Who needs a girlfriend when you have Pokémon?

Using the Z Power has a very obvious characteristic: it produces golden flames and a unique "aura" that envelops the entire body...

Because Ultra Beasts also exhibit the same characteristics, it is this association that has led people to make the corresponding connections.

The League has already selected suitable candidates in the Alola region to become the Elite Four. As for the "Champion," the selection will take place after the League is established. Before the first Champion is selected, the professor in charge of the League affairs in the Alola region will temporarily serve as the Champion.

At least in terms of strength, the opponent definitely has the strength of a king, and can at least keep the situation under control.

"I will report Lowe's condition to the league, is that alright?"

Luo Wei nodded immediately and decisively, "Of course, there was nothing to hide anyway~"

While Z-Force is rare throughout the Pokémon world, it's not uncommon in the Alola region, with quite a few trainers wielding it. In comparison, there are also mystical powers like Aura Force, Psychic Force, and Viridian Force, and even psychic beings like Sabrina...

...In contrast, the Z Power, a power that anyone can master through trials and whose clear origin is a blessing from the gods, is not so rare.

At most, it's rare for someone outside the Alola region to have mastered the Z Power, but since it involves Ultra Beasts, it makes perfect sense. At least Rowe's explanation is logical.

"Well, then there's no problem. In any case, this is a good thing; at least we've mastered a decent power..."

Du Juan changed the subject and smiled. She was about to say a few polite words to end the conversation when someone suddenly rushed into the dojo.

"Something terrible has happened, Ms. Du Juan! There's been an accident at the mine! Please go and check it out right away!"

"?!"

Chapter 45 marks the start of a side quest.

"Teacher Du Juan, there's been an accident at the mine!"

A man burst into the dojo, and his first words made Du Juan frown.

"what's the situation?"

"..." The newcomer glanced at Luo Wei beside him, seemingly hesitant in his words, while Du Juan nodded decisively, "This is Mr. Qianli's son. Don't worry, he is absolutely trustworthy...an excellent trainer!"

Since Du Juan, the dojo owner, had already spoken up, the newcomer naturally stopped hesitating and immediately told Luo Wei and Du Juan the whole story.

"The mine was operating as usual today, but about an hour ago, a group of people calling themselves the Lava Team arrived and attacked the mine workers. Now they have complete control of the mine, and we don't know what those people are planning to do in the mine..."

"..." Du Juan frowned even more after hearing this. After a few seconds, she sighed helplessly, "...I thought that after the Rockets were dealt with by the league, the world would be a little more peaceful. It turns out that was just wishful thinking."

In the past, when Team Rocket dominated the villains in the Pokémon world, trainers all over the world believed that as long as Team Rocket was eradicated, the world would definitely become a better place.

Thus, with the assistance of the legendary trainer Red, the League launched a surprise attack on Team Rocket's headquarters, successfully capturing them all. Except for Giovanni, whose whereabouts are unknown, all the other Team Rocket executives were captured...

However, as it turns out, once the ringleader was eliminated, a whole host of second and third henchmen emerged. The peaceful days they had envisioned didn't even last a few years before a whole host of messy and evil organizations began to spring up in various places.

Of course, none of these organizations currently have the influence to surpass Team Rocket. They haven't yet reached the level of the team that wiped them out, which assembled several large regions, several champions, a dozen Elite Four members, dozens of Gym Leaders, and thousands of elite trainers.

That was arguably one of the biggest events in the entire Pokémon world so far. The fact that so many top players joined forces to deal with it shows how powerful Team Rocket is. But with so many top players gathered, it's only natural that they were all wiped out.

In short, although the Rockets were successfully defeated in that game, the league also suffered significant losses. Although there were no casualties, there were certainly many injured players.

After that, the legendary trainer Red went to Mt. Platinum alone to train, and it is said that he also went to heal the injuries he suffered in that battle. Three years have passed since then, and the impact of that battle on the League has not yet been completely eliminated.

Perhaps for this reason, organizations that were originally active in the shadows in various regions seized the opportunity presented by the alliance's severe weakening and began to take active action.

...Then, many of these organizations were conveniently wiped out by the weakened alliance.

As the saying goes, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse, and a wrecked ship still has three pounds of nails. No matter how badly the Pokémon League is weakened, it is not an ordinary organization that can be trifled with. Even if it is severely weakened, it is still the number one power in the entire Pokémon world.

Of course, while there are clowns who get easily killed, there are also organizations that can really cause trouble for the League. Although ordinary people may not have heard of them, the gym leaders of the League naturally have their own intelligence channels to learn about relevant clues.

Currently, there are two organizations in the Hoenn region that have been marked by the League as requiring special attention: Team Aqua and Team Magma.

Although the henchmen of these two organizations are all easily defeated, there are indeed a few officers among them who are quite strong. As for the leaders of the organizations, they have not yet revealed their true identities.

They probably know that they haven't been completely wiped out by the league yet. The league is afraid of alerting them, and once their leader is exposed, they will most likely suffer the same fate as the Rockets, being wiped out by the league on the spot.

But Team Magma and Team Ocean, who have been operating in the shadows, have suddenly made such a big commotion, which suggests that a major operation is about to take place.

"...Team Magma?" Upon hearing the man mention Team Magma's name, Lowe feigned surprise. "...I encountered a guy who called himself 'Team Ocean' in Petalburg Woods before. He tried to attack Devon Corporation employees, but I stopped him and he ran away."

"Oh?" Du Juan immediately asked after hearing this, "Is that so?"

"Hmm, so does that mean Team Ocean... and Team Magma have some connection?"

"...This was originally considered a confidential matter, but since Lowe has already encountered Team Aqua and even fought with them, there's no need to hide it from you. Yes, you know Team Rocket, right? Team Magma and Team Aqua are similar organizations, of course, not as powerful as Team Rocket."

Next, Du Juan gave Luo Wei a brief explanation of the situation of the two organizations. Of course, to be honest, Luo Wei knew the specific situation better than Du Juan. In short, Luo Wei was just trying to advance the plot.

"...In that case, may I come along and take a look?"

Du Juan definitely needs to go to the mine immediately to deal with the Lava Team. After all, no matter what those people want to do, as the gym leader, she can't just ignore it.

But theoretically, this has nothing to do with Rowe; he can leave once he gets the badge.

However, Luo Wei knew that in order to continue the storyline, he had to complete this mine side quest; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to unlock the next storyline missions that led to Martial Arts Town and Kaina City.

After all, Luo Wei had played the game countless times back then, and he knew the storyline by heart; it was practically muscle memory for him.

"I'm also a registered trainer in the league, and I can't let this go unchecked!"

Seeing that Du Juan seemed to be hesitant, Luo Wei directly took out his weapon. Sure enough, as soon as he said that, not only Du Juan, but also the young man who came to deliver the message showed an expression of admiration.

"As expected of an excellent trainer, truly ambitious!"

“Since we’ve already put it this way…” Du Juan nodded in agreement. “No problem. Luo Wei is strong enough, so let’s go together. He’ll definitely be of help.”

After saying that, she smiled and extended her hand to Luo Wei, "Thank you~"

Just as Luo Wei was about to reach out to shake hands, he felt his arm being pulled forcefully. Masked Cat, who was holding Luo Wei's arm, puffed out his cheeks in dissatisfaction. He was clearly upset that he was about to celebrate his first victory with Luo Wei, but instead he was dragged into new trouble.

Now I need to deal with the problems at hand before I can go and put on the stickers.

However, since it was Rowe, the trainer, who made the decision, and it was completely reasonable, Masked Meow didn't say anything more.

"Sorry, sorry, I'll definitely 'reward' you properly later~"

Upon hearing Rowe's words, Masked Cat immediately perked up and grabbed Rowe, pulling him away. Rowe, both amused and exasperated, was dragged along until, just as they were leaving the gym, he remembered something...

"Wait a minute, which way does the mine lead?!"

Chapter 46 Let's start with a side quest.

Masked Meow was clearly not happy with the current situation. After winning the gym battle, they should have been able to celebrate.

Especially in the last two days, Masked Cat usually sunbathes at noon and then has Rowe groom her, but various troubles have interrupted this several times in the last two days, making Masked Cat quite unhappy, and her accumulated dissatisfaction is about to overflow.

Of course, this dissatisfaction wasn't directed at Luo Wei; it was just that she was unhappy about it. At this moment, seeing that Luo Wei was about to be dragged into trouble again, she naturally wasn't very happy either.

Even so, since Luo Wei was doing something important, Masked Cat could understand, so despite her displeasure, she obediently accepted it.

Luo Wei sensed Masked Cat's feelings and quickly comforted it, saying that the owed "rewards" should be made up for in full, otherwise it would be too discouraging for Masked Cat.

Upon hearing what Rowe said, Masked Meow immediately perked up, his face beaming with an expression that said, "Let's hurry up and take care of those troublemakers, then go back and fix them!" He grabbed Rowe's arm and rushed out, running all the way out of the gym before realizing that he didn't know the way to the mine at all.

Rowe was dragged out of the gym, and Ralts, who was behind him, jumped up and quickly chased after him. When Rowe saw her, he quickly reached out and picked up the little guy and put him on his shoulder.

Actually, you can just put them directly into a Poké Ball, but Rowe still prefers to let his Pokémon roam freely outside. Unless he encounters a particularly large Pokémon in the future, Rowe will definitely prefer to have his Pokémon by his side.

Luo Wei, who didn't know the way, stopped after rushing out of the dojo. Just as he was about to turn back to find Du Juan, he saw a middle-aged man rushing anxiously toward the dojo.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be another familiar face – the same Devon Corporation employee I had encountered in Orange Blossom Forest.

"Hey, is that you, uncle?"

Luo Wei recognized the other person, and the other person also recognized Luo Wei. At the same time, Du Juan followed her out of the dojo, and the group of people ended up together.

"Ah, what a coincidence! Cough cough, no, this isn't the time to talk about this..." The middle-aged man wiped his sweat and quickly asked Du Juan, "Teacher Du Juan, was there an accident at the mine just now?"

"That's right, I'm going to deal with this. What's wrong?"

“Ahem, actually… the final parts for ‘that’ project we previously completed in cooperation with Kusnogi Shipyard are in the warehouse at the mine… I suspect…”

"...Okay, I understand. Don't worry, I'll handle it."

From this point on, we can roughly deduce the basic outline of the event: Devon Corporation, as the most famous industrial group in the Hoenn region, often accepts cooperation commissions from various factories.

This time, Devon Corporation has partnered with Kusnogi Shipyard, which is also quite famous in the Hoenn region. The product of this collaboration is nearing completion, and the Team Aqua henchmen encountered in Petalburg Woods were trying to steal important documents related to it.

The fact that Team Magma attacked the mine at this moment is highly likely because they were after this item. It is evident that both Team Ocean and Team Magma covet this item, and its importance is self-evident.

Now that we've identified the enemy's objective, the task at hand is simple: reclaim the mine and prevent them from stealing crucial plot items. This is the key side quest that unlocks the main storyline.

"Don't worry, leave the mine to us..."

When Du Juan said "we," she was naturally referring to herself and Luo Wei. Upon hearing this, the older employee looked at Luo Wei with admiration.

"I see, I knew you must be an incredibly skilled trainer!"

After all, Du Juan's statement was tantamount to acknowledging that Luo Wei had enough ability to assist her in handling this incident, which naturally confirmed the uncle's judgment.

To this, Luo Wei could only express his bewilderment.

"Um, I'm really a newbie... Oh well, think what you want..."

After all, there's not much time to waste. Who knows if the other side will just steal the stuff and run away? We have to stop them before they take any action.

"go!"

………………

…………

……

Meanwhile, located on the eastern outskirts of Kanaz City, this is the lifeblood of Kanaz City and the largest mining area in the Hoenn region.

Driven by industrial needs, a complete factory has been established here, handling the entire process from ore mining and smelting to forging and processing. It is a cooperative industry jointly owned by the Kanaz City government, the Pokémon League, and Devon Corporation.

Such an important place naturally needs to be guarded by elite trainers, but in reality, the elite trainers here have a very leisurely job on weekdays.

If this were on any other film set, such an important place would be prone to minor accidents every three days and major incidents every five days if it wasn't strictly managed. Troublemakers would be lining up to come knocking on the door, like three meals a day.