I'm popularizing ecology in the Pokémon world.

Chapter 123 Career Advancement

Two more days have passed in the blink of an eye.

That day, inside the Hua Lan Dojo, Xiaoxia finally finished dealing with all sorts of work in the post-disaster city. After returning to her room, she immediately kicked off her sandals, her fair, jade-like feet stepping directly onto the carpet.

Then she walked a few steps to the sofa and threw herself onto it.

Just then, she heard a noise from the kitchen. She turned around and saw her second sister, Changpu, making tea for her.

As the owner of the establishment, she certainly wouldn't drink the tea bags sold at the convenience store downstairs like Chen Mu.

Coincidentally, at that moment she also thought of Chen Mu.

"These busiest few days are finally over. I hope things won't be so tiring from now on. By the way, sister, has Chen Mu come to the dojo recently?"

Cao Pu was making tea in the kitchen while secretly chuckling to himself.

"What's wrong? It's only been three days, and my little sister is already starting to miss me?"

Xiaoxia grabbed a Psyduck plush toy from the sofa and threw it at him.

This is the top floor of the dojo, a private residence for the four sisters, so they can be a little willful.

"Sis, are you teasing me again? If you keep this up, I'll transfer you to the dojo's front desk as a greeter next week!"

The calamus in the kitchen hummed a song, utterly carefree.

"Fine, whatever position you assign me, I can take leave. Does anyone in this dojo dare to record my absence without leave?"

Xiaoxia lay back angrily, "Damn it! Why did I get to be the manager, but all the benefits went to the three of you? No way! I'm angry! I'm running away from home! I'm going to relive my teenage trips!"

Just then, Ge Pu came out of the kitchen carrying a tea tray.

"Oh? Are you planning to travel with Professor Chen Mu this time?"

It wasn't until he saw Xiaoxia looking like an angry Psyduck, as if she might pounce on him and headbutt him at any moment, that Ge Pu stopped his pranks.

"Alright, alright, I'm not teasing you anymore. Teacher Chen Mu is currently receiving guidance from Champion Adu, so he should be busy right now."

They've done us, Hualan City, such a huge favor; this is their deserved reward. Don't go and cause trouble.

Hearing that Chen Mu was busy receiving guidance, rather than deliberately avoiding the dojo, Xiaoxia's expression immediately improved.

She was still somewhat indignant when she looked at her second sister, "What do you mean 'don't cause trouble'? How did I cause trouble? I was guiding his cultivation, okay? I'm the sect leader now, one of the top experts in the alliance!"

This time, without relying on Crimson, Xiaoxia single-handedly ended Team Plasma's conspiracy, and she truly had the confidence to say this.

Mu Pu laughed: "Yes, yes, our little sister is the best! Even though she's already the head of the club, she still acts like a child."

Then she brought out some pastries she had baked herself from the kitchen and invited Xiaoxia to come and eat.

Seeing Xiaoxia eating happily at the table, Changpu suddenly couldn't help but reach out and tidy up Xiaoxia's hair around her ears.

"What's wrong? Are you disgusted with me again? If you keep talking nonsense, I'm really going to run away from home!" Xiaoxia's cheeks were stuffed full of pastries, and she grumbled like a little hamster.

Changpu smiled gently, her voice unusually soft.

This time it wasn't teasing, but a genuine statement: "I don't mind at all. On the contrary, you look much better now. You're much more vibrant than that sullen, anxious, and helpless silly girl from a while ago."

Xiaoxia blushed a little after her second sister said that.

A few days ago, she had just seen Chi Hong return from the mountain. At first, she was like she had lost her soul. Then, the Hua Lan Fish Farm had an accident. Xiao Xia herself knew how bad her condition was at that time. She was like a string stretched to its limit, which could break at any moment.

Fortunately, it's all over now.

After thwarting Team Plasma's conspiracy, swiftly defeating the internationally wanted criminal, and thoroughly beating up a group of Team Plasma terrorists, Cerulean's Water Queen finally regained her invincible confidence!

"Hmph, you know that much."

"It would be even better if we could stop talking about a certain person every day."

"Nonsense! I don't nag about it every day! I'm busy every day, okay? I'm the owner! Mentioning Chen Mu is only for the important matters of the fish farm and the coastal ecological zone!"

"Okay, okay~ I haven't even told you who you're talking about yet."

"You'll be marked absent from work tomorrow!"

"Oh dear, second sister was wrong, please forgive her, little sister!"

A few days later, when Chen Mu returned to Hua Lan Dojo, he was surprised to see Xiao Xia's second sister, Chang Pu, wearing a welcoming uniform and slacking off at the dojo's entrance.

"Sister Changpu? Why are you standing at the door?"

Chen Mu asked with a surprised look.

No matter what, the owner's own sister wouldn't come down to stand at the door as a greeter, would she?

Little did they know that in this dojo, the three sisters had actually done all sorts of jobs since Xiaoxia came back to take over the dojo. "Oh? It's Teacher Chen! You've finally arrived. Are you here to see Xiaoxia? I'll take you upstairs right away."

"Uh, not really. I'm here to get certified as a professional trainer."

After several days of training, Gardevoir finally achieved a stage of success. In addition, Eevee had also made rapid progress under Misty's guidance. Chen Mu thought he might as well take this opportunity to complete the assessment.

The gym is responsible for all local business related to trainers and Pokémon, including professional qualification examinations.

Hearing this, Changpu was not very surprised.

Knowing the results of the battle in the rain that day, she was well aware that Chen Mu would definitely obtain the qualification of a professional trainer soon.

She was just a little disappointed because it seemed that the head of the club wouldn't need to appear for the mere professional-level assessment, and it looked like she would have to continue working as a receptionist for a few more days.

Oh well, it doesn't matter anyway, I'm just slacking off.

On his way to the assessment room, Chen Mu noticed that there were many trainers carrying travel bags in the gym corridor, who were obviously trainers who had just come from other places.

Counting the days, the official opening of Hualan Fish Farm and its near-shore ecological zone is fast approaching.

This time, there shouldn't be any unexpected events that could affect the development date release, right?

Among the group of out-of-towners in the corridor, a young man wearing a hidden camera on his chest was mysteriously muttering to himself from time to time, as if he were doing some kind of underground work, giving off a strong sense of espionage.

Actually, this person is a minor internet celebrity who is currently doing a live stream.

"Family members, today I'm going to take you to the very origin of this incident, which is also its final destination: Cerulean Gym! Support the streamer's righteous exposé and quickly send a 'Pop Six' message!"

This minor internet celebrity was originally doing adventure-themed outdoor live streams in another city. A few days ago, she came to Cerulean City and happened to witness the massive wild Pokémon storming the city during a torrential downpour!

Although on the same day the incident subsided, Cerulean Gym informed the entire league through official channels about the cause and final outcome of the incident.

However, as an internet celebrity, one must learn to grasp the secrets of gaining popularity.

The official explanation of the incident was clearly not eye-catching enough, and moreover, for various reasons, the league did not disclose all the details of the incident.

In particular, the identity and abilities of the main culprit, Ronis, have not been revealed to the public, which has led to constant speculation online about the origin of the wild Pokémon that stormed the city.

The online celebrity seized this opportunity, taking advantage of being in Hualan City on the front lines, and has been capitalizing on this surge in traffic for the past few days.

To this end, he even created a persona for himself that embodies justice by uncovering the truth and investigating thoroughly.

"As everyone knows, the official report on this incident is full of loopholes, especially the ecologist Professor Chen, whose appearances are unusually prominent!"

Tell me, how could an academic influencer like him get involved in such a high-level terrorist attack? That's Team Plasma! The infamous terrorist organization of Unicron! Even the previous Unicron champion, Aldak, couldn't take them down! What gives him, an influencer editor-in-chief, the right?

If you ask me, it's definitely the Cerulean Gym that's behind this! Today, I'll expose the truth for everyone!

The reason this online celebrity is directly targeting Chen Mu is simply because he's the only ordinary person mentioned in the official announcement.

He didn't dare to say a word to any of the other dojo owners, ninjas, or champions like Wataru.

That means we can only keep an eye on Chen Mu, our colleague, and keep pushing the intensity up.

As for whether there was any jealousy from peers involved, only the parties involved know the answer.

Unexpectedly, by sheer coincidence, he had just finished criticizing Chen Mu when he unexpectedly ran into the very person he was talking about at the corner of the dojo's corridor.

At first, the young internet celebrity didn't notice Chen Mu and Changpu.

It was only when the chat in his live stream suddenly exploded that he saw it on his phone, and then he turned around abruptly and followed after them with an excited expression.

"Family! My luck has turned today! I told you praying to Zacian before leaving home would work, didn't I? I already said, Zacian gave me five Holy Grails before I left today. If I just broadcast for five hours, I'm sure I'll uncover the truth!"

He followed Chen Mu closely, keeping a safe distance, thinking he hadn't been discovered. At the same time, he pretended to be engrossed in his phone, constantly interacting with the live stream by talking to himself.

Little did they know that Chen Mu's honed spiritual power had already heard everything clearly.

However, these minor characters are insignificant compared to Team Plasma.

Having weathered many storms, Chen Mu was too lazy to care anymore.

The minor internet celebrity keeps repeating how a live streamer could possibly have the ability to participate in such a major event, that there must be something fishy going on, that the official report was exaggerated, and so on.

Meanwhile, Chen Mu, led by Changpu, had already taken the fast track and quickly obtained his qualification assessment.

Ayame explained to Chen Mu, "Our gym already has your Pokémon experience data, so we can skip this step. Next, there is a practical assessment. You can choose to battle against the Pokémon we provide, or you can choose to challenge the gym trainer."

If you choose the latter, we will also give you a badge after winning the battle.

"A badge? The badge used to participate in the Quartz Convention?"

"That's right, but participating in the Quartz Conference is only one of the badge's functions. In addition, owning the badge can grant you many privileges in daily life, such as half-price rides on public transportation."

"Alright, then I'll challenge the Gym Leader."

"Okay, should we have a public challenge?"

What does "public challenge" mean?

"It means that our dojo will allow us to spectate and record your battles. If the recording generates revenue, we will share that with you."

Chen Mu would never refuse anything that offered him a benefit; even a small favor is still a favor.

"Then let's make it public."

Soon after, Chen Mu's public challenge announcement appeared on the electronic screen in the lobby of the dojo.

After waiting for about half an hour, Chen Mu heard the broadcast and followed the instructions to one of the indoor battlegrounds.

To Chen Mu's surprise, even though it was just a professional-level assessment match, and the public announcement was only made half an hour before it started, there were already dozens of spectators sitting in the audience seats at the edge of the venue when he entered.

Is it because local trainers are all very free?

The internet celebrity was also among the audience.

He was incredibly excited at that moment, thinking he had once again caught the wave of online traffic.

"Family members! My prayers to Cangxiang today have truly paid off! We'll finally witness Chen Mu's real skill firsthand and expose the official deception of creating a god-like figure!"

He trembled with excitement, as if he could already sense that he was about to gain a million followers in a single day.

Meanwhile, in the arena, the gym leader in charge of the assessment was greeting Chen Mu familiarly: "Hey, Teacher Chen, I didn't expect you to be the one taking the assessment today. You still haven't obtained your professional-level qualification?"

Chen Mu smiled and said, "Really, there really wasn't one before."

"Alright then, which Pokémon are you using for the assessment today?"

"Both will participate."

"Alright, let's proceed with the 2v2 rotation singles match. Each side will have three rotation opportunities during the match. Any questions about the rules?"

"no."

"Okay, let's begin!"

Because Chen Mu's team wasn't purely Water-type, the Gym Leader who was assessing him was considerate and didn't activate the terrain's mechanics to use Cerulean City's classic Water Pool terrain.

Instead, they simply used the most basic plastic surface.

Chen Mu sent out Gardevoir, who had just completed her training, as her first choice.

Meanwhile, the opposing trainer sent out Mosquito King.

As the electronic voice of the gym battle notification sounded—

The battle has officially begun!

As the Mosquito Coil Frog King entered battle mode, a dark cloud immediately gathered above its head.

Then the raindrops started falling in the blink of an eye.

Rainfall characteristics!

The characteristics of the mosquito coil frog are the same as those of the large beaks that flocked over the city on the day of the previous incident.

Upon seeing this, the young internet celebrity in the audience became even more excited.

"It matches up, family! This scene really matches what happened that day!"

He felt that things were getting closer and closer to what he had envisioned!

This is an incredible windfall!

You're not human if you don't eat!

Meanwhile, Gardevoir's copying ability naturally replicates rainfall.

But this didn't seem to be of much use to Chen Mu.

The next moment, the gym leader grabbed a Poliwag, using up one of his rotation opportunities, and recalled his Poliwag.

Next up was the second Pokémon – Golduck!

Golduck, with its free-swimming ability, experiences a speed surge in the rain!

This is simply a textbook example of tactical operation in the rain!

Since the rain is a special ability, it will definitely be activated at the start of the battle and there is almost no way to stop it. Therefore, it is not like when Chen Mu fought against Chao Beibi in the academy.

The online celebrity was still seriously analyzing: "The only chance for the streamer on stage is to recall Gardevoir and bring in Vaporeon."

We all know that his Eevee can evolve into Vaporeon and Sylveon, which made the news before.

So, in my opinion, this person made the wrong choice with their starting Pokémon! Knowing that challenging a Water-type Gym would likely result in encountering a Rain-type team, why did they still choose Gardevoir as their lead?

This tactical thinking is worse than mine! How can they fight terrorists with this? The official idolization is getting worse and worse—what the hell?!

Before he could even finish his smug analysis, the sudden change on the field made him scream on the spot.

Chen Mu calmly gave the order.

"Gardevoir, use Psychic Terrain, then use Ring Impact!"