Elf: Start your slow-paced life after becoming a farmer.

"You actually caught a Pikachu on your trip to the Johto region?"

……

After reading all the messages, Carl understood what had happened.

It turns out that the video of Carl's battle with Qishu last night had been edited and posted online, and after a night of fermentation, the video has become a complete sensation online.

Many netizens recognized Carl as the young trainer who defeated Elite Four member Sinri during the exhibition match at the opening of Orange Academy.

Some netizens also pointed out that Carl won his match against Aoki at the Treasure Canteen a while ago.

Furthermore, they even dug up Carl's amazing record of being an eleven-time champion in fishing competitions, especially the photo of Carl holding a big fish as he stepped onto the podium, which also circulated online.

Carl wasn't surprised at all by the online discussions; as someone who had experienced the era of the internet, these discussions were nothing to him.

However, not all netizens viewed the video with amusement. Some pointed out that it was astonishing that Qishu, a gym leader specializing in Electric-type moves, would lose to a trainer from who-knows-where.

For these netizens, Qishu's group of entertaining fans jumped in to comment, causing Qishu's online popularity to rise even higher.

"Judging from this situation, Qishu is probably ecstatic while holding his phone," Karl muttered to himself.

And indeed, in a high-end apartment in Niangguang City, Qishu watched her popularity soar, and the unhappiness she felt about losing to Karl completely dissipated.

"Hehe, Lu Renjun's popularity is surprisingly high, this is quite an unexpected surprise." Qi Shu thought for a while, and finally waved his hand to post the photo of him and Karl from last night on the Internet, with the caption: "Lu Renjun's strength is still very good, I hope there will be a chance to spar with him again next time."

No matter how noisy it is online, it won't have any impact on Carl, since he's just an ordinary farmer.

“However…” Karl stroked his chin, “I’ve already brought so much popularity to Qishu, so it shouldn’t be too much to ask her to promote some of my products in the future, right?”

The thought of Qishu promoting her farm products in her live stream made Karl almost lose his composure.

Shaking the strange thought out of his mind, Carl, carrying the sleepy-eyed Zhenyi, went to the washroom to start washing up.

Half an hour later, Carl led Shinji out of the hotel and began to take him for a stroll around the city of Niigaki.

In some ways, Shinji is quite similar to Carl. For most of his travels, apart from necessary resupply, Shinji basically stayed in the deep mountains and forests training Pokémon.

Although Shinji had also visited a metropolis like Goldenrod City, compared to a technologically advanced metropolis like Nimbus City, Goldenrod City had a more rural feel overall.

Walking through the streets of Nimbusa City, looking at the towering buildings and the various large screens displaying advertisements, Shinji inexplicably felt that his "rustic" aura was a bit too strong.

Regardless of whether his purple tracksuit was outdated or not, his curious look around gave him the impression of a country bumpkin visiting the city.

Just last night, Karl had discussed the issue of enrolling in Orange Academy with Shinji. Although Shinji felt that he didn't need to join the academy at all, he had no choice but to agree since Karl had already spoken to Raiji in advance.

"Shinji, I'm going to give you a gift later. Guess what it is?" Karl suddenly turned to Shinji as they walked and asked.

"A gift?" Shinji was taken aback. Even though he knew very well that his master could be a bit eccentric at times, he still couldn't understand his master's thought process no matter how many times it happened.

"Hmm... Could it be a Pokémon battle item?" Shinji analyzed rationally. "I read in a magazine that the Padilla region seems to produce some unique battle items."

"No, no, no, this is too boring." Karl winked playfully at Shinji. "You've seen this gift before."

"Could it be a Rotom phone?" Shinji asked hesitantly.

"Bingo! You got it right!" Carl snapped his fingers and pointed to the Rotom mobile phone store not far from them. "I just happened to be buying one too, and you don't have one either, so I'll give you a Rotom phone as a gift for your enrollment at Orange Academy."

“…Thank you, Master.” Shinji hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded in agreement.

In fact, Karl once gave Shinji a special gift. Shinji wanted to refuse, but Karl insisted on giving it to him, saying that he wanted to be his first angel investor.

From then on, Shinji knew that although Carl's personality seemed very approachable, once he made up his mind, even a hundred Tauros charging at him at the same time would not be able to change his mind.

"Let's go, let's go, we're going to shop at the department store in Nijigasaki City later." Seeing that Shinji had agreed, Karl immediately pulled Shinji into the Rotom mobile phone store.

Just as Carl was about to make the payment, he seemed to remember something, took a black card out of his backpack, and handed it to the teller.

This black card was a gift Nemo gave to Carl when she officially visited his farm—a discount card that could be used at any Rotom mobile phone store.

Carl never expected that he would finally need to use it after so long.

After paying, Carl led Shinji toward the department store in Niigata City.

The positioning of the Department Store in Nimbus City is quite similar to that of the Department Store in Lilycove City in the Hoenn region and the Department Store in Veilwall City in the Sinnoh region; they are all the largest department stores in their respective regions.

This place not only has many shops selling Pokémon items, but also various shops selling everyday items.

Upon arriving at the Niangguang City Department Store, the two agreed on a meeting place and time before parting ways to begin their shopping trip.

Carl chose to bring Shinji to this department store not because he wanted to go shopping, but because he always brought gifts for the Pokémon left at home whenever he went out.

The Pokémon familiar with Carl's habits also came out of their Poké Balls after seeing him arrive at the department store.

"Garug~ (I need to buy some ingredients for making desserts; we're almost out of cream.)"

"Hmm. (I remember Master Haidai published a cookbook; I'd like to buy one and study it.)"

"..."

"Alright, alright, one at a time, I'll pay for everything today!" Carl put on a show of generosity and led his Pokémon on a shopping spree.

Chapter 100 A Day Trip to Nijigasaki City (Part 2)

When it comes to shopping, the Pokémon have a lot of experience.

When Carl led a horde of Pokémon into the department store, the six Pokémon immediately split into three factions.

The first faction consists of the culinary faction, composed of the Martial Arts Bear Master and the Monarch Serpent. They have almost no other shopping needs besides buying ingredients.

The second group is the atmosphere group, consisting of Hakuryu, Swampert, and Vibranium. They came to the department store with no shopping plans, focusing on a sense of participation.

The last group, the "I Want Everything" group, consists of Zapdos and Mew as temporary members. Their shopping motto is to buy whatever they like, and their main characteristic is greed.

As the eldest brother and head chef of the team, Urshifu is the highest priority for all the Pokémon in Carl's team.

After all, it's okay to mess with Karl; at worst, you'll just get a scolding. But if you mess with Martial Arts Master Bear, the cook, then nobody's going to have a good time.

Therefore, after Carl led a group of Pokémon into the mall, Urshifu, surrounded by the Pokémon, headed towards the food shop.

After Urshifu and Serperior purchased the necessary ingredients, Zapdos and Mew took control of the team.

In fact, Zapdos, as a legendary Pokémon, can in a sense be equated with the word "country bumpkin".

After all, it was born in a thundercloud and had hardly ever been in contact with the human world. Therefore, everything in the human world was new and exciting to it.

While Dream often hides in human society to observe everything, the Padiya region is still a relatively new place for it.

After all, a certain little turtle whose species was wiped out by tectonic activity is still asleep, and Dream is too embarrassed to disturb its old friend's sleep, so it hasn't come to this area for a long time.

"Screech—(I want this!)"

When Carl led his Pokémon past a store that specialized in selling everyday Pokémon items, Zapdos was immediately drawn to one of the enormous "nests".

As a legendary Pokémon, Zapdos has always wanted to show off its status as a legendary Pokémon on the farm. Who could resist a super king-size bed?

"Okay, let's go in and take a look." After hearing Zapdos's words, Carl remembered that there seemed to be an unborn little guy on the farm, so he led a group of Pokémon into the general store.

The saleswoman in the store seemed to be used to trainers bringing a group of Pokémon into the store. Instead of stopping them, she even took out bags of pre-packaged Pokémon food from somewhere and distributed them to the Pokémon. Then she smiled at Carl and said, "Sir, would you like me to introduce you to the products in our store?"

Carl had no reason to refuse, so he and the Pokémon strolled around the store under the guidance of the saleswoman.

"This is our latest 'Harmony Home' series of Pokémon homes, which uses our company's self-developed..."

With the saleswoman's introduction, Carl gained a general understanding of the main products featured in this general merchandise store.

Just as Carl was about to ask about the daily necessities that newborn Pokémon could use, he caught a glimpse of five boys and girls wearing Orange Academy uniforms walking into the store.

Among these five boys and girls, the most eye-catching was a tall, black-haired girl.

Karl roughly estimated that the girl was about 1.8 meters tall, only half a head shorter than him.

Among the remaining boys and girls, Karl also saw a short-haired girl with red hair and golden highlights.

Based on just these two people, Karl guessed the identities of the five: they were the five "leaders" of the original Tianxing team—Pipa, Melok, Pina, Ordiga, and Tanaka, five students.

'Are they out for team building?' Carl wondered, but it was none of his business, so he stopped paying attention to them and instead asked the sales clerk about supplies for new Pokémon.

Under Zapdos's longing gaze, Carl consulted the saleswoman and commissioned a custom-made, extra-large "nest" to meet its requirements. He then ordered many items from the saleswoman that newborn Pokémon could use.

After leaving his delivery address, Carl led his Pokémon out of the store and continued shopping.

In the following time, Carl first went to the Silver Company counter and bought some premium nutrient solution for the incubation device, and then bought a tortoiseshell pen for Metagross.

As for Charizard? Carl figured he'd just buy the glutton some treats at the dessert shop before heading home. After all, Charizard doesn't seem to have any hobbies other than eating and fishing. Hmm, maybe sleeping counts too?

In addition to these items, Carl also prepared gifts for the other Pokémon on the farm, such as buying a collar inlaid with Leaf Stones for Newleafy and milk powder that simulates the smell of life force for Gengar.

In short, Carl's main principle is to treat all Pokémon equally and not leave any out.

Of course, Carl still has a certain fondness for Bulbasaur, but none of the Pokémon in the team have any objections to this. After all, everyone begs for food from Bulbasaur, so who wouldn't love Bulbasaur?

Just as Carl was about to head to the agreed-upon location to meet Shinji, Martial Arts Master Kuma suddenly spoke up, warning, "Hoo-hoo. (It seems someone has been following us.)"

"Huh? What's going on?" Karl frowned and looked in the direction Master Xiong was pointing. He saw a figure with red and blue hair and wearing an Eevee outfit flash by.

"That's... Peony?" Karl immediately recognized the person who had been following him upon seeing the figure.

However, Carl didn't understand why Peony was following him. He hadn't done anything wrong.

Just then, Carl recalled the five people he had just met at the Pokémon Supplies store, and a guess popped into his mind.

If Carl remembers correctly, in the game's storyline, Peony didn't reveal her true identity to the five members of the Celestial Star Team until the very end of the main story.

This also means that at this point in time, the five "bosses" of the Tianxing team still do not know that the real boss is this seemingly ordinary student named Mudan in the academy.

Is this how Peony usually is, hiding alone in a corner, spying on them?

'This is a bit too ridiculous. Where did this girl come from?' Karl silently complained to himself.

Carlton felt a headache coming on at the thought of possibly teaching these "problem students" in the future.

Just then, an idea struck Karl. He took out his phone and sent a message to an account named "Cassiopeia":

Are you following me? Or are you following them?

In a corner not far from Karl, Peony, who was secretly watching, was startled by the vibration from her phone.

"Could it be my stupid dad?" Mudan muttered as she opened her phone. She immediately bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"What on earth is going on?!"

Chapter 101 The Challenge and the Gift

After Carl sent that text message, his phone was silent for a second, then a barrage of text message notifications started popping up.

Seeing this, Carl did not reply to the message, but turned off the phone's vibration and put it back in his pocket.

As for why Carl doesn't use the Rotom phone he just bought?

That's because, compared to regular phones, Rotom phones require a lengthy binding process before use. To avoid wasting time, Carl planned to activate the Rotom phone after he got home.

Seeing that Karl had no intention of replying to the message, Peony calmed down.

Although her identity has most likely been exposed, the thought of Karl's character calmed her heart, which had been pounding because of the text message.

'Tsk, this guy is really something...'

Meanwhile, after reuniting with Shinji, Karl, seeing that there was still some time before the hotel that evening, said to Shinji, "How about we take you back to my farm now while we still have time?"

"I will follow my master's instructions."

"Alright, let's not delay, let's set off now!"

……

Three hours later, as Carl returned to his beloved farm, two familiar figures emerged from the farmhouse.

"Karl, you're finally back!" Nemo quickly walked up to Karl, and then she noticed Shinji following behind him.

"Hey, you must be Shinji, Karl's disciple?" Nemo suddenly jumped in front of Shinji, looked him up and down with a curious gaze, and then extended her right hand to him. "Hello, I'm Nemo, Karl's future disciple."

"Hello." Shinji felt a chill run down his spine. For some reason, he saw the shadow of a certain idiot in the girl in front of him.

If Carl knew what Shinji was thinking at that moment, he would definitely praise his observation skills, since Nemo and Ash are quite similar in some ways.

Of course, Nemo is far ahead of Ash in terms of theoretical knowledge, but in terms of physical ability, Ash can take down dozens of Nemo with just one hand.

“Since you are Karl’s disciple, let’s have a Pokémon battle!” Nemo’s eyes were filled with burning fighting spirit as she looked at Shinji.

When Shinji heard Nemo challenge him to a duel, he wanted to accept immediately, but considering certain factors, he turned to Karl and gave him a questioning look.

“It’s almost lunchtime now, why don’t you eat first and then play?” Carl suggested. “It can be a good way to digest after a meal.”

"No problem, Karl!"

"Okay, Master."

After the two agreed, Karl grabbed Piper and pushed him in front of Shinji, introducing him warmly: "Shinji, this is my cousin, Piper. He is also a student at Orange Academy, and he will be your senior from now on. You two should get along well."