As soon as Iris stepped down from the stage, Barry darted over: "(≧▽≦)/ Wuu~~~ your battle just now was so passionate, I also really want to get on stage right away! Fine them! Fine them!"
[Huh?] Both Iris and the Dragonite beside her were stunned by Barry: Fine them? Fine what money? Did I owe someone money?
"Who are you!" Iris asked.
"I am…" And so Barry introduced himself all over again.
Iris was also the lively and cheerful type, so the two of them immediately hit it off. By the time Barry finished introducing himself, the two were already chatting warmly, and Iris even "affectionately" nicknamed Barry as "Fine-Money-kun."
Not long after, Seiryu said: "It's my turn to go on stage." After tossing down this sentence, he silently walked onto the stage.
Iris and Barry shouted in unison: "Seiryu, let's go! Seiryu, let's go!"
Relatively less outgoing by nature, Seiryu suddenly became extremely nervous when he heard the cheers behind him and felt the eyes watching from all directions. Although the expression on his face didn't change, the tips of his ears quietly flushed red.
In the midst of Iris and Barry's enthusiastic cheering, Seiryu sent out his Pokémon—a Druddigon.
Although he had a stronger Dragonite, since Iris had already used a Dragonite earlier, he didn't want to send out his own Dragonite again.
Besides, he had been forcibly dragged into signing up by Iris, and he didn't care about the little bit of reward for the winner at all, so he didn't care about winning or losing.
However, even so, as an elite member of the Dragon Tamer Clan, Seiryu's strength was not something that a random roadside Trainer could compare with.
Seiryu's opponent was a very sweet-looking little girl, and her Pokémon was a cute little Buneary that hadn't even reached its final evolution form.
Seeing the ferocious Druddigon opposite them, the little girl and her Buneary were both so scared that their eyes filled with tears.
"Big brother, can you please go easy, just look at Buneary, how cute… how pitiful it is." The little girl looked at Seiryupitifully with teary eyes.
But Seiryu had not the slightest trace of pity for a fragrant flower or tender jade. In front of everyone, he commanded Druddigon to kick the Buneary off the stage in one blow, causing sighs of disappointment from all around the audience.
In the end, the little girl ran off the stage crying.
When the victorious Seiryu came down, everyone was criticizing him for not sparing the little girl's dignity, saying he was cold-hearted, but only Barry, with his peculiar way of thinking, jumped right in front of Seiryu to praise him: "Seiryu, you're awesome too, that was really clean and sharp just now!"
As he said this, he even gave Seiryu a thumbs-up, which immediately drew angry glares from the surrounding spectators.
Iris shook her head and very seriously lectured the two of them: "You two, really are childish, such a cute little girl, even if you wanted to win, you should have spared her some face!"
But both Seiryu and Barry had expressions like "What are you even talking about?" which made Iris shake her head again and again.
Most of the participants in this kind of competition were hobbyist Trainers, whose strength was relatively weak, so the matches progressed very quickly.
Not long after Seiryu, Barry also went on stage. His opponent was a young Trainer who used a Nidoking, but the other party's Nidoking was knocked right off the stage in one charge by Barry's Heracross, not even lasting a single round.
The audience's attitude toward this young man was very different from the way they treated the little girl earlier. Seeing Barry deal with his opponent so cleanly and decisively, they all cheered and applauded loudly for him.
As for Seiryu, truly, same situation, but such different fates!
One round, two rounds, three rounds… very quickly, the tournament entered its final stage. Those who advanced to the finals were Iris, Seiryu, Barry, and a tall, slender young lady.
In the matchups, Iris faced Seiryu, while Barry faced the young lady.
The battle between Iris and Seiryu was very intense, the level of skill far beyond the earlier matches, giving the audience a real feast for their eyes. The cheers from the audience below came one after another without pause.
The final victor was Iris, not only because Seiryu didn't use his strongest Pokémon, but also because Iris's strength was indeed a bit stronger than his.
The battle between Barry and the young lady was also very exciting. Although the young lady looked gentle and elegant, the Pokémon she used was a fierce Aggron. Barry almost lost.
Besides Barry, Iris, and Seiryu, this young lady could be said to be the strongest Trainer in this tournament, and she didn't look like an amateur Trainer at all. She should have been a professional.
However, although Barry won with difficulty, his mood was still extremely good, and he even made friends with the young lady.
The final match was between Iris and Barry, and the victor was still Iris.
In fact, Barry's strength was even a bit weaker than Seiryu's, so Iris's victory was not difficult.
Although he lost the match, Barry's mood was still very bright and carefree, because today he had fought several good battles and felt that he had gained a lot.
In the end, Iris obtained a year's worth supply of Pokéblocks. Because it was inconvenient to carry them away, she decided to give them all to Aunt Johanna.
Aunt Johanna was a Coordinator, and the Pokémon in her household also consumed Pokéblocks in their daily life, so giving those Pokéblocks to her was just right.
So Iris left Aunt Johanna's home address with the store, letting the store deliver directly to her door.
After the tournament ended, it was still early, so Yuga and the others decided to continue strolling around Twinleaf Town, with Barry eagerly volunteering to act as their "tour guide."
Twinleaf Town could not be considered a bustling place, so there weren't many places worth sightseeing, but in Barry's eyes, everywhere in Twinleaf Town was wonderful, so all along the way he excitedly introduced the local customs and scenery to Yuga and the others.
When the four of them finished playing and were preparing to head home, they suddenly saw an employee from the Pokémon supplies store come running over.
"Something bad has happened, honored guests, the Pokéblocks we were supposed to deliver to you suddenly disappeared!"
"How could they just disappear like that?" Yuga asked in confusion.
"This… this… we don't know either! Those Pokéblocks suddenly vanished, and we searched for a long time but still couldn't find them." The employee said with a bitter smile.
"Don't tell me you're trying to weasel out of it on purpose, saying that just to avoid paying? That won't do, fine you, fine you!" Barry said angrily.
The employee nervously wiped the cold sweat on his forehead and explained: "How could that be possible? I came here just to inform you, and to ask if you could give us a little more time. We need to temporarily transfer stock from another branch, but we definitely won't renege on our promise."
A year's supply of Pokéblocks was no small amount. If the store compensated Iris entirely from their current stock, it would definitely affect their daily sales, so they had to transfer supplies from another branch to resolve the problem.
Hearing this explanation, Barry finally said with satisfaction: "That's more like it. Then this time, I won't fine you."
"Many thanks for your understanding, many thanks for your understanding." The employee said gratefully.
At this time Yuga asked: "Could you take us to the place where the Pokéblocks disappeared? Things shouldn't just vanish for no reason, right?"
"That's no problem, please follow me." The employee agreed.
The Pokéblocks had disappeared from the store's warehouse. Not only had the portion meant to be delivered to Aunt Johanna's house gone missing, but a considerable amount of the store's own stock had also disappeared.
When Yuga and the others arrived at the scene of the incident, Officer Jenny was there with her Growlithe, talking with several other employees. It was obvious the store had already reported the case to the police.
Seeing Yuga and the others approaching, Officer Jenny asked in puzzlement: "And you are…?"
"These guests can also be considered victims…"
The employee who had brought Yuga and the others explained the entire sequence of events to Officer Jenny.
"So that's how it is." Officer Jenny nodded.
"Officer Jenny, have you found any clues?" Yuga asked.
Officer Jenny hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "We have found a bit of a clue." As she spoke, she looked toward a police officer not far away. Seeing this, that officer quickly ran over.
Following Officer Jenny's indication, the police officer took out a transparent bag, and inside were several thick strands of hair.
"This is what we found at the scene."
Looking at the dark blue hair inside the bag, Yuga frowned and guessed: "This… is Snorlax hair?"
"That's right." Officer Jenny gave Yuga an approving look, "After testing, this is indeed Snorlax hair."
"Could it be that someone commanded a Snorlax to carry away the goods from here?" Iris guessed.
Snorlax was immensely strong, so it wasn't impossible for it to carry away all the Pokéblocks.
Officer Jenny shook her head and said: "That is possible, but the specific situation is still hard to say for certain."
Officer Jenny's Growlithe kept lifting its nose, pacing around the scene, trying to sniff out some kind of clue.
"Growlithe, have you found anything?" Officer Jenny asked.
"Growlithe~"
Growlithe shook its head, its expression full of dejection, as if feeling guilty for not being able to help its trainer. Officer Jenny crouched down and gently rubbed its head.
Meanwhile, not far from Twinleaf Town, in a stretch of forest, at the very center of the forest stood an enormously tall giant tree.
At the base of the tree was a hollow, and inside the hollow at that moment were stacked full boxes containing Pokéblocks, while a Snorlax was rolling excitedly on the ground.
＼(￣︶￣)／ Wow wow! So much food, so much food!
After rolling around several times, the chubby Snorlax scrambled up from the ground, then grabbed a box, tore it open with force, pulled out a can of Pokéblocks from inside, and poured them into its mouth with loud crunching sounds.
In the blink of an eye, one whole can of Pokéblocks was gone.
"Burp~" Snorlax couldn't hold back and let out a huge belch, then collapsed flat on the ground in the shape of the letter "大," its face full of satisfaction.
(⌒o⌒) Being able to eat until full is truly the greatest happiness!
Pokéblocks were high-energy food; usually, a few pieces were enough to fill a Pokémon's stomach. Even though Snorlax was known as the glutton king, eating an entire can at once would naturally cause it to feel stuffed.
But Snorlax liked the feeling of being stuffed.
At this moment, a palm-sized little bird landed on its belly, rubbed against that elastic stomach twice.
It turned out to be a Natu.
"How is it? Didn't I tell you that by listening to me, you'd get to eat until you were full?"
The goofy Snorlax quickly nodded its head.
Natu hopped down from Snorlax's belly, landed on the ground, lowered its head, and picked up a single Pokéblock that Snorlax had dropped while eating, and gulped it down with one swallow.
Its appetite was small, so just one Pokéblock was enough to make it completely full.
These two Pokémon were precisely the culprits behind the theft of the Pokéblocks. The reason Snorlax was able to successfully carry away so many Pokéblocks was actually thanks to Natu's Teleport, and this was also why Growlithe was unable to track them by scent.
Just then, a little Munchlax poked its head in from outside. Seeing that its older brother was at home, it squinted its eyes in joy and happily rushed into the hollow.
Seeing the boxes piled up on the ground, Munchlax patted one with its paw, then looked toward Snorlax with a puzzled expression and asked: "Big brother, what is this? Can it be eaten?"
"It can, it can, eat as much as you want." Snorlax waved its huge paw casually.
"Really?" Munchlax cheered out loud, and immediately began tearing open boxes with great excitement.
Just like Snorlax, Munchlax took out a can of Pokéblocks, opened the lid, and without a second thought poured them straight into its mouth.
But its appetite was much smaller than Snorlax's. After eating only half a can, it couldn't eat any more, and so Munchlax unhappily scrunched up its chubby face.
Compared to this kind of feeling of getting full in just a few bites, it still preferred the sensation of swallowing mouthful after mouthful until the stomach was stretched and satisfied.
But… oh well, being able to eat until full was happiness enough!
Munchlax lay down beside its older brother with contentment.
Natu looked at these two silly brothers, shook its head, then flew back onto Snorlax's soft belly, covering its head with its wings and beginning to sleep.
(￣▽￣)Zzz So warm.
By now the temperature in Sinnoh had become very low, and it would be hard to find a bed warmer and more comfortable than Snorlax's body.
Natu and the Snorlax brothers were really just living together as companions. Snorlax was the strong one in this forest, and by following it, Natu could avoid being bullied by other Pokémon.
Having left its former place some time ago, Natu was very satisfied with its current life. If it could just continue on like this, that would be wonderful.
On the other side.
Officer Jenny was frowning deeply because she had still been unable to find any clues to solve the case, when suddenly Yuga thought—couldn't they borrow Spoink's abilities for this?
Spoink had been training under Olympia for quite some time, and by now it could be considered to have achieved a certain level of skill.
So Yuga went to the Pokémon Center to call Olympia, hoping she could transfer Spoink over to help, and Olympia readily agreed.
When Yuga brought Spoink to the scene of the incident, Barry looked at Spoink in surprise and said: "This little thing, can it really be of any help?"
Hearing this, Spoink glared fiercely at Barry, because you could doubt other things, but you could absolutely not doubt my professional ability! (Even if Spoink did often make mistakes!)
"Hehe… I was joking, I was just joking!"
Barry felt a chill on his scalp from Spoink's glare, and hurriedly apologized, only then did Spoink let him off.
"Spoink, I'll be counting on you." Yuga said to Spoink.
"Spoink~ Spoink~"
Leave it to me!
Spoink patted its chest and spoke confidently.
At once, Spoink took down the pearl balanced on its head. The pearl began to radiate purple light, and at the same time Spoink's eyes also began to glow with purple light.
Ten minutes later, the pearl in Spoink's hand suddenly shot out a beam of light, the light projected into the air, forming image after image, and what it displayed was exactly the scene of the Pokéblocks being stolen.
Barry stood there dumbfounded, staring at the projection in the air, and said: "It… it really worked, so amazing!"