Chapter Seventy-One: The White-Furred Monkey: I Didn't Hit That Hard

“I’ll take a look around.”
“Go ahead, be careful. I’m not sure if there are any stragglers left.”
Shenlong was still boasting to her parents about her progress. Zhusu Han greeted her briefly, then, with the little Milky Fairy perched on her head, began to wander around the base.

Defrosting was simple enough—just use fire.
Whenever she spotted a few frozen villains, the people from the League were even more direct and rough: they’d just knock out the entire block of ice, person and all, and haul it away.

Defrost them on the spot?
Sorry, that’s a privilege reserved for Pokémon. You lot who like to stir up trouble aren’t on that list.

“These aren’t frozen solid enough. Why hasn’t anyone accidentally knocked off an arm or something yet?”
“It’d be best to do that right in front of the other villains who’ve already been thawed out—let’s see who still has the guts to keep anything to themselves then.”

Machamp and his trainer, carrying a block of ice as they passed by: ?
Is that a colleague?
Never seen them before.
So ruthless—seems like the kind of person the International Police would like.
Wait, this person has a cute Pokémon on their head, and a medical kit from the camp slung over their shoulder...
A student from Joy Academy here to help?!
Did you pick the wrong school?

Most Ghost-type Pokémon just enjoy pranks, but you’re probably at the level of a Chandelure.
No, even Chandelure isn’t as frightening as you!
At least it only drains life force—it doesn’t torment people in both body and spirit!

Machamp and his trainer watched Zhusu Han leave, faces full of respect—though the respect was really for Joy Academy.
The Joy family truly deserves their reputation as renowned healers across many regions; that sense of responsibility is not something ordinary people possess.
They must have sealed away a potentially dangerous person within the academy.

This base was a model of compact efficiency—though small, it had everything. Faint traces of explosions could still be seen on the ground, scratches from scattered metal fragments.

“The production line can self-destruct too? Must be a giant fragmentation grenade in disguise.”
Zhusu Han picked up a piece of debris from a corner and examined it, then brought it to her nose for a sniff.
Nothing special about the smell; the material seemed to be an ordinary alloy. She couldn’t tell anything unusual about the production line from it.

So what exactly is the principle behind the Dark Ball?
If the Luxury Ball is like a fully catered spa, does that make the Dark Ball a miniature version of a prison torture chamber?

“Seems unnecessary. Just implant a few illusions from the Dark Era inside, that should do the trick.”
“Milky Fairy, see if you can sniff out food. Let’s go inspect what the villains have been eating—maybe there are villainesses too.”
Zhusu Han gripped a Heavy Ball, sensing she might find something interesting in the cafeteria of Team Dark’s base.
Whether it was high-quality berries or something else, she was determined to find something.

Perhaps it was some sort of glutton’s intuition, or maybe it was simply fate—Zhusu Han always felt destined.
Places like this, which usually went unnoticed during a sweep, just might yield a little extra.

“For scavenging, you can’t go where everyone else has been, right, Milky Fairy?”
“Milu.”
Milky Fairy, taking on the role of pilot of the Dragon God, tugged at the hair on the left side of Zhusu Han’s head.

The kitchen and dining area were basic—like a standard school or factory canteen, except much cleaner.
“There’s none of that over-the-top Team Dark propaganda—no slogans every few steps, no Dark Ball posters everywhere.”

Zhusu Han poked her head through a window to check out the food Team Dark had been eating; it honestly didn’t compare to her academy’s meals.
She kicked open the back door of the kitchen and grabbed a frozen skillet, staring thoughtfully at the cold storage door.

Her instincts told her that, if anything was hidden in the kitchen, the cold storage was the best spot.
How to escape from there?
Simple—a Pokémon could just Dig. No matter how reinforced the floor was, as long as the Pokémon was strong enough, breaking through would be easy.
There was another possibility: a secret escape tunnel hidden within the cold storage.

Milky Fairy tugged at her hair again.
“Milu?”
Want me to use a little ‘Decoration’ for you?

“Don’t mess around. I’m not a Pokémon—‘Decoration’ won’t work on me. I’m just plain malnourished.”
Zhusu Han rested her chin on her hand, glancing at the cold storage’s control panel on the wall.
A place built for cold resistance, with all the electronics still working inside the walls.
“Heh, the temperature’s off, my friend. Let me help you out.”
She turned the temperature to its lowest setting. “This is a cold storage, not a summer retreat. If you come out without a bit of frost on you, you really have no shame.”

Milky Fairy fashioned a little quilt for herself out of Zhusu Han’s long hair, snuggling in with a contented look.

“Milu?”
Aren’t we here for food? Why are we just waiting around?

“There’s probably something inside worth trading for food—just like the steps I have to take before making energy cubes.”
Zhusu Han leaned against the counter, slowly chipping away at the ice on the skillet with her fingers.
She was in no hurry, but the people inside the cold storage probably felt differently.

Inside, the hidden villains were utterly bewildered, watching the temperature gauge drop lower and lower, their own bodies growing more and more numb.

Had the League retreated already? Was the operation really that efficient this time?
Still, these scavenger hyenas were bold—swooping in the moment the League left.

First, the League wouldn’t torment him like this.
Second, if it was a Team Dark accomplice, they’d open the door as soon as they noticed the temperature was off.
So, it could only be those gray-area scavengers—neither good nor evil—who’d do something like this.

It was a substitute for torture, really—a way to force him to give up all the valuable information.

“Looks like I’ll have to fight my way out.”

The Team Dark grunt gripped his Dark Ball—a Pokémon he’d smuggled out of the base’s storage when things started to go south.
It was a strong one, bred in the forest labyrinth by the base’s staff, and counted toward their performance evaluations.
Originally, they’d planned to send it to headquarters when the signal came, using a secret channel.

“I’m counting on you. Whoever’s out there, just make a big enough scene to buy me time to escape.”

No one was crazy enough to build a secret tunnel in the cold storage itself, but as a staff member, he knew a few escape routes thanks to his position.
If the people outside were just scavengers, not the League, he definitely had a chance!

He slapped the emergency button—specifically installed in case someone got trapped during an inspection.
It was rarely used; if the door suddenly opened from the inside, you’d probably want to call in two experienced Psychic-type trainers to exorcise the place.
If you were on a budget, Ghost-type specialists were more cost-effective.

The cold storage door slowly opened. The grunt’s eyes grew determined. Once the gap was wide enough to throw a Poké Ball, he didn’t hesitate!

“Forretress, use Explo—”

Boom!

Forretress had barely emerged from the ball; before the light of Explosion could even flare, Zhusu Han, who’d been ready, hit it square in the face with a Heavy Ball, knocking it out cold. The door was left with a massive dent.

“Are you kidding? You actually opened the door yourself in this situation? Do you really think people are too dumb to be on guard?”
His timing for throwing the Poké Ball was commendable—catching people off guard is always a good tactic.
Unfortunately, the person outside wasn’t normal, but someone obsessed with blessing Poké Balls in battle.

As the grunt stared in terror, Zhusu Han reached in and hauled him out.

“Wait, you’re a League doctor, right? I’m injured! I demand treatment!”
The sharp-eyed grunt had spotted the medical kit and thought there was still hope.

“I’m not a League doctor. I’m a student at Joy Academy.”
The grunt stared at Zhusu Han’s face, stunned.

“Miss Joy... Have the academy rules changed to allow doctors to dye their hair now? Did you get cosmetic surgery too?”
His vision went dark—the last thing he saw was a skillet.

He recognized that skillet—it was the one the higher-ups used for special meals, especially for making scallion and egg pancakes.
The scallions were the delicious kind grown by Farfetch’d, the eggs from Blissey—never from Chansey, which they refused to eat.

He never expected that his first close encounter with that skillet would be in this manner.

Bang!

Milky Fairy, snuggled in her little quilt, shivered but could tell her trainer had held back—after all, the noise wasn’t as loud as when she’d whacked Forretress.

“Not Miss Joy.”
Zhusu Han tossed the skillet aside, took two milk candies from her incense burner, unwrapped one for herself, and tossed the other onto her head, where Milky Fairy caught it with a delighted open mouth.

“It’s Master Joy.”
Zhusu Han dragged the grunt outside, but not before returning Forretress to its Dark Ball.
Honestly, she was curious what it would feel like to kick this thing around like a ball.

“Oh, forget it. I’ve already given him a taste of his own medicine—anything more would be disrespectful.”

“Elder Liu, I caught a straggler here.”

Elder Liu was surprised. “There really was a straggler?”
He’d only reminded Zhusu Han as a matter of course, never expecting she’d find someone he and Koga had missed.

When he saw the obvious skillet mark on the man’s face, Elder Liu’s mouth twitched.

“What did you do to him?”
“I let him sample the skillet. The guy was hiding in the cold storage and tried to fight back once he realized he’d been found.”
Zhusu Han opened the Dark Ball. “Forretress is here. I knocked it out before it could explode. Should I just leave them here?”

Elder Liu waved to a Delibird, which quickly returned with a staff member. When the staff saw the huge skillet imprint, he hesitated.

“This, uh, well done, student, but let’s not make a habit of this. It could foster some unhealthy violent tendencies.”
Zhusu Han was puzzled. “I didn’t hit him that hard—he just passed out. I hit his face with the skillet and he didn’t even lose a tooth. That’s hardly excessive.”

Staff member: ?
If Elder Liu hadn’t been right there vouching for this white-haired student, he’d definitely be reporting her conduct as soon as they got back to camp!