-056- The Mane Gold Guild (1/3)

“What a cunning fellow.”
“We’ll split up. We can’t let him get away!”
After discussing, the two decided to search for Tongsi separately.
The forest paths were rugged, making it difficult for Tongsi to run.
Yet, he managed to shake off his pursuers.
Now, Tongsi sat atop a moss-covered boulder, gasping for breath.
“This forest is really hard to move through.”
He couldn’t help but complain about the terrain.
“Hah…”
Taking a deep breath, Tongsi raised his hand and saw the moss on his palm, falling into contemplation.
He’d been so exhausted from running that he sat directly on the boulder to rest, not noticing how lush the moss had grown.
“Moss…”
Tongsi was puzzled, as if something suddenly occurred to him. He glanced at Eevee.
Eevee lay on the ground, exhausted from the chase, unwilling to move.
“If I’m not mistaken, Eevee should be able to evolve now.”
Tongsi was intimately familiar with the evolution methods for Eevee’s eight forms.
One of them required absorbing enough grass-type energy while beside a mossy rock, then fighting to level up, to evolve into Leafeon.
Unlike the games, in reality, Eevee didn’t need a single special mossy rock to absorb grass-type energy.
Any mossy boulder would do, provided Eevee absorbed enough grass energy.
“Eevee, why don’t you come up here?”
Tongsi stood, picked up Eevee, and tried to place it on the mossy rock.
“Eevee? Eevee!”
Eevee opened its eyes, found the thick moss disgusting, and shook its head in refusal.
“Eevee, there are unknown enemies in the forest. I don’t know if we can defeat them. Electabuzz is elsewhere fighting the Beedrill swarm. If you can evolve into Leafeon, maybe we’ll have a fighting chance!”
Tongsi spoke seriously.
He wasn’t joking.
Though they were momentarily safe, who knew if the two pursuers would catch up?
Tongsi carried three evolution stones in his backpack, but Eevee had clearly expressed its resistance to evolving into those forms.
Now, with the chance to become Leafeon, it seemed more appealing than fire, water, or electric forms.
Tongsi thought perhaps Eevee could evolve to Leafeon, and if it truly disliked the form, it could always revert later.

Tongsi currently had 860,000 points. Spending 500,000 points to devolve was extravagant,
but if Eevee could learn grass-type moves and gain Leafeon’s abilities, it seemed worthwhile.
“Eevee…”
Eevee hesitated. It had seen the truck and the two brown-clad men chasing them.
They were safe for now, but what if they caught up?
Eevee glanced at Tongsi.
“Eevee, Eevee!”
Eevee gestured.
Though it didn’t know how Tongsi could make it devolve, it seemed to make a promise.
If they were safe, it wanted to return to its original form.
“Alright! Eevee, I promise you—once we’re out of this forest, I’ll change you back!”
Tongsi spoke with unwavering resolve.
“Eevee!”
At his promise, Eevee willingly climbed onto the moss.
Bathed in sunlight, the moss seemed to faintly glow, weak green light reflecting onto Eevee’s fur. Tongsi could even see floating green particles in the sunlight.
“Could this be grass-type energy?”
Tongsi wondered.
As time passed, distant sounds began to stir again.
“Something’s moving?”
Tongsi held his breath, tense—were the pursuers back?
“Shh, shh…”
“Shh-hiss…”
He heard insect sounds, then bushes began to shake.
Soon, two timid bug Pokémon crawled out.
“So it’s just Joltik…”
Tongsi relaxed, but then he sensed something amiss.
“Joltik? Aren’t these Pokémon supposed to live on beaches and underwater? Why are they here?”
“You’re right. Joltik doesn’t live in forests!”
Just then, a voice sounded from the bushes.
“Ha!”
A brown-clad man emerged from the undergrowth.

“Finally found you! You’re pretty fast for a brat!”
The man’s lips curved with ill intent.
“Who are you?”
Tongsi stared at him nervously.
He knew this was the man from the truck, but not his identity.
“What? Don’t tell me you don’t recognize this emblem?”
The man pointed to the circle on his chest, emblazoned with a large “Z”.
Tongsi felt a vague sense of recognition but couldn’t recall.
“You really are a sheltered brat! Never heard of the Zamite Crew?”
Seeing Tongsi’s confused expression, the man laughed loudly.
“Zamite Crew?”
Tongsi frowned, remembering something about the organization.
They were notorious for persecuting wild Pokémon, always researching bizarre things, recently searching for something, appearing everywhere—a major domestic crime syndicate.
Tongsi had only learned about them on trending news.
Most organizations operated secretly to avoid detection.
But the Zamite Crew was the opposite—they loved to act conspicuously, sometimes even leaving their insignia at the scene, as if taunting the Pokémon League.
As a result, the League frequently dispatched professional trainers to hunt them, hoping for a mass arrest.
Yet, the group was enormous—capture one batch, another would replace them.
“So, kid, scared yet? We’re recruiting new members. Interested in joining?”
The man grinned lewdly.
Tongsi’s expression twisted in surprise.
It was not what he expected. He thought that after discovering their secret, a fight would immediately break out. Yet this man wanted him to join?
“Sorry, not interested.”
Tongsi’s brows knit tightly—he had a poor impression of organizations that forced Beedrill to evolve.
“Oh? In that case, I’ll have to teach you a lesson. After all, you overheard our professor’s conversation.”
The man cracked his neck and clenched his fists, which made a sharp, cracking sound.
…(To be continued)