Lorze, having left Castelia City, took his Pokémon wives for a stroll on the pedestrian walkway of the Skyarrow Bridge. Their goal was the Meloetta... deep within Pinwheel Forest.
After about half a day's journey, Lorze and his wives, talking and laughing, crossed the Skyarrow Bridge, passed through the gatehouse, and arrived at the entrance of the lush, verdant Pinwheel Forest.
Compared to gazing at Pinwheel Forest from afar, only by standing in front of the forest and looking up can one feel that kind of ancient and wild oppressive feeling. The depth of the forest entrance is like the wide-open, blood-red maw of a fierce beast, seemingly ready to snap shut at any moment to firmly trap and devour the prey entering it...
Novice Trainers are absolutely not advised to go deep into Pinwheel Forest alone. Even though there are many Pokémon Rangers on duty here, the possibility of accidents occurring is still extremely high. Accidents where Trainers lose their lives are not just one or two isolated cases either. Without a doubt, something big is hidden inside Pinwheel Forest. Perhaps it's powerful and ferocious wild Pokémon, or perhaps... it's a man-eating primitive tribe!?
Even if one doesn't encounter any strange things, it's very likely to get lost because the terrain inside the forest is too complex. There is no signal in the forest. Once lost and trapped, the danger is no less than encountering fierce beasts.
To this end, the Nacrene City government spent a massive amount of manpower and material resources to build a straight highway through the middle of the forest connecting directly to the Skyarrow Bridge. This main road is very lively, wild Pokémon almost never appear, making it the only choice for ordinary people to pass through.
But for Lorze, if he doesn't go deep into Pinwheel Forest, then he has no way to see the Meloetta he yearns for day and night!
How could he be like other tourists and obediently walk the main road? Of course, disregarding the warnings, he turned his head and ducked into the dense woods.
However, he hadn't taken many steps after ducking into the woods before it became somewhat hard to walk. After all, the interior of Pinwheel Forest maintained a state of rarely being interfered with by humans all year round. The understory plants grew extremely well. The vines, thick or thin, hanging down from the treetops gave off quite a feeling of blotting out the sky and covering the sun. And underfoot, logs of various sizes lay fallen. The three-dimensional sense of this space was somewhat too strong...
Fortunately, Lorze still had his Pokémon wives by his side. Now was the time to exert their combat power—the one stepping forward this time was Leavanny. She had been training hard recently; naturally, no one would snatch such an opportunity.
"He-fu! Then let me help Big Brother Lorze clear away the obstacles!"
"Mhm, then I'll trouble Little Sister Leavanny~"
Leavanny guarded Lorze's side like a loyal knight, while also shouldering the responsibility of clearing the path for Lorze.
After taking a deep breath, the plump insect girl followed Lorze's guidance and leaped into a light, agile dance posture. At first it was very soothing, but after a turn, she shockingly accelerated, swift as thunder. Her waving arms drew out streaks of blade light, slicing apart all the sparse vines and weeds, clearing away the obstacles advancing for Lorze!
This was the result of her diligent training these past few days. Lorze didn't stint his praise either, clapping his hands: "Truly amazing! Little Sister Leavanny is both handsome and strong, hehe~"
Although Lorze praised Leavanny's handsome actions endlessly, Leavanny herself weighed her own abilities clearly: This is just hitting these unmoving things to barely reproduce the combat tactics Lorze taught. Once the intensity truly ramps up, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to hold my own.
But after receiving Lorze's praise, Leavanny still revealed a silly smile like a little girlfriend. Looking at her flushed cheeks, Lorze wanted to hug her and kiss her haphazardly.
With Leavanny's assistance and the auxiliary support of his own telekinesis, Lorze was able to freely shuttle through the forest, immediately launching a carpet search of Pinwheel Forest. Even if he had to flip the entire forest's ground over, he absolutely had to find Meloetta!
However, this time he hit a wall (met with a closed door): Even with the auxiliary telepathic detection of Jirachi and Celebi, they still couldn't locate where Meloetta was.
Come to think of it, if Meloetta could be found so easily, the prestige of a Mythical Pokémon would be gone. It seems you can't eat hot tofu if you're anxious.
Just as Lorze was at his wits' end and planned to rest, trouble found him first—actually, it couldn't be considered trouble, it's just that the newcomer was indeed a heavyweight existence, comparable to Cynthia.
Following the sound of a vast, melodious little tune, an incomparably sturdy, large man slowly walked towards him. That guy's silhouette was like a bear.
Lorze sweatdropped: Why does this man... come with his own BGM when making an appearance!? 666 (Awesome), he must have kicked the stereo.
Clearly still quite a distance away, Alder enthusiastically waved his hand and shouted loudly: "Young man! Please hold your steps!" His voice was truly highly penetrating.
Since Alder had said so, slipping away seemed somewhat impolite. Lorze simply stopped in place. However, Leavanny, Jirachi, and the group of wives all wore nervous appearances, ready for battle. Perhaps it was because they perceived the powerful aura exuding from Alder.
"Everyone don't be nervous. This gentleman is not a bad person. Mhm... His identity is probably similar to the Miss Cynthia we met before."
Thinking of that beautiful woman from before, the wives immediately revealed expressions of sudden realization, dropping their very heavy hostility. But precautions against outsiders always exist; this was to keep a hand in reserve when protecting their husband's safety. Lorze smiled, actually not continuing to persuade his wives to completely dispel their misgivings.
The rough and rugged Alder enthusiastically approached Lorze. He wore a very loose robe, with many Poké Balls hanging around his neck and belt. As for his flame-like hairstyle, it looked like the Sun God Solgaleo.
"Hello there, I am the Unova Champion, Alder! Currently touring the Unova region right now, hehe. Because I saw the vines nearby looked like they had been artificially destroyed, I thought I'd come over and take a look on my way. As a result, there really was someone here."
In Black/White, facing Alder introducing himself like this, Cheren complained directly to the point about why he, as the Champion, was wandering around here. But Lorze didn't question Alder like Cheren did about why a dignified Champion would have the leisure to travel. Because he knew that several years ago, Alder's most cherished partner, Volcarona, died from being too weak after a grand battle. This led to him being unable to walk out of his grief for a long time.
"I also know you, Mr. Alder. I didn't expect to meet you here! My name is Lorze, very nice to meet you!"
Lorze wore a very polite appearance. This made the grandfather-generation Alder feel somewhat gratified and happy: Young people nowadays are all arrogant and haughty, not looking steady at all. That formidable grandson of his didn't escape this either. So Alder's first impression of Lorze was quite good.
"Mhm... What are you doing here, did you get lost? The environment of Pinwheel Forest is not to be underestimated. If you need it, I can escort you to the main road."
"Thank you for your concern. We are actually... uh, right, special training!"
Lorze couldn't possibly say openly and honorably that he came to find Meloetta, right? Page after page... that would be no different from poaching.
The two words "special training" floating out of Lorze's mouth were almost so soft they couldn't be heard clearly, and also carried a bit of a trill. Lorze guiltily averted his gaze.
But Alder actually took it seriously, because more than half of the people who run deep into Pinwheel Forest are exercising themselves. This reason was still tenable.
Moreover, like Cynthia, he could also feel the powerful strength exuding from Lorze, especially from Lorze's Pokémon. This undoubtedly aroused his great interest.
But it's worth mentioning that Alder's interest, compared to Cynthia's interest, was actually somewhat different.
Cynthia's interest stemmed from her own desire to spar with Lorze. While Alder was because of his own special depressed situation, hoping more to see more young people who made one's eyes light up.
After all, he also understood that his own strength was greatly inferior to before, having long lost the spirit of a Champion. It's just that there was no one in Unova right now who could take over as his successor.
But while exchanging pleasantries, Lorze suddenly thought of matters regarding Team Plasma: It was true he had many reasons making it inconvenient to act. But Alder, as the Unova Champion, was much more suitable compared to him. And as the Champion of this region, taking responsibility in handling matters of criminal organizations is perfectly justified, right?
He could provide Alder with some clues... guide him step by step to uncover the truth of Team Plasma. He believed that regarding what exactly to do next, Alder himself would have a sense of propriety. Why not pass this ball to Alder's hands?
The more Lorze thought about it, the more feasible it felt. Seizing this opportunity, he brought up this matter to Alder—
"Um... Mr. Alder! Have you heard of Team Rocket in the Kanto and Johto regions, or Team Galactic in the Sinnoh region?"
The reason he didn't mention Team Magma and Team Aqua was because these two were handled by him before they could cause any major trouble. I'm afraid their reputation among the villainous organizations of this world isn't that loud. Lorze had no choice but to use villainous organizations he hadn't interfered with as examples.
"I've heard of them. Seems like a group of guys who do all kinds of evil, right?"
"Exactly so." Lorze nodded, continuing: "I don't know if Lord Alder is aware, actually the Unova region also has a similar organization. This is an organization I encountered while traveling in Unova, calling themselves Team Plasma!"
Lorze's words undoubtedly made Alder's expression somewhat more serious. But he wasn't a person without his own independent opinions. He still harbored great doubt towards what Lorze said. Crossing his rough and rugged arms over his chest, the vicissitudes (signs of hardship) on his face became even more prominent.
"What? You're saying Unova also has such a criminal organization? But if there really is, why does our Unova region's League have no news of it whatsoever?"
"Uh... This is because... these organizations seem to not have completely exposed their activities to the public eye yet... But actually, they have already made very ample preparations secretly. Not only do they have their own frigate, they even built a secret base castle beneath the Unova League..."
Lorze's voice grew quieter and quieter. Although these were all indisputable facts, after he finished saying all this, even he himself couldn't quite believe it... It could only be said that humans cannot imagine things beyond their cognition; reality is far more magical than imagination.
The only evidence he could bring out was the Plasma Frigate he unintentionally photographed while taking pictures at the pier previously. But the main subjects of that photo were him and his Pokémon wives smiling like flowers. Saying that the thing behind them is a criminal organization's naval vessel truly lacked persuasiveness.
Seeing Lorze's words becoming increasingly far-fetched, Alder's tightly furrowed brows relaxed. Not only was he not angry, he actually burst into hearty, loud laughter, completely treating these words of his as a joke: Young people nowadays are truly humorous!
"Hahahahaha! Oh, Your Excellency Lorze is so certain. But everything requires evidence, otherwise how can you convince people? If Your Excellency's words are not true, that cannot be considered a small matter. It would be considered rumor-mongering, which requires a conviction!"
Now it was Lorze's turn to frown and fall silent. Of course he also knew saying this was truly too hasty. He indeed hadn't collected effective evidence. But who made Alder appear so suddenly? It's all Alder's fault!
Alder waved his hand, terminating this topic. He seemed to have no interest in this "Team Plasma" Lorze spoke of.
"Alright, alright, let's not talk about this matter for now. Being able to see a young and promising Trainer, I am truly incomparably happy. I wonder if Your Excellency is willing to spar with me? Oh right, if the strength Your Excellency Lorze displays can satisfy me, perhaps I would be more willing to accompany you in chatting about the matter just now? Haha!"
Lorze originally thought of refusing. He didn't absolutely have to stick his foot in the matters of Unova. After all, handling Team Plasma wasn't his duty. He had also worked hard for it; it was just that Alder refused. He had a clear conscience, a clear conscience.
But Leavanny, desiring to improve herself, actually beat him to it and accepted the challenge issued by Alder on his behalf. Excitedly emitting an insect cry and stepping forward—"He-fu!"
Lorze paused, only feeling a deep backstab from his wife: Leavanny, you...
Alder put his hands on his hips and nodded gratifyingly: Although in his eyes this Leavanny's hard power wasn't strong, her spirit was quite good. Perhaps it's a newly trained Pokémon by this Trainer? Combined with Sewaddle's main habitat being exactly Pinwheel Forest, Alder seemed to have understood everything: Presumably he encountered a Sewaddle or Swadloon in Pinwheel Forest, and then evolved it into a Leavanny after a bout of training!
Lorze: What exactly did you understand, hey!
However, Lorze didn't harshly criticize Leavanny's impatience. He merely smiled helplessly: This girl is truly... this way I can't be a coward lizard (coward) anymore, right? I can only bite the bullet and go up.
Oh well, then let's test the results of the past few days' cultivation as I thought previously. Of course, not just one Pokémon, but the other wives too.
"Coincidentally, I also have a Bug-type Pokémon here, Accelgor. Go meet this Leavanny!"
As Alder took down a Poké Ball hanging around his neck and threw it with a strong and powerful posture, a ninja-like Bug-type Pokémon less than a meter tall exited the ball with a very handsome, showy posture.
Although small in size, Accelgor's body contains massive energy—they are guerrilla-style Pokémon famous for their speed.