Chapter 41: The Thunderstorm House

Running through the streets.

"This is bad." Nero smacked his forehead. "I still don't know where Pichu lives. How am I supposed to find it?"

Pichu's origins had always been a mystery. Since he couldn't understand Pokémon language, Nero had never asked where Pichu actually lived in this city.

A headache immediately set in. There was no other way—he had to ask around.

"Excuse me, sir, have you seen a Pichu around here? It's a small yellow mouse with pink cheeks—super cute and often with me."

Nero started questioning a vendor selling candied apples nearby.

"Oh, that one?"

The apple vendor was momentarily stunned before nodding. "Yeah, I remember that Pichu. It's really adorable. You seem worried—did you have a fight with the little one? From what I recall, that Pichu is female. Girls need to be comforted, you know. As her Trainer, you should be coaxing her."

"Uh…"

For a moment, Nero didn't know how to respond.

He often brought Pichu here, strolling around, eating candied apples, browsing stores, and on rare occasions, even treating themselves to roasted chicken.

Over time, the nearby vendors and townsfolk had grown familiar with this peculiar trio—a boy, a Combusken, and a tiny mouse Pokémon.

Many assumed that Nero was Pichu's Trainer, but…

They were mistaken. Pichu wasn't actually his Pokémon.

Pichu was still a wild Pokémon, wandering through the city. If someone else attempted to catch it, there was a high chance they'd succeed!

Nero felt a wave of regret—he had been too careless!

Lately, he had been so caught up in the school tournament preparations that he had completely neglected Pichu, not even knowing where it lived.

"Hey, kid, are you looking for Pichu?"

Suddenly, the lady running a nearby barbecue stall chimed in.

"Auntie, do you know something?"

Nero felt like he had found a lifeline and dashed over to the barbecue stand.

The woman was surprised by Nero's urgency but didn't tease him about it.

"Normally, I see Pichu passing by my house. That little thing is really sweet and friendly—it always greets me. But something's off. I haven't seen her since yesterday."

Yesterday was Monday. Pichu hadn't shown up at the training dojo in the afternoon. And now, from what the barbecue stall owner said, Pichu had been missing the entire day.

That was longer than Nero had expected.

"Auntie, do you know where Pichu lives?"

"That, I don't know. But I do know that Pichu often plays with my neighbor's Clefairy, along with a few Igglybuff and Smoochum. They might know where Pichu stays."

After thanking the woman, Nero hurried off to the location she mentioned.

Following her directions, Nero found a Igglybuff. It seemed wary of humans, but Combusken stepped in to communicate, explaining their search for Pichu.

Igglybuff, too, hadn't seen Pichu for the past two days and was worried for its safety. It agreed to help.

With Igglybuff leading the way, Nero and Combusken arrived at Pichu's home.

It was a low, dilapidated house. In the yard stood a solitary paulownia tree, its bark charred in places. A few withered leaves fluttered to the ground.

The tree swayed weakly in the wind, looking lifeless and frail.

On the way there, Nero took in his surroundings.

This place was far from the city center, an isolated area with few human residents.

Suddenly, he connected the dots—this was the same street where he had chased Meowth on New Year's Eve. And when he first met Pichu, it had been near the abandoned "Haunted Kindergarten" in this very district…

It seemed this really was "Blackbay Street." A place where all sorts of inexplicable events occurred. For Pichu to have been living here all this time—it must not have been easy.

Nero pushed open the door and began surveying the house.

Since it was already dusk and the sun was about to set, only a few scattered rays of light managed to filter through the broken windows. Even so, the entire house remained dimly lit.

There was an electric light, but there was no way it still had power.

The walls had long since peeled, leaving behind a rough and uneven surface.

"Igglybuff, Combusken, let's split up and search."

"Chaamo!"

Igglybuff and Combusken both nodded before beginning their search throughout the house.

The house had two floors. Judging from the overall layout, the original owner must have been fairly wealthy.

There were burn marks scattered throughout the rooms, suggesting that before being abandoned, this house had experienced a fire of some sort.

Nero walked one round through the main hall but found nothing unusual. However, just as he was about to move on, a mechanical voice suddenly rang out!

At the same time, a blue, semi-transparent screen materialized in front of him.

Ding!

[The system has detected this location as a special environment. Would you like to check in to unlock this site?]

"What the—this place counts as a special location?"

Nero was momentarily stunned. This was just a regular abandoned house—at most, it had suffered a fire.

Could it be that the fire had some deeper significance?

Without any hesitation, Nero chose "Yes."

The screen immediately displayed the words: "Unlocking and analyzing map, please wait..."

After about ten seconds, a cross-sectional analysis map appeared before Nero.

Alongside the map, a series of words were displayed—

Location: Thunderstorm House

Map Model: Urban Environment No. 10

Background Information:

…

—

"Pi!!"

A golden bolt of electricity crackled through the air, lighting up the pitch-black alleyway.

The Electric attack surged toward a large rodent with a yellow-brown body standing behind Pichu. The most notable feature of this rat was its two large white buckteeth. It was significantly bigger than Pichu but surprisingly agile.

Effortlessly dodging the Electric attack, Raticate dashed forward with a streak of white light trailing behind it—Quick Attack! In an instant, it closed the distance and slammed into Pichu.

Pichu's small body was simply too frail to withstand such an impact. It was sent flying backward, crashing hard against the solid wall.

"Pi… Pi…"

Covered in wounds, Pichu could barely let out a weak cry. Its pink cheeks sparked faintly as it tried to muster up another Electric attack, but it had already expended too much energy. The electricity it had just gathered fizzled out almost instantly.

Raticate loomed over the fallen Pichu, while a shadowy figure slowly emerged from the depths of the alley.

It was a disheveled, overweight man with greasy greenish hair, an obscenely bloated figure—he must have weighed nearly 200 pounds. His hair was oily, his features were unappealing, and his demeanor was downright sleazy…

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