"Roar?"
Wailmer looked suspiciously at Nami in front of it, as if it thought she was a big swindler. Pokémon aren't easy to fool, and Nami's current behavior was no different from trying to get something for nothing.
It didn't see anything, so it didn't plan to stay in this kind of place, but it also didn't leave right away.
Wailmer usually live in groups, so this Wailmer moving alone was already quite unusual. That was why it made a gesture to Nami.
Considering Wailmer's massive size, the action looked more like it was simply flapping its fins. But as a seasoned money-grubber, Nami understood what the Wailmer meant.
"You're saying this isn't enough?"
Wailmer nodded, then began to state additional conditions.
[Independent Water Park]
[Double Food]
[Massage Service]
The things Wailmer listed could easily fill a long checklist.
"You're really not shy, huh? I might as well call you a greedy ghost. Wait a second, how come I can understand what you mean?"
Nami suddenly realized that she was able to catch the key points in what Wailmer was "saying."
Pokémon language was universal. Nami could communicate with those two Heracross, and even facing this unfamiliar Wailmer, she could roughly grasp its intent.
It wasn't as clear as with the Heracross, most things were vague and fuzzy, but a few nouns were enough.
Yet once Nami noticed this problem, many things seemed strange. A whale and a beetle, how could these two species possibly be related?
But reality told her that there had to be some kind of mysterious link between them. As for what exactly that link was… that wasn't her business to research. The sea held too many mysteries; to make sense of all of them would take more than a lifetime.
For her now, being able to study the changes in weather was already enough.
"Hey! What are you lot still doing! Pulling your beard won't help, hurry up and catch the Sky Fish already!"
After reaching a series of agreements with Wailmer, Nami turned around and her expression instantly changed. She didn't even think before agreeing to Wailmer's demands. After all, it would ultimately be Weatheria's meteorologists who will carry them out.
If they wanted to study the cause of this mysterious weather, these scholars had no choice but to compromise. Wailmer was their only client, so they had to humor it.
But the group of old men behind her was different; they were a labor force that could be squeezed. For a money-grubber like Nami, she was skilled at negotiating terms and knew exactly how to extract the maximum benefit.
She already had experience communicating with Heracross, so she could act as a passable translator. But these meteorologists were different. For now, she was an irreplaceable middleman.
"Huh?"
"What do you mean 'huh'? I've already negotiated with it. Food and lodging included, and in return it'll cooperate with your weather research. Now hurry and turn that place into a reservoir! Aren't there plenty of tools on this island?
You guys go catch fish, you prepare the site. Oh right, and give it all the funding you earned recently from changing the weather. I'll temporarily hold onto them for it."
"Wait, what? Funding? That's supposed to be the whale's idea too?"
Because of their passion for meteorology, the scholars began moving without a second thought. They were far from helpless old men; each of them was self-sufficient, capable of fishing and repairing houses without difficulty.
But their minds hadn't completely shut down. A whale demanding food and shelter made sense, and was perfectly reasonable. But what would a whale need money for?
Sure, there was the Ryugu Kingdom under the sea, but still, surely a whale didn't need to spend money to get its own things, right? This was obviously Nami trying to pull a scam.
"Oh, you noticed? Then forget it. Anyway, just hurry and get everything else ready!"
With a wave of her hand, Nami brushed the matter aside, showing a personality as changeable as Weatheria's weather, and once again surprising the scholars with how fast she could switch faces.
In truth, the scholars had only guessed half right. In that moment just now, Nami really had been tempted to seize the chance to fleece some money. But these Wailmer genuinely did have opportunities to spend money.
In Wano Country, the situation there was rather special. Pokémon hiring humans with money wasn't an uncommon sight.
Those Pokémon that worked jobs already received wages, and they would also buy the things they wanted. If they didn't have money, simple barter exchanges were also common in Wano Country.
Tsareena would trade bathwater for Miltank's milk, Alcremie would exchange cream with Vespiquen for honey, Bisharp would purchase whetstones, and Tinkaton would shop in metal stores. Situations like these happen from time to time.
It was just that such things wouldn't be known to the outside world for a while.
On the Boin Archipelago, the fat on Usopp's body had, after long periods of training, already transformed into muscle.
Usopp still had the build of an ordinary human, but the outlines of muscle made him look much stronger.
When he had first arrived at the Boin Archipelago, he couldn't defeat any of the creatures on the island. Whether giant insects or carnivorous plants, they could all completely suppress him.
But after this period of training, under Heracles' guidance, he now had the ability to fight back.
The seeds of the island's strange plants had become his new ammunition, and he also had a brand-new slingshot as a weapon.
Meanwhile, the island's ecosystem had, unknowingly, undergone changes.
This island itself was alive.
The Boin Archipelago looked like a group of islands, but in reality it was a number of giant carnivorous plants floating on the sea, scientifically named Stomach Baron.
Stomach Baron lured the island's special food to lure Sea beasts and Sea Kings.
At the center of the island was the mouth of the Stomach Baron. As soon as the petals closed, it could devour all the creatures on the island, then use the nutrients to generate new bait, starting the cycle of hunting again.
Here, a unique ecosystem had long since formed. Some insects, relying on their own abilities, had settled here, using flight and other means to evade Stomach Baron's hunts each time.
In past years, Stomach Baron was the undisputed apex predator of the food chain, but now, the ruler of this island had changed.
Originally, some Heracross had been attracted here, but they had merely blended into the life here. As the number of Bug-type Pokémon increased, everything began to change.
The Heracross living here formed an alliance with the later-arriving Beautifly and Dustox. Dustox used their toxins to paralyze parts of Stomach Baron's body, making those parts unable to close.
Beautifly eliminated some faster-flying predators that threatened their young, while Heracross cleared a dangerous patch of jungle, creating their permanent stronghold.
At the edge of their territory, Heracles arrived carrying a large sack of food from other areas. After a round of communication, the Heracross guarding the entrance made way.
"My dear student Usoppun, you have already gained sufficient understanding of the plants on this island, and your body is no longer as frail as before. Therefore, today you will begin your graduation exam.
I have already negotiated with them. Your goal now is to withstand their attacks successfully."
In the Pokémon world, food was still a hard currency. This was the sparring partner Heracles had hired with food for Usopp.
Staring at a group of gorgeous-looking Beautifly, Usopp had yet to realize just what was waiting for him.
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