Chapter 9: Grimer’s Gathering Place
Whether it was guests or attendants, no one suspected Lu Li of stealing anything for carrying a backpack inside.
In such a large mall, security supervisors are generally veteran level trainers, and they must have a Psychic Type Pokémon on hand.
Whether you’ve stolen anything or not, they can tell with a casual scan, not to mention the mall’s surveillance isn’t for show.
Lu Li quickly finished queuing and paying for his purchase. When paying, Lu Li felt heartbroken again.
The hatching equipment and hatching liquid together cost over 6000 league coins, which was enough for Wailmer’s food for a week.
After leaving the mall, just as Lu Li was about to head to his next destination, he was stopped by a youth with dyed white hair and colorful makeup on his face.
The youth said confidently, “You’re an orphan, right?”
Lu Li: “???”
Lu Li always felt like the other was cursing him, but the other’s facial expression seemed quite polite.
With a big complaint stuck in his mouth, Lu Li’s mouth twitched slightly, then he complained, “Are you being polite?”
The youth who reacted awkwardly smiled, then hurriedly waved his hand while explaining, “Don’t misunderstand, I have no ill intentions toward you.”
Lu Li nodded after hearing this, then stared straight at the youth.
Lu Li wasn’t afraid that the person in front of him was here to cause trouble. Laughable! Do you understand the value of a trainer’s physical fitness being comparable to that of a veteran level Pokémon?
“Let me introduce myself, my name is Ai Ke, I’m the boss of the Wildfire Gang.” The youth introduced himself, his tone carrying a bit of pride.
Lu Li: “…”
Wildfire Gang… Ai Ke.
Hearing this familiar name combination, Lu Li was shocked.
Is it you? Time genius!
Is Arceus so awesome that it even connected the spacetime tunnel between Valoran and the Pokémon World?
But soon, Lu Li realized he was overthinking, because Ai Ke across from him had already started spilling the beans.
“The reason I could guess you’re an orphan is because of the backpack behind you.” Ai Ke pointed at the backpack behind Lu Li.
“Normally, if there’s a reliable adult at home, you wouldn’t bring a Pokémon egg out, so the truth is only one: either you’re an orphan, or the adults at home aren’t reliable.” Ai Ke confidently explained his analysis.
Lu Li across from him nodded repeatedly as he listened. Sure enough, the name Ai Ke carried great karma; even a random person jumping out with that name had such wisdom… like hell!
Lu Li directly interrupted Ai Ke and said, “No need to say more about things that can be guessed casually. Just get straight to your purpose.”
Ai Ke, who was interrupted, didn’t get angry, but instead sincerely invited, “Are you interested in joining the Wildfire Gang?”
Lu Li wasn’t familiar with the so-called Wildfire Gang, after all, he wasn’t a local of Qingfeng City. But from Ai Ke’s attire, the so-called Wildfire Gang might just be a play-pretend gang organization.
These days, which normal person still mixes with the underworld! Those with real ambition are all striving toward evil organizations.
“Sorry, I’m not interested.” After Lu Li finished speaking, he turned to leave.
Seeing Lu Li wanted to leave, Ai Ke hurriedly blocked his path again. Ai Ke sincerely said, “Not joining is fine, I have a huge opportunity here, do you want in?”
Lu Li, blocked again, was getting a bit impatient.
“I already said, not inter…”
Before Lu Li could finish, Ai Ke interrupted him and said, “It’s a Grimer Pokémon egg. Our Wildfire Gang knows a place with Grimer Pokémon eggs.”
Lu Li abruptly stopped his next words. No choice, as a poor guy, he was indeed interested in Grimer Pokémon eggs.
In this world, the most suitable Pokémon for commoners aren’t actually those Bug Type Pokémon, but rather the Grimer that Ai Ke mentioned.
Grimer has many flaws, like Grimer being equivalent to a puddle of moving garbage water, emitting a nauseating stench even from far away.
Not to mention trainers, even manure workers stay far away from this thing, but Grimer has high cost-performance.
As long as there’s enough garbage, Grimer can generally evolve to the Grimer stage, which is elite level. For ordinary people with poor family backgrounds, elite level is already a life goal.
Most importantly, Grimer is the infamous Poison Attribute, countered almost only by Ground and Psychic Types. For those pursuing strength with poor family backgrounds, Grimer is definitely a dream pet.
However, Grimer’s flaws are also huge. Trainers owning Grimer can’t find work anywhere except garbage dumps, will lose future mating rights, and might even lose Pokémon capture rights.
But Lu Li, who was preparing to farm and cultivate, had no such concerns. After opening a farm in the future, raising a few Grimers on the farm would perfectly solve various garbage problems.
With a slight turn of his brain, Lu Li guessed the truth and curiously asked, “Your Wildfire Gang discovered a Grimer gathering place in the city sewers?”
Ai Ke looked at Lu Li in surprise; he didn’t expect Lu Li to guess his secret so quickly.
Ai Ke smiled bitterly and nodded, “That’s right, our Wildfire Gang did discover a Grimer gathering place, and there are quite a few Grimer Pokémon eggs there too. I didn’t expect you to guess it so easily.”
“Looks like I really found the right person!” Finally, Ai Ke excitedly looked at Lu Li, as if saying his eyesight was indeed unique.
With his guess verified, a glint flashed deep in Lu Li’s eyes.
Ai Ke, who hadn’t received formal education, might not know, but as a man who grew up in the library, Lu Li knew what a Grimer gathering place meant.
Grimer gathering places have a probability of producing Pokémon secret treasures, and the Poison Type secret treasure Black Sludge is one of the most common Poison Type Pokémon secret treasures.
Its effect is to boost Poison Type Pokémon’s strength, but Black Sludge only works on Poison Type Pokémon and is harmful to other attributes.
Ai Ke clearly didn’t know this; what he was eyeing was only Grimer Pokémon eggs. If this operation went well, wouldn’t the farm be secured?
Thinking of this, Lu Li looked at Ai Ke extremely sincerely and asked, “Let’s talk about how to cooperate.”
After speaking, Lu Li guiltily looked around like a thief, confirming that the commotion here hadn’t drawn others’ attention, then reminded, “Let’s talk over there.”
Seeing Lu Li finally showing signs of agreeing, Ai Ke hurriedly nodded.
After the two arrived in the alley, Lu Li directly asked, “Tell me about your discovery and how to cooperate.”
Ai Ke said, “Our Wildfire Gang has two rookie trainers. The Grimer gathering place only leaves a few growth stage Grimers to guard at specific times—that’s our best chance to steal eggs.”
Lu Li asked, “First tell me what your Wildfire Gang’s two Pokémon are.”
“One Poochyena, and one Meowth.” Ai Ke cooperatively revealed his cards.
Hearing this, Lu Li’s facial expression instantly darkened.
The Grimer gathering place must be in the sewers, and Poochyena is a creature with a keen sense of smell—going there would be pure torture, let alone any combat power.
Meowth isn’t much better either; although Meowth’s sense of smell isn’t as keen as Poochyena’s, it’s still much better than a normal person’s.
These two Pokémon could exert half their strength in the sewers, and Lu Li would give a thumbs up to the Wildfire Gang’s trainers.
