There's usually a large supermarket near a university. To be precise, a good university can drive the economy of an entire area.
At this moment inside the supermarket, Rowan was pushing a shopping cart, picking out the items he needed.
As for Nekomi, she was currently sitting in the cart.
This wasn't against the rules—this supermarket actually allowed Pokémon to be placed in shopping carts, though there was a weight limit.
"Sitrus Berry, Pecha Berry, Hondew Berry, and some Pinap Berry... Nekomi, do these still look fresh to you?"
Rowan had picked out some Berries to make Pokéblocks for Nekomi as snacks. He'd also nibble on some himself from time to time.
He wasn't very good at judging whether Berries were fresh, but Nekomi was.
Grass-type Pokémon could sense the condition of fruits in a special way. Having Nekomi pick the Berries was like having X-ray vision—it greatly ensured the quality.
You could probably find cheaper ones at the market, but Rowan was terrible at bargaining, so he opted for the more convenient option.
"Meow~ (The Berries over there aren't good. But that batch of watermelons looks pretty good.)"
After buying a batch of Berries, Rowan also picked up some regular fruit, then continued leisurely strolling through the supermarket.
The supermarket brands had undergone a massive change. Apart from the fresh produce section, Rowan barely recognized any familiar brands.
"Miltank milk... imported from Goldenrod City in Johto..."
The dairy section brought back some unpleasant memories for Rowan. Pokémon like Miltank were the best dairy cows in the Pokémon world, and the milk they produced was top quality.
Like Tauros, Miltank was a single-gender Pokémon species.
However, Tauros were exclusively male, while Miltank were exclusively female. The two were gender counterparts, and farms usually raised both species to facilitate the breeding of purebred Pokémon offspring.
Even when not in lactation, Miltank still produced milk normally—about 20 liters a day. If it wasn't milked, it would feel very uncomfortable.
Dating back to the era of demon beasts, Miltank was among the earlier Pokémon to live alongside humans.
The better the quality of the pastures, the better the milk. As such, Miltank milk from Goldenrod City sold extremely well. Rowan wasn't even sure if the milk here was genuinely from there or just using the name to sell.
The unpleasant memory, however, came from the advertisement on the packaging.
It featured Whitney, the Gym Leader of Goldenrod Gym. Her ace Pokémon was a Miltank. Back in the first-generation games, its Rollout move caused quite a bit of trouble for challengers.
"Beedrill honey? Why is this even a thing?"
"Meow? (What's wrong?)"
"I remember Beedrill doesn't produce honey. I'm starting to wonder where this stuff actually comes from."
If Rowan had just been suspicious about the milk being counterfeit earlier, now he was almost certain—after all, they even managed to come up with "Beedrill honey" here.
It's just like in the natural world: bees make honey, but wasps don't. Beedrill, like wasps, is a Pokémon species that doesn't produce honey.
"You've misunderstood, sir. This is one of our new products. 'Beedrill Honey' is just a gimmick. It's actually fruit honey made by combining Beedrill's pollen with fruit juice, imitating the characteristics of Teddiursa."
A sales staff nearby overheard Rowan's comment and walked over to gently explain.
Products associated with Pokémon are generally sold at higher prices, and people who shop with Pokémon usually have stronger purchasing power. So, sales staff for these sections are expected to be more professional.
Otherwise, if they can't explain things clearly in situations like this, it could hurt the store's reputation.
"Imitating Teddiursa..."
Teddiursa is a very cute Pokémon that looks like a teddy bear. Most of the time, it searches for honey and dips its paws in it.
It also forages for fruits and pollen collected by Beedrill, mixing them into a special kind of honey.
In that context, the honey on each Teddiursa's paw has a unique flavor—so this explanation actually held up.
"Yes, our product has been certified by the League's standards—it's guaranteed not to be fake.
Right now we're in the trial sales period: buy one, get one free. You can return it anytime if you're not satisfied. Want to give it a try?"
With the sales pitch, Rowan picked up a bottle of green grape honey and a bottle of pomelo honey, planning to try them out later.
He then bought some Soda Pop and other products unique to the Pokémon world before pushing his shopping cart toward the self-checkout machine.
"This is…. way more expensive than regular goods. A professional Trainer's expenses must be even higher."
Looking at the long receipt and the final total at the bottom, Rowan muttered slightly to himself.
But professional Trainers also earn more—the whole system is more or less a virtuous cycle. The hardest part is the phase where you're trying to become a professional Trainer.
That phase demands a lot of investment. Without a solid economic foundation, one had to sacrifice even more.
But once you take that first step, everything else gets easier. For example, after winning against Lanxiang Gym, the prize money from that battle allowed Rowan to do a lot of things.
Then, looking at the four shopping bags packed to the brim, Rowan tested their weight a bit. Before enhancing himself with the training device, carrying all four bags at once would have been pretty exhausting—but now it was much easier.
Still, without that machine, he wouldn't have bought so much in the first place. While using it to train, his appetite had grown a lot more than usual.
"Meow, meow~ (Give me the bags—they're heavy.)"
Nekomi took two of the shopping bags and motioned for Rowan to hand over the rest.
"You think you're a Machamp or something? There are exactly four bags, if you want to take them, just take two."
Even though Nekomi kept insisting she was stronger, she still couldn't get Rowan to hand over the remaining two bags.
As they were leaving the supermarket, they ran into Officer Jenny, who was leading a routine patrol.
"Hello, routine inspection—please show your ID."
Seeing Rowan carrying what clearly looked like more supplies than one person would normally need, Jenny came over to check his ID.
"Sorry for the disturbance."
"What are you inspecting for?"
"Recently, members of a villainous organization from another region have been active here. If you see an 'R' symbol, please report it to the authorities immediately while ensuring your own safety."
"..."
Hearing Jenny say this, Rowan immediately understood who they were looking for. Without a doubt, that symbol was Team Rocket's.
It seemed Jessie and James still hadn't been caught in these two days.
And indeed, that was the case. After the attack at the Pokémon Center, they had gone completely quiet. The Jennys of Illumina had analyzed it for a long time but couldn't make sense of it.
Based on the giant robot that had appeared, they eventually theorized that Team Rocket had established a branch in Illumina.
But no leads turned up. In the end, even the transport route for those materials couldn't be identified, so they resorted to this new, wide-scale inspection approach.
As for Jessie and James...
They were currently in disguise, working in an electronics factory screwing in bolts. They had no reaction whatsoever to the inspections going on outside—just as Jenny couldn't believe they only wanted to seize Pikachu.
No one expected Team Rocket's people to be hiding out in a factory.
James and the others also didn't believe that Jennys would carry out such a massive operation just to catch them, resulting in an odd, unintended peace.