[It's like this. There's a friend of mine here in the Earth God Mountain Range. He encountered a Zoroark, and it told him...]
Lin Feng did not hide anything important.
He explained everything about Zoroark and the former guardian of the earth vein, only leaving out Celebi and the details about time travel.
[And now, there's also an... evolution stone company trying to interfere with the earth vein?]
After finishing his explanation, Lin Feng paused.
On the other end of the call, Feng Yang remained silent for a moment.
"Earth vein?"
"You mean the incident back then happened because the earth vein was damaged?"
[I can't say for sure. I was still a child back then.]
Lin Feng deliberately avoided giving him a definite answer.
But from Feng Yang's perspective, whether Lin Feng's story was true or not, the Legendary Pokémon that had appeared because of him, or had some kind of connection with him, were undeniably real.
So even if Feng Yang did not completely believe the story, he could never afford to treat it as a joke.
Besides, Lin Feng's explanation sounded convincing enough.
[I understand. I'll deal with it immediately.]
Feng Yang's tone became serious.
After a brief pause, he added,
"And if something happens before I get there, you can handle it first."
"I'll temporarily give you the status of an Alliance investigator."
"You'll be authorized to mobilize Alliance security forces."
With that, Feng Yang hung up.
He really wanted to ask Lin Feng about the God of Time and find out exactly what that enormous Pokémon emerging from the dark depths of the sea had been.
But those questions could wait.
The most important thing right now was dealing with the situation.
"Okay No problem"
The moment he received the authorization, the corners of Lin Feng's mouth curled upward.
Having official authority behind you certainly made things much easier.
Meanwhile...
Deep within the mountain forest.
At a rocky section where the elevation suddenly rose sharply, loose stones had been scattered across the ground.
The newly grown grass had already been destroyed.
There were no Pokémon anywhere nearby.
Only several idle excavators and a group of workers waiting for the project to resume remained.
Next to an area that had clearly already been excavated, a Garchomp descended from the sky with a roar, carrying a young man on its back.
The young man jumped down.
He looked at the construction site, which still had not resumed operations.
He pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses.
The expression between his brows immediately became cold and severe.
"Why haven't you started working yet?!"
A foreman wearing work clothes and a safety helmet hurried over.
A Machoke followed beside him.
"Mr. Takahashi, it's not that we don't want to start."
"There are two children in Happiness Village who keep causing trouble."
"They've been claiming that there's an earth vein beneath this area and that it can't be disturbed."
"It involves Alliance regulations, so..."
[Children?]
"How much trouble can a couple of kids possibly cause?"
"And what's this nonsense about an earth vein?"
"That was obviously just a story told to frighten children."
"You actually believe them?"
"Start the excavation!"
"Those kids probably just want candy or attention."
"Someone will deal with them."
"You just get the machines running!"
The foreman hesitated.
What Mr. Takahashi said wasn't completely unreasonable.
They were just two children making a fuss.
None of the workers had ever heard of the earth vein legend they were talking about.
But the problem was that Alliance regulations were involved.
[Start working.]
"I said, if you find the kind of stone I'm looking for, everyone's wages for today will be increased tenfold."
"And whoever personally finds one will receive fifty times the normal pay!"
"As for those children, I'll handle them myself."
The young man with the gold-rimmed glasses pushed his glasses up again and made an enormous promise.
The foreman froze.
He looked toward the workers behind him.
After seeing the excitement in their eyes, he finally nodded firmly.
"Understood, Mr. Takahashi!"
"We'll start immediately!"
"Good!"
The young man called Mr. Takahashi nodded in satisfaction.
He then climbed back onto Garchomp and took off into the sky.
"Alright, brothers!"
"Let's get to work!"
"Let's make some serious money this time!"
The foreman's shout immediately energized the workers.
Everyone prepared to start up the machinery.
But then they discovered something strange.
The excavators.
The drills.
Every piece of machinery on the site.
Their wiring had somehow been damaged.
"What the hell?"
"What's going on?"
"There's a wild Pokémon!"
A loud shout suddenly rang out.
Only then did someone notice that a Pokémon had appeared on one of the large trees surrounding the construction site.
A Shiftry.
"That's strange."
"Didn't we already drive all the Pokémon away from this area?"
[Everyone, be careful!]
"Stay together!"
"Mr. Takahashi left Pokémon here to protect us."
"Come out!"
.....
Lin Feng put his phone away.
He looked at the two children standing beside him and gave them an OK sign.
"Okay, it's settled."
"You'll see the order prohibiting the mining operation very soon."
The two children stared at him in complete amazement.
Lin Feng could not resist teasing them.
"When you're out in the world, strength isn't the only thing that matters."
"You also need connections."
However, seeing that the two children still looked worried, Lin Feng could only say,
"Come on."
"Let's go into the village."
"We'll know what's happening once we take a look."
With that, he led the two children toward the village.
Takeo and Keiko were still somewhat skeptical.
But when they saw Lin Feng's confident expression, then looked at the Dragonite and Zoroark beside him, they could only exchange a glance and follow him.
Of course, there was one problem.
Lin Feng had just flown away with the two children right in front of a large group of people.
There was no way he could simply stroll into the village looking exactly the same.
After all, he had just carried two children into the sky in full view of everyone.
By now, he might very well have become the village's most wanted kidnapper.
So Lin Feng had Zoroark activate its Illusion ability.
With Zoroark's Illusion, nobody would be able to see them.
Naturally, this immediately aroused the curiosity of the two children.
They could not help asking,
"Why?"
"Why can't they see us?"
[It's Zoroark.]
[Zoroark's ability is Illusion. It can make us appear completely different in other people's eyes.]
Lin Feng was more than happy to give the two children a little Pokémon lesson.
Naturally, that earned him some innocent praise and admiration from the two children.
Takeo's eyes practically sparkled.
"Wow!"
"I definitely want to catch a Zoroark someday too!"
"I want it to become my partner!"
Lin Feng smiled at him.
"And then?"
"Then we'll protect the earth vein together!"
Hearing that idealistic declaration, Lin Feng could not help laughing.
"Hahaha!"
"That's quite an ambitious dream."
Beside him, however, Zoroark's expression suddenly stiffened.
It immediately shook its head.
Then it continued walking.
Under the protection of Zoroark's Illusion, the group soon reached the area where the village road led into the mountain forest.
Sure enough, there were numerous excavators sitting idle there.
There were also quite a few security personnel, workers, and villagers gathered around to watch.
Two Officer Jennys were present as well.
Several people in suits appeared to be negotiating with the two officers.
But Lin Feng's attention immediately fell on one particular young man wearing gold-rimmed glasses.
A Garchomp stood beside him.
And around Garchomp's neck was a Mega Stone.
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