I caught a Pokémon

Perhaps it was because Xiaoyao's expression was too serious that it really touched something. Bixi pondered for a moment and then sighed.

"Alright, since I've finished my work and there's still some time before tomorrow's Grand Contest, I'll give you some pointers..."

Chapter 641 Ocean Science Museum

Haruka, with her hunting butterfly, followed Bixi to the side to continue practicing.

With things at this point, and with the help of Bixi, a professional, neither Ash, Misty, nor their younger brother Max could offer any further assistance, so they all simply withdrew.

Seeing that Xiaoyao was practicing intently, Xia You turned to Xiaozhi and the others and said, "Since we're not needed here for the time being, instead of just waiting, why don't we go and explore other places?"

His proposal was approved by everyone.

After saying goodbye to May and agreeing to meet at the Pokémon Center that evening, the group left and headed towards the city.

Before we knew it, it was already afternoon, and the warm sunshine was shining on people, making them feel cozy.

After wandering aimlessly for a long time, facing the sea breeze, Xiaoxia stood at the crossroads, looked left and right, and couldn't help but ask Xiaozhi and the others, "Do you have any good places to go?"

She and Xia You had only arrived in this city today, and before that, she knew nothing about it, so naturally she didn't know where to go to kill time.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Xiao Sheng eagerly shouted, "I want to go to the Ocean Science Museum!"

"Marine Science Museum?" The group turned to look at him at the same time.

“That’s right.” Xiaosheng pushed up his glasses and said as if listing his treasures, “The marine science museum here is very famous! It not only has all kinds of marine knowledge, but also all kinds of strange Pokémon models. I’ve wanted to go for a long time, but I haven’t had time to come here before. Today is the opening day, so now is the perfect time to go!”

It's no wonder that Xiao Sheng loves to enrich himself. Most boys his age prefer playgrounds or parks, and few are as eager for knowledge as he is.

Xia You and the others naturally had no objection to his suggestion. However, just as they were about to head towards the Ocean Museum, Brock stood still and said to them, "You guys go ahead. I still need to go to the market to buy some ingredients and supplies. Like Xiaoyao, I'll wait until tonight at the Pokémon Center to meet up with you."

To be honest, Xia You sometimes really envies Xiao Zhi. He has a full-time babysitter like Xiao Gang who takes care of him. He doesn't need to do anything and just needs to focus on the battle.

He had only briefly experienced such treatment when Rika was still traveling with him!

Sigh, it's been N days since Rika left, and I miss her as much as ever...

……

The Marine Science Museum in Kayana is built on a vacant lot by the sea, not far from the lighthouse.

When Xia You and her group arrived, they could see from afar three towering glass dome-shaped buildings connected together, forming a grand museum.

Xiao Sheng walked ahead with great enthusiasm, even humming a song happily. However, when he arrived at the museum entrance and saw the notice above, his face immediately fell.

"how so…"

Seeing him stagger back several steps, looking utterly dejected, Xia You raised an eyebrow and quickly took a few steps to look at the notice.

It was only then that they discovered that, although today was the museum's opening day, unfortunately, the museum was temporarily closed due to the owner's business.

"Looks like we came for nothing."

Although somewhat disappointed, it was nothing to Xia You and the others; they could just treat it as a stroll. Only Xiao Sheng seemed very unwilling to accept this outcome. He looked to both sides, then ran to the window of the nearby museum, jumped up, and actually grabbed the windowsill with both hands!

"Hey..." Xia raised an eyebrow, her expression somewhat resembling Xia You's. She called out, "What are you doing? This is dangerous! Get down here right now!"

"I don't care!" Xiao Sheng remained unmoved, gritting his teeth and struggling to climb towards the window. "I must go to the museum today! There's so much knowledge waiting for me to see!! I've been looking forward to it for so long!!!"

Oh no, this child has gone mad...

Fearing he might be in danger, Xia You was about to lift him down when, due to exhaustion, Xiao Sheng lost his grip and fell off the windowsill.

thump.

Xiao Sheng landed on his bottom, but luckily it was on a grassy area, and he hadn't climbed very high, so the fall didn't hurt him much.

"Forget it, let's go." Xiao Zhi pulled him up from the ground and couldn't help but persuade him, "Since it's not open today, we can just come back tomorrow."

Perhaps because they were talking too loudly, just then, the folding window in front of them suddenly opened from the inside, and a man in his forties, dressed in a suit and leather shoes, revealed half of his body and looked at them.

"Excuse me, is there anything I can help you with?"

No one expected that there was someone in the room behind the window!

Xiao Sheng looked a little embarrassed, but still said, "We came to visit, but the museum doors are closed, so this is the only way I can get in!"

It's fortunate that Xiao Sheng is just a child. As the saying goes, children speak without restraint. His actions just now could be described as illegal intrusion, but because he is so young, he doesn't feel there's anything wrong with what he said.

Sure enough, after hearing Xiao Sheng's words, the man simply smiled and nodded, without pursuing the matter further.

"I see." After glancing at Xia You and the others, the man continued, "My name is Nanmu, and I am the curator of this museum. There is a reason why the museum is closed today, but since you have come all this way, I can't let you go back disappointed. So I will make an exception and let you in."

With that, he left the window, returned to the room, and disappeared. A short while later, he opened a small door on the other side of the museum, stood there, and waved to them.

Xiao Sheng was overjoyed and ran over almost immediately.

Xia You and the others exchanged glances, never expecting things to take such a dramatic turn for the better!

And this man is also the curator, the highest-ranking person in charge here, which is quite an unexpected surprise!

It can only be said that Xiaoyao and Xiaosheng, the two siblings, were really lucky today, as they both met their respective benefactors.

Following Xiao Sheng, the group entered the museum.

Although we entered through a side door, it wasn't far from the main entrance. We only walked a few steps before arriving at the museum's main hall.

Upon entering, I was immediately struck by a life-size Wailord hanging from the ceiling!

"So big..."

Looking up from their angle, the enormous blue body hung high, almost filling the entire ceiling of the hall, making them realize just how insignificant humans are in the face of such a behemoth!

Looking at it, Ash couldn't help but ask, "Gym Leader Nanmu, this Wailord can't be real, can it?"

Chapter 642 The Burnt Stone

“Of course it’s not real,” Director Nanmu laughed. “It’s just a replica model, but it is indeed larger than the usual Wailord, which is why it has such a strong sense of oppression.”

After leaving the main hall, the group entered the second exhibition hall.

Compared to the main hall, which was more like a rest area and a flow-through area, this is clearly a true exhibition hall.

As you can see, there are two rows of display cases on both sides, and dozens of Pokémon models that live in the ocean are displayed on the display cases.

Not only Pokémon from the Hoenn region, but also Pokémon from Johto and Kanto, and even Pokémon from Sinnoh and Unova, are basically included. Moreover, these models are extremely realistic and can be described as lifelike!

"How spectacular!" Xiaoxia couldn't help but exclaim upon seeing such a sight. If we're talking about who likes it more, probably no one present would like Water-type Pokémon more than her. Seeing so many Pokémon models now made her even happier than winning a battle!

However, seeing that they were all just models, she couldn't help but ask, "Gym Leader, why not use real Pokémon? Wouldn't that look better?"

Director Nanmu smiled and said, "This is a museum, not an aquarium. Besides, I am currently researching marine Pokémon. Using models will allow me to better understand the Pokémon's body structure in a safe manner."

Indeed, for researchers like Nanmu, real Pokémon are full of uncertainties and difficult to control. Can they really learn anything from just studying models?

After passing through this exhibition hall, they continued walking into the museum and arrived at exhibition hall number two, where they saw another orange submarine model.

This time, Xia You and the others didn't need to speak; Curator Nanmu had already taken on the role of guide, introducing the submarine to them: "This is a multi-functional submarine that I made. I designed it myself and manufactured it in my shipyard. With it, I can go down to the seabed and observe wild Pokémon myself!"

Director Nanmu sounded somewhat smug, seemingly quite satisfied with his design of the submarine.

Having watched all this, Xiao Sheng was in a state of excitement. He first praised the submarine, echoing Director Nanmu's words, and then turned to Xia You and the others: "It's such a pity that Sister and Xiao Gang didn't come this time! They missed so much, it's a huge loss!"

"What's wrong with that?" Xiaoxia rolled her eyes at him. "Your sister couldn't come because she had more important things to do, and Brock specializes in Rock and Ground-type Pokémon and has no interest in the aquarium at all. Don't always look at others with a child's eyes!"

Upon hearing Xiaoxia speak, Xiaosheng immediately fell silent.

Perhaps it was the punch he threw at Xiaoshun earlier, or Xiaoxia's unintentional display of willfulness, but he was actually very afraid of this seemingly beautiful older sister. He didn't dare to argue with her like he usually did with his older sister, and he didn't even dare to look her in the eye!

As they spoke, they walked all the way to the room they had just been in, and then they stopped.

When they arrived, they realized that this must be the office of Director Nanmu. No wonder Director Nanmu could hear their voices when Xiaosheng climbed through the window.

Director Nanmu walked to his desk, picked up a small, exquisite leather suitcase, and placed it in front of the group.

"Actually, the main reason I closed the museum today was to research this!"

As he spoke, he opened the box, showing Xia You and the others the contents.

All of them looked into the box at the same time and found that the exquisitely crafted box contained only a dark, oval-shaped stone!

Upon closer inspection, the stone was pitch black, no bigger than the palm of a hand, and apart from looking burnt, it had nothing special about it!

"What is this?" Ash asked in surprise. "Is it some kind of rare gem?"

“No.” Curator Nanmu shook his head. “It’s not a gemstone. It’s just an unknown stone that was accidentally found on the seabed. But don’t be fooled by its appearance. It’s not ordinary. The burn marks you see are actually caused by its internal heat, which allows it to radiate heat no matter how deep it is on the seabed!”

Hearing him say that, Xia You and the others were greatly surprised. They reached out their hands towards the stone and, sure enough, even before they got close, they felt a burst of intense heat. In just a short while, it seemed as if the indoor temperature had also risen by several degrees!

Xia You took another closer look at the box containing the stones. It turned out that there was a thick insulation layer inside, which explained why she hadn't felt anything through the box.

At this moment, Curator Nanmu opened the computer next to him and showed them a perspective view of the stone. From the picture, it can be clearly seen that there is an unidentified heat source in the center of the stone, which is continuously emitting heat outward!

"This doesn't make sense..." Xiao Sheng pressed his face close to the screen, adjusted his glasses, and asked, puzzled, "Why is the stone getting hot? It should be static..."

Gym Leader Nanmu shook his head: "I've considered many reasons. Although I still don't know why it was formed, I think it was definitely not formed naturally. It must have been created by the power of Pokémon!"

"Created by the power of Pokémon?" Ash's eyes widened. He knew that ordinary Pokémon couldn't create something so illogical; only legendary Pokémon could do it.

However, with his current knowledge and experience, he can't even recognize all the common Pokémon in the Hoenn region, let alone legendary Pokémon.

Fortunately, Curator Nanmu didn't try to be mysterious and instead asked, "Do you know Groudon?"

Groudon?

Just as Ash was about to ask what it was, he turned his head and saw that Xia You looked calm. A thought struck him, so he didn't say anything more and nodded, saying, "Of course I know. It's a legendary Pokémon, right?"

This time, without the curator from Nanmu even speaking, Masaru, who was standing to the side, began to explain to himself as if showing off his knowledge: "Groudon is one of the ancient Pokémon. It is said to be the embodiment of the earth, and also the Pokémon that created the land and expanded the continent!"

"You know so much!" Gym Leader Nanmu nodded approvingly at Xiaosheng. "He's right, and I also believe that this rock was formed by Groudon's power!"

Upon hearing this, Xia You couldn't help but stroke her chin.

I never expected that a casual visit to the museum would lead to a connection with Groudon.

Speaking of Groudon, one can't help but think of Team Magma!

The fact that Curator Nanmu has learned about this stone may not be kept secret from those guys, and given their behavior, they are very likely to come and snatch it immediately!

It seems that we will likely have to deal with them again here!

Chapter 643 The Spiny Cactus and the Pike-like Snake

Since Curator Nanmu had other things to do, Xia You and the others didn't want to bother him any longer, so they left the office and wandered around the museum on their own.

Speaking of which, since the museum was closed, apart from the curator of Nanmu, there were no other staff members to be seen in the entire museum at this time, not even the most basic patrol security guards!

Under such circumstances, the owner of Nanmu Museum still dared to let them visit on their own without fear of losing anything, which shows that he is a magnanimous person with a broad mind!

Thanks to this, without Nanmu's company, Xia You and the others felt much more at ease during their visit. They could go wherever they wanted and speak freely, commenting on the various exhibits without worrying about having outsiders present.

In addition to the exhibits they had just seen, the museum also features other exhibits, including but not limited to ocean water quality, soil and sand samples from various sea layers, and some electronic audio-visual science popularization materials.

After a leisurely stroll, not only did Xiao Sheng gain a lot, but Xia You and the others also felt that they had broadened their horizons considerably.

Before I knew it, the sky outside the window had turned to dusk, making me sigh at how quickly time flies.

Just then, the group heard a soft 'snap' sound, and then everything went dark as the entire museum went black!

"Huh?" Ash looked around blankly. "Is there a power outage?"

"Probably," Xiaoxia said casually, not taking it to heart.

Although they were somewhat surprised by the power outage, they didn't panic at all. After all, power outages are not common. Who hasn't experienced one since childhood? Even Xiao Zhi has encountered power outages at least several times since he started traveling, so he's already used to it!

Xia You's heart skipped a beat, realizing that someone must have broken into the museum.

It's just unknown whether the intruders here are Team Magma or Team Rocket, since either of them could be the culprit.

Thinking of this, taking advantage of the last rays of the setting sun in the not-too-dark room, he waved to the people beside him and said, "Let's go back to Master Nanmu's place first. I feel like something must have happened."

"Something happened?" Xiaoxia was taken aback. "Why do you say that?"

Xia You explained, "This is a museum, after all, and a developed coastal city. How could the power be cut off so easily? Besides, even if the power is cut off, there should be a backup generator. But as you can see, the lights haven't come on after all this time. Obviously, even the generator is malfunctioning. This is definitely not normal!"

Hearing him say this, the group realized the seriousness of the matter.

Following the original route, they ran towards the office of the Nanmu Museum Master. When they arrived at the office door and looked inside, they saw that the room was in a mess, obviously having been roughly searched. The Nanmu Museum Master and the box were not there. There was also a large hole in the window, and the sea breeze was blowing into the museum from outside, blowing the documents on the desk to the ground!

Xiao Zhi was taken aback: "What's going on?"

Xia You exchanged a glance with them, and then without hesitation, they jumped straight out of the cave entrance one by one.