With Gengar already in position, Sato still felt it wasn't secure enough.
He suddenly let out a loud cough while discreetly releasing Zoroark under the table, keeping his hands moving the entire time.
The cough perfectly masked the sound of the Poké Ball opening, and right away, Sato had Zoroark use its Illusion Ability to transform into a tiny Joltik.
"Zoroark, follow Gengar. Find the place where the Piloswine are being held. Then…"
Joltik was small[1]-10 cm-, and with Zoroark's speed, it was nearly impossible to detect as it darted beneath the tables. In no time, Zoroark had disappeared from the main hall and slipped into the back.
Gengar, of course, was even harder to detect. As the servers crossed paths, it easily switched hiding spots from one shadow to another. After several swaps, it had transferred to the shadow of a chef.
Just as Gengar followed the chef into the kitchen, it suddenly sensed a strong wave of Psychic energy sweep across the chef's body and extend underground.
Gengar instinctively concealed itself entirely within the chef's shadow, suppressing every trace of energy fluctuation.
Once the Psychic wave passed and the chef entered the kitchen, Gengar finally dared to carefully look toward the source of the power.
A Claydol!
Gengar let out a deep sigh of relief. 'That was way too close…' Fortunately, it hadn't tried to sneak in from below but instead used the shadows to get inside.
Otherwise… it probably would've been discovered by now.
Then, Gengar spotted the Joltik-shaped Zoroark…
"…"
As the two Pokémon that had been with Sato the longest, Gengar and Zoroark knew each other inside and out. They had fought side by side countless times.
So while Zoroark could deceive any other Pokémon or human, it could never fool Gengar.
What's more, Zoroark had never seen a real Joltik in person before. Its transformation was entirely the result of special training from Sato, and Gengar had witnessed the whole process.
Now, watching the usually sharp and capable Zoroark about to walk straight into danger, Gengar could only feel urgency.
INTENSE, urgency.
At that moment, a server happened to walk past the doorway. Taking a huge risk, Gengar left its current shadow and instantly leapt into the shadow of the server at the door, then jumped again into Zoroark's shadow.
Disguised as Joltik, Zoroark suddenly sensed a terrifying energy rushing toward it. Just as it thought it had been exposed, it realized the energy felt oddly familiar.
It was Gengar!
Zoroark: Bro, what are you doing?
"!!!!"
Gengar: Whew~ That was close. What a scare.
"…~"
Then, in a dark corner, Gengar and Zoroark huddled up and began whispering rapidly to each other. Only then did Zoroark, blushing slightly, realize it had nearly been exposed just now.
A moment later, it seemed the two had come up with a plan. Soon, they resumed their infiltration, attaching themselves to another server.
Zoroark remained in the form of Joltik, staying completely still while hiding in the hem of the server's pants. Gengar stuck to the shadow, this time surrounding Joltik with a thin layer of spatial energy -Palkia's gem pink energy-.
As expected, the Psychic wave swept over them again. But now, they were prepared, ready with a plan for what to do if discovered: one would cause chaos, and the other would seize the chance to search.
Fortunately, Claydol's Psychic power wasn't overwhelmingly strong, so it couldn't detect the presence of "Joltik" through Gengar's spatial energy.
Palkia's energy… amazing!
Once inside the kitchen, Zoroark and Gengar quickly split up. Having already encountered Claydol, they were both extremely cautious.
At that moment, the hostess who had taken Sato's order walked in with a receipt in hand and cheerfully announced, "Successful pitch! Table 6 ordered a plate of IceSwine Brew~"
"Yo, that's three plates sold today, huh? If you keep this up every day, your salary might be higher than all of ours," one of the chefs said sourly.
The hostess/server rolled her eyes at him, then proudly replied, "Just got lucky today… Ran into some poser rich kid. I went all out describing everything, and he says he doesn't eat raw meat! Heh, if he were really a rich kid, how could he not eat raw meat? Especially our IceSwine Brew-"
"Ahem! Go attend to the customers!" A stern voice came from behind the hostess, cutting her off and making everyone turn and stop talking immediately.
The hostess's face turned pale. She lowered her head, stepped around the man behind her, and quickly ran out.
"It's not that I'm forbidding conversation, but think before you speak. Nishida, dock that girl's entire bonus for the month."
"Understood, boss!"
Head Chef Nishida responded respectfully. Even though the young man before him was the same age as his own son, he didn't dare show any disrespect.
This young man, who looked harmless on the outside, was actually the first restaurant owner in Helvetia Town to begin selling Pokémon meat…
With Pokémon at decent levels, keen insight into human greed, and ruthless tactics, he had already roped in many other restaurant owners in Helvetia, some willingly, some not.
The reason he had suddenly appeared here with such a grim expression was because he had just received news that the fresh meat market had been sealed off by Officer Jenny.
"Nishida, come with me to the back room." After saying that, the young owner walked straight toward a corner of the kitchen, and Head Chef Nishida immediately followed.
Hidden in the shadows, Zoroark and Gengar instantly realized that following these two would definitely lead to something.
A wall panel behind a cupboard was pushed open. A gust of cold air surged out, cooling the hot kitchen with a sudden chill.
It was a freezer.
Taking advantage of everyone's attention being drawn to the cold air, Zoroark and Gengar quickly switched to Nishida's shadow.
Thump~
The wall closed shut again. The young owner gave a slight shiver, then walked straight to the back of the freezer, with Nishida hurrying to keep up.
"From now on, swap the IceSwine Brew for regular sashimi-grade beef. Everything else stays the same," the young owner said as he walked.
"Boss… did something happen?" Nishida's expression changed, and he asked nervously.
"Yeah, there's been a minor issue. They haven't traced anything back to us yet, which is why I'm having you move all the 'IceSwine' meat. I'll take care of the rest."
Hearing that, Nishida finally let out a breath of relief. He'd been working under this young boss for quite some time and genuinely admired his methods.
If he said he'd take care of it, then things should be fine.
By now, the two of them had reached a small hidden chamber at the back of the freezer.
Bang bang bang…
A row of fluorescent lights switched on, brightening the room. The sound of restless movement echoed from all directions.
Looking around, they saw that the entire chamber was filled with Piloswine, all crammed into narrow cages, imprisoned.
[1] 10 cm