Speaking, revealing a hint of heartache.
An orphan?
Natsuhiko was silent.
"Alright."
"That's fine. I have other things to do. Natsuhiko, if you have time, come visit us at Joy's house. There are quite a few girls here who are fans of yours."
Clan Leader Joy said with a smile, then hung up the call.
However, Natsuhiko vaguely saw a black shadow flash behind him.
Very quickly.
But he still saw it.
"How was it?"
As soon as the call ended, Joy Rhombus poked her head through the door, blinking her eyes.
"It's done,"
Natsuhiko grumbled as he tossed the phone to her.
Just now, he almost thought he was about to become the public enemy of the Joy Clan.
Joy Rhombus's eyes lit up.
"How did you manage to pull it off?"
She put in so much effort without success, yet Natsuhiko handled it in one encounter?
Pull it off?
Such a way to put it.
He had no say in it, alright.
But he roughly understood what happened.
"Here's a Gym Leader Level Dragalge, and these are Skrelp. I'll leave them to you. You can choose a few decent apprentices if you get the chance."
Natsuhiko didn't answer her question and instead handed over the Dragalge and Skrelp to Joy Rhombus.
Anyway, he, as the Gym Leader, showed his presence only when the dojo opened, and then became redundant.
He had also reviewed Joy Rhombus's badge distribution records, and they were fine.
Proving that she could very well fulfill the role.
Natsuhiko could then comfortably become a hands-off manager.
It was also a pretty good outcome.
Joy Rhombus watched Natsuhiko leave with her head scratched, somewhat confused.
Natsuhiko muttered softly.
"The teacher's influence is really big."
...
...
Sinnoh Alliance.
The abode of the Joy Clan.
After hanging up the phone with Natsuhiko, Clan Leader Joy looked discontentedly at the old lady sitting on the chair next to her.
"I mean, even if it's your disciple, there's no need to come this far for such a small matter."
The old lady sitting in the chair slowly lifted her head, revealing a sinister smile.
It was indeed Natsuhiko's casual teacher, the Ghost-type Elite Four Agatha!
"I'm not that free." Agatha replied with a smile.
"Is that so?"
Clan Leader Joy was full of disbelief.
Anyway, she didn't believe it.
Even though Agatha's reputation wasn't that great, Natsuhiko being her disciple had spread among the higher-ups of the alliance.
Her protective nature somehow spread along with that news.
"Believe it or not, I'm here on official business." Agatha spoke calmly.
"Official business?"
Clan Leader Joy glanced at the tea and fruit plate on the table beside Agatha.
Official business is basically coming here to eat fruit?
Heh—
Regardless of whether Agatha herself believed it or not, Joy didn't.
"But it's good, Rhombus does have a Trainer's talent." Clan Leader Joy sighed and sat next to Agatha.
Agatha glanced at her, picked up the tea and took a sip.
Then she took out a communicator and said, "Alright, the boy's free now. You go find him."
"Alright, Elite Four Agatha. Once I'm done with things here, I'll go find him." The communicator transmitted a cheerful voice tinged with a bit of delight.
"There's really a task?" Clan Leader Joy seemed surprised.
"You can't be unaware of what's been happening in Kanto, can you?"
"You mean... Sheba's challenge against the Elite Four?" Clan Leader Joy asked, puzzled.
"No, Sheba's challenged dozens of times. He doesn't even treat challenging the Elite Four as a real challenge; it's mainly testing his own strength. Only that old guy appreciates him and keeps humoring him. I'd pin him down already." Agatha casually picked up a piece of fruit and popped it into her mouth, speaking nonchalantly.
Yes.
So no one's dared to challenge you all these years.
Clan Leader Joy muttered internally.
"Then it is...?"
Agatha squinted her eyes slowly and said in a deep voice, "The gene pool was blown up, confirmed to be done by internal personnel."
"Gene pool?" Clan Leader Joy furrowed her brows, "Who was behind it?"
She couldn't believe an insider dared to be that bold.
"Who else could it be."
"Rocket Team?" Clan Leader Joy directly blurted out the name, quickly questioning, "But why did they come to Sinnoh?"
"Who knows, maybe someone's meeting them here, or perhaps the item was already handed over, and they're just looking for a place to hide." Agatha shrugged.
The gene pool being blown up is indeed a significant matter, so Agatha's action is understandable.
"Your Joy Clan has wide connections; help us keep an eye out. His Pokémon is badly injured." Saying this, Agatha passed a photo.
"Then you should be asking Officer Jenny."
"Already did."
After saying this, Agatha stood up and walked towards the door.
Clan Leader Joy looked at the photo in her hand, furrowing her eyebrows.
Her intuition told her that if this person ran to Sinnoh without heading elsewhere, there must be some special reason.
Lately, Sinnoh hasn't been peaceful either.
A secret underground organization called Galaxy Team has been excessively active.
But until now, the alliance still doesn't know the Leader of this organization.
The Hunter Guild's headquarters is also in Sinnoh, causing quite a stir recently.
——————
This month I've updated nearly 380,000 words; let's aim for 400,000 next month, okay?
Just a few hundred votes away from 10,000 monthly votes, friends, please support! On my knees in gratitude!
Also, let's have a burst update tomorrow. I don't know how much I can burst out; I've got a cold these days with a blocked nose, but I'll try to burst as much as possible. Once ready, I'll post~~