I caught a Pokémon

Behind Xia You's back, where she couldn't see, Xiaoxia leaned close to Xiaoyao and whispered, "We're going to meet Sakuragi Haru soon. Be careful. Don't let her innocent appearance fool you; she's not simple at all and will be an enemy you need to be wary of in the future!"

"Is it a bit... a bit like saying 'enemy'?"

Xiaoyao wondered if Xiaoxia was being overly suspicious.

After all, although she admitted that Xia You was outstanding, handsome, and her type, and that he was also very capable and her role model, and that he was gentle and knew how to take care of her feelings, would it be too much of an overestimation of Xia You's charm to say that many girls liked him?

Well, others may not know, but it seems to have already attracted me to it.

But she could only think about it in her heart. After all, she knew Xia You's place in Xiaoxia's heart. Moreover, Xiaoxia was in a 'volatile period' about to part ways, so it was best not to provoke her.

This time, wanting to surprise everyone, Xia You didn't contact Professor Sakuragi and Xiaochun beforehand. Instead, she took out a few souvenirs from her own collection and bought some more from a nearby gift shop, dividing them into several packages. After making sure she was well-prepared, she carried the items into the Sakuragi Research Institute.

Having lived here for a period of time, and still having her own room, Xia You looked around as she stepped into the English-style courtyard, and it still felt so familiar.

Although Xiaoxia had been here before, she had only stayed in the back battlefield for a while. This was the first time she had entered through the main gate. Out of curiosity, she stopped whispering to Xiaoyao and instead looked around curiously.

It must be said that, compared to the research institute, the huge domed park behind it attracted their attention even more.

"Xia You-ge..." Xiao Yao couldn't help but ask curiously, "Do you store your Pokémon here?"

“That’s right.” Xia You nodded. “This is not only where I obtained my Pokédex, but also where I officially became a trainer. You could say that my path as a trainer began here.”

Xia You-ge...the beginning of everything?

Xiaoyao looked up at Sakuragi Park in the distance again. After hearing Xia You's words, she wondered if it was just her imagination, but the entire research institute seemed to be filtered, making it look so mysterious.

Following the stone path, the three arrived at the main entrance of Sakuragi Research Institute.

Just as Xia You raised her arm to knock on the door, light footsteps suddenly came from the other side of the door, and then the door was opened from the inside.

Behind the door, a girl with long, purplish-red hair braided into pigtails was carrying a bamboo basket full of tree fruits, seemingly about to go out. But when she looked up, she saw a man and two women in front of the door.

Needless to say, this person is none other than Sakuragi Haru.

Xia You was about to greet her when she saw Xiao Chun blink and then close the door again.

Ok?

Xia You was stunned, not knowing what she was doing.

Just as they were about to knock, the door suddenly opened again, and Xiaochun, behind the door, glanced at Xia You once more, blinked again, and then closed the door again!

Seeing this, Xia You immediately understood that Xiao Chun must think she was hallucinating and was repeatedly testing her!

Does this girl think I'm still half asleep?

That's understandable, since he hadn't told her he was back in Kanto. Now that he was standing right in front of her, how could she not be suspicious?

Shaking her head, Xia You was about to call out Xiao Chun's name when Xiao Chun, behind the door, seemed to have confirmed that Xia You was indeed there. She exclaimed in surprise and then suddenly opened the door for the third time.

"Xia You-ge! You're back!?"

With just one sentence and that look of surprise, Xia You's Xiaoxia behind her was on high alert.

However, Haru's personality is not like Ryukia's. Although Misty also considers her a rival in love, she at least gets along with her on the surface and can communicate normally. She doesn't confront her like she does with Ryukia.

"Yes, I'm back." Xia You smiled at Xiao Chun, then teased, "What were you doing just now? What, can't you even believe your own eyes?"

Xiaochun blushed deeply, but just smiled sweetly: "Of course, you came back without a word, who would have thought!"

"I was just thinking of giving you a surprise."

Xia You smiled and then introduced them to the group.

"You've already met Misty before. This is Haruka, a partner we met while traveling in the Hoenn region. She came back to Kanto specifically to accompany Misty. Haruka, this is Haru Sakuragi, Professor Sakuragi's daughter."

"Hello."

"Hello."

"Xiaochun, it's been a long time."

The two girls shook hands. Although Xiaoxia reminded her, to be honest, Xiaoyao had a very good impression of Xiaochun. No matter how you looked at it, Xiaochun seemed like a well-behaved girl, and it was hard for her to feel any hostility towards such a person.

Not only her, but even Xiaochun felt an excellent connection with Xiaoyao.

This is related to temperament. For example, Xiaoxia and Rukia dislike each other at first glance, while Xiaoyao and Xiaochun do not have the same feeling at first glance.

Xia You glanced at the bamboo basket in Xiao Chun's hand and asked, "Were you about to go out?"

"Yes." Perhaps seeing Xia You made Xiao Chun feel good, as she said cheerfully, "It's Saturday today, and I happen to be off, so I was planning to go to Sakuragi Park to give your Pokémon an extra treat!"

This one sentence touched Xia You deeply.

While she was traveling, Xiaochun was quietly taking care of her Pokémon. This kindness cannot be repaid with a simple thank you.

"You've really gone through a lot." Xia You shook her head, but didn't know what to say, so she handed her the gift she had prepared. "These are some souvenirs I bought during my trip to Hoenn. I hope you like them."

He didn't know how to thank Xiaochun, so he could only express his gratitude in a simple way. Little did he know that this simple gesture would warm the girl's heart.

"Thank you."

Xiaochun obediently accepted the gift and gave Xia You another smile.

Xia You then looked behind her and asked, "Are the Doctor, Ms. Haruna, and Mr. Renji at the research institute now?"

Xiaochun nodded: "They're all here. Should I go in and tell them?"

"No need." Xia You waved her hand, then pointed to Xiaoxia and Xiaoyao behind her and said to Xiaochun, "Neither of them has been to Sakuragi Park. Why don't you take them there? I'll go see Professor Sakuragi myself later."

After saying that, he turned around and nodded to Xiaoxia and Xiaoyao before carrying the gifts into the Sakuragi Research Institute.

After he left, Xiaochun looked at the two girls in front of her and smiled, "Then, come with me."

Xiaochun carried the basket and walked ahead, while Xiaoxia and Xiaoyao exchanged a glance and followed.

Because it wasn't far, it only took a minute to reach the entrance of Sakuragi Park. Looking through the huge glass, she saw that there wasn't a single Pokémon inside. May couldn't help but ask curiously, "Huh? Why is it so empty here? Isn't it supposed to be a place where trainers store their Pokémon?"

Xiaochun first took out the access card and opened the park gate, then turned to Xiaoyao and smiled, "This is because the park is not officially open to the public yet, so there are only Xiayou's Pokémon inside. There weren't many to begin with, and Xiayou took them to challenge the Rainbow Tournament a few days ago, so there are only a few Pokémon left inside now."

Following behind Koharu, the two entered Sakuragi Park.

The first thing they saw was a long pebble path, with small lawns on both sides, and on the other side of the lawns were small hills and dense forests.

After walking only a few steps, Xiaochun left the pebble path, passed through a grove of trees, and came to a dense flower bed. Pushing aside the branches, Xiaoxia and Xiaoyao immediately saw Xiayou's Bulbasaur, which was dozing in the flower bed.

This feeling is truly amazing.

Just a few days ago, they saw Venusaur fighting in the arena, but after that, it and several other old members were teleported back here by Xia You. Now that they see it here again, they have a kind of spatial illusion.

Xiaochun placed the bamboo basket on the ground and took out a few green berries from the basket full of fruit. She placed them in front of Venusaur and said to the two of them with a smile, "This Venusaur's favorite fruit is this kind of berry. It's sweet, crunchy, and delicious. Would you like one?"

Xiaoxia and Xiaoyao both shook their heads.

Upon hearing Xiaochun's voice, Bulbasaur opened its eyes, glanced at her, smiled and nodded, then opened its mouth and swallowed a few berries.

Brushing the dirt off his clothes, Xiaochun picked up the bamboo basket again and led the two of them through the park.

It was only then that May and Misty discovered the Pokémon hidden throughout the park.

The Scizor, constantly waving its bladed arms at the tree trunk; the Tyranitar lying in the pile of rocks; the Jolteon chasing butterflies in the forest; the Blastoise soaking in the water; and the Steelix emerging from the cave—Xiaochun seems to know their activity patterns very well and can always find them accurately.

These Pokémon were all very friendly to Chloe, and when they saw her coming, they all went up to her.

This gave Xiaoxia an even more inexplicable feeling.

It turns out that somewhere she didn't know, there was a girl who took such good care of Xia You's Pokémon...

Amidst her complicated feelings, the three of them finally arrived at the largest lake in the park. Upon reaching this point, Xiaoxia seemed to realize something and suddenly slowed down.

Noticing something was wrong with her expression, Xiaoyao asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Xiaoxia hesitated for a moment, but before she could speak, the lake in front of her suddenly exploded, and a huge red Pokémon emerged from the water!

Now Xiaoyao finally understood the reason.

But let alone Xiaoxia, even she felt her whole body stiffen and her breath catch in her throat when she saw such a 'fierce and menacing' Pokémon. Especially when she was stared at by those huge, cold pupils, her heart raced and all her pores opened up in that instant!

Such a sudden and unexpected entrance was truly terrifying.

Needless to say, this giant red Pokémon is none other than Xia You's giant red Gyarados.

As the undisputed overlord of the park, it monopolizes the largest lake, and even Pokémon from the same region as Summer, such as Venusaur, Blastoise, and other Pokémon, are not very willing to approach this place.

Not only did Xiaoxia stop in her tracks, but even Xiaoyao dared not take another step closer.

To be honest, this was the first time Xiaoyao had ever seen Xia You's giant red Gyarados.

She had only heard snippets of information from Xiaoxia and Xiaozhi before, and today was indeed the first time she had seen it with her own eyes. This sight gave her an extremely shocking visual impact.

She never imagined that Gyarados could be so big and so scary!

And does Gyarados come in red?

Xiaochun, seemingly unconcerned, walked to the riverbank and threw all the remaining tree fruits from her bamboo basket at the giant red Gyarados.

The giant red Gyarados swallowed all the berries before turning around and sinking back into the water.

Xiaochun packed up the empty bamboo basket, turned around, saw Xiaoyao and Xiaoxia's expressions, and smiled gently.

"Don't let its intimidating appearance fool you, it's actually quite obedient. As long as you don't attack it first, it will never launch an attack on its own."

Xiaoyao hesitated for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Aren't you scared?"

"Scared?" Xiaochun shook her head. "They are all Xia You's Pokémon, they would never hurt me. So what's there to be afraid of?"

Chapter 791 Meeting (Please Subscribe)

While Xiaoxia, Xiaoyao, and Xiaochun were strolling through Sakuragi Park, Xia You had already entered the research institute.

He knew the layout inside very well and walked through it without any directions, arriving at his work area with great ease.

At this moment, Dr. Sakuragi, Kikuna, and Renji were gathered together, discussing something in front of several instruments. Perhaps they were too engrossed in their conversation, as none of them noticed Xia You's arrival.

Xia You stood there, looking around.

The equipment here has changed a lot since his last visit. Not only has the placement changed, but there are also more machines. It seems that the Sakuragi Research Institute has become more and more complete during this period, which makes him feel a little wistful.

Even though I haven't been away for very long, there's always a feeling that time has passed...

Seeing that the group was engaged in a heated discussion, Xia You did not interrupt, but stood there and waited for a while.

By chance, Kikuna glanced at him and saw his figure, her eyes immediately lighting up.

"Hey? Isn't this Xia You? When did you get back?"

Women are indeed more perceptive. Upon hearing her voice, Professor Sakuragi and Renji, who were talking, were startled and quickly turned around. When they saw Xia You, they both showed surprise and delight.

"Xia You?"

"So the champion has returned!"

Xia You's appearance surprised and delighted the three of them, who immediately put down their work and surrounded her.

"Doctor, Miss Kikuna, Mr. Renji, it's been a long time." As she spoke, Xia You quickly handed them the gifts she had bought. "This is a small token of my appreciation, please accept it."

Regardless of whether he was a champion in three regions, he didn't get arrogant because of it. He treated people the same way he always had, and his mentality didn't change like some people did because of a few empty titles.

This made Dr. Sakuragi and his two friends feel familiar with Xia You even though they hadn't seen her for a long time, and there was no sense of distance between them.

He's back, and he's still the same guy!

"I watched the whole match!" Renji said with a smile, putting the gift aside. "Your performance was as strong as ever, just like in the Silver and Quartz tournaments. Those people were no match for you at all!"

As he spoke, he pointed to his table, and Xia You looked in the direction he was pointing and immediately saw her own—a figurine!

Goodness...

Has this thing already come out?

It seems that Renji is not only part of the support group, but also genuinely enjoys his match.

In fact, as the only one of the three who was interested in Pokémon battles, Renji did follow every single one of Xia You's matches. He watched almost every single one that could be found online. Having watched them all, he knew Xia You's strength well and had no worries that Xia You would be defeated.

This is exactly the kind of scene a supporter would love to see!

It's so satisfying to watch!

“Yeah,” Kikuna teased. “On the day of your finals, Renji even took a break to watch your match. After watching it, he said, ‘That’s it?’ He was obviously a little disappointed that your opponent was defeated so easily.”

In front of his boss, Professor Sakuragi, Renji readily admitted it.

“I’m not wrong!” he laughed. “I’m absolutely right. Compared to the Silver and Quartz tournaments, the opponents this time are much weaker. It doesn’t feel like a final; it’s more like a round of 16!”

Can't it be like the round of 16...?