Elf: Who told him to be an investigator!

Chapter 293 The Light Stone and the Dark Stone

Chapter 293 The Light Stone and the Dark Stone

At this moment, in the reception room of the Fanba Dojo in Fanba City.

The decor here has a "rock" style, but what's most special is that this "rock" is also adorned with a lot of glittering gold, highlighting the decorator's nouveau riche taste.

Zigan brought over several cups of hot tea and explained, "My father seems to have gone to investigate an abandoned mine on the outskirts of the city. I heard there have been strange noises coming from there recently, and he needs to go and eliminate the danger. So, Zeshu, if you want to see my father, you should wait for him to return."

Beside Zi Yu, her dragon-headed groundhog echoed her gesture by waving its iron drill.

Little Blue nodded, then looked curiously at the rat-headed earth dragon wearing a bow. No wonder the main Pokémon of the Fairy-type Pokémon Ziyu was a Ground-type Excadrill; it turned out her father was a high-ranking official, and it was a legacy.

Upon arriving here, Ze Shu held down the anxiously flying Hu Pa, trying to calm it down a bit.

But this doesn't seem to be of much use.

Hoopa couldn't calm down. It spun around Ze Shu's head frantically, almost making itself dizzy, and kept muttering things like "Save Mayali" and "Hoopa is so worried."

Since Hoopa is in such a hurry...

"Could we go and look for your father?" Ze Shu sighed and asked Zi Yu, "We need to ask Boss Ju about some things. It concerns someone's safety, and look how worried Hoopa is."

Hoopa, with tears welling up in her eyes, chimed in, "Yes, yes! Hoopa is really worried sick!"

The environment in Fanba City is a mixed bag, and having a local expert to help them understand the situation would be incredibly helpful. And Shiyu's father, Kiku, the Fanba Dojo owner who has been operating in Fanba City for many years, is the perfect candidate.

So Zeki came to this Fanba Dojo.

But they received news that Boss Ju wasn't there.

Zi Yu blinked and immediately said, "Wait a moment, let me ask where my father is... I'll take you to see him."

Ze Shu: "Thank you."

Ziyu smiled and said, "If possible, once things settle down, let me spend an afternoon petting Mr. Zeshu's adorable Pokémon. Well, shamelessly speaking, consider it payment for my help this time..."

'

So he really is a "cute Pokémon fanatic".

Hupa interjected, "As long as it gets Mayali out, you can rub me however you want! Even if it hurts, I won't complain!"

You shameless hupa, don't call yourself "cute".

Ze Shu grabbed Hu Pa, who was already dizzy from spinning around, and put her in his hand.

Ziyu smiled and said, "Then thank you, Huba!"

Within minutes, they were unable to contact Kiku, but Zigan obtained her father's exact location from other knowledgeable people at the dojo. It was a remote area on the eastern outskirts of Fanba City, near Raven City.

Because it is close to a wilderness scenic area, which used to be a semi-desert region, people relied on drilling deep wells to obtain water. But now the desert has been largely cleared, and well water is no longer needed, so abandoned wells are everywhere.

"My father often had a cold expression when dealing with strangers, and people often said that he spoke seriously and was unapproachable. But that was just a facade because he was too busy to cause trouble; he wasn't actually that unapproachable at heart..."

On the way there, Ziyu gave Zeshu and the others a heads-up.

Ze Shu nodded.

Despite being the big boss of a mining company, Kiku often personally works alongside his employees on the front lines of mining. Even when an anomaly occurred in the dry well, he did not neglect his duties as the gym leader and went to investigate the danger for Fanba City at the first opportunity.

Based on this alone, Ze Shu did not doubt Zi Yu's words.

After crossing the Fanba suspension bridge and walking a few more miles, we arrived at our destination, only to find it was an abandoned area with no one living around it, except for a few dry wells.

Upon arriving here, one could vaguely feel the ground trembling.

And then came an angry shout from below: "You wicked man, don't try to escape!"

The earthquake here has intensified once again.

However, a ball of snowflakes suddenly spewed out from a dry well in the farthest distance, and then an ice-blue figure suddenly darted out from it, disappearing in a few breaths.

It was only then that Higanbana realized, "Has something happened?"

No one answered her. Zigan had already run to the well where the noise had come from and anxiously looked down. There she saw a burly figure wearing a leather jacket and a cowboy hat staggering out of the well.

Following closely behind the imposing figure was a rat-headed earth dragon, much stronger than the purple yu's dragon-headed ground rat.

"Cough, cough... Ziyu... how did you end up here?"

Kiku, the eldest, took a few deep breaths: "It's too dangerous here, and this period is likely to be turbulent. I suspect Team Plasma intends to attack Sailbridge! Soon, I'll raise the Sailbridge and seal off Sailbridge first. Ziyu, you should hurry back to the gym, or go back to Blueberry Academy!"

Zi Yu shook her head: "The academy is on holiday."

"And here I came..."

Zi Yu looked at Ze Shu who was slowly walking towards her.

Following her gaze, Ju Laoda also saw Ze Shu. His expression immediately turned serious, and he asked warily, "Who are you?! Zi Yu, do you know him?"

Ze Shu didn't want to argue, so he briefly showed off his investigator badge.

Ziyu didn't quite understand, but the moment he saw the badge, Kiku's expression changed several times. Finally, he lowered his guard, sighed, and said directly, "I just ran into those wanted criminals from Team Plasma, the ones the League is after!"

"Ha, ever since they were wanted by the Alliance, they've become increasingly blatant in their actions!"

"As for the specifics, let's talk about it when we get back to the dojo."

Back in the reception room of the Nafanba Dojo, the tea served by Ziyu was still warm.

There are only Ze Shu, Boss Ju, and Hu Pa here.

"I'm pretty sure that the Plasma Team was the one I encountered in the tunnel under that dry well." Boss Kiku's face turned angry as he mentioned this, his tone almost clenched through gritted teeth. "They wanted to take something I always carried with me."

"And they really did take it away from us."

-

Ze Shu frowned and asked, "What item?"

"1

Kiku: "A rock. At that time, I was working with an excavation team in the wilderness scenic area of ​​Route 4. Kanji, a member of the excavation team, found a rock. It was a white rock that could even emit a dazzling light."

"I'll call this stone the Light Stone for now."

"Just now, Team Plasma stole the Light Stone."

"Thinking back now, my grudge against Team Plasma..." Kiku's forehead veins bulged, "...it seems to have a long history!"

"Because, when I was working in the wilderness scenic area before, I not only dug up the Light Stone, but also another stone - a Dark Stone that was completely opposite to the Light Stone and seemed to be made of deep darkness."

"That stone looked very peculiar at first glance, unlike the Bright Stone, which was white but so ordinary that I almost threw it away. So I contacted Aloe, an expert in ancient artifacts, hoping that Aloe could come and take the stone to the Qibao Museum for research."

"But the Dark Stone was stolen halfway there by someone who didn't know who!"

"After that incident, I started carrying the Light Stone with me at all times. But I never imagined they'd set their sights on me!"

"Considering this incident, the people who stole the Dark Stone were Team Plasma!"

But now, both stones have been stolen.

Ju Laoda was furious and slammed his fist on the table twice.

Fortunately, Ze Shu had already picked up the tea.

"Light Stone, Dark Stone..." Ze Shu mused.

In the Unova Legends, the "divine beasts" Reshiram and Zekrom fought due to their differing ideologies. In the end, both dragons exhausted their power and life force, and fell into a stone state and entered a long slumber.

And the Light Stone and Dark Stone that Kiku mentioned are probably the stones that Zekrom and Reshiram, the legendary Pokémon from Unova, turned into after they lost their life force.

Ze Shu knew that N had obtained the Dark Stone, which represented the ideal.

So now, the Bright Stone, which represents reality, has also been stolen by Team Plasma?

"What light stone, dark stone, Maya, Hoopa's Maya..." Hoopa cried out tearfully, "Ze Shu, Ze Shu! As long as Maya comes back, Hoopa will scoop up any stone for you! As for light stones and dark stones, Hoopa will scoop them up into a mountain for you!"

"Is the Mei Yali you're talking about a girl?" Ju Laoda suddenly asked.

"Yes! Yes!" Hoopa nodded vigorously, hoping, "Mayali, she's a girl!"

"I heard it mentioned by the Plasma Team members who just stole my Bright Stone!" Boss Kiku frowned, his expression serious. "They also kidnapped a girl! Around here! About a week ago!"

"It's Mayari! Mayari is the one who's gone missing!"

Hoopa had completely ignored the incongruity of Mayari disappearing two weeks prior, and the fact that Team Plasma had kidnapped the girl a week earlier. It immediately grabbed Zeki's sleeve, shouting, "Zeki, Zeki, quick, quick, take down that Team Plasma! We need to rescue Mayari!"

Ze Shu said, "But we need to know where Team Plasma is hiding."

Boss Ju decisively said, "Although I didn't catch up with them, I injured them. Combining this with the clue about the girl's kidnapping, they must not be far from here!"

"They might even be hiding in Fanba City!"

Boss Ju found a map and spread it out.

"The Pokémon sent by Team Plasma that attacked me just now were Geometric Snowflake and Double Ice..."

So, where would this Ice-type Pokémon trainer be hiding...?

, 1

Ze Shu: "This."

He pointed to a building on the map, south of Fanba City.

"Cold storage warehouse".

Boss Ju: "Just as I thought! The cold storage warehouse is a building for storing refrigerated goods needed by cargo ships coming and going from Fanba City. Its interior space is enclosed and large enough to easily hide a few people."

"No time to lose!" Kiku's face gleamed with a thirst for revenge. Being robbed twice in a row would make even a Slowpoke angry, let alone Kiku, the boss. "We're off immediately..."

"7

He hadn't finished speaking.

Hupa then eagerly raised the ring: "Go for it!!"

The ring seemed to hang down over the room.

Surprisingly, this time, in its eagerness to save Maya, Hoopa didn't need Zeshu to pull it in from the other side of the ring. It used the ring itself to teleport to the frozen warehouse, taking Zeshu and Kiku with it.

"Where is Mayali!" Hoopa looked around, shivering from the low temperature inside the cold storage, but he didn't even notice this.

Where they teleported, white ice had formed in the cracks of the ground, and tall shelves were piled up on the metal floor, fully stocked with goods.

Ju Laoda looked at Huba, who had moved them here, with surprise, then noticed the surroundings and said, "This is the stockpiling area; it doesn't look like they're hidden here..."

"Let's try another spot!" Hoopa said, summoning the ring. "Go get it!"

Under the circular enclosure, they moved to another location in the cold storage warehouse.

"This is the sorting and packaging center. They shouldn't be hiding in this busy area, since their injuries would be too conspicuous..."

"Catch it! Ugh... It's so cold!"

"This is an extremely low-temperature storage chamber. Although their Ice-type Pokémon can adapt to this temperature, it's clearly impossible for humans to stay here for long, nor can they rest in such a place..."

'

"Then let's try to fish some more!"

At this moment, in a corner of the cold storage warehouse.

Two figures leaned against the wall, one of them holding a stone and staring at it with a fanatical gaze.

"This is the Light Stone..."

"Combined with the Dark Stone that Ghettoss gave to Lord N, our Plasma Team is essentially a combination of Zekrom and Reshiram from the Unova legends... In that case, what does the Unova Alliance's wanted poster even matter!"

"Before long, our Plasma Team will no longer be pariahs, but a nation-building organization that will make the League tremble before our power!"

"Ha, Jero, snatching this almost broke these old bones of ours!"

"Hmph! It's just that the environment at the bottom of that dry well gave that Ground-type Gym Leader, Kiku, a slight edge." Zero looked at the frozen surface of the surrounding cold storage, feeling its chill, and laughed. "With our Geometric Snowflakes and Double Ice, taking advantage of this environment, even if Kiku comes again, he'll probably be frozen solid here!"

"Just like that girl from a week ago, who overestimated herself and wanted to challenge us using dragon-attribute abilities! Apparently, that girl is the granddaughter of our old acquaintance, Shaka..."

Across from Jero, Asura, observing the geometric snowflakes and Double-Action Ice that were perfectly adapted to the cryogenic storage, beamed with delight, "Yes, yes! Our advantage in this cryogenic storage is obvious. Unless some ice-attribute expert comes here, we have victory in our grasp!"

As he was saying this, he suddenly heard a faint, inexplicable "laolao" sound from the void.

"Gero, what did you hear?" he couldn't help but ask.

"What?" Jero was also taken aback.

Immediately.

A golden ring suddenly appeared before their eyes.

"This is the emergency handling compartment of the cold storage warehouse. Normally, no one comes here. If they're hiding, the probability of them being here is quite... uh!"

'

"They're right here!"