I caught a Pokémon

Even so, Xiao Gang was still incredibly excited.

It can be said that this woman perfectly matched Xiaogang's aesthetic, and was his favorite type!

He excitedly announced, "I'm no longer a gym leader; I'm currently traveling to become the world's number one Pokémon breeder!"

After saying that, he grabbed Saori's hand and said, "To celebrate this fateful reunion, would you like to spend some time alone with me to relax and share our feelings?"

It must be said that few people could handle Xiao Gang's insatiable thirst for knowledge.

Any normal woman would be terrified by his abnormal aura.

But clearly, Saori in front of her was no ordinary person. On the contrary, she probably already knew about Tsuyoshi's personality from their previous meeting. Therefore, she did not back down or get scared when faced with Tsuyoshi in this state. She just smiled and said, "Sorry, I have something to discuss with Shun. Let's talk next time."

As soon as she finished speaking, she withdrew her hand and walked towards Xiaoshun.

This superficial smile, coupled with an aloofness that kept people at arm's length, left Xiaogang frozen in place.

Of course, what made Xiaogang want to cry the most was that he discovered his charm was not as great as that of a little boy!

On the other side, when Saori walked up to Shun, she smiled and said, "It's been a long time, Shun-kun."

It was obvious that although she had smiled when she was talking to Xiaogang, it was just a polite smile. But now, in front of Xiaoshun, her smile seemed to come from the heart.

It's fair to say that her attitude was completely different when she was facing Xiao Gang!

When Xiao Shun looked at her, although she still had that cool look, the expression on her face had softened a lot.

"Yes, Ms. Saori, it's nice to see you again."

“You’re still the same as always.” Saori smiled as she looked at Shun. “Still the same tone. But speaking of which, the petal dance of the poisonous rose was quite good. The power was well controlled.”

"Your Slowbro has strong Psychic and decent Nen as well," Shun laughed. "You were able to accurately pull Aipom out of Petal Dance, that's quite impressive."

"Thank you. I appreciate the compliment."

It's hard to imagine that Xiao Shun, who treats everyone the same way, would actually start a conversation with this woman. This makes one realize that the relationship between the two is definitely more than just acquaintances.

But none of this has anything to do with Xia You and the others.

Seeing that the two had started talking, Xia You turned to leave, but she had only taken one step when she found that Xiao Zhi and the others were still standing there, listening to Xiao Shun and Saori's conversation.

Just as he was about to tell them to leave, before he could even speak, Shun waved to Saori.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing the Pokémon that Ms. Saori has trained perform. Well then, I'll take my leave now."

With that, he turned around and coolly left with Poison Rose!

He had only taken a few steps when he suddenly stopped, turned to look at Haruka, and said to her in front of Saori, "Miss Saori is quite difficult to deal with."

After leaving May with a cryptic remark, Shun walked out of the Pokémon Center.

Just like Saori left Tsuyoshi standing there, Shun unexpectedly left Saori standing there too.

Most people would feel awkward, but Saori didn't seem to mind and instead walked up to Haruka.

"Nice to meet you, Haruka," Saori said with a smile. "I often hear Shun mention you to me."

Hearing her words, and that tone that said 'I'm very familiar with Xiaoshun,' Xia You subconsciously raised her eyebrows.

This guy...

Is he a brother-obsessed guy?

The fact that the phrase "I often hear Shun-kun and me" was specifically mentioned seems rather deliberate.

Did she think that Shun liked Haruka, so she was hinting at it to Haruka?

It's no wonder Xia You had such thoughts; Saori's behavior made it seem like she valued Xiao Shun a lot!

Of course, it's also possible that Xia You guessed wrong, and that Saori and Shun were simply friends and that Saori liked to mentor younger people.

But regardless, it's certain that the two are very familiar with each other.

Although Xiaoshun left, Xia You and the others got to know Miss Saori through their conversation.

It was at this moment that Xia You remembered that the woman named Saori in front of her was the one who defeated Haruka in the anime and became the winner of this year's Quartz Grand Festival!

Oh, it was her! No wonder she looked so familiar when I saw her earlier...

Looking at it this way, it seems that Haruka has met the winner ahead of time once again!

It remains to be seen whether Haruka, after her special training, will still be defeated by Saori as she was in the anime.

At May's invitation, Saori and the others went to a café not far from the Pokémon Center to have coffee and chat.

It was at this moment that they officially met each other.

Sitting opposite Saori, Haruka pointed to Xia You and the others beside her and introduced them: "Xiao Gang, you already know them. These three are Xia You, my younger brother Xiao Sheng, and Xiao Zhi."

"Hello."

Xia You and the other two nodded to Saori in a friendly manner.

Saori was somewhat surprised upon hearing Xia You's name.

"No wonder your face looked familiar! So you're the man who won three regional tournaments!"

Xia You smiled and said, "What, Miss Saori, are you also paying attention to the Pokémon Tournament?"

“Of course.” Saori nodded. “Although I don’t pay much attention to it, I still watch it to some extent every time there’s a conference. Besides, your name was all over the place back then, causing a sensation. It was hard not to notice you!”

As she spoke, she curiously looked at Xia You, and upon closer inspection, she discovered that in addition to being very handsome, the man also had very bright eyes and exuded a calm and composed aura.

In short, at first glance, he's a man who makes people feel good about him.

Moreover, as she has grown older and participated in many competitions and events, Saori has seen countless people and has naturally developed her own set of skills in judging character.

This also made her keenly aware that Xia You seemed to be radiating a kind of vitality!

This is very strange!

After all, she had only ever seen this kind of vitality in children and teenagers, like the rising sun, full of vigor and vitality. But once a person reaches adulthood, this vitality gradually disappears with changes in their mindset. But now…

Maybe this person has a youthful mindset...

That's all Saori could tell herself.

At this moment, Xiaozhi glanced at Xiaogang and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Miss Saori, how do you know Xiaogang?"

“Well…” Saori smiled, “It’s because when I lived in Dark Gray City, Mr. Kogoro would always come to talk to me, and that’s how we got to know each other.”

I knew it...

One can imagine that Saori must have been subjected to endless harassment from Kogo at that time.

There is even reason to believe that Saori moved away from there on her own initiative, and that the two stopped seeing each other in the end.

Even so, she still managed to smile when they met again, which shows that she is indeed not a simple person!

Then, they started talking about the relationship between Saori and Shun.

It was at this moment that they learned that Saori and Shun first met at a grand tournament, which was also the final battle, where Saori met Shun as his opponent.

As a first-time participant in the Grand Contest, she managed to pass the performance review and ultimately make it to the finals, demonstrating that Xiaoshun truly possesses exceptional talent.

Unfortunately, he met Saori.

Despite Shun and Poison Rose's excellent performance, they were still defeated by Saori.

However, Saori's victory in that battle was not easy. It was the first time she had faced such a tough fight since her debut. In the end, she only managed to win by relying on time and having a slightly higher stat total.

This also allowed her to witness a rising star with extraordinary talent, and it was at that time that she began to know and pay attention to Shun.

As she spoke, Saori stirred the orange juice in front of her with a straw, her eyes filled with reminiscence, and she chuckled softly, "Back then, Shun and Poison Rose both had tears of resentment welling up in their eyes."

These words were like a bomb, leaving Xiaoyao, Xiaozhi, and the others in disbelief!

"Huh? Shun cries too?"

“Otherwise?” Before Saori could speak, Xia You shook her head. “He wasn’t always like this.”

“That’s right,” Saori said with a smile. “A first defeat would be unpleasant for anyone, but that experience actually became a boost for him, making him stronger and eventually the person he is today.”

From Saori, they learned about some of Shun's past and that Shun was once a sensitive person.

However, while Xiaoyao and Xiaozhi listened with great interest, Xia You was somewhat distracted.

It's not that he's disrespectful; it's just that he... has no interest in Xiaoshun as a person.

The two have different professions and personalities, so they are destined to have no interaction and will never become friends. Why would he care about such a person?

Chapter 895 A Grand Celebration: Kanto Tournament

After chatting casually with Saori for a while and exchanging contact information, they went their separate ways.

After all, they only met because of Shun and Gang, but Shun wasn't their friend, and Saori didn't pay much attention to Gang, so they didn't have many common topics to talk about.

However, you can still tell from Saori's words that she also values ​​Haruka.

It seems that when Shun chatted with her, he must have mentioned Haruka to Saori and made her realize that Haruka was unusual.

After leaving the coffee shop, Xia You and the others accompanied Xiao Yao to take a look at the venue, getting a general understanding of the setup and stage. This would be helpful for Xiao Yao's performance the next day.

However, just as Xiao Yao was looking around the venue, Xia You noticed her relaxed expression and couldn't help but remind her.

"Watch out for that woman."

When he mentioned Saori again, Haruka looked over in surprise.

"Miss Saori? What happened to her?"

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Xia You shook her head and said, "She's going to participate in this year's Grand Festival, and she's the one who defeated Shun before, so she's naturally one of the strongest. She's probably... about the same as Robert, the champion of the first Grand Festival you participated in."

Remembering that Shun had warned her when he left, Haruka frowned.

"An opponent who can't even beat Shun must be a formidable foe..."

“That’s not all,” Xia You said with a smile. “If nothing unexpected happens, your biggest rival in this year’s celebration will be Saori, and if all goes well, you should meet her in the finals.”

"Huh?" Haruka was taken aback. "Do you think I can beat Shun?"

There's a reason why Xiaoyao asked this question.

After all, she had been defeated by Shun before, and everyone had witnessed Shun's strength. He was not only very strong, but also very calm. Not to mention, he had grown a lot during this time. Therefore, even Haruka herself was not confident when facing Shun again. In fact, she had always regarded Shun as her biggest rival.

Seeing her lack of spirit, Xia You gently tapped her head.

"Where did your confidence go?" He glared at Xiaoyao and said helplessly, "You've traveled with me for a while and received secret training from Xiaojuan and the others. If you can still be defeated by Xiaoshun, you're really stupid!"

Xiaoyao stuck out her tongue.

"Hehe, I know, I was just saying that. Don't worry, I'll definitely get a better result this time!"

"That's more like it! Show me that same spirit you had before!"

……

Compared to yesterday, there are now many more tourists in the city.

In many places, it's so crowded that people are packed together, which makes the place extremely lively.

Not only the spectators and tourists, but also all the contestants were present on this day.

When they returned to the Pokémon Center that evening, they found it already packed with people.

With hundreds of people gathered together, even whispering made the place seem unusually noisy and chaotic.

Naturally, they also saw many familiar figures.

As you can see, a significant number of the contestants were opponents that Xiaoyao had encountered in previous tournaments. It is clear that although these people were defeated at that time, they had collected all five ribbon medals through other tournaments and eventually made it here.

Although she couldn't recall their names, there were still a few people who left a deep impression on Xiaoyao.

Judging from their expressions, everyone looked very serious.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, they finally found an empty table, and the group quickly sat down and had their dinner there.

Perhaps he had drunk too much juice. He had just finished eating when Xiao Sheng hurriedly clutched his stomach and ran to the bathroom. However, when he returned, he was holding a black rose in his hand.

Everyone was puzzled when they saw this flower.

Ash asked directly, "This is the first time I've ever seen a black rose. Max, where did you find it?"

"I didn't find this," Xiao Sheng laughed. "Someone asked me to give it to my sister after I came out of the bathroom!"

As he spoke, he turned around and pointed behind him. Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a strange man wearing a cloak, completely covered up, quickly walk into the crowd and disappear from sight.