## Chapter 241: Resisting Wastewater Discharge
After appeasing the Copperajah and Gigantamax Copperajah, Bai Feng took out Pokéblocks to compensate them, stating that Pupitar and the Toxtricity Brothers would never bother them again. Only then were the Copperajah and Gigantamax Copperajah willing to reconcile with Pupitar.
Next, Bai Feng spent nearly another day in the Mountain, finding other Pokémon that had been bullied by Pupitar and the Toxtricity Brothers, and apologized to them one by one on behalf of Pupitar and the Toxtricity Brothers.
Most Pokémon were quite agreeable after receiving the Pokéblocks Bai Feng gave them and were willing to reconcile. However, there were also some savage and violent ones. In such cases, he could only first use force to calm them down, and then gently persuade them.
Normal Pokémon usually became easier to communicate with after a beating.
The reason Bai Feng did this was that after Pupitar and the Toxtricity Brothers left, the Dudunsparce family of three would continue to live here. If they made too many enemies, it would bring a lot of trouble to their lives.
After handling all this, it was already Bai Feng's third day here. He bid farewell to the Dudunsparce family of three.
"Are you really not leaving with us?" Bai Feng asked the Dudunsparce family of three again.
The Dudunsparce family of three shook their heads simultaneously. After much deliberation, they had thought it through clearly.
Hearing this, Bai Feng could only say, "Then take care of yourselves. I don't know when we'll see each other again."
Upon hearing this, the faces of the Dudunsparce family of three showed a hint of melancholy. Although they were unwilling to leave their Hometown with Bai Feng, they were also very reluctant to part with him.
However, separation and reunion are normal occurrences in life, especially so in the Pokémon World. Therefore, there is no need to be too bothered by it. After all, no one knows under what circumstances you might meet again in the future.
Bai Feng boarded the Aircraft with his Pokémon and the newly joined Toxtricity Brothers, then said to the Pokémon who had come to see them off below:
"Alright, this is far enough. We're leaving now."
Besides the Dudunsparce family of three, other Dunsparce, Dudunsparce, Carbink, and other Pokémon who had received gifts from Bai Feng came spontaneously to see them off.
Under the gaze of these Pokémon, the Aircraft's hatch slowly closed and quickly ascended into the air, then flew towards the distance.
Looking at the scenery below getting smaller and smaller through the Window, the Toxtricity Brothers couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion. They were about to leave here, leave the Galar Region.
Although they had happy memories here, they had experienced more hardship, so they didn't feel any reluctance to leave.
What they felt more was expectation – expectation for a new life, new partners, and a new Home.
It wasn't until they could no longer see the Ground clearly that the Brothers, filled with joyful moods, ran over to Kricketune and the others, discussing with their partners how to play to make the new song even more fluid.
Not long ago, Nie Zi had already composed the second new song for the Primarina Band. They planned to have the Toxtricity Brothers and the young Lapras make their debut together in the live stream concert of the new song.
Originally, Bai Feng planned to fly directly back to the Kalos Region by Aircraft, but he suddenly remembered that he had promised Xiao Limo and the others that he would bring them gifts. So, he had to ask Venus to help choose a suitable place to buy gifts.
Finally, Venus designated Hulbury Town for Bai Feng.
Although Hulbury Town was just a Town, it was a famous Port in the Galar Region. It had many Shops and Restaurants, making it a good place for shopping and enjoying delicious food.
"Okay, then let's go to Hulbury Town!"
After hearing Venus's introduction, Bai Feng waved his hand and decided.
Besides being suitable for shopping, Venus chose Hulbury Town because it was relatively close to their current location. Therefore, it only took two hours for the Aircraft to land in the Suburbs of Hulbury Town.
Getting off the Aircraft with his Pokémon, Bai Feng happily said to everyone, "Let's go have a good time sightseeing in Hulbury Town. We've been flying in the sky for the past few days, so I'm sure everyone is bored."
"Gardevoir~"
"Sirfetch'd~"
"Appletun~"
...
Upon hearing this, the Pokémon immediately cheered. This time, Bai Feng planned to bring Solosis and Porygon2 along as well. He couldn't leave Solosis and Porygon2 behind every time they went out to play; that would be too inhumane.
As for the Aircraft, as long as Mewtwo set up a Psychic Barrier on it, no one would be able to do anything to it for a short time.
Just as Bai Feng and his Pokémon were happily heading to Hulbury Town for sightseeing, a Blipbug slowly crawled across the Grassland not far from them.
If it were a normal Blipbug, Bai Feng would have ignored it, but this Blipbug was entirely black.
Bai Feng looked surprised, "A Shiny Pokémon? Am I this lucky?"
Normal Blipbug are mainly blue and yellow. Bai Feng had never seen a black Blipbug before, let alone heard of one.
Just as Bai Feng was about to catch this rare Shiny Blipbug, five or six more Blipbug suddenly emerged from the Grass. What was important was that among these five or six Blipbug, there were actually three more black Blipbug.
Bai Feng quickly dismissed the thought of catching them. "Could I have accidentally stumbled into some special Pokémon protected area?"
As far as Bai Feng knew, there was a special Pokémon protected area in the Orange Islands south of the Kanto region. Due to the special environment there, many special Berries grew. Pokémon that ate those Berries for a long time would have their skin turn pink, like Shiny Pokémon.
Therefore, that place was designated as a special protected area.
Could this place be similar?
While Bai Feng was wondering, several Skwovet and Greedent appeared in the Forest not far away. Half of these Skwovet and Greedent were Shiny.
Bai Feng gave up the idea of catching any Pokémon. If he were caught by Officer Jenny for catching Pokémon in a protected area, he would lose face completely.
"Let's go to Hulbury Town first," Bai Feng said to his Pokémon.
So, everyone started heading towards Hulbury Town. Along the way, Bai Feng encountered many more wild Pokémon. Basically, half of these Pokémon were Shiny: a black Fennekin, a gray Wooloo, a pure white Silicobra... Bai Feng clicked his tongue in wonder.
"Could it really be a Pokémon protected area?"
Soon, Bai Feng and his group arrived at Hulbury Town. However, to his surprise, the place looked somewhat deserted.
"What happened to the promised paradise of shopping and delicious food?"
There were indeed many Shops lining the streets, but hardly anyone was patronizing them. The Bosses sat at their doorways, looking worried and sighing. Restaurant Bosses looked particularly glum.
"Is everyone hungry? How about we find a Restaurant to eat something first? Didn't Venus say that Hulbury Town is famous for its seafood? Let's go try it!" Bai Feng, who didn't understand the situation, turned and said to his Pokémon.
Upon hearing about delicious food, the Pokémon immediately cheered.
"You want to eat seafood? If you don't want trouble, I advise you to give up!"
Just then, a voice suddenly sounded behind Bai Feng and his group. They turned around and saw a black-haired, dark-skinned girl standing not far from them, accompanied by a clumsy-looking Quagsire.
"Why?" Bai Feng asked, puzzled.
The girl was younger than Bai Feng, probably just over ten years old. She didn't answer Bai Feng's question, but instead turned her head away haughtily and walked off.
"That girl looks a bit familiar? But no matter how hard he thought, Bai Feng couldn't remember where he had seen her before, so he gave up.
Although he didn't understand why the girl said that, Bai Feng was someone who listened to advice. He gave up on the idea of eating seafood and walked down the streets of Hulbury Town with his Pokémon, planning to observe the situation first.
Just then, he saw an Old Grandma drawing Water from a well. After filling the bucket, she tottered towards Home, carrying the full bucket of Water.
Like the girl just now, the Old Grandma was accompanied by a Quagsire. However, the Quagsire wasn't tall enough to help the Old Grandma carry the Water. So, after taking two steps, the Old Grandma stumbled, knocking the bucket over onto the Ground, and the Water spilled everywhere.
"Oh dear~ How useless."
The Old Grandma sighed deeply.
As an excellent and kind young person, Bai Feng couldn't ignore this. So, he quickly ran to the Old Grandma's side and helped her upright the bucket.
"Grandmother, let me help you!"
Bai Feng quickly drew another bucket of Water for the Old Grandma and helped her carry it Home.
"Good child, thank you so much," the Old Grandma said gratefully. "These old arms and legs of mine are useless for even a little bit of heavy work."
After helping the Old Grandma pour the Water into the water tank, Bai Feng saw that she had a faucet in her Home, so he asked, puzzled, "You have a faucet at Home, why do you still come outside to fetch Water?"
The Old Grandma looked at Bai Feng in surprise upon hearing this. "Young man, you're not a resident of Hulbury Town, are you?"
Bai Feng nodded. "I just arrived here. I originally planned to have a good time sightseeing in Hulbury Town, but I didn't expect it to be a bit different from what I imagined."
"No wonder!" The Old Grandma suddenly understood. "Hulbury Town isn't the Hulbury Town it used to be." After saying this, the Old Grandma sighed repeatedly.
"Grandmother, what exactly happened here? Why is Hulbury Town different from what I know?" Bai Feng asked, puzzled.
"Oh dear~"
The Old Grandma sighed deeply again and told Bai Feng everything that had happened in Hulbury Town.
As a famous Port in the Galar Region, Hulbury Town was originally a very lively place, but everything changed two months ago.
Two months ago, the Hulbury Town power plant suddenly announced that it would discharge a batch of wastewater into the ocean. They claimed that this wastewater had been treated and fully met discharge standards.
Hulbury Town residents expressed suspicion about this.
So, on the day of the wastewater discharge, someone secretly snuck into the discharge area to check the situation. However, the facts they saw were completely different from what the power plant claimed.
The detection instrument they brought showed that the wastewater being discharged into the ocean had strong radiation. Although it wasn't clear at the time what impact the radiation would have on the environment, the residents could no longer trust the power plant.
So, a large number of residents gathered at the mayor's office, demanding an explanation from the mayor. But the mayor actually sided with the power plant and assured the residents that the wastewater discharged by the power plant met the standards, telling everyone to rest assured.
Under the mayor's persuasion, the residents could only reluctantly retreat.
But the changes that began to occur in Hulbury Town next started to frighten the residents. A large number of Pokémon had their colors change. Although they looked like Shiny Pokémon, the residents were actually convinced that this change was definitely related to the sewage discharged by the power plant, because the changes in the Pokémon in the ocean were the most obvious.
For this matter, the residents gathered again at the mayor's office and the power plant to demand an explanation, but both the mayor and the power plant insisted that the sewage discharge absolutely met the standards and there were no violations.
This protest ended without resolution once again.
Some media in the Town reported on this matter, but for some reason, as soon as the report appeared in the news, it would immediately disappear without a trace, unable to make any waves at all.
Later, someone secretly investigated and found out that the power plant had actually started secretly discharging wastewater into the ocean long ago. It was just that the amount to be discharged this time was relatively large and could no longer be concealed, which was why they announced it.
After this matter was exposed, Hulbury Town was in an uproar. People kept demanding explanations from the mayor, and people kept protesting at the power plant, but the matter remained unresolved.
Two months passed in the blink of an eye. The number of "Shiny" Pokémon appearing in Hulbury Town and nearby areas increased, and Hulbury Town became more and more deserted. Residents no longer dared to eat seafood casually, or even drink water carelessly.
Now almost every family in Hulbury Town raised a Quagsire, because Quagsire have the ability to purify water quality. Residents only dared to drink water that had been purified by a Quagsire.
After listening to the Old Grandma's story, Bai Feng suddenly understood. He had wondered how so many Shiny Pokémon could appear at the same time!
After resting at the Old Grandma's Home for a while, Bai Feng left with his Pokémon and walked aimlessly along the streets of Hulbury Town, observing the situation.
Suddenly, he seemed to hear a commotion and shouting coming from not far away. He followed the sound and saw several hundred young persons gathered on the street, holding banners and signs and marching.
The young persons walked towards the power plant while shouting loudly:
"Boycott the power plant! Boycott wastewater discharge!
Incompetent mayor! Unjust power plant!"
"Boycott the power plant! Boycott wastewater discharge!
Incompetent mayor! Unjust power plant!"
...
The shouts grew louder and louder. Some older individuals, seeing the actions of the young persons, quietly left their homes and followed behind the young persons, joining the marching procession.
Seeing this, Bai Feng quickly recalled the Pokémon beside him into their Poké Balls and followed suit.
Soon, the marching procession arrived Outside the Door of the power plant. At this time, the power plant's gate was tightly shut, and not a single person was outside.
The residents' anger had reached its peak, especially the young persons. Seeing that no one from the power plant came out, they roared, "Smash it! We'll smash this place!"
(End of Chapter)