"Take this with you. If anything happens, just press the button on it."
At the entrance of the Pokémon Center, Zhu Jianyuan handed a small communication device with a button on it to Rock, who was about to leave the city.
He looked thoroughly annoyed.
"Haicheng isn't like the other cities anymore. Communication devices work even outside the city!"
"When the Pokémon descended, they drove away all the death energy surrounding Haicheng."
Although Zhu Jianyuan was clearly unhappy, there was an unmistakable look of pride on his face. The death-energy-free environment surrounding Haicheng was truly unique in this apocalyptic world.
Calling the blue skies and clear waters around Haicheng a paradise untouched by the outside world wouldn't be an exaggeration.
As the city lord, Zhu Jianyuan naturally had every reason to be proud.
In the past, whenever Kyoto sent special envoys, Zhu Jianyuan had always found himself at a natural disadvantage.
There was nothing he could do about it.
As a border city, Haicheng required an enormous amount of resources, all of which depended on Kyoto coordinating supplies and sending them their way.
But now?
He no longer needed to go out of his way to curry favor with people from Kyoto.
Rock looked up at the brilliant blue sky.
He didn't seem to mind Zhu Jianyuan's unfriendly tone at all. Instead, he let out a leisurely sigh.
"Yeah…"
"Haicheng really is different."
He raised the communication device in his hand.
"Um… Do I really have to bring this thing?"
Zhu Jianyuan was just about to answer when Su Bai stepped forward.
"That won't do. You refused to let guards from the City Lord's Mansion accompany you. If something happens to you, Haicheng doesn't want to get itself tangled up with a behemoth like the Rock family."
"Of course I can't bring guards."
"Otherwise, can you still call it an adventure? Can you still call yourself a Trainer…?"
Seeing that even Su Bai had spoken, Rock could only stuff the communicator into his clothes.
"Fine. If I run into any danger, I'll let you know."
"Don't worry. I'm not someone who can be taken down by just any little incident!"
"Besides, I have Haunter with me, right, Haunter?"
As he spoke, Rock narrowed his eyes into his usual smile and gave Haunter an enthusiastic high-five through empty space.
"Don't use the mental connection to force your Pokémon into doing things like that!"
Su Bai waved his hand helplessly.
"Anyway, off you go. You've already wasted enough of my time. I'm going back to the shop."
…........
Inside the Pokémon Shop at the Pokémon Center.
Su Bai and Zhu Jianyuan sat facing each other.
Quite some time had passed since Rock set out.
As for why Rock had gone on an adventure…
Now that he was a Trainer, naturally, he had to train his Pokémon.
Even if he wanted to level up his Haunter through Pokémon battles, there simply weren't any suitable opponents in Haicheng at the moment.
Almost everyone had thrown themselves into the great expedition brought about by the Kanto version's descent!
"So?"
Su Bai looked at Zhu Jianyuan with an amused expression.
"Just like you expected."
Zhu Jianyuan frowned as he tossed a small tablet onto the table.
"This thing is useless now."
"That guy doesn't seem to be here simply because he wants to become a Trainer…"
"People from Kyoto are all like this. Always so mysterious."
Zhu Jianyuan was obviously extremely irritated.
Haicheng was his territory.
Yet someone was conducting all sorts of activities within his jurisdiction without telling him.
Did they even take the city lord seriously?
"No. He definitely does want to become a Trainer…"
Su Bai shook his head and chuckled.
"But aside from becoming a Trainer…"
"Don't you think the timing of this guy's appearance is a little too convenient?"
"That so-called red-headed official document still had the smell of fresh ink on it."
"Even if this guy traveled day and night, it would still have taken him quite a long time to get here."
"So he must have used some kind of fixed-point teleportation to reach a secret safe house somewhere nearby…"
"And the timing of his appearance…"
"Just happened to be right after the Articuno incident!"
"If I'm not mistaken, while the Articuno incident was taking place, this all-powerful heir of the Rock family was already making preparations for his visit to Haicheng."
Su Bai's words left Zhu Jianyuan silent.
After a long while, he hesitantly asked,
"Could it be that this Rock…"
"Is planning to do something against Haicheng?"
"To be honest, I don't like the guy either. But the heir of the Rock family wouldn't do anything to harm humanity."
"After all, the very existence of that family is dedicated to ensuring humanity's survival."
Su Bai suddenly chuckled as he looked at Zhu Jianyuan.
"Looks like you don't actually hate Rock as much as you think you do."
"I agree with you."
"Rock isn't going to do anything against Haicheng."
"But there's another purpose of his that I'm very interested in…"
"Rotom."
"It's time for you to make your appearance."
He pointed at the tablet.
The next moment, Rotom emerged from the cash register.
For an exceptionally powerful Rotom like this one, controlling every machine inside the Pokémon Center simultaneously was hardly difficult.
The livestream outside was still ongoing, after all.
"Roto! Roto!"
Rotom flew two circles through the air before diving straight into the small tablet.
The tablet had originally been blocked, displaying nothing but a mess of horizontal and vertical static lines.
But suddenly, a small dot appeared on the screen, along with its corresponding map coordinates.
A faint rustling sound came from the device.
It seemed that the heir of the Rock family really had set out.
…............
"City Lord Zhu really is something. I'm Rock, after all, yet he's actually worried about my safety."
"You agree with me, right, Haunter?"
Rock leisurely strolled outside Haicheng, wearing his usual smiling expression.
Whenever he spotted a Pokémon, he would become curious and walk over to examine it.
At the very least, it seemed that his love for Pokémon wasn't a lie.
"Fui! Fui!"
Haunter stuck out its tongue and moved toward Rock, preparing to give him a vigorous licking.
It was obvious that their intimacy had been rising rapidly because of the mental connection between them.
Furthermore, the mental connection would occasionally transmit mental energy that Haunter particularly enjoyed.
It made Haunter feel as though it was becoming stronger along with Rock.
"I don't understand."
"I really don't understand!"
"What use can these weak Pokémon possibly have?"
"You're an idiot!"
"Pokémon are power. Death beasts are power too!"
"Compared to death beasts, which require no training whatsoever and can be used immediately…"
"These Pokémon are nothing!"
A deep, hoarse voice suddenly emerged from Rock's shadow.
The voice was filled with extreme impatience.
"Fui!!!"
Haunter let out a terrified cry.
In a panic, it scrambled onto the top of Rock's head, one hand clutching his hair tightly while its other hand pointed toward Rock's shadow!
The little fellow's eyes were filled with obvious horror.
It had been hiding beneath that shadow the entire time!
How could the shadow itself suddenly start talking?
"Look."
"Take a good look."
"This is the Pokémon you think can change the current situation."
"Don't you find it ridiculous?"
"It gets this frightened over something so trivial."
"You expect it to fight?"
"Heh."
The hoarse, savage voice burst into mocking laughter.
It seemed to take great pleasure in seeing Haunter make a fool of itself.
Rock's narrowed eyes didn't change in the slightest.
He smiled and gently patted Haunter's head, reassuring the frightened Pokémon.
Then he calmly spoke.
"Shadow…"
"You scared Haunter."