After ing up his brief campaign in New Bark Town, Sato left the p ruins, figuratively speaking, apanied by his three Pokémon.

  In the northwestern outskirts of the forest, Sato took out his test-model wilderness navigator, checked his surroundings, firmed his dire, and headed straight into the woods.

  Yesterday, he had accepted his first capture request in New Bark Town—his target was a round and chubby Pokémon that was immensely popur among women: Jigglypuff.

  Jigglypuff wasn't particurly strong, and its evolution required an expensive Moon Stone, but its adorable appearance, bined with its uable movements and ck of a fixed habitat, kept its market price high.

  Jigglypuff was like a wandering bard, traveling across variions, stubbornly searg for someone who could listen to its song without falling asleep.

  Sato released Zorua and Haunter and began scouting the forest for any traces of Jigglypuff.

  Not long ago, someone had spotted a Jigglypuff in this area. Sato had paid a hefty price for that information, and after making the necessary preparations, he had rushed over as soon as possible.

  "Jigglypuff is light and doesn't leave footprints easily. It prefers eating Aspear Berries to keep its throat hydrated, so let's start by looking for Aspear Berry trees."

  "Zor!"

  "Kehehehe~"

  Haunter, with a mischievous grin, gave a salute that was anything but standard, then vanished into the forest.

  Sato took another dire, striding forward. Small Pokémon peeked out cautiously from their hiding spots, curiously this unfamiliar human.

  His gaze swept from side to side, searg for any possible hiding spots fglypuff. Before long, he spotted something above—perched silently on a tree branch, a Murkrow was staring ily at him.

  "Want to e down and give it a try?"

  Sato extended his right hand, releasing a dense wave of Dark Energy. The bck aura resembled a lethal yet irresistible delicacy.

  Finally, uo resist its primal instincts, Murkrow slowly desded, nding on Sato's arm, and peacefully absorbed the surrounding Dark Energy. A small amount of its power was being drawn in, but only in minuscule amounts.

  "Murkrow, have you seen a Jigglypuff nearby? It looks like this."

  A ft image of Jigglypuff appeared on his Pokédex s. Teology wasn't advanced enough to gee a full 3D model yet.

  To his surprise, Murkrow had actually seen a Jigglypuff—and just this m!

  "Take me there."

  "Caw!"

  Murkrow hesitated for a moment before relutly agreeing to help. However, instead of leading the way, it simply pointed with its wing, choosing to stay perched on his arm, still abs Dark Energy.

  "Kehehe!"

  Haunter suddenly materialized, startling Murkrow so badly that it fpped its wings in terror, causing plete chaos.

  Sato, fed up with the otion, forcibly grabbed Murkrow by the wings, holding it like a chi chi his hand.

  Without Dark Energy to pacify it, and with a ghost that had nearly scared it to death floating nearby, the terrified Murkrow truly believed this was its st day alive.

  "Zor?"

  The otion caught Zorua's attention. Worried for Sato's safety, it rushed back at full speed.

  "I'm fine. We have a lead—let's go check it out."

  "Zor!"

  After about ten minutes, Murkrow, while guiding the way, began to recover some of its energy. Realizing that Sato had no iion of eating it, the bird started feeling hopeful about esg soon and became much more cooperative.

  "Caw! Caw!"

  Murkrow weakly pointed forward, and Sato faintly heard a soft, soothing voice drifting through the air. It was gentle, calming—and incredibly drowsy.

  "Return, Haunter! Zorua, Fake Tears!"

  "Zoruuu~"

  As a top tender for an Oscar, Zorua could cry on and, looking absolutely pitiful. The delicate singing tinued, but now it had lost its effectiveness.

  With the sound frequency disrupted, Fake Tears turned into a full-on wail, rendering Sing pletely useless. Sato quied his pace, aiming to the capture as soon as possible and avoid any unnecessary trouble.

  At the ter of a small clearing, surrounded by bushes, stood a perfectly ft, square-shaped stone. Fglypuff, it was a natural stage, an ideal spot to freely perform its enting songs.

  "Plop!"

  A Pidgey tumbled from a tree branch, yet remained sound asleep.

  As Sato moved forward, he noticed several other Pokémon that had already been lulled into slumber. Thanks to Zorua's stant Fake Tears, he was still holding out, but he knew he had to finish this quickly.

  "Zor! Zor!"

  "There it is! Zorua, use Taunt!"

  "Zor!"

  Zorua leapt off Sato's shoulder, dashed up behind Jigglypuff, and tapped it. As the balloon Pokémon turned around in fusion, Zorua immediately unched into an endless string of taunts.

  No one kly what it said, but Jigglypuff visibly swelled up nearly twice its size.

  It stopped singing altogether, and its tiny hands began glowing faintly, ready to strike Zorua on the spot.

  "Sucker Punch!"

  "Zor!"

  Zorua vanished in an instant, only to reappear behind Jigglypuff, smming into it hard from behind.

  "Jiggly!!"

  Jigglypuff fated into the ground, instinctively wanting to use Sing again to lull its oppo into submission.

  But the moment the thought crossed its mind, an overwhelming wave of anger surged through its body.

  All it wanted now was to personally beat this infuriating oppo into the dirt!

  Clearly, Taunt's effect had kicked in.

  "Jiggly! Jiggly!"

  Jigglypuff swung its tiny arms again, this time eling a deep e energy that sent a shiver of uhrough Zorua.

  "That's Brick Break! Zorua, jump to dodge—ter with Dark Pulse!"

  When it came to bat, Jigglypuff ractically a joke.

  Sato had no idea ink balloon was capable of learning a Fighting-type move like Brick Break, but as long as it didn't nd a hit, type advantage meant nothing.

  "Zor!"

  Dark Pulse whistled through the air, bsting Jigglypuff backward, sending it crashing down just a few feet away from Sato. Their teamwork was fwless.

  "Whoosh!"

  "Whoosh!"

  Without any over-the-top decration like 'Go, Poké Ball!', Sato seized the perfect opening and hurled a Poké Ball straight at Jigglypuff. But something ued happened.

  Two Poké Balls were thrown simultaneously!

  Sato immediately locked onto his petitor's location. Without hesitation, he hurled the Murkrow in his hand straight at them.

  "Caw! Caw!"

  "Buzz!"

  A shimmering Light S suddenly formed in front of the bushes.

  A middle-aged man clumsily stumbled out, his face flushed with embarrassment as he pointed acgly at Sato.

  Despite his outward fidence, he was secretly even more shocked by Sato's decisiveness and sheer audacity.

  "Mime! Mime!"

  A Mr. Mime—an incredibly rare Pokémon—stepped out behind the man.

  The Light S had clearly been its doing—otherwise, the man would have crashed face-first into the bushes.

  "Kid, if my Poké Ball catches that Jigglypuff, then it belongs to me!"

  "Tch."

  Sato ughed mogly.

  Did this guy think just because he looked ten years old, he could bully him like some newbie trainer?

  "Zorua, Taunt! Haunter, Mean Look!"

  Not b with pointless arguments, Sato immediately initiated the battle—charging forward himself at the same time.

  This was the wild.

  To hell with fair fights!