I, the Pokémon Master, now resign

Mary stopped, pinched her sore legs, and couldn't help but say so.

It's no wonder she thinks so, after all, in her eyes, there is nothing in this barren mine, not to mention commercial streets and small shops, the ground that has been dug by people long ago is now covered by a single weed. Can't grow out.

"After all, Iron Island didn't look like this before."

Bai Chen straightened his waist, compared to Ma Li's simple leg pain, he even felt a little pain in his back now.

"I have also landed on this island before. At that time, the island was no different from other islands. They were all lush and full of vitality. All kinds of Pokémon lived on the island. It can definitely become the first choice for people to go on vacation.”

Bai Chen misses the way this place used to be.

I still remember that it was the second year after I left the Hezhong area. It may have been 6 or 7 years ago. At that time, the Iron Island was not like it is now, with potholes everywhere. The Iron Island at that time could even be published in According to travel magazines, at that time, he also chose the resort of Steel Island during his short holiday in the Sinnoh area.

However, things have changed, and now the Iron Island has completely lost the scene in Bai Chen's memory, as if it were two completely unrelated places.

"Make the place where you can go on vacation into what it is now... What can you get? More money?" Ma Li frowned, comparing the current Iron Island with the one Bai Chen described, no wonder she would Feeling dissatisfied.

"Although it's not complete, it's definitely one of many factors." Bai Chen said, "Compared to pure economic value, what is more important is the mineral resources and fossil resources found here. Even if they are not sold, just owning It is difficult to escape such a fate without these two precious resources.”

Compared with Ma Li's distaste for this, Bai Chen is naturally more open-minded. After all, he has been traveling for so long, what things can he not see?

"What's more, it's the villagers here who support the development~ If the villagers fight for a long time, there is nothing the developer can do, but the behavior of not filling after digging is a bit too bad...Of course, such behavior may also be inconsistent with The contracts signed between them are related, but those are not things we need to care about."

Bai Chen climbed up a hollowed-out hill first, then stretched out his hand and pulled Ma Li up together.

"The relationship between economics and ecology has always been one of the most difficult to manage, and Iron Island is obviously a classic case of failure."

Bai Chen stood on the hill and looked into the distance. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart at the dilapidated island.

The small village located by the sea in the northwest of the entire island seemed a bit out of place in such a dilapidated scene.

"Is that there?"

Mary also followed Bai Chen's gaze to the northwest, and more than 20 scattered low-rise houses formed such a lonely small village.

"Obviously this island has become like this, if there will always be nightmares there, why don't you just leave..."

The cold wind blew through Ma Li's hair, looking at such a lonely village, she didn't know how she was feeling right now.

Should it be disappointment or sympathy?

"There are always people who don't want to leave their hometown. No matter what the hometown has become, as long as they stay here, they will feel at ease." Bai Chen didn't say much, but just started the difficult road down the mountain. "Anyway, if there is any doubt, won't it be solved naturally when you go there? And I'm also curious why Darkley appears in such a place."

Generally speaking, Darkrai, like most legendary Pokémon, will not stay in the same place all the time, but since he chooses to stay here, it means that there must be unknown reasons for it.

And that reason is hidden in this dilapidated village.

......

"It's here."

Bai Chen and Ma Li came to the village, and after walking for about two or three minutes, they arrived at the place mentioned in the letter——

It was a hut with a low persimmon tree growing in front of the door.

The style of the hut looks very retro, and the whole is built with stones, as if it is a place that only appears in period dramas.

"Dafeng..."

Bai Chen noticed that the house owner's surname was marked on the door plate hanging beside the gate, it seemed that he had indeed found the right place.

"Bang Bang~"

Although the main part of the house is built of stones, the door is still a normal wooden door, so it doesn't mean that even knocking on the door is a waste of time.

"Dafeng Youhui? Dafeng Youhui, are you there? I'm Bai Chen from Wanshiwu in Shuran Town—"

Just after Bai Chen finished yelling, he heard a rush of footsteps in the room, and the door was opened after a while, and a middle-aged man appeared in front of the two of them.

"Huh?"

"..."

Bai Chen uttered a suspicious cry, and after seeing the other party's appearance, Ma Li hid directly behind Bai Chen, unwilling to meet his gaze.

"You, hello! Nice to meet you! I am Dafeng Youhui, the village head of this village..."

The middle-aged man named Dafeng Youhui's current appearance can be said to be very sloppy. His messy hair looks even more messy than the nest built by Mukeer, and his skin is so loose that it is impossible to tell his specific age. The most conspicuous feature of the man named Dafeng Youhui is the thick dark circles around his eye sockets.

Dafeng Youhui's appearance at this time, not to mention Mary, even Bai Chen looked a little apprehensive. In the eyes of Miss Junsha...no, even in the eyes of ordinary children, a person with this appearance must be They're all suspicious, right?

"Ah... well, hello..."

On the surface, he greeted him calmly, but in fact, Bai Chen was already worried about this commission.

......

404 They Have Been Haunted by Nightmares for Seven Years

"Sorry, supplies are scarce, so only ordinary water can entertain the two of you."

"No, water is fine, don't worry about it."

After being entertained into the room, Bai Chen forgot the feeling he had when he first met the other party, and turned to work.

On the other hand, Ma Li, perhaps because the middle-aged man named Dafeng Youhui looks a bit scary, even though she knew that the other party was the client of this mission, she still sat next to Bai Chen with some fear. Now, from the beginning to the end, he didn't raise his head to meet his gaze.

At this time, Dafeng Youhui, who noticed Ma Li's abnormality, smiled embarrassingly, and said:

"I'm sorry, because the quality of my sleep recently is really bad, and I don't have time to tidy up this bad appearance. I made you two laugh, I'm sorry!"

Dafeng Youhui said so, and then bowed apologetically to Mary, who was scared by him, and Mary, who knew that she would be rude if she continued to maintain this state, had to move to the outside , also says:

"No... sorry... I'm too rude...."

"I understand how you feel. Every time outsiders come into our village, they will react the same as you. But... um... Mr. Bai Chen? Mr. Bai Chen's reaction is relatively rare. The kind that can return to normal so quickly."

"After all, I have seen too many strange things, and this situation is relatively normal."

Bai Chen took a sip of tea, without any bragging elements in it, he just said these words in a matter-of-fact manner to reassure the other party.

Sure enough, after Bai Chen's speech, Dafeng Youhui's heart that was still a little suspended suddenly relaxed.

"That's good! That's good! With someone as reliable as Mr. Bai Chen, I believe that the curse that plagues our village will soon be lifted—"

"I'm here this time for this purpose, so don't worry and leave it to me, but before that, I need to understand first, about the... uh... curse you said? What is it all about. "

After thinking about it for a while, Bai Chen still didn't intend to tell the village head the truth of the matter directly. It is better that as few people know about the legendary Pokémon, the better.

What's more, for people like him in this village who already believed in the so-called curse, they might not be able to accept the truth if they told the truth.

"..."

Dafeng Youhui put down the water glass in his hand, then shook his head helplessly, and the sound of sighing dragged on for more than ten seconds before finally stopping.

"Actually, regarding this curse, I have already forgotten when it started... Anyway, this curse already existed before I became the village chief, so at the latest, it seems that the distance from this curse to the present has at least passed 7 years."

"7?!"

Bai Chen, who was still quietly listening to the other party's statement, suddenly came to his senses after hearing this number, and suddenly asked:

"So, it seems that there was indeed a report in the newspaper 7 years ago...it was very popular at the time...I remember it was called...the rumor of the cursed village? Is it this?!"

Bai Chen, who was already somewhat vague about the past, after hearing the two key words 7 and curse, the vague memories in his mind seemed to gradually surface again.

That's right, the reason why I decided to come to Steel Island for vacation was not simply because I saw such a place in a travel magazine...but because I was curious, curious why the newspapers suddenly called such a place surrounded by mountains and rivers As a cursed village, he had wanted to find out here a long time ago.

It's just that he didn't expect that his original thoughts would meet him again now. After searching the place carefully, he found nothing, so he thought it was just news, or the local villagers were hyping it up.

But looking at it today, maybe the original self was really negligent.

Because the original Bai Chen completely ignored the information of the locals when investigating the abnormalities that occurred here, and just explored the places where the above-mentioned strange events occurred according to what the newspaper said.

"Eh... I do remember such a thing, but the information published in the newspapers at the time is completely different from the information we provided. For this reason, our former village head here went to have a big talk with them. There was a lot of quarrel..."

Dafeng Youhui's impression of this matter is not so deep. After all, the report of the curse in the village was originally different at the time.

Most of the villagers are afraid that if this matter is exposed, people outside will regard them as freaks and cursed people, but in the end the village chief insisted on doing so against all opinions.

"Is that so..."

Sure enough, it was exactly what Bai Chen thought, so many places could match up.

"Well, in short, I don't know what's going on with this curse... I don't know how it came about, and I don't know how to make it disappear. We also thought about it before, is there someone in this village? I provoked something unclean, but at the end of the investigation, it was found that no one in the village had gone out at that time, and everyone had stayed on this island."

Speaking of this, Dafeng Youhui's eyes showed a trace of loneliness and unwillingness.

"Afterwards, in order to find a way to expel the curse, we tried everything, and even agreed to let those people come here to develop the island, destroying the island into what it is now, but...but... .”

Two lines of hot tears fell on the face of the middle-aged man. The most uncomfortable thing for him was that during his tenure as the village head, the village experienced visible decline... No, not only the village, but even the village The islands where it is located have become what they are now.

"I am the head of the village, and I carry everyone's hope... But I have nothing to do with this curse. Every day, every day, the nightmare will come as expected... There were hundreds of people in the village at the beginning, but now There are only more than 20 people who are unwilling to leave, even for them... Please! Please help us solve this problem! As long as the reward is what I can pay, I will definitely not refuse, so— -please!"

The middle-aged man who had been haunted by nightmares for seven years finally collapsed completely at this moment. He took two steps back and left the table, got up, and then bowed deeply to Bai Chen three times, with tears dripping down on his face. on the ground.

In his eyes, Bai Chen has become the last straw, so even if he discards everything, he must hold on to him firmly.

......

405 Exploration, village with no response

"I know, since I have accepted the commission, I will definitely complete it."

Bai Chen supported the other party, and said:

"But the investigation will take some time. We may stay here for a few days. During this period..."

"I know! I know! Empty houses, we lack everything here, but there is no shortage of empty houses!"

Dafeng Youhui nodded excitedly, for fear that Baichen might misunderstand that he could not provide accommodation.

"I will take care of the two of you before the evening, please feel free until then!"

"Ah... that... uh..."

Originally, Bai Chen planned to remind him about the meal, but the other party had already run out quickly, looking in good spirits... It's been so many years, even if he has nightmares every day, he still has to get used to it... ...

Bai Chen shook his head in his heart, and didn't know if the other party was in good spirits, but no matter what, since the clients had left for the time being, they couldn't stay where they were any longer.

"Let's go, let's look around for clues."

"Ah."

Seeing that Bai Chen was about to leave, Ma Li also turned her gaze back.

"Does Teacher Bai Chen have any ideas?"

"I just came here, how could I have any ideas...so I'm going to find clues now?"

"Hey..." Ma Li, who thought Bai Chen was confident, couldn't help being stunned, and asked, "Just... in the surrounding mountains?"

"Yeah? Otherwise, where are we going? How can it be so easy to find the traces of Darkrai, and Iron Island has been developed for so long, but no one said that he saw a strange Pokémon, just from this point Just by looking at it, you can tell that Darkley is deliberately hiding his whereabouts, right?"

Mary: "..."

Mary was speechless and could only nod her head dully to show her understanding.

......

But having said that, is there really such a coincidence in this world......

What Bai Chen thought in his heart when he walked to the door was not as relaxed as his expression, the whole thing was intertwined like a ball of wool, making him unpredictable.

I met Dr. Zhenmu and Mengmengeclipse by chance, helped them and got the Feather of the Crescent Moon in return.

This is not an ordinary thing, this is the Feather of the New Moon!It has always been in a state of price but no market. The known number of people who have collected the Crescent Feather is less than a hundred people, but Dr. Zhenmu actually gave such an important thing to himself. .....

Of course, perhaps to her personally, the Feather of the Crescent Moon might not really be that important, if one compares it with Mengmengeclipse.

Well, even if this makes sense, what about the current events?

How long has he had the Crescent Feather?Just received a commission related to Darkrai?And this commission turned out to be a mystery that he couldn't solve back then.

At this pace, is it almost even the request from Cresselia?

Is all this really such a coincidence?

In other words, Bai Chen is not a conspiracy theorist, otherwise what he has to do now is definitely not to solve this commission, but to find the person who might have created this situation. I don't know if there is a real black hand behind the scenes, right?

"It sucks."

Walking out of the gate, Bai Chen couldn't help cursing in such a low voice.

"? What's wrong?"

Hearing Bai Chen talking to himself, Ma Li cast a worried look at Bai Chen.

"No...it's nothing, I just feel that something is wrong, but this should be my illusion."