Bottom-tier trainers in the Pokémon world

He slowly raised his phone, a sheepish smile on his face.

"Um... Chief Joey..."

Before he could even explain, Chief Nurse Joy smiled and said, "Brother Xia Yan, I've heard about your Chansey's 'Shrink to Rock Slide' tactic before, but I've never had a chance to meet you. This is quite a coincidence."

Xia Yan: "..."

Chief Joy sighed, "Recently, quite a few children in our family have been learning your tactics and don't want to work at the Pokémon Center."

"Uh, hehe—"

What else can I say?

Xia Yan could only manage a couple of dry laughs to defuse the awkward situation.

"But it's a good thing, our Joey isn't that rigid."

Chief Joey's next words relieved Xia Yan.

"Did Linghua cause you any trouble?"

"No, absolutely not. Rinka is so well made that I feel like I'm not even needed as the owner," Xia Yan said, rubbing his nose.

Chief Joey chuckled, "That's good. Then I'll entrust Linghua to you. This girl has had a hard life; her parents died when she was young, and she was raised on the family's charity."

As she spoke, a hint of heartache appeared on her face.

Orphan?

Xia Yan was silent.

"it is good."

"Alright. I have other things to do. Xia Yan, if you have time, come visit our Qiao Yi's house. There are quite a few girls there who are your fans."

Chief Joey said something with a smile and then hung up the phone.

However, Xia Yan vaguely saw a dark shadow flash behind him.

soon.

But I still saw it.

"How about it?"

As soon as the phone call ended, Joey Linghua poked her head in from outside the door, blinking her eyes brightly.

"nailed it."

Xia Yan tossed the phone to her in an annoyed tone.

Just now, he almost thought he was going to become Joey's public enemy.

Joey Linghua's eyes lit up.

"How did you take it?"

She tried so hard but couldn't succeed, while Xia Yan solved it in one go?

Take it down?

That's what I meant.

He has absolutely no right to speak.

However, he roughly understood what was going on.

"Here is a Gym Leader-level Poisonous Algae Dragon, and these are all trash algae. They're all yours now. If you have the chance, choose a few good apprentices."

Xia Yan didn't answer her question; instead, he simply handed the Poisonous Algae Dragons over to Joey Rinka.

Anyway, aside from showing his presence when the dojo opened, he became superfluous as the dojo master.

He had also reviewed the records of Joey Rinka's badge distribution, and there weren't any major issues.

This proves that she is well-suited for the position.

Xia Yan can then relax and become a hands-off manager.

That's a pretty good result.

Watching Xia Yan's departing figure, Qiao Yiling scratched her head, somewhat bewildered.

Xia Yan muttered to himself.

"The teacher has a lot of influence."

...

...

Sinnoh League.

The Joey family's ancestral lands.

After hanging up the phone with Xia Yan, Chief Joey glared at an old woman sitting in a chair next to him.

“I’m telling you, even if he’s your disciple, you don’t need to make such a long trip for such a trivial matter.”

The old woman sitting in the chair slowly raised her head and revealed a sinister smile.

It was Xia Yan's cheap teacher, Kikuko, one of the Four Heavenly Kings!

"I'm not that free yet," Kikuko said with a smile.

"is it?"

Chief Joey looked on in disbelief.

Anyway, she doesn't believe it.

Although Kikuko's reputation wasn't great, the fact that Xia Yan was her disciple spread among the league's higher-ups.

Her fiercely protective nature somehow spread.

"Believe it or not, it's up to you. Anyway, I'm here on official business," Kikuko said calmly.

"Official business?"

Chief Joey glanced at the tea and fruit platter on the table next to Kiku.

Is official business just coming to her place to eat fruit platters?

Oh--

Whether Kikuko herself believes it or not, she certainly doesn't.

"But it's all good. That girl, Rinka, does have the talent of a trainer." Chief Nurse Joy sighed and sat down next to Kikuko.

Kikuko glanced at her, then picked up her teacup and took a sip.

Then he took out a communicator.

He said, "Alright, that kid has time now, go find him."

"Okay, Kikuko-sama. I'll go find him as soon as I'm done here." A cheerful voice, tinged with a hint of joy, came from the communicator.

"Is there really a mission?" Chief Joey asked, somewhat surprised.

"You must know what happened in Kanto, right?"

"You mean... the matter of Shiba challenging the Four Heavenly Kings?" Chief Joy asked after a moment of surprise.

"No, Shiba has challenged them more than ten times. He doesn't treat the Four Heavenly Kings challenge as a real challenge; he's just testing his own strength. Only that old guy appreciates him and keeps playing along. If it were me, I would have crushed him long ago." Kikuko casually picked up a piece of fruit and popped it into her mouth, speaking lightly.

Yes.

So in the past few years, no one has dared to challenge you.

Chief Joey muttered to himself.

"That is...?"

Kikuko narrowed her eyes slowly and said in a deep voice, "The gene bank has been blown up. It has been confirmed that it was done by an insider."

"A gene pool?" Chief Joey frowned slowly. "Who ordered this?"

She didn't believe an insider would dare to be so bold.

"Who else could it be?"

"Team Rocket?" Chief Joy immediately called out the name, but then quickly asked with a puzzled look, "Then why did they come all the way to Sinnoh?"

"Who knows? Maybe someone here is meeting with him. Or maybe he's already given the stuff and just wants to find a place to hide." Kikuko shrugged.

The gene bank being breached is indeed a very important matter, so it's understandable that Kikuko would be mobilized.

“Your Joy have a lot of connections, please keep an eye on this for us. His Pokémon is seriously injured.” As she spoke, Kikuko handed over a photo.

"Then you should look for Officer Jenny."

"We've already looked for it."

After saying that, Kikuko stood up and walked towards the door.

Chief Joey looked at the signboard in his hand and slowly frowned.

Her intuition told her that there must be some special reason why this person went straight to Sinnoh and didn't go anywhere else.

The Sinnoh region hasn't been peaceful lately either.

A secret underground organization called Team Galactic is becoming increasingly active.

However, the alliance still doesn't know who the leader of this organization is.

The Hunter Guild's headquarters are also in Sinnoh, and they've been involved in quite a bit of trouble lately.

Chapter Thirty-One: I Almost Believed It

three days later.

Xia Yan's Elf Ranch.

"Milanos, how are you? Are you settling in well here?"

A pond that was specially dug for Milotic and Feebas, not too big but not too small either.