Chapter 5: I Have a Friend...

The one called Takehara swallowed nervously and asked, "What do you want to know?" Hu Yang could tell the man was terrified of him. In his previous life, he had never encountered such a situation, but having watched enough television, he found it surprisingly easy to play this role.

With a blank expression, he asked, "What region is this?"

Takehara looked at the boy’s impassive face, recalling the terrifying scene just moments before, and answered honestly, "Hoenn Region." After a pause, he added, "This is the Petalburg Woods, west of Petalburg City."

Hu Yang secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the man wasn’t the type to resist to the death. He continued his interrogation:

"Who are you people?"

Takehara replied, "We’re Pokémon Hunters."

Pokémon Hunters, a criminal organization that captures rare wild Pokémon for underground trading. Unlike Team Magma, whose goal was territorial expansion, these people cared only for money. To put it another way, they were the poachers of the Pokémon world. As long as the money was right, not to mention lions and tigers, they’d even dare to capture dinosaurs.

Thinking back to the mention of an "auction" on their communication device, Hu Yang realized they must have captured Ralts in order to sell it.

After going through the entire situation in his mind, Hu Yang quickly understood what was going on. In his previous life, perhaps due to luck, crime had always seemed far away, so now, faced with it for the first time, he wasn’t sure how to deal with these two.

He pondered seriously for a moment, then asked, "How long does it take to walk from here to Petalburg City?"

Takehara wasn’t sure what was going through his mind, but sensed that Hu Yang was considering their fate. Swallowing again, he replied, "If you walk… it’ll take about two hours."

"Alright." Hu Yang nodded. It seemed the direction pointed out by Greedent was correct. He stood up and began gathering things from the ground.

Takehara watched in disbelief as the boy put his wallet, ferry ticket, and Poké Balls into his own pocket. Eyes wide, he protested, "T-Those are mine!"

Hu Yang glanced at him, a faint, mocking smile on his lips. "Your Mightyena attacked me. Consider these as compensation for my medical expenses and emotional distress."

Takehara was dumbfounded. He had always been the one robbing others; when had he ever experienced something like this? He tried to argue, but at the sight of that seemingly foolish bird, he lost his nerve.

Without another word, Hu Yang finished packing and prepared to leave.

Seeing him turn to go, Takehara panicked again. "You can’t just leave us here!"

At night, they’d be torn apart by wild Pokémon!

Hu Yang reassured him, "Relax, someone will come to save you."

This matter was best left to the police of this world.

With that, he ignored the man’s reaction and walked away.

Perhaps because he was near the forest’s edge, the local Pokémon population had changed as well. The larger, more cautious Pokémon had disappeared, replaced by a greater number of harmless, unaggressive creatures like Caterpie and Wurmple.

As Hu Yang walked, he examined their details and sensed their emotions. In this moment, he finally understood why there weren’t as many professional trainers in this world as he’d imagined.

The journey was simply too grueling!

Children set out to travel at just ten years old, an age lacking both experience and maturity. Survival in the wild was a question in itself.

It was obvious that many who aspired to become trainers gave up due to the hardships of travel, and many more suffered repeated setbacks while challenging gyms.

In the end, only a handful managed to persist and compete in the league tournaments, and even fewer stood out among them.

The road was difficult, but the future was bright.

After two hours, Hu Yang finally emerged from the gloomy forest. Looking at the broad road and the world bathed in light before him, he let out a long breath.

At last!

At the entrance to the forest, a sign stood: "Please bring your Pokémon with you before entering the forest."

He hitched up his bundle, licked his lips, and, seeing living people by the roadside, began to feel excited.

His excitement made him forget the fatigue of the journey, and with renewed vigor, he followed the wooden road signs to Petalburg City.

Standing on the bustling street, watching the harmonious coexistence of people and Pokémon, he felt so moved he almost wanted to cry.

He was hungry and exhausted, but first things first—Hu Yang pulled himself together and asked a passerby for the location of the police station.

The passerby didn’t show any disdain for his disheveled appearance. Instead, they replied warmly, "You must be a traveling trainer! Go take a good rest at the Pokémon Center!"

A trainer? But he wasn’t one yet.

Suddenly, Hu Yang realized that if it came to identification, he might be an unregistered person in this world.

He felt a headache coming on. After saying goodbye to the passerby, he took his Dartrix to the police station and reported the presence of Pokémon Hunters in the forest to Officer Jenny.

Officer Jenny worked efficiently, and upon confirming the location, rode off with her Growlithe on a black-and-white police tricycle, quickly disappearing down the road.

Before long, she returned with the two crying men in tow.

After verifying the situation, another Officer Jenny in charge of questioning thanked Hu Yang solemnly.

Was that it? Hu Yang was disappointed. He had thought there would be a reward for catching criminals.

Before leaving the station, he asked, "Excuse me, where can I replace lost identification documents?"

Officer Jenny replied, "Are you a traveling trainer?"

Hu Yang wasn’t, but he could pretend to be.

Officer Jenny assumed he had lost his Pokédex and didn’t think much of it. "No need to replace it. You just need to show your collected badges and your name at the League tournament to participate."

Hu Yang understood, but recalled that in this world, only the children of League officials or those with status received a Pokédex. They were called Pokédex Holders.

Pokédex Holders were tasked with collecting wild Pokémon data for the local professor and enjoyed free access to Pokémon Center facilities.

Ordinary trainers, however, did not have this privilege and had to pay to use the Pokémon Center.

After a pause, Hu Yang asked, "What about ordinary people?"

Officer Jenny didn’t immediately understand. "What do you mean?"

"I have a friend who grew up with his parents in the forest and has never left home."

Now Officer Jenny understood. Cases of unregistered people weren’t unheard of—she’d even heard of humans being raised by Pokémon.

She thought for a moment and replied, "That’s simple. Just have his parents bring him to the station for identification registration. We’ll upload his information to the network."

Hu Yang breathed a sigh of relief and quickly asked, "What if his parents have passed away?"

Officer Jenny answered seriously, "Then he’ll just have to come in and handle it himself."