Who needs a girlfriend when you have Pokémon?

Don't be fooled by how accurately he hits targets in the anime and games. In reality, Rowe trained for several years at the Pokémon Academy to maintain an accuracy rate of at least 80%, and that was against stationary targets.

Once the target takes action, the hit rate will drop further, and the only solution to this is...

...Prepare an extra blank Poké Ball. If you miss one, just throw a few more. You'll eventually catch something, even a blind cat can catch a dead mouse.

But at this moment, with the atmosphere already built up, it would be unreasonable to miss the target again.

So, Manch took the Poké Ball from Rowe, took a deep breath, and took two steps forward to approach Kecleon. Once the distance between them was less than one meter, he carefully threw the Poké Ball.

At this moment, the Kecleon was already mentally disoriented by the two flashes of light from the new leafy creature, making it basically a stationary target. Given the close distance, even with full arm strength, the Poké Ball was successfully thrown accurately at it.

The Poké Ball that flew out hit Kecleon's big tail, and immediately split open from the center, releasing a beam of white light that captured Kecleon into the ball.

Immediately afterward, the Poké Ball landed and began to shake, while the red light on the button in the center of the ball kept flashing and jumping.

After the Poké Ball shook three times, a satisfying "click" sound came from inside the Poké Ball, and the button in the center stopped flashing.

Over there, Manchong stared at the Poké Ball in front of him, almost stopping his breathing, his heart skipping a beat. Only when the Poké Ball finally stopped shaking did he excitedly step forward and carefully pick it up.

"I did it! I got a partner Pokémon!"

The boy holding the Poké Ball was so excited he almost cried, while Rowe stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder with a grin.

"Right? I told you I'd leave it to me, so it definitely wasn't... cough cough, well, thanks to Ralts' help, thank you, lovely little lady~"

Rowe smiled and waved to Ralts, who seemed to have made a decision.

The little guy ran up to Rowe and waved his little hand, pointing to Rowe's backpack.

"Huh?" Luo Wei was taken aback at first, but then seemed to understand something and immediately took out a box of Pokémon macarons from his backpack.

"Hmm, just saying thank you isn't enough. Here, take this as a thank you gift~"

Luo Wei handed over a whole box of macarons, but the little guy shook his arm vigorously, as if he didn't want the macarons as a gift.

"Uh, isn't this the gift you wanted?"

Rowe still didn't quite understand Ralts's meaning, so he simply put his backpack on the ground and said, "Well then, take whatever you want~"

Ralts stepped forward and stretched out its small hand. With a purplish-red psychic light pattern, the backpack shook twice, and then a blank Poké Ball flew out.

"what?"

Now, Rowe understood what Ralts wanted to do. The little guy quickly reached out and patted the button in the middle of the Poké Ball. As the Poké Ball opened, Ralts offered no resistance and let it take her inside.

The Poké Ball wobbled upon landing, immediately releasing three star-shaped light effects before stopping shaking.

"That's okay..."

This scene left Luo Wei, Manchong, and Xinye Miao completely stunned.

Xin Ye Miao rushed forward with a "Oh no, is this for free?" expression, but unfortunately, she was already a step too late.

Previously, Shinleaf threw a tantrum, not wanting Rowe to catch other Pokémon, and she actually did just that. Along the way, whenever Rowe encountered a wild Pokémon he wanted to catch, Shinleaf would casually knock it away.

Despite all the precautions, they couldn't stop this unexpected delivery. Although Luo Wei was somewhat amused and exasperated by the situation, he still carefully picked up the Poké Ball and released Ralts.

"Well, that's really... Now that you've chosen me as your trainer, I certainly won't let you down. From today onwards, please take care of me, Ralts~"

Luo Wei reached out and rubbed Ralts's little head. The little guy lowered his head, a faint blush rising on his face hidden in the shadows, and the horns on his head obediently tucked in.

Ralts is an extremely difficult Pokémon to catch because it possesses the ability to sense malice and is very sensitive to changes in emotions. If a trainer is not genuinely fond of Pokémon, Ralts will not accept them.

The only reason Ralts would choose to be captured is that it sensed Rowe's affection for Pokémon and received a helping hand from him, leading it to make that choice.

Originally, I wanted to help Mt. Catch Pokémon, but since Ralts chose Lowe, I couldn't just give it away. Besides, Mt. Catch already had Kecleon as a partner, so I was already quite satisfied.

In that case, Lowe got his second partner Pokémon.

In this way, both Luo Wei and Manchong gained new partners, and Luo Wei's team was finally able to expand.

Both Luo Wei and Manchong were very satisfied with this, and they were also pleased to have found their ideal trainer, Ralts. Only Xinye Miao had a sour face and patted Luo Wei's trouser leg unhappily. Luo Wei quickly picked up Xinye Miao.

"Don't worry, don't worry, I already said I have new friends, but I won't neglect Shin-chan. Everyone is my precious treasure~"

Luo Wei nuzzled Xin Ye Miao's cheek affectionately, which seemed to calm Xin Ye Miao down a bit.

After finishing their business here, Luo Wei and Man Chong set off to return to Orange City. Just as the two left, the trunk of the giant tree where the Hidden Dragon had previously resided shifted and distorted with light and shadow.

All that could be seen was a grid-like pattern of horizontal and vertical lines appearing out of thin air. Then, cracks like shattered glass appeared in that space. With a crisp sound, that space collapsed towards the center of the grid, revealing a vortex-like void.

As the void appeared, a strange sound came from inside it, as if something was trying to pass through it.

Just as that thing was about to emerge, a bright, cold light descended from the sky, revealing a bird-shaped Pokémon covered in a metallic shell, with a streamlined shape and a cold metallic sheen, descending from the sky.

With a single flap of its sharp wings covered in metallic ruffs, the Pokémon cleaved the eerie void in two...

Immediately afterwards, the eerie void twisted and dissipated, and at the same time, a handsome young man with silver hair emerged from the shadows...

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Capable Should Do More Work~

From the shadows emerged a handsome young man with silver hair. After the armored bird cleaved open the strange hole, it shook its wings and nodded to the young man, as if to indicate that "mission accomplished."

"Well done, Skarmory..."

The silver-haired youth nodded in acknowledgment, and at the same time, reached out and pressed an earpiece, seemingly making a call to someone.

"This is Steven. The Ultra Cave on Route 102 has been cleared..."

Soon, a flippant male voice came through the earpiece, "Haha, as expected of my best friend, entrusting it to you was definitely the right decision. Well then, next up is the ruins cave in Martial Arts Town, so I'll trouble Daigo to make another trip there..."

"You really know how to order people around, don't you..."

The silver-haired youth named Daigo couldn't help but shake his head, while the voice on the other end of the earpiece continued to reply with a laugh, "The capable are always busy, right? Don't let my appearance fool you, I have a lot of important work to handle too~"

"Are you busy with photoshoots or public events?"

Daigo made no positive assessment of the "important work" the other person mentioned, simply asking the question calmly, while the voice on the other end responded with a smile...

"Haha, isn't that new super popular model from the Gallar region coming to shoot a special photobook? I'll have to lend a hand~"

"...What's the real reason?"

Daigo ignored his friend's teasing, official-sounding words and went straight to the point. At that moment, the flippant male voice on the other end of the line instantly became serious.

"Recently, Ultra Holes and Ultra Beasts have been discovered in the Galar region. The other party was commissioned by the League to come and understand the situation from us, and to conduct further joint investigations..."

As for why that model was chosen, it's mainly because, besides her main job as a model, she also has a "side job"... incidentally, she's also the gym leader of the Galar region.

At least shooting a special photobook as a model is an excuse that is absolutely impeccable from the outside, and the other party is also strong enough as a gym leader, which is why he was sent here.

As for Daigo's friend, who was the host and can also be seen as a representative of the Hoenn region, that also proves his strength.

That's only natural, since if we're talking about sheer strength, aside from Daigo here, his friend is currently the strongest in the Hoenn region.

wrong……

At this point, another person came to Daigo's mind: Senri, the Gym Leader of Petalburg City. If it was that man, Daigo felt that his strength was definitely among the top in the entire Hoenn region. Even the Elite Four, who were in charge of the League, might not be able to surpass Senri in terms of raw strength.

It's just that this man really dislikes crowds. Even the job of gym leader was something he only agreed to after being invited several times by the league.

However, if something truly serious happens, that man won't stand idly by.

The reason she was unwilling to become the dojo master before was simply because that man cared a lot about his family. Once she became the dojo master, she would inevitably be tied up with a lot of important matters, and she would definitely have less time to spend with her family.

Therefore, as a husband and father, Qianli had been declining the alliance until recently when his son gradually grew up, at which point he began to loosen his grip a little.

With his son by his side, his wife wouldn't be too lonely. In addition, Qianli has now brought his wife and son to live with him, so he can balance his work as a dojo master with his family as much as possible.

Besides, his son is old enough to start working as a trainer.

"Alright, let's talk about the rest later. I'll head to Wudou Town first and sort out the issues there..."

Having said that, Daigo patted the Skarmory beside him. The Skarmory crouched down, allowing Daigo to leap onto its back. Then, the Skarmory flapped its wings and instantly carried Daigo into the sky, disappearing completely into the horizon...

Meanwhile, Lowe and Mt. ...

Manchong's father was overjoyed to see that Manchong had finally obtained the partner Pokémon he had been longing for, and he was so excited that he thanked him profusely.

Qianli, on the other hand, seemed quite calm. After all, in his eyes, it was no difficult for Luo Wei to do this. He simply nodded with satisfaction when he saw that Luo Wei had also captured Ralts.

"That's right, expanding the team is necessary. An excellent trainer can flexibly command various Pokémon, hmm?"

Qianli noticed the cloaked dragon next to Manchong and frowned slightly. "A cloaked dragon?"

“Yeah, I find it strange too…” Luo Wei chimed in, “…There aren’t any wild populations of Kecleon on Route 102, right? I wonder where this Kecleon came from. Dad, do you have any clues?”

Qianli frowned and pondered for two seconds before slowly speaking, "It might have been lost by a poaching team. If that's the case, we'll need to investigate..."

After all, poaching gangs are considered a rather detestable organization in this world. As a gym leader, Senri is also a big fan of Pokémon, and he can't let poachers go, both for personal and professional reasons.

However, it's also possible that it wasn't a poaching team, but for other reasons. As for that, Qianli felt there was no need to say anything to Luo Weiduo for the time being.

Over there, Manchong had fulfilled his wish and was now content, preparing to go home with his father.

"Um, Luo Wei..." Man Chong cautiously walked up to Luo Wei and tentatively asked, "Can I add you as a friend?"

He looked exactly like a shy little boy trying to get the number of a girl he liked, which amused Luo Wei, who then readily pulled out his Navigator.

"Of course~"

Seeing the latest Navigator in Luo Wei's hand, Manchong pulled out his older model Navigator with a hint of envy. After all, not everyone could get their hands on that limited edition of one thousand units; most people had the older model Navigator. "Hmm, thanks for your help!"

After exchanging numbers, Manchong reluctantly said goodbye and left. Seeing the other party's attitude, Luo Wei felt a little embarrassed.

It's estimated that Rowe was probably the first friend Manchū ever made in his life. After watching his new friend leave, Rowe looked towards his father's dojo.

"What, want to take on the challenge?"

"Haha, now, I'd definitely get thrashed by Dad, right?" Luo Wei shrugged casually. "I originally wanted to challenge Dad last, but that would be too late, so... I'll just put him in the 'middle' position."

At this point, Luo Wei extended his palm to his father.

"Once I get all four badges, I'll challenge Dad. Then we'll have a real showdown!"

"Oh, quite confident..." Qianli calmly extended his palm and gave Luo Wei a high five. "...Well then, let me see how long it will take you to stand in front of me. Don't keep me waiting too long, Luo Wei!"