A few days later.
A cliff somewhere in the Celestial Crown Mountain Range.
A man in a black trench coat, with an ordinary face and a gray-white Eevee in his arms, stood there, with the cold wind brushing past his cheeks, tousling his hair.
Looking at the lush, dense forest below, and behind him, the gradient of snow-capped mountains appeared.
Suddenly.
A black dot appeared in the distance, rapidly approaching here.
The black dot grew larger and gradually revealed its form.
It was a majestic-looking Salamence, gently flapping its wings, flying quite a distance with ease.
On the back of the Salamence stood a woman.
The future Hunter J, now known as the Hunter "Gyarados" Joanna.
Whoosh—
As the Salamence approached, the cold wind blowing from the mountain changed slightly.
The uncontrolled airflow further messed up the man's hair.
In his arms, the Eevee clung tightly to the man's coat, its dense fur rippling like waves under the airflow's influence.
"Eevee!!"
Eevee curled up its body, showing no liking for this almost provocative behavior.
However, the man remained expressionless, silently watching Salamence land.
Joanna's gaze also settled on him.
When she saw the color of Eevee's fur, she was slightly surprised, but no astonishment appeared.
Having seen many Shiny Pokémon before.
"What do you want from me?" Joanna jumped off Salamence's back.
"Roar—!!"
Salamence provocatively glanced at the weak Eevee, full of disdain.
Little Eevee, however, was like a newborn calf unafraid of tigers, showing no fear towards the ferocious Salamence, and instead puffed up its body, baring its teeth.
"Eevee!!"(σ｀・д･)σ
Eevee: Don't be cocky, I'm super fierce! Eevee~~
Salamence grinned, wisps of fire seeping from the gaps in its teeth, the threat evident.
"Eevee~~"
Eevee shivered, holding back tears as it clutched the man's coat firmly.
The man placed his hand on Eevee's head, gently rubbing it.
Eevee sniffled.
Not afraid!
I have backup!
"Natsuka." Joanna stepped forward, uttering the man's name.
That's right.
The person standing on the mountaintop was indeed Natsuhiko, now under a new guise.
In accordance with the agreement with Agatha, he was to quickly infiltrate the Hunter Guild and secure one of the twenty-six seats.
Agatha probably didn't know that before receiving her task, Natsuhiko had already established a connection within the Hunter Guild.
And this connection was an ambitious woman.
In terms of identity, Natsuhiko was already an outer member of the Hunter Guild.
But to become part of the core, going through Joanna was evidently the quickest and most reliable path.
Natsuhiko agreed to undertake this task of infiltrating the Hunter Guild not solely due to Agatha's promised conditions.
Of course, that was an important reason but not the only one.
Also because, within the Hunter Guild, there was Tom Rokicki.
More importantly.
The identity of a Hunter Guild member would allow Natsuhiko more freedom to conduct certain Pokémon capture and sale activities, one of his primary income sources at the moment.
Now it became more legalized.
After all, what Hunter doesn't capture Pokémon?
To blend in, Natsuhiko had no choice but to "reluctantly" go with the flow.
He was... engaging in sanctioned plunder.
Natsuhiko glanced at Joanna, then at Salamence, and calmly said, "If you don't have your Salamence tone it down, I can't guarantee whether it will fly off or fall off."
Joanna raised her eyebrows, looking at him with some surprise.
"What's wrong? Why so irritable?"
As she spoke.
She signaled Salamence to hold back.
Salamence snorted out two white streams, glaring at Little Eevee one more time before turning away and lying down.
"Eevee!"
Eevee made a face at it.
Joanna was somewhat wary of Natsuhiko; after all, he had a remarkable teacher.
As for Natsuhiko himself.
Joanna didn't really consider him important.
After all.
In terms of their current identities, Natsuhiko was technically under her command.
Natsuhiko withdrew his gaze.
"It's nothing, I'm short on money recently, so I'm not in a good mood."
Since deciding to infiltrate the Hunter Guild, Natsuhiko couldn't maintain his previous "friendly" demeanor and tone.
Being in such circles, one must adopt the speech and mannerisms of the environment.
Otherwise, the friendlier you are, the more people will think you're easy to bully.
So Natsuhiko defined the characteristics of this identity clearly.
As well as the plan.
Approaching Joanna today was the first step in this plan, and also the most critical one.
"You're short on money?"
Joanna found this surprising.
"Everyone can be short on money."
This wasn't a lie; Natsuhiko only had a bit over two million League currency left in his account now.
Most of the money had been spent investing in Dojo construction, Pokémon Ranch development, or consumed in Pokémon training expenses.
Though over two million might seem a lot.
At Natsuhiko's level of strength, purchasing a few Pokémon training materials and tools could eat through that quickly.
This money was saved for a rainy day.
"So?"
"I want to become a core member, I want to participate in the guild's major events, even have the authority to organize some people. I want... to become one of the twenty-six seats."
Natsuhiko didn't shy away from his goals and intentions.