Pokémon: Reborn as Lucario

Chapter 94: The Sudden Major Power Outage

Two days later.

In a cold drink shop in Zidian City.

A young girl with long azure hair, wearing a casual Poké Ball hat, was currently propping her cheeks with both hands, troubledly blowing bubbles into her lemon milk tea.

"Gurgle, gurgle... So annoying. No matter how much I search, I can't find any information on your Pokémon species, Rio. I can't even learn more about you. And, in such a big city, there's surprisingly nowhere to have fun."

At this thought, Ming Rizhao bit her straw and blew bubbles even more irritably.

"You're the one who wants to play, aren't you?"

Rio rolled his eyes and turned to play Go-moku with Ralts.

This world was naturally not lacking in various board and card games, the most classic of which was this game with black and white pieces. Rio himself was not too familiar with the rules of Go, but to pass the time, he taught Ralts to play the simplest game, Go-moku.

Although Go-moku was simple, once they got into it, it greatly fascinated Ralts and Ming Rizhao, so they often pulled Rio in for a game.

"If I get one more Pokémon, I can consider teaching them to play mahjong..."

Rio's mind wandered off into wild fantasies, his eyes vacant as he sat on the specially raised chair.

"Iya, iya, uhm, uhm, uhm..."

Ralts, sitting opposite Rio, was lost in deep thought.

"Click!" The power in the cold drink shop went out again.

However, this time everyone, including the Pokémon, was unfazed. This was because, for the past few days, Zidian City had already experienced multiple power outages. Although they didn't last long, at most about ten minutes, for such frequent accidents to occur in this city that prided itself on having "never-ending electricity" always felt a bit strange.

A few minutes later, as expected, the power came back on.

But not long after, the power went out again.

At this point, people began to complain.

"What's going on?"

"Doesn't the power usually only go out once every few hours? Why is it so frequent this time?"

"So annoying. This fridge keeps turning on and off like this; it's going to break easily."

The last complaint came from the shop assistant.

But this time, they waited and waited. More than half an hour passed, and the power still didn't seem to be restored.

"Iya! (Pokémon Language) I lose."

Ralts, having lost the game of Go-moku, pouted and put away the game pieces with some dejection.

"Xiao Zhao, Ruru, let's go. It's almost time for our appointment with Uncle Wattson."

Rio hopped down from the chair with a grunt.

"Slurp... This is a good chance to ask Uncle Wattson what's going on with this power outage."

Ming Rizhao drank the last of her milk tea in one gulp and then led her two Pokémon towards the Zidian City Gym.

Along the way, whether it was tourists, local residents, or shop assistants, all were clamoring with confused and frustrated faces. Leaving aside the tourists, for the people who had opened shops and lived here for a long time, such a prolonged power outage was indeed a very rare situation.

And at the police station, Officer Jenny (Jenny, like Joy, is a surname. Both of their large families are distributed in cities all over the world as police officers and Pokémon Center nurses) was leading her Growlithe to maintain public order.

"How strange. Logically speaking, with so many power plants and power generation equipment in Zidian City, the power shouldn't be out for so long, right?"

Ming Rizhao looked around in confusion.

"(Pokémon Language) Maybe there's a problem with the power plant itself," Ralts also observed, offering her own guess.

Rio, on the other hand, was thinking: Was there such a plot in the anime, manga, or games of my previous life? It seems not, right? In that case, I can no longer apply the plot I'm familiar with to the events happening in this world.

Speaking of which, the reason Rio could guess Team Rocket's plan for a man-made Mewtwo before was largely because this setting was relatively famous in both the anime and manga. Although the location and time were not exactly the same, the main body of the plot had not changed.

But this major power outage was completely off-script.

The three little ones had just arrived at the entrance of the Zidian City Gym when they saw Uncle Wattson walk out from inside.

"Hey, you've come at just the right time. Come, follow me to a place."

Uncle Wattson didn't stand on ceremony, beckoning for Ming Rizhao and the others to get into a levitating car and then rushing off in a certain direction in Zidian City.

In the car, Uncle Wattson said, "I'll be direct. You all know about the recent intermittent power outages in Zidian City, right?"

The three little ones nodded.

"According to our investigations during this period, we've discovered that the cause of the power outages is an unidentified creature continuously stealing electricity from within the Middel Power Plant. And this creature is extremely cunning; we've tried to capture it several times without success."

"During this time, we found that one of the power plants is surrounded by a large and extremely strong magnetic field. We suspect the culprit is inside, but this magnetic field prevents even our Electric-type Pokémon from entering. That's why I wanted to borrow the strength of other trainers, so I held this Pokémon battle competition to select suitable trainers."

So that was the meaning behind this competition.

Rio thought, slightly steadying Ralts, who had almost fallen due to the car's sudden stop.

"But, am I not qualified enough? If you're talking about other trainers, like that... Croagunk's trainer, aren't they stronger?"

Ming Rizhao asked, puzzled.

Uncle Wattson laughed heartily. "Haha, some things aren't about who is stronger, but who is more suitable."

"Although their Pokémon are indeed strong, they aren't very suitable for a place like a power plant. Once a battle is needed, it's very easy to lose control and cause bad consequences. For example, the venom of Poison-type Pokémon can easily cause damage to the power plant's machinery. Or take those Fire-type Pokémon; one careless mistake could trigger an explosion, and then the loss would truly not be worth the gain."

"And your two Pokémon," Uncle Wattson looked at Ralts and Riolu. "One is a relatively rare Psychic-type Pokémon that can use its telekinesis for some precise operations. And the other, although I don't recognize it, judging from its appearance and fighting style, should be a high-speed Fighting-type Pokémon. In that case, it can be put to good use when pursuing a culprit."

"So, just like in battle, it's not the strongest or fiercest move that is the best. Using the most appropriate response at the most suitable time is what a smart Pokémon trainer should do. This is my second piece of guidance for you."

Rio recalled the battle with Ralts. With just one [Disarming Voice], one of the most basic skills for a Fairy-type, the entire tide of the battle was turned.

Ming Rizhao also seemed to have gained some understanding, but she had another question.

"Then why not seek help from the Pokémon League or the police?"

Uncle Wattson shook his head. "Things haven't been very peaceful lately. They can't spare the extra energy to manage things here for the time being."

As they talked, the car had already arrived in front of a huge industrial park.

"Ah, this... truly worthy of being called the city of never-ending electricity."

Rio looked at the densely distributed power plants and various impressive-looking power generation instruments in the huge park and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Traveling west along the power plant park road, it wasn't long before they arrived in front of a power plant surrounded by a crowd.

A man dressed in a guard's uniform hurried forward.

"Mr. Wattson, you're finally here."

Uncle Wattson's face was also serious at this time. "What's the situation now?"

"That magnetic field is still ongoing. Its intensity is very high. We've organized several pushes, but before we could even get inside the power plant, most of the Electric-type Pokémon already couldn't withstand the high-intensity magnetic field pressure. A small number of Pokémon could barely endure it, but they couldn't get close to the center of the magnetic field."

"What about the people from the research department? Have they figured out how to weaken or eliminate the magnetic field?"

"This... it seems they still need a little more time."

Uncle Wattson frowned and said, "No, we can't wait any longer. Although most of the emergency equipment in the city can be temporarily supplied by backup power, if this core power plant doesn't return to normal, it will greatly affect the operation of the entire city."

"I've found a helper. I will go in with this young lady. You go and get two protective suits."

After instructing the member of the guard team, Uncle Wattson turned around and said to Ming Rizhao with a serious and solemn expression, "Entering this kind of high-magnetic field still carries a certain degree of danger, so I need to ask you clearly about your thoughts. Are you willing to help with this? But rest assured, based on my observations, the creature inside is not too strong. The main thing is to solve the problem of this high-magnetic field, and then things will be simple."

Besides Pokémon battles, various ups and downs of adventure are also an important part of a Pokémon trainer's journey. No powerful trainer can be made from just reading books. And Ming Rizhao, who dreamed of becoming a famous Pokémon trainer, how could she give up this opportunity?

The young girl nodded solemnly.

"Hahaha, very good! Courage is also a very important quality for a trainer!"

Uncle Wattson laughed heartily and patted Ming Rizhao's shoulder.

It was already noon, and the scorching sun was unleashing its burning heat with abandon.

After putting on the protective suits, the two were already drenched in sweat. Seeing this, Rio was extremely glad.

He and Ralts were not Electric-type Pokémon, so this high-intensity magnetic field was just a form of energy they couldn't absorb. And Electric was not a type that countered Fighting, Psychic, or Fairy. Therefore, relying on a Pokémon's tough physique was enough to withstand it.

Thus, they avoided the ordeal of having to wear protective suits.

With preparations complete, the guard team, also wearing protective suits, pulled open the main gate of the power plant, revealing an interior that was completely dark without any lights.

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