Chapter 114: First Encounter with the White-Haired Monkey

"Woo!"
"Milcery!"
"Trainer, use Flamethrower!" x2

"Why do you keep teaching Milcery such strange things all day long?"

The familiar words, the familiar lighter, and beside him, a Milcery with the heart of an emperor. Tonight’s dinner was mushroom curry, along with a pot of Slowpoke tail and berry soup simmering in a pressure cooker. Zhu Suihan deftly grabbed the Milcery off his head and placed her on Lapras’s shell. This little blockhead had actually wanted to jump into the boiling water to cook up a pot of sweet, creamy soup for her trainer and the big boss.

"Milcery!"
(This is creamy soup, not my bathwater!)

Lapras used an Ice Beam to freeze a bowl, gave it a gentle shake to trap the Milcery inside, and prevented her from doing anything bizarre to the meal the trainer was preparing.

"By your logic, if I invited a Magikarp and a Gyarados to take a hot spring bath, added some scallions, ginger, spices, and a bit of salt, wouldn't that just be fish soup?" It would even be sustainable fish soup—the diners get their meal, the Pokémon get a spa day, a win-win situation.

"Milcery!"
(How can a Magikarp compare to me!)

Milcery stood in the ice bowl with her hands on her hips, looking incredibly proud. *I am an Empress who bathes and uses skincare products every single day!*

"Alright, alright, I know you’re the best."

Zhu Suihan lit another campfire, took a few cigar-like items from an incense burner, and tossed them in. Before long, a delicate fragrance began to drift through the air.

"Made from berry leaves wrapped around berry pomace and crushed energy cubes. They look like cigars, but they’re actually incense—though they also make great tea." Zhu Suihan sighed with regret. "I originally planned to wear sunglasses and use these to look cool when confronting the Academy during an anti-riot drill, but the Academy didn't give me the chance."

He was just short of carrying a gun at his hip, but having a Milcery on his head served the same purpose. Everyone was surprisingly fragile; a single dose of poison had taken out most of them.

"Woo?"
"Don't worry, I saved one. I'll use it to look the part when I visit the Hunter’s Tavern."

He had tucked the stone orb containing the King of Poklantis into a hidden spot. When the King had demanded to know why he was being made to wait, Zhu Suihan had simply shut him down with, "You’re not that important." A relic of a king from thousands of years ago was certainly not as important as making sure Lapras and Milcery got their dinner on time.

The Hunter’s Tavern was intelligence passed down by the Dean. It wasn't the kind of friendly tavern where you could drink beer and play cards; it was a gray-zone establishment, a place for outlaws and poachers to trade information and find contracts. It was essentially the kind of dive bar on the outskirts of town that welcomed pirates and bandits, operating on the principle that as long as you had money, they’d provide service. In a sense, even if the backers of these taverns differed across regions, they were somewhat similar to the departments in the League that posted bounties. One had to wonder how many of these tavern keepers would reveal a League uniform the moment they took off their vests.

There was a Hunter’s Tavern near Mount Moon, hidden, by the looks of it, in an abandoned mine shaft. That was where Zhu Suihan planned to offload the stone orb. Information lag could save lives, and it could certainly make money. By now, the well-informed already knew that an outlaw named Scrooge was on a crime spree across the Hoenn and Johto regions, having already landed on the wanted lists of both. He had looted a restoration treasury from thousands of years ago in the territory of the great Hoenn intelligence broker, Mr. Briney, and stolen historical artifacts related to the Burned Tower incident in Ecruteak City.

Mr. Briney, a titan of the gray market.
The League, the undisputed leader of the righteous path.

Currently, the Kanto and Sinnoh regions were on high alert, fearing that the madman might flee to their territory to fence his stolen goods or strike again. This guy in the duck mask had been a complete ghost before; everyone assumed he was the type of sinister operator who would lie low for ten years and then strike once to last a lifetime.

"That’s why aliases are so useful."

He tossed a gemstone to the burly man guarding the door. Under the respectful gaze of the guard and his Pokémon, the white-haired man, chewing on a cigar and wearing a mask, swaggered into the Moon Tavern.

"Drinks are on me today, and the rest is your tip." Zhu Suihan sat at the bar and pushed a pile of gemstones toward the waiter. A waiter who only knew how to wipe glasses wouldn't be standing in a place like this; he had to be a trusted core member. "I’m here to sell something. Help me contact a few people who can afford it."

The waiter smiled and swept the gems toward his feet. A Squirtle sleeping on the floor popped its head out, tapped a mechanism nearby, and the gems rolled down into a hidden tunnel.

"To be able to come to the Moon Tavern at a time like this, Mr. Scrooge truly lives up to his reputation of being on two wanted lists back-to-back." In places like this, much like the neighboring world of Devil Fruits, the more warrants you had on your head, the more prestige you carried.

"I hear Team Dark is doing quite well in Kanto and Johto. Can you get in touch with them?"

The waiter took a gemstone handed over by Zhu Suihan, slid it downward without a change in expression, and watched as the Squirtle caught it and tucked it behind him. The first batch was for the house; this was his commission.

"Don't worry. Give it two drinks' time, and I guarantee they’ll be standing right in front of you." The waiter smiled slightly. "Then, congratulations in advance on making a small fortune, sir." He didn't ask why someone who had already looted a kingdom’s treasury still needed to sell things for cash; that wasn't the Moon Tavern's business.

"Hmph, let’s hope so."

Zhu Suihan set his cigar aside, silently contemplating what he could add to it next time. If he kept it in his mouth and lit it only after arriving, the heavy smoke and alcohol-filled air of the tavern would mask the scent, and it should be enough to knock out a whole crowd.

Sure enough, just as the waiter placed the second house special in front of him, two figures dressed in black, with black Pokéball insignias on their chests, walked in. The lively tavern quieted down the moment they entered; it seemed Team Dark didn't shy away from backstabbing their own kind.

The two men sat on either side of Zhu Suihan.

"What are you selling?"
"A stone orb inherited from the Poklantis Empire. Legend has it that the power of Ho-Oh is sealed inside."

Zhu Suihan glanced at the man on his left. "Two small-time thugs—are you sure you can afford it?"
"Small-time thugs have their own jobs; it’s impossible to get here that fast." The villain on the left spoke flatly. "Name your price."
"Two hundred century-old berries and a ton of Ice-type resources."

?
The Team Dark members nearly lost their cool. "Forget it, let’s go to the second floor."

The villain on the right ordered a drink and sat in the main hall, staring at his peer.

"Still, this counts as giving them a chance."

Once inside the private room, the Team Dark underling scanned the white-haired man to ensure there were no surveillance devices.

"This is it. Inspect the goods." Zhu Suihan placed the stone orb on the table. "Money isn't strictly necessary, but other things are. What do you think?"

The underling carefully put on gloves before touching the orb, his other hand hovering over a Pokéball—a sign of extreme caution. Watching the Team Dark member suddenly freeze in place after contact, the white-haired man took out a tool given to him by Officer Jenny and quickly injected a monitor into the man’s body.

"You were very careful, but this thing is a contact-based infection. You don't even need to be bitten."

Half a minute later, the villain’s eyes burned with heat as he looked at the stone orb, but when his gaze shifted and landed on the mask Zhu Suihan was wearing, his excitement cooled. At least for now, he couldn't claim the orb for himself.

"A smart choice, King of Poklantis." Zhu Suihan folded his hands and rested his chin on them. "Now, you can bring me my first bit of profit."

"They intend to recruit you into Team Dark. Hmph, what a weak era, but this identity suits me quite well." The King of Poklantis looked at Zhu Suihan. "Aren't you going to ask me where their leader is?"

"Heh."
"Fine, you clever brat." The King of Poklantis twitched his lips. "They don't have a price tag; they intend to set a delivery location, defeat you, and then threaten you into joining them. A very logical plan, by their standards."

Zhu Suihan: ?
*Damn it, I just pulled a backstab recently, and now it’s my turn?*

The white-haired man took the stone orb back and placed it into the incense burner.

"Where is the agreed delivery location?"

The King of Poklantis memorized the appearance of the incense burner and gave Zhu Suihan the address.

"Excellent. Our deal is struck. Tomorrow night at this time, we will complete the transaction at the agreed place." The white-haired man glanced at the King. "As for whether you can escape when the time comes, that depends on your own ability. I won't be giving you a second helping hand."

"This is a test, you loser of history."

The King of Poklantis watched Zhu Suihan leave, feeling incredibly uncomfortable, but the goal of ruling everything made him endure it. Someone who could wait thousands of years inside a stone orb just to achieve their goal—one had to admit that their temperament was indeed sufficiently crazy and calm.

Late the next night, the Moon Tavern was empty, save for the waiter wiping glasses and the Squirtle mopping the floor. Just a short while ago, the tavern had received emergency intelligence from the boss behind the scenes. Upon hearing it, the patrons had obediently lined up to pay their bills and then fled at light speed.

Brock, the Pewter Gym Leader, had received the intel and joined forces with Sabrina, the Saffron Gym Leader, to pursue and capture a squad of Team Dark members who were attempting to trade with the master thief, Scrooge McDuck. Although one member of Team Dark had managed to escape with the mysterious trade item, Scrooge was nowhere to be found.

"But this joint capture operation was a success, demonstrating the League's determination to combat crime and standing as the iron fist of justice that spares no effort to protect everyone’s safety and interests."

Sabrina sat on a tree branch, looking through the moonlight at the man leaning against the trunk, who was removing his mask to reveal a young face.

"That’s the concluding sentence I prepared for my work report. What do you think?"

Sabrina’s long, straight black hair floated without a breeze, and the light of psychic power swirled in her eyes.

"Nice to meet you, white-haired monkey."
*I’ve finally caught you, you brat!*