I caught a Pokémon

"You're finally back!" Peony stepped forward, grabbed Xiaoxia's hands, and complained, "Why were you so slow? Didn't I tell you to come back quickly?"

Before Xiaoxia could speak, Changpu asked suspiciously, "You didn't go off to play somewhere again, did you? You almost missed something important!"

"Alright, stop talking about her." Sakura quickly stopped the two of them, and judging from her expression, she seemed to be relieved that Xiaoxia had appeared at this moment. "Although she came back a little late, she barely made it in time."

Xiaoxia's three older sisters would chatter on and on, making it impossible for anyone to get a word in edgewise.

Xiaoxia was also completely confused. After they finally quieted down, she asked in bewilderment, "What are you talking about? What happened to me? Oh, right, let's not talk about that now. Sisters, I brought guests back with me this time."

Perhaps because they had been too hasty before, they only noticed Xia You and the others at this moment.

"Oh, it's you guys. How have you been lately?"

"Has Xiaoxia caused you any trouble?"

Sakura and her two companions abandoned Misty and went forward to greet Ash and Brock first, then turned to Xia You.

When they saw Xia You's face clearly, their eyes lit up, like bees seeing a flower, and they all crowded around Xia You.

Peony feigned surprise and anger, saying, "Ah, I still remember you! You were the one who gave us a terrible beating back then!"

"That's right! That's right! What? Are you traveling with Xiaoxia now too?"

"Could it be that they're setting their sights on our sister?"

Faced with the three women going all out, Xia You felt overwhelmed and shook her head: "I just happened to run into them today. Although we didn't travel together, Xiaoxia and I are indeed very good friends."

Hearing Xia You say that, Xiao Xia was very happy, but seeing her three older sisters surrounding Xia You, she felt jealous and immediately came over angrily and pushed them away.

"Alright, alright!" Xiaoxia pouted and asked, "Why did you call me back in such a hurry?"

Reminded by her, the three of them returned to the main topic: "We almost forgot the important thing! Hurry up, Xiaoxia, there's no time left, we need to hurry up and practice!"

"Huh?" Xiaoxia looked completely bewildered. "What kind of practice are you talking about?"

“Is that even a question?” Changpu pointed to the poster on the wall. “It’s water ballet, of course!”

"Eh?!?!" Xiaoxia exclaimed in surprise, "Are you kidding me?! You actually want me to perform?!"

“Of course,” Peony replied matter-of-factly. “We’ve already decided that you will play the lead role of the Little Mermaid in the next underwater ballet!”

"What!?" Xiaoxia exclaimed in disbelief, "Why didn't you discuss this with me before making this decision for me? Besides, I'm determined to become a Water-type Pokémon Master! How can I go and dance ballet!? No way! I don't agree! Absolutely not!"

Seeing Xiaoxia's resolute attitude, Changpu was about to say something more, but was stopped by Yinghua.

"Alright, Xia, don't get agitated. How can we let our guests stand here? Let them go inside and rest for a bit."

Following behind Sakura, the group arrived at the lounge and sat down at a long table. Sakura served them tea, and it was only then that Xia You and the others finally learned the whole story from her.

Chapter 110 Adapted Script

Sakura was in a bad mood, and even the other two looked very downcast.

"Perhaps it's because our recent performances have been so unchanging that fewer and fewer people are coming to see the show. In fact, these past few days, the audience has been completely empty, without even a cheer."

As they recounted their stories, the others grew heavy-hearted. Even Xiaoxia hadn't expected such a tragedy to befall her family.

Xia You touched her chin.

Although it sounded pitiful, he had seen the three Sakura perform before, and after transmigrating to Carlos, he worked behind the scenes for a while. After thinking about it for a while, he understood where the problem lay.

"The reason it turned out this way may be that you have misjudged your own performance."

Upon hearing his words, everyone present turned their heads, and Sakura and the others looked at him with even greater surprise.

"Huh? Why do you say that?"

Xia You slowly said, "Actually, before I came to the Cerulean Gym last time and fought against you, I watched your show. How should I put it? Although it was very exciting, the performance was too monotonous. At least after watching the whole show, when I tried to recall anything afterwards, well... all I remember are a few long legs on the water..."

Hearing him say that, Xiaoxia rolled her eyes at him, while Sakura and the other two looked at each other in bewilderment.

"this…"

In fact, they have a lot of confidence in their performance, and more importantly, they enjoy showing their beauty to everyone through synchronized swimming.

It's truly hurtful to hear that people's impression of them is limited to their legs.

Despite their reluctance to admit it, the dwindling audience shattered their dreams and forced them to accept the reality.

Changpu asked, "Then what exactly did you mean by 'positioning' that you mentioned earlier?"

"Of course, I'm referring to the audience." Xia You organized her thoughts and continued, "Through my observation, I found that the audience here are almost all adult men, and their purpose is very simple: they just want to enjoy your dance. Although it is very pleasing to the eye, after a while, the audience gets tired of it and naturally doesn't want to come anymore."

His reasoning was clear and his words were convincing, making everyone realize that this was definitely not just empty talk.

Beside her, Peony's eyes lit up, as if she had received some kind of approval, and she said excitedly, "Look! This is exactly what I thought before!"

Sakura nodded and said to Xia You, "That's why we plan to have Xiaoxia come back to play the mermaid princess and save the Cerulean Gym!"

"No way!" Xiaoxia quickly refused. "I can't do that!"

“But…” Sakura looked troubled, “You all saw it just now, our posters have already been put up, and everyone heard that there will be a new show tomorrow, so the tickets have all been snapped up.”

"Tomorrow!?" Xiaoxia slammed her hand on the table and stood up abruptly. "You want me to perform on stage tomorrow without my permission? Are you kidding me?!"

"Relax, relax~" Changpu reached out and pressed Xiaoxia down forcefully, while throwing several bound sheets of paper in front of her. "This is the script we wrote for you. As long as you follow the lines, it will be very simple even for a little girl like you with no acting experience!"

Xiaoxia shook her head vigorously, like a rattle drum.

Seeing that her attitude remained firm, Sakura pleaded, "Xiaoxia, I'm begging you, please help us with this!"

Xiaoxia hesitated for a moment, torn between two options. From childhood to adulthood, Sakura, the eldest sister, was the gentlest and kindest to her. Now that Sakura had asked, she really couldn't bear to refuse.

Even Ash and Brock chimed in.

Xiao Zhi advised, "Just say yes, Xiao Xia."

Xiao Gang also said, "Since the tickets have already been sold, it's not realistic to cancel the performance now."

With so many people trying to persuade her, Xiaoxia's resolve had wavered. Seeing this, Changpu and Mudan said gratefully to Xiaozhi and Xiaogang, "You guys are so kind! Xiaoxia is so lucky to have friends like you!"

At this moment, Xiaoxia was completely at a loss. She couldn't help but glance at Xia You, and seeing that he also nodded slightly, she could only sigh helplessly: "Alright, I agree..."

Upon hearing this, Peony gave Sweet Flag an OK sign without any attempt to hide it, and a smug smile, as expected, appeared on her face.

"I told you it was no problem! Xiaoxia simply can't refuse Sakura-neechan's request!"

Changpu ignored her and urged Xiaoxia instead, "Alright, alright, come and take a look at the script. If there are no problems, let's start rehearsing right away!"

Xiaoxia rolled her eyes. Although she agreed, she was still somewhat resistant. After flipping through the script, she discovered that it was just a cliché story of a prince defeating a villain and rescuing a princess.

Can such a plot really salvage the reputation of Hua Lan Dojo?

At that moment, she suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Xia You.

"By the way, Xia You, I remember you once told me that you wrote a very popular story, right? Why don't you help us revise the script?"

The story Xiaoxia was referring to was naturally the comic adapted from the story of Girls' Gorge. After the copyright was sold to Girls' Gorge, the comic became a bestseller as soon as it was released, causing a small-scale sensation and even spreading to several surrounding cities.

When Xia You and Xiao Xia were soaking in the hot springs on Red Lotus Island, Xia You casually mentioned something during a chat, and Xiao Xia unexpectedly remembered it.

“I won’t change any scripts.” Xia You shook her head. “Besides, although I wrote the story for the comic ‘Girl’s Gorge,’ the main credit for its success goes to its illustrator and publisher.”

"Girl's Gorge's manga!?"

"Really?" Upon hearing this, Changpu immediately became interested, her eyes shining with excitement. "We read that comic a few days ago. The writing is so delicate. We thought it was written by some female author. We never imagined it was actually created by you. The story of the girl waiting for her lover is so touching!"

Sakura clasped her hands together and pleaded, "In that case, please be sure to take a look at this script for us."

Xia You hesitated for a moment: "Writing a story and adapting a script are two different things. I've never done this before, so this really won't work."

"Don't say that." To everyone's surprise, Sakura and the others didn't seem to care at all. "The fact that a manga adapted from a story can be so popular proves that the story itself is also excellent, right? And no matter what, it's definitely much better than ours. Why don't you give it a try?"

She hadn't expected it to implicate her in the end, but since Xiaxia had already agreed, and with the persuasion of Sakura and the other two, Xia You stopped being coy and agreed.

"Alright then, since none of you care, I'll give it a try. But let me make it clear beforehand, don't get your hopes up too high."

Chapter 111 The Most Dramatic Emotional Drama of the Year

Knowing that this was a long and time-consuming task, Xia You released all her Pokémon except for the two silly birds, letting them play in the pool in the aquarium.

When Sakura and the others saw Xia You's mini dragon, they all surrounded it with great curiosity.

"This is a Dratini!?" Ayame reached out and stroked its head, exclaiming in surprise, "This is even rarer than their final form, Dragonite! Where did you catch it?"

Xiao Gang also said, "So far on our journey, we've only seen one pair of Dragonair and Dratini mother and baby in the hunting grounds outside Fuchsia City. They are indeed very rare. I didn't expect you to have one too. You're really lucky."

Xia You's mini dragon, although its personality has improved a lot under the influence of Charmeleon during this time, still shyly hid behind Charmeleon when it saw so many people surrounding it.

Xia You ignored the noise around her, only instructing Gardevoir to keep an eye on these naughty creatures and make sure they didn't cause any trouble.

He then turned his attention back to the script on the table and began to read it carefully.

Because it's a short drama, the script is only a thin dozen pages long. Apart from the general story and character design, the rest consists of scenes, dialogues, monologues, and narration.

Peony said, "This script was written by Sister Changpu. What do you think of it? Are there any shortcomings?"

Nodding, Xia You said, "From the perspective of story structure alone, it is indeed a bit too simple, lacking twists and turns, and not exciting enough. However, there are only a few actors here, and even with the Pokémon, there are still not enough people, so it is understandable."

Seeing Xia You's serious expression, Xiaoxia propped her cheek up and asked curiously, "Brother Xia You, what did you do for a living before you became a trainer?"

Xia You shrugged: "I was originally in college, but due to an uncontrollable factor, I eventually... dropped out. Later, after several twists and turns, I moved to the Kalos region, found a job, and lived there for a while. When I realized that I couldn't just drift through life like this, I finally chose to become a trainer and came here."

Force majeure?

They exchanged glances, and although Xia You didn't explain, they all agreed that something must have happened in his family.

Xiao Zhi asked, "What kind of job is it that makes you so bored?"

"Actually, that job isn't boring at all," Xia You laughed. "It's in a film studio, where I'm responsible for coordinating the work between different film crews, running errands for them, and doing odd jobs. Oh, right, speaking of which, there's actually a big star who thinks highly of me and wants me to debut and become a star too."

Xiaoxia's eyes lit up: "A big star? Who is it?"

Xia You countered, "Do you know Karuno?"

"Karuno!!!"

Upon hearing the name, Sakura, Ayame, Peony, Misty, and Brock all stood up in shock, while Ash looked completely bewildered, wondering why the others were so surprised.

He couldn't help but ask, "Who exactly is this Karuno you're talking about?"

After calming herself down, Sakura explained, "Dalno is not only a famous actress, but also the champion trainer of the Kalos region. Many of the movies she starred in are still considered classics today!"

“That’s right, that’s right!” Changpu exclaimed wistfully. “She’s my idol! Especially the movies she starred in, like Holiday in Miarei and Glamorous Lady and Princess, I’ve watched them dozens of times!”

Even now, Peony seemed unable to believe her ears, and repeatedly asked for confirmation, "Is the Karuno you mentioned really that famous superstar?"

“Of course,” Xia You said. “Actually, we met by chance. She took great care of me. My Gardevoir was given to me by her when it was still a Ralts. She also supported me in becoming a Pokémon Trainer.”

"Wow!" Sakura and the others exclaimed excitedly, "If you have the chance, please help us get an autograph!"

“No problem. When you get to Carlos, I can introduce you. Although she seems a bit unapproachable, she is actually very approachable and friendly.”

They talked about Karuno for a long time, and after their emotions cooled down, their thoughts returned to the script.

Xia You said, "Actually, the subject matter of this script is rather childish. I think it would be better to add some other designs to make it more exciting."

“But…” Sakura hesitated for a moment, “Just as you said, we really don’t have enough manpower.”

"What's wrong with that?" Changpu pointed at Xia You, Xiao Zhi, and Xiao Gang. "I think we should have them come and help too, what do you think?"

"Huh!? Us?"

Peony covered her mouth and chuckled: "Well, there's nothing we can do, so you might as well help them to the end!"

"this…"

Xia You hesitated, while Xiao Zhi and Xiao Gang looked eager to try.

"No problem, leave it to us!"

Since they had all agreed, Xia You no longer refused.

Sakura smiled at Xia You and said, "Your image is excellent; you could totally replace me as the prince. By the way, you mentioned adding other designs earlier. What exactly do you want to add?"

Xia You looked at everyone present and said, "Well, everyone can share their thoughts. After all, there's strength in numbers, and we can pool our wisdom."

After hearing what he said, everyone started talking at once, expressing their opinions and offering many ideas.

Ash eagerly said, "I think we should add some Pokémon battles; that would make it more interesting!"

Ash's idea represented the ideas of most children his age. Xia You nodded, quickly made a few strokes of her pen, and decided to include more Pokémon.

Xiao Gang narrowed his eyes and said calmly, "I think the ballet segment shouldn't be reduced either. It would be best to add more performance time for Miss Sakura and the others!"