I caught a Pokémon

Compared to other cities in Sinnoh, Black Gold City undoubtedly has its own unique style. Various steel factories and facilities stand everywhere, with thick black pipes towering high and emitting gray smoke. However, the streets are very clean and bustling with people. It is clear that the people here have long been integrated into these factories and have become accustomed to everything around them.

Walking on the wide street, while it was still early, the group headed straight for the Black Gold Dojo on the outskirts of the city.

Speaking of which, as the official gym of Ololete City, the gym leader here is Hōta, a man who specializes in Rock-type Pokémon. His strength is neither strong nor weak, belonging to the middle level. After defeating him, you can obtain the Coal Badge.

The Black Gold Gym is located in a carved-out mountainside on the outskirts of the city. There isn't even a sign or the Pokémon League logo. If someone who doesn't know the situation were to pass by, they would never associate it with a gym.

Even Xia You and his group wouldn't have found this place so easily if it weren't for Mai'er's guidance.

In this respect, we also owe a lot to Mai's help.

but……

Turning to look at her, Xia You coughed lightly and said with some helplessness, "Alright, although it was wrong of us to bring you back here, we are now in the city and it is very safe here, so... you should go find someone else to team up with."

It's not that Xia You is so heartless; it's just that her team isn't a good fit for Mai'er.

Hearing this, Xiaoyao and Yami looked a little embarrassed, but they just looked at Mai'er and didn't dare to say a word.

After all, Yami had only been in the team for a few days. She had no say or decision-making power and was a purely marginal figure. She didn't even know when she would leave, so naturally she couldn't say anything.

As for Xiaoyao, although she has enough weight in the team, because her interests are tied to Xia You's, whether it's Xia You's various secrets or the dangers they face during the trip, it is obviously not suitable for a girl younger than her to join the team. Therefore, when she saw Xia You so directly reject Mai'er, although she felt reluctant, she still chose to respect Xia You's decision.

Looking at Mai'er, although she was very young, she understood what Xia You meant.

However, she didn't seem to mind and instead smiled brightly.

"I know, that's why I brought you all straight to the gym!" Mai's expression didn't show any disappointment at being 'abandoned' or 'rejected'. Because of her personality, she simply waved and smiled, "Anyway, thank you for bringing me out. See you next time!"

With that, she skipped and hopped happily toward Black Gold City.

Watching her retreating figure, Xia You also let out a long sigh.

Although it may seem a bit cold-hearted, that's the reality. Besides, he and Mai'er had only known each other for a little over a day. They lacked sufficient understanding and shared goals for forming a team, so naturally they couldn't become teammates.

Of course, most importantly, at the time, Mai was just mentioning it casually and had not really made up her mind.

Watching Mai leave, the three of them didn't look away until she had gone quite a distance before turning their attention back to the Black Gold Dojo.

As she walked up the steps, Xia You pushed open the door of the dojo.

Unlike the rugged exterior, the interior was a small foyer with a reception desk. The floor was tiled, and incandescent lights illuminated the entire room. A man with tanned skin, medium-length brown hair, and a stubble beard, who looked to be in his thirties or forties, was sitting behind the reception desk reading a Playboy-like magazine. When he saw Xia You push the door open and enter, he quickly threw the magazine aside.

"Ahem, is there something you need?"

Pretending not to have noticed his little trick, Xia You nodded to him: "Hello, I'm here to challenge the Black Gold Dojo."

“A trainer…” The man shook his head with a wry smile. “That’s really unfortunate. Our gym leader, Piao Tai, went down into the mine after finishing up with the gym this morning. If you want to challenge the gym, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning.”

"Go down into the mine?" Xiaoyao asked, puzzled. "Go down into what kind of mine?"

“That’s right,” the man said. “It’s the Black Gold Coal Mine south of Black Gold City. Piao Tai spends most of his time there every day. Oh…you might not know this, but besides being the Gym Leader, Piao Tai is also a miner and the safety supervisor of that mine. If you need to find him urgently, you can find him there!”

Chapter 968 Ayaka's Letter

After leaving the Black Gold Dojo, Xia You, Xiao Yao, and Ya Mi stood on the street again, all feeling somewhat helpless.

Before they arrived, no one expected to encounter such a situation.

However, having challenged the dojo so many times, they knew that it wasn't always smooth sailing and that they would encounter many strange and unusual things, so they had long since gotten used to it.

Xiao Yao turned to look at Xia You: "So where are we going next?"

"Let's check in at the Pokémon Center first," Xia You thought for a moment. "When I arrived, I saw a museum. Since we have nothing to do now, we can go check it out later."

The two naturally had no objection to his suggestion.

They returned to the city center and went to the Pokémon Center. While they were checking in at the front desk, they suddenly noticed a poster next to them.

The poster features a huge pink logo for the Black Gold Glamour Convention, with a girl in the center wearing a short skirt, holding a microphone, and making cute gestures. At the bottom of the poster, a line of large text stands out: "Black Gold Glamour Convention - Registration Now Open!"

Upon seeing the poster, Haruka's eyes widened in surprise: "Huh? Is a grand convention being held here?"

“Of course.” Miss Joey nodded. “It’s tomorrow morning. If you’re interested, you can still sign up now. The deadline is tonight at 6 p.m.

This is information we've never had before!

Upon hearing this, Xiaoyao quickly glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was just past noon, which relieved her.

"Thank goodness..." She quickly found her identification card and handed it to Miss Joy. "I'm also a Trainer Coordinator. Please register me!"

This unexpected event disrupted their plans and prevented Xiaoyao from going to any museums with them.

With time running out, she didn't even have time to check out the venue. After Miss Joy registered her, she hurriedly threw her backpack in the room, said goodbye to Xia You, and then took her Pokémon and rushed to the nearby open-air battle arena to start her intense practice.

There's no way around it. After all, unlike Xia You, who only needs to choose the right Pokémon and then rely on strategy and strength to push through each gym challenge, Xiao Yao, as a Coordinator, not only needs her own Pokémon to be strong, but also has to painstakingly design special performances for each tournament, which is very troublesome.

Therefore, even though Haruka has already achieved a good start in Baidai City, she dares not be careless or negligent in the slightest.

Seeing that Xiaoyao was preoccupied with this matter, Xia You and Yami had no choice but to leave her behind and go to the museum by themselves.

As for why he didn't stay with Xiaoyao...

It was mainly Xiaoyao herself who wanted to complete her journey as a Sinnoh Coordinator through her own efforts, so Xia You naturally respected and affirmed her plan.

After parting ways with May, he and Yami left the Pokémon Center side by side.

The full name of the Black Gold City Museum is the Black Gold Coal Pit Museum. It is located in the northeast corner of Black Gold City. The museum covers a large area, and the two could see it from afar as soon as they reached the street corner.

Although it's called a museum, it actually consists of two buildings, each five or six stories high, with completely different functions.

The building on the right, which looks quite heavy and appears to be constructed of gray rock, is the main part of the museum. Admission is free, and it is filled with various coal and fossil exhibits.

The more modern-looking building on the left is a fossil research institute, reportedly headed by a renowned doctor, specializing in the research of resurrecting Pokémon from fossils, and has already achieved considerable success.

Unfortunately, although Xia You was somewhat interested in fossil Pokémon like Tyranitar and Ice Giant, he didn't have any corresponding fossils in his possession, so there was no need for him to make a special trip to visit them.

Therefore, he and Yami went straight into the museum.

As soon as they entered the hall, the two saw a huge piece of coal.

Judging by visual estimation, this piece of coal is at least the height of four adult men and weighs tens of tons. It looks jet black and shiny. When the two of them looked at the information board on the right, they realized that this was actually the largest single piece of coal known to have been discovered in the Sinnoh region.

No wonder it's so spectacular!

Yami murmured, "It's so big..."

The two looked around for a while and were about to head to another place when a young couple walked over from the side. They were both only 18 or 9 years old, even younger than Xia You. The young man walked up to Xia You and smiled shyly, "Um... could you please take a picture for us?"

Xia You naturally wouldn't refuse such a small favor. He took the camera from the young man, stepped back a few paces, found a suitable angle, and took five or six photos of the couple.

The young man thanked him, took the camera, and didn't leave immediately. Instead, he glanced at Xia You and Ya Mi, then smiled and said, "Want me to take a picture of you too?"

Clearly, he also mistook Xia You and Ya Mi for a romantic relationship.

Xia You was about to wave his hand to refuse when he saw Ya Mi nod at that moment. Seeing this, he could only lower his hand and turn to the young man, saying, "Then I'll trouble you."

The two of them followed the example of the couple from before, turning their backs to the huge coal, while the young man also took his camera and retreated to the spot where Xia You had just taken the picture.

But just as he was about to press the shutter, he suddenly noticed something, put down the camera, and smiled at Xia You and Ya Mi, saying, "You two are a little too far apart, you should get closer."

Hearing his words, Xia You and Ya Mi moved closer, but the young man waved his hand, saying, "Get even closer!"

With no other option, Xia You could only move a few steps closer to Ya Mi, which brought the two of them right next to each other.

But to his surprise, the man was still not satisfied: "Your expressions and movements are too stiff, could you relax a little more?"

Since he and Yami were just ordinary friends, he naturally couldn't do anything too intimate. Xia You was about to say something to explain when he suddenly felt his arm being wrapped around his. He turned his head and saw Yami tilting her head and smiling at the camera with a red face.

Well, since Yami doesn't care, Xia You, as a grown man, naturally won't say anything more.

A smile appeared on his face, and with a click, the man pressed the shutter, permanently preserving the image of him and Yami.

Not only that, the young man's camera was a high-end instant camera. With just a slight adjustment, the photo was printed out.

Upon reaching the two, the man handed the photo to Xia You: "Please accept this."

Xia You thanked him and took the photo. He looked down and saw that he was handsome and tall with a faint, calm smile on his face. Ya Mi, with long green hair, was leaning her head and half-leaning against him, smiling happily.

When she looked up again, the young couple had already left. Seeing that Yami seemed to really like the photo, Xia You handed it to her.

"Take this. Make me a copy when you have time."

Hearing him say that, Yami didn't stand on ceremony and took the photo, then carefully put it into her wallet.

This was just a minor incident.

After leaving the huge piece of coal, the two visited other parts of the museum.

The walls here are covered with many portraits and educational illustrations of ancient Pokémon. Through these pictures, you can clearly understand the living environment of Pokémon during the fossil period. In the various exhibition booths, there are also many fossil Pokémon skeletons and fossils, which are not only well preserved, but also look lifelike.

In addition to these, there are various mining tools used over the past century since the establishment of Black Gold City, coal samples from other places, and even traces of the ocean that remain here from ancient times.

In short, both of them gained a lot of knowledge from the entire visit.

This is why Xia You likes to wander around here. Not only can he relax, but he can also learn some knowledge outside of combat, which makes him understand the world more and more.

Of course, his relationship with Yami also became closer.

They whiled away the time there, and when it got dark, the two returned to the Pokémon Center.

At this time, Xiaoyao's training was not over yet. After the two arrived at the restaurant and ordered their food, she arrived late. After eating a bite in a hurry, she left the restaurant and rushed back to the battlefield.

Seeing how busy she was, Yami was somewhat surprised.

"It seems like... Haruka is working really hard."

“Of course.” Xia You sighed. “After her setbacks in the Hoenn and Kanto regions, she didn’t say anything, but she was under a lot of pressure. So she’s determined to win this Sinnoh trip and is constantly pushing herself.”

Xiaoyao's busy schedule also indirectly affected Xiayou and Yami. As companions, seeing their companions in such a hurry made them lose their appetite.

At that moment, Xia You received a message.

At first, when he heard the phone's notification ringtone, he thought it was from the handsome guy. After all, given the timeline, the handsome guy who led the team to search for the Galaxy Team should have given some feedback by now.

But when he took out his phone, he found that it was Cai Dou who sent it!

Rainbow beans...

Thinking of that girl who traveled everywhere, was earnest, hardworking, resolute, and not good with words, Xia You's heart suddenly started beating faster!

Upon checking the message, it turned out that after such a long period of rest, Bea had finished dealing with the gym's affairs and was ready to set off at any time.

However, although the two had made an agreement beforehand, it was still a bit too... embarrassing for her to come directly to Sinnoh to meet with Xia You.

After all, although she was interested, her relationship with Xia You was still only that of friends on the surface. If she were to be too proactive...

Therefore, in the message, she only told Xia You that she would be training in the Galar region during this period, and if Xia You encountered any powerful Fighting-type trainers during her travels, she should notify her immediately, and she would also take a plane to come to her as soon as possible.

It was quite noticeable that, given Cai Dou's personality, sending such a long message was really a bit of a challenge for her.

But no matter what, this method is good. At least every time I encounter a powerful Fighting-type trainer in the future, I will be able to see her.

only……

Looking at this message, Xia You felt a mix of emotions.

Available on call anytime, flying all over the country, it feels like I've found... well, you know...

……

At 8:00 AM, at the Grand Battle Tournament venue in Black Gold City.

"Well then, keep it up!"

After saying goodbye to Xiaoyao and offering her encouragement, Xia You and Yami entered the venue, which was also filled with a 'black and gold' style, through the audience entrance.

Just like elsewhere, apart from the distinct style of the venue, this place also attracted a large number of contestants.

As a heavy industrial city, the workers here are more inclined to seek out 'fun' during their leisure time than in other places, so such grand events are always packed with people.

This required Xia You and Ya Mi to put in a lot of effort to finally get tickets, but they were only able to get seats at the very back.

It's incredibly popular!

This also forced Xia You to protect Ya Mi to prevent her from being bumped into by others, or from bumping into other people, since she was a little dazed.

Naturally, the two grew closer and closer. When Xia You came to his senses, he found that Ya Mi had completely wrapped her arms around his arm like a little bird clinging to him...

This development isn't going to be good...

Alarm bells rang loudly in Xia You's mind.

He was unaware that, with the blessing of the Phoenix King, his already charming self had become even more lethal and attractive. All he knew was that he already had enough women, and to avoid increasing the number further, he could only subtly 'pull' his arm away after arriving at their seats.

Such a process is naturally very agonizing.