Smuggling

After bringing Buneary and Pachirisu back home, Yuga gave the still-dirty Buneary a bath.

Buneary initially resisted Yuga's attempt to bathe it, but when it caught a whiff of its own foul odor, it reluctantly allowed Yuga to clean it up.

Buneary looked much cuter after the bath, although Yuga had to trim the matted fur around its belly because it was too dirty to clean properly.

After the bath, Yuga prepared some Pokéblocks for them, and they ate heartily, tears nearly welling up in their eyes.

It was the first time in days they had eaten their fill, and they felt immense happiness in being able to do so.

Now, even if Yuga turned out to be a bad person, they would have no regrets, having enjoyed a satisfying meal before their demise.

"By the way, as far as I know, both of you are Pokémon from the Sinnoh region. How did you end up in Verdanturf Town?" Yuga asked curiously, watching Buneary and Pachirisu lying on the ground after their meal.

Upon hearing Yuga's question, Buneary and Pachirisu exchanged glances and fell silent for a moment.

"What's wrong? Is there something you can't tell me? Or have you encountered some difficulties? You can talk to me; perhaps I can help you," Yuga inquired, puzzled by the silence of the two little creatures.

Listening to Yuga's words, the two small creatures seemed even more conflicted, unsure whether to speak up or not.

In the end, Pachirisu tugged at Buneary, seemingly wanting Buneary to say something to Yuga, but Buneary appeared reluctant.

Yuga could tell that despite Buneary's petite and adorable appearance, it was quite wary, much more so than Pachirisu.

Both Pachirisu and Buneary were not particularly rare Pokémon in the Sinnoh region; they were quite common, and their potential was only rated as yellow.

Yuga found it hard to imagine what kind of trouble they could be in, and it certainly couldn't be someone trying to capture them; that wouldn't make sense.

Capturing them would be a waste of time; it would be easier to buy two new Pokémon from a Pokémon Day Care directly, especially common ones like these with yellow potential. They cost less than twenty thousand Pokédollars.

"If you have a problem, feel free to tell me. Don't let my appearance fool you; I'm a legitimate Gym Leader and Trainer of the League," Yuga reassured Buneary, sensing its distrust.

"Buneary?"

Hearing Yuga mention that he was a Gym Leader, Buneary's eyes lit up.

While it had lived in a Pokémon Day Care before, Buneary didn't know much about the outside world. However, it had heard about Gym Leaders in the League.

According to what it had heard, seeking their help when in trouble was the right thing to do.

"Really, I'm not lying. If you don't believe me, I can take you outside and ask around. Everyone knows me," Yuga quickly added when he sensed Buneary's doubt.

Buneary finally believed Yuga and proceeded to explain their situation.

As it turned out, Buneary and Pachirisu were both specially bred Pokémon from a Sinnoh League Pokémon Day Care Center.

However, not long ago, their Pokémon Day Care Center was infiltrated, and some Pokémon, including members of their group, were smuggled out of the League Pokémon Day Care Center by a group of outsiders.

Buneary and Pachirisu were part of that group.

Although they were ordinary Pokémon and had yellow potential, many of the other Pokémon in their group had much higher potential.

That's why those individuals had taken the risk of infiltrating the League's facility.

Even if they were just ordinary Pokémon, once they had high potential, they became valuable.

After being smuggled out, they were transported by ship from the Sinnoh region to the Hoenn region, eventually ending up in Verdanturf Town.

While they were just ordinary Pokémon in Sinnoh, things were different in Hoenn, and their value had significantly increased.

That was because Hoenn didn't produce these two species of Pokémon.

This is precisely the added value of regional differences, much like the Clauncher currently being sold at YoYo Day Care.

Of course, Clauncher are much rarer compared to Buneary and Pachirisu.

According to the individuals who were looking after Buneary and Pachirisu, they were supposed to be taken to a Pokémon Day Care.

However, they didn't know the specifics of which Pokémon Day Care it was supposed to be.

Hearing this, Yuga found it rather odd.

To his knowledge, there was only one Pokémon Day Care in Verdanturf Town, which was YoYo Day Care. Could it be that these people were just passing through Verdanturf Town?

Thinking about it this way, Yuga felt like he might be missing something.

But no matter what, this was not a trivial matter.

Those people had quite the audacity to reach out to the League. Did they really think they could get away with smuggling Pokémon from Sinnoh to Hoenn without consequences?

As a member of the League, Yuga couldn't simply stand by and do nothing. Buneary and Pachirisu had escaped with the help of their fellow Pokémon, hoping to find someone to aid them.

However, they had spent their entire lives in the League's Pokémon Day Care Center and were completely unaware of the outside world, let alone the unfamiliar Hoenn region.

They had no idea whom to seek help from.

As time passed, the individuals pursuing them never gave up. Pachirisu had also been injured during their escape, making their lives increasingly difficult.

Forget seeking help; they struggled just to survive peacefully day by day. Meeting Yuga today was a stroke of luck for them.

"Wait a moment, did you say that someone has been pursuing you all these days?" Yuga suddenly noticed this detail in Buneary's words.

Buneary nodded. Wasn't that obvious? Those people were committing a crime, and not capturing them could potentially lead to their actions being exposed, which would be disastrous.

In this world, although people who could communicate with Pokémon were relatively rare, they did exist. The most common were Psychic-type Trainers.

People like Riley who is an Aura user can also do it.

Not to mention Pokémon with abilities like Telepathy.

Those individuals wouldn't dare to take unnecessary risks.

Could it be that those people who had been wandering around Verdanturf Town recently were trying to capture Buneary and Pachirisu?

This was the only reasonable explanation, otherwise, it would be too coincidental, Yuga thought.

Yuga: "Don't worry; I will definitely help you rescue your fellow Pokémon. Do you remember where the place was that held you captive?"

At this question from Yuga, Buneary and Pachirisu were stumped.

Buneary furrowed its brow, tugging at its long ears, trying hard to remember, but it couldn't recall the exact location they had escaped from.

When they were fleeing, they were in such a state of panic that they hadn't thought about it or had time to memorize the route.

Pachirisu, similarly, shook its head in confusion.

Seeing this, Yuga was spechlesss.

Did their fellow tribe members seriously send these two on such a difficult mission to seek help?

Waiting for them to find reinforcements would take forever.

Buneary and Pachirisu hung their heads low, looking utterly dejected.

These past few days, they had been so hungry that they could hardly think straight, and they never anticipated such a situation.

"Alright, alright, don't be sad. Leave this to me; I'll definitely help you rescue your tribe members," Yuka said, gently patting the heads of the two small Pokémon, trying to comfort them.