Chapter Fifty-Nine: Pokémon Hunter

While Sakaki ate his noodles, he fell into deep thought. If one were to talk about specialties from Pallet Town, he was aware of a few. But as for unique ingredients... Sakaki felt a bit conflicted; he had never really considered if Pallet Town produced any special ingredients. After all, such ingredients were rarely seen here in Viridian City, as Pallet Town was largely self-sufficient.

“If I have to say, I once heard from a... friend that there is a unique mushroom in Pallet Town, with a very remarkable taste. Once you leave Pallet Town, it’s hard to find it anywhere else,” Sakaki said to Heath after pondering painfully for a while.

Heath mulled over Sakaki’s words. By that account, it seemed the true specialty of Pallet Town was indeed its mushrooms. Since they could only be enjoyed there and nowhere else, it certainly qualified as a distinctive ingredient of the town.

After thanking Sakaki, Heath continued leafing through his textbook, earnestly studying and memorizing with the method that Kadabra had taught him the previous day.

“Are you planning to get your driver’s license, Heath?” Sakaki swallowed the last mouthful of beef noodles and, noticing the book in Heath’s hands, asked curiously.

“Yes, Mr. Sakaki. I intend to earn my license and travel with my food truck. After all, I want to see what curious things this world has to offer,” Heath answered with a smile and a nod.

Sakaki was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and nodded in return. He offered Heath some words of encouragement and shared a few insights from his own travels, which Heath listened to and carefully remembered.

After bidding Mr. Sakaki farewell, Heath checked his phone. Dawn had broken, but the shops were likely still closed. He would have to wait until they opened to purchase some folding tables and chairs. Just now, Sakaki had eaten standing up, and the sight left Heath a bit embarrassed. He had long intended to buy tables and chairs, but for various reasons, it had been delayed.

Still, the morning rush quickly drove away his guilt. The beef noodles attracted a number of customers, but considering the lack of seating, Heath had to pack the food for takeaway.

The busy morning also pushed forward his chef’s quest progress to twenty, which pleased him greatly. It seemed that if he could satisfy eighty more customers, he would complete the quest and earn its reward.

Once the workday began and the streets grew quieter, Heath hurriedly called the furniture store and purchased four sets of folding tables and chairs, spending sixteen hundred League coins—a price that pained him somewhat.

Once he had taken care of the tables and chairs, Heath reviewed the rewards he had received from serving customers that morning. Occasionally, he would get some candies, but not a single rare candy turned up, though he didn’t mind.

[You served Mosi and received “Tracking Technique (Beginner)”]

Heath paused in surprise. He had been too busy this morning to check his rewards and hadn’t expected to see something different.

“Tracking Technique... Wasn’t Mosi the one who caught the Charmander?” Heath pulled a small booklet from his pocket, the words “Tracking Technique” written on the cover.

He remembered that Sister Maple had told him yesterday that the Charmander had been captured and sent to Mr. Adams’s house. She and the others suspected that the helpful citizen was a master tracker, or perhaps...

A Pokémon hunter.

It was a despicable and dirty profession—at least for those hunters not registered with the League. League-registered hunters followed strict rules and regulations.

But such registered hunters were rare, which was why Sister Maple had visited Mr. Adams’s house the previous day.

Heath had always assumed Charmander’s wounds were inflicted by Adams’s son, but after visiting the house yesterday, he was shocked. Now he suspected that most of Charmander’s injuries came from that so-called helpful citizen; if so, they were likely an illegal hunter.

Though he thought this, it didn’t stop Heath from opening the booklet and trying to learn from it.

“This cheat is really something. Zorua and the others can master things instantly, but I have to study by myself,” Heath sighed, looking at the book.

He had thought just opening it would be enough to master the technique, but it turned out he had to learn it the hard way.

It was, in a way, quite realistic.

Heath studied for a while, then welcomed the furniture store staff and received the four sets of folding tables and chairs. At least now his customers could sit down to eat.

“Meowth!” Shortly after the staff left, Heath heard a meowing sound from the bushes behind him.

“Meowth, are you here for breakfast?” Heath grinned, bringing several freshly-made crepes as he got out of the truck and approached the bushes.

But the sight that greeted him left him stunned. He saw an Arbok carrying a Pokémon—Charmander—on its back.

Though its wounds had been treated, Charmander still looked seriously injured, lying weakly on Arbok’s coils as Arbok flicked its tongue and watched Heath.

“Isn’t this the Charmander from yesterday?” Zorua also recognized the Pokémon.

With Arbok and Meowth’s calls and Zorua’s translation, Heath learned why Charmander was there.

“So you ran away after all, little one?” Heath sighed, seeing how weak Charmander looked.

He had worried about Charmander’s health yesterday, but after meeting young Adams, Heath realized that, though the boy was strange, at least he wouldn’t mistreat the Charmander.

But it seemed Charmander couldn’t accept its trainer’s peculiar habits, so it ran away again despite its injuries.

This escape had only made its wounds worse. Luckily, the stray Meowth and Arbok had found it and brought it to Heath.

“This guy is so stubborn—he’s hurt himself even more,” Zorua, perched atop Heath’s head, sounded worried.

Heath glanced at Charmander’s tail. The flame was shrinking, even threatening to go out.

Heath’s heart clenched; if the flame on Charmander’s tail extinguished, it would be fatal—a sign that it was close to death. Immediate care was needed.

Without hesitation, Heath scooped up Charmander and, with Farfetch’d and Zorua, hurried to the Pokémon Center.