In the image, a palm-sized Natu carried a Snorlax and a pile of Pokéblocks and suddenly disappeared inside the warehouse.
"It's Teleport!" Officer Jenny exclaimed. No wonder they had been unable to find any clues.
Yuga spoke thoughtfully: "The one using Teleport must be that Natu, right? For a Natu to actually have the ability to carry away a Snorlax and so many Pokéblocks, its power is truly impressive!"
Hearing this, Officer Jenny replied: "That is indeed the case."
Using Teleport consumed an enormous amount of mental energy. Normally, even most fully-grown Psychic-type Pokémon were unable to use it multiple times consecutively, let alone such a small Natu, and even more so when carrying along such a heavy 'burden.'
While the group was speaking, the projected image shifted once again. A gigantic tree filled the entire projection, and immediately afterward the projection abruptly disappeared.
At the same time as the projection vanished, Spoink also opened its eyes.
"Did you all see that tree which appeared at the very end? Does anyone know that tree?" Yuga asked.
"This…" Officer Jenny lowered her head and tried hard to think, but she could not at all recall there being such a large tree anywhere in Twinleaf Town.
At this moment, a police officer suddenly shouted out loud: "I know where that tree is!"
At once, everyone's gazes turned toward him in unison.
Perhaps realizing that his voice had been too loud, the officer scratched his head in embarrassment, then said:b"A long time ago, when I had just become a Trainer, I once went on an adventure in the nearby Eterna Forest. If I recall correctly, there is such a large tree at the very center of Eterna Forest.
The big tree is at the heart of the forest. At that time my strength was… hehe… a bit weak, so I didn't dare to get close to that place!"
Eterna Forest was located near Twinleaf Town, though still at some distance away from it.
"Eterna Forest?" Officer Jenny murmured softly, "So it is there… Then does that mean the Natu and Snorlax who stole the Pokéblocks are Pokémon living inside Eterna Forest?"
"Most likely." the police officer agreed.
"In any case, we should go and take a look first. After all, this is the only lead we have." Officer Jenny said.
"Hey hey hey!" Barry suddenly raised his hand and said, "I'll go too, I'll go help as well!" How could something this interesting possibly happen without him being there!
"Alright then." Officer Jenny hesitated for a moment, then agreed.
Eterna Forest was the most dangerous adventure site in the nearby area. Having one more helper would always be safer.
Officer Jenny already knew that Barry was Mr. Palmer's son, with very considerable strength. Bringing him along was equivalent to bringing a powerful assistant, so she agreed.
"Isn't Mr. Shimizu going along as well?" At this moment Barry asked.
Yuga shook his head: "I won't go, I'll just wait here for your good news." With Officer Jenny there it was enough, he didn't need to tag along.
"Alright then." Barry, upon hearing this, felt a little disappointed, but very quickly he tossed away that little bit of disappointment. "I will definitely be able to catch the thieves and bring back the Pokéblocks for everyone!"
After saying this, he turned toward Iris and Seiryu and asked: "Are you two going or not?"
Seiryu shook his head without hesitation, while Iris on the other hand looked a little eager to give it a try, but seeing that both Yuga and Seiryu weren't going, she thought about it and also refused Barry's invitation.
Very soon the group split into two routes—Yuga, Iris, and Seiryu returned to Aunt Johanna's house, while Barry accompanied Officer Jenny and a few police officers as they set off toward Eterna Forest.
After returning home, Iris happily recounted today's experiences to Aunt Johanna. When the subject of the stolen Pokéblocks came up, she sighed and said: "I don't even know if Barry and Officer Jenny will be able to bring the Pokéblocks back."
Hearing this, Aunt Johanna said: "They went to Eterna Forest? For ordinary trainers that place is actually rather difficult to deal with. I once went adventuring there myself."
"Eh? Then Barry and Officer Jenny won't run into trouble, will they?" Iris asked worriedly.
Aunt Johanna thought for a moment: "They probably won't. Isn't Barry the son of Mr. Palmer? I've heard that his strength is actually quite good."
Since they all lived in Twinleaf Town, and Aunt Johanna was herself a top Coordinator, of course she knew the famous Mr. Palmer.
"That's good." Iris felt relieved upon hearing this, set aside her concern about Barry, and then clung to Aunt Johanna saying: "Aunt Johanna, tell me about your adventures from before."
…
On the other side, Officer Jenny and Barry smoothly arrived at Eterna Forest, and after passing through the forest's outskirts, they reached the area near the giant tree. Although they encountered some interference from wild Pokémon along the way, for them it wasn't much of an issue.
Generally speaking, adventure locations in the human world, aside from certain special places such as Viridian Forest, Petalburg Woods, or Mt. Coronet, had only limited levels of danger.
The area around the giant tree was unusually quiet, because this was Snorlax's territory, so very few wild Pokémon dared to wander around here.
"Look, there's a tree hollow there!" one police officer suddenly pointed at the base of the giant tree and whispered.
"Maybe the thief who stole the Pokéblocks lives in there!" Barry said.
No sooner had he finished speaking than a wobbly little Munchlax came walking out of the hollow. It held up its chubby little belly while walking, patting it as it went along, making the fat jiggle with every slap—it was utterly adorable.
"It's a Munchlax!" one police officer whispered in surprise.
"Could this Munchlax be the child of the Snorlax that stole the Pokéblocks?" Barry speculated.
Officer Jenny shook her head and said: "I don't know, but the possibility is very high. If we capture it, maybe it will draw out that Snorlax."
Barry's eyes lit up when he heard this: "Good idea, leave this to me!"
Officer Jenny nodded in agreement.
So Barry quietly followed behind the little Munchlax.
Munchlax walked along while playing, showing no awareness of its surroundings. Sometimes it tugged on a blade of grass, sometimes plucked a leaf, basically just wandering around aimlessly.
Barry saw that Munchlax was gradually leaving the range of the giant tree, and so he decided to act. He suddenly jumped out of the bushes, grinning mischievously as he walked toward the little Munchlax.
"Hehehe… little guy, come with me."
Munchlax was startled badly by Barry's sudden appearance. After several seconds of silence, it suddenly opened its mouth wide and burst out crying loudly.
"Munchlax~ Munchlax~ Munchlax~"
The sound was simply like a devilish noise piercing into one's ears. Barry instinctively covered his ears.
Inside the tree hollow, Snorlax had been sleeping soundly, its expression very peaceful.
But in the next second, it suddenly sat upright: I hear my little brother crying—where is my little brother?!
The Natu that had been lying on Snorlax's belly was flung off directly, smacking onto the ground with a thud and getting dizzy from the fall.
It shakily flapped back into the air, looked around in all directions, and indeed saw that Munchlax was nowhere to be found. The next moment, it disappeared from the spot together with Snorlax.
Barry, who was preparing to capture Munchlax, hadn't realized at all that behind him had appeared a Snorlax and a Natu.
The moment Munchlax saw its older brother appear, it immediately stopped crying, while Barry thought it was his own kind attitude that had calmed the little Munchlax.
"Good boy, good boy, let's go together."
But before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, Snorlax's thick arms had already wrapped around him from behind.
[_?] Huh?
Barry's mind went blank for an instant.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!"
The police officers who had been keeping watch on the tree hollow suddenly said: "Did you guys hear something?"
"Probably not…"
Officer Jenny was just about to speak when suddenly a Snorlax, a little Munchlax, and a Natu appeared at the entrance of the tree hole, and on Snorlax's shoulder was slung a person.
"Ahhh… help, help me!"
Who else could it be if not Barry?
Just like that, Barry was carried into the tree hole by Snorlax.
"Wh… what should we do? Barry was taken away." One of the officers said, completely dumbfounded.
"What else can we do, of course we have to hurry and go rescue him."
Yuga and the others had been waiting at Aunt Johannas house for Officer Jenny's news all the way until nightfall. The news did come, but what came was the news that Barry had been captured, and that Officer Jenny was asking for help.
Yuga had thought that with Barry's strength it should not be a problem, who would have thought that he would actually fail so badly and even become a prisoner of the other side.
After Barry was captured, Officer Jenny originally wanted to seek help from Mr. Palmer, but unfortunately Mr. Palmer was not in Twinleaf Town. She had no choice but to turn around and come to Yuga for help.
It was because they underestimated that Snorlax's strength. When she tried to rescue Barry, she had fought against it, but she completely could not win. Not only did she fail to save Barry, she herself had almost been captured too.
After hearing Officer Jenny explain the situation, Yuga let out a helpless sigh and said: "Alright then, I'll go with you this time."
Inside the tree hole.
Barry had been tied up with a strong vine by Snorlax and was casually thrown into a corner of the tree hole, while Snorlax was chattering away with Natu about something unknown.
"Shouldn't we move somewhere else? Since you captured this human, it's only a matter of time before other humans come looking for us." Natu was persuading Snorlax, for it truly hated humans.
Snorlax, however, had a face full of indifference. It casually waved its giant paw and then lazily laid down onto a bed made of piled leaves, not forgetting to let out a big yawn.
"Uuuuh~~~ no need to worry, no need to worry. If humans come, so what? I'll just capture them all and make them pick berries for me!"
Back when it hadn't stolen Pokéblocks, the thing Snorlax hated most was going into the forest itself to gather berries. To lie comfortably at home and have berries automatically delivered into its mouth was its dream.
Hearing this, Natu was so furious that it stomped hard on Snorlax's belly a few times, but its strength wasn't even enough to tickle Snorlax.
Yuga, meanwhile, entered the Eterna Forest together with Officer Jenny the next morning, because when Officer Jenny came to ask for help the day before, it was already late in the day. To go to the Eterna Forest then would have been completely inconvenient for action.
At dawn Snorlax was sprawled in the tree hole snoring away, while Natu was not there—it had been angered by Snorlax the previous day and had left home in a huff.
As Snorlax was sleeping, suddenly the scent of something incredibly delicious wafted in. In a daze, it crawled up and stumbled outside.
Not only Snorlax acted this way, little Munchlax's behavior was exactly the same as its big brother's.
Seeing the Snorlax brothers come out, Yuga said to Officer Jenny: "Officer Jenny, I'll take care of these two Pokémon. You go inside the tree hole and have a look."
"Alright."
Officer Jenny answered softly, and then quietly slipped past the two Snorlax and into the hole.
In Yuga's hand was a jar of Honey, and he tried his best to lure the two half-asleep Snorlax toward the clearing beside the tree hole.
When Officer Jenny entered the tree hole, the first thing she saw was the pile of Pokéblock crates that had been torn into a complete mess. She couldn't help thinking: Just how many have been wasted like this!
"Officer Jenny?" At that moment Barry, lying in the corner, finally saw the hope of being freed. "Officer Jenny, you finally came to save me, wuwuwu~"
After a whole night of fear and fright, two big dark circles had formed under Barry's eyes, and the moment he saw Officer Jenny, he finally could not hold back and burst into tears.
Outside, Yuga had also roughly figured out the strength of this Snorlax — blue potential, pseudo-Elite level, no wonder it could so easily capture Barry, and also beat Officer Jenny into fleeing in defeat.
Among the wild Pokémon near human towns, pseudo-Elite level was indeed enough to reign supreme.
Looking at the two silly and foolish Snorlax brothers, Yuga felt they were very cute, so he could not help but tease the two brothers a little.
At this time, Snorlax finally fully woke up, and upon seeing that it was a human teasing them, it became very angry, but when it saw the Sweet Honey in Yuga's hand, it could not help but gulp down its saliva.
The little Munchlax, because it was too simple and naïve, had no guard at all, its saliva was directly flowing out in streams, its eyes staring fixedly at the Sweet Honey in Yuga's hand, and if it were not for its older brother pulling it back, it would probably have already gone along with Yuga.
Unable to resist the temptation, Snorlax finally "fiercely" pounced at Yuga.
Yuga called out Gengar, and played the Snorlax brothers around in circles, and before long the two brothers collapsed on the ground.
When Natu came back, what it saw was the scene of Yuga teasing the Snorlax brothers. Without saying a single word, it directly used Teleport and ran away.
Humans!
Upon seeing humans, Natu always thought of those bad memories from before.
Of course Yuga noticed Natu, but Natu's escape was so decisive that he did not even have the time to make a move.
Teleporting out of the range of the giant tree, Natu flew and flew, deciding to leave the Eterna Forest to seek another way out, but as it flew, its speed gradually slowed down.
In the end, it turned its head, and once again flew in the direction of the giant tree.
After relying on and living together with the Snorlax brothers for so long, there was no way that there were no feelings at all between them.
As it flew, Natu's thoughts drifted away.
That was a stormy night, when Snorlax had picked up its scarred and battered body and brought it home, healing its injuries.
Later on, it lived in the Eterna Forest, and then later, it latched onto the Snorlax brothers, and within the forest, it obtained their protection.
Yuga took out a Poké Ball, and just as he was about to put the Snorlax brothers inside, Natu appeared once again. Its goal was very clear — to use Teleport to take the Snorlax brothers and escape.
However, it had overestimated itself far too much. Yuga might have let it run away once, but how could he possibly let it escape a second time?
Natu flew over to the Snorlax brothers, and just as it was about to use Teleport, it suddenly saw a pair of pitch-black eyes appear in the sky, and then a red light suddenly shot out from the eyes, attaching onto its body, and Natu immediately found that it could not move at all.
A Gengar was staring at it with a half-smile.
Those black eyes in the sky were exactly Gengar's move — Mean Look.
In the midst of Natu's eyes almost splitting with rage and despair, Yuga collected the Snorlax brothers into Poké Balls.
Perhaps because the shock was too great, Natu rolled its eyes and actually fainted.
∑(△｀)?!
Yuga: Am I really that scary?