Pokémon: Hoenen Rage

Chapter 22 The suffering of the world
"Why do you suddenly think of asking this?" Yongren asked in surprise.

Rai took out the pendant from his pocket and signaled to Yongto: "I was looking at the mysterious water drop and two water gems sent to me upstairs just now, and I thought of it accidentally. This is a lot of money."

Yong Ren smiled, shook his head and said: "After all, you are still a child, this prop is nothing to the alliance. If you can still perform meritorious service in a few days, there will only be more rewards.

As for military expenditures, this is indeed a large sum. Didn’t your sister-in-law mention it to you?This year our town has to pay an extra [-]% in taxes, but since it is relatively close to the battlefield, it can be offset with tree fruits and sea fish. These are what everyone is busy with recently. You are either training or on the way to training all day long, no It’s normal to know.

For our town, these things are not very valuable and are not a big deal. If the pirates can be wiped out, even if most of them are wiped out, it will take more than a year to make money back. "

Lai nodded and asked: "Is it the same for the surrounding towns? Including those to the east?"

"Yes, it's all plus [-]%, the mayor said it publicly when he went to Wudou Town for a meeting." Yongren took this as a matter of course.

"But haven't there been very few young people left in the towns in the east since seven years ago? They can also afford it?"

Regarding Lai's question, Yongren was a little surprised and became concerned: "There is no way, after all, it is to eliminate the pirates. Lai, why are you so entangled in this issue all of a sudden? Have you heard some bad rumors?"

Lai shook his head and said: "That's not true. I just think that for many poor places, the burden is a bit too great. But you are right. After all, it is to eliminate pirates."

Then, the two changed the topic.Seeing Rai's rapid recovery from his injuries, Yongto was very happy. He gently patted his intact right shoulder and said with a smile:
"Looking at your current posture, you will be fully recovered in less than two days. By then, we will go to fight in advance and get familiar with each other. Those pirates are already grasshoppers in the autumn and will not be able to jump around for long. If we can If you make one more contribution, we won't have to worry about your future!"

Lai also smiled and said, "You are right, but please don't say this in front of your mother. I don't dare to meet her easily these days, otherwise I will give her a scolding." After saying that, he showed his face. He looked frightened.

"What a pity for the parents in the world! You can't go out alone this time. If you get hurt like that again, my sister-in-law will probably skin me." Yong Ren also sighed, remembering the scene after returning to the town seven days ago.

After briefly explaining the follow-up arrangements, Yongren said goodbye and left.

Not long after, another customer came to the door.

Coming this time was Wright, Wright's original "captive" on the island.

Being treated as laborers, Wright and his younger brother Jerry were temporarily placed on Parr Island by the alliance under Rai's guarantee, living in an open space some distance away from the town.

In the past few days, Wright, who was worried about his future and deeply admired Lai's strength, often wanted to visit him, but was stopped by the escort. Today he was finally able to come out.

As soon as he walked in, Wright asked: "Brother Lai, how is your recovery from your injury going? Is it still serious?"

After letting him in, Lai replied: "It's almost better. Don't call me brother all the time. We should be about the same age. Just call me Lai."

"Okay big brother."

"."

After sitting down, he first asked about Wright and Jerry's current situation. After learning that life on the island was worry-free, Wright asked about Wright's life experience:
"On the island before, I heard you and Jerry talking about what happened before you became a pirate, but you didn't say a few words. Can you tell me in detail today why you want to become a pirate?"

This question brought back Wright's memories, and after a moment of reflection, Wright began to tell his story:
Wright’s home is on Tianshui Island, an island located at the intersection of Waterway 108 and Waterway 109. It is hundreds of kilometers away from Kaina City. There are also some islands of different sizes scattered around. From the relative geographical location, Not too different from Paarl Island.

However, unlike Pal Island, Tianshui Island and the surrounding islands are not rich, lack soil suitable for growing trees and fruits, and the climate is not pleasant. Moreover, every time Kyogre riots, the islands in this area will bear the brunt. Therefore, it has not been well developed for a long time.

For such useless islands, the alliance did not invest much energy. It only established basic administrative institutions to regularly collect taxes, collect military service, etc.

But when the archipelago faces natural disasters, the Alliance often turns a blind eye, invests some so-called disaster relief forces in a symbolic manner, and allocates a sum of money for disaster relief that is a drop in the bucket and ends up missing.

At the same time, regardless of natural disasters or not, the taxes that need to be collected and the manpower that needs to be provided cannot be reduced at all.

Even so, for a long time, these islanders have been in a delicate balance state of basically having enough food and clothing in good years, and barely surviving in disaster years. If there are children with good talents, villages and small towns will work hard. They collected money for them to go out to study and work. Although most of them failed to achieve anything, the few who succeeded and then fed back their hometowns also gave their impoverished hometowns some hope of development.In this model, despite the hardship, few people are willing to go to sea and become pirates. After all, as ordinary people who are oppressed but still simple, with their simple values, few people think highly of such a bad activity as being a pirate.

However, everything was broken seven years ago.

Kyogre and Groudon's uprisings, which occurred every few years to more than ten years, were particularly ferocious this time and lasted nearly half a month before ending.

Raging giant waves and the ensuing tide of ocean Pokémon swept across the south. Heavy rains, floods, shocks, and the chaos of plundering by some pirates completely destroyed the fragile survival balance of the southern islands. A large number of young and middle-aged people Die or get injured while fending off natural disasters, pirates, and ocean Pokémon.

In the north, Kaina City had no time to take care of itself. The beast tide rushed across the long coastline and suburbs, and almost reached the city center before being blocked by Alliance reinforcements. After being entangled for several days, it retreated to the sea.

At this time, the Southern Islands were already in mourning.

After the natural disaster, not only did they not receive relief and support, but alliance officials who came belatedly put forward higher tax requirements.

The furious islanders swarmed forward, arrested the official and his subordinates, and imprisoned them in local prisons.

When the alliance headquarters heard about this, they were furious and sent troops to the island to "rescue" the officials.How could the islanders, who were born in poverty and lost most of their vitality in the disaster, still have hope for the alliance and did not stop resistance in advance, be the opponents of the regular alliance coastal defense forces?

After a battle that did not count as a battle, the Alliance quickly restored control of the archipelago and released all the captured officials. However, due to the outrage of the local people, no general liquidation was carried out. Only a few leaders were arrested, and The additional tax increase for the current year was cancelled.

However, by the following year, taxes were increased by a full [-]% for no reason, and the islands were placed in trust for the wealthy city of Kaina in the north.

Since then, the islanders who have been hit by natural disasters and man-made disasters have completely given up their illusions about the alliance. Under the oppression of life, more and more people have chosen to become pirates, bandits, and gangsters. Many people have seen Relatives, friends and neighbors around me went to sea to work as pirates. At critical moments, I took the initiative to provide them with shelter and cover.

A few years have passed, and the Southern Islands are nominally a marginal territory of the Alliance, but in fact have become the real "base camp" of pirates.

Wright, 11 years old, lost his father in the disaster seven years ago.

At that time, as one of the few young talents on the island who had achieved academic success and returned to his hometown, Wright's father served as the town's guard captain. With his strong strength, he could have protected his family from the incoming Pokémon. , but in order to save the people in the town, he led the escort team to defend a corner and fought bloody battles with the not-so-powerful but endless number of ocean Pokémon. He was exhausted mentally and seriously injured, and finally died in an environment where there was a lack of medical treatment. The patient will die without treatment.

Wright's mother, who was also on the run, soaked in sea water for a day and a night to protect him, which resulted in a serious disease that required long-term medication.

The death of his father did not bring any pension or compensation to the family. Only the residents of the same poor town spontaneously provided help to his family, but they could only help the urgent but not the poor.He lost all his savings, lost his main source of labor and income, and added high regular expenses. Wright, who was supposed to grow up in a wealthy environment similar to Wright's, suffered from drastic changes at a young age. The bitterness of life has also resulted in the formation of a fairly mature character early on without outsiders' teachings or "memories of past lives".

Wright's story made the atmosphere in the room quite depressing. Wright listened quietly and asked one or two questions from time to time, especially:

"Wright, have you ever been to school?"

Wright nodded and shook his head: "I haven't been to school, but there were before. I heard from my mother that the town would organize children to study from the age of five to seven, and then they would have to help the family, or the town would pay for them to study outside. But there is no teacher in the town who can teach. After the disaster, there will be no school in the town."

This answer made Rai's heart even heavier. After a long silence, Rai said to Wright:
"I don't know how the alliance will arrange for you in the future, but before you decide where to go, you can take your peers to the school in the town to study. After school every afternoon, you can also come to my home or the beach to find me. What's wrong? Understand, let me teach you. Now that I have seen it, I will not sit back and do nothing. Remember, people must follow the right path."

After sending Wright away, Rai called Yongto's phone number.

"I can't help much, but at least they should learn something and then choose their own future." Lai muttered to himself after putting down the phone.

Despite the offer of help, the heaviness in Lai's heart did not ease.

······
With the guarantee of Hero Lai and the guard captain Yong Ren, the mayor and most of the townspeople, who already sympathized with these teenagers, did not object. The next day, seven teenagers under the age of 13 in the temporary settlement were specially assigned to He was taken to a school in the town, and after taking an academic test to understand his level, he was transferred to a different grade and started studying.

　The world is complex and diverse, and this will be one of the basic logics of this book.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)