Who needs a girlfriend when you have Pokémon?

Since Qianli had said so, Manchong's father naturally nodded in agreement, "In that case, I'll have to trouble you..."

Chapter Seventeen: Can we tolerate this? We must pump out the water!

Manchong's father clearly still had some doubts about Luo Wei's abilities, but after hearing Qianli's affirmation of Luo Wei's strength, he immediately felt relieved.

It can only be said that Qianli is indeed renowned. Even though Luo Wei is his son, he would never show favoritism because of this. In fact, given his temperament, he would be even stricter with Luo Wei precisely because Luo Wei is his son.

If even a thousand miles can prove that Luo Wei is capable, then there's definitely no problem with him.

After all, Full Charge wasn't going to challenge the Gym Leader; he just wanted to catch a random Pokémon as a partner. It was a small matter that any decent trainer could handle.

Over there, Rowe, with a full charge, left Petalburg City and headed straight for Route 102. This area has the most wild Pokémon in the vicinity, and Rowe had just come from here, so he knew the area very well.

"So, what kind of Pokémon does Full Charge like?"

Rowe put his arm around Manch's shoulder and spoke with great enthusiasm. After all, Rowe was quite sympathetic to Manch's situation. Manch clearly loved Pokémon and actually had quite a bit of talent as a trainer.

However, he had to give up his dream of becoming a trainer because of a genetic disease. Since Rowe had the ability to help him, he certainly didn't mind doing this small favor.

Faced with Lowell's enthusiastic question, Manchong nodded silently, "I like all kinds of Pokémon, as long as it's a Pokémon, I will treat it with all my heart!"

Upon hearing this, the new leaf cat on Luo Wei's shoulder nodded in deep agreement and immediately patted Luo Wei's face with its paw.

Look at other cats, how devoted they are!

"...Okay, okay, be good, stop making a fuss now~"

Rowe reached out and rubbed Xinye Miao's chin. Although the little guy was annoyed by Rowe's coaxing tone, he was still defeated by Rowe's skillful cat-petting technique. Soon, he narrowed his eyes and made a purring sound from his throat.

For Luo Wei and Xin Ye Miao, this was just a casual, everyday interaction, but in Man Chong's eyes, it was something he envied immensely.

“Well…” Luo Wei’s eyes swept around. If he wanted to just make do, he could easily find a wolfhound or a snake-patterned bear to fill in for Man Chong.

However, these are too common. Although he himself might not be picky and would definitely like a Poliwag or Zigzagoon even if it were a full-charge Pokémon, Rowe still felt that if he could only have one partner Pokémon, he would prefer one that was a little rarer.

"Generally speaking, wild Pokémon have their own habitats and leave traces when they move around. By following these traces, you can find the Pokémon's trail..."

As he explained, Rowe pointed to the various footprints and mud marks left by the roadside, which were clearly traces left by Pokémon activities.

Manch listened intently. Although this was just basic knowledge for ordinary trainers, and could be found in any Pokémon-related book, there was still a difference between what was written in books and what one saw with their own eyes.

"For example... oh, I've got it!"

Luo Wei suddenly lowered his voice, and Xin Ye Miao on his shoulder immediately got into position, arching his back and assuming a stance.

Upon hearing Luo Wei's voice, Man Chong tensed up. He saw Luo Wei point to the grass not far away, where the blades of grass were trembling unnaturally.

There's something inside!

Without a doubt, this should be a wild Pokémon.

At that moment, Luo Wei concealed his aura and carefully tiptoed closer, while Man Chong also carefully followed Luo Wei's steps.

Soon, their gaze passed over the bushes and they saw a small, white figure.

It looked like a little girl with short green hair crouching in the grass, but upon closer inspection, it was clearly a humanoid Pokémon.

There are pictures here, which can be viewed after the updated version

"Ralts! What great luck... This is the rarest wild Pokémon here!"

Upon seeing this, Luo Wei's spirits immediately lifted. That's right, how can a common dog like a jackal compare to the rarity of a Ralts? You're the one!

"Now, here comes the key point: to capture a wild Pokémon, you first need to reduce its HP through battle. If possible, inflicting some status conditions on it will increase the success rate of capture!"

At this point, Luo Wei raised his hand and waved it. Xin Ye Miao understood immediately and jumped up and accelerated along Luo Wei's arm. Before Man Chong could even see clearly, Xin Ye Miao had already turned into a green afterimage and pounced away.

"?"

However, despite the swiftness of the attack, the moment it began, Ralts' red horn twitched slightly.

At that moment, a flash of light appeared on the horn, and Ralts' body instantly transformed into several identical afterimages.

"...Shadow clone?"

Lowe recognized the skill Ralts used, but the question was, how was Newleaf's attack discovered?

"...By the way, Ralts's horns can sense the emotions of other creatures around it!"

They are particularly sensitive to danger and hostility. After all, this is a superpower and cannot be understood with common sense. Even though they have been careful and cautious enough, their intentions were still detected the moment they made a move.

Luo Wei took out his Pokédex and began taking notes while explaining Ralts's abilities, while over there, Newleaf Meow had already rushed forward...

Seeing that the Ralts in front of her had suddenly multiplied into several, Newleaf was momentarily bewildered. However, her attack did not stop. She continued to pounce forward and dodged, and half of her clone disappeared from Ralts's claws in an instant.

"...They're all clones!"

Luo Wei couldn't help but mutter, "What really bad luck..."

……wrong!

Ralts can read the emotions of the creatures around it, which in a sense is similar to "mind reading".

So that means it wasn't that Newleaf was unlucky and only hit clones, but that Ralts sensed from the beginning where Newleaf would attack and moved its main body to another place in advance.

"..."

It's definitely quite different from what you see in the game...

...After all, genuine Pokémon have their own unique racial abilities, some of which are specialized into special abilities in the games, while others are simply a sentence in the Pokédex.

Once it becomes reality, these features that couldn't be shown in games become tangible realities.

Ralts is rare in the game simply because of its low appearance rate, but in reality, if it has a stable population and is still so rare, there is only one possibility.

It is rare because it is quite difficult to subdue...

...This is because I can read minds and sense danger in various ways. Even if I am not particularly powerful, I can at least escape if I can't beat my opponent.

However, this also ignited Luo Wei's competitive spirit...

"...Alright, I'm going to win you over today no matter what, come on!"

...I have a feeling that the purpose has started to change.

Chapter Eighteen: The nature of the game underwent some subtle changes.

As we all know, just like when rock-paper-scissors ends in a tie three times in a row, the nature of the game will undergo some subtle changes.

For example, right now, facing Ralts who can read minds and sense danger, Rowe's competitive spirit and temper flared up. He was determined to subdue her today!

The main reason is that Lowell hadn't caught a single Pokémon along the way, and at this moment, Newleaf seemed quite unhappy with the situation as well.

So, the two sides quickly reached a consensus, and Luo Wei immediately raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

"Leaves!"

When Lowe uttered the word "leaf," Ralts seemed to sense it and released even more clones. However, Newleaf didn't release any leaves. Instead, it used its feet to accelerate and dash forward. With a combination of a flash of lightning and sharpening claws, it quickly destroyed most of the clones that had just been created.

"?!"

Seeing this, Ralts fidgeted with its little hands, and the horn on its head swayed uneasily, as if it was wavering because it had completely misjudged the situation.

Why does New Leaf Cat's actual behavior differ from Lowell's command, even though Lowell gave the command for a leaf?

Did Shinyanoko disobey its trainer's commands?

However, Xin Ye Miao and Luo Wei both seemed confident, proving that the situation just now was not an accident, but rather everything was within their judgment.

"Alright, let's continue this time, Lightning Flash!"

Loewy held out his hand, and Ralts looked around twice before trying to create a clone again. However, unexpectedly, this time Neoleaf jumped up, and leaves swept out from its body, instantly covering the entire area.

In an instant, the newly created clone was destroyed, and as the leaves swept by, Ralts's true form was exposed.

Lowe snapped his fingers again. "Alright, it'll be Quick Attack again this time!"

Judging from the previous two situations, Luo Wei was probably saying the opposite of what he meant, which means that the skill that Xin Ye Miao used this time should be the leaf.

Ralts immediately raised her small arms, and crimson light patterns appeared around her body.

...This is naturally the most commonly used move by Psychic-type Pokémon, and it's also the all-powerful move "Psychic" in the anime!

Using telekinesis to control the leaves released by Shin-Ye-Nyan, one can then counter them...

Ralts had prepared for this, but unexpectedly, Newleaf suddenly charged forward, its bright paws aimed directly at her.

In the nick of time, Ralts quickly focused its scattered psychic energy into a single beam, barely managing to deflect Newleafy's swung claws and narrowly escape from her.

But the sharp claws still grazed Ralts, and the little guy immediately looked like he was about to cry with teary eyes.

"Cough cough..."

This sight made Luo Wei feel a little guilty, so much so that he didn't immediately order Xin Ye Miao to launch a follow-up attack; otherwise, the battle might have already been decided in one fell swoop.

In that brief moment of delay, Ralts, realizing something was wrong, activated her last protective measure.

A flash of white light appeared, and Ralts vanished without a trace right in front of Rowe and Mitsuru.

"...Huh, teleportation?"

This startled Luo Wei, while Xin Ye Miao rushed up to him, looking up at him with displeasure and meowing twice with narrowed eyes.

The game was clearly decided just now, so why didn't you give the final command, meow? Was it because the other side was so cute that you got flustered, meow?

"..."

In that situation, Newleafy could have reacted proactively based on its own judgment, but a good Pokémon should wholeheartedly trust its trainer's judgment. If the trainer hasn't given any instructions, it shouldn't act on its own and waste energy...

New Leaf Cat chose to trust Rowe's judgment, but Rowe messed up, his judgment wavered by Ralts' appearance, allowing Ralts to seize the opportunity to escape using Teleport...

Therefore, Luo Wei was undoubtedly fully responsible for this incident, and he immediately put his hands together and respectfully apologized...

"……sorry!!!"

Faced with Luo Wei's direct apology, Xin Ye Miao, who seemed to be about to confront him, suddenly hesitated. She, who was about to continue to scold him, fell silent and turned her head away unhappily.

Okay, the little one is being fussy again. I'll try to soothe her when I brush her fur later.