Chapter Ninety-Nine: Specialty of Golden City

"As for me, I drew the Uzumaki clan, so I don't need to do anything specific; I just need to observe everyone impartially," said the middle-aged female tourist wearing glasses.

"The Uzumaki clan?" Sonoko looked puzzled upon hearing this. "The Uzumaki clan isn't from the Hidden Leaf Village, right?"

Evidently, Sonoko, who only knew a smattering of history, would never learn to keep her mouth shut.

This time, however, Am felt that he "might" actually know.

"Although they aren't from the Hidden Leaf Village, two women from the Uzumaki clan married into the Hokage line in history, right?" Am guessed.

"That's right! Young man, your accent suggests you aren't from Kanto, but you like the history of the Hidden Leaf as well?" The man with the prominent lower jaw, Sarutobi, immediately became enthusiastic.

"I suppose so..." Am didn't want to sound too confident.

Sonoko looked at Am with a shocked expression—she had previously assumed Am was just as ignorant of history as she was!

Seeing this, Kazuha quickly stepped in to smooth things over for Sonoko: "It's true that the Uzumaki clan didn't belong to the Hidden Leaf; they had their own settlement in the eastern coastal region... well, near what is now Lavender Town."

"Exactly. The spirit mediums and funeral culture of Lavender Town also inherited much from the former Uzumaki clan," Heiji added.

Am: ...

Does this "Uzumaki clan" you speak of also happen to perform the "Dead Demon Consuming Seal"?

Of course, Am knew that even in the era of ninjas, powerful ninjas were first and foremost trainers. To be precise, "ninjas" were simply one school of "trainers." They didn't actually possess world-destroying powers inherently.

After this bizarre tour group left, Heiji tirelessly continued to explain more detailed history of the Hidden Village era to Am and the others—specifically, the history of the Hidden Leaf. As a native of Saffron City, he felt a strong sense of historical belonging.

"Before the Hidden Village era, the Kanto region was in a much more chaotic state. It was the ancestors of the Uchiha clan and the ancestors of the Senju clan who joined forces to usher in the era of the hidden villages... Among them, Lord Senju Hashirama gained the recognition of the God of Life, 'Xerneas,' and possessed the [Light of Life]. Under his control, Grass and Ground-type Pokémon possessed near-infinite stamina. Meanwhile, Lord Uchiha Madara gained the favor of 'Ho-Oh,' who could bring all things back to life, and possessed the [Fire of Compassion]..."

Am: ...

What a [Fire of Compassion]! The Uchiha possessing the [Fire of Compassion] sounded perfectly reasonable!

"Together, they subdued nine Alpha Pokémon in the Kanto region, laying the foundation for the establishment of the hidden village era..." Heiji continued incessantly.

Am: ...

It was true that hundreds of years ago, Alpha Pokémon did exist—their origins are now a mystery, but they were known for their immense strength and being several times larger than ordinary Pokémon of the same species. As for the present day, while there were some legendary sightings, there were no verified instances. The Totem Pokémon of the Alola region were similar in nature to ancient Alpha Pokémon, but their origins were different.

As for the [Light of Life] or the [Fire of Compassion], they were either legends or, more likely, blessings from Legendary Pokémon. Aside from innate talent, the other mainstream source of a trainer's special abilities was the "Blessing of Legendary Pokémon." And generally, the power granted by such beings was incredibly potent.

Just as Heiji was mid-flow, a group of young girls nearby pointed in another direction and shouted excitedly, "Ah! Look! That's Lady Sabrina's Gym!"

"As expected of Lady Sabrina..."

"Long live the Queen of Psychics!"

...

Heiji’s enthusiasm was instantly dampened. Ever since Sabrina opened her Gym in Saffron City and stripped a local ninja-style Fighting-type Gym of its official status, Saffron City had become less and less "ninja."

Initially, when a Psychic-type trainer "usurped" the official Gym status in a culturally rich, ancient city like Saffron, it naturally drew the ire of many Fighting-type masters and ninja-style practitioners. For the first year or two, Sabrina was frequently challenged by Master-level trainers!

However, the result was...

Looking at the current state of affairs, Sabrina’s reputation had skyrocketed to "historical status" in a short time, and the landmark of Saffron City had become the "Psychic Gym." After all, while people in Kanto, especially those in Saffron City, might care more about ninja culture, the rest of the world was clearly more captivated by the "Psychic Queen who appears once in a thousand years."

Kazuha, noticing Heiji's dejection, comforted him: "Don't mind it! Aren't there ninjas who are skilled in psychic powers too? It's said that the Uchiha clan were masters of Psychic-types in addition to Fire-types, aren't they?"

"What kind of evidence is there for that..." Heiji sneered upon hearing this.

Kazuha shouted back, "I'm trying to comfort you, do you understand? Why do you need evidence?"

Am and the others couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

Afterward, under Heiji's guidance, the group visited the Hokage Rock in person—sure enough, it looked even more massive from below. Although the new number one landmark was the Psychic Gym—the holy land for psychics worldwide—the Hokage Rock remained the "turf" of ninja-era enthusiasts.

The surrounding buildings were not only quaint, but the shops were also quite unique, with the most common being stalls selling "ninja hand cream"... The shopkeepers at every stall were skillfully and rapidly waving their hands in various gestures, looking like they were doing something profound.

"Are they... performing hand seals?" Am asked with a strange expression; this didn't feel very Pokémon-like.

"No, they're just applying hand cream... It looks cooler to apply it that way," Heiji explained.

Am: ...

"Ninja hand cream is a local specialty here. It's said that ancient ninjas were often Poison-type trainers who had to handle toxic medicinal herbs, so they applied a hand cream to insulate against toxins. Some even have whitening effects!" Kazuha explained from the side.

"Really? Really? Let's go buy some bottles!" Ran and the others were wide awake at the mention of this.

"Mmhmm, I'll take you to a reliable shop later; there are a lot of scammers in this tourist area," Kazuha whispered to Ran, Sonoko, and Kasumi.

As the four women talked, Heiji, Am, and Conan stood behind them with speechless expressions.

Heiji grumbled, "What do you mean by 'a lot of scammers'? It's all a scam... There's no historical record of ancient ninjas using hand cream at all!"

Am rolled his eyes: "Using hand cream to insulate against the toxins of medicinal raw materials? That sounds completely unreliable..."

With that, the "guys' group" that had ruined the mood was left behind by the four women, who headed off to the "reliable shop" Kazuha had mentioned...