No matter how much that young man begged for mercy, Yuga didn't let him off.
With a flash, Bellossom moved behind the young man, and with a single strike, the young man's body collapsed limply to the ground.
"Let's go. Bring him with us. We're going to the police station."
"Bellossom~"
Bellossom nodded and dragged the unconscious young man, following behind Yuga.
After arriving at the police station, Yuga handed the young man over to Officer Jenny and, together with Klefki, gave a statement, explaining the entire situation in detail to Officer Jenny.
Officer Jenny quickly identified the young man's identity, mainly because he was quite notorious in the surrounding area—he was a thief who had committed many crimes, but had never been caught until now.
As for why he targeted Klefki, Officer Jenny didn't know. But Yuga suspected that the man might have known about Klefki's excellent potential and therefore wanted to capture it.
But since the man was already in police custody, Yuga didn't give it much more thought.
On the other side, Klefki's Fairy Lock effect had a time limit. Once the time was up, the barrier set up by the group of men in suits was naturally lifted.
By the time the men in suits came out, there was no trace of Klefki.
One of the men in suits turned to the leader and said, "Captain, what do we do now?"
The man glared back at his subordinate and said, "What else can we do? We look for it! If we don't get that thing back, we're all going to be in big trouble!"
"But where do we even begin to look?" another man asked, face full of worry.
The leader didn't answer. Instead, he silently pulled out something that looked like a cellphone. After opening it, a moving red dot soon appeared on the screen.
Judging the direction in which the red dot was moving, the leader said to his men, "Follow me!"
After leaving the police station, Yuga and Klefki went straight back to the Pokémon Center.
Klefki's personality was still very lively. Although it had been chased for several days and had been somewhat frightened, after being comforted by Yuga for a while, it quickly warmed up and became familiar with Yuga's other Pokémon.
After returning to the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy greeted Yuga warmly, and since he had nothing better to do, Yuga chatted with her for a while.
At this time, the group of men in suits, holding the tracker, also arrived near the Pokémon Center.
"The target is inside the Pokémon Center!" the leader said.
"Let's go in and grab it!" said one man in a suit who didn't look very bright.
The leader smacked him on the head. "Are you an idiot? If something goes wrong and we cause trouble for the boss, can you take responsibility?"
Do you even know what kind of place the Pokémon Center is? It's the place in Laverre City where all the Trainers gather. If they dared to cause trouble here, even if they managed to snatch the target, they might not make it out safely.
Not to mention the Trainers staying at the Pokémon Center—even Nurse Joy herself is not someone to mess with! Don't think the Joy family is just a group of doctors. If you really anger them, they'll make sure you regret it!
The man who spoke earlier immediately shrank back his neck and didn't dare say another word.
The leader thought for a while, then reached into the compact spatial pouch at his waist and rummaged around. After a moment, he took out two items.
One was an extremely tiny mechanical insect. It looked a bit like a mosquito—both in shape and size. It was unclear how the leader operated it, but after a short while, the mosquito flapped its wings and flew into the Pokémon Center.
The mechanical insect wasn't a living being and had no life signature. It was also completely silent, so even if it got close to the target, the target wouldn't easily detect it.
The other item was a square-shaped device, only about the size of a palm. After the leader turned it on, the screen quickly began displaying a constantly shifting image.
It turned out that the little mosquito was a kind of surveillance device, and the leader was trying to use it to find out Klefki's whereabouts.
As soon as the mosquito surveillance device entered the Pokémon Center, it instantly locked onto Yuga, who was talking to Nurse Joy. At the same time, the leader also saw the Klefki next to Yuga through the device.
At this moment, Klefki was being teased by Nurse Joy and let out joyful laughter. As its body swayed, the keys hanging on its ring clinked together with a crisp sound.
Some of those keys were broken at one end, some were missing notches, and others were covered in scratches… they were all picked up by Klefki from trash piles.
Klefki Pokémon have a peculiar habit of collecting keys. If they don't have several keys hanging from their ring, they become extremely anxious.
Of course, the role of keys to a Klefki isn't just psychological comfort. It can absorb steel ions from the air through them to strengthen itself, making the keys indispensable to it.
However, the premise is that the keys it collects are made of metal.
There were a total of five keys hanging from Klefki, of which four were damaged and worn, but only one was perfectly intact, even shining brightly.
The leader watching the surveillance feed immediately noticed that key, let out a long sigh of relief, and thought: Thank goodness it wasn't lost.
The other suited men also noticed the key and turned to the leader, asking, "Captain, what do we do now?"
The leader thought for a moment and said, "Now is not a good time to make a move. Let's wait until it gets dark."
After speaking, he took out a communicator and made a phone call to his boss, reporting the situation here.
In a luxurious mansion in the center of Laverre City, a bald, pot-bellied middle-aged man asked anxiously after hearing the leader's report: "Did you check who that person is?"
The leader truly hadn't thought of that and could only honestly admit it.
The bald man flew into a rage and said, "Then why haven't you checked? What's that brain of yours even for? Do you plan to just barge in and snatch something without preparing at all?"
After being scolded by his boss, the leader finally went to investigate Yuga's identity.
Yuga's identity wasn't hard to find out. After all, he was now considered a celebrity Trainer. As long as his photo was uploaded online, lots of information and rumors about him would pop up immediately.
Upon learning who Yuga was, cold sweat broke out all over the leader's body, and he quickly called his boss again.
The bald man, who had been anxiously waiting for news at home, collapsed onto the sofa behind him after hearing the report, his eyes lifeless as he muttered repeatedly, "It's over, it's over…"
Someone of Yuga's status was not someone he could afford to provoke—let alone try to steal something from. That was no different from courting death!
"No, no, I can't just sit here and wait to die," the bald man suddenly stood up and said. "Think of something, think of something quickly…"
He paced back and forth in the room over a dozen times before calling the suited men, ordering them to withdraw from the Pokémon Center immediately and stay far away from Yuga—they absolutely must not be discovered.
Back at the Pokémon Center, Yuga hadn't gone out after returning and soon bonded rapidly with Klefki in his room.
Klefki had previously been a stray Pokémon, constantly living a wandering life. Most of its food came from trash piles. So under Yuga's gourmet offensive, its favorability toward him skyrocketed.
Early the next morning, Yuga took Klefki to the Pokémon Center's dining area for breakfast. When Nurse Joy brought over their meal, she said, "Mr. Shimizu, someone wants to meet you."
"Someone wants to see me? Who?" Yuga was confused. In Laverre City, he only knew Valerie. If Valerie wanted to meet him, she definitely wouldn't go through roundabout ways like this.
"It's Mr. Joel," Nurse Joy replied and then informed Yuga of Joel's identity.
Joel was a major farm owner in Laverre City who specialized in the berry business and was quite well-known in the city.
"Did he say what he wanted to see me for?" Yuga asked again, as he didn't know this person named Joel.
Nurse Joy shook her head in response.
Yuga thought for a moment and said, "Alright then, please tell him that I'll go see him after I finish my breakfast."
Nurse Joy nodded and left.
Yuga didn't rush through his breakfast just because someone wanted to see him. Instead, he took his time and enjoyed his meal thoroughly before going to meet this person named Joel.
As soon as Joel saw Yuga, he stood up and said with a cheerful smile, "Mr. Shimizu, I've long heard of your great reputation. It's an honor to meet you in Laverre City."
Joel was a middle-aged man in his late thirties, nearly forty. He had a gentle appearance and gave off the impression of being a good-natured person at first glance. He was particularly tall—taller than Yuga by quite a bit.
Yuga gestured for Joel to sit down before speaking, then asked with a puzzled look, "May I ask what Mr. Joel has come to see me about?"
Upon hearing this, Joel immediately responded with some embarrassment, "Honestly, it's a bit shameful to say, but not long ago the key to my family's safe was stolen. I've been looking for it for a long time, but couldn't find it." As he spoke, he stared fixedly at the Klefki floating beside Yuga.
Yuga clearly thought of Klefki too, but still feigned ignorance and asked, "What does that have to do with me?"
Joel asked, "Mr. Shimizu, this Klefki must be captured recently, right?"
Yuga nodded and said, "That's right," not denying Joel's statement.
Upon hearing this, a smile instantly appeared on Joel's face. "Then there's no mistake. That key from my house must have been picked up by your Klefki."
After hearing this, Yuga beckoned to Klefki. It obediently floated into his hand. Yuga examined the five keys hanging from its ring for a few seconds, then picked up the shining, undamaged one and asked, "Is it this one?"
Joel's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly. "Yes, that's it!" he said, reaching out to take it.
But Yuga clearly had no intention of handing the key over, so he subtly pulled his hand back, and Joel grabbed nothing but air.
Joel immediately froze, and the smile on his face stiffened.
"Sorry, I can't give you this key. It doesn't belong to me—it belongs to Klefki," Yuga said, then turned to look at Klefki. "Klefki, would you be willing to give this key to Mr. Joel?"
Of course, Klefki wasn't willing. It was its most beautiful key. So it shook its head and quickly hung the key back on its keyring.
Mr. Joel said in disbelief, "But Mr. Shimizu… that's my property!"
Yuga shook his head and said, "I can't take your word for it alone. If that really is your property, then please provide some proof!"
If the robbery incident in the park hadn't happened, Yuga might have believed Joel's story. Even if he didn't believe it, he wouldn't have refused so decisively.
Previously, Yuga thought that the young man who committed the robbery had been after Klefki. But now, it seemed entirely possible that he had been after the key as well. Otherwise, it would be too much of a coincidence for people to keep showing up like this one after another.
Hearing Yuga's words, Joel pleaded with a bitter expression, "Mr. Shimizu, I beg you, please return the key to me. Without it, I won't be able to retrieve anything I've stored in my safe."
Hearing Joel say this only made Yuga even more unwilling to hand over the key. Normally, safes contain valuable or confidential items, and people are naturally cautious when talking about them. Who would so casually blurt it out the way Joel did?
"Mr. Joel, do you only have one key? Didn't you even consider the possibility of it being lost?" Yuga asked, looking doubtful.
Joel was at a loss for words. Of course, that key wasn't the key to his family's safe. What he'd said earlier was just an excuse meant to deceive Yuga.
Seeing that he truly couldn't get the key back, Joel sighed and said, "Mr. Shimizu, that key really is mine. Ah… forget it, let's leave it at that for today. I'll come visit you again tomorrow."
With that, Joel left looking dejected.
After Joel had gone, Yuga borrowed the key from Klefki and examined it for quite a while, but couldn't discover anything special about it. In the end, he had no choice but to return it to Klefki.
On the other side, after leaving the Pokémon Center, Joel secretly went to a luxurious mansion in the city center to meet with a certain bald middle-aged man.
As soon as Joel appeared, the man asked anxiously, "How did it go? Did you get the item?"
Joel shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, Mayor Raul. I wasn't able to retrieve the key. That Shimizu Yuga is too cautious—I couldn't fool him at all."
It turned out that this bald, fat man was the mayor of Laverre City.
When Mayor Raul heard Joel's words, his expression instantly turned extremely unpleasant. "Mr. Joel, this won't do. Think about it—how many conveniences have I granted you? All I asked was for you to handle this one small matter, and now you're telling me you can't do it? If that's the case in the future..."
Before Raul could even finish his sentence, Joel, sweating profusely, hurriedly made a solemn promise: "Please don't worry, Mayor Raul. I'll definitely get the item back for you!"
Time passed in the blink of an eye, and the next day, Diantha finally arrived in Laverre City with a negotiation team from the Arche Valley.
Because this entire affair had been arranged too hastily, Diantha's arrival hadn't been announced in advance to the local authorities. So when Mayor Raul and Gym Leader Valerie learned that the Champion of the League had come to Laverre City, they were both utterly shocked.
What surprised Yuga was that among the team sent by the Kalos League, aside from Diantha, there was also someone he knew—AZ.
AZ had already joined the Kalos League and was now a Master Trainer within the League.
After gaining a rough understanding of the Arche Valley's strength, the League wanted to ensure they could negotiate on equal footing, so they had sent him.