Pokémon: Thunder Shatters the Darkness

wow-

The old man sat leisurely in the chair, spread out the newspaper with both hands and looked at the words on it.

On the round table next to it, there was a cigar with smoke slowly rising from it. The taste was mellow and not pungent, and had a light woody aroma.

wow-

The old man wiped his saliva with his fingers and turned the pages of the newspaper. The scar on his face that went through his left eye looked a little scary under the dim light.

Just then, a series of loud ringing sounds suddenly rang out.

Jingle Bell--

The old man did not look up at the phone, but continued to read the newspaper about the recent news from all over China.

This kind of newspaper is not expensive and is published by the Shenzhou Alliance News Agency.

Every evening, news to be published across the country is unified and distributed in newsstands across the country in the early morning of the next day.

of course.

As time goes by, the number of newsstands has decreased a lot.

This caused the newspaper's sales to decline day by day, and apart from official agencies in various places, there was almost no stable sales channel for it.

The old man would order one every day and this habit has continued for decades.

in the corner.

A middle-aged man with glasses and a high ponytail, dressed in a neat black suit, stood up from behind the table that seemed to be deliberately hidden in the shadows.

He walked slowly to where the phone was ringing, raised his hand to pick up the phone, and said calmly, "Go ahead."

He didn't mention any title, assuming that the other party knew him and knew where he was calling.

Followed.

The man's eyebrows raised slightly, as if he heard some surprising news on the phone.

Count your breaths.

"……it is good."

His calm eyes shook slightly, and then returned to calm again: "I know."

hang up the phone.

He straightened his back, looking like he was sorting out his thoughts, and as usual, he quickly organized the words in his mind, then turned and walked towards the old man.

The floor was clattering as the leather shoes stepped on it.

One meter away from the old man's rocking chair, the ponytailed man stopped, lowered his eyes, and said respectfully, "Dad."

"……Um?"

The old man reluctantly turned his eyes away from the jokes in the newspaper and looked at his secretary with some doubt: "What happened again?"

"not quite."

The ponytailed man looked at the ground and bowed slightly.

But his voice was full of energy, without any sense of fawning, only humility and respect for the old man:

"The Chief was spotted in the Baili Mountains in Henghai City in the north. While suppressing members of the terrorist organization Hyena, he encountered the legendary Pokémon 'Machado'."

Hear the words.

The old man was a little surprised and slowly closed the newspaper in his hand.

But his first question was not when the Hyenas had infiltrated the territory of Shenzhou.

It's not why the chief left Coconut Cloud Island and went to Baili Mountain Range, but...

"Qin Zhao is injured?"

"No."

The ponytailed man said calmly, "The Chief defeated Machado."

"profound."

The old man's hidden worries were put aside again.

Before Qin Zhao entered the secret realm of the Great Tomb Mountain, he had great faith in the strength of this young man.

Because in the decades since he became a director, he had never seen a trainer who could realize his talent to such an extent as the young man.

even.

At that time, he once thought that they might be able to try to capture the world-destroying secret realm in Shenzhou.

of course.

In the end, it turned out that he was overthinking.

That day.

Damushan knocked Qin Zhao down with three punches, and also broke the old man's heroic courage.

The newly created secret realm of the Great Tomb Mountain is so difficult to deal with, how powerful can the [Heaven-Locking Pillar] that has been passed down since ancient times be?

and so.

Just now he asked about Qin Zhao's safety for the first time.

They are all legendary Pokémon. What if Machado’s strength is as good as the one in the Great Tomb Mountain?

After all, except Qin Zhao, it would be difficult for anyone else in Shenzhou to come out alive like him if they entered a place like the secret realm of the Great Tomb Mountain.

Think of this.

He suddenly sighed again.

Qin boy, it’s not that I don’t trust you.

You must believe me.

"What else matters?"

"..."

The ponytailed man was silent for a moment, then he spoke: "A ghost-type monster tablet was also seized at the scene and taken away directly by the chief... It should be flying towards the imperial capital."

thump.

The old man's face turned serious and he stood up suddenly.

The hunched figure straightened up instantly.

Although his body has already shown the old appearance of his peers, the old man's eyes are very sharp, like a knife that is always sharp and cold.

The ponytailed man raised his eyes calmly:

"Father, the chief left the station without reporting, and took the legendary stone tablet with him. I need you..."

"The monster slate?"

The old man seemed to have not heard what his son said clearly. He put his hands on his waist and his expression suddenly became happy:

"I said that not only is Qin a very capable kid, but luck is also on his side! Look, just by casually going out, he can actually bring such a good thing to Shenzhou!?"

The ponytailed man's voice suddenly stopped.

He closed his mouth almost at the same time and lowered his head again, but his pupils swayed slightly in his eye sockets several times.

The old man's eyes suddenly glanced at the man with ponytail.

The latter seemed to sense something and lowered his head, his shaking pupils quickly calming down.

next second.

He raised his head, his expression calm and respectful: "Father."

"When Qin brings the stone tablet here, you will lock it in the Alliance Treasury. No one else can get it. Do you understand?"

The ponytailed man said in a deep voice, "Yes."

"Ah."

The old man glanced at him a second time, and finally sat back in the rocking chair slowly.

He raised his hand and gently pounded his shoulder, speaking intermittently:

"You have to let me rest for a while... I remember that the Department of Academic Affairs sent me a list some time ago, saying that the high schools in Henghai City organized a training camp?"

"Yes."

The ponytailed man stood up straight. Under the dim light, his expression was exceptionally calm, as if he had no extra emotions at all:

"Huo Jun, a specially-appointed teacher from Henghai No. 11 Middle School, will be the main initiator, and the event will officially begin on November 7."

"The purpose of the training camp is to select outstanding talents who can enter the secret realm in the future..."

"It's just that an accident has occurred. All the students currently in training have taken the bus and left the foot of the mountain."

"Uh-huh."

The old man glanced at his son for the third time.

and.

He didn't look away at the end this time.

He just leaned back in the rocking chair, tapping the edge of the chair with his fingers, looking at the ponytailed man in front of him, and didn't continue speaking for a while.

The man with the ponytail naturally noticed the change in atmosphere.

He also looked at the old man.

After looking at each other for a few seconds, he lowered his head humbly.

"Cao Mastiff."

The old man spoke slowly, his eyes expressionless: "Devoting everything to the alliance is my responsibility as a director."

"I can't control other people, but there won't be any people who want to take advantage of their power and cause trouble in our family..."

"Yes."

Cao Ao looked at the old man seriously and nodded heavily: "I promise that the Cao family will be upright and aboveboard."

"Ah."

The old man looked away and closed his eyes, but his mouth was not idle. He said quietly:

"Many people envy me for having a good son, one with strong abilities and a good character...but he's not very good at fighting."

Cao Ao lowered his eyes again with a slight smile on his lips.

"Now it seems that this is the case!"

The old man raised his voice, as if he was feeling sleepy, and his words were unclear:

"You know everything about things thousands of miles away. As a 'noble' in the eyes of others, you work so hard. It's normal for others to envy you..."

Cao Ao's expression did not change, he was still smiling.

The smile is extremely standard.