Chapter 308: The Search for the Silver Gyarados!

Chapter 308: The Search for the Silver Gyarados!

After leaving the training room, Hikaru was feeling tired, but he still opened up a map of Kyoto's water systems.

He hadn't forgotten—he'd promised Professor Ayame he would find that elusive silver Gyarados.

Truthfully, Hikaru was curious too. A Gyarados that could use Fairy-type moves? That was rare and worth investigating.

But when he looked at the vast web of water systems in Kyoto, he was stunned.

To say there were "many" waterways would be an understatement.

Just counting the interconnected rivers and streams, there were dozens—spanning hundreds of kilometers according to the map.

And there was also a massive reservoir.

"Damn…" Hikaru groaned aloud.

With such a tangled mess of water routes, if the Gyarados was hiding deep within, it would take forever to find.

And even if he found it once, who's to say it wouldn't just swim off somewhere else?

"Alright, fine... I'll start looking tomorrow."

He let out a long sigh, mentally preparing himself for the difficult task ahead.

Right then, his phone chimed—and the sound instantly reignited his spirit.

"Your bank account ending in 61xxxx received funds at 18:23."

A sweet, mechanical voice read the message aloud.

Hikaru quickly grabbed his phone and opened it, only to see a message from Professor Ayame.

[Ayame]: The energy cubes sold. Over 700 million. I even bought a few myself for research.

She attached a screenshot of the transaction history.

Seeing that string of zeroes, Hikaru couldn't help but grin.

He'd expected maybe 500 million at most, but over 700 million? That was beyond his expectations.

Apparently, about 100 million went to taxes, leaving him with around 600 million net.

Still, a huge win.

He replied quickly:

[Hikaru]: Professor, if you wanted some to study, you could've just taken them. No need to pay...

[Ayame]: Nonsense. Public and private matters are separate. I'm really curious how you made those cubes so well!

Then came a voice message:

[Ayame]: (Alright, enough for now. Gotta entertain my boyfriend. "Babe, who are you texting over there…?")

In the background, a familiar male voice could be heard, sulky and mildly whiny.

Hikaru chuckled.

No doubt about it—that was Takashi's voice.

So the fearsome Dragon Master Takashi… could act cute when he was with Ayame?

The image was ruined.

"Ugh… gross." Hikaru shook his head, clearly disturbed by the thought.

"Alright, bedtime."

It had been a long day. Rest was well earned.

He planned to start his search for Gyarados in earnest tomorrow.

Also, with the Master Trainer certificate now in hand, it was time to apply for the school's Pokémon battle team.

October was nearly over.

By November, the Youth League qualifiers would begin.

He had only a few days left.

---

The Next Morning

It was the weekend, with no classes.

Hikaru got up early, fed his Pokémon, and collected another batch of Trait Tokens from Mew.

Then he set out on his plan—to find the silver Gyarados.

The autumn sun was warm but gentle.

By noon, it reflected softly off the lakes and streams, casting shimmering light across the surface.

Hikaru walked along a paved path by an artificial lake in one of Kyoto's parks, using Aura Sense to scan the water.

After a few minutes, he shook his head.

"No good."

This lake was filled with Magikarp.

Occasionally, a Goldeen or Finneon drifted by—but nothing unusual.

He realized he had been overly optimistic.

Ayame had told him the Magikarp used in the lab came from artificial lakes in Kyoto. But she hadn't specified which ones.

So Hikaru started with public parks first.

But after checking several, he discovered his Aura could fully scan each lake in under three minutes.

The real bottleneck was travel time—these lakes were scattered across Kyoto's northeast, southwest, and everywhere in between.

And don't forget the huge reservoir in the northwest, built for Water-type training and fishing.

That, plus all its connecting waterways, made up most of Kyoto's water system.

Which also meant—

Horrible news for Hikaru.

"Guess I'll need Latias after all…"

He sighed again.

More and more, he was realizing how convenient being an investigator was.

Without that status, using Pokémon openly in the city would've been near impossible.

Luckily, Latias had her [Concealment] ability now.

That made things much easier.

Hikaru returned home first, then summoned Latias in his room.

"Sorry to trouble you again…" he said, clasping his hands with an apologetic smile.

Latias tilted her head in confusion.

Was carrying Hikaru around considered "trouble"?

She didn't mind at all.

Seeing her happy nod, Hikaru climbed onto her back.

"When we get back, I'll make something tasty for you. I've got tons of new Psychic-type delicacies."

Latias squinted happily and let out a cheerful hum:

"Um-um~!"

Then she activated [Concealment] and shot skyward from the balcony.

As they soared above the skyline, Hikaru locked in the next search location on his phone and gently patted her head.

"Let's go."

In an instant, they became a blur—vanishing into the sky.

The silver Gyarados search mission had officially begun!

---

Sure enough, calling on Latias was the right move.

Within just one hour, they scanned every park in Kyoto with an artificial lake.

Efficiency increased severalfold.

Then they started scanning the rivers and tributaries connected to the reservoir.

That part took more time.

By nightfall, Hikaru had only checked half of the interconnected waterways.

Still, there was no sign of the Gyarados—not even a faint trace.

As the stars appeared and the city lights came on, painting Kyoto in a dreamlike glow, Hikaru gently tapped Latias.

"Let's stop for today. We'll continue tomorrow."

---

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