It was noon, and the school was on its lunch break.
At a cold drink shop by the sea in Vermilion City, Xia You and Xiao Hao, along with his two Pokémon, sat on opposite sides of a table, with a different flavored and colored Super Sundae in front of each of them.
As the signature drink of the shop, this Super Sundae was not only delicious but also refreshingly cold; with one bite, a chill shot straight to the back of the head as soon as it passed the taste buds!
Despite being so cold that she had to hold her forehead, Xiao Hao couldn't help but praise, "No matter how many times I've tasted it, the Super Sundae here is always so memorable!"
Perhaps from the sugar intake, she seemed a bit more sprightly than before.
The reason the two of them were sitting there had to be traced back to a dozen minutes earlier.
Originally, after having lunch at the laboratory, Xia You, with his two Pokémon, took advantage of his free time to stroll around the city, intending to enjoy the scenery of this coastal city.
And when he passed by the school there, he happened to meet Xiao Hao during her lunch break and invited her to rest there for a while.
This led to the scene before them.
It must be said that after two days of interaction, though brief, their relationship was already quite familiar, and sitting together now, it wasn't too awkward.
Especially after Xia You shared some interesting stories from his travels, it further narrowed the distance between them.
After a few bites, the conversation turned to Pokémon, and Xiao Hao couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Xia You, what are your plans next?"
"Plans?" Listening to the soft music, Xia You stretched, turned his head to look out the window, and said lightly, "Although I've become a special research investigator, that's just an honorary position. Professor Sakuragi hasn't given me any specific tasks, so besides collecting all the royal three families, I also want to challenge Gyms first and get gym badges to prepare for challenging the Shiying Conference in the future."
"Challenge Gyms?" Xiao Hao wasn't very knowledgeable about Pokémon battles, so she asked curiously, "Are you going to challenge the Vermilion City Gym?"
"The Vermilion City Gym is still a bit too early for me right now." Xia You shook his head and patiently explained, "The Gym Leader there, Lt. Surge, is an Electric-type Pokémon expert. Although Electric-types don't have an advantage against Grass-types, I still want to go to Cerulean City and Pewter City first to challenge the Hua Lan Gym and Pewter Gym to hone my strength. However, before heading to those two Gyms, I still need to catch one more Pokémon."
Xiao Hao nodded, half-understanding: "Is that what you call expanding your lineup?"
"Exactly, it's actually like clearing levels in a game." Xia You smiled, "The process of challenging, of course, is to first accumulate strength, then go from easy to difficult. That way, clearing each level is more interesting!"
On the street outside the window, students wearing uniform school uniforms occasionally passed by.
Just as the two were talking, a boy of similar age to Xiao Hao, with slightly darker skin, accidentally saw Xiao Hao through the open window, raised an eyebrow, and then curiously approached.
And with that glance, he saw Xia You, and his brows furrowed even more.
"Xiao Hao, who is this person?"
The boy suddenly spoke, and at the same time, his gaze moved back and forth between Xiao Hao's and Xia You's faces, as if he had sensed something from their atmosphere and expressions.
"Xiao Hao? Why are you here?"
Xiao Hao was clearly a bit surprised to see the boy, but she didn't think much of it and began to introduce him.
"This is Mr. Xia You, who is now a special research investigator at my dad's laboratory. Mr. Xia You, this is Xiao Hao, my classmate from school and also my childhood friend."
In fact, the moment Xia You first saw Xiao Hao, he had already recognized him.
There was no way around it, he was just too famous!
Especially his appearance and demeanor, they were completely identical to those in the anime!
"Hello." Xia You nodded at him in a friendly manner.
Seeing Xia You greet him, Xiao Hao also quickly nodded in response.
"Hello, I'm Xiao Hao."
However, looking at Xia You's handsome appearance and then at Xiao Hao sitting across from him, for some reason, Xiao Hao suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable.
Although he couldn't quite articulate why, this feeling just made him irritable!
Just then, he suddenly saw the Ralts nearby, which completely drew his attention.
"What kind of Pokémon is this?" he asked in surprise.
"This is my Ralts." Xia You said casually, and seeing that Xiao Hao seemed to want to get closer to observe, he added, "Don't be fooled by its appearance. It's a Psychic and Fairy-type Pokémon and doesn't like strangers getting close, so you... it's best to stay a little further away from it."
However, Xiao Hao clearly didn't listen to Xia You's words. He looked at the Ralts's obedient appearance in front of him, and the more he looked, the more he liked it.
"It's so cute! I want to catch a Ralts in the future too!"
Hearing his words, Xia You's mind stirred, and he couldn't help but ask, "In the future? What, do you also want to become a Pokémon Trainer?"
"I don't want to be a Pokémon Trainer." Xiao Hao shook his head, "My dream is to collect all the Pokémon in this world, including Mew!"
As expected!
Xia You wasn't surprised by his answer at all.
"If that's the case, as the number of Pokémon continues to increase, won't they just become your collectibles? Besides increasing in quantity, what other use do they have?"
"This..." Xiao Hao hesitated for a moment, seemingly never having considered this question before, but after thinking about it, he said indifferently, "It doesn't matter. My goal is to collect them all. As for other things, we can talk about them later!"
"Then we really are quite different." Xia You shook his head helplessly, "Although we Trainers also constantly catch Pokémon, our purpose is to continuously grow stronger, to stand together on higher peaks, and to travel everywhere with our Pokémon. From this perspective, your capturing seems a bit too self-centered."
Hearing Xia You's words, Xiao Hao, on the side, stared blankly at her sundae.
Travel with Pokémon?
This was something she had never imagined, but this dream seemed pretty good too.
...
Leaving Vermilion City, Xia You followed the wide road and headed north.
Beside him, Ralts and Bulbasaur, these two Pokémon, walked with him, one on his left and one on his right.
The reason he didn't put them in Poké Balls was actually inspired by Ash.
It's important to know that traveling on foot with Pokémon can not only train their abilities but also deepen their bond, and with them accompanying him, the journey wouldn't feel so lonely.
As for their destination...
Of course, they were heading towards the first Gym he wanted to challenge—the Hua Lan Gym!
And looking at the map, reaching Cerulean City wasn't that easy.
Between Vermilion City and it lay Goldenrod City, the largest and most prosperous super metropolis in the Kanto region.
Goldenrod City was full of skyscrapers and was very famous even in other regions. Plus, it covered a vast area, so passing through it would undoubtedly waste more time.
And speaking of which, there were actually two Gyms within Goldenrod City itself.
They were the Goldenrod Gym, where Natsume was located, and the Fighting Gym, where Wude was located.
However, Xia You knew that with his current strength, he was not yet capable of challenging either of these two Gyms, so he didn't rashly enter Goldenrod City. Instead, he bypassed it and went straight to Cerulean City.
Walking and stopping, enjoying the scenery along the way.
Such a journey, though somewhat tiring, could also provide a good workout.
After spending most of the day, he finally bypassed Goldenrod City.
And just as he was passing through a plain, he saw a Pokémon in the grass that resembled a fox, which caught his eye.
Most of this Pokémon's fur was brown, it had a fluffy, bushy tail, short and slender legs, brown eyes, a small black nose, and long, rabbit-like ears, making it look very cute.
It was a wild Eevee!
Xia You recognized it at a glance and immediately took out his Pokédex and aimed it at this Eevee.
The Pokédex quickly responded.
"Beep, Eevee, Evolution Pokémon, Normal-type, possesses the possibility of evolving into multiple forms!"
It was just a short sentence, without even detailed information.
But Xia You didn't care about that.
It could only be said that from the start of his journey until now, he had seen many wild Pokémon along the way, but he hadn't had the idea of catching any of them until he saw this Eevee in front of him.
Since he encountered it, he couldn't miss it!
"Bulbasaur, it's up to you now!"
At Xia You's command, the Bulbasaur beside him cried out, then moved its four limbs and ran aggressively towards the Eevee, striking a battle pose.
"Bulba! Bulba!"
It barked twice at the Eevee, and from its tone, it was clear that Bulbasaur seemed to be provoking something.
And seeing Bulbasaur, Eevee did not choose to run away. Instead, it also cried out excitedly, moved its four limbs, and actually attacked first!
"Oh? Interesting." Seeing this scene, Xia You's eyes lit up, "Not afraid of humans? And it can attack proactively, even its tail is wagging excitedly. It seems your personality is also quite warlike!"