Ariel stepped forward and placed his palm on Steven's shoulder.
Through the thick fabric, he could feel the tension in Steven's shoulder muscles.
It was a physiological reaction born of a mixture of extreme insecurity and anger.
"Steven."
Ariel spoke, his voice steady and without any unnecessary fluctuation.
"Considering the situation just now, you've been robbed. The perpetrators were that group of people."
Steven turned his head, his eyes bloodshot and his breathing rapid.
He was unwilling to believe the truth and was still making excuses for that group of 'victims'.
Ariel left no room for Steven's illusions and continued his statement.
"While on the Lapras's back, I kept an eye on your pocket. At the time, the fabric was stretched tight and the outline was clear, showing it was filled with heavy objects. Those people used the jolting of the waves to get close to you and jostle each other. When we got off the Lapras, that spot was empty. The fabric is now hanging loosely against your waist."
Steven was stunned.
He recalled the panicked appearance of those people and the physical contact they had while on the Lapras's back!
This set of movements was so practiced it was appalling!
"Damned thieves!"
Steven gnashed his teeth, his fists clenching until they cracked.
He turned around and stared intently in the direction where the group had disappeared.
The thick fog rolled; there wasn't a single soul left in sight.
Only a few dead, crooked trees stood silently in the mist, their branches clawing at the air.
"My stones..."
Steven looked up and let out a long sigh. This blow was greater than losing a high-intensity Gym match.
If a Gym match is lost, it can be fought again, but if those out-of-print raw stones are gone, where could he find identical replacements?
Ariel looked at Steven in this state and didn't follow his lead in cursing the thieves.
He looked into the white mist and said objectively,
"Evil people get what they deserve; they will get their retribution."
Steven's chest heaved as he let out a long breath of turbid air.
"Thank you for the comfort, Brother Ariel. You're right; evil deeds bring evil rewards. Since this lot is doing such business on Mt. Pyre, they'll surely suffer a major setback elsewhere sooner or later!"
Masaki and Tome stood to the side, unable to interject.
They glanced at each other, only able to silently sympathize with their companion who had lost his treasures.
Tome recalled the teachings of the previous Gym Leader: the most dangerous things in the wild are often not wild Pokémon, but travel companions with ill intentions.
Today was a firsthand witness to this bloody lesson.
Steven slapped his cheeks, forcing himself to cheer up.
"Forget it; I've taken a fall today, so I'll just treat it as paying for a lesson. From now on, when out and about, I won't show off my wealth. This is a valuable training experience!"
He spoke loudly, trying to convince himself this way and shift his attention from the sting of losing the stones.
Of course, these stones were precious, but only in Steven's eyes; to others, they were no different from ordinary rocks.
"Let's go. Business first; Mt. Pyre is still waiting for us."
Steven adjusted his backpack straps and took the lead, heading higher up Mt. Pyre.
Masaki and Tome quickly followed.
Ariel walked at the very back of the group.
He looked at Steven's broad back, no sympathy in his eyes.
His earlier words, 'evil deeds bring evil rewards,' weren't a vague Curse, but an objective fact currently unfolding.
The mountain path of Mt. Pyre was rugged and uneven, littered with gravel.
Ariel intentionally slowed his pace, widening the distance between himself and the three in front.
The thick fog became the perfect natural barrier, isolating him from his teammates ahead.
He reached his hand into his coat pocket.
His fingertips brushed against three cold spheres.
The metal casing provided a sense of reassurance as his fingers rubbed against it.
The material and weight were that of standard, commercially available red-and-white Poké Balls.
Ariel withdrew his hand, and three Poké Balls were lying in his palm.
These weren't his own belongings.
Earlier on the Lapras's back, when those so-called 'victims' crowded over, Ariel had sensed something was wrong.
His instincts from years of surviving in the wild made him extremely sensitive to the approach of strangers.
Those people had sticky fingers; while reaching for Steven's pocket amidst the jolting waves, someone had also tried to get close to Ariel's backpack.
Ariel was not the type to suffer a loss in silence.
Since the other party had made the first move, he naturally had to return the favor.
In the brief window when those people had succeeded and were preparing to retreat, Ariel used extremely fast movements to swipe the Poké Balls from their waists.
One for each person, treating them all equally.
The other party's attention was entirely on Steven's bulging pocket, and combined with the dim surroundings, they didn't notice at all that the weight at their waists had lightened slightly.
As for the last person, his alertness was higher, and Ariel couldn't get a direct hold, so as the group left, he used Confusion to quietly steal the Poké Ball from his back pocket.
That was why that person felt like someone had touched his butt.
Stealing?
Ariel denied the term in his heart.
This is called equivalent exchange. They took Steven's stones and left Poké Balls as collateral.
A very fair trade.
Yes, very fair.
Ariel held the three Poké Balls in one hand and took out his pokédex with the other.
Besides checking data on wild Pokémon, this device could also read basic data from others' Poké Balls, making it a sharp tool for uncovering secrets in the wild.
He aimed the pokédex's scanner at the first Poké Ball.
The screen lit up with a faint glow, and lines of data refreshed.
"Raticate, Level 43. ability: Guts."
Ariel glanced at the data panel. A mediocre Raticate with a move pool full of commonplace moves like Tackle and Hyper Fang.
But with its level at 43, it could still be considered a decent gain.
This kind of Pokémon was very popular in the circles of bottom-tier hunters; they were easy to raise and their combat power was passable.
He put away the first ball and scanned the second.
"Raichu, Level 45. ability: Static."
This one was slightly better.
Electric-type Pokémon are very practical in many situations.
The data panel showed that this Raichu had mastered Thunderbolt and Thunder, and had even inherited Volt Switch.
For an ordinary Trainer, this was already a fairly mature combat configuration. Ariel weighed the ball in his hand; it was a qualified trophy.
Next was the third one. This ball's casing was older than the previous two, with several obvious scratches and even slight deformation at the lock, indicating it had gone through many high-intensity wild battles with its owner.
The pokédex's light swept over it.
"Nidoking, Level 52. ability: Sheer Force."
Ariel looked at the numbers on the screen, his footsteps pausing for half a second.
Level 52, plus the hidden ability Sheer Force.
This had crossed the threshold of the Elite Level and stepped into the realm of the Gym Leader Level.
A Level 52 Nidoking with the Sheer Force ability was not to be underestimated, whether in terms of destructive power or defense.
With its dual Poison and Ground typing, its coverage was extremely broad.
The screen continued to display this Nidoking's moves: Earthquake, Poison Jab, Megahorn, and Thrash.
They were all high-power combat skills which, combined with the Sheer Force ability, made its output capability terrifying.
This Nidoking had been well-trained, with a violent temperament and its attack power pushed to the limit.
The guy who lost this ball was likely the leader of that group.
Ariel turned off the pokédex and properly stowed the three Poké Balls into his space ring.
Mt. Pyre really is a good place.
Just running into a group of thieves, and they actually carried Gym Leader Level combat power.
Having lost this Nidoking, that group must be beating their chests and stamping their feet in the thick fog, more devastated than Steven was over his lost stones.
That was the capital they relied on for their livelihood; losing a main Pokémon in the wild was no different from losing half their lives.
Just thinking about the expressions on those thieves' faces when they discovered their main Pokémon had vanished into thin air made Ariel feel great.
This deal was a sure-fire profit.
He looked up; Steven was still ahead, incessantly giving himself a pep talk, his voice drifting in and out through the mist.
"Money is just an external possession; if the stones are gone, I can always dig for more..."
Ariel began to hum an unfamiliar tune, the melody light and cheerful, completely out of place with the eerie Mt. Pyre.
He strode forward with his long legs, stepping over the gravel on the ground as he unhurriedly caught up with Steven's pace.
The mist closed in again behind them, concealing all traces.
In the depths of Mt. Pyre, unknown troubles still awaited them, but Ariel's current steps were light and unburdened.
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