Chapter no.376 You're The Mole

[ POV Change ]
[ Celadon City - Hotel ]
A taxi pulled into the Celadon City Hotel parking lot, the low rumble of its engine echoing off the surrounding buildings. The driver, a stout man in his fifties with a thick mustache and a faded cap pulled low over his eyes, peered through the windshield at the sprawling complex before him. He had been driving for hours, ferrying passengers from one corner of the city to the other, and he was ready for a break.
Sighing heavily, he looked back to the interior of his car to see Sabrina, the Gym Leader of Saffron City, sitting calmly in the backseat. Her long hair was neatly arranged in a low bun, and she wore a sleek black dress that accentuated her elegant figure.
The driver felt a jolt of excitement mixed with nervousness. Sabrina was one of the most powerful and respected trainers in the region, and her reputation preceded her. He cleared his throat and spoke in a respectful tone.
" Miss Sabrina, we have arrived."
"Thanks for the ride," she said, fishing for her purse in the back seat.
The driver grunted in response, already turning his attention to the meter as it beeped steadily in the background. He had been in this business for too long to waste time making small talk with every customer that came his way.
"So, how much do I owe you?" Sabrina asked, finally retrieving her wallet.
The driver paused, his eyes scanning the digital display on the meter. "That'll be thirty bucks," he said, his voice gruff.
Sabrina nodded, handing him a crisp ten-dollar bill and three crumpled singles. "Keep the change," she said before turning to leave.
But before the driver could even reply, there was a sudden crash on the hood of the car. The driver jerked his head towards the noise, his eyes widening in shock as the driver stared in disbelief at the unconscious Electivire and the older man sprawled across its body, he was suddenly jolted by a knock on the window beside him. He whirled around to see Sabrina peering in at him, her eyes focused intently on his face.
"Excuse me," she said, her voice soft but commanding. " Please, get out of this place."
....
The hotel room was in complete shambles. Furniture was overturned, curtains were ripped apart, and broken glass covered the floor. Austin, Lucario, and Pikachu were in the midst of a heated argument, with each of them yelling over the other.
" Who are these bastards ?!" shouted Austin, his voice hoarse from all the shouting.
" You're the guy with the answers, how should we know ? For now let's just find out if Green and Yellow are safe !" exclaimed Lucario. "
Pikachu, meanwhile, was pacing back and forth, trying to come up with a solution.
As the trio made their way out of the destroyed hotel room, they were met with an unexpected sight. The entire hallway was filled with trainers and Pokemon, all glaring at them menacingly.
Austin turned to Lucario with a joking smile on his face. "Looks like they're here for you, Lucario. You dog, you."
One of the trainers spoke up. "Actually, we're here for all three of you. You need to come with us."
Lucario smirked and looked at Austin. " Take me out to coffee first."
" I thought you hated coffee."
" I do."
" So, a bad first date."
" Exactly, I don't even want to go to second base."
Pikachu giggled at the banter, but the situation quickly turned serious as the trainers and their Pokemon closed in on them.
Austin, not one to back down, turned to one of the trainers and quipped, " Oh, God! Why couldn't those glory hole bastards wear protection when conceiving you ?!"
The trainers looked confused at the seemingly random insult. But Austin wasn't done yet.
" Take this protection!"
Austin quickly took off his helmet and kicked it towards the trainer's face, knocking him out cold.
As psychic energy enveloped the trio, they were suddenly replaced by Butterfree, Ivysaur, and Scizor.
The new team wasted no time in taking action. Ivysaur and Butterfree released a deadly combination of poison powder, sleep powder, and stun spore, creating the devastating move known as "Chemical Warfare."
Scizor then followed up with a powerful Sandstorm attack, effectively wiping out their opponents.
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[ Celadon City - Abandoned Subway ]
Erika sat with her back pressed against the wall, feeling the chill of the abandoned subway station seeping into her bones as she remembered the words of the comic cafe owner.
' Your purse must have been stolen by the mole. He is a famous thief around here.'
She wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging them tightly to her chest. Her eyes were fixed on the ceiling, where water dripped steadily onto the platform below. The sound echoed through the empty station, a constant reminder of the desolation of the place.
'I am cold ... and hungry. What should I do ?'
As she looked around, she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. She was the princess of one of the richest families in the world, and here she was, surrounded by homeless people sleeping on cardboard boxes and makeshift toilets. It was a stark reminder of the vast divide between the haves and the have-nots.
' I am .... sacred ! I want to go home.'
Suddenly, Erika heard a commotion coming from the other end of the platform. She looked up to see a group of people fighting over a purse. She recognized it immediately as her own, the one that had been stolen from her earlier that day.
" That's my purse."
Erika nervously made her way towards the group of people who were fighting over her purse. As she approached, she saw them dissipate one by one, like a flock of birds scattering at the sight of a predator.
She took a deep breath and approached the man who had her purse. He was a tall, wiry figure with shaggy hair and a rugged appearance. She recognized the man from the park who had claimed that it was his territory.
Erika tried to keep her composure as she asked for her purse back.
"Excuse me, sir," she said, her voice shaking slightly. "That's my purse you have there. I believe it was stolen from me earlier today."
Erika took a closer look, and her heart sank. The man had a mole on his face, just like the thief who had stolen her purse.
"You're the mole!" Erika exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at him. "You're the one who stole my purse ! You even have a mole on your face !"
The man looked confused, and he rubbed his face, revealing that the mole on his face was just a speck of dirt.
"I'm not a thief," he said, his voice calm and even. "I found this purse by the side of the road. It looked like someone had thrown it away, so I picked it up."
Erika hesitated, unsure of what to believe. The man's story seemed plausible, but she couldn't shake the feeling that he was lying.
"Please, just give me my purse back," she said, her voice pleading. "It's important to me."
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[ Omake Paragraph ]
Deep in the Ilex Forest sit four long walls of Forretress arranged as an open box, stacked upon each other like a reef of Corsola. Although they are calm enough that tourists can walk straight up to these walls, they remain fierce guardians who relentlessly protect the integrity of their wall and whatever lies within. Those who tried Electrode found another wall behind the first one, those who tried fire found each Forretress equipped with Occa berries; all of them ran for their lives.
The Forretress are normally silent, but when an aggressor approaches, they speak in unison words understood by other pokemon as meaning "You shall not pass." Attempts to gain information from them have proven fruitless, save for one exception: when asked why they guard the walls, they answer that it is a "contract with master." Who this master is, or what they are guarding, is left unanswered and unknown.
Therefore, there are no reliable reports of what lies within the Forretress walls. The difficulty of flight within and thick canopy of the forest has made aerial observance impossible, especially as low-flying observers are within range of the Forretress' Gyro Balls. None have breached the wall in recorded history. And so mythology has filled the gap, although the myths do not agree. Some say that what they guard is a strange land where Celebi sleeps forever, even while simultaneously awake and messing with continuity elsewhere in a time travel paradox. Others say they guard the gate to hell, yet it is different to imagine any hell worse than an eternity as part of an unmoving wall, never speaking with your own voice. One can only wonder about their contract, and what it gave the Forretress to make it worth it to stay in this wall forever