"I see. Thank you, Mr. Berto, Ms. Kristine, we'll take it from here."
Chasca gave a small nod to the two professors who started walking away. She glanced at the teenager surrounded by multiple women. She still couldn't believe that he had been the one primarily responsible for taking down this vicious criminal.
It was already 9 AM, hours since Dante took down Hunter J. Pikachu already returned earlier with Salamence and Hunter J, much to the shock of the professors and students.
After that, Berto confirmed that although Hunter J looked like a pork left too long on the grill, she was still alive.
This was thanks to Pikachu mostly focusing his attack on Salamence and lowering the output when he saw the barrier around them disappear. Otherwise, even the Pseudo-Legendary Pokemon won't be able to survive his full-powered attack.
"Dante, can I have a moment of your time?"
Dante was telling the story of what happened from his point of view to Shinobu and all the other interested students. Just when he came to the part where Ursaring smacked down Salamence from the air, a voice from behind the crowd interrupted him.
The students shifted to the side, letting the one who just spoke pass through. Seeing the familiar burgundy hair, tipped hat, and slitted eyes, Dante hesitantly asked.
"You're…Ms. Chasca, right? The commentator at the Rookie Competition?"
Chasca nodded in response before flashing out a badge from her pocket.
"I'm also part of the International Police. I'm here to ask some details regarding what happened last night."
"I see…alright. I'll catch up with you guys later."
Chasca patiently waited for Dante to say goodbye to his classmates before leading him toward a more secluded spot.
"By the way, can I ask something first?"
"...ok."
Dante sweatdropped at her lackluster response. Chasca's behavior reminded him of his Azumarill.
"What will happen to Hunter J? And will we get rewarded for taking her down?"
"Barring any accidents, she would be sentenced to a lifetime in prison. As for her bounty…Mr. Berto would be more appropriate to answer that question for you."
"I see. Thank you."
Dante nodded in appreciation. As he expected, Hunter J serving a life sentence wasn't a surprise. If the death penalty is legal, she would most likely be sentenced to that instead. As for the bounty, he trusted that Professor Berto wouldn't screw him over such a thing.
"Do you have any other questions?"
"Nah, I'm fine. Ask away."
Chasca nodded and looked at Dante with a scrutinizing gaze. Suddenly, she asked.
"Do you know where Hunter J's Bag and Gauntlet have gone?"
"Her bag? It wasn't with her?"
Dante tilted his head in confusion, resisting the urge to look at Pikachu who was innocently standing on his shoulder.
Very early this morning, he was woken up by said Pokemon. As it turns out, Pikachu had hidden Hunter J's bag and gauntlet in a secluded location when returning; as spoils of their battle.
When Dante learned about this, he used his Illusion Ability to slip past Professor Kristine who was in charge of guarding the entrance, and headed to where Pikachu hid the bag.
He transferred some objects from the bag into his Item Menu. Then, he asked Azumarill to throw the bag towards the location Salamence and Hunter J came from. After all, if Professor Berto or the police discovered he took some of the items without authorization, they may ask him to hand it over for 'investigation'.
Chasca remained silent for a few seconds, her gaze fixated on Dante's face. Seeing his clueless look, she sighed and explained.
"No. Except for her clothes, all the items in her body are gone. We suspect someone has taken them."
"I see…but when she was brought back yesterday, we made sure at least 3 people were keeping watch on her at all times. Maybe her items were just blasted away by Pikachu's attack?"
"Maybe…"
After asking some more questions regarding the details of what happened at midnight, Chasca finally released Dante. Soon after, an officer walked up to her and saluted before whispering.
"Ma'am, Hunter J has awoken."
"I see. That's good news at least. Let's go."
Chasca turned to look at Dante's back one last time before walking towards the medical ship. As he said, her body had been watched since they captured her. Therefore, the only time someone can steal her bag and gauntlet is on her way to the camp.
However, based on the testimonies of the Professors and the students, they didn't see Pikachu returning with any items.
"Maybe I'm being too suspicious of the kid…"
Chasca shook her head, temporarily deciding to forget about it. She'll wait for the results of the search team first before jumping to any conclusions.
…
On their way back to Shinobu and the others, Dante turned on his Copycat vision and scanned the surroundings. Seeing no one within earshot, he turned to look at Pikachu and the two of them heaved a sigh of relief.
"See? I told you being cautious would pay off."
Dante whispered, just loud enough for only Pikachu to hear.
"Pikachu." (I know, I know. But Dan, are you sure we won't get caught?)
Pikachu also lowered his voice, his eyes darting around in caution. Dante laughed and bonked him on the head.
"Stupid. No one can understand you except for me. Besides, we only took a few things. I'm sure they won't notice those missing."
It was true. After taking a look inside Hunter J's Space Bag, Dante decided not to take things that may be traced back, or of dubious origin. He only took a single copy of each weapon in case, and then two of the useful stuff.
Dante bit the bottom of his lips, stopping himself from grinning as he recalled the two items they took.
Salamencite: a Mega Evolution stone. It allows the Pokemon Salamence to undergo Mega Evolution.
When Dante found this Mega stone, he knew Hunter J must have prepared it for her Pokemon. But with how callous she acted towards her Ariados and Drapion, he doubted she could even reach the emotional bond needed to trigger the Mega Evolution.
In addition, he also found a Keystone embedded within her gauntlet. After obtaining these, Dante already had the prerequisite to trigger a Mega Evolution.
Unfortunately, he only had Mawile with her Mawilite as the qualified Pokemon to undergo said transformation. And with their short time together, he knew success was almost impossible.
"Dan, they're finally done with you. Professor Berto announced something while you were gone."
At some point, Dante had already walked back to the group. Pikachu gave Dante a brief salute, before jumping off his shoulders and joining Ursaring, Azumarill, Abomasnow, Accelgor, Drilbur, Dragonair, and Dragonite on the side.
"Hmm, what's it about?"
Dante stopped beside Shinobu. From the casual look on the girl's face, it shouldn't be anything serious.
"The Pokemon Rangers have begun rescuing Pokemon affected by the explosion. Due to a lack of manpower, they chose to ask for our help."
Shinobu explained while subconsciously inching closer to her boyfriend.
"Yes, and the Professors agreed to lend them support. They already gave us the area we are in charge of, it's right over here."
Focalors took out a map from her sleeves and showed Dante their area of responsibility. He took a look and it didn't seem to be that big. Probably 500 square meters in total.
According to Focalors, the students were only tasked to walk around their designated area while using the heat-vision goggles that were provided. Meanwhile, the Rangers themselves will be responsible for climbing the top of the mountain to check for injured Pokemon.
"Hehe, and they allowed us to choose a Pokemon or item from their base if we did our task well!"
Candice butted in, her eyes twinkling with excitement.
When she found out the Pokemon inside the portal were aggressive and not suitable for being captured and trained, she wept bitter tears of regret.
But now, she has the opportunity to get her target Pokemon again! After all, the Pokemon Rangers here use Ice-types due to the environment. Therefore, the Pokemon in their Breeding House must also be abundant with Ice types.
"In that case, let's start. Our goal is to explore a quarter of the area before lunch."
Omake - Pikachu's Trauma (Canon)
"Pika." (Now, what do I do with this?)
Pikachu looked down at the scorched duo of Salamence and Hunter J in front of him. He glanced back at where he came from, and seeing the distant mountain, he lowered his head in defeat.
"Pi-kachu." (*Sigh*, the sooner I return, the sooner I can use my phone.)
With that self-motivation, Pikachu walked over and began to drag Salamence by his tail. But after taking a couple of steps, he heard the sound of something falling in the snow. Looking back, it turned out Hunter J rolled over from her Pokemon's back and into the white soil.
Pikachu begrudgingly walked over, taking Hunter J by the scrape of her neck. He strapped her to the seat, nodding in satisfaction and about to continue his journey when he remembered something.
He looked all over Hunter J's body, focusing especially on her back and abdomen. Finally, he smiled triumphantly as he took off the Space bag from her waist.
"Pika pika." (How careless of me, I almost forgot the treasure. Now, let's see…)
Pikachu opened the Space bag, his eyes widening in anticipation to see what was inside. Soon, however, his expression rapidly fell before he let out a sigh of disappointment.
Inside, most of what he found were guns and explosives. There should be other items deeper in, but it'd take a while before he could check all of them.
"Pika." (I'll just let Dante handle them. He'd know which ones are more precious.)
Nodding in approval of his plan, Pikachu slung the bag across his shoulders. He also didn't forget to take off the gauntlet on Hunter J's left arm.
Even though it had been charred and probably not functional after his attack, he still considered it a spoil of the battle.
After more than 20 minutes of light jogging, Pikachu finally saw the small silhouette of humans in the distance. He was about to shout and greet them. However, he stopped himself as he remembered something.
He looked down at the bag and gauntlet he procured, and then back up again. Having watched so many movies, Pikachu knew the police would take a cut of the treasure, sometimes even taking all of it from the protagonist.
In his mind, he remembered how Officer Magnezone didn't give them any spoils after they arrested Team Stinky.
"Pika!" (No! I won't let it happen again!)
Pikachu looked around the place in search of any landmarks. When he saw a peculiarly shaped stone, he beamed and headed over to dig a hole. After burying the bag and gauntlet, he nodded in satisfaction.
He dragged Salamence for a few more minutes, finally reaching a point where the humans on the other side could also see him.
"Pika."
Pikachu tried to maintain a poker face when he saw the astonished faces of Dante's classmates and professors. He left Salamence and the criminal tied above him near the camp, making his way to Ursaring and giving him a fist bump in the stomach.
"Pikachu." (How's that for taking care of your mess?)
"Ursa!" (You're amazing, Big Brother Pikachu! You too, Big Brother Azumarill!)
Pikachu jumped back on Dante's shoulder while calmly basking in the adoring look of his little brother and the others. He looked at his Trainer, thinking of when it was the perfect opportunity to tell Dan about the treasure.