Chapter 59

"Aerius..."

Aizen whispered and the Mega Pidgeot shot high up in the sky, leaving Golbat and Pidgeotto perplexed at its sudden departure.

"Return!" Anira called out to all their Pokemon.

Misty and Aizen recalled all their Pokemon, and now only Flabebe, Pidgeotto, Pichu, Duskull, and Rinko were out. Gengar was hiding inside Aizen's shadow as instructed.

"Bebe..." The little fairy confusedly looked at Anira, asking where Leaf was.

"We will go see her." The little princess smiled at the Flower Fairy and allowed it to nestle on her head.

"Pichu.." The small mouse skipped onto her shoulder and unreservedly sat on it, making Anira giggle and scratch its ear.

"Preee.." Pidgeotto shot into the sky after Aizen instructed it to find Leaf, and then they walked in the direction where he had sensed the spy escape.

"Is it a Pokemon?" Misty asked as they tracked the one who had been spying on them.

"I sensed some Dark energy from it before it escaped, so yes, it should be a Pokemon." Aizen nodded to her.

About three minutes later, Pidgeotto returned and circled above them in the air.

"Preee!" It informed that that Leaf was found and then led them to her.

They arrived inside a clearing where Leaf was chatting with a blue-haired, dark-skinned boy that looked to be in his late teens. And by his side was a squid-like Pokemon.

Aizen frowned when he saw his Mega Pidgeot protectively circling above Leaf. He scanned the area with his Psychic Powers to check out why Pidgeot was behaving that way and found the reason for its caution. He briefly activated his Aura Sight to ascertain his guess, and then he narrowed his eyes at the back of the boy and the squid-like Pokemon.

"Leaf!" Misty and Anira called out and ran up to her.

"Bebe!" The flower Fairy happily floated off Anira's hair and nestled on her Trainer's hair.

Duskull and Pichu approached her as well and excitedly started circling her and the Pokémon by her side.

"Hey!" The hazel-eyed girl happily scratched Flabebe's little head before looking at her friends and then pointing at a certain Pokemon. "Isn't she beautiful?!" She cooed at the Deerling that was obediently standing by her side.

"What are you doing so far away from the campsite?!" Misty barely glanced at the pink Deerling before she sternly looked at her friend.

Her question took Leaf by surprise and then her eyes widened in realisation.

"We are not near the campsite?"

Anira frowned at her question.

"You are nearly two miles away from the campsite." Aizen smiled at her. "Forgot your way back?"

"I guess so..." She sheepishly scratched the back of her head. "I was bringing Ryan to meet you guys, but it appears that we were headed in the wrong direction."

"That's a beautiful Mega Pidgeot." The blue-haired boy smiled at Aizen. His grey eyes were curiously looking that the massive bird in the sky.

"And that's a sharp Shiftry and Alolan Persian..." Aizen looked in the direction of the trees on their right and then to the left, pointing out where Ryan's two Pokemon were hiding. "And a Malamar." He glanced at the Pokemon standing by the boy.

His words startled Ryan, who lost his composure for a brief moment before his strained smile eased.

"You never know what could be waiting in the woods." He off-handedly replied. "Better take precautions. By the way, I am Ryan." He drew his hand forward.

"Aizen." The Prince shook his hand and gave his name.

"How did you know they were out there?" The blue-haired boy curiously asked.

"You never know what could be out there..." He gave the same excuse which stiffened the smile on Ryan's face, but the boy was good at masking his emotions and nodded to his answer.

"Alolan Persian?" Leaf curiously looked at Aizen and then at Ryan.

"I will introduce it to you." Ryan smiled at her before whistling in the direction where his Pokemon was.

Soon, a greyish-blue coloured cat-like Pokemon swaggered out of the woods. Its walk was deadly silent, evidence of how adept it was at hunting.

"Wow!" Leaf was excitedly to see a Regional Variant for the first time.

Misty too seemed interested, but then she recalled that the Pokemon that was spying on them had Dark Energy, and the cat before them was a Dark-Type Pokemon. She glanced at Aizen to confirm her thoughts, but he gestured her to the woods on their right, informing her that it was the Shiftry that was spying on them.

She wanted to confront this Blue-haired boy on why he was spying on them, but Anira grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Now was not the right time.

"That's a nice Deerling." The Princess commented as she observed the Normal-Grass Pokemon that was wearing its coat for spring.

"Thank you." Ryan seemed happy about her interest in his Deerling. "I caught her in Unova a few months back. She's sweet and is quite loveable." He seemed really fond of his cute Pokemon.

Anira nodded her head. His words could have fooled anyone, but she was too experienced in Pokemon and their behaviour. Just one look at the Deerling and she could tell that it was a very young Pokémon. Its relationship with its Trainer was strained too. She could feel that it was scared of Ryan and the Malamar.

Catching young Deerling was not easy since Sawsbuck were very protective of their Eggs and kept them hidden from other Pokemon and Humans. They stayed with their Deerling for several months until it was old enough to travel in the woods on its own. Unfortunately, Deerling was prized targets of Poachers for their seasonal colour changes and was hunted despite the Regional Government trying to protect them.

"Ryan was thinking about trading Deerling at the Trading Center!" The hazel-eyed girl happily informed them.

"Why?" Misty frowned at Leaf's words.

"I just feel like I am not the right Trainer for her. I like Dark-Type Pokémon that are aggressive." Ryan sadly sighed. "She's decent in battles but has little interest in battling. I was thinking of Trading her if I find the right Trainer for her."

"I thought you didn't like the Pokemon Trading system." Anira ignored his words and smiled at her friend. She could feel that the Malamar was trying to influence them into believing its Trainer's words. Too bad for it, such attempts were futile on her and Aizen.

"I don't... but.." Leaf lowered her head and seemed at a loss of words to explain her thoughts.

Her friends could see that she was in love with the Deerling. And perhaps Ryan did some really good job to convince her to accept Pokemon Trading.

"We will take her," Aizen said to the surprise of the girls.

"What?" The blue-haired boy was taken aback by his sudden decision.

"We will take the deerling." He repeated his words.

"That's too sudden..."

"We won't be Trading Pokemon for it, but you can name a price." He generously smiled at the boy.

Seeing the frown that marred the boy's face, Aizen inwardly chuckled. A part of him really wanted to just teach the boy a lesson, but that could wait for later.

"How about 150k Dollars? Would that be enough?" He seriously asked.

Ryan's eyes lit up the moment he heard the sum of money. A deerling would usually go for 100k in the Black Markets, and its official value was at 85k. Aizen had just offered him nearly double the amount of its official value.

The blue-haired boy did not immediately agree and pretended to be conflicted. His eyes looked back and forth between the Deerling and Leaf. And he gave some meaningful glances at the silver fox that was sleeping on Aizen's shoulder.

Ryan was actually waiting to see if Aizen would offer more but gave in after a couple of minutes when he saw that the price would not rise.

"I will take the deal." He lightly nodded his head.

"Let's head to the Pokemon Center and seal the deal."