I caught a Pokémon

He also felt a little regretful that the psychic clay figure failed to stand up.

Fortunately, even if it was a mutual destruction, at least one was successfully defeated, so that they didn't lose all face.

"Oh dear, I managed to win a match by sheer luck. It seems my skills are still as good as ever!"

From Yu Jin's tone, it was clear that even though the old man had been defeated and almost had his head shaved, he still maintained a good attitude.

"It's more than just as good as it was back then," Xia You said with a smile. "Your Pokémon are really amazing. Otherwise, my Metagross wouldn't have fought so hard against Claydol, resulting in both of them being severely injured. It seems I still need to work harder!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Jin burst into laughter.

Don't be fooled by the young man's sweet talk; countless challengers have fallen to his Claydot, so he knows his Pokémon's strength all too well.

Judging from their performance just now, Dragonite and Scizor are undoubtedly stronger than Metagross. It is clear that Metagross is definitely not this man's top-tier team. The fact that he managed to fight to a draw with an ordinary team made him realize the gap between himself and this man.

He even said he'd keep working hard, but if he really kept trying, he wouldn't even be able to beat a regular team.

At this point, the referee robot had already begun to retrieve Tulip's defeated Pokémon.

After releasing the Pokémon, Tulip handed the Poké Ball to it. The referee robot first retrieved the unconscious Claydol back into the Poké Ball, and then went to search for the other two Pokémon.

As for Metagross, which was also unconscious, Dragonite picked it up and, together with Scizor, returned towards the battlefield.

After chatting with Xia You for a few more minutes, Yu Jin handed Xia You a glittering gold coin.

"Please accept this. It is the spiritual symbol of the Battle Palace and proof of your defeat of me."

Like the previous symbols, this spiritual symbol is also made of gold, but the pattern on it is quite ordinary, just like a square block with grooves!

……

After returning from the Battle Palace, Xia You and Xiao Yao went back to the quiet town on Metal Island.

This challenge went much more smoothly than expected.

When we returned from the Battle Palace, it was only just past noon.

Xia You didn't even feel involved; she just watched the whole thing. The Pokémon easily won the Ribbon Medal based solely on their own performance.

This was arguably the easiest facility he had encountered since he began challenging the Battle Frontier.

Of course, this only applies to him.

If it were anyone else, the difficulty of defeating Tulip's Pokémon without the trainer's involvement would be unimaginable. It's only because I've encountered this situation frequently before that my Pokémon is well-trained. If it were Ash or another trainer, who knows how tough the fight would be.

But no matter what, a win is a win, and the trip wasn't a waste; at least I saw some spectacular scenery!

It's time to move on to the next place.

However, it was too remote. When Xia You arrived at the ticket office at the small pier and inquired, she learned that the next passenger ship to Metal Island would not arrive for another three days!

This is really bad news.

It was so easy to get here, but now I can't go back!

With no other option, Xia You had to release his second mount.

Dragonite reappeared in front of Xia You and Xiao Yao.

Although it had just gone through a battle, Dragonite was not seriously injured due to the difference in strength. In addition, it rested in its Poké Ball for a while and even recovered its stamina.

"Thanks a lot."

Xiaoyao greeted it with a smile, and then, with Xia You's help, the two of them rode on the back of the Dragonite.

Once the two were settled, Dragonite flapped its small wings, took flight, and soared into the sky.

A gentle breeze caressed her, and Haruka comfortably squinted her eyes. When Dragonite reached a certain height and began to stabilize, she looked back and saw that Metal Island was getting smaller and smaller below her. In just a moment, it was already far behind.

Xia You also took to the sky after a long absence.

So far on his journey, he has had two 'mounts'. The first was the Charizard in the Charizard Canyon, and the second was the Dragonite beneath him.

Each of them has its own unique characteristics when flying.

For example, Charizard, when carrying Xia You in flight, feels more powerful and more stable, but it is not as fast as Dragonite.

Dragonite, on the other hand, is more lively, likes to go up and down, and likes to fly close to the water surface, which makes it look less stable.

It's not fair to say whose flying skills are better; it's just that they each have their own strengths and different styles.

Their next destination wasn't far from here, near Fuchsia City. With Dragonite's flying speed, it was naturally not as slow as taking a boat. However, even so, as darkness fell, they still hadn't been able to return to the mainland and could only land on a nearby island to find a place to stay.

Fortunately, the island they landed on was perhaps closer to the mainland, and it was significantly more prosperous and larger than Metal Island.

Although the forest area is smaller and there are more mountains, the most important thing is that the town on the island is larger, there are more people, and even the streets are cleaner and tidier, and it looks very lively.

Dragonite slowly landed on the island's town.

Only after asking the surrounding residents did they learn that the island was called Vanilla Island, and the town they lived in was called Mogao Town, one of the largest towns in the surrounding sea!

In addition to these, they also learned that an irregular orienteering competition will be held here early tomorrow morning. Humans and Pokémon will team up to quickly circle the five locations on the island. The first person to reach the finish line will receive a Pokémon Friendship King medal and a bonus of Vanilla Island specialty fruit!

Cross-country racing?

Specialty fruits?

Upon hearing about the food, Xiaoyao was clearly tempted by the competition.

It can only be said that timing is everything.

If their challenge against the palace hadn't gone so smoothly today, they wouldn't have arrived here the day before the competition, and if they hadn't arrived, they would have naturally missed tomorrow's cross-country competition.

Following the street, the two arrived at the Pokémon Center outside the town.

Along the way, Xiao Yao heard the pedestrians around her, whether adults or children, talking about tomorrow's cross-country race, which made her even more excited.

Even after entering the restaurant and having dinner, Xiao Yao finally couldn't help but say to Xia You, "Brother Xia You, let's go to that cross-country race tomorrow too!"

Xia You chuckled: "Participating in the competition? I think your goal isn't a medal, but rather those local specialty fruits, right?"

"Hehe." Xiaoyao smiled shyly, but readily admitted, "Whether it's a medal or fruit, I want it all! I just heard that this cross-country race isn't about fighting ability, it's just pure cross-country running. In that case, I might have a chance to beat you~"

Chapter 833 Pokémon Marathon

Hearing Xiaoyao's words, Xia You shook her head, amused and helpless.

"Looks like you want to compete against me," he laughed. "Actually, I wasn't planning on participating, but since you've said so, let's have a match. But beating me won't be so easy. Tomorrow, I'll show you what it means to be an experienced pro!"

While eating, the two chatted and laughed, and also developed many expectations and fantasies about tomorrow's competition.

Just then, Xia You's phone rang.

He took it out and looked at it, only to find that it displayed a name that surprised him greatly—Lila.

Why would she call me at this time?

In an instant, many thoughts arose in Xia You's mind, and just a second later, he had a slight guess in his heart.

He gestured to Xiaoyao, then got up, walked to a secluded corner, and pressed the call button.

Lila's familiar voice immediately came from the other end, and without much small talk, she went straight to the point and asked, "I heard you recently returned to Kanto and started challenging the Battle Frontier there?"

These guys all have incredibly sensitive noses, so Xia You wasn't surprised that she knew what she was doing.

And it seems he said that before?

It seems like I haven't said that before.

Anyway, it's been too long, he doesn't remember anymore.

“That’s right, I’ve been challenging the Battle Frontier Zone recently and have already obtained several symbols,” Xia You said with a smile. “What’s up? Is there something you need?”

Lila took a deep breath and said in a somewhat heavy and formal tone, "What you are about to hear may seem unbelievable, but please believe me, everything I say is true."

The more Lila acted this way, the more certain Xia You became of her suspicions.

"Don't worry, I've encountered even more unbelievable things before. Please speak frankly about what's on your mind."

As she spoke, Xia You glanced back at Xiao Yao from afar and saw her sitting there obediently, intently showing off her food. She smiled knowingly.

At this moment, Lila slowly spoke up: "In the Battle Frontier of Kanto, there is a Battle Tower, and the Brain of the Frontier there is also named Lila. In a sense, I am actually the same person as her."

At this point, Lila paused for a moment, perhaps trying to glean something from Xia You's tone, but clearly, she didn't sense any surprise or other emotion from the man. He remained silent, seemingly waiting for her to continue.

Impressed by his composure and calmness, Lila continued, "The same person I'm referring to is not someone who serves as both the pioneering brain of the Battle Tower and a member of the International Police. Of course, in a sense, that's true, but in reality, we are two different people in this world."

Lila's words were somewhat contradictory and confusing to the average person, but that was only true for those who didn't know the situation. As for Xia You, he already knew all of this.

"So you're saying that there are two versions of you in this world at the same time, right?"

"Huh?" Not wanting to hear that, Lila was even more puzzled. "That's true, but aren't you surprised?"

Xia You smiled and said, "There are too many mysterious things in this Pokémon world. I'm used to them all, so I won't be surprised no matter what happens. You might not even know that I am actually a miracle myself!"

This is the highest level of language: telling the truth as a joke, and nobody believes it.

Lila assumed that Xia You's "miracle" referred to his achievements during his travels and the legendary Pokémon he had captured, so she didn't pay much attention to it.

Little did she know that, just like herself, Xia You had also transmigrated from another world!

And it's a more 'realistic' world!

“I see, then I’m relieved.” Lila breathed a sigh of relief and continued, “Actually, a few years ago, I traveled through a strange space called the ‘Ultimate Hole’ and came here from another world. I became a Fall and lost my past memories as a result. Later, I joined the International Police and became the person I am now. That’s why I said earlier that although I and the Lila of this world look like the same person, strictly speaking, we are not the same person.”

The term "Fall" is a collective term used by international police to refer to humans who possess ultimate spatial energy.

When creatures pass through Ultra Holes, their bodies become covered in the energy within. These energy-laden humans are then hunted and attacked by Ultra Beasts. When the Interpol learned of this, they used this characteristic to recruit humans carrying the energy of Ultra Holes as 'bait' to hunt Ultra Beasts. Lila was one such person. However, due to her exceptional strength and outstanding performance, she accumulated more and more merits and rose through the ranks after joining the Interpol, eventually becoming the regional head she is today.

Even at the very beginning of her time with Interpolice, Lila was always assigned to work under the handsome guy. But because of her hard work and dedication, she was promoted to become his superior, resulting in a complete reversal!

This left the handsome guy feeling depressed for a long time, and whenever he talked about it, he would sigh deeply.

Putting aside the handsome guy's feelings for the moment, the matter of time travel is also Lila's biggest secret, involving some confidential information such as the 'ultimate hole'. The fact that she is telling me this now shows that the International Police not only attach great importance to her, but also means that Lila has her own unavoidable difficulties.

"Let me guess," Xia You said with a smile. "The reason you're telling me this is so you can keep it a secret once I get to the Battle Tower, right?"

“That’s right.” Hearing that Xia You understood her meaning directly, Lila couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re a smart person. It’s so easy to deal with you. Just like I said, my transmigration here is a top secret even within the International Police. Therefore, even Lila in this world doesn’t know about this. So I would like to ask you to pretend that you have never seen me before after you meet her, so as not to arouse her suspicion.”

"I don't understand." Xia You asked, puzzled, "Why didn't you tell her about this?"

“That involves a series of very complicated things,” Lila said with a wry smile. “Putting everything else aside, if you were someone who looked exactly like you suddenly appeared one day, claiming to have traveled from another dimension or from a world several years in the future, how would you feel?”

“It must be very uncomfortable.” Xia You nodded understandingly and tried to put herself in that shoes, analyzing, “Although the name is the same, the face is the same, and the memories may be similar, there is always a feeling of living with the person in the mirror, like having an extra shadow that knows all my secrets. I’m afraid that over time, some problems will inevitably arise.”

“That’s how it is.” Lila sighed. “And most importantly, it will have an irreversible impact on her normal life, whether it’s the past me or the other me in this parallel world. That’s why we have to keep it a secret from her and at the same time do everything we can to resolve the Ultimate Hole incident as soon as possible.”

"I see." Xia You didn't say anything more and agreed, "Don't worry, when I meet Miss Lila at the Battle Tower, I will make sure she doesn't notice anything!"

After hanging up the phone, Xia You returned to Xiao Yao's side.

Xiao Yao sensibly didn't press Xia You about why she had been gone for so long or who had called her. Instead, she continued chatting with Xia You about their previous topics, looking forward to tomorrow's cross-country race, and they discussed the topic with great interest.

……

The full name of this event is 'Pokémon Orienteering Race'.

Participants need to team up with their Pokémon to navigate through fixed points on five islands, and the participant who completes the journey in the fastest time will be the winner of the competition.

Speaking of which, this competition is not only held in the Kanto region, but also in other regions from time to time. Because of its high level of entertainment and unpredictability, it is the third most popular competitive event after the Pokémon Conference and the Pokémon Contest. It is somewhat similar to a marathon on Earth, of course, in the Pokémon version.

However, because there is no common organizer, the prizes for each competition are quite different.

Just like the main prize this time, it's a trophy called 'Pokémon Friendship King', and the bonus prizes are a bunch of local specialty fruits from Vanilla Island.

Don't underestimate these fruits. Although they may sound a bit low-class, they are the highest quality fruits produced on the island at this time of year! Whether it's their plumpness or their taste, they are top-quality special products that money can't buy!

It also holds special significance as a symbol of a bountiful harvest on the island!

It's fair to say that many locals came to this competition not for the trophy, but precisely for the fruit!

Of course, there are also foodies like Xiaoyao among them.

The next morning, after having breakfast, Xia You and Xiao Yao walked out of the Pokémon Center and onto the grass outside.

At this moment, nearly a hundred people have gathered here. Some of them are contestants, some are their relatives and friends, and most are spectators who have come to watch the excitement.

The cannons, symbolizing excitement and formality, were lit and shot into the air, creating plumes of smoke.

Not far ahead, there is a red archway with the word 'START' printed on it, which is both the starting point and the finish line of the race.

Since this was the venue, Xia You and Xiao Yao had already registered last night. After walking out of the Pokémon Center, they naturally blended into the crowd of contestants, just like ordinary participants.

At this point, Miss Joy also distributed a map and a compass to each contestant.

"Everyone~" After finishing, she chuckled, "Please note that there are five locations on the map, each with a stamp. Only by reaching the corresponding location, collecting the stamp, and finally returning here will you complete the race. The participant with the shortest time will be the winner of this year's Pokémon Orienteering Competition! Also, please note that only the map and compass are allowed during the competition. Using anything else, or riding a Pokémon, will result in disqualification~"