Rope is silent as he looks at the roiling sands in front of him...
Whitley was also silent, just with a somewhat heavy face.
"This place, is it really livable?"
Diana asked with some doubt.
Rope shook his head somewhat regretfully and said, "The odds are that there's not much hope..."
But Rope still lifted his book bag upwards and said, "Let's go, no matter what, we have to take a look."
With that, she headed forward into the wind-filled sand.
On the way, Whitley asked thoughtfully, "Rope, those villages we went through before all had their own native properties, what about this one?"
"There is for sure. But as you can see, the Origin Attribute, if it normally exists in a place, will always be affected by the Origin Energy, just like the village that Eiichi and the others were in."
"That's why the land in Eiichi's village and theirs is really fertile."
Whitley said as if she understood something.
Rope nodded, but that wasn't really completely certain, the sample was still too small. Of the three villages now, only Eiichi's village's Origin was still honestly in the idol.
Aohane's village's origins were in Jikan's body before. And now those origins were sitting in the little ball of flame around Rope's waist.
Powers that belong to the same Power Seed can bind each other. And Rope can still deal with this little bit of masterless energy.
As for Diana's village...I guess the Origin is in Diana's body.
"So the Origin sitting here would be rock-type?"
Diana felt the slight pain of the sand hitting her face and spoke somewhat helplessly. The environment here was just too harsh.
Rope shook his head and said, "I looked up the information on this area before I came..."
"Well?"
Whitley asked ahead of her. She hadn't looked up the problems here, but as soon as Rope said it, she knew that something was definitely wrong here.
Rope didn't care about Whitley's interruption and continued, "The information I've found out is... this place was supposed to be a beautiful lake more than a hundred years ago, with many cherished aquatic Pokémon living in it, and it's even rumored that there are Milotic clans in this lake."
There was a saying that Milotic had never been in large numbers amongst nature because of the excessive difficulty of evolution. Artificially cultivating Milotic would take a huge amount of human and material resources. A Milotic in the wild is just a stroke of luck...
Forming a colony...it was simply unbelievable.
Whitley carefully surveyed the illusion around him and realized that even after more than a hundred years, this place was still vaguely visible as the bottom of a lake.
"I told you why there's such a big basin here...so it's a lake?"
Whitley also said with quite a bit of emotion.
"Then the reason this place became such a gorgon..."
Diana knew that it was indeed rare to say that such a situation was rare, but to say it was fishy was not even remotely true; the humans of this world hadn't over-exploited the world that much though. But Pokémon's impact on the natural environment was also significant.
For example, this place is almost almost gone even after a walk by Groudon.
The reason for the molding of this place should be related to a certain Pokémon if not a natural cause.
"Not really fishy. The results of the investigation said that it was the disappearance of an underground water source, and this place itself belongs to the inland area of Sinnoh, and there's relatively little precipitation. After the disappearance of the underground water source, it's not that strange to become like this..."
Rope said with a slightly odd look on his face.
"That's not an unsurprising look on your face, I see." Whitley looked at Rope's face and spat mercilessly.
Rope shook his head helplessly and said, "Just strong words...you don't really think these studies can be believed, do you."
This was the world of Pokémon. Describing it with such a seemingly natural statement. In itself, it was a sign of lack of confidence.
The odds are that anything that happens here is Pokémon's problem. To suddenly pull natural geography with me here...isn't this pursuing science in a magical world a mistake or something.
"If my estimation is correct...this should be the location of the Water Origin...but the Origin disappeared."
Rope said so.
The two girls behind her had an expression of 'this is how it should have been' on their faces. In the opinion of the two of them, so much of this Origin had already been taken away by various means. So it was rather fishy that the Origin here was still in place.
"Then aren't we making a trip for nothing?" Whitley said with some regret.
"Wherever one walks, one must leave traces." Rope shook his head, "We came here to see what clues were left behind by the one who took away the Origin."
Rope finally stated the true purpose of his trip.
Diana wasn't really surprised. Professor Carolina was the same way. As long as there was the slightest clue, she wouldn't give up her search. Whether it's a wasted trip or not. And you should never come with the thought of 'I might have wasted a trip'.
If you think like that, you will probably just go there for nothing. You won't get anything but a waste of time.
Diana looked at Whitley with envy, some people are really different.
Some people are really different. What you envy, others get easily.
Diana didn't know how much suffering she had to endure to join Professor Carolina's research institute directly after graduation and become a trainee researcher.
And for that, it was already a situation that was envied by countless of her peers. After all, even as a trainee researcher, it was a profession with a high social status. Not to mention a big shot who worked at the Mustard Seed Orchid Research Institute.
Before meeting Rope and the others, Diana was also a talented girl who would be envied everywhere she went. Only after meeting Rope and the others, or rather, after meeting Whitley, all these small pride in the bottom of her heart was shattered.
Diana hadn't understood what it meant to be inferior in every way. Knowing Whitley taught her that.
From top to bottom, inside and out, there was no place where she wasn't completely abused...
Except for being older, there's no semblance of an advantage.
The Carolina Institute, which she had gone through so much trouble to get into, and Whitley had naturally followed Rope into it, and could even be said to have founded the Institute of Gossip...
What kind of gold is that!
And there was such a responsible teacher teaching her all these scientific truths and even life truths. That's all the work teachers have to do. But there will always be some teachers who are good and some who are not...
Rope is the best of the best, both in terms of business skills and in terms of responsibility. The opposite of that is probably Professor Oak and the rest of them.
Becoming a disciple of these people was truly an unattainable opportunity.
Whitley, a girl that people simply cannot envy. Because even if you were to envy it, you wouldn't be able to get such an opportunity anymore.
"Alright, it's still far, because I want to see the specifics of this place, so I didn't choose to drive."
Rope opened his mouth and explained to the two girls. In fact, even if he didn't explain the two girls were completely understanding, after all, Rope had been knocking around all this way.
Among the group of people, it was only Hoopa who was the most laid back, floating by Rope's side with a big bag of chips in his hand, eating non-stop along the way.
Just then, Rope suddenly slapped him on the head.
Hoopa felt the pain and said with some annoyance, "What's going on! Something's wrong!"
Rope looked at Hoopa's exasperated look and said with a soft smile, "We're going to take a break, open the shield."
Hoopa rolled her eyes towards Rope, then with a wave of her small hand, an invisible, super-powered shield just appeared around them.
The originally raging wind and sand could only roar impotently outside the shield.
Hoopa sat down on a rock and kept stuffing chips into his mouth.
How come he hadn't realized before that humans could actually make something this tasty.
When he thought about it like that was the life he had lived in the Valley of Creation all these years really that of a demon? The whole day was just plain food. Not to mention potato chips, he hadn't even eaten the energy cubes that Rope had made earlier.
His menu is just a regular meal and some berries... making himself look like an old turd who hasn't seen the world.
Well, it's better to follow Rope.
After all, Rope is rich, super rich.
With the shield, Rope and the others were finally able to eat something to regain their strength.
Because it is not yet meal time, Rope has no intention of cooking. He just let Whitley and Diana eat some snacks that he had brought along with him, and when he waited for the next resting point, he would start cooking.
As time passed, the wind and sand whistled and swept towards Rope and the others like waves. But Hoopa's shield was like a reef on the shore, even if the waves could break it, it had been centuries.
Because the wind and sand were too great to walk around with the shields down, Rope simply went ahead and started cooking.
There was no need to be in a hurry. Rope wasn't an impatient person. He's always been very calm. What's more, that village was right here, and it wouldn't run away without an open leg. It wouldn't be destroyed by this sandstorm if it existed, and it had even less to do with the sandstorm if it was already destroyed.
They ate happily. Rope's handiwork was as good as ever. Just then, a strange sound came from the sand.
The sand became a natural carpet to cut off the sound of footsteps, so Rope and the others didn't hear the rustling.
But both Rope and Hoopa sensed that something was approaching.
Rope and Hoopa looked at each other and Hoopa said in Rope's mind, "Nothing major, not a very powerful guy if you observe from the energy response."
Rope nodded, since Hoopa said it wasn't any very powerful guys, that meant those guys shouldn't be able to break through the shields here, let alone directly face Rope's Pokémon.
Speaking of which, this area was really strange, Rope and the others had traveled for quite a while, but they hadn't found any Pokémon in this area. To know that walking in this world and not seeing any Pokémon was a completely unbelievable thing.
Because this world was Pokémon's. Not human, but Pokémon's world.
Rope has understood this since the beginning, and he's kept his position in perspective. If there were no heavenly visitors in this world, then the greatest possibility of the extinction crisis was out of the relationship between humans and Pokémon.
The war between humans and Pokémon for the belonging of this world had never stopped. Even now, it's still going on.
Far from it, the other day there was an attack on the harbor by a giant Tentacruel by some small dock in Kanto.
Humans and Pokémon are not on good enough terms right now to hand over the entire world.
Though they do seem to be merging is all.
Soon, Rope and the others met the first Pokémon they had seen in the middle of this desert Gobi.
"It's Gible!"
Whitley exclaimed.
Diana was also shocked. She didn't expect Gible to actually appear here.
Even Rope was quite surprised. He didn't think Gible was that enticing, it was just that it was really the first time he had seen a wild Gible.
The tiny orb-like body. The whole dragon's gave off the impression of a ball of skin loaded with all sorts of parts that made him look like a Pokémon.
Rope looked at this Gible with interest. Cynthia's trump card is this Pseudo-Legendary that is unique to the Sinnoh region. Pseudo-Legendary are known for their strength and rarity. However, in the eyes of Rope and others, this is just a relatively rare Pokémon.
Gible felt some pain against the wind and sand here. It fought to knock on the shield as if it was calling for help.
Rope was a bit puzzled, after all, by all rights, Gible or something shouldn't be afraid of the wind and sand.
Soon, Rope spotted the Pokémon behind Gible, it was one Ground Pokémon after another, Rock type Pokémon, Hippopotas mostly.
Rope even saw a Gabite, but he didn't know if it was Gible's parent or brother.
They were all of different races and stages of evolution, but the most common thing was the look of pain on their faces.
Rope's brow furrowed. He wasn't afraid of these Pokémon, but he didn't want to hurt them even more, and if these Pokémon really did mean him harm, then taking out these Pokémon seemed like the reluctant, but very logical thing to do.
Whitley could see Rope's hesitation, and she gently tugged on the corner of Rope's coat, saying, "Rope, let them in. I don't think they're pretending."
Diana nodded along with her, and she didn't feel that these Pokémon were lying either. That kind of pain was hard to fake even for creatures like humans who were used to deception, let alone these Pokémon who were innocent by nature.
Rope glanced at Hoopa, who shrugged, then said, "Don't worry, if I can put them all in, I can throw them all out."
So Rope nodded back.
Hoopa's gold rings flew out one and stuck a hole where the floor of the shield was.
Gible who was right in front of the hole had a happy look on his face when he saw the passable hole. He then greeted the Pokémon behind him on his face as they went through the hole.
The first one was a Hippopotas, and then twelve Pokémon appeared inside the shield one after another. Gible came in as the last Pokémon after Gabite also entered the shield.
As soon as he entered, Hoopa immediately put back his gold ring. The wind and sand were still very strong, and just after driving for a while a small sand pile appeared.
The Pokémon that came in immediately found a place to lie down as soon as they entered the shield. The entire body was a mess visible to the naked eye.
Gible's eyes showed a hint of fatigue, but he still didn't rest immediately, but ran to a place not far from Rope and the others and softly called out twice.
Hoopa looked at him and then turned back to Rope, "He's thanking us for taking him in."
Rope smiled and shook his head, "You're welcome. We have a little food here, so take it back and eat a little before you rest."
Gible beamed with joy, and then after thanking Rope again, he greeted Gabite at the back and asked him to come over and serve the leftovers from the entire pot to the Pokémon group over there.
After Gible thanked him again, his two short legs quickly moved and ran towards the food over there.
It was obvious that he had been hungry for quite some time.
Rope and the others looked at the bowl of food and began to eat as well. The dozen or so Pokémon of the three behind them were likewise eating with open stomachs. Fortunately, Rope habitually made more meals, after all, Pokémon eat a lot. Especially when it comes to eating this kind of human food, it takes a lot if you really want to get full.
So Rope gave each of them an extra serving of energy cubes this time. This was the thing that made them feel full, and Rope's cooking was just for texture.
Rope looked at the Pokémon over there eating so favorably, but he also felt a sense of satisfaction. After all, every cook wanted to be complimented on the dishes they made, or simply eat them all in one big gulp.
Regardless of whether the dishes made by this cook were delicious or unpalatable. He would always want that.
Rope was naturally no exception.
The meal was eaten quickly, and Rope also had Rotom send some energy cubes over there, which, as said before, was what provided the feeling of satiety.
The well-fed Pokémon fell into a deep sleep together.
They were simply too tired. So tired that they simply couldn't control their bodies.
Even little Gible was no exception this time. He fell into a deep sleep next to Gabite, who was initially holding out to guard the group, but in the end, he was overcome by sleep. But in the end, he was still knocked out by sleep.
Rope was dumbfounded as well. If he was really a bad guy, then all these Pokémon should have been captured in cages waiting to be traded in the black market by now.
Just then, Whitley poked the soft flesh around Rope's waist, and when Rope looked over, she laughed softly and asked, "Did you drug your meal?"
Rope didn't have the heart to push the little girl aside. Was this kind of nastiness something he, Rope, used against normal Pokémon and humans?
And then he shook his head, "It looks like we won't be able to leave for a while."
"It's not bad, when these little guys wake up we can also ask them why exactly they're in the situation they're in now."
Diana said with a gentle smile on her lips as she looked at the Pokémon over there.
She had loved Pokémon since she was a child, but after all, she was only from a middle-class family, and at a time when the Alliance hadn't yet made a big push for preferential policies, Pokémon were still very expensive to raise. Even the amount of money spent on pet-type breeding was quite a bit.
Not to mention Pokémon for combat.
So she didn't really have much exposure to Pokémon when she was younger until she actually got her own Pokémon when she was in college.
She loved Pokémon as much as she did when she was a teenager.
Rope nodded in agreement with Diana's thoughts.
These Pokémon looked like they had probably been living here for a while even if they weren't aboriginals. Therefore these guys should have a fairly good understanding of this place.
Rope didn't know if these Pokémon had anything to do with that village. But he knew...these various species of Pokémon would not easily come together under normal circumstances. Especially the Hippopotas, they were true group Pokémon.
Among these Pokémon in front of them, although Hippopotas occupied a small half, their number was still too small...so this was not a normal group at all.
It was as if the sun had stolen away while the humans weren't looking. Without feeling the passage of time, the sky was already approaching dusk.
The sleeping Pokémon also finally woke up, looking at each other in front of them with a look of relaxation and joy in their eyes.
Gible was a little panicked the first moment he woke up. But when he saw that the smile on Rope's face remained unchanged, he let his heart drop. ,
Standing up from the ground, he carefully counted the number of Pokémon around him three times, carefully identifying them. After making sure that none were missing and none were too many, he let out a sigh of relief.
Followed by Gabite, the little Gible, who was clearly the leader of this group, once again made his way to Rope's side.
"Ka!"
"Thanks, Rotom!"
Rotom snatched up the translation this time before Hoopa could speak.
Hoopa rolled his eyes at him in dismay.
Rope didn't pay any attention to the conflict these two translators were having, instead he smiled and said, "No need to be polite, why are you guys afraid of the sandstorm?"
Rope also had no intention of exchanging too many pleasantries with these Pokémon at all.
You don't really think that the food at Rope is free, do you? Although you can eat as much as you want, Rope will never serve food for free.
"Ka! Ka- ow!"
"We live in the middle of this desert, which has a weird sandy wind, and we Pokémon would not like the sand here. It feels like it's been soaked with water. Lotor."
Whitley and Diana looked at each other, both seeing the surprise in the other's eyes. While it was true that Rope usually gave them enough surprises, Rope was once again refreshing their perception of Rope's abilities this time around.
Rope's face was unchanged. He had already guessed all of this a long time ago.
"Then have you guys heard of a village near here?"
Rope asked again.
This time, he noticed that the look on the faces of Gible and the Gabite behind him changed.