Chapter 124: The Gangster Youth

Chapter 124: The Gangster Youth

Suddenly being asked if he wanted to have a Pokémon duel, Arthur was also a bit stunned.

In his memory, it had been quite a long time since he had fought in a formal arena competitive match.

Although he had entered the youth training camp, ever since the initial assessment ranking tournament, everyone had been busy training, and there were rarely any battles between them.

Later, in order to earn money, he ran off to be an outdoor streamer for a month. After learning the news about the Stitched Shadow Army and Gengar in Crescent Bay, he again non-stop requested leave, went to Lavender Town to strengthen up, and then directly rushed to the border.

In between, he had probably gone nearly half a year without fighting a competitive match.

Thinking about it this way, it felt quite nostalgic.

However, being asked like this without any warning still felt quite sudden.

"Why would you want to duel me?" Arthur asked first.

The young man quickly waved his hands, "Don't misunderstand, I don't have any other meaning."

"You're an outsider, right? I've never seen you before."

"Don't worry, I'm not trying to bully anyone. It's just... it's just that those guys always cheat; every time, they refuse to properly follow the rules and compete with me. I can never find anyone to practice competitive duels with. So, seeing that you also have Pokémon, and your aura looks quite formidable, I just asked if you wanted to have a round."

This kid looked like he genuinely loved this form of competition.

Moreover, judging by his commands, he should have ordinarily watched professional matches and specifically practiced—

He knew how to grasp his Pokémon's advantages, wasn't anxious or impatient, didn't rush to chase more agile opponents, but instead always waited until he had forced the opponent into a corner, entering Honchkrow's strong domain, before preparing to strike.

His thought process was clear, and there were no problems with his execution in between.

Unfortunately, his opponents didn't play fair; the moment they saw the situation turning unfavorable, they would immediately foul and run, slipping away incredibly fast.

It left Honchkrow with strength it couldn't use, which was very frustrating.

Arthur felt that the competitive strength of the kid before him was likely stronger than everyone in his own training camp's current batch, already approaching the level of a near-graduate.

Such an opponent was hard to come by.

However, he had come here, after all, with proper business to attend to.

"Sorry, I might not have time. I came over to find the Yharnam Gang. Do you know these people?"

Originally, Arthur had just asked casually. He had already asked several passersby along the way; it was purely mentioned in passing.

Unexpectedly, the young man before him gave an surprising reaction.

"You're looking for the Yharnam Gang? You, an outsider, coming here to look for a local gang, what for? Besides, the Yharnam Gang's territory isn't here; their turf is a few streets over that way."

"You know where their territory is?"

The youth didn't answer immediately.

At this moment, his gaze towards Arthur had already become slightly wary. Honchkrow also flapped its wings, hopping back to position itself protectively in front of him.

Although he had looked quite goofy during the Pokémon competition just now, being teased and run around in circles by the kid commanding the Pikachu, having grown up in this dangerous street district, the wariness ingrained in the youth's bones was still present.

However, the other party's series of actions made Arthur feel quite surprised for a moment.

Looking at it this way, the youth before him, likely not even fifteen years old, seemed to have a rather significant connection with the Yharnam Gang he was looking for.

Since when did local gangs start recruiting kids this young?

The slums of the Star Brilliance Alliance are truly full of talents, ah...

While complaining internally, Arthur's surface demeanor also quickly adjusted his strategy; he no longer asked so casually.

He first took something out of his pocket and showed it to the youth.

"Don't misunderstand. I'm looking for the Yharnam Gang just to move some goods. Not 'powder' (drugs). It's Pokémon related."

What he took out was precisely a portion of the poacher group's loot that David and the others hadn't handed over earlier. In order to lure out the masterminds of the Stitched Shadow Army, Arthur had quietly 'borrowed' some before leaving the embassy.

With his skills, this wasn't very difficult.

At this moment, what he showed the youth was precisely a pair of Ledian eyeballs, sapphire blue, translucent like sapphires.

It was precisely because their eyeballs were extremely beautiful, like precious gems, that it brought a fatal calamity upon this type of Pokémon. On the black market, wealthy individuals often acquired Ledian eyeballs at high prices, buying them merely to process into jewelry for adornment.

After the Great Reconciliation arrived, the laws of various Alliances all prohibited this type of organ harvesting that would harm a Pokémon's life, with only a few low-intelligence Pokémon like Gyarados being exceptions.

Selling Ledian eyeballs through legitimate channels was explicitly forbidden; this was just like how nationally protected animals in a certain parallel world couldn't be eaten—both buying and selling were illegal.

So, Arthur taking out this item and saying he was looking for a gang was logical and reasonable.

The youth glanced at it, a trace of disgust unconsciously revealed in the depths of his eyes, but his wariness, however, was consequently lowered quite a bit.

He was seen pondering for a moment, then immediately spoke, "Then let's do this: you accompany me for one round of a Pokémon duel. Regardless of whether you win or lose, I'll take you to find the Yharnam Gang."

"You really have a connection with the Yharnam Gang?"

"Of course."

The youth confidently pointed to his own Honchkrow.

"My Honchkrow is very formidable, right? In the slums here, ordinary people can't afford to raise such a Pokémon."

This time, it was Arthur's turn to look at him with slight surprise.

It had to be said, this kid's logic was very clear, well-reasoned and justified, making it convincing.

Perhaps he really did have connections with the local gangs.

It's just one match, anyway; I won't lose anything by it either way.

So, Arthur then agreed.

Afterwards, he looked at Frogadier beside him, but unexpectedly, Frogadier at this moment actually put on the bearing of a family elder.

He indicated that Arthur could first ask the other Pokémon for their opinions; if none of them wanted to go up, then he would enter the field.

This sudden maturity actually made Arthur view him in a new, more favorable light.

He never expected that this little blue frog, who when he first came home didn't want to train all day and clamored daily about wanting to pull all-nighters soaking in the bath watching anime, had now actually grown into an elite capable of holding the line.

He was increasingly beginning to possess the demeanor of an ace Pokémon.

Of course, in Arthur's view, although Frogadier had nailed the 'bearing' aspect, his 'strength' aspect still needed improvement.

The summary was: still needs practice~

However, for this battle, the final chance to enter the field wasn't left to Frogadier. Instead, it was ultimately given to Little Lapras, who proactively volunteered.

Due to Lapras finding activity on land inconvenient, coupled with her species' innate body size being larger than Frogadier's—even in her youth stage, her body length was over a meter—it usually wasn't very convenient to bring her out.

These past few days, Little Lapras had spent most of her time inside her Poké Ball, only occasionally getting to come out for some fresh air.

This had nearly suffocated the little one with boredom.

Therefore, this duel was extremely precious to her.

Frogadier naturally wouldn't fight her for it then.

As for Honedge? This fellow had already gotten used to being held. Nowadays, its mentality was gradually becoming Buddha-like; it no longer even looked forward to scenarios of independent combat away from Arthur's hand.

As if it no longer possessed those worldly desires...

Thus, the duel was finally decided as—

Little Lapras versus Honchkrow.

A 1V1 spar.

About to begin!

(End of Chapter)

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