"No, no, no. My sixty-plus million PokeDollars isn't worth that many shares. One-fifth—no, one-sixth will be enough."
Hearing Takeda Jiro's proposal, Sato immediately waved his hands, his expression serious as he spoke.
One-third of the shares was an enormous amount. With powerhouses like Takeda Jiro and the old lady running the breeding house, its future prospects were extremely bright.
That meant this breeding house was a golden goose that would lay eggs endlessly. The more shares he held, the greater the profits he would reap.
If Sato hadn't learned the real reason behind the breeding house's funding shortage, he would have accepted that one-third without hesitation. But now he simply couldn't—otherwise, he really would be shameless.
So no matter what, Sato refused to accept it. There were plenty of ways to make money; there was no need to do so at the expense of one's conscience.
Takeda Jiro was clearly an honest man—and also stubborn to the core. He had no desire to take advantage of Sato. In truth, money meant little to him at his age; what he truly cherished was the joy of nurturing Pokémon.
"How can that be acceptable? One-third is one-third. The funds you invested this time are crucial—far more important than any future investments by others."
So when Sato voluntarily tried to reduce his share, Takeda Jiro instead became unhappy and said angrily.
'If you knew that I was actually the one who caused your original breeding-house construction plan to fail, you probably wouldn't be so easygoing right now,' Sato muttered inwardly.
For a time, one party wanted to give up part of the profits, while the other refused to take advantage of someone else. The two sides were at an impasse.
After several minutes of friendly but firm argument, they finally each took a step back. In the end, Sato used his sixty-plus million PokeDollars to acquire one-quarter of the breeding house's future shares.
"He really is a fine young man," the old lady said softly to Takeda Jiro as she watched Sato say his goodbyes and leave. "Not greedy at all. That's a rare and precious quality. Unlike us when we were young—his road ahead will surely be much smoother because of it."
"Yes… in the end, we still took a bit of advantage of him," Takeda Jiro replied with a helpless smile, nodding. "I really lost this one. Looks like we can't afford to slack off anymore. Any Pokémon he sends to the breeding house in the future—we'll have to take especially good care of them."
After saying that, he turned and went back inside, picking up the phone in the living room to make a call.
After leaving Takeda Jiro's home, Sato immediately headed toward the entrance of Flower Village. In the end, he chose not to ask Takeda Jiro about the villagers' strange behavior. In his view, as an outsider, it was better not to meddle in local affairs.
However, before he could leave the village, trouble came looking for him.
"May I ask what this is about? I don't recall doing anything excessive to your village. Please step aside—I have urgent business and need to leave."
Sato looked at the male villagers who had suddenly blocked his path, each accompanied by several Pokémon, and spoke with a grim expression.
Through his psychic sensing, he had already detected countless eyes watching from nearby houses. If he made any rash move, he would very likely face a full-scale ambush.
"You must be one of those Pokémon hunters' scouts, sent here to investigate the village. Sneaking around and staring at everyone's gardens—don't think we didn't notice. Speak clearly right now. What exactly is your purpose? Otherwise, we won't let you off."
"That's right! We absolutely won't allow you bastards to take away the village's guardian!"
"Enough talking—capture him first. If he really is a Pokémon hunter's spy, then this is serious. We absolutely cannot let him leave the village."
One by one, the villagers spoke, their words making Sato's heart sink. As they spoke, they began directing their Pokémon to surround him.
From their words, Sato could already piece together much of what had happened. Just as he had suspected earlier, this village truly did have a Shaymin living here—and it was deeply cherished by the villagers.
Unfortunately, that Shaymin had now been targeted by Pokémon hunters. From the looks of it, those hunters had already taken action before, but failed.
Because of this, most of the villagers were now extremely wary of outsiders. In their eyes, Sato—who had carefully observed the village and paid close attention to everyone's gardens—had likely already been labeled as a scout sent by Pokémon hunters.
"So this is what happened… being too cautious ended up getting me misunderstood."
After analyzing the villagers' words together with his earlier suspicions, Sato felt rather speechless.
Still, surrendering without a fight was not his style. If these villagers attacked him unjustly, he would not show mercy.
"I need to make this clear. I came to your village solely to discuss an investment with Mr. Takeda Jiro. As for this so-called village guardian and the Pokémon hunters you mentioned, I know absolutely nothing about them."
Before anything else, Sato explained himself clearly, while discreetly activating the recording function on his communicator. That way, even if the League intervened later, he would have evidence to protect himself from liability.
"Hmph, and you think we'll believe that? If we're wrong, we'll apologize afterward. For now, just surrender obediently."
One hot-tempered villager, clearly extremely hostile to outsiders, immediately retorted and demanded that Sato disarm himself.
"That's right—if you know what's good for you, surrender."
"Exactly. We're not bad people. If you have nothing to hide, what are you afraid of?"
"Put down your weapons and accept the investigation. Otherwise, don't blame us for being rude."
The other villagers echoed him, urging Sato to lay down his arms.
"I'm afraid I must refuse."
As the villagers pressed closer and closer, Sato's gaze gradually turned icy. He answered coldly.
Surrender? Impossible.
Not to mention that surrendering would almost certainly lead to a bad outcome—he was the only outsider here. Once disarmed, he would be completely at their mercy, free for them to do as they pleased.
Moreover, his spatial backpack contained many extremely valuable items. If these villagers discovered them, it was inevitable that some would grow greedy. In that case, he might truly end up dead at their hands.
So no matter what, surrendering was not an option.
"Hmph! So you really are one of those damn Pokémon hunters' lackeys. Everyone—attack! Capture him alive!"
The hot-tempered villager flew into a rage and shouted at Sato, immediately commanding the Mightyena beside him to attack.
"Mightyena, Shadow Ball!"
"Breloom, Bullet Seed!"
"Roselia, Magical Leaf!"
"Vileplume, Petal Dance!"
The other villagers followed suit, ordering their Pokémon to launch their attacks.
In an instant, Sato was plunged into grave danger.