Slander

While on his way back to the YoYo Day Care, Yuga passed by the Kainos Hotel and suddenly recognized someone he had seen at the Forest House, a girl named Strawberry.

The Kainos Hotel was the largest hotel in Verdanturf Town and was the biggest local enterprise apart from the Devon Corporation.

However, unlike a large corporation like Devon, the Kainos Hotel only had one branch in Verdanturf Town and was considered a local business.

But Yuga had heard from Director Kawahara that Strawberry worked at the Kainos Hotel, and it seemed that she had a good salary and benefits. Director Kawahara spoke proudly of Strawberry when she mentioned her.

However, it appeared that Strawberry was in trouble now. She was engaged in an argument with two middle-aged men, one of whom was holding her hand tightly, and anger was evident on Strawberry's face.

"Strawberry, what's happening?"

Since he had met her before, Yuga couldn't just ignore her trouble. He walked over to Strawberry and asked her.

Although he didn't know the details of the situation, it didn't look good when two grown men were ganging up on a young girl.

"Who's this brat? It's none of your business. Don't meddle."

As soon as Yuga asked, one of the middle-aged men pointed rudely at Yuga's nose and cursed at him with a bad attitude.

Upon hearing these words, Yuga furrowed his brows. He had only asked casually, did it warrant such a reaction?

The other middle-aged man, seeing Yuga approaching and hearing the foul language from his companion, realized that the situation might turn bad.

Others might not recognize the young man in front of them, but he, a native of Verdanturf Town, certainly did. This young man was one of the most influential figures in Verdanturf Town, second only to the mayor.

When did Strawberry become acquainted with such a prominent figure? If he had known about this earlier, he wouldn't have accused Strawberry so easily.

"Oh, it's Mr. Shimizu. It's all a misunderstanding."

The middle-aged man who had been holding onto Strawberry quickly let go of her hand and wore a smile as he spoke.

Looking at the man who smiled like a blooming chrysanthemum, Yuga finally remembered who he was.

This man was the owner of the Kainos Hotel. When the Verdanturf Gym was first established, he had attended the opening ceremony and even presented the Gym with a pair of large stone-carved Mightyena statues, intended to be placed at the entrance of the Gym.

However, Yuga thought the statues didn't quite match the theme of the Grass-type Gym, so he never used them. Now, those Mightyena statues were collecting dust in the Gym's storage.

The situation was not very complicated. The middle-aged man who had insulted Yuga was a customer of the Kainos Hotel.

Early in the morning, this customer had brought Strawberry to complain to the Kainos Hotel's owner, alleging that she had stolen his belongings.

Indeed, the owner had found a diamond ring on Strawberry that didn't belong to her, leading to this conflict.

Strawberry claimed that she was being falsely accused, and the owner knew that a more detailed investigation was required before concluding. However, due to the customer's status, the owner felt compelled to follow his instructions.

The Kainos Hotel had been struggling for a while. Despite maintaining the title of the largest hotel in Verdanturf, only the owner knew that the business was on the verge of collapse.

This particular customer was the one who had invested in the hotel. If the owner offended him, the hotel might not survive.

The owner of the Kanos Hotel also knew that the situation was definitely not as simple as Strawberry stealing things, as customers had been signaling to him frequently. He had no choice but to reluctantly follow the customer's instructions.

However, he never expected that Strawberry, who had always been inconspicuous in the hotel, would actually know a Gym Leader from Verdanturf Town's gym.

Strawberry was a bit taken aback when she saw Yuuga approaching her.

She and this young Gym Leader were only acquaintances, not really close, so she didn't expect him to come and say hello.

At this moment, Strawberry was angry. She had never stolen anything from the customers.

She worked as a lead waitress at the Kanos Hotel and had been working here for several years, making her one of the veteran employees in Kanos Hotel.

This morning, when she went to clean a customer's room, the customer made inappropriate behavior toward her, and she couldn't help but retort. Little did she know that the customer would accuse her of theft later.

When the owner found the ring on her, she was surprised, but quickly realized that the customer must have slipped it into her clothes while making advances.

What disappointed her was that when she explained the situation to her boss, he not only didn't support her but also hinted that she should admit to stealing, or else she'd be fired.

Strawberry was understandably furious.

Hearing the owner mention "Gym Leader Shimizu," the customer quickly recognized who this young man was.

Currently, many people who come to Verdanturf Town don't know the name "Shimizu Yuga," but even though he may not be the best person and sometimes abuses his power, it doesn't mean he's foolish. He knows he can't afford to offend the young man in front of him.

"Oh, it's Gym Leader Shimizu. My apologies, my apologies. It's all a misunderstanding."

The customer grinned and apologized to Yuga.

"Yes, yes, it's all a misunderstanding, right, Strawberry?"

The owner of the Kainos Hotel also wore a smile and gave Strawberry's arm a tug, continuously signaling her with his eyes. However, Strawberry remained stubborn, clenching her teeth and refusing to speak.

Yuga noticed Strawberry's frustration and the owner's subtle gestures, which made his impression of the owner and customer even worse.

"Strawberry, what happened? Tell me."

Ignoring the owner and the customer, Yuga asked Strawberry. This left both the owner and the customer looking furious.

Strawberry glanced at the owner and the customer, then back at Yuga. She decided to bravely recount the entire incident.

As soon as Strawberry finished speaking, the customer's expression changed several times, then he smiled and said to Yuga, "I still have a few green potential Zubat in my possession. I see that Gym Leader Shimizu and I get along well. How about I give them to Gym Leader Shimizu?"

Yuga was somewhat surprised by this offer. It seemed this rotund middle-aged man had quite the background, offering green potential Zubat so casually. It was a blatant attempt at bribery.

However, while Yuga enjoyed collecting high potential Pokémon, he hadn't reached the point of accepting bribes so easily.

Strawberry, on the other hand, was initially shocked but became nervous upon hearing the customer's offer. She feared that Yuga might compromise his integrity.

Although Yuga had a good reputation in town, she didn't know him well and was worried that he might accept the bribe. However, Yuga's next words relieved her.

"More than the Zubats, I'm interested in finding out the truth."

"She's just slandering people! I think she's trying to climb the social ladder by implicating me. With my status, there's no shortage of women. Do I need to take advantage of a country bumpkin like her?"

The customer looked disdainfully at Strawberry.

Strawberry was furious at this baseless accusation and didn't expect the customer to twist the truth in this way.

Hearing this, Yuga shook his head and said, "I won't easily believe either of your words. Let's have Officer Jenny handle this. With hypnosis, I believe no one can lie. Strawberry, are you willing to undergo a hypnosis interrogation?"

Strawberry firmly replied, "I'm willing."

People in the Pokémon world knew that hypnosis could cause damage to a human's brain. However, as long as it wasn't used frequently, occasional exposure wasn't too harmful, at most causing severe headaches.

Strawberry prioritized discovering the truth over potential temporary discomfort.

"Very well, with you agreeing to the interrogation, we'll uncover the truth."

Saying this, Yuga took out his communicator and contacted Liliana.

Seeing that Yuga was unyielding, the customer's face turned pale, and he couldn't help but say, "Gym Leader Shimizu, I advise you to leave some leeway in your actions."

In reality, this customer was just a lazy person at home. If he were arrested and his troublesome nephew found out, he would have a hard time.

The owner of the Kainos Hotel had been silent the entire time, and by now, he was sweating profusely.

When he saw the customer's frantic demeanor, Yuga knew that the customer had lied. Still, he paid no attention to the customer's words and notified Liliana to come quickly.

After Liliana arrived, she took the customer, the hotel owner, and Strawberry away. Yuga didn't follow. The matter had nothing to do with him, and he trusted Liliana to handle it fairly.

Before being taken away, the customer had intended to make threats, but then he realized that both Yuga, who had reported him, and Officer Jenny, who was arresting him, were not afraid of trouble.

As for Strawberry, she had decided to face the consequences and wasn't afraid either.