Follow Up, Return

Just a few minutes later, a Charizard went into the now empty cavern, followed by a Pidgeot.

Two figures could be seen on their backs. One of them was Tucker. While the other person, a man, looked to be of slender build. He stood at five foot four and had green hair with a feminine appearance.

"We're here, Kyle," Tucker, who was riding his Charizard, turned toward the other person.

Kyle, a gold-rank hunter, was one of his few friends. His strength was about the same as him, and he specialized in Flying-type Pokemon. After asking for his help, he immediately flew over with his Pidgeot.

When they landed on the ground, Kyle looked around bemusedly.

"Man, are you joking with me? Where is the undead army you talked about? I only see a bunch of broken bones," he laughed.

Tucker ignored him and just looked at the surroundings quietly. He was also stumped at this time. What happened before was still vivid in his mind. It must not have been a dream. His Charizard got a small wound to prove it.

'Something must have happened after I left,' he thought.

Suddenly, a black stone caught his attention.

Huh?

He leaned forward and picked the stone from the ground

'This is,' his brows were raised.

"Kyle! Come over here!" he beckoned to his friend.

"Look what I found! Do you recognize it?" he showed the stone in his hand.

"That's Dusk Stone!"

"That's right! It's Dusk Stone," Tucker smiled.

"It's a bit strange to see a Dusk Stone here in Kanto. Let's see if we can find more of them."

A few minutes later, he found several more Dusk Stones after searching through many piles of bones.

"It looks like we may have stumbled upon a Dusk Stone mine here. But there's something off about them."

Tucker and Kyle stood in front of a pile of Dusk Stone. When placed together, the dark mist in the stones moved around in sync. Staring at them for a long time felt like looking into an abyss, deserving its reputation as the darkest stone in the world.

"I found something that you might be interested in," Kyle said suddenly, snapping Tucker out of his thoughts.

They walked for a few meters before stopping at a large pile of bones.

"Hmmm. Someone was here after I left," Tucker said seriously.

There were a lot of Dusk Stones scattered around them. There were also a lot of footprints left on the ground.

"Yeah. That's what I thought," Kyle said plainly.

"Look, there are only ordinary Dusk Stones here. That guy must have taken all the high-quality ones away."

He picked up a stone from the ground and threw it to Tucker.

Snap!

Tucker caught the stone and looked at it carefully.

"You're right," he replied seethingly.

He wanted to vent, but there was nothing that could be done. He didn't expect that after he left, someone else would get the windfall.

"Let's leave. There's nothing left for us down here," he said helplessly.

...

At this time, Hisoka was driving away from Stone Town. Although he gave up the mission, he still got a lot of gains from it.

The word about what happened in the mine had already been spread by the hunters after they returned. By this time, the entire Stone Town was talking about it. There were even some rumors about the coming of the dead, which caused panic among the town residents.

If it weren't for some photos taken by the hunters, they thought the hunters were just making some excuses for failing to complete the mission.

After confirming the news from several hunters, the local police had dispatched some men to block the entrances to the mine. It would be really bad if the undead ran out of the mine.

Rainer, who had heard the news, was pacing back and forth in his study.

"How am I supposed to answer to my brother," he groaned.

He was sitting on his chair, fidgeting.

If this kind of thing wasn't handled well, it would cause a lot of damage to Stone Town's reputation. The loss would be huge for them.

Knock!

Knock!

There were several knocks on the office door.

Rainer quickly calmed down and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Sir, Mr. Tucker is here," A man's voice could be heard outside the door.

"Tell him to come in."

"Yes, sir!"

Rainer quickly stood up and sorted his clothes.

Squeak!

The door opened, and Tucker walked into the room.

"Tucker! Welcome back! How did the mission go?"

Tucker simply nodded and sat on the sofa. Then, he took out a black stone and a camcorder and placed them on the table.

"This is... Dusk Stone!"

Rainer, who had been in the evolution stone business for several years, recognized it instantly.

Tucker raised his head and said, "I found this in the underground mine."

Then, he turned on the camcorder and showed what he had seen to him.

"What about the undead?" Rainer asked eagerly.

"They are gone."

At first, Tucker was stunned when he heard Rainer asking that, so he simply said they were gone.

Haha!

Rainer laughed boisterously.

"Thank you, Tucker. You are my life savior. I will send the money to you in a moment. By the way, I will prepare a party for you later in the evening. This is a thank you from us for helping Stone Town."

Tucker didn't bat an eye and accepted it calmly. Although the fall of the undead had nothing to do with him, who would refuse money?

...

The road around Stone Town was much better compared to Dark City. As the main provider of evolution stones in Kanto, Stone Town was quite important to the League.

Besides having a well-developed infrastructure, Stone Town also got many preferential treatments in Kanto.

Instead of returning to Dark City, Hisoka was heading in the Celadon City direction.

The one-month deadline that he promised with Miss Joy was nearing soon. He needed to send his Chansey to Miss Joy for a full-body checkup.

In fact, Fuchsia City was closer. But since Chansey came from the Pokemon Center in Celadon City, it was better to send her there so she could see her old friends.

"Hehe!"

There was a whisper in his ear.

"Stop it!" Hisoka shouted.

Misdreavus had been sitting on his shoulder since he left the town. He had asked her if she wanted to be his Pokemon, but she didn't say anything. There wasn't even a single reply.

Her origin was too mysterious. It seemed that she wasn't just a simple Misdreavus. The necklace around her neck gave him an eerie feeling. He had observed it before. There was a crimson rune in each gem. He didn't know what it meant, but he could roughly guess that some of her abilities may be inseparable from her necklace.

In the end, he could only let her do anything as she pleased. As long she didn't cause too much trouble for him, he would just let her be.

Misdreavus liked the energy radiated by the orb. Every once in a while, she would yank his hair, urging him to take out the orb for her.

"Hmph!"

Kirlia, who was sitting behind Hisoka, grabbed Misdreavus. When she tried to break free, she quickly pulled her into her embrace.

"Stop causing trouble! I know you understand me. Just stay put and don't bother other people," she admonished.

"Thank you, Kirlia," Hisoka nodded. With Misdreavus out of the way, he could finally concentrate on his drive.

...

Celadon City, Pokemon Center,

"Thank you for bringing her here, Hisoka. I really miss her," Miss Joy said lovingly, petting the Chansey in her arms.

"Your friends are still here. Do you want to see them?" she asked softly.

"Chansey!" She nodded excitedly.

She then turned around and looked at Hisoka expectantly. He was her trainer now, so she wanted to ask his opinion first.

"Go," he smiled at her gently.

"You can stay with them tonight. We will be staying here for one night. Tomorrow, we'll leave."

"Chansey!"

She smiled and ran toward the back, bouncing happily.

Miss Joy looked at her with a fond smile and turned to Hisoka.

"Thank you for taking care of her," she bowed slightly.

"It was no problem," he shook his head slightly.

The two continued their chat for a few minutes before he waved goodbye to her and left the Pokemon Center.

He attached great importance to his relationship with her. Behind Miss Joy was a huge family who monopolized the Pokemon world's medical industry. They also had a lot of rights to speak in the League. Having a good relationship with Miss Joy would open many doors for him.

...

When he walked past a familiar perfume shop, he suddenly remembered that the perfume for Feebas was running out.

'I should stock a few more bottles,' he thought, walking into the shop.

The special perfume that could keep a Pokemon in a good mood was quite expensive.

His backpack now was full of Mental Herbs and Dusk Stones. He would not sell any of the Mental Herbs. This kind of item that could speed up the training of his Pokemon must be kept for himself first and foremost. As for Dusk Stone, he would sell all of them except for one, which was saved for Misdreavus evolution later.

"Welcome!"

A woman stood in front of him.

The staff of the perfume shop was all beautiful women. Since they mainly aimed at high-end customers, their service was also quite good.

"Mr. Hisoka, how do you do? Are you looking for some perfume?" she bowed slightly.

"Do you remember me?" he looked at the employee in surprise.

"Yes," the woman smiled slightly.

"There are only a few male customers who came to our shop. Are you looking to buy the same perfume you bought last time?"

"Huh?"

He didn't answer her. Instead, his eyes were attracted to a woman in an elegant kimono in the far corner of the shop. She was talking animatedly with someone.

'She looks familiar,' he thought with a frown.

The employee followed Hisoka's gaze and nodded slightly in understanding.

"That's Erika, the gym leader of Celadon Gym. She is also the owner of this shop," she explained.

'So, that's Erika. No wonder she looks familiar.'

It was his first time seeing Erika. Before, he had only seen her on the television.

"You can't disturb her right now. She is talking with Miss Sabrina, so let's not bother them," the employee said to Hisoka seriously.

"Okay," he nodded in reply.

...

(AN: I made some changes regarding where he got Chansey. He got her in Celadon, not Saffron.)