Desolate Land (2)

"Kaow!"

"That's the village we're from, Rotom!"

Rotom, the chief translator, delivered his shock.

The others present also revealed looks of anticipation. They hadn't expected a small act of kindness to directly bring a part of their mission target to them.

But they soon flowed to react to something else as well...

"Since you're from the village and now you're here...w hat's wrong with the village?"

Rope asked in a fairly subtle way. He had already guessed the end of the village.

"Ka...ka ow."

It was obvious that little Gible was in a bit of a slump.

"He said that the village had completely died out decades ago. There are no humans surviving inside now. Loto."

The demise of a village was nothing when placed in a long period of time with a century as the basic unit of measurement. But when you actually feel the powerlessness of that demise, it's extraordinarily sad.

"Where are the humans? All dead?"

Now Rope wasn't going to keep up the euphemisms.

Little Gible shook his head, "Ka ka ow!"

"He said a lot of them left the desert and ran away to the cities. His mom and dad stayed back then with a lot of Pokémon. Guarded the village. Loto."

Rope nodded at that, it looked like the village shouldn't feel completely gone yet. As long as there were people around, then there was a legacy in place.

Still...

"What about your parents?"

Rope once again led the conversation into the middle of a rather awkward situation.

Little Gible didn't hesitate too much, saying rather calmly, "Ka."

"They're dead, Rotom."

Rotom suddenly got the feeling that his own boss really had a knack for revealing people's scars!

The fact that a little Gible was the leader of such a group was unusual enough in itself. Now you're making a point of asking if people's parents who didn't show up here are hung over...you're really good at that. Can't you tell?

Of course Rope could see it. To be able to become the leader of an entire team with the first stage of evolution was in itself unreasonable, and if little Gible had the support of powerful parents behind him then of course it would make sense.

But now that the kid's parents are dead, it's incredible that these Pokémon are still willing to listen to him.

Either little Gible's parents have a lot of accumulated favors, or little Gible is super powerful. Or simply both.

"How did it die?"

Whitley and Diana were both looking at Rope a little less favorably at this point.

Big brother, we're just getting to know people now. It's already okay enough for people to talk to you up to this point, why are you still stomping on them?

Even a god-level Pokémon like Hoopa felt that Rope had just asked this question in a very wrong way...

He didn't have parents, but he knew that if a stranger asked him that, he would probably have already gotten into a fight with someone.

Little Gible was also a bit speechless. It was okay though, as far as he was concerned, Rope was the one who had saved all their Pokémon. The sands had come in surprisingly strong this time. If Rope hadn't taken them in, the exhausted ones might have been gone.

"Khaw!"

"Er...he said his parents died in the middle of a big sandstorm. Lotor."

The crowd was also speechless. It's really just one person who dares to ask, and one person who dares to answer. Don't you guys have to think about politeness?

But since the people involved didn't care, they had nothing to say.

Rope stroked his chin, then faintly said, "Can you give us the details of the village's address? The purpose of our visit here is to see what exactly is wrong with this village besides."

Little Gible nodded without much hesitation. Although the village was important. But that was just a ruin after all. Even if he didn't tell Rope himself in the end they were bound to find it. After all, it wasn't far from where they were now.

Little Gible looked at the sandstorm, which was a bit weaker than before, and spoke seriously to Rope, "Khaw!"

"He said they're taking us there when the weather gets a little better. Lotto."

Unexpected and reasonable, Rotom wasn't all that surprised by Rope making such a result. After all, the guy in front of him was Rope, a man who had created countless legends.

On the contrary, Rope raised his eyebrows and asked, ''You guys don't have your own things to do? You can actually not have to accompany us."

The corners of Diana's mouth twitched at that, it didn't sound like a nice thing to say, it felt like Rope was planning to mess with people's hands. Like stealing from the family or something, so he told the host family to stay away from him.

"What's Rope up to?" * N

There were not to mention these companions in the room. Even little Gible across the room froze a bit.

He said, "If you have such an attitude, then I can't leave even more. If you do something, won't I lose a lot of money?

"Khaw, kaw!"

He rushed to speak.

"Err, little Gible said no, they really don't have anything to do, and they're only here to find a place to survive. Rotom."

Rotom was still dutifully translating.

Rope rubbed his chin and said, "So you guys don't really have anything to do?"

Why is this man talking so hard? Little Gible wondered, it was reasonable that someone who treated people so kindly shouldn't be so rude.

Isn't it obvious that others are hobos?

Other rag-pickers call themselves 'scavengers'...

"Ka..."

"Well, that's pretty much it. Rotom."

It's also Rotom who's followed Rope through quite a few similar things, otherwise he'd have been unable to hold on by now... it just doesn't seem like something that can be said.

"Then how about you guys follow us out afterward?"

Rope diagrammed.

Little Gible instantly frowned when he heard this. There was still a slight suspicion in his eyes when he looked at Rope.

However, it wasn't just Little Gible, even Whitley and Diana also looked at Rope, for a moment not quite understanding what this guy meant.

Gabite on one side even directly pulled out the arm blade in his hand.

"Ka ow!"

"Rope... people are angry right now and suspect you of having bad intentions."

This time, without waiting for Rotom to speak, Hoopa spoke up somewhat helplessly.

Seemingly sensing the tense atmosphere here, those Pokémon here also raised their heads and looked towards this side. Some of them even made a stance of preparing for battle.

Rope shook his head and said, "Calm yourselves. I don't mean any harm."

The words were so pale that no one believed them.

But little Gible believed it. He shouted toward the Pokémon behind him and to the side.

"Khaw."

"Eh? Ahem, I'm sure, this human is harmless, so don't do anything rash, you guys. Lotor."

Rope looked at the little guy in front of him, more or less. Such a little guy is really rare!

A leader at such a young age?

Little Gible couldn't actually tell if Rope had any so-called malice towards them or not. He had simply analyzed that Rope's team would easily be able to dispose of the Pokémon.

In such a situation, no matter what was said, it seemed redundant. Because little lives were simply not pinched in their own hands.

"I'm serious about what I'm saying. You guys guarding the village here is something that is simply pointless. The truly precious thing in this village is already gone, even if it is still there that thing is not very relevant to you guys is all."

"And the environment here is still so harsh. I'm not an alarmist either. This time you guys were lucky to meet us. How are you going to handle yourselves the next time you encounter a big sandstorm like this?"

Rope nonchalantly questioned the little guy in front of him.

Little Gible was silent.

Gabite on the other side, however, cried out, "Khaw! Kah ow!Ka ow!"

"Rope, people say they won't be encountering the Great Desert next time. After all, after an incident like this one, they've memorized the omens of this weather's appearance. Lotto."

When she said that, Gabite also confidently looked at Gible beside her, as if she had the strongest trust in him.

Rope couldn't help but shake his head when he heard that, then similarly looked at Gabite and Gible in front of him, before glancing at the Pokémon whose eyes showed a proud look.

"Little Gible really gave you guys a lot of confidence."

Rope said rather emotionally.

The Pokémon, led by Gabite, all had a 'this is how it's supposed to be' look on their faces.

"But he's just a kid...why should he pay such a heavy price for you guys?"

Rope asked, rather puzzled.

Then the faces of those Pokémon quickly became gloomy like a dark cloud covering the sun.

What Rope meant was not clear to them. But they knew. the words that came out of Rope's mouth were definitely not praising them.

"This place is just barren. You don't have enough food, you don't have enough living space, and you don't even have enough strength. Then what right do you have to put the pressure of your own survival on this little child."

Rope's face also grew colder as he spoke.

"Do you guys realize how heavy it would be on a child's psyche to put such a heavy weight on him? Hasn't any of you thought about carrying something for him?"

"What are you guys? Are you guys incapable of taking care of yourselves? And you guys are stupid."

"I'm taking you all to another place where all kinds of resources are plentiful. Not to sell you guys for money. Seriously, I don't even think you guys are that much before."

Of course Rope didn't think these Pokémon were worth anything. It was important to realize that Rope wasn't even interested in these Pokémon themselves anymore. Not to mention that these Pokémon were worth the two dollars.

And right after Rope finished speaking, all the other Pokémon here stopped talking.

They were staring at Rope in a daze. The words Rope just said were still echoing in their minds...

"Khaw."

Gible looked at Rope with a determined expression.

"Er, he said..."

Rotom was interrupted by Rope before he could finish his sentence.

"I know what he's trying to say."

Rope similarly looked directly into the eyes of the little one in front of him and spoke, "I still stand by my opinion, a child is just a child and shouldn't have to carry such a heavy burden."

This was the same reason why Rope's had not forced Ash to follow his side even now. He believed that with his own counseling and the pressure of all the things going on over here, Ash's ability would rise very quickly.

But kids just shouldn't have to take on so much. The age to do something is the age to do something.

"Khaw."

"I'll take you to the ruins of the village. Rotom."

Without waiting for Rotom's words to finish, little Gible simply turned his head and left.

It looked like there was no thought of chatting with Rope anymore.

Rope nodded indifferently. Then he didn't talk anymore either.

The wind and sand were still howling outside the shield. But Whitley always felt like he heard a whimpering sound.

It was just an illusion. Or maybe the current atmosphere was just too good for someone to cry a little.

So with the whistling, Rope went to sleep. He was also quite tired. While he couldn't move now, he simply slept. Such a good chance to sleep doesn't come along very often.

"Rope, Rope, wake up!"

Whitley gently pushed Rope twice. originally thought she would push a flame. Who knew that breaking today actually really poked Rope's body.

It looked like this guy was kind of really relaxed.

But that being said, he also somehow felt relaxed while he was here. Even the Green Vine Snake felt comfortable here, especially when the sandstorm blew up.

Rather, it was Rope's Pokémon who reacted that they didn't like the feeling of this place very much.

"Eh~ This sleep of water is really good!"

Rope grinned after stretching out a big stretch.

"I feel pretty comfortable too."

Whitley said with a nod.

"It should be because of the Water Origin. It looks like the Water Origin should still exist here, only that it has been sealed as well..."

Rope stroked his chin thoughtfully, as if he had thought of something.

"What is it?"

Whitley stood up first, then offered her hand to Rope.

Rope grabbed her hand, then cooperated as she pulled herself up.

After getting up, Rope shook her head gently and said, "It's not a big deal...it's just that I think there's a good chance that this place isn't the purely barren land I was talking about before."

"If the seal of the Water Origin is broken, perhaps this place can still be restored to its previous watery and lush appearance."

Whitley was a bit skeptical, "Is that necessary? There is no one here anymore. What's the point of even restoring it back?"

"And aren't you going to keep the Water Origin around? If you don't take it, someone will always come back for it."

Rope was somewhat silenced by Whitley's series of questions. After a moment nodded.

"Maybe, but I'll still try to save this place...it's not good to be truly desolate..."

With that said, Rope made his way towards where the Pokémon were converging not far away.

Their next destination was the lost village.