The five Sound Ninja who were called upon turned their gazes toward Orochimaru.
Orochimaru nodded slightly. "Go."
Upon hearing this, the Sound Ninja Five followed after Ryo, who had already walked some distance ahead.
Soon, Ryo stopped in front of a large rock after leading them some way.
He sat down on the stone and looked at them. "Wait here a moment."
With that, he communicated with the system in his mind. "System, draw ten times."
As his voice fell, the system's lottery interface opened and began spinning rapidly.
At the same time, the notification of drawn Pokémon echoed in Ryo's mind.
By now, Ryo was already used to these sounds.
He no longer held the excitement he once did. After all, the chances of drawing a strong Pokémon were so low.
Since acquiring the system, Ryo had no idea how many times he had drawn already.
But as for pseudo-legendary Pokémon, he had only drawn five. That kind of probability made him not expect much from the draws anymore.
『Congratulations, you have obtained the Pokémon Moltres.』
Hearing this, Ryo froze, then shot up from the rock.
He stared in disbelief and questioned the system, "System, what did you just say? I got Moltres? The Legendary kind?"
『Yes, Host. But you don't need to get too excited. Any Pokémon you obtain through the draw can only be entrusted.』
Ryo relaxed a little after hearing that. Indeed, even a legendary beast could only be entrusted.
Still, he was curious. "System, so even Legendary Pokémon can be drawn?"
『Yes, Host. But the probability is extremely low.』
Ryo nodded and didn't ask further.
He turned his eyes toward the five Sound Ninja, who were looking at him in confusion.
"By the way, do you guys have any money?"
The five were momentarily stunned, exchanged glances, then nodded.
Ryo nodded in satisfaction. "Good. As long as you have money."
Even though that little bit of money wasn't much to him anymore, he still had to charge them. If they didn't have money, he would lend it, but still collect.
Waving his hand, Ryo summoned the ten Pokémon he had just drawn.
The appearance of the Pokémon stunned the five, their eyes wide in disbelief.
They watched as Ryo was swarmed by these strange creatures, hugging and playing with them.
"Alright, alright, don't mess around."
Ryo patted one of the Pokémon's heads, then looked toward Moltres, who stood off to the side, proud and aloof.
Unlike the others who rushed joyfully to him, Moltres stood there, unmoving.
Of course, if one looked closely, they could see a glint of surprise in Moltres' eyes when it saw Ryo.
Ryo gave Moltres a satisfied glance, then looked back at the five.
"I called you here to have you bond with a Pokémon."
He then explained what Pokémon were and the rules of forming a bond.
The five were utterly shocked by Ryo's words but soon handed over their money.
Ryo, in turn, exchanged it for the standard Pokémon starter kit and distributed it to them.
One by one, they approached Moltres.
Even the most clueless among them could tell that Moltres was different—far more powerful than the others.
Ryo didn't stop them. After all, once a Pokémon was drawn, it had to be entrusted. Otherwise, it wouldn't grow like the rest.
Besides, drawing Moltres now surely meant it shared some kind of fate with these five.
And anyway, he had no right to interfere. Only Moltres could decide who it wanted.
Unfortunately, Moltres completely ignored them all, not even sparing a glance at the Ability Cubes they offered.
Disheartened, they gave up and turned their attention to the remaining Pokémon.
Ryo frowned at Moltres' prideful behavior. With an attitude like that, who could possibly bond with it in the future? Was he going to have to raise it forever?
He shook his head and looked back at the five.
Soon, each of them had successfully bonded with their own Pokémon, clutching their Poké Balls with excitement in their eyes.
"Thank you, Boss!"
They thanked Ryo with great enthusiasm.
They didn't doubt a word of his explanation about the Pokémon.
After all, even Orochimaru showed respect to Ryo—there was no reason for him to lie to small fry like them.
Ryo waved it off. "No need. As long as the Pokémon agrees. But remember—Pokémon emotions are pure. If you harm them, no matter where you hide, even in the depths of hell, I'll find you."
Under Ryo's imposing presence, the five nodded firmly.
"We understand. We'll treat our Pokémon well."
Ryo nodded. "Alright then. I'll be leaving. Tell Orochimaru for me."
With that, he turned to Hoopa. "Hoopa, can I trouble you? Let's head back to the Pokémon Home."
"Ryo, we're heading back already?"
Ryo patted Hoopa's head. "Yeah, we've been out for a while. Time to return."
"Okay then."
Though reluctant, Hoopa nodded and raised its ring.
Before the five's astonished eyes, Ryo and the Pokémon stepped into the ring, vanishing as they returned to the Pokémon Home.
As the ring disappeared into thin air, four of the five turned to look at Kimimaro.
"What should we do? Go back to Orochimaru-sama?"
Kimimaro's gaze turned sharp and cold. "What else? You plan to run?"
The four trembled slightly and quickly shook their heads. "No, we wouldn't dare."
They were clearly afraid of Kimimaro.
Soon, they returned to where Orochimaru was.
Seeing only the five of them return, Orochimaru looked confused. "Just you?"
Kimimaro nodded. "Yes, Orochimaru-sama. The boss left."
Orochimaru nodded. When he noticed the Poké Balls in their hands, a flicker of surprise passed through his eyes.
He hadn't expected that Ryo's purpose really was to help his subordinates bond with Pokémon.
But then, he was puzzled. Why only these five? Others in the group were stronger, so why not them?
If it was based on strength, there were definitely people more powerful than Kimimaro's team.
Yet Ryo had chosen them specifically.
Shaking his head, Orochimaru muttered inwardly, "Truly an enigma."
"Alright, let's go."
With that, Orochimaru led the rest of the group in another direction.
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