Bottom-tier trainers in the Pokémon world

Then, somewhat hastily and with a hint of disgust, he pulled out a tissue and wiped away the sticky mud from the edges of his shoes.

He breathed a long sigh of relief when he saw that the shoes were clean again.

Then, as if she had just thought of something, she looked in the direction Xia Yan had left, her eyes flickering.

After leaving the supervisor's office and receiving his rightful reward of 50,000 Alliance Coins, Xia Yan felt a weight lifted from his shoulders.

Having money in hand gives you more confidence.

"Going out?"

Anna, who was carefully manicuring her nails behind the counter at the club's entrance, saw him and couldn't help but ask.

"Ah."

Xia Yan stood at the doorway, gazing at the drizzling rain outside. Small puddles had formed on the ground, and rainwater splashed and rippled as it fell into them.

"It's raining, and the umbrella is by the door. It's not good for the wound to get wet," Anna reminded her.

Upon hearing this, Xia Yan indeed saw several long, dark umbrellas leaning against the door and nodded silently.

He casually picked up a handful, opened it up, and walked out with the unicorn beetle, gradually disappearing into the rain.

Anna didn't pay much attention, still staring at her fingers. She watched as her irregular nails slowly became smooth under the buffing surface of the nail clippers.

She gently blew away the fine nail clippings and muttered, "I'm really not used to doing these overly feminine things. But, it'll be soon, very soon..."

...

...

West District, Jinhuang City.

Xia Yan got off the car with an umbrella and arrived at the most unpopular slum in Golden City.

Because of his mission, he missed the time to get information from the three men in the slums, but he wasn't worried. As long as he came, he could still get useful or more likely useless intelligence.

Sure enough, after he entered the slums very conspicuously, Sanfu quickly found him.

I jogged through the misty rain to him.

"My lord, I thought you weren't coming," Sanfu said, panting.

Since he received some money from Xia Yan, his life in the slums has undergone a complete transformation. He no longer has to worry about food every day. Although the money Xia Yan gave him wasn't much, it was a considerable fortune for him.

In addition to being "well-off," he even used some food to gather several other people who were also struggling in the slums, and asked them to help him collect information.

The purpose is to exchange it for more money.

Xia Yan glanced at Sanfu, who was clearly much more energetic, and pulled out two 100-yuan Alliance Coins from his pocket. After thinking for a moment, he pulled out two more. "The information from before was quite useful. This is your reward."

When Sanfu saw the four hundred Alliance Coins, his eyes widened. He hurriedly stuffed the money into his clothes and gave a fawning smile. "It's good that it's useful to you, sir."

"Let's talk about what's been going on lately," Xia Yan said calmly.

"Yes, yes." Sanfu nodded repeatedly, and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from somewhere, covered with symbols that looked like scribbles.

There was no other way; he couldn't write, but there were so many things to do in a week, big and small, and he didn't know which things were useful and which weren't, so he could only write them down in a way that only he could understand.

Seeing the messy symbols on his paper, Xia Yan couldn't help but twitch his eye.

"Let me start with what I consider more important. First, about a week ago, a friend of mine saw a lot of people from the Trainers Guild riding around a lot of Flying-type Pokémon, flying eastward..."

This must have been around the time of the power plant incident, right?

Xia Yan didn't speak, but listened silently without offering any opinions.

He didn't have high hopes for having Sanfu and the others gather intelligence. It would be best if it was useful, but it wouldn't matter if it wasn't. At least it would allow him to clearly deduce some facts about Golden City from events big and small, mainly the relationship between the League and the Rockets, which would help him avoid unnecessary trouble.

As he spoke, Sanfu carefully observed Xia Yan's changing expressions.

Seeing that he didn't react at all, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, but I still told him everything.

After half an hour.

"...The last one...the river in Fengluochuan overflowed its banks due to the rain..." Sanfu's expression turned a little awkward as he finished speaking. He had really written down everything, big and small, including the rising river.

Noticing the change in Xia Yan's expression, and thinking he was about to get angry, she quickly added, "Someone said they saw lightning over the Maple River... It's raining in Golden City, but lightning is relatively rare..."

As he spoke, he unconsciously lowered his voice considerably.

He secretly resolved that from now on, if anyone provided such utterly worthless information again, he would make sure that person was dragged away... Hmph...

"Not bad." To everyone's surprise, Xia Yan replied with "Not bad," and he didn't seem angry at all. Sanfu breathed a long sigh of relief.

"I'm glad you're satisfied."

“Next week, still here. I don’t need your opinion on whether things are important or not; that’s my decision. Just report what you know. This time was good.” Xia Yan said “good” again.

Although much of this information is indeed uninformative and lacks value, it might come in handy someday.

At some point, seemingly useful and useless pieces of information were strung together to form a complete logical chain.

Where is Fengluochuan?

“That direction.” Sanfu quickly pointed to the west of the slum. “Go about three or four kilometers further ahead from the slum’s garbage dump, and you’ll arrive.”

"Keep it up. If you satisfy me, I might give you a chance to have an elf."

After leaving those words, Xia Yan stepped back into the rain.

"Elf!"

Upon hearing those two words, Sanfu's eyes lit up immediately.

For him, acquiring a spirit would be a true turning point, a dream shared by everyone in the slums.

The thought of having a chance to obtain a spirit filled me with enthusiasm.

Chapter 57 You're not going to evolve soon, are you?

slam-la-

The continuous drizzle pattered against the black umbrella, echoing with the sound of each raindrop.

Maple River is an inconspicuous little river on the outskirts of Golden City. It is far from the city center and close to the slums, so few people pay attention to it.

But it was this river that provided a source of water for many people in the slums. However, the occasional appearance of wild spirits also led to many of the poorest residents of the slums being devoured by these vicious spirits.

However, the slums were places abandoned by Golden City, so no one would care if a few people died there.

Xia Yan was originally a resident of the slums, but after his parents died, he was bullied in the slums when he was young. So, not long after he could remember, he left the slums and wandered around Golden City alone.

Sanfu was someone he had met a few times while rummaging through trash cans, and gradually got to know.

But clearly, Sanfu didn't remember him.

"Perhaps this is why everyone in the slums pursues Pokémon. In this world, obtaining a Pokémon and becoming a trainer, even the worst one, is enough to change one's fate," Xia Yan thought to himself.

"Waaah~~"

The unicorn that had been lying silently on his shoulder suddenly sprang up and covered its nose with its tail.

We're nearing the landfill in the western district, where nearly half of Golden City's household waste is piled up.

Even on rainy days, the stench cannot be contained.

Xia Yan didn't care much. He had smelled even worse stench before, and he had even slept in garbage dumps before.

"There must be a few more Grimer here, which is why the smell has become even worse. But for the city as a whole, the appearance of Grimer is undoubtedly good news."

Sludge mostly lives in urban sewers and survives by eating human garbage, which is their favorite food. If there is no garbage to eat, sludge will even eat buildings.

They can break down all sorts of household waste, playing an indispensable role in a city, even though their smell is unpleasant.

It is said that in the distant Alola region, the Pokémon Grimer mutated because it ate too much garbage, turning into various colors and even changing many of its original attributes and abilities.

“Every person and every elf plays their own role in this world. No one is absolutely indispensable, but no one is absolutely important either. Even small people have their own way of living…” Xia Yan said calmly, seemingly stating a fact, yet also suggesting something.

"Woo~~" The unicorn gently rubbed against Xia Yan's cheek.

“That’s right. Being a nobody now doesn’t mean you’ll always be a nobody.” Xia Yan readily accepted Unicorn’s words of comfort.

"Waaah!"

Suddenly, the Weedle straightened up, its tail pointing towards a stinking garbage heap not far away. A dark purple elf, resembling sticky mud, slowly rose up, its somewhat dazed eyes staring at Xia Yan and the Weedle passing by.

"Grim, no, smeg?"

At first glance, it's really hard to tell the difference between Muk and Muk; they seem to differ only in size and mouth.

The unicorn beetle stood upright, baring its teeth at the mud, its whole body arched.

Xia Yan was somewhat surprised by Weedle's reaction and gently patted its back. "Don't be nervous. Muk usually doesn't attack on its own initiative."

While talking and comforting him, the unicorn gradually calmed down.

"what happened?"

The unicorn is acting strangely.

It's not usually like this, but today it seems a bit different, or rather, this Grimer looks a little different.

“Ugh…” The unicorn beetle hesitated and shook its head.

It didn't know what was wrong with it; it seemed to be an instinctive reaction.

"Are you about to evolve?" Xia Yan asked, somewhat surprised.

"Woo!" The unicorn beetle puffed out its chest.

What's wrong with evolution? Isn't evolution better?

After seeing the impressive appearance of the Beedrill, it longed to evolve. However, because Xia Yan had always managed its growth process well and arranged all the preparations before evolution, it did not force it.

"Alright, you should have a chance to fight when we get closer to Fengluochuan. Get some rest first." Xia Yan's joking expression disappeared.

"Woo!" The unicorn beetle nodded, its eyes sparkling with excitement.

Weedle has been feeling guilty ever since Xia Yan was injured in the collision between Kadabra and Infernape.

At the same time, he secretly set a goal for himself and strengthened his resolve, so he became extra hard at training after that. If it weren't for Xia Yan restraining him, he probably would have done excessive training.

It didn't want to see Xia Yan get hurt again; this was a little secret hidden deep in its heart that it had never told anyone.

Xia Yan smiled and patted it. As Weedle's trainer, how could he not see the change in Weedle?