...
Opelucid City has a very distinct dividing line.
On the east side of the city, the streets are paved with asphalt, the architecture is more modern, and buildings are adorned with all kinds of lighting, giving off a highly advanced, futuristic, sci-fi vibe.
On the west side of the city, there are more trees, the sidewalks are paved with bricks and aren't as smooth. Most of the buildings lean towards a classic style, with walls decorated with stone reliefs that evoke an old-world classic feel.
This is one of Opelucid City's biggest features: combining two styles—classic and sci-fi—into one city.
In the middle of the dividing line sits the Opelucid City Gym, a famous Dragon-type Gym.
And just as Natsu sculpted Dialga and Palkia into his own Gym, the Opelucid City Gym also features two dragons of different colors: the White Dragon Reshiram facing the classic west side, and the Black Dragon Zekrom facing the sci-fi east side. They are also the two strongest Dragon-type Pokémon in the legends of heroes in the Unova Region.
Natsu stood outside the Opelucid Gym, looking at this massive Gym located in the center of Opelucid City.
It was undoubtedly several times larger than his own Gym.
A constant stream of people entered and exited the Gym's doors, some cheerfully and others with unconcealed frustration.
"This is how a big city's Dragon-type Gym should be," Natsu grinned.
Opelucid City has a long history, and this Gym naturally isn't comparable to Natsu's.
The most important thing is that the current Gym Leader of Opelucid Gym, Drayden, isn't just a Gym Leader; he's also the mayor of Opelucid City and the principal of the Opelucid Pokémon Academy.
"Yeah—excuse me, excuse me!" A slightly hurried voice sounded not far behind Natsu.
A small girl was seen holding a book with both hands and frantically moving towards the Opelucid Gym. The little girl stumbled and bumped into many people one after another. However, when passersby saw her appearance, they didn't scold her but showed understanding smiles, as if they were used to her behavior.
"Are you going to be late again, Iris?"
"Slow down, Iris, and stop running."
"..."
From these comments, this little girl's name was Iris. Iris still had time to retort while running, clearly not wanting to be treated like a child. "I know, I'm not a kid anymore!"
Unfortunately, when she turned around, she ran directly behind Natsu, who was standing in front of the Gym. When she turned, she saw Natsu's back already close, and her expression suddenly changed.
"Watch out!" But her body was moving towards Natsu's side. Clearly, she had changed direction suddenly, and she was very likely to fall directly because of it.
Just as she lost her balance and was about to fall, a strong hand immediately gripped her arm, preventing her from making close contact with the ground.
Huff-
Iris, sitting on the ground, relaxed for a long time, patted her chest, and looked up, meeting Natsu's smiling face. "Are you okay?" Natsu asked gently.
"No, I'm fine!" Iris hurriedly stood up, bowing towards Natsu and saying, "Thank you."
"Yeah! I'm going to be late!" Iris responded.
But before she could run again, a book stopped right in front of her.
Looking at the book, it was Natsu holding it.
"Even if you're in a hurry, you shouldn't be impatient. Otherwise, you won't be able to become an excellent Trainer, let alone a 'Dragon Master'." Returning the book to her, Natsu patted her head with a smile.
"Huh? How did you know that?" Iris suddenly showed an unexpected expression when she heard Natsu say this.
Natsu didn't answer, just looked at her book. On the cover of the book Iris was holding, it read "Fundamentals of Dragon-type Pokémon."
Iris was surprised.
"Keep going," Natsu patted her shoulder.
"Hmm!" Iris nodded, holding the book and running towards the Opelucid Gym.
This time, it was clearly much better than before.
When she reached the Gym door, she was greeted by a white-bearded man. He wasn't young at first glance, but he was an incredibly burly old man. Wearing a white shirt and trousers, his muscles were clearly visible on his rolled-up sleeves, and he wore black gloves, looking very serious.
Iris's heart skipped a beat when she saw him, showing a hint of fear. She hurriedly said, "Grandpa Drayden."
This old man was the Opelucid City Gym Leader, Drayden, and also the principal of the Opelucid Pokémon Academy. Iris was a student at the Opelucid Pokémon Academy.
"You're late again, Iris." Drayden looked serious, but his tone was fine.
"Yeah—I'll clean the Gym later," Iris stuck out her tongue, admitting her fault. Then she added, "Grandpa Drayden, I just met someone. He made me feel like you. He was right there..." When Iris turned around, she didn't see Natsu's shadow at all. "Huh? Where is he? He was just there."
Drayden also didn't say anything, just narrowed his eyes at where Natsu had been standing, and didn't speak. "Come in," Drayden said softly.
"Oh—" Iris replied, heading into the Gym.
"Are you teaching students according to their aptitude? Iris, this girl, she's a little unsuitable for studying and rules and regulations." Drayden muttered to himself, and turned towards the Gym.
...
...
...
The entrance to Opelucid City's black market.
With a smirk, Natsu ignored the vendors selling cloaks and masks at the black market entrance and entered Opelucid City's black market.
"I'm lucky to come to Opelucid City. Not only did I see Drayden, but I also met Iris, the future Champion of the Unova Region. I hope the black market can be just as smooth," Natsu muttered to himself.
Opelucid City's black market, like Opelucid City itself, was also divided into two very different styles. It was easy to find the Hunter's Guild's black market base.
But unfortunately, the Hunter's Guild, which should have been bustling with people, now had only a few people at its entrance.
The lights in the large hall were dim, and even the hall was a bit messy, with signs of a battle.
Natsu paused at the hall entrance for a moment, and finally walked in.
"Sir, the guild is closed today." Even though the Hunter's Guild was very quiet, there was still staff in the hall. Seeing Natsu enter, the staff rushed to meet him.
"It seems that was just an illusion," Natsu sighed silently, ignoring the staff who greeted him.
The staff saw that Natsu ignored him. As he was about to call for guards, he saw a red light from Natsu's waist. Bewear appeared beside Natsu.
"Don't let anyone in," Natsu told Bewear.
Bewear nodded, she directly hugged the staff next to her, and then sat at the entrance of the corridor leading to the inner hall, showing her stance.
Natsu glanced at the staff who had been very energetic but was now lying in the bear's arms, foaming at the mouth, the corner of his eye twitching.
He could even hear the sound of bones cracking.
He knew Bewear's "hug-and-kill" ability.
"Don't let anyone out." After stepping into the dark corridor, Natsu, who disappeared into the darkness, uttered another sentence.
Nodding heavily, Bewear sat right at the entrance. Her eyes unconsciously looked at the foaming staff in her arms, her eyes rolling up, her palms "gently" patting his face. Soon, two prints that looked like bear claws appeared on the staff's face. After confirming he wasn't dead, Bewear tossed him aside.
She sat cross-legged, both hands crossed near her chest, waiting for the next person who would hopefully survive.
"Hunter W, Mr. S is gone. We need to make a decision quickly."
In the Conference Hall, the inner hall of the Hunter's Guild, at the conference table, sat important core members of the Hunter's Guild in Opelucid City, as well as Hunter W, who was in charge of Opelucid City's business and held a seat.
With the death of "Mr. S," the Hunter's Guild in the Unova Region was in complete disarray.
In Unova, under "Mr. S"'s command, there were two seated hunters: Hunter W, who managed the northern Hunter's Guild with Opelucid City as its center, and Hunter H, who managed the south with Castelia City as its center.
Mr. S's fall exceeded all expectations. So now the Hunter's Guild in Unova was in chaos.
Sitting in the first chair was a middle-aged man with black-rimmed glasses and a slender figure. His hand rested on his chin. He didn't care about the urging core members, just silently pondering the pros and cons. And his refusal to state his position gave the following people plenty of opportunities to "play on their own."
"Sir, I think with your ability, even if the entire Unova Region can't be completely taken, it's still possible to occupy half of the territory. As long as you are given time, there might be a chance to fill Mr. S's vacancy!"
"I think if you can rely on the top seats and get support from the other side, it's a good option to plan for the top seat."
"Join? Do you think we Unova are so weak that we can be controlled?"
"Ms. T." Suddenly someone mentioned this name, and the Conference Hall fell silent. The man continued, "Ms. T is a new top seat, but now she has six hunters sitting under her command."
"But all six seats have been taken. Are we going to Johto?" Someone scoffed disdainfully.
"No, I mean, what if Ms. T can claim both the Johto and Unova regions?"
"This..."
Click--
Suddenly, the door to the conference room was pushed open.
Appearing at the doorway was a young man in a black suit holding a hat. The sudden opening of the door made everyone in the Conference Hall stand up from their positions.
"Who?!"
"Don't you know the Hunter's Guild is in a meeting?!"
"Looking for death."
The shouting people were ignored by the young man standing at the door.
A meaningful smile was on the corner of his mouth as he looked at the middle-aged man sitting in the first chair, the only one who hadn't stood up.
"N?" Hunter W recognized the person who entered as Natsu, whom they had met at a Hunter's Guild meeting.
"Hunter N?" Hearing Natsu's identity, the hunters who had just been shouting choked. The two looked at each other for a while.
Hunter W extended his hand and gestured for Natsu to sit.
Natsu didn't avoid him and walked directly to the person who had just been shouting the loudest.
The other party had a scowling face. Although he was full of unwillingness, he obediently calmed down and sat. Natsu chuckled softly. The disdainful laugh fell into the man's ears, making his face even uglier.
Natsu looked at Hunter W, who was still in his original sitting position, and silently nodded. At least he remained calm.
"What's the problem?" Natsu asked.
Hunter W looked up at Natsu, who was sitting next to him. "He suggested that we merge with the hunters under Ms. T." Hunter W shrugged, "This is the second one."
"Oh~~" Natsu looked surprised.
Bang!!
Steelix suddenly burst from underground, blocking a dark shadow that came from the dark corner of the Conference Hall. When a pair of sharp, pointed claws landed on Steelix's rather hard body, all that was heard was a crisp sound, not even leaving a mark.
The Weavile that failed its sneak attack was immediately trapped by Steelix along with the man.
The entire Conference Hall became a mess due to Steelix's sudden appearance.
Only Natsu remained calmly seated in his chair. His chair was wrapped in Psychic power, keeping him off the shaking ground.
Beside him, a pink, woman-like Pokémon, with Psychic circles in her eyes.
Click—
As Steelix's body curled, a crisp sound came from the bending body.
The expressions of the other people who heard this sound changed one after another, and even W, who was always relatively calm, unconsciously changed his expression.
Natsu whispered, "Now, that's the first one." Everyone's hearts froze.
Behind W, Houndoom and Scolipede came out, staring at Natsu's Steelix and Hatterene. But Natsu didn't seem to pay much attention to the two Pokémon and said with a smile, "Can we talk properly?"
...
...
...
"The Hunter's Guild in the Unova Region is truly pathetic." Walking through Opelucid City, Natsu couldn't help but murmur to himself.
He estimated that the Hunter's Guild in Unova had to be the worst of all the regions.
Impossible.
Hunter's Guilds in other regions either cooperated with the underground forces in that region or at least had common interests.
But the Hunter's Guild in the Unova Region was not only suppressed by the Unova Alliance but also by Team Plasma.
Anyone who let Team Plasma promote their idea was to free all Pokémon, and the Hunter's Guild's behavior was completely contrary to them. If it weren't for Team Plasma's top management knowing that this concept was to deceive, it would be difficult for the Hunter's Guild to gain a foothold in the Unova Region.
So everything turned out to be much smoother than Natsu had imagined.
Of course, a large part of the reason was that he came at the right time.
"Evv~~" Eevee in his arms suddenly stood up and pointed at a bustling ice cream shop on the street, drooling.
"Vull?" Vulpix, resting on Natsu's shoulder, her tail naturally curled downwards, also swallowed quietly.
"Evv~Eevv~~" Eevee snuggled deeper into Natsu's embrace, her head burrowed into his arms.
"Vulll~~" Vulpix stuck out her icy tongue and licked Natsu's cheek, making him feel a bit cool. Both little ones tried their best to act cute for a snack.
Natsu smiled. "Okay, there's more time than I thought."
Natsu rubbed the soft fur on Eevee's belly and patted Vulpix's head, feeling its icy fur.
As he walked towards the ice cream cart, he happened to pass a building.
From a polished lobby window, a line of sight fell on Natsu—no, it should be said that it fell on his two Pokémon.
A young man with green hair wearing a peaked cap sat on a sofa inside the building near the window, his hands on his knees.
Natsu saw a slight surprise in his green eyes.
And this person was N!
...
(End of this chapter)