"Ridiculous!"
"With the Orange Archipelago's strength, you're still trying to form some kind of defense force?"
Returning to the small wooden house, Riku didn't expect Lorelei to be awake—sitting there, waiting for him.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Riku had no choice but to confess everything that had happened at the Orange League building.
Anyway, with Lorelei's pride, it was impossible for her to share the information with the other Elite Four members.
She had already told Riku about their relationship as Elite Four members before.
Riku sighed helplessly.
"There's no way around it. Weren't you Elite Four members the ones who suddenly ran to the Orange Archipelago?"
Lorelei shook her head.
"We were actually just monitoring what was happening here."
"Forget it. Anyway, your so-called temporary defense force won't be of any use at all."
"Any Champion-level Trainer could beat you guys into a panicked retreat—let alone us veteran Champions."
Riku asked suspiciously,
"It can't be that bad, right? If we encounter a lone veteran Champion, our whole team should be able to..."
"No." Lorelei interrupted firmly.
"Your Orange League is the weakest league. You can't even gather a full set of Elite Four members, so you don't really understand the strength of the Elite Four."
"Take that Drake guy, for example. In our Indigo League, he'd at most be considered an Elite-level Trainer. Just because he got lucky and captured a Champion-level Pokémon doesn't make him a Champion-level Trainer."
"Not to mention being the chief Trainer of a league, or that so-called Seafoam Islands Gym Leader."
"Most of them don't even dare to fight. They just set up competitions to make things difficult for Trainers. It's laughable."
The more Lorelei spoke, the more disdainful she became.
"Accuracy? Water Gun target practice?"
"Just unleash a large-scale attack—what's the need for accuracy? My Champion-level Pokémon wouldn't care about that kind of thing. It's all just stuff to trick kids!"
As a veteran Champion, Lorelei was indeed qualified to complain.
Riku didn't comment further. After all, he would be teammates with the Seafoam Islands Gym Leaders later—it wasn't good to keep discussing this topic.
---
The next day.
Riku went to the berry forest early in the morning, bringing fifty cans of food with him.
The three legendary birds and Groudon were initially excited to see Riku being so generous, but soon, they grew suspicious.
Something unusual must be up.
As their master, Riku usually opened only three to five cans at most. His sudden generosity definitely meant trouble.
"Eat sparingly," Riku instructed as he placed the cans on the ground.
"The meat cans from the Orange Archipelago are very expensive. I bought them for you yesterday on Citrus Island, and it cost me a lot."
"It's divided. Ten cans per Pokémon. That includes Farfetch'd too."
From the legendary Pokémon's expressions, Farfetch'd could sense these cans were definitely good stuff.
Seeing that Riku, the master who had just captured it, was actually willing to give it the same amount of cans as the legendary Pokémon, Farfetch'd was almost moved to tears.
Riku also noticed Farfetch'd's excitement and gently patted its head.
Riku never played favorites. If he had been a more stingy or snobbish Trainer, maybe he wouldn't have taken such good care of the three birds and the Red Shrimp.
He could have just focused all his resources on the Champion-level Lapras—wouldn't that have been more efficient?
"Here are the cans, now you three dumn birds better return my bets!"
Groudon stretched out its claws—two fingers forming a gesture. Riku was taken aback. If those two massive claws hadn't slowly started grinding against each other, he would've thought Groudon was making a heart sign.
"Next time," the three legendary birds exchanged a look and immediately decided to play dumb.
"We've been tired these past few days and need to replenish our nutrients. We promise to return it next time Master brings more cans!"
"Next time my ass!" Groudon immediately snapped.
"Don't think I don't know what you're up to. Anyone who dares to bet with me and not pay up, I'll chase them to the ends of the earth!"
"Now give me a straight answer—are you going to pay or not?"
"Pay, pay, pay, we'll pay! Who are you trying to scare?" The three legendary birds responded, a bit speechless.
Still, seeing that Groudon was actually serious, they were also a little helpless.
After staying by Riku's side for some time, the three legendary birds had eaten far more Law Berries than Groudon.
Unfortunately, the gap between a secondary legendary Pokémon and a primary legendary Pokémon couldn't be closed with just a few berries.
That said, the three birds could feel their power had grown substantially. The three of them working together should now be able to fight Groudon to a draw—something unthinkable before.
Reluctantly, the three legendary birds unhappily tossed over three cans.
Having received them, Groudon didn't mind their attitude and quickly picked them up.
But soon, it realized something was wrong.
"Wait! You guys each gave three cans—that's only nine. There's still one missing!"
"Hurry up, don't make me push you again."
Zapdos huffed,
"What's it got to do with me? I'm only giving three anyway."
Moltres twisted its long neck away.
"Don't look at me—giving three already broke my heart."
Articuno said firmly,
"I won't give another can even if you kill me. You won nine cans from one bet—be careful you don't eat yourself to death!"
Seeing that none of the three legendary birds were willing, Groudon was so angry it nearly attacked on the spot.
"Big brothers, I'll give the last can."
No one expected it. The newcomer Farfetch'd walked up to Groudon, holding a can in its wings.
"Wow, little duck, you're a real brother!" Groudon was overjoyed. It took the can and patted Farfetch'd on the head, then turned toward the three legendary birds with disdain.
"See that? This is a brother. You bastards!"
"Hmph!" The three legendary birds snorted but couldn't help looking at Farfetch'd with a newfound appreciation.
"Not bad, not bad. I like Pokémon as sensible as you."
"Little duck, just say the word if you need anything in the future. We guarantee we'll be there whenever you call!"
The three silly birds and the Little Red Shrimp, being so blatantly realistic, immediately made Riku frown.
"Listen up, all of you! If I find out you're secretly bullying Farfetch'd..."
"Don't even think about cans. I'll make you eat whips instead!"
"Got it?"
"How could we!" The three birds and the Red Shrimp immediately swarmed Farfetch'd and hugged it with exaggerated friendliness.
"This is our brother!"
"Our brother for life! Master, how could you think of us like that?"
--------More Bonus Chapters!!!!
Every 300 power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter