Chapter no.21

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The questions continued for the next few minutes, during which time Misty excused herself to go pick up the meals and bring back to the booth not only her own, but also Ash's and the officer's as well. Ash provided an answer that was accurate to the best of his abilities after Jennifer asked him a series of questions covering a dozen different topics and issues that are currently affecting Viridian. On the other hand, for the most part, all he could do was nod, shake his head, or show that he was clueless about the situation. During the course of the interview, Jennifer seemed to become more at ease around Ash and Misty, and she even inquired as to whether or not it would be a problem if she ate with them. Neither Ash nor Misty raised a fuss about it.

"I'll admit it," said Ash as he was getting closer and closer to the end of his meal. "I do not have a lot of knowledge concerning Viridian. Could you please provide me with some background information on the town, officer? "he inquired.

"Sure," said Jennifer. "That would be fine with me. What specific information are you looking for?"

"To begin," said Ash. "For starters." "What exactly do we mean when we say there is a "food crisis"? Although you have been talking a lot about it, I still have no idea what the topic actually entails. I'd really appreciate it if you could just explain it to me."

Jennifer nodded and ate a french-fry. "She started off by saying, "Well, it's more complicated than this, but basically... where do I start? In terms of settlements on the frontier, Viridian is considered to be one of the larger towns. The majority of our food comes from the plantations and farms that are located to the north and west. Because of the protection provided to those farms by the Viridian Gym, those farms are able to afford to produce a large amount of food, which in turn has kept the price of food here at a reasonable level for as long as I can remember. It was never anything major, but in exchange for keeping everyone safe, the Gym would charge a small fee, and it would come from both the farms and the people of Viridian... Because the gym was so generous and paid for a significant portion of our costs, the law enforcement ignored the fact that we considered it to be a tax, and they did the same.

"However, as of late, the farms have begun selling each and every one of their produce to a different purchaser. Nobody knows who it is, but at this point the only people who are able to continue feeding Viridian are the Gym and everyone else who stocked up on food before the farms started selling it elsewhere in the region. To make matters even more difficult, the lights in the gym have been turned off. The vast majority of its instructors have either dispersed or relocated to other locations. The only people who have remained at the gym are some of the more charitable people who are attempting to keep the grocery store's shelves stocked, and even then... it's easiest to just say that things are getting really bad. The only people who have remained at the gym are some of the more charitable people who are trying to keep the grocery store's shelves stocked. When a person's ability to survive requires them to spend ninety percent of their income on food, it doesn't matter how robust the economy is."

"Wow," exclaimed Ash in awe. "How did I not know that it would be like this?"

Jennifer shrugged. "That is only a portion of the problem. Several of the other city police departments in the region have informed me that the same issue is beginning to manifest itself in their cities as well. Farms no longer sell their produce to the general public. They are only selling to an unidentified group of people, and those individuals are not distributing the food to the general public... Even though it's at its worst in Viridian, this is still a worrying problem."

"All I can say is that I can only imagine," Ash said as he looked through the floor-to-ceiling windows that were directly across from their booth. Even though there were only a few hours left until sunset, the sky was still clear and warm. "Have you identified any possible suspects? Who exactly is causing the shortage, and does anyone know who it is?"

Jennifer was heard to say, "Suspect isn't quite the right word..." "Buying food is not illegal in and of itself. However, we do believe that-" She came to a stop. She quickly adjusted her tone before saying, "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry, but I'm not at liberty to discuss an ongoing investigation."

Ash had a realisation about something. "Do you have any reason to believe that Team Rocket is involved?"

Even though Misty was uncomfortable and Jennifer was surprised, their ears perked up when the officer spoke. However, it was the officer who spoke. She inquired, "What gives you reason to believe it was Team Rocket?" "The majority of people have the impression that they are nothing more than a kooky collection of community organisers and charity workers."

Ash clarified, "I didn't say I thought they were involved. I just thought they were involved." I simply wanted to know if you believed that they were involved.

Jennifer's expression changed as she stared at Ash for a while, and then she came to an understanding. She referred to him as Ash Ketchum. "I had a feeling that I had heard your name before. You are Professor Oak's grandson, if I'm not mistaken."

Ash nodded. He responded by saying, "That's me." "And I have very little information about the Team Rocket organisation. I've only recently become familiar with the name, but I thought it might make a good suggestion."

Smiling just a little Jennifer shrugged. Since you brought it up, yes... we do have some suspicions about Team Rocket. "Well, I won't presume to ask what you're doing in Viridian, but since you brought it up, yes..." "Well, I won't presume to ask what you're doing in Viridian."

Ash inquired, "What kind of suspicions do you have?"

Once more, the officer displayed a shrug. "On the surface, Team Rocket appears to be composed of a group of individuals who are engaged in the work of community organising. They engage in a wide variety of charitable activities, including organising events to bring people together and encourage participation in community life. But the thing that has a lot of law enforcement officials scratching their heads is the manner in which Team Rocket finances all of its endeavours. Someone has to give them the money that they are so willing to give to anyone who will take it, but no one can get an inside look at their books to see where all of their money is going because they won't let anyone. Because Team Rocket is an organisation that operates in multiple cities, whenever one of those cities makes an effort to examine the organization's source of revenue, Team Rocket simply moves all of its funds to another location."

Ash questioned, "Isn't that against the law?" "I was under the impression that was known as money laundering."

Jennifer stated that there wasn't much that could be done to put an end to the situation. You get the idea. "Viridian Police do not have jurisdiction in Saffron and Saffron Police do not have jurisdiction in any other city."

Ash nodded. He then stated, "So, Team Rocket is under suspicion by the police." "However, there is no evidence, and there is nothing that anyone can do to obtain any evidence." A brief pause was observed on his part. "What are your thoughts on the current situation? What are your thoughts regarding the entire predicament?"

At this point, Jennifer had already made herself at home in the booth by reclining backward and crossing her arms for support. Ash speculated that the officer had almost completely forgotten about Misty and that Misty was content with the fact that he had done so. Jennifer began by saying, "Here's my take on the situation..." "The police don't pay me enough to have a solid opinion, but if I had to take a guess, I'd say that Team Rocket is the one buying up all of the food, selling it in small shipments at exorbitant prices to anyone who will buy it, and taking the ridiculous profit they make on the sale to buy up even more food." "The police don't pay me enough to have a solid opinion."

After letting out a breath, Ash brought one hand to his face and exhaled. "It seems as though you've given this a lot of thought," the person said.

"It's just an idea that's been turning over in my head for a while," she said, looking between Ash and Misty before turning to look across the dining floor. "It's just an idea that's been turning over in my head for a while." "But knowing Team Rocket as well as I do, that doesn't at all surprise me. They are concealing the fact that they are engaged in a wide variety of strange projects and chaotic activities throughout the region."

To satisfy his growing appetite for information, Ash inquired, "What kinds of projects?""

"Well, the most recent one that I've heard about is that they've set up a barricade around Cerulean Cave," the protagonist says.