Ariel spoke, his voice not loud, but exceptionally clear in this dim little room occupied by dust and the smell of mold.
"Speak. Tell me everything you know."
The man was tied up securely. Hearing this, he felt as if he had been granted a great amnesty, and was currently gasping for air as if trying to make up for all the oxygen he had missed in his life.
Hearing the question, he spoke almost impatiently, his words coming out as fast as a volley of bullets:
"I'll talk! I'll tell you everything! My name is Zhang San. I grew up in the slums on the west side of Sootopolis City. My father was a drunk, and my mother ran away with a Magikarp seller when I was five..."
"Get to the point!"
Ariel's voice suddenly dropped, like a stone crashing into the man's incessant babbling, instantly cutting him off.
The man's body jerked violently as if he had been shocked by electricity, and a few more hints of genuine fear appeared in his eyes as he looked at Ariel.
He finally realized that this person before him, who looked even more formidable than the finely dressed youth beside him, had extremely limited patience.
He swallowed hard and moistened his dry, cracked lips before cautiously getting to the main point:
"It was... what just happened. I was just... just snatching Widow's newly hung underwear on East Street! They were pink, with lace edges! Was it really necessary? To deploy such powerful Pokémon to chase me for a whole street? Do you guys want them too? If you wanted them, you should have said so! I... wouldn't I just give them to you? It's just a pair of underwear, there's no need for this!"
At that moment, the air seemed to freeze.
The expression on Wallace's handsome face shifted from that of a serious interrogator to bewilderment, then to a total blank, and finally settled on an indescribably complex look.
He opened his mouth, but couldn't say a single word.
Ariel's facial muscles also twitched imperceptibly.
He slowly turned his head to meet Wallace's gaze.
Their eyes met in the air; no words were spoken, but the amount of information exchanged was staggering.
Contempt.
Pure, unmasked, heartfelt contempt.
The man clearly misunderstood the meaning of their silence, thinking they didn't believe his "confession," and he grew anxious.
"I'm not lying! It's the absolute truth! If you don't believe me, I'm wearing them right now! Right... right inside my pants! You can take them off and look! Really, they're pink!" To prove his innocence, he even struggled to squirm on the ground, trying to show them something.
"..."
"..."
Ariel and Wallace stepped back half a pace in unison.
A mental attack of sorts made them feel as if their very souls had been defiled.
"Brother Ariel..."
Wallace's face turned a bit pale.
"This... how about you do it?"
Ariel's gaze fell on him, carrying a hint of scrutiny:
"Brother Wallace, you are the successor to the Sootopolis Gym, the future Water-type Gym Leader, and a world-renowned Grand Slam Coordinator. Isn't this kind of dirty and exhausting work—eliminating evil for the people and uncovering the truth—the perfect opportunity to temper your will, experience the hardships of the common folk, and thus achieve great things that ordinary people cannot?"
Wallace was stunned, actually finding that Ariel's words... seemed to make some sense?
To become a Gym successor and even a top Coordinator in the future, one indeed needed to face all sorts of challenges that exceeded the imagination of ordinary people.
Perhaps, confirming whether a perverted thief was wearing stolen goods was a hurdle he had to cross on his path to becoming a powerhouse?
Seeing the solemn "I understand" expression on Wallace's face, Ariel sighed silently in his heart.
These children of the League's great families were all protected far too well.
They might be geniuses in Pokémon battles, but when it came to street smarts and the dark arts, they were as simple as a blank sheet of paper.
"Go on."
Ariel patted his shoulder, his tone encouraging.
"For the peace of Sootopolis City, and for Widow's innocent underwear."
Wallace took a deep breath, a tragic solemnity appearing on his face as if he were heading to a battlefield.
He nodded and, step by step, walked with difficulty toward the man who was still squirming.
As for the following scene, Ariel selectively averted his gaze, only watching out of the corner of his eye.
Wallace squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath. Like a bomb disposal expert, he cautiously unfastened the man's waistband and then suddenly pulled it down.
...
An indescribable visual impact caused Wallace to stagger back two steps, his face looking even worse than before.
Ariel also felt as if his eyes had been pricked by needles. He instinctively raised his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to banish that eyesore of a scene from his mind.
A pair of old, yellowed underpants wrapped around... and above that, a striking bit of pink lace was indeed faintly visible.
The truth was out.
And they had completely messed up.
"This is bad, Brother Ariel..."
Wallace's voice carried a hint of trembling and weakness, as if he had just undergone an arduous Pokémon battle.
"We... we seem to have caught the wrong person."
The one they were looking for was the guy who had maliciously injured people with a Pokémon in the market and was likely connected to some underground organization.
But the one before them was just an underwear collector with unique tastes and peculiar hobbies.
Ariel exhaled heavily, lowered his hand from his nose, and his expression returned to its usual calm.
"Brother Wallace, don't panic."
He stepped forward and pulled the man's pants back up, his movements crisp and decisive, as if they weren't a pair of pants but just a piece of irrelevant rag.
"It's fine. We can consider it eliminating a public nuisance; we didn't catch the wrong person."
Ariel's tone was very certain, sounding perfectly justified.
Wallace was stunned:
"Ah? But..."
"Think about it,"
Ariel interrupted him and began a serious analysis.
"This person stole a woman's intimate clothing in broad daylight. His behavior is lewd, and his character is corrupt. By capturing him, we've prevented the possibility of him continuing to offend, protecting the property safety and mental health of the female citizens of Sootopolis City. Isn't this a great deed?"
As Wallace listened, his eyes slowly lit up.
That's right!
Although they caught the wrong target, they did indeed catch a bad person!
From the results, they had done a good thing!
"Brother Ariel is absolutely right!"
Wallace saw the light, and the guilt and embarrassment in his heart instantly vanished, replaced by a sense of pride for having upheld justice.
Ariel looked at him and nodded with satisfaction.
A teachable student.
"Then... what about this man?"
Wallace looked at the man who had been "re-organized" but was still tied to the chair.
The man looked at them with a face full of confusion, completely failing to understand the logic of their conversation.
He only knew that his "innocence" had been verified, but his situation didn't seem to have changed at all.
Ariel glanced at him and said indifferently:
"Just leave him tied up here. When we catch the real culprit, we'll send them both to Officer Jenny. Theft is also a crime; let him reflect well here."
"Agree."
Wallace seconded without hesitation.
Just then, a rapid electronic beeping broke the silence in the small room.
"Beep beep beep— Beep beep beep—"
The sound came from the communication device at Wallace's waist.
Wallace's expression turned serious, and he quickly connected the call.
The extremely anxious voice of a Gym Apprentice came through, accompanied by chaotic background noise and panicked breathing:
"Senior Brother! It's bad! Another injury incident has occurred in the market!"
"Five people are injured this time! That guy... that guy is still at the scene!"
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