The hot summer sun scorches the beach and makes the sea breeze scorching. The salty air swirled into the coastal town, bringing with it the unique flavor of the Nanguo Islands.
The Seven Grapefruit Islands [Japanese: ザボン七岛, English: Seven_Grapefruit_Islands] are located in the southeastern area of the Orange Islands and are a well-known grapefruit producing area. The sweet and delicious candied yuzu grown in the southern soil has become one of the most well-known labels of the Seven Islands.
On the third island, the largest of the seven fruit islands, there are the largest number of orchards and processing plants in the entire Orange Islands. Due to the reputation of the island's abundant grapefruits, every midsummer, fruit farmers hold a "Sweet Pomelo Feast", piling carefully cultivated fruits into hills to entertain people, thus attracting a large number of tourists to come and taste them. Reporters from local TV stations have visited orchards more than once to explore the secrets of cultivating delicious grapefruit——
Of course, "Orange TV" investigative reporter Yuka Sakaguchi, who is currently on the fifth island, is not here for this.
The young women had already hid their press passes, and their eye-catching photography equipment had been replaced by compact digital cameras. Wearing a dusty cloth, she dressed herself up like a fruit farmer working day and night. She was carefully hiding in the bushes, listening intently to what was going on in front of her.
"A bunch of trash, it seems like the punishment isn't strict enough?"
"But team leader, we don't have much medicine in reserve. If we increase the power, it might be difficult to treat the walkers in time..."
"It's just a waste of time. We have plenty of labor. If this batch doesn't obey, we'll replace it with the next batch!"
The branches swaying in the wind rustled, making the sound muffled. Even so, the few words that were barely discernible still ignited the reporter's anger.
A few days ago, Orange TV received an anonymous report stating that someone on the fifth island of the Seven Fruit Islands was mistreating Pokémon workers, forcing the walkers to use tricks such as clearing the sky and grass fields to ripen the pomelos in order to gain profits. At first, both the TV station and the police thought this was just a fabricated lie - compared with other islands, the fifth island has the poorest soil and is not suitable for growing crops in large quantities. However, because of this, the fifth island has few residents and a large amount of uncultivated wasteland. The lush trees form a natural barrier. It is difficult to find out whether there is really an illegal orchard hidden there.
As we all know, the Orange Islands police station is far lazier than the Kanto region and has always ignored such outrageous rumors. As a precaution, Orange TV sent investigative reporters to find out. Unexpectedly, they discovered more and more doubts along the way, and finally encountered this shocking scene deep in the wilderness. .
Even with the white noise of the forest covering it up, the man's rough voice and the faint whine of the Pokémon still stung Yuka's eardrums. Perhaps because she was too excited, she wanted to take out the recording equipment, but accidentally stepped on a branch in the process, making a crisp clicking sound.
The sound was not loud, but it was enough to alert the watcher at the entrance to the orchard. They suddenly stopped talking, and the heavy footsteps gradually approached the bush where the reporter was hiding - it was obvious that the guard was following a large Pokémon.
The young reporter didn't even dare to breathe for a while. Her whole body was stiff, and the approaching footsteps seemed to hit her heart, making her dizzy...
No, wait.
It seems like he was dizzy from being choked?
It wasn't until the smoke had dispersed that the overly nervous reporter felt belatedly uncomfortable. She subconsciously wanted to cough, but a hand suddenly reached out from behind and covered her mouth tightly.
The frightened young woman only felt a huge force coming from behind, and she flew up uncontrollably. The moment before she submerged into the dense tree canopy, she saw someone appear where she had been hiding...
Uh, a Ghost Stone lying on the ground eating a grapefruit?
The suspicious mercenary pushed aside the bushes and became furious when he saw what was inside. They cursed and shouted "Grapefruit Thief" and commanded their Pokémon to beat up the ghosts who were eating and drinking and fled.
It wasn't until the two menacing guards came back to sit down that the reporter breathed a sigh of relief. The mysterious man behind him jumped up, stepped on the branches and walked away silently, and did not stop until he stepped onto a ridge with few trees.
At the same time, the hand that restrained Yujia was finally released. The reporter turned around in a hurry and was stunned when he saw the appearance of the person in front of him.
It was a face that was much younger than she imagined - the mysterious man seemed to be a teenager, wearing a black and smart summer dress, with a peaked cap firmly on his head, which was covered with sunglasses. Most of the appearance. Under the brim of the hat, you can vaguely see purple hair neatly tied back, with only a few strands of broken hair hanging naturally on both sides of the face.
"Are you okay?" he asked simply.
But the eyes of the young reporter who had been panicked just now gradually brightened. She took a step forward suddenly - it seemed as if she wanted to hold the hand of the person opposite her directly, and it was only her last shred of reason that prevented her rude behavior - and she shouted loudly with joy.
"Hokuto-kun! I finally see you!"
Mystery man:"……"
Mystery man:"……"
Mystery man:"!?"
After some exchanges, the mysterious man—no, the trainer Beidou finally figured out the whole story.
The sweet pomelo of Seven Islands is famous in the Orange Islands and even the whole country. While it has promoted the development of the fruit planting industry, the huge benefits have also created many black areas. Although Fruit Seven Islands has been strictly inspected more than once, there are still small orchards that do not comply with regulations hidden in corners that are not easy to find.
Compared with the traditional breeding process, it is more convenient and faster to use the power of Pokémon to ripen fruits - obviously, they don't care whether doing this frequently will put a burden on the Pokémon's body.
This valley is located in the most remote and uninhabited area of the Fifth Island. Some people say that it was a cemetery during ancient wars, and there are even rumors of ghosts haunting it. Of course, the so-called haunting is just that there are a large number of walking grasses living nearby, which make various strange noises every night when they start to be active. However, even if they know the truth, the locals are still reluctant to get close to it.
Because of this, the orchard built on the blood and tears of the walkers has not been discovered until today.
"——Oral statements alone are not enough to get the police or the enforcement department to dispatch. Real evidence is needed. For this reason, you want to take a camera to take pictures near the orchard, don't you?"
"Yeah. I just didn't expect that there were people guarding the orchard, and there was no way to find a breakthrough."
Seeing the trainer in black nodding, saying "I understand" and about to stand up, Yujia quickly said, "Hey, wait a minute."
"how?"
"I have observed the guards in the orchard. They change shifts every noon. It should be much easier to approach by then, and..."
The young reporter raised his eyes and said quietly: "I want to talk to you more."
"..."
Looking at the red cheeks and shining eyes of the person opposite, Xiao Ye was speechless for a moment.
Regardless of why this reporter recognized her—the makeshift outfit looked like the summer version of the Quartz League uniform, it was not surprising that she recognized her—she never expected that there would be someone in their twenties. The working man looked at me like a girl in love.
"Beidou-kun, don't you pay much attention to netizens' comments on the game?"
Seeing the young man in black nodding, Yu Jia's tone immediately became high-pitched, "Ah, what a pity, you don't know how many people fell in love with you after watching the Snow Battle - Damn it, why didn't I prepare the manuscript - Uh, I mean! Your performance in the game was really outstanding. I watched the scenes with you over a dozen times! Especially in the Snowy Mountain Villa at night, you were as handsome as an elusive assassin. ! Just don’t always be the first to rush to the most dangerous place. We were all frightened when we saw it. It really scared me to death that you didn’t start the live broadcast after you were injured that day! Now that I see you who are healthy, you can finally rest assured. La. By the way, the final..."
Beidou seemed calm, but in fact, behind his sunglasses, he was looking at Yujia with dull eyes, like a groupie, passionately spitting out a thousand-word essay. After several minutes of machine-gun talk, the reporter took a deep breath.
"——There is one more important thing."
"Don't apologize after saving someone!!"
Facing the woman's serious look, Xiaoye, whose brain had already shut down, could only stand there like a stone sculpture, not even knowing how to respond.
...What about saving people, what about apologizing, what she was talking about, at least it was last year's update, I can't remember it for a long time...
Fortunately, Ghost Stone, who went to survey the terrain, had returned, interrupting Xiao Ye's passionate confession in time.
The big dark purple ghost gestured at the trainer - even though they had known each other for a long time, Xiaoye still couldn't understand Ghost Stone's weird sign language at all, and she could only barely understand it because of the secret translation by the Pichu in her pocket. After Ghost Stone finished her report, she skillfully rewarded the ghost with a few spicy snacks and asked it to search the room where files or computers were kept.
The young reporter watched the ghost with a playful smile fly away and asked casually: "Hey, Beidou-kun, why don't you just use the waveguide to detect it?"
The young man in black paused and did not answer immediately. And Yujia had already filled in the answer on her own, "——Well, I understand, it's too far from the orchard."
Xiaoye said nothing. After the scout ghost returned again, she waved to the reporter.
"follow me."
The orchard is located in the hinterland of the valley, surrounded by mountains on three sides. There is only a relatively flat road leading into it from where the reporter was hiding. Xiaoye did not approach the entrance of the valley - she led the reporter around and arrived at a cliff next to the orchard. Taking advantage of the terrain, they could almost overlook the entire orchard.
A cruel scene that was almost unimaginable to the young reporter was finally exposed.
Large groups of walking grass are forced to surround the fruit trees, creating green grassy fields again and again, allowing the grapefruit trees to grow faster. They all wear heavy shackles on their feet. Once a walking grass is exhausted and stops working, it will be punished with strong electric shocks. Every Pokémon was covered in scars and looked frightened. Even the exhausted Pokémon fell to the ground unconscious. They were randomly kicked into the corner by the impatient guards and lost their voice.
The reporter gritted his teeth to prevent himself from making a sound. She quickly raised her camera and began recording what she saw.
She knew that she shouldn't be controlled by her emotions, and being as calm as that Beidou was the best choice. But after witnessing such a tragic scene, as a member of the trainers, Yujia couldn't restrain her anger, and even the hands holding the camera were trembling slightly.
Walking grass is a nocturnal organism and is used to hiding in the soil during the day to absorb nutrients. Walking plants that are often exposed to direct sunlight and even have to drain their body of energy cannot survive for a long time. Obviously, the orchard operators only regard these wild walking grass as disposable props.
After carefully photographing every corner of the orchard, Yujia was about to put away the camera when he suddenly saw the person next to him taking out the elf ball.
"Beidou-kun...?" the reporter asked in confusion, "This evidence should be enough, there is no need to go further into the orchard."
"It takes a lot of time from the time you submit the evidence to the police arriving here, doesn't it?" Beidou said calmly.
His calm and decisive tone made Yujia instantly recall the game that just ended. More than once, the scene of "Beidou going into danger alone and going deep into the enemy's lines" rumbled through her mind. She was so scared that she grabbed the wrist of her companion, "Wait, what are you going to do? Don't be impulsive. This is not a competition. Once you are beaten, If you catch me, your life will be at risk!"
The young trainer seemed stunned by her, but still said in a gentle tone: "Don't worry - we can just watch here for now."
Yujia looked confused, and when he saw that the people around him had no intention of rushing out immediately, he hesitantly let go.
At the same time, the Poké Ball opened silently, and the grass-green Pokémon appeared in the light. The forest lizard jumped off the stone platform and quickly disappeared among the trees, making it difficult to see clearly; the ghost Pokémon also appeared at the same time, following the footsteps of its comrades and looming into the orchard.
Within two minutes, the ground suddenly began to tremble.
At first, the orchard caretakers did not take this small shock seriously - the Orange Islands are located in an active area of tectonic plates, and small-scale earthquakes often visit, which has long been strange to the locals. It wasn't until the electric shock beast let out a surprised cry that they raised their heads.
The forest not far away was in commotion. There was clearly no wind at this time, but the branches and leaves of the trees were swaying crazily, as if they were the tentacles of an angry creature, making people shudder.
The light in the hidden valley is already dim, and only the clearing of walking grass can barely provide the light needed for the growth of fruit trees. Now the sudden abnormality made the timid Pokémon tremble, and they could only vaguely see something glowing red surging in the darkness.
The guards looked at each other and cautiously stepped forward with their Pokémon partners.
The moment humans stepped into the jungle, the swaying of the branches and leaves suddenly stopped, as abruptly as a paused movie scene. At the same time, they felt a chill coming from behind and creeping into their necks.
The guard turned around hesitantly.
The thing was so close to the human that it almost hit the bridge of the human's nose. No matter how bold the person is, they will freeze in place at this moment, and their heartbeats will almost stop.
It was a huge walking grass that was made of dead branches and leaves and was covered in black and purple mist.
Its empty eyes were dark, and then suddenly lit up with a scarlet light.
====================
small theater:
Yuka: Wow Hokuto-kun, your Ghost Stone has a strong fruity scent on it. It must be very serious in its investigation.
Ghost Stone who secretly eats three grapefruits every time he travels: (guilty)
The guard who would find three piles of grapefruit peels under the tree every ten minutes: (angry)
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Long time no see, I’m back!
Starting today, we finally enter a new chapter (the transitional chapter).
I have been busy recently, so the update frequency may jump between semi-monthly updates and weekly updates. Please bear with me =v=
