Who needs a girlfriend when you have Pokémon?

Thinking of this, Luo Wei remembered something else...

It seems that this time he wasn't the one catching Pokémon, but rather he was helping Manch catch Pokémon. He was a bit caught up in the moment and completely forgot about this.

"Ahem, that..."

Luo Wei felt a little embarrassed and was about to say something when Manman came up with her eyes shining and grabbed Luo Wei's hand, shaking it excitedly up and down.

"Wow, that's amazing! This is real Pokémon battle, completely different from what you see on TV. Lowell and Meowth are both so strong, and your teamwork is fantastic!"

Previously, Rowe and Newleaf had worked together several times to confuse Ralts, who could read minds, as the commands Rowe issued and Newleaf executed were completely different.

As for the details...

"It was Rowe who gave the real command through gestures; the verbal command was just a distraction, deliberately used to confuse Ralts's judgment..."

"Uh, you figured it out?"

Luo Wei was also a little surprised. Indeed, just as Man Chong said, Luo Wei always used specific gestures and actions when issuing commands. In other words, those were Luo Wei's real commands.

As for the commands that Rowe gave, they were just a feint to confuse the opponent. This was a technique that Rowe and Newleaf had worked together for a long time to develop, and it was originally intended to be used in Pokémon Trainer Battles.

Even in actual combat, it fooled Ralts, who has the ability to read minds. Of course, this may be because Ralts does not possess true mind-reading, but rather an ability similar to a vague sense.

Regardless, the fact that it fooled Ralts's judgment proved the feasibility of this tactic, but unexpectedly it was seen through by Manch.

While there is certainly an element of the bystander's perspective in this, Luo Wei also believes it is because Man Chong possesses high comprehension and is very good at observation.

His keen observation skills might be due to his weak physique, making him more delicate and sensitive, while his comprehension is definitely a natural talent.

For a moment, Luo Wei couldn't help but feel a little regretful. If it weren't for the congenital genetic disease, Manch would most likely have become an excellent trainer.

"Well, forget it. We've come all this way without any results. Let's have lunch first. I brought a rice ball bento box; consider it a picnic too!"

Luo Wei looked up at the sky. After all that fuss, it was already noon, so he suggested that they have lunch first.

Manchong naturally had no objection to this, and because of what had just happened, Manchong seemed to have become much more lenient with Luo Wei.

They laid out a placemat, opened their lunchboxes, and sat down on the floor with Xin Ye Miao to enjoy their lunch. Luo Wei then took out a brush from his backpack and cheerfully picked up Xin Ye Miao.

"I'm sorry, it was my fault just now, so this is to express my sincere apology."

Xin Ye Miao glanced at Luo Wei, seemingly wanting to pull him away, but ultimately couldn't resist the temptation and obediently lay down on Luo Wei's lap, exposing her belly.

Luo Wei reached for the brush, but suddenly heard Man Chong let out a low gasp from the side.

"Hey, how did the rice ball fly away by itself..."

"what?"

Chapter 19: Are there any fans of the speaker-themed cricket?

"what?"

Upon hearing the words "the rice ball flew away by itself," Luo Wei was a little overwhelmed and immediately turned around to check the situation.

Sure enough, a rice ball in the lunchbox placed on the picnic mat next to it suddenly floated up, even though there was nothing around it pulling it away, as if the rice ball had flown away on its own.

Luo Wei subconsciously looked up at the sky. The sun was shining brightly. If you want to cause trouble, you should at least pick a good time.

While the world of Pokémon does indeed have ghosts, or rather, Ghost-type Pokémon, and they can indeed appear in broad daylight, Ghost-type Pokémon generally inhabit a few fixed areas. Theoretically, although they can come out during the day, they wouldn't just wander around in the middle of the day for no reason.

If it wasn't a prank by a Ghost-type Pokémon, then what was it?

Is it that Pokémon are manipulating it from a distance using psychic powers or something similar, or...?

"New Leaf Meow!"

Luo Wei called out, and Xin Ye Miao immediately jumped up and casually threw a leaf in the direction of the rice ball.

The rice ball flew out at an even faster speed. During that process, Luo Wei clearly saw a blurry shadow flash by not far from the rice ball.

Although it was only a fleeting moment, Luo Wei seized the opportunity to scan the other party's data with his Pokédex. At the same time, Luo Wei also roughly saw the other party's outline.

As the information that appeared in the encyclopedia became clear to Rowe, he confirmed his judgment.

"This is... a Kecleon? No, where did this Kecleon come from on Route 102?! Shouldn't these creatures only have populations near Lilycove City?"

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

Luo Wei couldn't help but complain, but it seemed that this wasn't the first time he had encountered this situation. Putting aside everything else, he still didn't know what was going on with the Salamence that appeared in the back mountain when he was six years old.

In addition, I had previously encountered Nihilego on Route 103, so all I can say is that I've gotten used to it after a few complaints.

After all, there are still many unknowns about the ecology of Pokémon, and this Kecleon may have been moved to this area for some reason.

It could be a deliberate act, such as being transported after being poached, or it could be an accident, such as being transported due to some special natural phenomenon.

While such paranormal phenomena are not particularly common, they do exist in the Pokémon world, and can even manifest in many different ways.

Rowe didn't bother to figure out why the other party was there. However, the cloaked dragon had clearly set its sights on the lunch balls that Rowe had prepared. It sneaked up and tried to steal them, but was caught red-handed.

After being discovered by Lo Wei, the cloaked dragon dropped the rice ball and tried to run away in a flash.

However, Shin-Ye-Nyan wasn't having it...

Every day at this time, without fail, she enjoys sunbathing while having Rowe groom her.

This was "Miss's" time to enjoy herself. Luo Wei had even taken out his brush, but it was forcibly interrupted by the cloaked dragon. It was like trying to stop someone from masturbating halfway through. How many people could stand that?

New Leafy was clearly fed up, and coupled with the resentment that had accumulated from letting Ralts run away, it all exploded at once.

More importantly, after seeing the Kecleon in the Pokédex and its mysterious, elusive form, ManChong's eyes lit up.

"Love, I...I want that Pokémon as my partner..."

His tone was a little reserved and quite embarrassed, because he had just said he wasn't picky about anything, as long as it was a Pokémon, but now he was specifically asking for one, which naturally made him feel very embarrassed.

But Rowe didn't care about that; he just stared blankly at the Kecleon in the Pokédex...

No matter how you look at it, this thing looks like a giant chameleon. If you insist on associating it with the word "cute," you can only say it's "ugly-cute."

After a moment of surprise, Luo Wei readily gave a thumbs up.

"Great, not following the crowd's taste, that's really classy!"

This isn't sarcastic; Luo Wei genuinely admires people who can appreciate niche Pokémon, right? Who says there aren't fans of Speaker Crawler?!

Manchong probably felt that asking for this was a bit too much, but Luo Wei didn't care at all.

"When choosing your first partner Pokémon, you should naturally pick one that suits your taste. Otherwise, a forced relationship won't be happy, and it won't be good for either the Pokémon or the trainer."

After all, Luo Wei always struggled for a long time when choosing his starter Pokémon, and he had clear preferences. He still can't forget the moment when he was first struck by Litten's charm, and then his heart stopped after seeing its third evolution.

Of course, "How can there be a Pokémon as cool as Incineroar?" That's another story. But after all, Lowe is just a player who completes the game and collects the entire Pokédex. He doesn't know much about battling, so even the so-called "number one Pokémon in the universe" doesn't have much of an impact on him.

It was purely a matter of developing feelings for him over time while playing the game; after watching him for a while, I felt that Roaring Tiger was actually quite reassuring, and had a kind of rugged handsomeness...

Therefore, Luo Wei felt there was no problem with choosing the fully charged Pokémon. What's wrong with choosing the Pokémon you like?

"Okay, then I'll take care of it, uh..."

However, as soon as he said it, Luo Wei hesitated, because after realizing something was wrong, the cloaked dragon immediately disappeared from Luo Wei and Xin Ye Miao's sight.

This is certainly not teleportation or anything like that; it's simply camouflage, just like a chameleon can blend into its environment by changing the color of its body.

However, the Kecleon spell is clearly more powerful. Chameleon's color change is just camouflage, which can usually be distinguished by careful observation. Kecleon, on the other hand, is practically invisible. You might not even see it if it's standing right in front of you (the Kecleon blocking the way at the Lilycove City Gym intersection)...

You're telling me this is science? I say this is clearly sorcery!

Seeing his target disappear, Luo Wei remained calm and composed.

"Even if it's invisible, it doesn't disappear. Since it can block the way, it means it can still be encountered..."

This is clearly different from the spirit form of Ghost-type Pokémon. In that case, its actions must leave traces, so even if it becomes invisible, it can still be found based on the traces it leaves behind.

Luo Wei carefully searched the ground nearby, not missing a single clue. After more than ten minutes, Man Chong felt even more embarrassed.

"forget it……"

"No..." However, Luo Wei chuckled softly, "...Found you~"

Looking at the faint grass mark on the ground, Luo Wei smiled confidently, "This is the trace left by the movement of the Kecleon's tail. Found it, go after it!"

Chapter Twenty: The Fight Between the Snipe and the Clam

"Found them! Chase them!"

As mentioned earlier, if rock-paper-scissors ends in a tie more than three times in a row, the nature of the game has already undergone some subtle changes.

At this point, it's no longer just about the rice ball being stolen or anything like that. After being repeatedly put on the defensive, all I want to do is quickly prove my worth.

Luo Wei discerned the cloaked dragon's movement by the grass tracks on the ground, while Xin Ye Miao also perked up, probably because she felt that the previous series of defeats was very embarrassing, so she was determined to redeem herself.

As it turned out, it was actually Mighty who had fallen "in love at first sight" with Kecleon who ended up falling behind the other two.

Rowe and Newleaf followed the grass tracks and other remaining traces on the ground, venturing deep into Route 102. Mt. Charm followed cautiously behind them. Fortunately, Rowe remembered that he was also responsible for protecting Mt. Charm's safety and deliberately slowed down.

Therefore, it took about several tens of minutes to follow the trail all the way to the depths of Route 102...

If it were just Luo Wei and Xin Ye Miao, they would probably arrive in about ten minutes at most. However, because they had to take care of Man Chong's pace, it took about half as long as expected.

Fortunately, they weren't too much slower, and when Luo Wei arrived, he witnessed an unexpected scene.

Because of its proximity to Petalburg City, Route 102 is surrounded by largely pristine forest terrain. In the dense forest, Rowe spotted the Kecleon he had been tracking.

The cloaked dragon was half-lying on the trunk of a giant tree, its large eyes, which occupied half of its face, darting around nimbly.

Its chameleon-like body structure allows its eyes to rotate in different directions simultaneously, giving it a much wider field of vision than humans.

At that moment, its right eye locked onto a small figure under the tree, a development that was unexpected by Rowe.

The cloaked dragon actually bumped into Ralts, which Rowe and the other two had just encountered, and it seems that a conflict had broken out.

Luo Wei saw that the tree where the cloaked dragon was lying was half-full of fruit. The heavy fruit bent the branches, and even from a distance, one could smell the sweet aroma of ripe fruit.

These tree berries, which are found everywhere in the wild, are the most common staple food for Pokémon. Most Pokémon eat tree berries, and different Pokémon have different preferences for them depending on their taste.

In addition, some particularly rare mutant varieties of tree fruits can appear, which not only taste sweet, but also produce a variety of incredible beneficial effects after being eaten.