Chapter Sixty-Eight: The Injured Pokémon

As soon as she got off the plane, Lapras couldn't wait any longer and rushed out, pressing her head close to Zhu Suihan's chest.

"Woo woo."

She could sense the strange fluctuation in Zhu Suihan's heart at that moment, and was deeply worried about what had happened to her trainer. But Lapras also understood that if she had burst out onto the plane, it would have been her trainer who ended up worrying about her instead.

"Don't worry, everything's under control." Zhu Suihan hugged Lapras's head. "Once we figure out what we're actually here to do, we'll see if there's a chance to meet with Elder Liu—and maybe you can see your parents too."

Just as she finished speaking, two Rapidash came galloping over from the camp at the far end of the tarmac: a man and a woman, one of whom was a Nurse Joy.

"Line up, everyone. Young trainers, I hope you'll listen carefully to what I'm about to say," the man spoke solemnly. "Go to the camp to collect your medical kits, then board the boats to the Arboreal Maze. Your task is to treat injured wild Pokémon."

"You're allowed to form teams or act alone. The camp will provide you with signal flares."

"If you encounter a severely injured wild Pokémon, fire a signal flare immediately. The aerial patrols will provide support."

"Move out!"

All the students broke into a run. Zhu Suihan recalled Lapras and signaled for Milcery to slip back into her arms, then abruptly accelerated, overtaking both Rapidash and being the first to reach the camp.

The male staff member from the League: ?

Rapidash x2: ?!

Sure, we weren't at full speed, but isn't this a bit disrespectful to us four-legged creatures?

Only Nurse Joy remained composed. As her senior had said, this transfer student at the academy truly was an extraordinary being—perhaps even more so than an extraordinary human.

In terms of seniority, Zhu Suihan would technically have to call her "senior," but the gap in years was considerable.

How to find the logistics office to collect supplies? Just look for the part of the camp with smoke rising and a pile of boxes beside it. Besides, Zhu Suihan was literate.

"Hello, I'm here from Joy Academy to collect my assigned equipment."

"Medical kits on the left. One standard ration. You may not carry more than three," the record keeper replied, hands moving quickly. "Name, number of supplies withdrawn?"

"Zhu Suihan. Solo operation. Three medical kits."

Three kits for a solo mission?

The record keeper saw Zhu Suihan stow the medical kits and realized she must have one of those spatial backpacks developed by the League, so there was no worry about the supplies hindering her movement.

"Stay safe," he added, as was customary, finishing up the records before looking up to see two Rapidash and a group of Nurse Joys jogging over.

Record keeper: ?

"If I'm going solo, why bother with the boat?" Zhu Suihan thought. Planes and boats were for the bulk of the staff—after all, not every trainer's Pokémon had the necessary abilities.

Nor could everyone keep a straight face flying through the sky.

Those who could stand steady mid-air—or even strike a pose—were the likes of Lance, Steven, or Cynthia: real legends.

After confirming the general direction, Zhu Suihan tossed out the Beiming Ball and decisively took her seat on Lapras's back.

A regular boat might get blocked by tangled aquatic branches or reefs, but not her Lapras!

"Let's go, to the Arboreal Maze."

"Lap!" Lapras surged forward, Milcery floating up to rest on Lapras's head and enjoy the scenery. The rushing wind made the cream on her head bounce with each gust, as if playing a whimsical melody.

Zhu Suihan opened a medical kit and checked the supplies inside.

Basic sterile silk bandages, healing sprays, antidote sprays—everything necessary.

There were even semi-processed ingredients for healing paste: just mix with water and you’d have the same kind of healing paste Zhu Suihan always used.

Of course, the "water" here referred to the "Life Drops" in the large medicine bottle inside the kit—about the size of a one-liter cola or iced tea.

"The supplies are decent," she mused.

She twisted open a healing spray bottle, poured it together with some restorative berries and the semi-finished paste into the censer, added a third of a bottle of Life Drops, and activated the censer.

With a crisp "ding," round, powdery purple pellets dropped into the tray. Zhu Suihan collected these into a new sterile vial.

Vitality Pills (Energy Cube version).

She did the same with antidote agents and corresponding berries, mixing them with Life Drops to make Antidote Pills.

"Much better. These little pills are so much more convenient," she thought.

She converted the contents of two medical kits into this form, leaving the last kit as an emergency reserve.

For minor wounds, a quick spray would suffice.

These "pills" were for more obvious injuries.

As for more severe cases—like a gaping wound—that was a matter for a signal flare. Such cases couldn't be addressed by on-site first aid and required the aerial patrol to carry them away.

Zhu Suihan frowned. "Why did they give me ten Poké Balls in a medical kit? Has the League really fallen on such hard times?"

Were they expecting her to catch wild Pokémon while helping out, and bring a batch back for training?

"Lap!"

"Milcery!" Lapras and Milcery cried out in warning, signaling that something strange was approaching.

Zhu Suihan looked up—charging toward her was a Gyarados, with surging waves splitting behind it. For a moment, she thought she was back in the Galar region's seas.

So you like to play the role of Sharpedo, do you?

"Gyarados!" the Pokémon roared, leaping and aiming its sharp horn at Zhu Suihan's chest.

Smack.

A sticky pellet struck Gyarados. Before it could even wonder why its condition had worsened, Lapras fired a Water Gun.

Boom!

The power gap was too great, and with the sticky pellet's effect, Lapras's Water Gun flattened Gyarados immediately, leaving it floating on the surface with swirling eyes.

"Now I know what those Poké Balls are for," Zhu Suihan muttered, tossing a ball and capturing the Gyarados. She patted Lapras's neck.

"Be careful. I think I understand the problem now."

The people from Team Dark at that base, after realizing the strength of Elder Liu and Koga, must have been driven to despair.

With a "let's go out with a bang" mentality, they probably released all the Pokémon from their Dark Balls to wreak havoc on the environment.

Aside from a few innocent wild Pokémon caught in the crossfire, it was likely the Pokémon released from the Dark Balls that were the main force behind the destruction.

Destruction at any cost—probably their leaders' last order.

"Very well," Zhu Suihan flexed her right hand, making sure the censer was within easy reach.

She only ever made quick, large sums of money, and as the old-timers said, those who earned like this rarely had much of a financial plan.

Zhu Suihan thought this made sense, since he never kept most of his money on hand.

Other than food expenses, he usually traded it all for berries and various resources to store in the censer.

Compared to money, Zhu Suihan found it far more satisfying to stuff all sorts of resources into his warehouse.

"Gyarados—your average household couldn't afford to keep such a Pokémon as an ornamental fish," he noted.

Just from its size alone, a standard fish tank would never do. Zhu Suihan's verdict: better to raise a school of Wishiwashi.

As for Magikarp—forget it, unless you planned to keep an entire shoal.

Standing proudly on Lapras's back, Zhu Suihan declared, "If I ever get rich enough to buy a big estate and play local lord, I'm going to build a moat around my fortress."

As for what Pokémon to raise in that moat, he would start with a dozen or so Wishiwashi.

Whether human or Pokémon, anyone causing trouble would have to face a two-digit school of Wishiwashi in School Form. Enough to scare anyone out of their wits.

If he could gather enough, he’d even show them a picture of Kyogre to really inspire them. All the schools would merge together for a real spectacle.

Wishiwashi!
Wishiwashi (School Form)!
Combined Evolution—Beast of the Sea!

"Milcery!" Milcery raised her right hand.

Reporting to trainer: target spotted ahead—a stunned Shellder!

"A stunned Shellder?" Zhu Suihan peered ahead. Yes, it really was.

The little creature had its shell open, tongue flicking at regular intervals, its eyes streaked with purple.

It looked just like factory workers whose eyes were half-closed from exhaustion, yet whose hands kept screwing in bolts at the same pace.

"Poisoned. Lapras, keep an eye out—don’t let any Tentacruel or the like get close."

"Come here, you," Zhu Suihan said, reaching out to scoop up the Shellder. "Milcery, put a dab of cream on the Antidote Pill."

"Milcery." Milcery rubbed her hands together and drizzled a drop of cream onto the pill.

Since the Shellder was deeply poisoned, Zhu Suihan didn’t bother trying to talk to it; instead, he waited until it retracted its tongue and popped the Antidote Pill into its mouth.

As the pill went down, the purple faded quickly from Shellder’s eyes, and it managed to look up, glancing at Zhu Suihan and Milcery.

"Let’s get you inside," Zhu Suihan said, recalling Shellder into a fresh Poké Ball before turning to Lapras. "Did you find the culprit?"

"Woo woo," Lapras shook her head. The surrounding water was very clean—apart from themselves and Shellder, there was no trace of any other Pokémon, not even in the depths below.

"Looks like it's gone," Zhu Suihan frowned. "We're probably at the outer perimeter now—let's move deeper in."

As Lapras pressed on, Zhu Suihan kept scanning the environment, and along the way managed to rescue a poisoned Magikarp.

"Three so far. The Gyarados was affected by the Dark Ball; the other two are poisoned."

He readied another sticky pellet. "Stay alert—looks like we’re following right behind whatever Pokémon is spreading poison."

"Lap!" A shot of Ice Beam flashed forward, instantly trapping a lurking Qwilfish in a block of ice.

"Low freeze chance, huh? Doesn’t really work on me," Zhu Suihan remarked, fishing out the frozen Qwilfish. The Pokémon was in obvious pain, covered in wounds from head to tail.

Really? In this state, you still want to fight me?

If there was no hostility, Lapras would never attack on her own.

He shattered the ice with a Heavy Ball, fed Qwilfish a Vitality Pill, cleaned its wounds with Life Drops, sprayed healing medicine, wrapped it in silk bandages, then recalled it into a Poké Ball.

"Tentacruel!" A surge of water ahead—there, looming large, a Tentacruel revealed itself. Every tentacle glowed with a faint purple light, and the three giant red orbs on its head gleamed brightly.

That was the telltale sign: Tentacruel was about to unleash a Supersonic blast!

"So that's it. Squeezing Qwilfish dry, eh? I knew something was off."