Pokémon: I have no choice but to do this old thing?

The day after receiving the Black Gold Badge, Zhang Jianying decided to take the three little guys to Yosuga City because Kirlia had recently shown a strong interest in the Grand Contests on TV.

To save money… well, mainly because they couldn’t afford to compensate for the damage that the forest turtles might cause, they opted to retrace the wilderness trails through the Hundred Trees Forest.

"Listen up, everyone."

Zhang Jianying looked at the three Pokémon sternly. "Our destination this time is only Home City. Shall we proceed to the next city safely? Anyone who causes trouble again will be locked in their Poké Ball for a day!"

Forest Turtle: "Umm (◐‿◑)" (Understood! I'll dig a hole silently!)

Gastly: "Hehehe! (￣^￣)ゞ" (I'll scare Pokémon discreetly, I promise I won't get caught.)

Kirlia: "..." (Please stop jinxing me, Sword. Every time you say that, things only end up worse. Just prepare to clean up the mess.)

Sure enough, less than half an hour after the trainer set the goal and entered the forest:

The forest tortoise, trying to sneak away from a swarm of beedrill, dug a hole in the ground, but accidentally disturbed a gopher's nest and was chased all over the forest by a horde of frenzied gophers.

Gastly held up the joke book Zhang Jianying had bought for it and tried to tell a Paras a lame joke, scaring the other into evolving into Parasect. Then, it was covered in angry mushroom spores and fell asleep on the spot, snoring loudly.

Kirlia had to use her psychic powers to calm the enraged Diglett while simultaneously helping Gastly remove the mushroom spores from its body, keeping her extremely busy.

"What terrible things have I done...?"

Zhang Jianying slumped down under a big tree, looking at the chaos in front of him, feeling as exhausted as if he had just finished a full marathon.

Unconvinced, he pulled out his Mind Crystal and prayed to Esprit again: "Red Mushroom, please come and take the Purple Idea King away, and maybe take Turtle with you while you're at it!"

Given the current situation, taking only Gastly will not be of much use.

"Hey, people are made of iron, and food is essential; you'll get hungry if you skip a meal."

Zhang Jianying reluctantly took out his camping gear, preparing to solve the food problem for his two "living fathers" first.

As they ate their meal in the clearing, the forest gradually became unusually quiet. Zhang Jianying held a tree fruit in his hand, munching on it while thinking: Something's not right. It's only midday, why is the Hundred Generations Forest so quiet?

Based on experience, if a forest suddenly becomes so quiet, it's either because a large wild animal has appeared, or a natural disaster is about to strike.

But this is the Pokémon world, so this shouldn't happen unless a legendary Pokémon appears.

He couldn't possibly be so "lucky" as to run into a legendary Pokémon just by going out for a camping trip.

He chuckled self-deprecatingly, "I'm not Ash Ketchum, being chased and filmed by 'Flashy Big-Toothed Sparrow.' How can I possibly encounter so many big events so easily?"

And Kirlia didn't react at all. It seems I was just being paranoid.

Zhang Jianying, however, did not notice that his encyclopedia contained no signal.

After all, a limited edition encyclopedia created by Dr. Yamanashi is unlikely to have signal loss issues, unless it's within the range of special equipment...

It wasn't until they packed their bags and ventured deep into the forest that they realized something was truly wrong.

A damp, cold mist lingered in the forest, seemingly never dissipating.

Kirlia stopped in her tracks, her slender arm slightly raised, and a strong sense of unease emanated from her crimson eyes.

Its extraordinary sensory abilities detected not the vitality a forest should have, but a hollow silence and countless faint, painful cries.

"What's going on, Kirlia?"

Zhang Jianying knelt down and gently comforted his partner.

The forest tortoise stood guard at the front, while Gastly emerged from the shadows, its scarlet eyes scanning the thick fog.

There were no insects chirping, no birds singing; the entire forest seemed to have been muted.

"I don't know either, Jian. I feel... very uncomfortable, but the superpower didn't give any warning. Let's continue to walk in and take a look."

Zhang Jianying didn't say anything, but stood up solemnly.

He didn't believe Kirullian's senses could be wrong, and a sense of foreboding suddenly welled up inside him.

The two lively characters also became unusually serious, and the deeper they went, the more obvious the unusual atmosphere became.

When they parted a patch of grass, the sight before them made Zhang Jianying's pupils shrink.

Several Paras and Orb-weaver spiders were turned into grayish-white stone statues, remaining in the postures of their final struggles and escapes, scattered in the forest clearing. Their petrified eyes seemed frozen in terror, as if silently telling the story of the horror they had suffered.

"This is…"

Zhang Jianying's first thought was Yveltal.

But then I thought it was impossible, since Yveltal wasn't in the Sinnoh region, and if it really was Yveltal, the trees shouldn't have survived either.

"Besides that, it's probably Pokémon Hunter J's petrification technology!" Zhang Jianying's heart sank.

He vaguely remembered seeing a device in the anime that could petrify Pokémon, as described by Hunter J. He had also recently seen this person on a wanted list provided by Wusong.

That woman, infamous in the Sinnoh region for using high-tech weapons to capture and petrify rare Pokémon, has somehow extended her reach here.

Didn't Wusong say that his investigation also included this person? How can someone be so brave as to cause trouble even when being targeted by the Heavenly King?

Kirullian placed her hand on a stone statue of Paras, her body trembling slightly, transmitting fragments of pain and fear she felt to Zhang Jianying.

It was a desperate struggle in the darkness after a blinding ray of light, when senses were swiftly stripped away, the body turned to stone, and thoughts thrashed about.

"Let's go, Kirlia, try to find her and stop her!"

Zhang Jianying clenched his fists. This was not just a hunt, but more like a... clearing operation.

His keen intuition, honed by his past life experiences, told him that this woman was clearing obstacles for some other, larger organizational operation.

I just don't know what kind of organization it is, daring to commit crimes against the wind even with the actions of several top figures.

Following the direction of the stone statues and the source of the pain that Kirullian sensed, they tracked down to a hidden valley.

At the entrance to the valley, traces of human excavation and metal construction are clearly visible, clashing with the surrounding natural environment.

A huge metal door bearing a black meteor logo was half-open, from which came the low hum of machinery.

"Dark Star Organization..."

Zhang Jianying recognized the logo at a glance; it was exactly the same as the logo he had found on a certain unknown "money-giving boy" he had previously arrested.

"This is truly amazing; Venusaur opening the door for Bulbasaur."

Zhang Jianying excitedly took out the encyclopedia, ready to send a message to Wusong, only to find that the encyclopedia had no signal.

"Tsk, they're quite cautious; they even installed signal jamming equipment."

Zhang Jianying was somewhat conflicted.

After all, he only had one person and three Pokémon; it was simply unrealistic for him to face an entire organization.

I'm not a "super rookie" and I don't have that kind of domineering physical ability.

Even if he was once very skilled at such actions.

In today's Pokémon world, all it takes is one Hyper Beam or some random move to knock down the opponent's Pokémon and make them beg for their lives.

What's more, there's an even more mysterious and extreme illegal organization than Hunter J, and he's personally experienced their ruthlessness.

Moreover, this group seems obsessed with controlling and utilizing the power of legendary Pokémon; who knows if any legendary Pokémon have been captured among them.

So many anime and movie plots demonstrate that the advanced technology in this world is illogical, and the legendary Pokémon's prestige has long since faded into obscurity.

But J works for the Dark Star organization? What kind of shady business do they do there?

After thinking for a moment, he decided to try his best to sneak in and find out what was going on. If all else failed, he would just teleport away...

Zhang Jianying signaled his companions to remain quiet, and using the bushes on the forest tortoise's back as cover, they quietly approached the base entrance.

Looking at the few patrolling henchmen, he waved his hand, signaling the outlaw Gastly to sneak over and give them a good hypnotic spell, which he had been practicing diligently recently.

Gastly stuck out its tongue excitedly; if its trainer hadn't forbidden it from making a sound, it probably would have already let out its signature villainous laugh.

It took this as a prank, crept up from the shadows, and then unleashed a series of hypnotic spells on a few henchmen.

At the same time, Zhang Jianying had the forest turtle cover for the Purple Idea King, and several seeds coated with hypnotic powder were silently thrown over, tied in a grass knot, ready to go.

Ultimately, thanks to the efforts of two promising young men who were good at "dirty work," the henchmen fell asleep without any pain.

A blue psychic ripple flashed in Kirlia's eyes as she locked all the Poké Balls, controlling them to prevent any accidents.

Then, he had Kirullian throw a few henchmen into a corner by the door, and Zhang Jianying took off the uniform of a man of similar build and put it on himself.

To be fair, although everyone in this world possesses Pokémon, this "weapon of mass destruction," their vigilance and awareness of defense are not very strong, perhaps because they rely too much on the power of Pokémon themselves.

Picking up the item that resembled a pass from one of the henchmen, he put away the cumbersome Grovyle, took Kirlia, and had Gastly lurk in the shadows as they openly entered the base...

The base was brightly lit and futuristic, yet it was cold and devoid of any warmth.

Through the observation window, they saw transparent energy cages containing various Pokémon that looked listless and had strange wires attached to their bodies.

Their eyes were vacant, as if a part of their souls had been ripped out.

Some researchers from the Dark Star organization, dressed in white coats, recorded data, turning a blind eye to the Pokémon's suffering.

Live animal experiments!

Anger burned in Zhang Jianying's chest.

He suppressed the urge to rush out immediately and directed Gastly to use its Shadow ability to scout ahead, looking for an opportunity to rescue these Pokémon and the control center.

Outside a huge laboratory marked "High Energy Reaction Zone," he witnessed another heinous scene.

Hunter J was handing a giant scythe statue that had just been petrified to a middle-aged man in a black uniform with a sinister air.

Below the black meteor emblem on the man's epaulettes, there was an extra silver line, indicating his distinguished status.

According to the wanted posters provided by Wu Song, this man should be the second-in-command of the Dark Star organization.

"The goods have arrived, what about the remaining balance?"

Hunter J's voice sounds like a mechanical electronic sound effect, devoid of any emotion.

Dark Star's second-in-command chuckled, a smile that sent chills down one's spine: "What's the rush, J? The 'main course' hasn't even been served yet. The 'bait' we laid should have already attracted the attention of that 'distinguished guest.' Your task is to ensure that once it's in, it can't get out."

"I'm not interested in your plans."

J responded indifferently, "I only want the commission."

"Don't worry, once the target joins the network, the commission will be doubled."

The second-in-command's eyes gleamed with fanaticism. "We'll prove to the world that even the legendary 'strongest' Pokémon is nothing more than a more advanced experimental subject!"

The strongest? The experimental subject?

A thought flashed through Zhang Jianying's mind—Mewtwo!

Could it be their target?!