The events of the summer camp remained deeply branded in the dark recesses of my memory, an experience I would never forget for the rest of my life. After returning home, when my parents asked me what had happened at the camp, I figured that a punk like Goh surely lacked the capability to retaliate against my family, so I told my parents everything from start to finish.
Upon hearing about Goh, both of my parents wore grim expressions. At first, I simply thought it was just their dislike for the boy, but I later learned that wasn't the whole story.
One year later, Nuvema Town, Unova.
"Sister Juniper, I'm back."
"Zilin, you're here. By the way, I've read that evolutionary theory of Eevee you were preparing to publish. It's quite remarkable."
"Hehe, thanks for the praise, Sister Juniper. I'm just helping Professor Oak out with odd jobs."
That's right. Following the introduction of the Fairy type, it quickly sent shockwaves around the world. Although my name appeared merely as the discoverer, I still received a great deal of recognition. Ever since then, I would occasionally come to help the professor out—which professor? Professor Juniper, of course! Back when I was weak and powerless, she and the other professors shielded my precious life. Both Professor Oak and Professor Sycamore repeatedly invited me to assist with their research, though Juniper always shooed them away. While I couldn't openly get involved—since I am from Unova, after all—I still offered some assistance behind the scenes. Over the past year, I even participated in Mega Evolution research, pointing Professor Sycamore in a certain direction. Ah, it's such a hassle when children aren't supposed to say too much. I also worked with Professor Oak on studying "the eight forms of Eevee."
That research was also "published" under my guidance. Outsiders might not have known, but anyone with a sharp eye could easily see through it.
"Shall we continue yesterday's topic then..."
After I worked for a little longer, Professor Juniper seemed to remember something suddenly and spoke up.
"By the way, do you remember that child who got into trouble at your summer camp?"
"Mhm, of course I haven't forgotten. Didn't he threaten to teach me a lesson?"
"Goh? Hah, that vicious boy, I will never forget him!" Juniper said with a hint of indignation, as if recalling something upsetting.
"Did you know? That child's parents used the incident at the summer camp as an excuse to demand forced compensation from Professor Cerise not long ago. If they didn't get compensation, they threatened to make Professor Cerise take Goh in as a researcher pro bono, tasked with raising him into a Pokémon expert."
"What? How could such a thing even happen?" I said, gritting my teeth.
"How did it end? Did Professor Cerise pay them compensation? This is outright extortion!"
"Who is to say otherwise? I heard that child's father was even a childhood friend of Cerise. Ah, people's hearts are truly unfathomable. By the way, I've heard about what happened during your summer camp. I even went to check on that girl myself; she was such a sensible child, completely trustworthy at first glance. Contrast that with that boy, who was all talk and constantly gave me the impression of being full of hot air, yet he stubbornly insisted on demanding compensation—it was unbearable. I heard it almost went all the way to the League judiciary for a while."
"What, isn't that just being a complete scoundrel? No, Sister Juniper, I need to take a leave of absence. I have to go ask Koharu what's going on; I can't let them take the fall because of me. I need to go ask Professor Oak right away!"
"Haha, no need, little Zilin. Do you know who the Champion of Kanto is?"
"Ah, of course I know that! It's that red-haired Flying type Elite Four member—Lance the Bird!" The words slipped out before I could stop myself.
"Hahaha, Lance is indeed just as you described, but do you know his character? He would never allow such a thing to happen. Do you understand what I mean?" Juniper covered her mouth with a slight smile.
"Zilin, if people like us could be blackmailed by anyone at whim, no one would ever be willing to work for the League again. So do you understand, Zilin? As long as you haven't committed any grave offenses, we are fully capable of protecting you." She said with a chuckle, then looked at me with a somewhat serious expression.
*We?* My eyes narrowed as understanding dawned on me. Of course—with this kind of backing, I could just cower behind the beautiful professor and safely farm my experience. With power on your side, everything becomes much easier.
"Thank you, Sister Juniper."
"Such a good boy. Now hurry back to work. Actually..." She reached out and patted my head, the gesture as gentle as a breeze sweeping across the surface of a lake. A trace of hesitation flickered in her eyes; it seemed she had something she wanted to say, yet held back.
"What is it, Sister Juniper? Is there something else?"
Complex emotions flashed through her gaze, and her lips trembled slightly as if she were hesitating to speak. After a long moment, she seemed to have made up her mind and finally spoke under my puzzled gaze.
"Actually, behind this whole matter... your family is also somewhat involved."
*Ah? What does this have to do with my family?* I didn't understand. My old man hadn't even gone to retaliate against them; how could this possibly be connected?
I looked at her with a questioning gaze, and without minding, she continued.
"The League suspects that the child's parents are very likely—Pokémon Hunters."
"What?" Although I had guessed that Goh's father or mother must have belonged to some prominent family—otherwise, how could he have been so arrogant?—who would have ever thought...
"You should know the system of each region in the League, right? A Champion, plus the Elite Four, eight Gym Leaders, and various unheralded League personnel form a region's branch."
"And you, do you get my drift, Zilin?" She stopped there, a glimmer of anticipation in her eyes as she waited for my reaction.
"My father is League personnel, tasked with tracking down Pokémon Hunters, which is why he's almost never home. And because of my summer camp incident, he suspected Goh's father was a Pokémon Hunter? Is that it?" My grandfather was an Elite Four member, and my father worked for the League; that was the most normal thing in the world.
"It wasn't like that. At first, they just felt that 'we won't attack unless we're attacked.' 'If he plans to use his adult status to bully a child, then don't blame us for pulling rank,' those were your parents' exact words. But after they ran an investigation..."
Sudden realization struck me. So it really *was* related to my family, and especially to me. Who could have imagined that such a tiny summer camp incident would snowball into this? It truly proved the saying: *pull a single hair and the whole body moves!*
"My mom and dad reported them to the League? Even without solid evidence, they were placed under surveillance pretty quickly?"
Juniper nodded slightly, then added with a faintly mocking tone:
"I really don't know whether to call them clever or foolish. Afterwards, once the League learned about this, in order to clear Professor Cerise's name, they joined forces with him to set a trap—playing along to catch the fish. They deliberately let Goh take some Pokémon data, and then waited to ambush and capture them, clearing Professor Cerise's name in the process. How laughable that Cerise and that Pokémon Hunter were childhood friends, yet he couldn't even see through the man's ambitions."
"Oh, I see. So what happened to them?" Thanks to my parents' status and their report, the League had grown vigilant and orchestrated this whole affair through Professor Cerise. It seemed the League wasn't entirely useless after all.
Juniper glanced at me and continued, "The result is that Goh and his entire family got arrested. The kid might get off lighter because of his age, but the adults? Heh. Though I heard the organization behind them is massive, and this time they only lost a few members. Still, it served as a warning from the League to that syndicate."
"Zilin, do you know why I'm telling you all this? Actually..." She found the truth difficult to voice, as if a ball of cotton had been stuffed into her throat.
"It's fine, Sister Juniper, go ahead. I can understand." I quickly reassured her.
"What a good boy. Actually, your parents specifically asked us to keep this a secret from you. They thought you were still too young and didn't want you to know about the dark side of this world. But after discussing it among ourselves, we decided to let you know." Her gaze was filled with firm resolve, as if telling me she had already made up her mind.
"Liner, please allow me to call you that. Do you know, Liner? I've been in this profession for many years, and I've witnessed countless peerless geniuses, but only a tiny fraction of them survived. You know the world isn't as wonderful as you imagine. Kanto has Team Rocket, Hoenn has Team Magma and the heinous Team Aqua, Sinnoh has the evil organization Team Galactic, and perhaps even right here in Unova, we have our own. These syndicates operate outside League control. The League has attempted to capture them many times, and regional Champions have been dispatched repeatedly, yet they always manage to slip away at the most critical moments, hanging on by a thread before crawling back from the brink. There are likely even more evil organizations in this world than the ones I know of, and without exception, they are completely lawless and will stop at nothing."
"Liner, future challenges may involve problems we cannot resolve. When that time comes, we might not be able to fix them, but you just might." Her eyes brimmed with expectation, as if telling me she believed I would truly become a genuine genius.
"Why do I say this? Do you know, Liner? The world has never lacked geniuses, but do you know what makes a true genius? Only those who successfully survive and grow can be called geniuses. Do you understand my meaning, Zilin?" Her voice carried a trace of sorrow and solemnity, as if imparting that only through enduring hardships and setbacks could one become a true genius.
"Mhm, I understand. Until I have sufficient strength, I will never expose myself." I nodded, my heart filled with firm determination.
"Good. As long as you understand certain things, let's get back to work."
"Mhm, Sister Juniper, let's continue..."
***
Meanwhile, at the Celadon City Police Station, Goh was bound to a chair in the interrogation room.
"Why are you arresting me? You can't do this! Officer Jenny, I want to see Officer Jenny! No, it's not supposed to be like this! I'm a hero, I'm going to catch Mew! You guys should be respecting me, worshiping me!" Goh cried out in despair.
The police weren't buying Goh's act at all. Two officers stepped forward immediately, slapping a muzzle on Goh and forcing him to shut his mouth.
Soon, Officer Jenny arrived to interrogate Goh. Her beautiful and striking face was etched with sheer impatience, as if speaking one extra word of nonsense to Goh would drive her mad. The moment she entered, she motioned for the nearby officers to remove the gag from Goh's mouth, then asked point-blank: "Why did you steal Mew's data and other critical files from the Cerise Laboratory?"
Goh burst into a complacent laugh, showing no remorse whatsoever for his actions, and arrogantly retorted: "To catch it, of course! As long as I catch it, I'll become the strongest Trainer in the world, and everyone will look up to me in awe! Hahaha!"
Before he could finish, Officer Jenny shot him a look that practically screamed murder, silencing him instantly. She quickly followed up with another question.
Officer Jenny took a deep breath, then asked with a sarcastic edge to her voice: "Then, as a child without even a single Pokémon, how do you expect to catch the legendary, most powerful Mythical Pokémon?"
Goh was momentarily stunned by the question, but pressed on regardless: "That's because my father will help me catch it, obviously!" Then, adopting an even haughtier expression, he told Officer Jenny: "Officer Jenny, let me tell you, you'd better release me right now. If I'm in a good mood, maybe I'll even promote you. Otherwise, when my dad gets here, you're going to be in big trouble."
By this point, Jenny's expression had turned pitch-black, as if a fierce storm were about to break. Fortunately, she was a professional and disciplined officer. Yet Goh seemed completely oblivious to this, continuing to spout nonsense as he pleased.
After a moment, Jenny asked another question. This time her expression looked grave, as if she couldn't wait to get out of there.
"If you really caught Mew, would you train it properly?"
"Of course not! I'd use it to crush everyone and let them all know how powerful I am!" Goh blurted out without a second thought.
"So you're just treating it as a tool for showing off and a capital for arrogance?"
"Aren't Pokémon just tools for us humans? It's its honor to be caught by me."
"No, they aren't! Pokémon are our family, not tools! Catching a Pokémon and refusing to train it makes you no different from a Pokémon Hunter."
Jenny quickly recorded all the evidence. Meanwhile, Goh, completely unaware of the situation, was still shouting about catching Mew. Finally reaching her limit, Jenny stood up hurriedly to leave. As she reached the door, she cast a sideways glance at Goh, and with a look that could kill, delivered the coldest words possible:
"Spend your next life in prison, trash."
"Oh right, you probably don't know yet—your parents are Pokémon Hunters, and they've already been arrested by the League. They can as well kiss goodbye to ever getting out. And you? Heh. First, we'll strip you of your Trainer status for life. Consider yourself warned."
Jenny's words struck like a razor-sharp blade, ruthlessly severing every shred of hope in Goh's heart. His eyes filled with despair and fury.
Hearing this, Goh finally stopped yelling. He lowered his head in utter despair, as if the sky had fallen in on him, and babbled out in hopeless terror: "Officer Jenny, I was wrong... Let me out, I really know I was wrong!" But who would ever care?
Indeed, all criminals are alike. No matter how arrogant they were beforehand, once they land in a police station, they wilt like eggplants touched by frost, finally confessing to the wrongs they committed.
Later on, Goh and his family spent the rest of their lives behind bars. As time passed, even Goh's parents passed away. And Goh, stripped of his Trainer status? To his dying day, not a single Pokémon was ever willing to be Goh's partner. Until one winter later on, someone discovered the skeleton of a beggar outside the edge of the woods.