Pokémon, you're not allowed to expel me from human form!

Alice seems to be sharing this with her now, which shows that Alice doesn't have such thoughts, but is just unwilling to accept defeat and regards the other party as a very important opponent.

Given the personality of our young lady...

hiss!

The head maid, on the contrary, thought that Mr. Rocco was going to be entangled with Alice.

...

The Lorraine family's estate is not in the Habsburg district, but in the Lorraine district.

After the Lorraines moved out of the Habsburg area thousands of years ago, they never intended to move back. As a result, they have devoted themselves to developing the new area they moved to over the generations, and even named the area Lorraine.

Alice and the head maid were already in the car and on their way home.

And Luo Ke, whom they were discussing...

He's at Lorraine Manor!

This is normal.

If you're buying ore normally, you can complete the transaction at the Mining Guild established by the Lorraine family. Just go and talk to the staff.

You will not be invited to Lorraine Manor.

Koroko is not normal.

After learning from the staff of the Mineral Union that the Z Crystal, which was named the Silica Crystal by the world, did not have a purity test, he first asked the Mineral Union how much the Silica Crystal cost, and then asked how many Silica Crystals the Mineral Union had.

After calculating the price, Luo Ke waved his hand dismissively.

"I want it all!"

A deal worth tens of millions in a single transaction—even if the Lorraine family is wealthy, they wouldn't take such a deal lightly.

Moreover, buying up all the minerals in the Mining Guild... such a business transaction would naturally raise some suspicions among the members of the Mining Guild.

For example, Luo Ke wants to invest in a crystal jewelry business or something like that.

So, since there might be further cooperation between them, the guild reported this to Rudolf, the current head of the Lorraine family. After much deliberation, the old man had the guild members politely invite Rocco to the manor for discussions.

Luo Ke did not refuse.

Because the Miners' Union and Rudolf were right; Rocco did indeed have the idea of ​​starting a crystal jewelry business.

After all, he needed to find Z-Crystals, and these things could only be resonated with by trainers, so until he found a way, he had to search for them all by himself.

The simplest way is to directly purchase a large quantity of Z-Crystals.

But aside from Z-Crystals, he doesn't need that many Z-Crystals.

Under these circumstances, once he finds the Z-pure crystal, the remaining crystals will need to be processed.

That would be a good opportunity to sell them off without wasting any. Since he had bought a lot of crystals from the guild, he could get a big discount and make a small profit with a little manipulation.

He came to see Rudolf with this in mind, already prepared for a long argument.

But in reality, it was different from what he had imagined.

"I'm sorry, my health has been getting worse and worse over the years. Although I should be the one to go to the Miner's Guild to see you, my body just doesn't allow me to move around freely. I really want to talk to you about this face to face. Thank you for being tolerant of my stubbornness."

The old man, who didn't look too good, first apologized to Luo Ke and promised that if the deal could be completed, he would give Luo Ke a further discount.

After saying all that, the old man expressed his thoughts in the most straightforward way.

Business is good. Not to mention the current stockpiled crystals, there won't be a problem supplying Roco with the crystals mined in the future. We can even lower the price of crystals.

However, Luo Ke had to agree to one thing—that the price of the crystal could not exceed a certain value, and that if Luo Ke were to open his own factory to make crystal jewelry in the future, the price of the crystal jewelry could not be increased too much either.

The old man was very firm in his request. When he made the request, he looked directly into Luo Ke's eyes. Even though he was not in good condition, Luo Ke could still feel his seriousness.

As for why he made such a request, Luo Ke briefly recalled that many stalls in the market had a large number of crystal ornaments, and that these items were sold as souvenirs, so the sales should be quite good. He was able to figure it out.

This is to protect the interests of factories that produce crystal jewelry and those vendors, and also to control the price of souvenirs.

The old man even considered Rocco's interests. The reason he repeatedly suggested that the Lorraine family could offer concessions was to tell him that the Lorraine family could earn less so that he could earn more. In short, he would definitely make money, but he couldn't let it affect the profits of the factories and vendors, and he certainly couldn't let the already high prices of souvenirs rise even further.

If Luo Ke were a true businessman, even if he understood the old man's meaning and agreed with his ideas, he would still dislike his forcefulness.

Koroko wasn't a businessman; his main goal was to find Z-Crystal, and making money was just a side effect.

So...

"Happy cooperation!"

Seeing Rocco agree immediately, Rudolf's face lit up with a bright smile.

He also invited Luo Ke to stay for dinner and told him that if Luo Ke encountered any trouble in Baping City, he could come to him for help.

However, Luo Ke had no intention of staying.

He still enjoys the feeling of squeezing in front of the phone with Ditto and Victini, scrolling through netizens' reviews of various shops, and arguing and laughing about what to eat.

However, just as he politely declined the old man's invitation and the butler opened the meeting room door, Luo Ke's eyes met those of a figure passing by the door.

It was none other than Alice, who had just returned to the manor with the head maid!

"Mr. Luo, Mr. Luo Ke!?"

Alice recognized Rocco and his Ditto immediately because she sometimes dreamed about them, while Rocco only remembered after thinking for a while.

"tangerine?"

......

32. Victini vs. Alice

tangerine!?

Upon hearing Luo Ke's address to their young mistress, the servants around them, who were familiar with their young mistress, did not change their expressions, but they subtly began to pay more attention to this situation.

Anyone who has worked at Lorraine Manor for a long time will know that Orange is Alice's nickname.

The reason is that when Alice was a child, her hair was orange, just like her father's.

But as Alice grew up, her hair gradually turned yellow, eventually becoming the chestnut color that no longer resembled orange.

When her hair color first changed, the Lorraine family took it very seriously and even took her to the hospital for a checkup. The hospital confirmed that Alice was perfectly healthy and it wasn't a medical condition. Although it wasn't normal, it was harmless. The only outward manifestation was that her hair color would continue to change; chestnut wasn't the final color. After turning yellow, it would lighten and eventually become blonde.

It seems to be the head maid or the old butler. They even remembered that when little Alice heard about this, she timidly said that she shouldn't be called Orange anymore, but Gold instead.

So, apart from the Lorraine family, very few outsiders knew the nickname "Orange".

Outsiders might not think her nickname is Chestnut or Gold, but it certainly isn't Orange.

As for Alice's trainer certificate, Rudolph had already secretly contacted the League to change it back, so the servants who didn't know that she had used her nickname as a pseudonym would naturally think of another possibility.

For example, Alice and Rocco were so close that they even asked each other to call her by nicknames.

Then they would naturally be interested in what's happening here.

Of course, Rocco didn't know about this, and Alice hadn't thought about it either.

After a brief moment of surprise, her eyes lit up, and she moved closer to Luo Ke, meeting his gaze with her determined eyes.

"Mr. Luo Ke, I had someone keep an eye out for whether you had arrived in Baping City. I never expected that we would meet again so soon!"

"So, shall we do it again now?"

Alice's words were somewhat ambiguous, but since Rocco's impression of Alice was entirely based on her battles with elves, he didn't think much of it and just chuckled.

"I've said I'm ready anytime you're prepared. The question I should be asking is—are you ready?"

Rocco had previously told Alice that he would accept the challenge as long as she was ready.

and...

He will win again!

"Of course, I just caught my second Pokémon, and I'm ready!"

“That’s perfect. I recently caught my second Pokémon. If you’re ready, I can be there anytime.”

Alice was delighted by Rocco's answer, so she grabbed his hand and pulled him away!

Their appearance made Rudolf ponder for a moment, while the head maid sighed softly, having already anticipated this scene.

The other servants, however, had a different opinion.

They didn't know Alice as well as the head maid and Rudolph, and none of them were fools.

Although there were some misunderstandings at first, after listening for a while, they all felt that their young lady didn't seem to be dragging the other person on a date, but rather... they were going to fight!

...

The Lorraine family is a family of scholars.

They have continued for so long, producing countless mineral scholars and PhDs.

Besides these, there were also many businessmen and officials.

There are practically no people who specifically choose the path of a trainer.

Under such circumstances, Lorraine Manor would naturally invite some professional trainers to provide protection, so even the scholar family has built various facilities underground for these professional trainers.

Now Alice took Rocco to an empty battlefield.

The servants were absolutely right—they were indeed setting up a fight!

"Mr. Rocco, after losing to your Ditto last time, I've made some preparations this time, so be careful!"

Alice took a Poké Ball from her waist, stared at Roco standing on the opposite platform, and spoke directly, letting the recording equipment broadcast her voice throughout the entire venue.

Rocco also obtained Ditto's Poké Ball.

"Then let me see your preparations, Orange."

Their attention was completely focused on the battle, and they didn't say anything more to each other. Luo Ke even threw out his Pokémon first!

At this moment, the head maid, the old butler, and some servants, along with Rudolf in his wheelchair, walked in and appeared in a position where they could watch the battle.

The battle has truly begun!

After Ditto emerged from the Poké Ball, it skillfully changed its form, stretching and enlarging—it transformed into Roko's appearance the moment it landed!

Luo Ke no longer cared about this matter.

However, he was still stunned when he saw Ditto's transformation this time.

Although Ditto still has the problem of its wide grin and looks like it might drool at any moment, its eyes are finally no longer beady and are normal eyes!

At that moment, Victini popped out of its Poké Ball, flew to Roko's side, and held its little paws, looking quite smug.

'Tinnitini!'

As its spirit connected with Rocco, Rocco also understood its meaning.

"You said the reason Ditto has beady eyes after transforming is because it's too nervous. The first time it met me was an accident, but the reason it always has beady eyes after that is because—I'm the source of its nervousness!?"

The news from Bictini surprised Rocco.

Although he hadn't watched the entire anime, he had seen a few famous scenes, so he knew that the Ditto with beady eyes after transforming was affected by being too nervous, and was even considered to have a defect.

He repeatedly told Ditto not to be nervous while training it, and even modified the method that Team Rocket's Jessie taught to that Ditto in the anime and taught it to his own Ditto.

But it never worked, to the point that he felt it was because of the difference between reality and animation, and that it was either due to nervousness or the transformation technology.

Unexpectedly, the cause lay within myself...

What surprised him even more was that Victini's training of Ditto seemed, perhaps, possibly... even better than his own!

It seems like I know more about Ditto than Ditto itself!

'Tinnitini.'

Just as Rocco was thinking this, Bictini's voice came again.

This time it means...

'While Ditto is very strong in this form, it's still not as powerful as you. Therefore, it needs to use its moves, but since you only know one move, it will only have one move in this form as well—that's too few!'

"When you have time, train more and learn a few more moves for Ditto—as for what to learn... I'll think about it when I get back, and then I'll teach you!"

'But let's focus on this battle for now. Although I've taught Ditto how to utilize the advantages of this form, we still need to grasp the variables in the battle.'

Let's win this one first!