"Rope, how did you see the wrong direction before?"
Leon asked in a somewhat puzzled voice.
At that time, when they followed the group of wild Pokémon to reach the place they claimed was inhabited by humans, Rope observed for a while and immediately said that it was a scene that someone had camouflaged to deliberately mislead them. Then he led the way in this direction.
Those Pokémon were half-convinced by Rope's words, but because of that previous meal, they were on Rope's good side and had a little basic trust.
After discussing for a short while, the wild Pokémon split into two groups, led by Pangoro, who followed Rope. The other team, led by Flygon, went in the direction of the trace reality.
Whichever team finds it first, have that team signal. Which is really just a loud growl. Then the other team would arrive as soon as possible.
Rope spoke, "There are no traces of resistance, only destruction. As you saw before, Pangoro and Flygon's abilities aren't particularly strong, but they aren't weak either."
"And Zarude was able to suppress them, that kind of strength can more or less put out a skill or two even against you and me. There are only traces of attacks over there, and no signs of a struggle itself is unreasonable."
"There's also a battle without a bit of sound coming out, this kind of thing commands to happen in the middle of a sneak attack, otherwise as long as it's a normal battle it's impossible to have such an effect. And there were traces of a struggle on the ground earlier, though it was swept away as best as possible by some Pokémon. But what he did was obviously not particularly meticulous. Probably figured there wouldn't be any to check this out at all."
Rope gave his analysis to Leon, who listened and reacted for a moment, then nodded seriously, "That's right. There are indeed a lot of suspicions when you think about it like that."
If Leon was really allowed to search carefully, Leon would definitely find these doubts as well. But to see the doubts in such a short period of time, almost in a blink of an eye, this Leon thought he couldn't do it.
"Rope you are just too smart!"
Leon couldn't help but exclaim.
Rope waved a hand with disinterest.
"I'm tired of hearing it all, I know I'm smart, next time you guys compliment me in a different way."
Leon: ...
"Ahem, is Malkin the one who grabbed which two guys?"
Leon changed the subject very stiffly.
Rope nodded, "Definitely, but I didn't expect this Malkin guy to be so greedy."
According to Rope's impression of Servants of God as an organization. The treatment of this organization must be quite generous. And for such a dangerous mission, the black-robed man naturally wouldn't give them less resources. They would even give a lot more, even if they caught them, the surrogates, in the act.
This was evident from the list of resources Snow presented to Rope.
Seriously, as long as Snow completed her mission, Rope would have to covet the resources given to her by Servants of God for a while.
Of course, Snow also said that she could give all these resources to Rope, and Rope also believed that Snow meant what she said. But there are some things he can't have, just can't have.
In the end, this is Snow's own things, she can share with her sister, but there is really no need to share with Rope this dog big household. To be honest, Rope hasn't even paid Snow's salary until now...
Capitalist... no, capitalists aren't even as ruthless as this.
Leon naturally understood the meaning of Rope's words, even at such a time, knowing that he had to deal with Arceus's doppelganger, but still had the guts to make a fortune in the course of the mission, honestly, Leon thought that his own heart would not be so big.
After all, this money has a life to earn but also a life to spend!
"But it also shows how confident this Malkin guy is coming at this operation."
Rope didn't quite understand where Malkin's confidence came from. But Malkin wasn't a fool, he must have his own reliance.
"Should we wait to see if anyone else enters the forest so we can just follow these buyers to capture Malkin. And we can end up with a buyer on the side."
Leon quickly figured out the twists and turns. Every regional champion had to deal with hunters for less than a year. The basic ideas about these guys had been known for a long time as well.
In this case, as long as Malkin had a functioning intellect, he wouldn't take two of his own Pokémon, who could attack at any time, into battle against a strong enemy.
That's why the hunters' transactions were usually made directly on the spot by the buyers to some safe place in the capture site.
Rope shook his head, "There's no need. Let alone him, I know who the buyer should be for this one."
Leon pondered for a short while, then sighed, "Lawrence III... that guy... couldn't find a chance to knock him off?"
"It's hard, Lawrence III runs too deep in the League, a lot of people are on his payroll or have taken his money. There are a lot of people who bail him out. More to the point... none of the crimes this guy has committed are major. The Pokémon handlers who bought them were all very clean as well. Everyone knows he did it. But there's just no proof close enough."
What Rope said was also very realistic.Although Lawrence III liked to collect Pokémon, he was also very cruel. But to some people, it was just a matter of sacrificing Pokémon that had nothing to do with them. It's simply not as useful as Lawrence III being active on the outside.
Rope himself is very keen to get rid of Lawrence III, the unstable element that was stupid enough to go after Lugia in the original. But the guy has no major sins, and those minor ones aren't going to cause the League to turn on him.
Also, the Champion Divas' scruples are actually kind of selfish. They didn't want to turn their backs on those administrators of the League for a little guy like Lawrence III.
Although the Administrators were at a disadvantage compared to the Trainers in the League. But that's exactly why. A single Lawrence III could be the trigger for a conflict between these two forces. It would be the latter sin that would be the big one.
"But this time we do have a chance to catch Lawrence III's tail."
Rope couldn't help but have a smile on his face.
"Hunter J is a reputable guy, and in the end didn't even name her clients, didn't even leave a single clue. That's why her clients did everything they could to help her hide her tracks."
"This rare trust between evil and evil is even more of a code for them to communicate with each other." Rope shook his head, rather helplessly.
"But Malkin's different; catch this guy and I think he's going to bite like a rabid dog. The guys who get bitten out will either have to prove their innocence or... wait to go in there with him."
A grin spread across Rope's face.
"Malkin should be guilty as charged if he blows the whistle." Leon frowned, "He's been capturing all kinds of Pokémon though. but hasn't massacred, abused a Pokémon, or performed some act on a human."
"Right, as long as the value of the information is high enough, he can be given a sentence from death to exile or life." Rope also nodded, "He's not the same as Kumas. kumas is a Bandit, while Malkin can only be described as a hunter."
This Malkin guy was abominable and evil though. But in the end, he didn't have the kind of path that was unforgivable.
Kumas must die. But Malkin does not.
Suddenly Rope crouched down under a tree.
Leon asked suspiciously, "What's wrong?"
Rope looked at the extraordinarily lush grass in front of him and squinted.
"They rested here for a while, and Zarude should have been hurt pretty bad. But it should be much better now."
He looked again to the blades of grass that had been flattened over again and said, "This should be where Koko was sitting. He's been struggling the whole time."
"The grass hasn't returned to its original shape yet. That's not a very long time. We're close to each other."
Rope got up and looked at the Pokémon behind him and said, "Can a few of you that are good at stealth go ahead and scout the situation. We shouldn't be far from Zarude and Koko."
The Pokémon behind them looked at each other for a few moments, and after a few moments, the Skwovet and a Venonat stepped out, then nodded towards Rope.
Rope nodded the same way, then pointed in the direction to his right, "You guys look that way. Don't spread out too much, and don't cluster together. Make sure you get the maximum range search in."
Skwovet and Venonat nodded once more, then headed in the direction Rope had pointed, and not without saying more than a few words, everyone after that had little to say, just waiting for the two little ones to bring the news over.
"Rope, are you sure?"
Leon was indeed a champion, and a strong one at that. But he wasn't an all-rounder after all. When it came to things like tracking, and investigating cases, he could do it, but he definitely couldn't claim to be good or proficient at it.
Or rather, of all the champions Lee, the one who was most skilled in this part was only Lance. After all, Lance would be solving cases and tracking down people himself during the week.
The work of the champions in each place had their own characteristics and focus. For example, Lance focuses on tracking down and arresting this kind of work. Although he is also very famous, he rarely shows his face.
Steven, on the other hand, would serve more as a fixer, and his usual work was basically nothing but digging and mining. But when it really happened to be a big fight, Steven would never drop the ball. And he will also use his own resources to cultivate some newcomers who look good to him. For example, sending strategic resources like Mega Stone.
One could only say that Hoenn's little geniuses were really lucky. If they ran into Steven, sending Beldum and Mega Stone would have been possible to get.
His successor Wallace would have been a bit more active, participating in Pokémon Contests regularly and gradually becoming a Hoenn sign. Keep in mind that there are a lot of Coordinated Trainers who are no less powerful than normal trainers. Sort of a talent introduction.
Whereas in the Sinnoh region, Cynthia is crushed by force. Seriously, as long as Cynthia was still around, the hearts and minds of the Sinnoh region would never be in turmoil. This champion of women has used her strength to establish herself as the lynchpin of the Sinnoh region.
Alder, on the other hand, had his heart set on finding a successor. It eventually found its way to the head of Iris, who was gifted with the talent of a champion, and later had the strength to barely make it to championship level, but really, Alder's goal was legacy, and Iris's goal was growth.
The Unova region is going to be in a very awkward position for the next five or six years I'm afraid.
Diantha...Kalos doesn't have much to work with. Their operational credo is to touch the fish gracefully...
With Alola, the current champion Kukui is in a position to lead, and it's up to Kukui to decide what path Alola will take in the future.
As for Galar... Galar has two symbols now, one is Dynamax and the other is Leon.
This also sees Leon the champion's place in Galar.
Rope believes that if, in the end, Victor or Gloria beat Leon like in the game, Leon won't be forgotten like Master Horse or Opal.
This is a championship that will be written in the history books and celebrated.
Seriously, Rope doesn't even think Lance or Red will be treated like that.
In the entire League, other than those Professors who had made significant research results, the only ones who really had the potential to be remembered forever and have monuments to tell their stories were Leon and Cynthia.
Even if these two people's might be defeated and then lose the title of champion. But the influence of the new champions has not been able to spread out for a long bucket of time. Because the prestige of these two is just too high...
Of course, Rope is different. If he becomes Sinnoh Champion, then odds are he'll take over the title as Cynthia's husband. It's kind of like inheriting a large portion of Cynthia's influence in her favor.
"Say, why did you conclude that was the trail they left behind when you were looking at that patch of grass?"
Leon asked, somewhat puzzled. He had certainly noticed that something was off about that patch of grass. But something like the grass being out of place was almost inevitable in a forest with grass-based Pokémon.
In that case where did Rope's confidence come from?
"Do you know what the Zarude's call themselves?"
Rope asked rhetorically instead of answering directly.
Leon rolled his eyes, how could he know such things. Mind you, even the name Zarude was something he had just heard from Rope.
They knew a lot about Pokémon though. But you couldn't expect them to know much more about a Pokémon that was no longer even active in the public eye and basically wouldn't be encountered in the middle of a sparring match.
Rope, of course, knew that Leon didn't know much about it, so he smiled and said, "This race calls itself Blood of the Forest, or the Supporters and Sustainers of the Forest. They have a special power to communicate with the forest and utilize its power."
"Actually, this should be considered a gift from the God of the Forest."
Rope shook her head, in fact, the Zarude race was really unpleasant. Even Rope didn't have the slightest bit of goodwill towards this race's state before they recognized their place. It even felt like the guys just owed a beating.
Being a vegetable and wanting a row. What was that if not owing a beating...
Leon nodded and said, "That means that the reason you recognized that the patch of grass just now was different was because Zarude used that ability."
"He must be a special individual among Zarude."
Rope nodded and said so.
Rope's words had just fallen, then an angry growl was heard. There was an appalling might in the voice.
Rope and Leon looked at each other, both could see the gravity in the other's eyes.
"Looks like we won't have to wait for news."
A smile appeared on Rope's face.
Leon nodded, knowing that this time it was going to be head on with Malkin.
Then the two of them didn't care about the clueless Pokémon behind them, and just darted that way.
This forest had a very low battle value. There couldn't possibly be Pokémon with this kind of might, or else it would be their Zarude's turn to flaunt their power in the forest?
————————————————
Ten minutes ago. Malkin looked at the big monkey with some displeasure, wishing he could just get to know the big, dragging monkey.
He knew he had hurt him badly. But it wasn't his fault! He was only preparing to disable this big monkey according to the normal level of beating. He didn't expect that this big monkey would actually be so brittle and would actually be injured so badly.
But it was also a precious commodity, so he couldn't say anything more than to let Umbreon watch and then let Zarude say rest for a while.
Looking at the map where he and Lawrence III had agreed on, and thinking about the speed at which they were traveling, he nodded his head and thought to himself that there really wasn't any major problem.
What he didn't know was that at this time Zarude just looked badly injured. But the inner bones and organs had all returned completely.
The rest were just flesh wounds. Although these flesh wounds would hurt, they didn't affect the battle, and more crucially, these wounds could heal very quickly if they wanted to.
Zarude looked at the human who was sitting on the ground with his head down looking at the map. And the Umbreon that was lying on a rock and yawning.
Eventually he looked over to Koko who had been glaring at the human with great vigor.
He coughed with a pained face.
The human didn't look up, just frowned in some annoyance as he had heard the cough many times.
Umbreon lazily raised his eyelids for a moment before closing them again. This guy was weak as hell. I don't know why a Pokémon that clearly looks strong is so weak.
This forest was just weak. There wasn't a single Pokémon that could make him feel threatened in the places he had traveled so far, not to mention Ursaring and their three big guys.
In fact, the reason for Zarude's weakness was precisely because the overall strength of this forest was just too weak.
With Celebi's protection and the healing spring. They don't have any fight at all. Although Zarude is a bully, he won't give them any trouble. Zarude was a bully, but he wouldn't put their lives in danger. So the Pokémon lack motivation.
Zarude can still suppress other Pokémon without training, so naturally they have no motivation to move forward.
The current Zarude can't say that he hasn't exercised his strength at all. But if you want to talk about hard work, that's far from being able to talk about it.
Zarude's coughing still drew the attention of one person, that is Koko.
The anger in his eyes burned once again as he looked over to the weakened papa. But the anger that rose in his eyes instantly lurched when he saw the vine that was buckling in his papa's hand.
There was an emerald green light on that vine.
That's right! Papa could have healed himself. That means that right now, Papa's body should have healed.
Then I'm now...
"Uh-ah!"
Koko began to struggle vigorously. Kicking his legs incessantly, he kept making a fuss like a Magikarp that had stuck on shore.
Malkin frowned and looked up at the little guy.
Umbreon scurried to his side in a flash, then showed his teeth towards him. But Koko didn't care at all, still struggling earnestly and manically.
Malkin regretted for a moment that he hadn't brought a portable cage with him when he came out. Otherwise he would have taken them away long ago when he put them in the cage.
The only Pokémon he owns that's big enough is a shaggy troll. But even a shaggy troll still couldn't carry both of those guys. As for Ursaring... that big guy himself wouldn't dare just instruct him to carry anything. That was a Pokémon that followed his grandfather and had a very violent temperament, while the other one was rather more vicious.
Still the main reason for not restricting them too much was the fact that neither one of these guys was resisting anything. The little thing struggled but didn't go too far.
So what was going on with him now?
Malkin stepped forward, then asked, "How did you..."
Just then, a green light suddenly appeared in Malkin's afterglow.
"Um..."
Without waiting for those words to come out, Umbreon had rushed to Malkin's side. Too bad Protect didn't open up.
Energy Ball hit Umbreon straight on, and Umbreon flew backwards, sending Malkin behind him flying as well.
Umbreon flew backward, and Malkin was also sent flying behind him. The good thing was that it was better than being hit by an Energy Ball. After all, there were still a few people like Ash and Rope who could carry Pokémon skills.
The one who launched the attack was naturally Zarude.
An emerald green light flashed on Zarude's body, and the hideous wounds on his body quickly healed.
Luckily, Malkin was careless for once in a rare moment. Thinking that if he was using that emergency style of restraints, maybe Zarude would have hung up halfway through.
A specimen is not the same price as a living body.
So looking at the injured Zarude who no longer had any ability to resist he was relieved that he hadn't done anything wrong with the restraints.
However, he really couldn't have imagined that the Pokémon in front of him actually had such a strong self-healing ability.
The so-called Pokémon battles were like this, the difference in information was always the biggest advantage besides crushing strength.
Zarude did not engage in battle. He knew that there was no way he could compete with the human in front of him.
That Ursaring was as strong as a ghost.
He hurriedly stepped forward and picked up Koko before stretching out his vines in preparation to leave the area.
But in the next instant, he only felt a flash of silver in front of him.
That vine unexpectedly ended in an instant.
Zarude, who was already airborne, instantly fell out of the air.
Luckily, it wasn't too high, so Koko wasn't hurt.
"Zarude!"
Zarude growled angrily, then saw a Bisharp standing where it was, its arm blades flashing with a regal chill.