Chapter 59: Marill
"So that's how it is..."
Arthur's response was very calm, so calm that even Justin couldn't help but glance at him.
Aren't you even a little curious?
But in reality, Arthur had seen this kind of thing many times before.
Just like the support staff uncle who handed out the fish cans said: Pokémon's desires are ultimately no match for humans'.
There's a saying that there's nothing new under the sun. This kind of thing actually existed two hundred years ago, except that those organizers were even more daring and would sail those ships into the open sea.
Back then, the war between humans and wild Pokémon that swept the entire world couldn't stop these people from making money. So naturally, a mere nature reserve was even less of an obstacle.
Seeing that Arthur wasn't too curious about it, the team members felt a sense of relief.
"It's best to avoid that ship during the live stream. On the surface, it's just a cruise ship, but it's said to be carrying a lot of dangerous weapons, and the bodyguards on board are numerous. It's not worth getting accidentally caught in the crossfire."
Arthur nodded, indicating he had no objections.
He wasn't really a naive fifteen-year-old and had no excessive curiosity about such things.
It was best to stay out of each other's way.
After that, they continued to stroll around the island, looking for novel live stream content that would be worth capturing on camera.
Crescent Island was really bustling during this month-long open period.
Even though it was only the second day of the open period, a large number of stalls had quickly sprung up on both sides of the streets.
Both humans and Pokémon set up stalls here.
Golduck were still the main stall owners, but occasionally you could also see some Poliwrath and Marill.
The Pokémon mostly traded marine specialties, including pearls, coral, and some seaweed-like herbs.
And the things they sought were even more diverse, from food to shiny handicrafts, and even handheld game consoles; everything was available.
Arthur was casually strolling when he lost track of Justin. When he turned back, he found that Justin was already happily playing a handheld game console with a Marill at one of the stalls...
That Marill was using a specially made psychic power-operated controller, which perfectly solved the problem that Pokémon with short and stubby fingers couldn't operate traditional controllers.
It was obvious that this was a human invention.
Perhaps this was the value of barter trade.
Arthur watched this scene with a sigh, but unexpectedly his eyes met those of a seemingly elderly Marill behind the stall.
The helplessness and similarity in their eyes were so striking.
This made Arthur instantly guess the identity of this Marill - this was probably the elder of the Marill at the stall.
The elderly Pokémon hadn't experienced barter trade in their youth and hadn't been corrupted by human entertainment products, still retaining the warlike traditions of the species.
This wasn't a wild guess. Arthur's experienced gaze could tell at a glance that this elderly Marill was strong.
Despite the wrinkles on her skin due to her age, it was still a strikingly vibrant blue, as if it contained a layer of fluorescent powder - a sign of extremely rich Water-type energy within her.
Occasionally, a faint pink glow would flash in her black pupils - the inadvertent exposure of Fairy-type energy.
The solid blue sphere at the end of her tail occasionally swung around, even emitting a clear whistling sound - indicating that in addition to abundant energy, this Marill's physical strength was also impressive. If this tail hammer were swung with full force, Arthur had no doubt that even without using any moves, she could easily break Justin's leg.
It was a pity that despite such formidable power, this elderly Marill could only helplessly watch her granddaughter take out the precious coral she had given her and generously demand to trade it for all the handheld game cartridges the human had.
So what if she could easily break that human's leg?
In the field of entertainment products, human creations indeed possessed amazing magic.
More and more of the younger generation in the tribe liked human games, and fewer and fewer were willing to spend time diligently training to become stronger. This made the elderly Marill feel melancholy and helpless.
For some reason, at this moment, Arthur felt a strange sense of empathy with this Marill he had just met.
Even though they had only exchanged one glance.
Out of this empathy, and also because he was afraid that Justin might go too far and get beaten up, Arthur stepped forward to offer a reminder.
"This coral is called Misty Coral. It's very beneficial for Fairy-type Pokémon to consume, and it's quite valuable. If you're going to take it, you should offer a lot in exchange, or maybe have her trade it for something else."
Originally, Justin would have made a huge profit by trading just one game cartridge for a Misty Coral. Even if he didn't have any Fairy-type Pokémon, he could take it back and sell it for enough to buy dozens of cartridges.
But Arthur was a bit worried that Justin might get his bones broken by the elderly Marill's tail hammer later, so he stepped in to remind him.
Fortunately, Justin wasn't the kind of person who took advantage of others. He hadn't recognized the Misty Coral at first.
Hearing that this coral was for Fairy-type Pokémon, he decisively returned the coral to the Marill and ended up just picking a seashell from the stall.
This action undoubtedly earned the elderly Marill behind the stall's favor.
When Justin was about to leave after helping Marill clear the last stage of the game, an old woman's voice suddenly echoed in Arthur's mind.
"Thank you, young human."
He remained outwardly calm, but subtly glanced at the Marill behind the stall with surprise.
This was the ability of telepathic communication!
It belonged to the Psychic-type category!
Now he knew that he had underestimated this Pokémon after all. Not only was she powerful in terms of physical strength and her inherent Water and Fairy-type abilities, this elderly Marill also had considerable proficiency in the Psychic field.
He really didn't know how she trained in the wild.
It was a good thing he stopped Justin from taking her granddaughter's Misty Coral.
After this little interlude, Arthur and Justin left the stall. It was getting late, and they planned to meet up with the team and find a place to stay for the night.
After the two left, the young Marill happily hugged her handheld game console and chattered excitedly to the Marill behind the stall.
"Grandma, grandma, those two humans from just now seemed like good people~"
The elderly Marill playfully tapped her granddaughter's head.
"Are they good people just because they played games with you?"
Marill hugged her head, feeling wronged. "No, they even gave me a cartridge."
Seeing that her granddaughter's every sentence revolved around the game, the elderly Marill still couldn't quite accept it.
But in the end, she could only sigh.
"Well, they were indeed quite kind humans. Later, I'll have the younger ones in the tribe keep an eye out for them. If they go out to sea, we'll have them protect them."
Marill jumped up and down happily.
"Yay, then maybe they'll bring more new cartridges to play with me next time~"
The elderly Marill's forehead creased into a "wrinkle" mark.
She suddenly regretted her decision.
Maybe she should have let those two humans drown...
♧♧♧
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BONUS CHAPTER
♧♧♧
-> 30 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.patreon.com/c/Segais
(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that helps the story a lot. Thank you.