Chapter Seventy-Two: The Photographer Ran Away!

“All right, all right, I give in. I’m buying them for you, but don’t get too many. If it goes over a hundred Alliance coins, forget it.” Heath glared darkly at Zoroa, wishing he could spank that mischievous fox until its backside was sore.

But Zoroa nodded happily. One hundred Alliance coins should be enough for several books. She’d checked Asura’s books before; they were all around thirty coins each, not too expensive. This instantly brightened Zoroa’s mood.

Sprawled across her chair, Zoroa began contemplating which books to buy later. Should she go for “The Overbearing Matriarch’s Mighty Love for Me,” or perhaps “The Lickitung and My Wonderful Nights and Days”? This was truly a matter worth pondering deeply. Zoroa wagged her tail in a mixture of delight and agony.

Heath shook his head helplessly as he watched Zoroa’s obvious joy. In moments like this, he felt Farfetch’d was far less trouble. Heath glanced over at the Farfetch’d, who was currently working out, gripping the pot handle tightly with both wings and refusing to let go.

This was Farfetch’d’s way of building up stamina and endurance, and Heath rather approved. Being a chef wasn’t just about skills in the kitchen—it demanded physical strength as well. Usually, a chef’s hands were the strongest muscles on their body. Heath believed that if Farfetch’d wanted to achieve anything in this field, its wings would have to be even stronger—otherwise, after a few dishes, it would be too exhausted to continue.

Just as Heath was about to instruct Farfetch’d on how to properly hold the pan, a melodious birdcall drifted in from outside the food truck.

It was a truly beautiful sound, winding and clear. Curious, Heath poked his head out to take a look—and in the sky, he witnessed a rainbow-colored Pokémon soaring overhead, wings beating as it flew into the distance.

Heath stared in astonishment at the Pokémon’s silhouette. If he wasn’t mistaken, that was the legendary beast itself, the official photographer for Ash—Ho-Oh!

“What a magnificent Pokémon,” Heath couldn’t help but exclaim as Ho-Oh’s figure receded. It truly was a beautiful creature, modeled after the legendary phoenix, with seven-colored feathers that left a trail of rainbow light whenever they moved.

Suddenly, a bold idea sprang into Heath’s mind. He pulled out the food ingredient analyzer from his pocket and took aim at Ho-Oh.

[Ho-Oh: Edible. The meat is delicate, fragrant, and juicy. Eating it raw offers the best taste, with no risk of parasites. Consumption grants life energy and prolongs lifespan. For optimal dining experience, pluck the feathers and prepare as a chicken soup.]

Heath nodded in satisfaction. As expected of Ho-Oh, even its meat was extraordinary. But then again, it wasn’t as if anyone in this world would actually have the chance to enjoy such a delicacy.

Heath withdrew his head; he still had to make it to the driving school for his license lessons. However, he realized his vehicle had come to a halt. Immediately, the food truck’s system announced, “Obstacle ahead.”

“Obstacle? On this road?” Heath muttered in confusion as he made his way to the driver’s seat. There, he saw several massive boulders blocking the path, causing his mouth to twitch in disbelief.

“A landslide…” Heath glanced at the woods nearby. A landslide was hardly likely here.

“Or maybe someone’s trying to ambush travelers?” Heath scanned his surroundings warily, but all was quiet—nothing out of the ordinary.

Just as he began to feel perplexed, another cheerful birdcall rang out. Heath looked up to see Ho-Oh gleefully dropping a gigantic stone onto the road before flying away.

Heath stared in a daze at Ho-Oh’s retreating form. So these boulders were Ho-Oh’s doing? Was that really necessary?

Heath suspected that using the food ingredient analyzer on Ho-Oh had not gone unnoticed, and that the legendary Pokémon had come back specifically to cause him trouble by dumping rocks in his way. The pile of stones before him gave him a headache.

Ho-Oh was supposed to be four times weaker to rock, wasn’t it? Throwing rocks itself—wasn’t it worried about accidentally hitting itself and taking super-effective damage?

But faced with the sheer size and number of these boulders, Heath sighed. There was no way he could handle them all alone. After a moment’s hesitation, he pulled out his phone, dragged a number out of his blacklist, and made a call.

“Beep, beep… Oh my, isn’t that little Heath? Have you finally seen my message and decided to join your big sister for a date at a love hotel?” On the other end, Officer Junsha Rei’s excited voice rang out. Heath scratched his head, expressionless.

If Junsha Rei weren’t the one officially responsible for road issues, he would never have unblocked her number.

Ever since Heath got his phone and his own number, Junsha Maple had been sending him all kinds of suggestive texts that made his scalp tingle. For the sake of his mental and physical well-being, he’d promptly put Junsha Rei’s number on the blacklist.

“Rei, there are a lot of boulders blocking the road from Evergreen City to the driving test center. Could you send someone to clear them?” Heath sighed, deciding to get straight to the point.

“Oh? Boulders? Are they the big, soft, white kind? I have some of those too—big ones!” Rei giggled playfully, and Heath rolled his eyes. As expected, she wasn’t taking him seriously.

“There really are boulders, Rei. If you don’t come, I’ll have to call Maple instead.” Heath’s tone was stern now. Junsha Rei finally dropped her joking and, saying she’d come right away, hung up.

Gazing at the massive rocks before him, Heath was left with a headache. He never expected Ho-Oh to be this kind of Pokémon. Still, he’d made up his mind: once Junsha Rei arrived, he’d lend her a hand.

As for the culprit? Heath certainly wasn’t going to mention it. Even if he did say Ho-Oh was responsible, who would believe him? After all, Ho-Oh was a legendary Pokémon—a divine beast! There was no way it would be so petty.

“Looks like I’ll have to be more careful with this food ingredient analyzer. The divine beasts might be able to sense its presence,” Heath muttered, scratching his head as he stared at the device in his hand.

Still, he had to admit—the idea of discovering what a legendary Pokémon might taste like was rather thrilling. He only hoped he could upgrade his analyzer soon.

“Who knows? Maybe one day I’ll even host a divine beast myself,” Heath mused, scratching his head. Though, come to think of it, he already had—after all, Darkrai had paid him a visit just recently.