Chapter 286: Shaymin-Brand 'Rotom'

The video continued playing.

In order to compete in the Grand Festival, Hina said goodbye to her parents and Cynthia and continued on her journey, eventually arriving in Solaceon Town.

By the time Hina entered town, the afternoon sunlight was at its warmest and most pleasant.

Shaymin lay on top of her head, its nose twitching furiously.

"Hina, Hina! That’s the smell!"

"Shaymin could already smell it from outside town!"

"It smells even better than that honey cake Shaymin ate last time!"

Hina lifted Shaymin off her head and held it in her arms.

Her voice was soft.

"Shaymin, we’re here for the Pokémon Contest."

"Not to eat desserts."

"But Shaymin hasn’t had anything sweet in forever!"

Shaymin grabbed one of Hina’s fingers with both front paws.

"Hina, can you really bear to watch Shaymin starve to death?!"

Shaymin shook her hand so vigorously that Hina’s entire body rocked back and forth several times.

She could only surrender.

"O-Okay..."

"I’ll buy you some..."

"But on one condition."

"What condition?"

"Wear this."

Hina reached into her backpack and pulled out a costume she’d prepared in advance.

She stuffed Shaymin into it, zipped up the back, then took half a step away to examine the result.

Shaymin’s entire body was now crammed inside a Rotom Dex costume.

Only its four tiny legs stuck out.

Combined with the two huge plastic eyes and curved smile on the front, it looked ridiculously adorable.

"There."

Hina nodded in satisfaction.

"Now you can talk as much as you want."

"If anyone asks, I’ll just say you’re a Rotom Dex."

"Understand?"

Shaymin blinked.

Then one paw emerged from the costume and snapped into a salute.

"Understood, Roto!"

Hina carried Shaymin along the stone-paved road.

After turning two corners, a little shop came into view with a sign hanging above the entrance:

SHINWA POMELOS

Shaymin jumped out of Hina’s arms and dashed straight toward the stall.

"Shopkeeper! Shopkeeper!"

"Shaymin wants pomelos, Roto!"

The girl behind the stall was so startled by the shout that she practically launched herself out of her chair.

She rubbed her eyes and looked around.

"A customer?"

"Who?"

"Who’s talking?"

"Down here, Roto!"

Shaymin raised one paw.

The girl looked down—

And found herself staring at an unusually round Rotom Dex.

"Uh..."

"That’s certainly a... unique-looking Rotom Dex."

"Thank you..."

Hina hurriedly picked Shaymin back up.

"The original Dex design was... a little unusual..."

"Um..."

"I’d like to buy a few pomelos..."

"Is that okay?"

"Of course!"

"The pomelos are especially sweet this year. I’ll pick out the best ones for you!"

The girl packed several pomelos into a paper bag and handed it over with both hands.

"Are you a Trainer?"

Hina accepted the bag and gave a tiny nod.

"...Mm."

"I only started traveling recently."

The girl looked at her for a moment.

Then she suddenly lowered her voice and leaned closer with a mysterious expression.

"Do you know there’s been a super-mysterious Pokémon showing up around Solaceon Town lately?"

"Lots of people have tried to catch it, but nobody has managed to."

"Want to try your luck?"

"A mysterious Pokémon?"

Shaymin floated upward again.

"Is it even rarer than Shaymin?"

"Maybe about as rare."

The girl grinned.

"So? Want to give it a shot?"

Hina nodded.

"Th-Then..."

"I’ll go take a look tonight..."

The orange-scarfed girl gave her a thumbs-up.

"Good luck!"

"If you catch it, I’ll treat you to some pomelos!"

That evening—

Following the directions the orange-scarfed girl had given her, Hina passed through an orchard and entered a dense grove.

Shaymin poked its nose out of the Rotom Dex costume.

Its nose twitched rapidly twice.

"Hina!"

"Shaymin smells it!"

"It’s a Pokémon!"

"Right ahead!"

Hina looked in the direction Shaymin indicated.

Beneath a tree not far away—

A small ball of brown fur was curled up.

Eevee.

The blood seeping from its left hind leg had already dried to a dark red.

Yet the moment it saw Hina approaching, it still forced itself upright and tried to back away.

"D-Don’t be afraid..."

Hina crouched in front of Eevee.

The Power of Viridian slowly flowed from her palm.

"I won’t hurt you."

The instant Eevee sensed the Power of Viridian—

Its entire attitude changed.

It immediately buried its head in Hina’s arms and began rubbing against her frantically while letting out a rapid series of cries.

"Vee! Vee-vee!"

Through the Power of Viridian, Hina could understand exactly what Eevee was saying.

She gently stroked its back.

"So... a group of people wearing strange clothes has been appearing around here a lot?"

"They use weird nets to catch Pokémon..."

"And because you wanted to stop them, you’ve been guarding this place..."

"Every night, you go around destroying their traps..."

The moment Hina finished speaking—

Heavy footsteps came from deeper inside the grove.

"Boss! We did pretty well today!"

"That Eevee’s gotta still be around here too! I saw its leg was injured yesterday. There’s no way it got far!"

"Hehehe! Once we catch that Eevee and add it to the stock we’ve already got..."

"We’ll make at least this much off the whole haul—"

A scar-faced man and a short, heavyset man emerged from behind the bushes.

They immediately spotted Hina beneath the tree with Eevee in her arms.

"Well, I’ll be."

The scar-faced man froze for a moment before grinning.

"Didn’t know they were letting kids this young into our line of work nowadays."

"Listen, little girl."

"I’d advise you not to stick your nose into things that don’t concern you."

"You’re in way over your head here."

"But..."

Hina tightened her arms around Eevee.

"What if..."

"I don’t want to ignore it?"

The scar-faced man sneered and pulled a Poké Ball from his waist.

"If you insist on learning the hard way—"

He never finished the sentence.

Surskit came flying through the air from behind Hina.

Midair Volley Style!

Its kick landed perfectly against the back of the scar-faced man’s head.

The force sent him flying.

The short man immediately realized something was wrong and hurriedly reached into his pocket for a Poké Ball.

But before he could even press the button—Quaquaval kicked him squarely away.

He flew nearly three meters and slammed into a tree.

By the time he slid down the trunk, his eyes had already turned into spirals.

Seeing his companion knocked unconscious, the scar-faced man actually forced himself back to his feet.

"Fine!"

"You’ve got some skills!"

"I admit defeat, all right?!"

Hina gently set Eevee down.

Then she walked over to the scar-faced man and crouched in front of him.

"Um..."

"Could you please tell me where you’re keeping all the Pokémon you’ve captured?"

The man froze.

Then he scoffed.

"Kid, you seriously think I’m gonna tell you?"

"I’ve been in this business for years. I’ve seen everything there is to see."

"Even if you start smashing Poké Balls over my head, I still—"

"Hehehe."

"Not telling you."

Hina fell silent for a moment.

Then she lowered her eyes toward the yellow mark on the back of her hand.

Uxie’s Forced Q&A.

Once per day—

It could force someone to answer any single question.

Hina took a deep breath.

Then she raised one finger and traced a circle through the air.

"In the name of Uxie, the Being of Knowledge—please answer my question."

[VIP Chat Group]

[Raihan]: Hahahahaha! I’m dying! Scarface probably thought Hina was too young and timid to get anything out of him, and then she just pulled out the special ability.

[Iris]: Hina might be introverted, but when it comes to actually doing something, she’s really decisive.

[Steven]: Brother Asher’s daughters all handle things the same way. If fists can solve the problem, why waste time talking?