Chapter 354: Soulless
In addition to those items, Yuga found a Potential Appraiser here.
Yuga had only seen such a device in Pokémon Centers and Day Care Centers in Lavaridge Town, making it a rare item.
This item was quite expensive and usually only found in places like Breeding Facility, Day Care Centers, and Private Day Care that frequently needed it, apart from the standardized equipment provided by the Pokémon Center League.
There was one in YoYo Day Care, but Yuga had never used it. Moreover, that one was an outdated model, no longer valuable. While it still functioned, its performance was subpar compared to this advanced one.
The new model Potential Appraiser was very compact, about the size of an adult's head, shaped like a perfect cube. Unlike the old one at YoYo Day Care, which was as tall as Yuga, this modern device was much smaller.
The front of the cube-shaped Potential Appraiser had a slot just the right size for a Poké Ball to fit in, with a tiny indicator light above it.
When assessing a Pokémon's Potentials, the light would illuminate, with its color representing the Pokémon's Potential.
However, these Potential Appraisers also had different levels. The lowest-grade ones could only detect Green Potentials, and they were the cheapest.
The ones capable of detecting Blue Potentials, which were the highest, cost more than twice as much as the lower-grade ones.
As for Potential Appraisers that could detect Potentials higher than Blue, they were exceedingly rare in the market and not available in Pokémon Centers. This wasn't about cost but rather a matter of technology.
However, such devices were present in the League Headquarters and some major factions.
YoYo Day Care's old machine could only detect Green Potentials at best, while this one from him appeared to be of a higher grade.
Although Yuga couldn't make much use of it, he decided to stow it in his system backpack.
Finally, Yuga turned his attention to the Pokémon confined in cages.
A Pokémon Poacher's greatest wealth was always the Pokémon they collected.
Some Pokémon reacted when they saw Yuga, while others had vacant, unresponsive gazes.
With his Insight ability, Yuga observed that these Pokémon had Potentials that were Green or higher, indicating that they had likely been assessed with the Potential Appraiser.
What Yuga didn't know was that any Pokémon captured by Motohara from the outside, if found to be of little value, would be killed. Hence, the underground chamber was stained with blood everywhere.
This hinted at the sheer number of Pokémon that had met their end, especially since low-Potential Pokémon were the majority.
To break these Pokémon's spirits, before killing them, Motohara would torment them mercilessly. This was done right in front of the confined Pokémon.
In addition to this, sometimes they would open the cages, but if any Pokémon dared to step out, they would be brutally beaten by Motohara. Any part that extended out would be subjected to harsh punishment until the Pokémon no longer dared to step even half a step out, even if the door was wide open.
However, Yuga remained unaware of these details.
He approached and opened the cages' doors, hoping to free these Pokémon, but not only did they not come out, they also trembled more intensely.
Yuga frowned, unable to fathom what these Pokémon had endured.
These Pokémon were not only covered in injuries but also emaciated, giving them a ghastly appearance.
Was this Motohara person a sadist?
Weren't these Pokémon supposed to be for selling? They should have been treated well. How did they end up like this? Can they even be sold now?
"Please, come out. I won't harm you," Yuga softly murmured.
However, these Pokémon showed no response whatsoever. Their eyes were not only vacant but also filled with an instinctive fear of humans.
Motohara, over the years of being hunted and on the run, had become twisted and sadistic in character, displaying unpredictable cruelty.
Most of the Pokémon he had captured had already been tortured to death, and only those considered relatively rare were spared from his brutality.
Yuga noticed a cage containing what seemed to be a family of three: a Gardevoir, a Kirlia, and a Ralts. The Gardevoir was female, the Kirlia male, and the Ralts their offspring.
All three Pokémon appeared soulless. Even when Yuga approached them, they remained unresponsive.
The Ralts, cradled in Gardevoir's arms, seemed severely ill, having already fallen into a deep unconsciousness, displaying a pained expression on its face.
Yuga wanted to check on the Ralts, but Gardevoir kept her distance. In her current state of mindlessness, she was driven solely by maternal instinct, fearing that Yuga might harm the Ralts.
Looking at these Pokémon, who appeared to have lost their very souls, Yuga felt an overwhelming sadness.
In the following moments, Yuga attempted to communicate with these Pokémon, but his efforts were futile. Their minds seemed sealed shut, impervious to any external voice.
Yuga counted them; there were a total of 17 Pokémon here, all possessing high Potentials, most likely collected by Motohara over a long period.
After all, not everyone, like Yuga, could perceive a Pokémon's Potentials. Hence, capturing Pokémon was more selective and purposeful for him.
The Pokémon included a Gardevoir, a Kirlia, a Ralts, a pair of Kecleon, three Swablu, four Flaaffy, three Murkrow, and two Mr. Mime.
Among them, the two Mr. Mime seemed to be in the best condition. While they were still injured, they didn't have the lifeless gaze of the others. Instead, they responded quite visibly to Yuga's presence with fear.
Yuga found this perplexing. Why were these Natus unharmed when all the others suffered so much?
Unbeknownst to Yuga, these Natus had been taken by Motohara from a Poacher organization, specially trained to serve as messengers. If not for the careful nurturing within the organization, how could these Natus have such high Potentials?
Motohara couldn't have found more than a dozen Pokémon with identical Potentials outside.
And if not for the internal strife and division within the Poacher organization, he wouldn't have had this big of an advantage.
Even so, these Natus did not lead easy lives under Motohara's control. They were subject to frequent physical abuse, although not as severe as the Pokémon in cages. Otherwise, they wouldn't have surrendered so easily.
Seeing these soulless Pokémon in front of him, Yuga sighed and decided to take them all out before deciding what to do next.
Each of these Pokémon had their own Poké Balls, the same ones that had been stored together with the Natus' Poké Balls.
Yuga returned to the stone house, retrieved these Poké Balls, and then stored all seventeen Pokémon inside them.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
bearnard_bear97
bearnard_bear97 This Motoharu really deserve to die┻━┻ ︵ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ︵ ┻━┻
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