I caught a Pokémon

This greatly impressed Xiaozhi.

Fortunately, he knew that the group's goal was to explore the area first, so he suppressed his impulse and obediently followed the group, looking around with curiosity.

When they passed a cotton candy stall, Alice even paid for everyone to have a serving of cotton candy out of her own pocket. Although it didn't cost much, Xia You still felt a little embarrassed by Alice's actions of taking them on a hot air balloon ride and treating them to food.

After all, he doesn't like owing favors to others, and he has to find a way to make up for even the smallest favors.

His gaze shifted, and he spotted a rather upscale restaurant ahead. He already had an idea in mind.

After all, Alice would most likely not accept anything in return, but she probably wouldn't refuse if it was just an invitation to lunch.

Thinking of this, Xia You expressed her thoughts: "Miss Alice, thank you for your help. Without you, we probably wouldn't have arrived here until dark. To express our gratitude, please allow us to treat you to lunch."

"Yes, that's what I was thinking!" Xiao Zhi's eyes lit up as he said to Alice, "Let us treat you to a meal, hehe, even though Xia You will be paying!"

"No need, no need," Alice quickly waved her hand. "I appreciate your kindness, but it's just a small favor. Treating you to a meal or something would be too much..."

Before she could finish speaking, after much persuasion from Ash, Brock, May, and Dawn, she finally agreed.

There was no way to refuse their kind invitation!

That's the advantage of having a large group of people. With everyone contributing their thoughts, a person's mind can be changed in just a few words.

However, before that, Alice suggested that she take them on a tour of the whole town first.

This was unanimously agreed upon by everyone, since it wasn't really lunchtime yet and no one was very hungry. The most important thing was to take advantage of the novelty and explore the town.

Led by Alice, they traversed most of the town and headed back towards the Tower of Time.

While passing by a street, Ash was playing with Pikachu and didn't notice what was in front of him. He bumped into a Torterra and thus met the Torterra's trainer, and then saw the trainer's two other companions.

This was a group of two men and one woman, all of whom appeared to be adults. The Torterra trainer looked to be about the same age as Xia You, wearing a white casual jacket and gray trousers. His other two companions were a burly man with strange hair and a wispy beard, and a woman with red hair, a red head, and red stockings.

These three people appeared to be tourists as well. Regardless of their age difference, the moment their eyes met, they realized each other's unusual nature and, without saying a word, a three-on-three street fight began.

Ash was the first to confront the Torterra trainer, Dawn faced the burly man, and finally the red-haired woman approached Xia You. However, after Xia You waved her away, she ignored Brock, whose eyes were sparkling with hearts, and turned her attention to May.

Xia You, along with Ya Mi and Alice, found a bench and sat down to watch the fight.

Normally, Xia You wouldn't refuse such a challenge, but since there were too many people on his side, he gave up the opportunity. Of course, most importantly, he wanted to see how Xiao Zhi was growing.

As Xia You's most promising and formidable rival, just as Xiao Zhi aims to surpass him, Xia You will also keep a close eye on Xiao Zhi's growth and keep track of his progress.

After all, only by knowing yourself and your enemy can you maintain your advantage forever!

He didn't want to wait until one day to suddenly discover that Xiao Zhi had given him a huge 'surprise'!

As expected, Ash sent out Pikachu to face this Torterra. It has to be said that type-reversal battles have become Ash's tradition and subconscious strategy. If he encounters a new opponent, he seems to feel uncomfortable if he doesn't do this.

Looking at Dawn, she sent out her starter Pokémon Piplup, but unexpectedly, the burly man on the other side sent out Piplup's final evolution - Empoleon!

Although neither of them saw the other's lineup before the battle, this choice can only be described as too coincidental.

When the woman also sent out her Infernape, Xia You completely understood what was going on.

It turns out that the three of them sent out the starter Pokémon from the Sinnoh region!

No wonder these three can form a team!

Facing the red-haired woman's Infernape, May happened to bring out her recently evolved Wartortle to fight, making it the only one of the three with a type advantage in the battle.

The battle began immediately, and Xia You sat aside watching the show, taking in the performance of the others as her gaze shifted.

It can only be said that although Pikachu's performance was inconsistent, it was relatively stable in type-reversed battles. However, the Torterra it was battling was also quite strong, and the two Pokémon fought for quite a while without a clear winner.

After watching for a while, Xia You had a clear understanding of Pikachu's performance, so she looked away from it and then looked at the battlefield in the middle.

This is where Hikaru fights that burly man.

Although Piplup is the initial form of Empoleon, under Dawn's command, Piplup also performed exceptionally well. With his exquisite moves, he fought against Empoleon's third form, achieving a draw and causing the most commotion among the three!

From this perspective, Xiaoguang is indeed very strong!

This girl's fighting talent is even greater than Xiaoyao's!

Even passersby were mostly attracted by these two Pokémon.

Finally, Xia You's gaze settled on Xiao Yao.

Perhaps because she was the weakest of the three trainers, or because Wartortle had a type advantage, or because May had become extraordinary, in any case, the red-haired female trainer was at a disadvantage from the start of the battle. If her Infernape hadn't been in its third evolution stage and had much stronger physical attributes than Wartortle, she probably would have been defeated long ago!

However, the fight was not over because it took place on the street, not in a formal battlefield, so they had to stop when a tour group passed by.

This pause disrupted the rhythm, and the players lost interest in continuing the fight, treating it as a draw and going their separate ways.

Well... it was a case of starting strong but ending weakly.

Of course, this was just a minor incident, and no one paid any attention to it. So after reuniting, the group continued their journey, and under Alice's guidance, they explored the town once again.

After passing through the city center, they arrived at the plaza in front of the Tower of Time and Space.

However, instead of entering the Tower of Time and Space directly, they followed a path to the pond.

While not as famous as the Tower of Time, this is still a popular Pokémon Garden in Ashford Town!

As they strolled along, Alice said to the group, "This is my favorite place in town. Like the Tower of Time, it was also designed by Gaudi. It's an outstanding work with the theme of harmony between nature, humanity, and Pokémon, so it's also called Gaudi's Garden."

The group looked around and saw that the garden drew water from the river, with ponds, fountains, and swimming lanes connected to form a huge circulation system. Around the paths, the plants were lush, the flowers were beautiful, the sculptures and buildings were symmetrical, and there were even amusement facilities. Many Pokémon gathered here and played around, unafraid even when they saw humans coming. It truly lived up to its original purpose, achieving a harmonious coexistence between nature, humans, and Pokémon.

Seeing this scene, Ash and his friends couldn't help but release their Pokémon, letting them play freely here.

But just then, a Gallade suddenly appeared out of nowhere and ran in front of Iris.

As another evolution of Kirlia, Gallade, like Gardevoir, evolves from Kirlia. However, compared to Gardevoir, which has Psychic and Fairy attributes, Gallade is clearly more adept at Psychic and Fighting attributes, and it is only available in male form.

Xia You and the others initially thought that this was a wild Gallade, just like the other Pokémon in the garden. However, they were surprised to find that it recognized Iris and waved to her as it approached them, signaling her to follow.

It seems something has happened!

This was everyone's thought, but before Iris could ask, the Gallade hurriedly leaped away in a certain direction. Seeing this, Iris was startled and seemed to realize something, so she quickly followed.

Her departure left Xia You and the others bewildered and naturally surprised.

Xiao Zhi asked in confusion, "What happened?"

"Who knows?" Xia You shrugged. "But these things... we'll know once we go after them!"

Chapter 975 The Pure Love Warrior Falls to the Ground

By the time Ash and the others retrieved their Pokémon, Xia You and Ya Mi had already run far away with Alice. They were startled, but fortunately they were fast enough to catch up with Alice in just a few steps.

Meanwhile, Gallade was intentionally guiding them. Although it was very agile, it always waited for them at key intersections until Iris approached before moving on to the next location.

Led by Gallade, they finally arrived at a pool that had almost completely dried up. Of course, the disappearance of the pool water was not the key issue; the key issue was that the base of the stone pillar next to it had twisted, as if it had been melted by some strange corrosive force and stretched into threads, lying haphazardly on the ground.

Although we don't know why it turned out this way, one thing is certain: it was definitely not man-made!

“This is outrageous…” Alice murmured. “Who did this?”

"Darkrai, of course."

The person who answered her was not any of Xia You's group, but a strange man's voice.

The group turned to look in the direction the sound came from, and saw a man slowly walking out from under the shade of trees in the middle of the pond. He then approached Xia You and her group with a mysterious smile on his face and a calm and confident demeanor.

Xia You glanced at him and saw that the man was about twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, with slightly dark skin, short light red hair, and a tuft of hair sticking up. He was wearing an exquisite red ceremonial robe from the court hundreds of years ago, with gold trim and tassels, and white tight pants and white knee-high boots. He also had a strange white scarf hanging in front of his collar. The whole man looked like an arrogant and disdainful nobleman.

Upon seeing this man, Alice frowned: "Albert... what are you doing here? And what did you mean just now? Why did you say Darkrai?"

The man named Albert lingered on Xia You for a moment, noticing his handsome appearance, and a hint of wariness flashed in his eyes. However, he quickly looked at Alice before continuing, "I recently heard that someone saw it on the street. Needless to say, what happened here must have been done by it. Only it has such abilities!"

"Darkrai?" Regardless of whether he knew the man or not, Ash, the master of conversation, couldn't help but ask, "What's that?"

“Of course it’s a Pokémon.” Albert glanced at Ash. “You don’t even know what Darkrai is?”

As soon as he finished speaking, seeing Ash's blank expression, as if he really didn't understand anything, Albert's mouth moved slightly. Despite his arrogant appearance, he still explained to Ash: "It's a Pokémon that gives people nightmares. Its whole body is shrouded in black shadows. It's also a Dark-type Mythical Pokémon!"

"A Mythical Pokémon!?" Ash understood now. "It's right here!?"

Alice nodded in agreement: "That's right, it's said that Darkrai... has always lived in this garden."

In this garden!?

Hearing her say that, whether it was May, Dawn, Yami, or Ash and Brock, they all looked around, their eyes wide as they searched, as if there really was a Pokémon shrouded in shadow that might rush out at any moment!

"Don't be so nervous." Seeing their expressions, Xia You shook her head. "If it were really easy for people to find, it would have caused a sensation long ago, instead of waiting until now. If that Darkrai is really here, we won't find it easily unless it shows itself."

Of course, despite saying that, Xia You didn't dare to underestimate the luck of these people.

They are all chosen ones. Even though I said I wouldn't find them easily, what if they actually do run into them?

After Xia You reminded them, Xiao Zhi and the others realized that they had overreacted. But just then, a bush nearby suddenly started to sway, which immediately alerted them!

The group quickly turned to look and saw that the bushes were very dense, with lush branches and leaves that overlapped and piled up, making it impossible to see what was inside from the outside. At that moment, something was obviously hiding inside, which made the bushes rustle.

"Who's there!?"

"It must be Darkrai!!"

Before anyone else could react, Albert's eyes lit up with joy. He immediately pulled out a Poké Ball and released a Lickitung. As soon as Lickitung appeared, he eagerly commanded it to unleash a Hyper Beam attack on the bush without warning!

His actions were ruthless, as if Albert believed there was no possibility that he could be wrong!

A powerful beam of light formed from the mouth of the giant tongue, accurately striking the bush and causing a violent explosion. However, when the smoke and dust dissipated, what appeared there was not Darkrai, but a man of about twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, wearing black-rimmed glasses, a green vest, and holding a laptop, dressed like a scholar!

Although the man wasn't directly hit by the disruptive light, he was clearly affected. His short gray hair was now slightly charred, he was walking unsteadily, and his clothes were filthy, making him look quite miserable.

"What are you doing..." The man staggered, exhaling a puff of black smoke as he spoke. "Why...why did you suddenly attack me?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he unfortunately bumped into a big tree and fell backward.

Clearly, Albert, who had been so confident just moments before, had made a mistake.

Before Albert could say anything, Alice shouted "Tony!" and ran over with a look of anxiety and concern.

Seeing this, Xia You's gaze fell on Albert's face, and she immediately saw his disdain and mockery.

So that's the connection we're talking about.

The matter is basically clear at this point...

This is undoubtedly another love triangle. It is obvious that the nobleman named Albert has a great fondness for Alice, otherwise he would not have shown up and made such a show of himself. However, Alice is very indifferent to Albert, but she is more fond of the newcomer Tony.

However, Xia You had no interest in the emotional entanglements between the three of them, so instead of the three of them, Xia You turned her head to the side and licked the big tongue.

Speaking of which, signs of the Great Tongue Licking activity have been observed since the Jodo region, but Xia You has never really paid attention to it.

There's nothing he can do about it; the way the tongue is licked doesn't suit his aesthetic at all, and it always gives him a feeling of being a bit nauseous.

As an evolved form of the big-tongued creature, the ordinary big-tongued creature is about 1.7 meters tall, while Albert's is at least 1.8 meters tall, making it slightly larger.

It has a huge, long tongue that hangs down to its lower abdomen. Its whole body is pink and red, and it looks fat and soft. It also has a curled, upward-pointing protrusion on its head, a thick tail, three yellow ripple-shaped patterns on its chest, and a white collar pattern. The whole thing looks like a smooth, pink doll.

The white pattern is said to have originated from the white tablecloths worn by medieval nobles who became obese due to their gluttonous appetites, which echoes Albert's attire.

While such an appearance might suit some people's tastes, it is definitely a Pokémon that Xia You would never catch and use.

I never expected Albert to have such a unique perspective. He's really... impressive!

Albert, of course, had no idea that he had been scrutinized by another person from beginning to end. He simply watched from afar as Alice helped Tony up and snorted coldly.

"Ignore that guy, he's been an idiot from the start!"

But clearly, Alice ignored his words and quickly ran to Tony's side, helped him up, and brought him to the group.

However, this guy named Tony was clearly a stubborn fellow. He ignored Alice's concern, or rather... he was attracted by something more important!

Ignoring his injuries, he broke free from Alice's hands, picked up his notebook, and began to carefully study the twisted and pulled stone pillars.

Alice felt a little embarrassed by his single-mindedness. She turned to Xia You and the others with an awkward smile and introduced him, "This is Tony, a scientist. He'll look like this whenever he discovers something..."

Ash and his friends finally snapped out of their daze and said they didn't mind.

In fact, even before entering Baiyang Town, Xia You had already realized what kind of incident her group had gotten involved in.

After all, the Tower of Time is so famous that anyone who has seen the related theatrical version will be familiar with it.

This is why Xia You was so patient in accompanying Xiao Zhi and the others in their street battles, and why she kept Iris by their side the whole time.

The main point is that you don't want to miss the story and thus miss the chance to meet the Pokémon related to the Tower of Time, and—Darkrai!

Of course, he didn't intend to subdue them; he just wanted to witness the unfolding of this story.

When you travel, the more you see and the more you encounter, the better you can grow.

Of course, most importantly, he also wanted to see how his Deoxys and Rayquaza would perform against these Pokémon!