Chapter 101: Old Man: What The Heck?? If You’d Just Checked Your Email, You Wouldn’t Be Asking Me This
Feiao City, Da Lao Hei Pokémon Day Care.
“Sigh, Little Charizard, just come with me. Trust me, the Aether Foundation are all good people, everyone is very kind, they won’t drag you off to do those weird experiments.”
The middle-aged man at the Pokémon Day Care rubbed his hands in front of a Charizard, trying to make himself look kinder.
The Charizard looked down at the middle-aged man from above, coldly turning its head away.
‘Not going!’
‘Absolutely not going!’
‘Suwei Volcano still has a bunch of female dragons waiting for me. Does that Aether Foundation have any female dragons?’
“A Zhen~ fell in love with A Qiang~” The mobile phone in the man’s pocket suddenly rang.
Zuo Tian impatiently answered the telephone.
“Don’t rush me, I’m negotiating right now, aren’t I? This Charizard isn’t mine, it’s my Hang Hang’s.”
“What?? Kidnap it? Impossible. If you don’t want the Aether Foundation to be flattened by a bunch of Charizards, I advise you not to do that.”
“What the heck? Your headquarters members have high combat power and can handle it? No no no, this isn’t about high combat power. Think about it, what if spatial tremor suddenly happens in some area when Charizards besiege the Foundation? Do you prioritize the headquarters or the outside first? Trust me, this matter can only be handled softly, not forcefully.”
“Give me three more days? Watch your attitude. I’m just cooperating with the operation, not one of your Foundation people!”
“—Beep!”
Zuo Tian hung up the telephone.
“Damn it! With this attitude, still protecting the world??”
Zuo Tian looked at the Charizard. The Aether Foundation gave him three days. After three days, regardless of the result, the Foundation would forcibly capture it.
To explain exactly what was going on, it had to start from half a month ago.
Zuo Tian sat down cross-legged, just about to explain the whole story to the Charizard, when the mobile phone in his pocket rang again.
“Fuck! Can you stop calling over and over? Bullying an old man??”
Zuo Hang: “.”
“Who’s bullying you?”
“Sigh. It’s you, son. What’s up, exams done?”
“How did you know I had exams?”
“What’s so surprising about that? Your old man knows a lot more.”
“Wait, don’t give me useless talk first. What’s the deal with Ultra Beasts? Also, what’s the relationship between White Dragon Secret Realm and Beasts? Do you know Reta??”
“Reta? What Reta? Why would I know Reta?” The old man pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, walked outside the Pokémon Day Care, took out a lighter, and lit one.
“The intel on Ultra Beasts was sent to your email long ago, from nine years ago up to now. Wait, you didn’t check your email?”
Zuo Hang was stunned.
“Email? Which email?”
“QQ email.”
“You sent such important intel via QQ email??”
“What do you know? The more dangerous the place, the safer it is! I was even thinking of sending it to you via SF’s Pidgeot Express, but then I thought shipping might be troublesome, so I just sent it to your email. Anyway, the confidentiality level of this intel isn’t high; everyone who needs to know already does.”
The old man took a drag and said, “That is… son, I’ve got something.”
“Impossible!”
“Sigh, I haven’t even said it yet. Relax, this time it’s not trouble.”
“Do you think I’ll believe you? There’s no trust between us father and son anymore.”
Zuo Hang switched to the call interface and glanced at his email. There were several unread emails piled up, including one marked “Deadbeat Old Man.”
The title was just the two words “intel,” looking very casual.
Zuo Hang opened this email, and the first thing that caught his eye was a picture—Iron Fire Kaguya.
Below the picture was a long string of intel on Iron Fire Kaguya. The email was over 8G in size, with text and two video attachments besides.
This was indeed intel on Ultra Beasts. And it was sent via QQ email by some “reliable middle-aged man.”
Confirming the email had no issues, Zuo Hang had zero interest in hearing what trouble the old man wanted from him. Just as he was about to hang up, he heard a roar from the man on the other end.
“You brat, are you trying to hang up on me?! Heard of Ultra Beast Boost? Ultra Beast Boost!! Our Little Charizard came back from Fire Dragon Valley! This kid’s hidden ability has the potential to gain Ultra Beast Boost. Give me five minutes, and I’ll explain the whole story.”
Hidden ability??
Ultra Beast Boost??
Little Charizard?!
“You f***! What are you planning to do to Little Charizard behind my back?!” Zuo Hang immediately lost his temper.
Hidden abilities do exist in this world, but there’s no clear way to unlock them. It’s said that some Pokémon might awaken hidden abilities after recovering from severe injuries, and there are extremely rare cases where an ability change suddenly appears after waking up one day.
Innate abilities and hidden abilities acquired later can only coexist as one. Zuo Hang had never seen a Pokémon with two abilities at the same time.
If there was, it was either naturally gifted or the result of some inhumane experimental modification.
Ultra Beast Boost is an ability exclusive to Ultra Beasts. The moment the old man mentioned wanting the Charizard to gain a hidden ability, Zuo Hang instinctively thought of those inhumane experiments.
He knew his own Pokémon well. His Charizard was strong, but not the “naturally gifted” type, and its talents in stats and skills had nothing to do with hidden abilities.
The old man said, “Why so anxious? I haven’t even explained. This isn’t what you think. The Aether Foundation is a legit organization, and our Little Charizard has a lot of 【Ultra Beast Factor】 in it. You know Ultra Beast Factor, right? Hyper Beam requires Beast Boost, Darkest Lariat gathers dark matter, Moonblast consumes natural energy. Ultra Beast Factor is similar to those.”
“Stop.” Zuo Hang interrupted, “I won’t let Little Charizard go. And if I hadn’t called today, were you planning to send the Charizard to that Foundation behind my back?! Damn it! I’m away at school, and this is how you take care of my kid?”
Zuo Tian threw away the cigarette butt and stomped on it a few times with his sole.
“Our kids are all good. The ones who need training get trained, the lazy ones stay lazy. But Charizard is an exception; it’s one in ten thousand.”
“The Aether Foundation is an organization specializing in handling Ultra Beasts and other spatial abnormalities, not under the League’s jurisdiction, but cooperates with the League. You’ve been to secret realms already; you’ve surely seen those Dead Worlds.”
“You can safely go to school, I can safely live in Feiao City, and this world won’t turn into a projection appearing in other worlds’ secret realms, all because we have the Aether Foundation.”
The old man pulled out another cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and took a deep drag.
“Ordinary Pokémon have no chance of winning against Ultra Beasts. Even those ancient mythical beasts and legends aren’t all on humanity’s side. If we want to resist Ultra Beasts with our own power…”
“So.” Zuo Hang interrupted, “If you can’t beat them, join them?”
“If ordinary Pokémon won’t do, create extraordinary ones. You’re not going to tell me nonsense like only Ultra Beasts can defeat Ultra Beasts, right?”
“Time to wake up, old man. It’s 2025. Science can beat magic too. Instead of wasting time on modifications, think about how to become stronger yourself.”
