At the Pokémon Center in Goldenrod City.
Xia You was having dinner while on the phone with Handsome.
On the phone, Handsome praised, "You are truly amazing! I just asked you to check out the situation, and I didn't expect you to solve the problem so easily!"
"It's not like it was solved..." Xia You took a big gulp of juice, "They resisted for a long time even after their leader left and they were leaderless, and they almost succeeded, and then at the last minute, they wisely chose to retreat, without leaving a single injured person behind."
"Alright, don't dwell too much on those details." Handsome's tone remained enthusiastic, "If it were anyone else, they wouldn't be able to complete the task like you. How about it, do you want to consider joining our International Police? I'm really optimistic about your potential."
"Forget it, my goal is to win the Champion, I don't want to deal with these bad guys every day." Xia You directly refused, then leaned back in his dining chair and asked, "How are things on your side? Have you found Team Rockets's base?"
"No." Handsome said bluntly, "Celadon City is so big, I really don't know where to start looking. Although I found a clue before, it quickly ran dry. Oh, by the way, your next destination is here, right? When you arrive, I'll treat you to a meal as a thank you."
"Okay, I'll contact you when I get there."
Although he said so, Xia You was thinking about another problem.
Team Rockets's base?
He hesitated, but then decided against it.
Foreknowledge is not necessarily a good thing; the more you say, the more mistakes you make, and a single word could easily arouse suspicion and misunderstanding.
...
After resting for a night in Goldenrod City, Xia You continued his journey to the next Gym the next day.
According to the map, the closest Gym city to him was Celadon City, and since he hadn't contacted Xiao Xia, he didn't know if Ash had successfully obtained his fifth gym badge.
The distance between the two cities was not too far, yet even so, by noon, he had only covered more than half the journey.
Along the way, he passed through plains and forests.
A gentle breeze happened to blow, and groups of Butterfree flew across the sky, like ten thousand butterflies dancing.
After taking a photo of this rare sight, just as Xia You was about to find a place to rest, a red convertible sports car roared past him from behind, but then quickly reversed.
When the dust raised by the sports car settled, Xia You turned his head and saw five people in the car, and besides a Handsome young man with reddish-brown hair in the passenger seat, everyone else, including the driver, were beautiful young ladies!
The young man, wearing large sunglasses, turned his head to carefully examine Xia You and said, "I remember you. I saw you from a distance when you came to Professor Oak's Laboratory to deliver something to my grandpa."
This young man was naturally Professor Oak's grandson, and also Ash's first rival—Gary.
"You're Gary, right?" Xia You asked knowingly, "A few days ago, when I was chatting with Ash, he mentioned you. He said you're not only his friend since childhood but also the rival he acknowledges."
"Is that so?" Gary didn't seem to care much about that. "Ash can be quite eloquent sometimes. Oh, by the way, judging by the Pokémon next to you, I suppose you're the one who told that Martial Artist Boy in Viridian Forest to give the Trainer from Pallet Town a good lesson, right?"
Recalling that experience, Xia You smiled, "It was me, what about it? Did he cause you any trouble?"
"Thanks to you, I was attacked by him without a word as soon as I entered the forest." Gary pouted, "And he also said that you are an extremely powerful Trainer. Is that true?"
"That depends on who you're comparing me to." Xia You didn't deny it. "At least since I started my journey, I've never lost."
"What's that? I've never lost either!" Gary couldn't tell if Xia You's answer meant he truly had strength or if he was exaggerating and boasting, so he thought for a moment and asked, "So, how many gym badges have you obtained now?"
"Four gym badges." Xia You finished speaking, then pointed in the direction ahead, "But I'm heading to Celadon Gym to challenge the Gym Leader there, and I'll soon get my fifth gym badge."
"What? Only four gym badges? That's really slow. It seems your level is about the same as Ash's." Gary's tone was quite arrogant, "I've already collected seven gym badges, and I'm heading to Viridian City now to get the next one."
So, he judges strength by the number of gym badges...
I have to say, this kid's tone is really quite arrogant!
But then again, Gary is just starting out, full of ambition, believing that as Professor Oak's grandson, he has an advantage over others, and having not yet experienced the crushing defeats of two conferences, he naturally wouldn't put others in his eyes.
Thinking of this, Xia You took out a Poké Ball, enlarged it, and spun it continuously on his finger.
"Since that's the case, how about it? Do you want to have a battle with me?"
"A battle?" Gary shrugged, "Sorry, I don't have time to waste here. If you really want to battle me, then I wish you luck in getting into the Shiying Conference and meeting me there!"
With that, Gary waved his hand, the sports car started again, accelerated, and left the area.
"Hehehe." Gastly floated up from Xia You's shadow at this moment, self-mockingly saying, "It seems we've been underestimated."
Watching his receding figure, Xia You shook his head.
So young, with a sports car and so many female companions, it's really enviable.
Collecting his thoughts, he put down his backpack and told Kirlia to collect some firewood to prepare a meal, while also releasing all his Pokémon except Zapdos and Magikarp.
Now that these Pokémon spent every day with him, they already knew what to do without Xia You's instructions.
Squirtle took the kettle to fetch water from the river, while Charmander lit the firewood. As for Ivysaur, it led the other Pokémon to collect berries in the nearby forest.
Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.
And after everyone devoured their meal, Xia You took out the Poké Ball containing Magikarp, thought for a moment, went to the river, and released it.
With a flash of blue light, Magikarp appeared in the river, swimming around happily.
Actually, after careful observation, Xia You realized that he had been tricked by the old man who sold Magikarp.
This was clearly a male Magikarp; how could it lay eggs!?
However, counting it, a long time had passed since Xia You obtained this Pokémon. Logically, given its condition, it should have evolved long ago, but after so long, there was no sign of it evolving.
Was it truly the lack of Kojiro's final push that prevented it from evolving?
"Hey, Gastly." Xia You turned to Gastly and asked, "In this situation, is there any way to make it evolve quickly?"
"Evolve?" Gastly chuckled, "What? Is a mere evolution really such a difficult thing?"