Chapter 50

Under Ash's direction,

Mewtwo directly transferred Steven to Ash's presence, which was quite normal,

but in Steven's eyes, this was utterly absurd,

You must know that at this moment he was together with his ace, the Shiny Metagross,

The Shiny Metagross not only possessed Champion-level strength, its typing was Steel+Psychic, and a Champion-tier Psychic-type Pokémon was transferred via Instant Teleportation without warning,

As the Hoenn Champion, Steven inevitably revealed a highly vigilant gaze.

Appearing on an unfamiliar hillside,

His gaze quickly swept over the large parasol, cold drinks, solar-powered refrigerator, solar grill, and the people present,

Upon seeing Ash, an acquaintance, Steven's wary expression faded,

But when he saw the criminal at Ash's feet,

Thinking of the criminal's identity as a well-known Hoenn entrepreneur, Steven's emotion turned to embarrassment.

Scratching his head, Steven chuckled sheepishly,

"What a coincidence, Ash! I didn't expect you to be traveling nearby as well..."

"Really?"

Ash raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement on his face.

"Do you think I'd believe you, the current Hoenn Champion and Stoneheir of Devon Corporation, would just happen to be sightseeing in Kalos for no reason?"

Ash's words instantly drew startled exclamations from the three people grilling meat beside him.

"Huh?!"

"The current Hoenn Champion, sir!"

"The Devon Corporation heir!!!"

Yurie, Serena, and Clemont were all shocked by the identity of the young man before them.

"If the Hoenn Champion sir says that… does it mean this person before us holds a status equivalent to that of Miss Kalos?"

The three locals unconsciously made a rough comparison with someone of equivalent standing in Kalos,

For a moment, Mind's astonishment deepened,

At the same time,

They watched Ash handle the conversation with ease and composure, even subtly taking the initiative when speaking with such a prominent figure.

Inside, the three couldn't help but look at Ash with newfound respect.

Ash's secrets were far more numerous than they had imagined.

Ash lifted his leg and kicked the motionless, limp Violent Flying Dragon customer like a dead dog, then shrugged his shoulders,

The implication went without saying,

Steven's mouth twitched,

"...... Alright,"

His true intention exposed, Steven saw no need to shield the Hoenn entrepreneur any further.

Besides, Ash also knows his father,

knowing that Hoenn's entrepreneurs aren't all like this scoundrel.

"This guy is the head of a travel company in Hoenn.

I only recently learned that he's been conducting illegal dealings in secret, buying many rare Pokémon from other regions on the black market.

This Investigation revealed he was coming to Kalos, so I followed him,

It was a perfect chance to see what allure lies in Kalos, the region producing the most Mega Stones.

Regarding the truth of Steven's words, Ash did not deny them,

One whose love for stones had reached obsession,

who voluntarily gave up the Champion title to seek various gems, entrusting the title to a friend, and then lived a vagrant's life, a vvvvip wanderer's existence,

Kalos, filled with Mega Stone veins, truly is his idea of paradise.

"Now that we've come this far…"

"The one down there must be his accomplice, right? Should I go down and arrest them?"

"No!"

Ash stopped Steven's rash move,

"Wait a bit more! There are other criminals coming."

Pulling a skewer from the freshly grilled rack, Ash looked at Steven.

"Want one?"

"Thanks, I actually haven't had lunch yet."

Steven instinctively reached to take it,

but Ash instead shoved the meat straight into his mouth, and under Steven's resentful gaze, he gestured toward the grill with his eyes.

"Help yourself!"

Fortunately, Steven is naturally good-natured, so he didn't mind,

after greeting Serena and the others and receiving permission,

Steven gracefully picked up a skewer and began to taste it lightly.

After eating a few skewers,

he took out a tissue, wiped his mouth clean,

Steven began to look around.

His gaze swept over Clemont, Yurie, and Serena, finally stopping on the Mewtwo that floated in midair, its light twisted, shielding this place from outside detection,

A flash of envy crossed his eyes.

"Speaking of which, this is the first time I've personally seen your Mewtwo…… How about it, want to try a battle later?"

Ash nodded, "Of course, but before that, I need you to do me a small favor."

"What small favor?" Champion asked curiously,

Ash gave a mysterious smile, "Let's not talk about this now; we'll discuss it after we catch the person. Don't worry, it won't be too hard on you."

What Ash said was naturally Mewtwo's trait enhancement mission.

As Champion, he had multiple tiers of teams,

Among them were the Elite Four team and the Gym team; as long as they contained a Psychic-type Pokémon, they would certainly meet the mission requirements.

When Ash looked again at the enhancement mission below Mewtwo's status panel,

As expected, Champion's name had been added to it.

……

Time flew by,

It was dusk,

A military-green patterned off-road vehicle roared, breaking the mountain's tranquility,

"Here they come!"

Ash and his group watched the off-road vehicle travel all the way over the rugged mountain road, arriving at this dilapidated cabin.

Under everyone's watchful eyes,

The black-market merchant and the scar-faced merchant who had just arrived at the scene were conducting an illegal transaction.

It was filmed in its entirety by the camera in Clemont's hands.

Meanwhile,

Just as the two stood together, a rocket-propelled grenade head marked with an "r" suddenly shot out from a distance.

It looked like it was about to land beside them, which would annihilate them on the spot.

Knowing they could wait no longer,

Ash quickly called out,

"Go, Mewtwo!"

A layer of purple light suddenly appeared on Mewtwo's body,

Below, the high-speed incoming grenade was directly wrapped by a thin psychokinetic film into a sphere,

The grenade struck it,

"Boom!"

Firelight exploded, the grenade shattered violently, and the violent energy frenziedly slammed into the psychokinetic film,

However……

A few seconds passed, the explosion subsided, but the shockwave could not budge it in the slightest.

Below, at the scene,

"Hah…"

They had survived; relieved, the scar-faced merchant's back was drenched in cold sweat.

The fat merchant's condition was no better,

"What the hell is going on? Are you trying to pull a black‑on‑black?"

The fat man pulled out his gun and aimed it at the scar‑face,

However, the scar‑face's reaction was just as quick; his dark gun barrel was aimed at the fat man's head.

"I still want to ask you— I just got here and was ambushed; are you sure you're not behind this?"

Seeing that the other's anger was genuine, the fat merchant hastily called for a halt.

"Wait…… there might be a misunderstanding; otherwise I couldn't possibly be trying to kill myself, right?"

"That makes sense!"

Nodding in agreement,

Seeing no more grenades coming, and with a powerful Psychic‑type Pokémon backing them up,

The two even began chatting as if no one else were around.

"By the way, where did you get such an obedient Psychic-type Pokémon with such tremendous power?"

As everyone knows,

Psychic-type Pokémon have extremely high intelligence,

Therefore, unlike other‑type Pokémon, they are prone to being led into wrongdoing,

They rarely become partners of evil people, but there are still a few Psychic-type species or individuals with wicked tendencies as exceptions.

At this moment the scar‑face's plan was to snatch a similar entity from the fat man,

Then, moving through the dark zones, his own safety factor would greatly increase.

However,

The fat merchant looked as if he had seen a ghost,

"Psychic-type Pokémon? Me? I don't have any! I was about to ask you— didn't you bring it?"

The scar‑face hastily shook his head, "Of course not!"

"Whose is it then?"

The two exchanged a glance, each seeing bewilderment and panic in the other's eyes.

"You two, stop chatting there, could you come over and tell me exactly where the auction will be held a few days later?"

The two turned their gaze toward the source of the sound,

Then they saw a group of people suddenly appear, with Ash leading them, smiling as he looked at the two.