At the Pokémon Center in Saffron 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. 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 chair and asked,
"How are things on your side? Have you found Team Rocket's base?"
"No." Handsome answered 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, right—your next destination is here, right? When you arrive, I'll treat you to a meal as thanks."
"Okay. I'll contact you when I get there."
Although he said that, Xia You was thinking about another problem.
Team Rocket's base?
He hesitated, then decided against saying anything.
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 Saffron City, Xia You continued his journey the next day.
According to the map, the closest Gym city to him was Celadon City, and since he hadn't contacted Misty, he didn't know whether Ash had successfully obtained his fifth Badge.
The distance between the two cities wasn't too far. Even so, by noon, he had only covered a little more than half the journey.
Along the way, he passed through plains and forests.
A gentle breeze blew, 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—then quickly reversed.
When the dust settled, Xia You turned his head and saw five people in the car. Besides a handsome young man with reddish-brown hair in the passenger seat, everyone else—including the driver—were beautiful young women.
The young man, wearing large sunglasses, turned his head to examine Xia You carefully 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 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 childhood friend, but also the rival he acknowledges."
"Is that so?" Gary didn't seem to care much.
"Ash can be quite eloquent sometimes. Oh, by the way—judging by the Pokémon next to you, you're the one who told that Warrior 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 the moment I entered the forest." Gary pouted.
"And he also said you're 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? I've never lost either!" Gary said arrogantly.
After thinking for a moment, he asked,
"So how many Badges have you obtained now?"
"Four Badges."
After answering, Xia You pointed ahead.
"But I'm heading to the Celadon Gym to challenge the Gym Leader there. I'll soon get my fifth Badge."
"What? Only four Badges? That's really slow." Gary's tone grew even more arrogant.
"It seems your level is about the same as Ash's. I've already collected seven Badges, and I'm heading to Viridian City now to get the next one."
So he judges strength purely by the number of Badges…
I have to say, this kid's tone is really arrogant.
But then again, Gary had just started his journey—full of ambition, believing that as Professor Oak's grandson, he had an advantage over others. Having not yet experienced the crushing defeats of two conferences, he naturally didn't put others in his eyes.
Thinking this, Xia You took out a Poké Ball, enlarged it, and spun it on his finger.
"Since that's the case, how about it? Want to battle 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 getting into the Indigo Conference and meeting me there!"
With that, Gary waved his hand. The sports car started up, accelerated, and disappeared into the distance.
"Hehehe."
Gastly floated out from Xia You's shadow, self-mockingly saying,
"Looks like we've been underestimated."
Watching the car vanish, Xia You shook his head.
So young, with a sports car and so many female companions… really enviable.
Collecting his thoughts, he put down his backpack and told Kirlia to gather firewood, while releasing all his Pokémon except Zapdos and Magikarp.
After spending so much time together, the Pokémon already knew what to do without instructions.
Squirtle took the kettle to fetch water from the river.
Charmander lit the firewood.
Ivysaur led the other Pokémon into the forest to collect berries.
Everything proceeded in an orderly manner.
After everyone finished eating, Xia You took out the Poké Ball containing Magikarp, thought for a moment, and walked to the river before releasing it.
With a flash of blue light, Magikarp appeared in the water, swimming around happily.
After careful observation, Xia You realized he had truly been tricked by the old man who sold him Magikarp.
This was clearly a male Magikarp—how could it possibly lay eggs!?
Even so, a long time had passed since Xia You obtained it. Logically speaking, given its condition, it should have evolved long ago. Yet after all this time, there was still no sign of evolution.
Was it really the lack of James's final push that prevented it from evolving?
"Hey, Gastly."
Xia You turned and asked,
"In this situation, is there any way to make it evolve quickly?"
"Evolve?" Gastly chuckled.
"What—do you really think a mere evolution is that difficult?"