Chain Reactions

Yuga spent some time chatting with Chimecho in the Grassland Sub-Ecopark. After all, with no other Pokémon able to approach it in recent days, Chimecho was feeling quite lonely.

As Yuga left the Ecopark, he spotted Officer Jenny patrolling the streets with her Growlithe.

The mummies corpes in the forest on the outskirts of town had truly kept Officer Jenny busy, but they couldn't find any clues, so they had to intensify their patrols every day.

The town had remained calm these days, and no other incidents had occurred, which puzzled Officer Jenny even more.

Could it have been just an accident? Or did the culprit simply pass through Verdanturf Town?

Furthermore, the identities of the two individuals among the mummies corpes remained a mystery, making the situation even more enigmatic.

Shortly after Yuga entered the shop, he noticed that Muya was carrying a severely injured Skitty.

"What happened to this little one?" Yuga asked as he approached.

"Probably got into a fight with some other Pokémon," Muya replied with a smile.

Yuga was suspicious because the wounds didn't appear to be from a typical fight; they looked more like whip marks. However, he didn't press the matter further since she seemed unwilling to share, and he didn't want to make things unpleasant.

"By the way, Idol, do you have any medicine or bandages here?" Muya asked.

Yuga nodded and went inside to fetch some medicine and bandages, which he handed to Muya. He watched as she skillfully tended to Skitty's wounds.

"Why didn't you take it to a Pokémon Center? Nurse Joy would be better at treating it," Yuga inquired.

"Because I don't have any money!" Muya said half-jokingly.

Treatment at a Pokémon Center required payment from everyone except the League's authorized Trainers and their children; otherwise, the League would have gone bankrupt.

"Haha, just kidding! I can handle this myself; no need to bother going to a Pokémon Center."

Seeing Yuga's serious expression, Muya quickly laughed it off, trying to brush it aside.

"Where did you find this little one?" Yuga asked curiously.

"I found it as a stray! Where else would it come from?" Muya shrugged.

Yuga noticed a brief moment of sadness in Muya's eyes when she glanced at the wounds on Skitty, followed by a flash of anger.

The anger in Muya's eyes was genuine and not concealed. Yuga couldn't quite figure out what she was angry about, but he didn't want to pry into her personal matters.

As he watched Muya cradle Skitty and sit down in the shop, Yuga shook his head, turned, and left.

After having lunch, Yuga noticed that Muya was still sitting in the shop, which was a bit unusual.

Did this person never eat? Yuga realized he had never seen Muya eat before. Even during lunchtime when everyone else went to eat, she would calmly stay in the shop.

Yuga had occasionally invited her to join them for meals since there were so many people at home, and one more person wouldn't make a difference. However, she had always politely declined.

Seeing Muya sitting there, not eating once again, Yuga picked up an Pokéblock and brought it over, placing it on the table. He said to her, "Since Skitty is injured, maybe you should let it have something to eat."

These Pokéblocks were normally consumed by Persian as well, so Yuga brought one for Skitty.

Knowing that Muya had no intention of eating, Yuga didn't want to insist. Whether she wanted to eat or not was her own choice.

"Thank you, Idol. You're a really kind person."

Muya accepted Yuga's kind gesture with a genuine smile.

A kind person? Yuga quietly rolled his eyes, thinking to himself, "Who knows what scheming ideas you might have in that head of yours!" He didn't consider himself a kind person.

As Yuga turned to leave, Officer Jenny entered the shop in a hurry, accompanied by her Growlithe.

"Officer Jenny, what's going on? You look quite frantic," Yuga inquired with a puzzled expression.

Officer Jenny, slightly out of breath, said, "Don't even mention it; that Life-Draining Ghost-type Pokémon has appeared again, and this time, four people are dead!"

Appeared again? And four people dead? That's incredibly audacious! Yuga thought.

Yuga furrowed his brow and asked, "Have you found any leads on the culprit?"

Officer Jenny shook her head in distress and replied, "Not a single clue. Even though this time it's just four troublemakers who got themselves killed, who knows who might be next!"

"Wait, you said it was four troublemakers?" Yuga asked in surprise.

"Yes, they were always causing trouble, getting into fights, and have been in and out of jail countless times," Junsa replied.

"Are you talking about those four troublemakers who always mistreated stray Pokémon?" Yuga continued.

"Yes, that's them! You even know about them? It seems they've caused quite a stir around here, and even you've heard of them!" Junsa said in amazement.

It really is them! Yuga thought.

Troublemakers, abusing Pokémon, the injured Skitty, and Ghost-type Pokémon!

A terrible suspicion suddenly arose in Yuga's mind.

He glanced over at Muya, who sweetly smiled at him.

Could it be?

But this was just too much of a coincidence.

As Yuga was lost in thought, Officer Jenny said, "I've informed you about the situation. Please be careful and let me know if anything happens. I have to go now."

Yuga thought, "What's the use of telling you? By the time you arrive, I might be history."

Although he had these thoughts, Yuga still smiled and escorted Officer Jenny out.

It seems I've got quite a bombshell around me! Yuga sighed.

Despite his suspicions, Yuga didn't inquire further. Firstly, there was no evidence, and secondly, it could tip off the culprit. Moreover, if the opponent had overwhelming strength, it might be suicidal.

Putting thoughts of Muya aside, Yuga turned his attention to the task of breeding Gligar with blue potentials.

Just yesterday, Yuga had discovered that one of the Gliscor queens had successfully become pregnant. If he didn't research this promptly, who knew when he'd complete this task?

A few days ago, Yuga noticed that among the berry trees he had cultivated using meteorites as fertilizer, one of the Jaboca berry trees seemed to have mutated. Its once-green leaves had turned entirely brown.

Initially, Yuga thought it might be sick, but after a thorough examination, he realized it was incredibly healthy and grew even more robust than the other berry trees.

Yuga became intensely interested in the growth of this berry tree and began taking extra care of it. He also procured several Jaboca berry tree saplings to experiment further, hoping to produce more mutated Jaboca berry trees.

Although he had no idea whether the mutated Jaboca berry trees would bear berry or what their purpose might be, if he wanted to conduct research, he needed sufficient material.

Perhaps he could cultivate an entirely new species of berry tree!