Chapter 111: Stinky Mud

He opened Chou Ni's Attribute Panel again, and the chill in Huo La's eyes almost solidified.

Pokemon: Chou Ni (Alola, Shiny)

Gender: Male

Level: Lv35

Su Xing: B-S

Status: Modified

Nature: Lack of Autonomy

Type: Poison/Dark

Ability: Poison Touch (When a Pokemon with this ability attacks directly, the target may become poisoned.)

Height: 1 m

Weight: 52 kg

Carried Item: Toxic Orb

Moves: Poison Gas (31% proficiency), Mud Attack (27% proficiency), Acid Bomb (18% proficiency), Poison Liquid Impact (19% proficiency), Sandstorm (1% proficiency), Shadow Ball (47% proficiency), Substitute (1% proficiency), Final Drain (1% proficiency)......

Improvement Count: 0

The Shiny Alola Chou Ni is already a rare individual with impressive Su Xing, but the Su Xing rating flickering between "B" and "S" on the panel is like an artifact whose core has been violently tampered with, its stability long gone.

Even more glaring is the "Lack of Autonomy" note; the Pokemon's innate spirit and perception have been stripped away completely.

Looking at the moves list, a swath of skills with only 1% proficiency are crammed together; this is no breeding, but a Sheer Force injection that ignores the individual's capacity.

"Damned it!" Huo La slammed a fist onto the wooden table, which let out a dull groan, and his knuckles instantly flashed with red marks.

Gastly's silhouette drifted silently from the shadows, a pale violet mist rippling faintly around it.

Having followed this brat for so long, it was the first time it saw him display such near‑uncontrollable fury; the eyes that are usually calm now burned with rage.

Gastly said nothing, merely hovering quietly aside, after all it had also seen the form of the Chou Ni.

After a while, Huo La took several deep breaths, forced down the surging emotions, and summoned the system in his mind.

"... Didi—" a cold mechanical voice rang out.

"Check this Pokeball for any tampering," he said at breakneck speed, his voice still laced with lingering malice.

"Command received...... System is scanning, please wait, Host......"

A moment later, the system's flat voice reported, "Scan complete, Pokeball shows no abnormalities."

"Hm?" Huo La's brows knit sharply, "What about the Chou Ni itself?"

"Please release the target Pokemon, Host, for a body scan."

Huo La hesitated for a heartbeat, then pressed the Pokeball's release button.

A red light flashed, and the limp Chou Ni's body dropped to the floor; a nauseating stench instantly flooded the room, making him instinctively cover his mouth and nose, even easing his breathing.

"System scanning, please wait, Host...... Scan complete, target Pokemon 'Chou Ni' shows no abnormalities."

The words "No abnormalities" hung in the air, and Huo La immediately recalled the Chou Ni, only daring a deep breath once fresh air filled his nostrils.

Huo La's fingertips brushed the cold Pokeball shell, his nose still tinged with the lingering foul odor.

The system's scan reports no issues, yet the more "normal" it seems, the more something feels off.

Since when has the Rocket Team become so 'generous', freely handing out a modified Shiny Pokemon? And with a Toxic Orb attached?

After a long pause, Huo La's voice carried a faint, barely perceptible melancholy as he murmured, "Can this Chou Ni… be restored?"

"…Didi, system is retrieving relevant data…… Retrieval complete, it can be restored!"

"Can?" The two words pierced the gloom like a beam of light; Huo La's eyes lit up instantly, and he pressed, "How? Tell me quickly!"

"The Modification Data Record for that Chou Ni must be located…… The system can add analysis and repair functions after the next upgrade……," the mechanical voice stuttered, the trailing sounds crackling like electrical interference.

Huo La's mind was wholly on restoring the Chou Ni, not probing the anomaly; his fingertips lightly tapped the table as he mused, "Modification Data Record… the first step is to find out who tampered with it."

Just as he finished speaking, the door was knocked hurriedly.

Before Huo La could guess the visitor, a disgusted Bilan's voice came from outside the door, "Open up! Huo La, what the heck are you doing in there? That stench woke me up!"

Gastly flickered, slipping silently back into Huo La's body. These days, especially the past two, having followed Huo La, it has grown accustomed to the incomprehensible exchanges between Huo La and the "system."

Huo La opened the door to find Bilan covering her nose, her head poking through the crack, scanning the room as if hunting a source of Pollution. Her gaze swept the space and finally fixed firmly on the Great Ball at the table's corner.

Bilan stepped a few strides in, pinching the Great Ball with her fingertips, then flinging it back onto the table as if it were something filthy, rubbing her palm repeatedly, her disgust evident: "What did you hide? Is this Great Ball filled with 'shit'? It reeks beyond belief!"

Huo La leaned against the chair, his eyes on the Great Ball, and said evenly, "It's from the Rocket Team, a Shiny Alola Chou Ni."

"Chou Ni…" Bilan nodded as if a lightbulb went off, then widened her eyes, her tone full of surprise, "Shiny? And Alola's? Since when does the Rocket Team get this generous! If I'd known, I'd have just joined them; maybe I could snag a Rare Pokemon!"

"Don't even think about it; I still haven't figured out what kind of drugs they're peddling," Huo La shrugged, changing the subject, "By the way, you came over just to complain about the smell?"

"Of course not." Bilan dropped the joking tone, speaking seriously, "I was wondering, after we helped Silph Company solve such a huge trouble, when do we go ask them for a reward? We can't have worked for nothing."

"If you want to broadcast the Masked Child's identity to the world, letting the Rocket Team track us down, go ahead." Huo La gave her a cool glance.

"Then… wouldn't that be for nothing?" Bilan's spirit deflated instantly.

"It's not entirely for nothing." Huo La's tone was flat, "At least, while you were careless, we both survived. And we barely cleared our suspicion."

"How would I know Yingzi is the 'Secretary'!" Bilan's cheeks flushed as she retorted loudly, her voice tinged with grievance and frustration.

"Sigh." Huo La let out a light sigh, "Don't meddle in unnecessary side matters from now on. I recall when we first met, you weren't like this—cold, but at least you retained the proper reason."

The words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly dousing Bilan's anger.

She pressed her lips together, lowered her gaze into silence, her slender fingers absentmindedly tugging at her hem, clearly caught on a sore spot, lost in thought.

The room fell quiet for a moment, and Huo La was the first to break the silence: "I'm leaving Goldenrod City tomorrow, heading to the next stop, Yuhong City."

"Yuhong City?" Bilan snapped her head up, a flash of understanding in her eyes, "My intel network mentioned that place might hide a secret Rocket Team base."

"Not interested, don't know, don't want to get involved!" Huo La blurted out a Triple Refusal, his tone resolute with no room for negotiation.

Bilan was about to say more when a booming, energetic shout from Ash echoed down the hallway: "Huo La! Huo La—! Open the door quickly!"

Following closely behind was Xiao Gang's helpless yet gentle admonition: "Ash, keep your voice down! There are many Trainers and their Pokemon living here; being too loud will disturb others."