easy.
Over a hundred Trainers gathered in the mountains, all eagerly eyeing the Mega Stone. None of them wanted to give it up.
In this situation, if not for League laws and moral values restraining them, Trainers would have already resorted to violence for the Mega Stone by now. An ownerless item naturally belonged to whoever obtains it. However, due to the large number of Trainers, when the Mega Stone fell to the ground during the struggle, they all looked at each other, none daring to make a move for fear of becoming a target of collective hostility.
"Everyone stop!" At that moment, just as the Trainers' eyes burned with greed for the Mega Stone, an Officer Jenny rode up on her motorcycle and quickly put an end to the farce.
With Officer Jenny's arrival, the Trainers calmed down considerably. Even the few hot-tempered ones dared not continue making trouble.
At Officer Jenny's suggestion, the Mega Stone would be offered as a prize: Geosenge Town would host a battle tournament, and the ultimate winner would earn the Mega Stone. This proposal was immediately accepted by the Trainers; after all, there was no other better solution. And with Officer Jenny as guarantor, the tournament felt trustworthy.
Most Trainers still trusted Officer Jenny, and as for the few exceptions, seeing the general trend, they had no choice but to remain silent.
Among the crowd of Trainers, some were members of the special task force assigned to this mission. As the chaos here was brought under control, they began to feel puzzled. The Trainers had already gathered here, so why was there still no signs of the Spade A poacher gang?
"Be patient." Blue's voice came through their secret communicator, and the veteran Trainers fell silent, waiting.
Not long after, just as the crowd was slowly getting organized by Officer Jenny and preparing to leave the area, a massive, translucent silhouette of an aircraft slowly emerged from the clouds. No one saw this silhouette, but it was detected by the special task force's pre-prepared detection device.
The silhouette approached, and suddenly, a massive net, spanning an immense area, dropped from the sky, blanketing the gathered Trainers. The sudden change threw everyone into shock. Several members of the task force tried to quickly send out their Pokémon, but to their alarm, they found their Poké Balls' release systems had been jammed by an unknown signal. And as a strange suction force poured down from above, all but one or two Poké Balls—those clutched tightly in their Trainers' hands—were pulled upward, drawn toward the airship.
"We've been waiting for you a long time."
From another direction, a middle-aged man clad in silver armor let out a booming laugh and commanded:
"Pull it down."
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