Chapter 163:Watanabe Under Raid, Stealing Manaphy's Egg

The night sky was bright.

The wind was gentle.

Natsume sat on the floor at the cabin door, enjoying a popsicle.

The breeze flowed into his collar, and Natsume's relaxed shadow stretched into the room under the moonlight.

At this time in the past, the farm would have been quiet.

However, with the increasing number of nocturnal Pokémon, the nights on the farm had started to come alive.

Glowing Morelull flitted around the farm like fireflies.

They danced among the fruit trees, in the garden, and in the middle of the hearty grains field.

The lights from the Morelull gathered together, as if draping the farm with a layer of dreamy gossamer.

Natsume looked up at the sky, where the stars twinkled.

He glanced back at the farm, sparkling with starlight.

“Summer is almost over,” Natsume mused.

Misaki had finished taking a shower.

She walked over to Natsume, sat down beside him, and dried her damp hair with a towel.

“According to the solar calendar, it’s already early autumn.”

Natsume turned his cheek and instinctively lowered his head.

Misaki's large, round eyes always drew Natsume's gaze.

“Want some?” 

Natsume held the ice cream near Misaki's mouth.

Misaki pulled her hair back and then opened her mouth to take a bite of the ice cream.

Plop~

A drop of white cream fell, landing inside Misaki’s collar.

“Ah~”

Misaki exclaimed.

Cool and sticky.

“Oh dear, let me help you.”

Seeing Natsume lean closer, Misaki's already large eyes widened even more.

She bit her lip, instinctively leaning back.

“Pervert.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

Misaki would be returning to Kushiro Ranch tomorrow.

The next time she visited, it would be when the fresh milk warehouse in Morimachi officially opened.

“Lopunny~”

Lopunny bounced out from inside the cabin. 

The late-night movie was about to start.

Natsume stood up and said, “I’ll be right there~”

In Chiba Prefecture, Minato-machi, Watanabe sat on the sofa, looking tired as he watched the Manaphy Pokémon egg soaking in nutrient solution.

As a member of the Water Tribe, Manaphy was a deity that Watanabe felt the need to honor.

Being chosen by Manaphy’s Pokémon egg to protect it should have been a joyous occasion.

But now, Watanabe only felt exhausted.

He constantly felt that someone wanted to steal Manaphy’s egg.

Watanabe’s talent lay in business; he was not a particularly skilled trainer.

Therefore, he was very worried that he wouldn’t be able to protect Manaphy.

At that moment, Watanabe had only two thoughts.

First: Protect Manaphy’s egg.

Second: Learn more about Manaphy.

“I’ve decided!”

Watanabe muttered to himself, “Since there’s nothing else to do, I’ll go check on Natsume.”

Watanabe sent a message to Natsume.

Inside the farm cabin, Natsume was curled up on the sofa watching a movie with Lopunny and the others.

It was a romance film.

Natsume found it a bit boring.

Misaki had even fallen asleep leaning on the sofa.

However, the Lopunny were watching intently.

Their expectations were never too high.

Natsume was still able to stay focused simply because Gardevoir was leaning at the other end of the sofa, her feet resting on Natsume's legs.

Even if the movie wasn’t great, having good company made it much more interesting.

Gardevoir had small feet, slender legs, and they were long.

One could say they resembled chopsticks.

Although they were slim, they didn’t have that bone-like feel.

On the contrary, Natsume found her skin soft and elastic to the touch.

Gardevoir supported her increasingly flushed cheeks.

She didn’t even realize that her feet could be played with in this way.

Gardevoir thought to herself that Misaki’s evaluation was quite accurate.

How strange.

Ding dong.

Suddenly, Natsume’s phone rang.

Watanabe: Are you free?

Watanabe: Let’s go check out those ruins you mentioned.

Natsume glanced at the time; it was almost eleven o’clock.

Natsume replied: Now?

Watanabe: You know I'm part of the Water Tribe, so of course, I take Water Tribe ruins very seriously.

Natsume: Even so, there’s no need to rush; after all, it has been there for a long time.

Watanabe: I’m not in a rush; I just happen to be free tonight.

Though Watanabe said that, at that moment, under the night sky, a Pelipper was flying him from Minato-machi toward Morimachi.

Watanabe was anxious.

The anxiety stemming from Manaphy made it hard for him to sit still at home.

“I’m acting so anxious that it might raise Natsume’s suspicions,” Watanabe murmured. “Oh well, I might as well stay at a hotel in Morimachi for now.”

Meanwhile, at Watanabe’s house.

A shadow silently appeared outside his window.

Kenjo was a trainer affiliated with an overseas organization.

He activated the detection function on his glasses and pressed against the window to look inside.

Within the room, there were dense infrared alarm devices everywhere.

In the middle of the infrared beams sat a water tank.

Inside the water tank was a strangely-shaped Poké Ball.

Kenjo felt a rush of excitement as he thought: This must be Manaphy’s Pokémon egg!

He whispered into his earpiece, “Target discovered!”

“I’m about to infiltrate!”

A voice in the earpiece cautioned, “Be as quiet as possible. Retrieve the Pokémon egg and retreat immediately.”

“Understood!”

At that time, on an island base in the outer sea.

A group of uniformed individuals was watching a video.

The video showed Watanabe carrying Manaphy’s Pokémon egg as he emerged from the sea.

“Finally found it.”

A middle-aged man said excitedly, “As long as we can find Manaphy, we hold the key to unlocking the Temple of the Sea.”

“Then we will be able to obtain the power of the gods!”

Although Kenjo hadn’t made a move yet, cheers began to erupt from those present.

“Shuppet, I’m counting on you.”

Kenjo said to the Shuppet beside him, “Go steal that Pokémon egg.”

Shuppet nodded slightly.

Its body passed through the glass.

However, just as Shuppet passed through the glass, it suddenly turned red!

Beep beep beep!

The alarm went off suddenly.

Kenjo paused for a moment, then shouted loudly, “Act fast!”

Shuppet dashed to the front of the aquarium.

Just as its hand reached for the Pokémon egg in the water,

Boom~

A dazzling surge of electricity struck Shuppet’s body.

This was the Thunder Shock device installed in the aquarium.

At the same time…

Jingle~ Ding~

Kenjo’s vision turned white.

Within the bright light was the sound of a powerful soundwave attack.

“Hitmontop, grab it!”

Kenjo faintly heard someone shout, “Hitmontop, Quick Attack.”

“Inteleon, Water Pulse.”

Someone was coming.

“I knew it, this task couldn’t be that easy.”

Kenjo cursed under his breath; after all, this was about Manaphy’s Pokémon egg.

It was only natural for Watanabe to have tight security.

Kenjo reacted quickly and immediately threw two Poké Balls behind him.

“Weavile!”

Two Weavile burst forth from the Poké Balls.

They bypassed Inteleon and Hitmontop and rushed quickly toward their trainer.

Wasting time in a brawl with Pokémon at this moment was unwise.

If they waited for the fight to end, the Pokémon police would be surrounding them soon.

Therefore, prioritizing the opponent’s trainer was the best solution.

Atsuki and Asai were both trainers hired by Watanabe.

Their strength was quite decent.

As Atsuki saw Weavile rushing toward him, he quickly threw a Poké Ball. “Come on out, Hitmonchan!”

“Weavile!”

Just as Weavile was about to pounce on Atsuki, Hitmonchan emerged from the Poké Ball.

Hitmonchan’s attack speed was extremely fast. It stared at Weavile and threw a punch in front of Atsuki.

Mach Punch!

Bang!

Hitmonchan's fist smashed into Weavile.

Weavile was sent flying backward.

At the same time, a Typhlosion appeared in front of Asai.

Boom!

Flamethrower!

A torrent of flames blasted toward the Weavile swinging its claws.

This Weavile was quick to react and very agile.

It twisted its body in the air, narrowly dodging the Flamethrower.

Meanwhile, Kenjo barely managed to evade Inteleon’s Water Pulse.

Bam~

The Water Pulse hit the wall, creating a hole.

At the same time, Hitmontop quickly approached Kenjo.

Triple Kick!

Just as Hitmontop was about to kick Kenjo, a dark shadow wrapped around Hitmontop’s body from behind.

It was Shuppet’s shadow sneak attack!

Shuppet flashed a mischievous smile at Hitmontop, then used its shadow to slam Hitmontop against the ground repeatedly.

Inteleon quickly lunged at Shuppet.

Shuppet released Hitmontop.

Its form vanished into the shadows.

Asai muttered, “Damn ghost types.”

He then looked at Kenjo and said, “I was wondering what Watanabe had done to suddenly hire us.”

“Turns out Watanabe has been robbed.”

Kenjo squinted at the two.

“It seems you don't even know what you’re protecting.”

Atsuki said casually, “That has nothing to do with us.”

“Our task now is to take you down!”

“Hitmonchan, take care of Weavile first.”

Kenjo calmly looked at the two and said, “Do you think we prepared for that Pokémon egg for just a moment?”

Atsuki frowned, “What do you mean?”

Whoosh!

From the shadows, a Persian and a Shiftry lunged out at the same time.

Their target was Hitmonchan!

Shiftry dashed right in front of Hitmonchan.

Slash!

Hitmonchan immediately brought its fist down toward Shiftry!

But at that moment, Persian attacked from behind.

Fake Out!

Bang!

Hitmonchan was knocked to the ground with a slap!

Shiftry’s slash crashed down on Hitmonchan's head as it lay on the ground.

“Hitmonchan!”

Atsuki was alarmed at the sight.

He was about to rush forward when Weavile charged in front of him once again.

Under the moonlight, a white flash glimmered.

Bam~

Atsuki tumbled to the ground.

Asai looked around in shock.

Only then did he realize that several trainers were hiding in the shadows around him.

Inteleon looked at Asai with an urgent expression and quickly called out a warning.

“Inteleon!”

Asai instinctively turned around.

An Arbok appeared behind him.

Wrap!

Arbok instantly coiled around Asai's body, biting down hard.

Crack~ Crack~

The sound of bones breaking echoed.

“Ah!”

A piercing scream resonated.

“Inteleon!”

Inteleon glared at the scene in anger. Just as it raised its arm to attack, from the side!

Vine Whip!

Whoosh~

A Carnivine's Vine Whip wrapped around Inteleon's body.

Bang!

The Vine Whip slammed Inteleon hard into the ground.

Typhlosion became anxious upon seeing this.

It prepared to help when Weavile appeared behind it.

Shadow Claw!

Bam~

Kenjo sneered, “Let me tell you something.”

“This is Manaphy’s Pokémon egg.”

“But now, it belongs to us.”

Kenjo said proudly as he took the Pokémon egg out of the aquarium.

Beep~ Beep~ Beep~

That was the sound of a countdown.

“How can a Pokémon egg have a countdown?”

Kenjo thought, slightly confused.

The next moment~

Bam~

The Pokémon egg suddenly exploded.

Kenjo was sent flying by the force of the blast.

He tumbled awkwardly on the ground.

“Captain!”

The people around immediately rushed over to help Kenjo up.

“It’s a bomb!”

Kenjo yelled angrily, “Is this lunatic insane?”

“Going through so much trouble to protect a bomb?”

“Damn it, I’ll make him pay!”

In the distance, the sound of police sirens grew closer.

“Captain, let’s get out of here! It’ll be trouble if we get caught by the Pokémon police!”

Kenjo gritted his teeth, unwillingly declaring, “Retreat!”

They hadn’t been gone long when Onami received the news and arrived at the scene.

Although Onami was a coordinating trainer, she was also the champion of the regional-level match, so her strength was not to be underestimated.

When she arrived, the Pokémon police had already set up a perimeter.

Many onlookers had gathered outside the perimeter.

They were exchanging various rumors.

“Did you hear? Someone put a bounty on that guy because he stole another person’s Pokémon.”

“No way?”

“I heard it was over a treasure!”

“I was not far from here when I came over, and I saw it was quite a fierce fight. Those guys in black seemed to be looking for a Pokémon egg.”

“An egg? What Pokémon egg would cause such a commotion? It wouldn’t be a near-legendary Pokémon egg, would it?”

“Haha, maybe it’s a legendary Pokémon’s egg.”

Onami walked through the crowd of onlookers and noticed the chaos all around, as well as the two people being lifted onto stretchers. She immediately called Watanabe.

“Uncle, have you gotten into trouble?”

At that moment, Watanabe already knew what was happening at home.

He ran his fingers through his messy hair and sighed, “It really is a hassle.”

“Onami, this situation is too complicated; it’s better you don’t know.”

“It’s for your safety.”

Onami replied, “The issue now is that your safety is no longer guaranteed, right?”

As Onami was talking to Watanabe, a man with a Quaquaval approached her.

Minamiyou, the Water-type Elite, also served as the country-level Water-type gym leader.

Of course, Onami recognized him.

Onami looked at Minamiyou and said, “It seems I can’t just stay out of this anymore.”

“Because Minamiyou has already found me.”

With the Elite personally coming to her, it indicated that Watanabe's involvement in this affair was no small matter.

Minamiyou walked up to Onami and said, “Onami, I need your cooperation with something.”

Onami shook her head slightly, “Is it about my uncle?”

“However, I’m not aware of what he’s gone through.”

“I think you probably know more about this than I do, so could you tell me what’s really going on?”

“Quaquaval~”

Quaquaval playfully wiggled its body and greeted Onami.

Onami waved her hand, “Hello, Quaquaval.”

Minamiyou looked at Onami, thought for a moment, and said, “I suppose I can share this with you.”

“We discovered through our investigation that your uncle likely obtained the Pokémon egg of Manaphy from the legends.”

Onami was momentarily taken aback. “Manaphy?”

Minamiyou nodded, “That’s right.”

Onami responded in disbelief, “But why would Manaphy be in my uncle’s possession?”

Minamiyou explained, “Watanabe is a member of the Water Tribe.”

“Besides, he often hangs out by the seaside, so it’s not surprising that he found Manaphy in the ocean.”

“According to the legends of the Water Tribe, Manaphy is supposed to return to the Temple of the Sea with the protection of the Water Tribe.”