Chapter – 12

Hikaru lazily spun the Pokéball in his hands, watching as it floated in the air between his imaginary palms.

He inserted a small amount of mana into the central core, feeling the Pokéball trying to connect with his soul. Hikaru resisted the probing sensation, not wanting to waste the Pokéball by linking it to himself, and the Pokéball went back to being inert.

While he admired his shiny new creation, part of his mind was already thinking about how to improve the Pokédex.

While the current version worked just fine, he wasn’t really satisfied with it. Since it was made from his mana, Hikaru could still modify it even while it was within Aman’s soul influence, but doing so required more concentration than he liked. Hikaru wanted to make the process smoother and more automatic.

Now that he had become more proficient at creating advanced magical artifacts, he already had some ideas on how to make a better version.

While one part of his mind cooked up complicated enchantment formulas, another part was doing some cooking in the literal sense.

In a corner of his laboratory, a small pot floated in the air, the liquid inside bubbling and occasionally changing colors as Hikaru adjusted the conjured flames beneath it and regulated the mana flowing through it.

He was trying to create some actual useful potions with his magical fruits instead of the berry juice that had been his first attempt. It was a slow-going process. Seeing as he only had a few finished examples on hand and no Alchemy for Dummies manual to guide him, he had to blindly navigate his way forward through intuition more than anything else.

Now, why was he doing all of this instead of testing the Pokéball on one of his Pokémon like he had said he would?

Because the sun was still barely peeking above the horizon, and his Pokémon needed their beauty sleep.

Like he had mentioned before, his Pokéball didn’t exactly follow the game rules. Instead, it worked through the power of friendship.

His Pokémon had to give consent before they could be put inside the Pokéball. Even after the soul link was formed, they could simply ignore him and do their own thing once released.

Which meant that if he wanted to properly test his Pokéballs, he needed to make sure his test subjects weren’t grumpy from being woken up too early.

Thus, Hikaru spent the next few hours idling away inside his laboratory.

Once he sensed that the sun was high enough in the sky and his Pokémon were slowly waking up, Hikaru stopped his side projects and stepped out of the laboratory.

He walked through the hallway with steady, measured steps, waited patiently as the moving stairs deposited him on the ground floor, and then stood in front of his favorite orange Pokémon like the picture of innocence.

“Hey buddy. Good morning. Did you sleep well?” Hikaru greeted with his sweetest smile.

Trapinch was already awake, staring at Hikaru with a suspicious look in his eyes. He knew to be wary whenever his creator smiled like that.

“What? I’m just being nice. There’s nothing strange about it.” Hikaru tried to defend himself.

When his loyal warrior didn’t respond and simply continued staring at him, Hikaru finally relented.

“Okay. Fine. I need your help with something.”

Trapinch nodded, as though he had been expecting it.

“Remember Phase Two? Well, I finally completed it this morning.”

Hikaru proudly presented the red-and-white sphere to his creation.

“Tada. The Pokéball.”

Hikaru wasn’t exactly expecting a standing ovation, but at least a little excitement would have sufficed.

“So, the Pokéball basically works as a storage device for Pokémon. I just tap this button here against your face and you go inside the Pokéball. Very convenient, right.”

Trapinch furrowed his eyes in confusion.

“What do you mean, what’s the point? Of course there’s a point. The people of Esalia can now finally get their own little Pokémon. They can forge their own bonds of friendship like you and me and discover the joys of adventuring with a sidekick by their side.”

Seeing that his guardian still wasn’t convinced, Hikaru continued.

“Just imagine yesterday’s tournament. Only, instead of being on your own, you have a partner by your side. Someone who can help you, give you commands, see the bigger picture and help you reach your full potential.”

Hikaru once again pointed at the floating sphere.

“And this little thing is what will make all of that possible. Plus, you get your own little private space where you can rest and recuperate whenever you want. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

No, that did not sound fun. That just sounded like his corner of the Pokécenter but with extra steps.

Still, Trapinch didn’t have the heart to tell his creator that.

Judging by the noises he had been hearing from upstairs over the last few days, his creator had been working on this thing very passionately.

He figured he might as well try it out. What was the worst that could happen? He knew his creator would never intentionally harm them.

Trapinch let out a sigh before finally giving a nod.

“Really? You’ll try it out? Oh, thank you, thank you.”

Hikaru picked Trapinch up like a cute puppy and attempted to hug him, though without a corporeal body, Trapinch was basically just hanging in the air.

“I promise you won’t feel a thing. I tested it several times already. It’s very safe.”

Hikaru put Trapinch down and brought the Pokéball closer to his body.

“As a bonus, once I figure out how to make the internal space more stable, I won’t even need to put your body in stasis and you’ll be able to freely move around inside the Pokéball.”

Trapinch wished his creator had mentioned that a little earlier. He would have rather waited for the upgraded version.

Alas, it was already too late.

Before Trapinch could even open his mouth in protest, the Pokéball touched his orange carapace and he felt something trying to connect with his soul. Trapinch reluctantly allowed it to do its work and, the next moment, felt his consciousness vanish as his body was pulled into the Pokéball.

As Trapinch’s body disappeared, Hikaru shook the ball from side to side.

This was a very important moment for him.

Since there was no actual capture mechanic, he would just have to improvise.

On the third shake, Hikaru imagined a clicking sound and made a few little stars appear beside the Pokéball.

Good.

He had successfully captured his first Pokémon.

Now for the next part.

Hikaru poured a little mana into the central core and watched as Trapinch’s body reappeared on the floor.

He immediately knelt down and looked his creation in the eye.

“So, how was that? Did you feel any discomfort? Did you feel anything at all?”

Trapinch shook his head. Exiting the Pokéball had been a little disorienting, but other than that, he hadn’t felt a thing.

“Good. Good.” Hikaru nodded, folding his arms across his chest. “Now we just need to test it a few more times, just to be sure.”

After the fifth trip in and out of the Pokéball, Trapinch had had enough.

Instead of protesting verbally, he simply used [Dig] and made his own exit out of the Pokécenter.

Hikaru stared at the little hole in his floor, at the retreating figure of his loyal champion tunneling through the ground, and decided to just let it go.

Trapinch would get his compensation later in the form of a well-roasted steak.

For now, he fixed the floor and returned to his laboratory.

That was a complete success.

Hikaru grinned, holding the metal sphere like Gollum from The Lord of the Rings.

At least he wasn’t caressing it while muttering, My precious.

As an afterthought, Hikaru added a cartoon sticker of Trapinch to the top of the Pokéball so he would know which one belonged to whom before placing it back on the table.

Now that Phase Two was finally complete, it was time to immediately move on to Phase Three.

Finding someone who could actually use the Pokéball.

---

While Hikaru was having one of the best days of his new life, a short distance away, in the small town of Brendon, someone else was having a terrible day.

Or more accurately, he was having a terrible few days.

As soon as Aman and his team reached town—

No, even before that.

They hadn’t even crossed the town gates when the news that something terrible had happened had already spread throughout Bredon.

With dark clouds hanging over the entire group and the conspicuous absence of one of its members, it wasn’t exactly difficult to guess what had happened.

The moment they stepped through the gates, Captain Malrick intercepted them, making his presence known in the classic fashion of jumping down from the town wall.

Aman was already used to his uncle’s antics.

The rest of his team were not.

Stella was halfway through drawing her blade while Arvel already had his dagger in hand when Captain Malrick activated one of his skills.

[Intimidate.]

The suffocating aura of bloodlust emanating from the Tier III adventurer was enough to freeze everyone in their tracks.

He gave them a moment to settle down before finally retracting his skill.

“I’ve already sent someone to inform your master and the mayor. Go home, clean yourselves up, and get some rest. We will be holding a meeting first thing tomorrow morning.”

Captain Malrick didn’t bother with a greeting, nor did his face soften at the sight of Aman this time.

Aman knew he wasn’t speaking to his uncle right now.

He was speaking to the Guard Captain of Brendon.

“Yes, sir,” Aman replied with a nod.

“And you lot. Your visit to the dungeon wasn’t approved yet. Even with your family names, don’t think you can escape punishment this time.”

Huh?

What?

But he thought—

Aman turned toward his companions, the question already on his lips, only to stop, his jaw hanging open in shock.

Stella’s head was lowered.

Mina had a faint blush on her cheeks.

Arvel was nervously rubbing the hilt of his dagger.

“We are sorry, sir,” Stella finally mumbled. “We didn’t think it would turn into such a big deal.”

“Hmm. Your Guildmaster can decide what to do with you all later. For now, just make sure you attend tomorrow’s meeting.”

Everyone murmured their agreement.

Captain Malrick gave a satisfied nod, patted Aman on the back, and leapt back onto the town wall.

The moment his uncle left, Aman pulled his companions into a nearby alley with a stormy expression on his face.

Once he was certain they were out of earshot, he whirled on them, accusation clear on his face.

“What the heck? You didn’t tell me your dungeon visit hadn’t even been approved when we signed the contract. Now that Seibel got himself killed and potentially angered the dungeon, they could even revoke your licenses as punishment.”

More than that, Aman was worried he might be labeled an accomplice and punished alongside them.

Mina rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.

“Well, like she said, we didn’t think it would turn into such a huge mess when we left.”

Stella nodded.

“I apologize. Newly discovered dungeons are usually very weak, which is why they send Tier I adventurers like us to scout them out. Given our credentials and previous success in dungeons, I thought our request would already have been approved by the time we returned. I did not foresee this turn of events.”

Stolen novel; please report.

With the big, scary Tier III no longer in their presence, Stella seemed to have regained her usual composure.

Aman couldn’t exactly blame their reasoning.

He had thought exactly the same thing when he agreed to act as their guide.

However, it seemed they lacked some critical information.

Aman lowered his voice even further before speaking.

“That’s because Guildmaster Bern isn’t like your typical Adventurer Guild leader. He’s a stickler for rules. Rumor says he used to be a high-ranking scribe in Orin before he accidentally pissed off one of his superiors and got sent here as punishment. He has less than a year left in his posting, so he’s extra careful not to rock the boat and end up somewhere even worse.”

“I didn’t know that,” Stella admitted. “Otherwise, I would have sent my petition directly to the guildmaster in Brislin. I am much more familiar with him.”

“Yeah, that probably would have been for the best.”

“I did suggest that at the very beginning,” Arvel commented from the side, “but you ignored me because you didn’t want your grandfather finding out about our destination.”

Aman suddenly had a terrible realization.

“Wait a minute. Did you guys sneak out here to find the dungeon without telling your families?”

Mina immediately pointed at Stella.

“She did. I told both my mother and my master.”

Stella glared at her friend in betrayal.

“What? You know what Mother is like. Would you rather I not tell her and get locked in my room for the rest of my life?”

“No,” Stella conceded with a sigh, “but I expected at least some discretion. Now your mother is going to tell my mother, and then we’ll both be in trouble.”

In response, Mina simply stuck out her tongue.

Aman ignored the bickering between the two girls and turned toward the silent member of the group.

“What about you, Arvel? Did you tell your parents where you were going?”

“I do not have anyone to tell. I am an orphan. Stella’s family adopted me as a child to serve as her retainer. My loyalty lies solely with her.”

Okay.

Aman had not been expecting that. Neither did he know what to say next.

“I’m sorry for bringing it up?”

Arvel smiled.

“It’s fine. I don’t mind. I like my place in life, and the Crestels treat me very well.”

“Aaanyway…” Mina quickly interjected. “What’s our next step?”

Thanks for the save there, Mina.

Or Aman would have had to continue that increasingly awkward conversation.

“Do we call Stella’s grandfather? Both my master and her father are in the capital, so that’s not an option. Or do you think Aman’s master is nice enough to stand up for us?”

“Nothing. We do nothing,” Stella declared firmly. “We made a mistake. We failed to protect one of our teammates. We even risked the dungeon turning hostile. For that, we will face whatever consequences come our way head-on.”

With their leader taking such a responsible approach, no one had anything else to say.

“For now, we go back and get some rest. I’m sure tomorrow’s meeting is going to be a long one.”

And so they did exactly that.

---

Early the next morning, Aman was immersed in a dreamless sleep when he felt something poke his cheek.

Aman groggily swatted the offending object away, but it turned out to be very persistent.

As consciousness slowly returned to him, Aman realized what was happening. He didn’t even need to open his eyes to know who was standing beside his bed. After all, this wasn’t the first time he had been woken up like this.

Aman pretended to remain asleep for a few more moments, but someone decided to escalate the situation by pinching his cheeks. Hard.

Aman immediately jerked awake.

“Ouch. That hurts.”

The next moment, he felt warmth envelop him as his best friend hugged him with all her strength.