svetikya Chapter 243 Ash, who left first, and the familiar dark figure
Chapter 243 Ash, who left first, and the familiar dark figure
"Ah...this is a disaster..."
We finally finished recording the song, but before we knew it, it was already 9 p.m.
Xiao Guang originally thought the song recording would be quick...
No, normally it is indeed quite fast, but since it was the first time she and Xiaozhi had ever encountered this song, it took them quite a bit of effort to learn it and be able to sing it fluently.
This directly led to the recording of their song taking until midnight.
"Thank you all for your hard work today! But don't worry! I can guarantee with my entire directing career that the show, the song, and the publication will all be a huge hit!"
"Hopefully it won't become a big fire..."
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
"No! It's nothing! Please don't worry about it!"
As he was muttering to himself, Xiao Guang realized that he had almost been overheard, so he immediately apologized.
However, despite saying that, she was involved in the recording of the show from beginning to end, and if she only got a uneventful ending, she would still feel dissatisfied.
"Is that so? Haha~ Never mind! Anyway, just wait for the day when you two become the biggest stars in Sinnoh! If we have any ideas for special programs in the future, we'll have to ask you two for help! Here's my business card, please accept it!"
As the director spoke, he took out three business cards from his pocket and handed them to the group.
Although Xiao Gang did not directly participate in the recording of the program, the director did not ignore him. As he said before, he values the emotions in the work, so he also understands the importance of the travel companions.
If he only focuses on Ash and Dawn and ignores their companions, even if they don't say it out loud, there will inevitably be some distance between them.
"Oh, right, although I don't know if you guys are interested, I heard recently..."
"Ok?"
Just as the director and Hikaru were talking, Satoshi, who had been paying attention, suddenly noticed a shadow flash past around the corner in the distance.
That is......
Ash frowned, as if he had noticed something, and then raised his hand and said:
"Ah~ Excuse me, I suddenly need to go to the restroom. I'll go back to the Pokémon Center and wait for you."
"Huh?! No—"
Xiao Guang wanted to say something more, but seeing Ash running away with Pikachu, she tilted her head and murmured:
"But...is that the direction the Pokémon Center goes? And if I need to use the restroom, there's no need to run back to the Pokémon Center, right?"
Suspicious, very suspicious.
Seeing Xiao Guang's doubtful expression, Xiao Gang's lips stiffened. He then took two steps back, stood behind Xiao Guang, and waved to the director. The director immediately understood Xiao Gang's meaning and said:
"Maybe Mr. Ash wants to hurry over to that dessert shop to buy cream puffs!"
"Cream puffs? A dessert shop?"
While it does have a bit of Ash's style, is it really necessary to buy desserts this late?
"Ah~ um... because when we were recording, Mr. Xiaozhi asked me about that dessert shop. He seemed to really want to buy their cream puffs, and he even specifically asked me to confirm the shop's closing time~"
"Eh...is that so...?"
It was a little past nine o'clock, which is indeed the normal time for dessert shops to close.
Is it really as the director said, that Ash was in a hurry to buy cream puffs and lied to leave early so as not to spoil the director's fun?
"Sigh~ Never mind, I'll talk about it when I get back."
Anyway, it's in the city center, so nothing should happen. I guess I'm just overthinking things.
Xiao Guang comforted himself in this way.
Then, turning to the director, she continued the previous topic: "Oh right! I haven't finished what I was saying yet! Let me think... Well, actually, I wanted to ask if you were interested in participating in the fashion show. The fashion show was originally scheduled to be held today, but it seems to have been postponed to tomorrow for some reason."
"A fashion show?"
Although he didn't have a clear idea of what was going on, Xiao Guang had already developed some interest when he heard the name of the competition.
"I don't know much about the specifics, since I don't usually pay much attention to this field. But I heard that some important figures will be there as judges, so if you're interested, Miss Xiaoguang, you can take this opportunity to participate."
After speaking, the director took out two posters from his pocket. One poster contained information about the fashion show, while the other poster contained...
"This is..."
Xiao Guang blinked and looked at the poster behind him with a curious expression.
Seeing this, Xiao Gang also went over to take a look.
"Pokémon Summer Lectures?"
The two of them read out the event title printed on the second poster in unison.
"Yes, it seems that Professor Yamanashi is planning to hold a Pokémon summer lecture in Mt. Coronet in a few days. Anyway, you are all in Eden City now. If you are interested, you should be able to make it if you start traveling the day after tomorrow. And since Miss Dawn is an officially recognized trainer by the League, she should know Professor Yamanashi, right?"
"Hmm... I do recognize him."
Xiao Guang stared at the second poster, somewhat lost in thought.
Unexpectedly, they had only come here specifically to record a program, yet they encountered two events that greatly interested her.
She probably wouldn't be interested in attending a regular summer lecture, but the poster says that this summer lecture, hosted by Dr. Yamanashi, will have rich and special content. Since she's already here, it would be a shame not to attend.
Xiao Guang thought to himself.
"We will consider it carefully, thank you."
"No, no, no, this time I should be thanking everyone."
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Dawn and Brock said goodbye to the director and headed towards the Pokémon Center.
Meanwhile, Ash and Pikachu are on the other side.
"Pikachu! Pikachu!"
Pikachu, who had been carrying Ash on his shoulder, could no longer contain its curiosity and began to ask what had happened.
Ash didn't use the Aura, but he understood what Pikachu was thinking.
"It's nothing, I just thought I saw a familiar figure."
As Ash said this, he stopped and began to gather his Aura power to probe his surroundings.
If I remember correctly, it should be this side...
The power of the aura continued to spread towards one side of the city, and just as Ash's detection ability was about to reach its limit, the aura finally gave feedback.
"Time to go, Pikachu."
"Skin?!"
Unable to get an answer from Ash, Pikachu could only continue being led in a certain direction as before.
……
In Yosuga City, in front of a huge warehouse on the edge of the central district, a dark figure stopped and stood at the door.
"Is this the place?"
His figure was obscured by his cloak, and his tone carried a hint of youthful maturity as he slowly walked towards the warehouse door.
But at that moment, he suddenly stopped again, glanced sharply at the corner behind him, and then took out a Poké Ball from his pocket and aimed it there.
"Who?"
He questioned him in an unfriendly tone.
"..."
Moonlight peeked through the clouds, illuminating the dark open space in front of the warehouse.
Both the face hidden beneath the cloak of the shadowy figure and the figure he summoned were laid bare before each other.
"Eh?"
The shadowy figure, whose attitude had been somewhat cold and sharp, suddenly froze.
He looked at the familiar, smirking figure just a few meters in front of him and couldn't help but say:
"Ash? What are you doing here?"
"It really is you. I was wondering if I had seen it wrong. Besides, I should be the one asking you that question, Xiao Mao."
"Pikachu~"
It wasn't until this moment that Pikachu finally realized why Ash had suddenly chosen to leave.
It turned out that they had spotted Xiao Mao.
Moreover, it seems that Xiao Mao is still carrying out some shady mission.
"So why did you dress up like a thief? Is there anything strange about this place?"
"......well."
After staring at Ash for a long time, Gary finally let out a long sigh.
"I really didn't expect this... This should have been my job alone. Ash, you really run into trouble easily. Let me make it clear beforehand that if you don't want to waste your time, you can just leave."
"What are you saying... Since you've put it that way, then I can't leave even more."
"Pickup!"
Seeing that Ash and Pikachu seemed determined to stay there, Gary shrugged helplessly and chuckled.
There's no way to communicate with this idiot.
Thinking this, Xiao Mao then said:
"Actually, this operation should have been taken over by Mr. Watari, but he seems to be unavailable lately, and since I am here, Mr. Watari asked me, who is staying here, to help handle it."
"Etc., etc!"
Ash covered his forehead with one hand and stretched out the other to stop Gary from continuing.
"You said... Mr. Watari assigned you a mission? What kind of mission is it? A mission from the Alliance or—"
"Of course, it's an investigator's mission. I'm not qualified to take on any of the Alliance's missions that Mr. Watari can handle."
Xiao Mao shrugged and said:
“When I was conducting Pokémon research in the Kanto region, I partnered with Mr. Lance for a short period of time. During that time, Mr. Lance taught me a lot and even asked me if I wanted to become a researcher.”
Ash: "......"
Although it wasn't the same event, their experiences were remarkably similar.
Ash immediately felt the same way and began to sympathize with Gary.
But then again, is it from Watari who he learned from...?
"So that's why you were wearing that cloak in the city, looking all sneaky. So that's why..."
"What the hell?! We definitely need to dress like this for any action, right?"
"Didn't Mr. Watari teach you anything more practical? Like the art of disguise or something."
"How could anyone possibly learn that kind of skill in such a short time...?"
Xiao Mao complained like this with a speechless expression.
"So, didn't you want to know what I'm doing here? If that's the case, don't interrupt!"
"Yes~"
Ash casually gave that answer, and then, just as Gary had hoped, he fell silent, waiting for Gary's explanation.
Without Ash's interference, Gary was finally able to calm down and answer:
"It's Team Galactic and Hunter J."
"......"
"You're not surprised at all."
How should I answer this?
Ever since the last Riolu incident, when Hunter J was unexpectedly absent, he had begun to suspect that Hunter J had been in contact with Team Galactic beforehand. So when he heard this news, he wasn't particularly surprised; at most, he just had some "I see" thoughts.
However, to be fair, Lance has a lot to manage, from Kanto to Johto to Hoenn and even Sinnoh.
Is it just that the Kanto and Chengdu regions are generally too peaceful?
Although Team Rocket, one of the largest evil organizations, is located there, they rarely cause any major trouble locally. The numerous and complex disputes between good and evil are generally within certain limits and can be resolved by the local police departments on their own.
The delicate balance between the Kanto and Chengdu areas is perhaps maintained because of the presence of the Rockets.
"So, did the intelligence you received mention that the Hunter Organization and Team Galactic were ever here?"
"It's not certain yet."
Xiao Mao nodded.
"The intelligence only said that there were very suspicious people around here, and they were wearing the same uniforms. After all, both the Hunter Organization and Team Galactic are very cautious these days, so it's not easy to find clues. The more obvious clues are currently being investigated by the Sinnoh League, while the more uncertain clues here are my responsibility."
"I see."
Xiao Zhi nodded as if he understood.
Recently, there has been a significant shortage of police force in various cities, with most of them probably being sent out to investigate the more obvious clues mentioned by Xiaomao.
"How can I help?"
After learning the general outline of the situation, Xiaozhi naturally offered to help.
However, a hint of hesitation flashed across Xiao Mao's face.
"You say you're helping... but aren't you still traveling right now?"
"Hmm...maybe I'll stay here for a while? But it's not certain yet."
Ash recalled that he and Dawn seemed to have participated in a fashion contest back in Yuriko City, but now Ash wasn't sure if the fashion contest had started yet. If it hadn't started, they should have stayed here for another day.
.......