Chapter 146: Emma Is Wriggling Through the Vents

Chapter 146: Chapter 146: Emma Is Wriggling Through the Vents

"Ogerpon?"

"Right, exactly like that."

Diantha demonstrated a pose and had Ogerpon imitate it.

"When the time comes, you’ll do exactly this and send those bad guys flying!"

"Ponii~~"

Ogerpon looked delighted.

She was already starting to look forward to this thing Diantha called acting.

"Sora, Ogerpon really has talent."

"She’ll definitely make an amazing movie!"

After a few simple tests, Diantha discovered that Ogerpon was practically a natural.

With talent like this, it would be a waste not to enter the entertainment industry.

In the Pokémon world, films starring Pokémon were the true mainstream.

Human actors were often just supporting roles.

Even someone as famous as Diantha was no exception.

In her eyes, Ogerpon was an uncut gem, waiting to be polished into a priceless treasure.

"Ah, that depends on Ogerpon."

"Ponii~~!"

Unfortunately, the moment Sora finished speaking, Ogerpon immediately latched onto him.

Acting?

Wasn’t that just another fun game?

But if the price was being separated from Sora—

No way!

Absolutely not!

Not even for a single day.

No.

Not even half a day!

"Poniiii~~"

"Alright, alright."

"I won’t leave you behind."

Sora scooped Ogerpon into his arms and deployed his signature head-pat technique.

The little Pokémon quickly calmed down.

"You see, Diantha?"

"Ogerpon is just too attached to me."

Sora wasn’t bothered by it.

Nor did he have any intention of changing it.

Ogerpon had spent centuries alone.

Now that she had finally found Sora, wanting to stay by his side all the time was perfectly understandable.

This was a partner who would truly stay with him for life, never abandoning him.

"Yeah."

Diantha could see that much herself.

"In that case, I guess it can’t be helped."

She was disappointed, but she would never force a Pokémon to do something it didn’t want to do.

Still...

Sora really was enviable.

Knock knock knock!

"Damn it!"

"Where did that little stowaway run off to?"

"She was just here a moment ago!"

Meanwhile, while Sora and Diantha were busy caring for the newly hatched Ralts and introducing his Pokémon...

A small figure was crawling through the ship’s ventilation system in complete darkness.

"Haa..."

Listening as the footsteps gradually faded away, the girl finally let out a sigh of relief.

Her name was Emma.

An orphan from Lumiose City.

She survived by scraping by in the city’s underground districts.

One day, Emma accidentally stumbled upon an illegal transaction.

The criminals attacked her.

Though she managed to escape with her life, her partner Pokémon—

Espurr—

was captured by the traffickers.

"Meowstic... where are you...?"

Just thinking about her companion suffering at the hands of those villains made Emma’s heart ache.

The girl was clever.

Otherwise, she never would have survived this long in Lumiose’s underworld.

Following every clue she could find, she tracked the criminals from Lumiose all the way to Shalour City.

As for transportation...

Well.

The same way she’d boarded this ship.

Sneaking aboard and riding without a ticket.

Emma was frighteningly good at it.

Not long ago, she had discovered this luxury cruise liner:

The Saint Valen.

The criminals had boarded under cover of night.

Even more suspiciously, they had received a very formal welcome from the ship’s management.

Something’s definitely wrong here!

Emma’s instincts for danger picked up on countless irregularities.

The crew was suspicious.

The security personnel were suspicious.

They were all connected.

This cruise ship was only a cover.

Behind the scenes, they were almost certainly involved in Pokémon trafficking.

Pokémon poachers!

Emma had heard rumors before.

Poachers.

Smugglers.

Middlemen.

Each step handled by different people until stolen Pokémon were either "laundered" or packaged and delivered to wealthy buyers.

Her Espurr had fallen into their hands.

It’s all my fault.

Emma regretted her weakness.

She hadn’t been able to protect Espurr.

To make up for that failure, she had risked her life sneaking aboard this ship.

She had no real plan for rescuing Espurr.

All she knew was this:

If she didn’t try to save her friend, who would?

The journey had been brutal.

Sometimes she wondered whether Espurr might actually end up with a kind owner.

Maybe someone who would treat her well.

But Emma couldn’t gamble on that possibility.

Every time she imagined Espurr locked in a cage...

Or becoming the abused toy of some cruel rich person...

She woke from nightmares drenched in sweat.

"Just wait for me, Espurr!"

"I’ll find you!"

With renewed determination, Emma continued crawling through the ventilation shafts.

Soon, she arrived above the VIP cabin section.

"Come to think of it, I even got my ticket piggybacked by someone when I boarded."

That voice?

Emma froze.

She recognized it.

It belonged to the wealthy Trainer whose ticket she’d used to sneak aboard.

A wealthy Trainer indeed.

That permanent first-class pass was not something an ordinary person could possess.

The attitudes of the crew and ticket inspectors made that abundantly clear.

And those two Pokémon he carried around...

With Emma’s experience, she couldn’t identify either Ogerpon or Magearna.

All she knew was that they were incredibly cute.

Anyone capable of owning such rare Pokémon was clearly far beyond her imagination.

"Eh~~"

Inside the cabin, Diantha covered her mouth in surprise.

"So something like that happened?"

"Is that child alright now?"

Unlike most people, Diantha didn’t immediately condemn the girl for sneaking aboard.

In her eyes, it was probably just a reckless prank by an overly mischievous child.

Rather than the fare evasion itself, she was worried about the girl’s safety.

Once the ship departed, it would leave Kalos behind.

If her family discovered she was missing, wouldn’t they panic?

Even worse—

If the girl had no money, how would she survive?

Would she be fortunate enough to encounter kind people willing to help her?

"What does she look like?"

Diantha immediately began asking for details.

She had already made up her mind.

If the girl was discovered on the ship, Diantha would personally apologize to the captain on her behalf and help send her safely home.

As for the ticket fare?

That was insignificant.

If the child genuinely understood her mistake and apologized properly, Diantha wouldn’t care about such a small amount of money.

The important thing was teaching her how dangerous such behavior could be.

She absolutely couldn’t keep doing things like this.

Diantha truly embodied the kindness of a good-hearted Trainer.

Her thoughts were filled entirely with concern, compassion, and goodwill.

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