I caught a Pokémon

"So it's you." Zhu Lan crossed her arms, walked up to Xia You, and looked the man up and down with an imposing air. "I've really heard a lot about you!"

Sensing that something was off about her tone, and remembering how she had tricked her before, Xia You felt inexplicably guilty.

They've really come with ill intentions...

"You must be Cynthia." Despite this, Xia You remained nonchalant, a polite smile on her face. "I often hear your name mentioned. Everyone knows that Cynthia is the strongest trainer in the Sinnoh region!"

Listen to this, it's been so long since Xia You has been treated so politely.

I have to say, the situation is really pressing!

Behind them, Xiaoyao and Yami exchanged a worried glance.

Others may not know, but they are well aware of the 'grudge' between Xia You and Zhu Lan.

Now that the person in question has come to their door, they can't help but feel nervous for Xia You.

After all, if Zhu Lan knew that it was Xia You who had framed her time and time again, who knows what she would do.

Anyway, if we put ourselves in their shoes, if they were Zhu Lan, they certainly wouldn't let Xia You off the hook either.

Seeing the current situation, both of them subconsciously felt a pang of worry for Xia You.

Zhu Lan's gaze swept over the two tense-looking people, and her smile became even more meaningful.

Looking at Xia You again, she smiled calmly and said, "Actually, fame is sometimes useless. For example, although I am the champion of the Sinnoh region and have the title of champion, and seem to be respected, there are always some people who want to use me as a shield. It can be seen that no matter how hard I try, in other people's eyes, I am just a prop."

Is this a subtle dig at me?

She must have discovered something, right?

Otherwise, they wouldn't say these things to me for no reason.

But Xia You didn't understand where exactly she had given herself away.

Or rather...

She was actually just slightly suspicious, so she deliberately made a fuss about it?

This is when a person's mental fortitude is truly tested.

If it were someone with a more impulsive personality, they would probably confess without being asked, but for Xia You, unless the evidence is slapped in his face, he will never admit it, and his expression will not even change.

The main point is that they are like a dead pig that doesn't fear boiling water.

But he obviously didn't know that in Zhu Lan's heart, she had already accepted his identity, so even if she didn't acknowledge it, nothing would change.

Still pretending!

She snorted inwardly, about to speak frankly, when she noticed a figure moving in front of her. Xiao Guang took a step forward, half-blocking Xia You's path.

"Miss Zhulan," she said with a faint smile, "you still haven't told me what kind of matter would require your personal attention!"

Chapter 1042 Xia You's initial infatuation with Zhu Lan ended in heartbreak and abandonment?

Xiao Guang had no idea what had happened between the two of them.

She just had a gut feeling that Zhu Lan didn't seem to be very friendly to Xia You.

This also greatly puzzled her.

It seems like...this is their first time meeting?

Why does the atmosphere feel so strange?

It's like...there's some kind of grudge between them!

Although she didn't understand why this was happening, seeing Zhu Lan being so forceful and even aggressive towards Xia You made her feel uncomfortable.

Therefore, out of concern for Xia You, he subconsciously took a step and stood in front of Xia You.

Even after realizing what she was doing, facing this champion whom everyone in Sinnoh revered, and someone she had previously liked and admired, she felt no regret or fear.

He just looked at Zhu Lan calmly!

Although Zhu Lan sensed the hostility in Xiao Guang's gaze, she did not take the threat posed by this ten-year-old girl seriously.

On the contrary, I think she's quite cute.

After all, there is a huge disparity between the two in terms of both strength and status.

Most importantly, who would be angry at such a cute little girl!

But thanks to Xiao Guang's interruption, although she was angry with Xia You and wanted to settle accounts with this man immediately, she knew that there were other irrelevant people present. In order to avoid causing a bad influence, she could only suppress her impulse and planned to wait until there was no one else around before making a decision.

Thinking of this, she stopped paying attention to Xia You and said to Xiao Guang, "Yesterday I received an urgent message from the Pokémon League saying that there was a strong tremor in this area and an unknown energy spread. It seems that some extremely powerful Pokémon are fighting here. So they asked me to come here to investigate the situation and take appropriate measures. I didn't expect to run into you before I even got there."

A battle nearby?

Are you referring to yesterday's battle?

Hearing her say that, Xiao Zhi and the others looked surprised.

"Could it be..."

Seeing their expressions, Zhu Lan raised her eyebrows.

"What? Do you know something?"

"Well..." Xiao Gang hesitated for a moment, then tentatively said, "If I'm not mistaken, the incident you're talking about should be the one we just experienced yesterday!"

As he spoke, with Ash occasionally adding to the story, Brock recounted everything from his initial encounter with Shaymin and being drawn into the Reverse World, to Deoxys defeating Regigigas last night, and finally handing Zero over to Muxuan.

This is because she knew the Sinnoh champion wasn't a bad person and was entrusted by the Pokémon League, which is why she was so open with everything. If it were anyone else, even if Xia You hadn't stopped them, they wouldn't have been so candid.

Zhu Lan looked surprised after hearing this.

"This must be it. I never imagined it was all because of you. I must say, your experience was quite thrilling and amazing!"

However, being a champion, her ability to grasp the key points is indeed different. After pondering for a moment, she asked, "Although I don't know much about the Distortion World, a Pokémon like Deoxys... shouldn't appear there, right?"

"That's right." Ash nodded in agreement. "So when it appeared, we were quite startled! And it's really strong. It first drove away Giratina, then severely injured Regigigas. In two consecutive battles, even that huge iceberg collapsed!"

“I see.” Cynthia pondered, “It does sound…not like a wild Pokémon.”

At this point, she raised an eyebrow, hinting, "It feels... just like that black Rayquaza that appeared in White Poplar Town back then!"

"Huh?" Ash's eyes widened upon hearing this. Hearing her mention it, he vaguely felt there was a similarity. "You know what... that sense of suppression in strength is indeed somewhat similar! But... but..."

Although Ash didn't finish speaking, Cynthia clearly understood what he meant.

She chuckled and said, "You mean to say that the black Rayquaza has a trainer, while the Deoxys appeared out of nowhere, right?"

“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean!” Ash nodded quickly. “The trainer of that black Rayquaza is that mysterious masked man. He’s no ordinary person! It’s because of trainers like him that Rayquaza is so powerful. But Deoxys is also very powerful, but I didn’t see its trainer at all, so… the situation isn’t exactly the same.”

"Didn't you see its trainer?" Hearing Ash's words, Cynthia smiled again and looked meaningfully at Xia You. "That's not necessarily true. Maybe he's hiding his tracks, just like before, not wanting anyone to know his identity! And speaking of appearing out of thin air, doesn't that perfectly match being released from a Poké Ball?"

Faced with Zhu Lan's aggressive gaze, Xia You's heart skipped a beat again.

All I can say is that this woman's intuition is truly remarkable!

They suspected me so easily!

And that's not all. Cynthia laughed and said, "Most importantly, I don't think there are really that many talented trainers who can catch and train such Pokémon to be that powerful."

"So..." Ash paused, "Cynthia, you think that Deoxys has a trainer? And it must be a very strong one?"

“Of course,” Cynthia smiled slightly, “just like that person wearing the Gengar mask!”

Hearing Cynthia's conviction, Ash had a vague feeling that something was wrong: "But...but there's no one else there besides us, is there?"

“Yes.” Zhu Lan stared intently at Xia You. “It’s strange. There’s really no one else besides you. So who released them?”

Although she said it as a question, everyone except Xiaozhi could tell that she was doubting something!

This made Xiaoyao and Yami even more worried.

Next…

She wouldn't attack Xia You directly, would she?

In fact, not only them, but even Xiao Guang and Xiao Gang saw from Zhu Lan's reaction that she didn't hide her provocation towards Xia You at all!

In contrast to her, Xia You acted as if he had done something wrong or had truly wronged Zhu Lan. Faced with Zhu Lan's words, he simply looked away, remaining silent and acting as if it were none of his business.

But the more this happened, the more the two realized that something must have happened between Xia You and Zhu Lan!

Xiao Guang is alright; after all, he's still young and his thoughts are quite simple.

But when Xiao Gang saw this scene, he couldn't help but wonder what was going on in his mind.

Miss Zhu Lan's confrontational attitude towards Mr. Xia You suggests that Mr. Xia You might have... taken advantage of her and then abandoned her.

After all, based on his understanding of Xia You, he knew that Xia You was a man who was very popular with girls and had a knack for dealing with them.

Therefore, his relationship with Zhu Lan is very likely not as simple as it seems.

and many more!

Could it be that Xia You is a womanizer and has so many girlfriends, and Zhu Lan found out about it?

The more Xiao Gang thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

Otherwise, he couldn't understand why Zhu Lan had such a look in her eyes that seemed to want to devour Xia You!

Only if Xia Youzhen had hurt her could this Sinnoh champion harbor such resentment towards him!

And apart from heartbreak, he couldn't think of any other reason!

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but give Xia You a thumbs up in his heart.

Mr. Xia You, you dare to anger Miss Zhu Lan! You are indeed extraordinary!

Chapter 1043 King vs. Queen

Now that she had figured out the cause and effect of the matter, Zhu Lan naturally didn't need to go to that flower field again.

This also shows how much trust she has in Ash and his friends.

After all, the request came from the Pokémon League, but Ash's few words were enough to convince her that something had happened and dispel her desire to find out more. This trust was truly extraordinary.

It's clear that she knows Xiaozhi's personality, knows what kind of person he is, and wouldn't deceive herself.

Even though she no longer needed to go to the scene, she didn't leave. Instead, she met up with Xia You and the others and headed towards Nohara City together.

Although she said that traveling together was just to pass the time, Xia You knew that her purpose was definitely more than that.

She must be looking for an opportunity to settle scores with me!

In fact, not only Xia You, but even Xiao Guang realized that although Zhu Lan did not say it, her following them all the way was definitely related to Xia You!

This inevitably made her somewhat worried.

In the past, even if she realized it, she would have just felt it was none of her business. But now her mindset is different, and she has been thinking about this matter almost the whole way. She keeps looking at Zhu Lan, trying to see what she is up to.

Fortunately, Zhu Lan and Xiao Zhi walked in front, chatting and laughing, completely ignoring Xia You.

This made Xia You secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

If possible, he would prefer to get to know Cynthia in a normal way, so that they could spar in a friendly atmosphere, exchange Pokémon battles, and share their experiences, instead of having this misunderstanding.

Ok…

If it's a misunderstanding, it's all because Xia You framed Zhu Lan first, which is why Zhu Lan came to him. So, fundamentally, it's all his own doing.

It's already quite magnanimous of Zhu Lan that things are peaceful for the time being.

Of course, it remains to be seen how long this magnanimity can last.

After all, judging from the way Zhu Lan kept glancing at him with her eyes hidden from time to time, and the dangerous glint in her eyes that she made no attempt to hide, it was not hard to tell that she was definitely waiting for a private opportunity to settle scores with him!

This led Xia You to think about possible solutions throughout the journey.

Sigh, if only I had been more careful back then, I wouldn't be in this awkward situation now.

I really didn't expect her to actually discover me!

After scanning Xia You and Zhu Lan twice, Xiao Guang couldn't contain his curiosity any longer and went to Xiao Yao to ask her what had happened.

Although Xiaoyao didn't explain everything clearly, she still gave her a general overview of the situation.

This made Xiao Guang gasp!

It turns out the whole reason lies with Xia You!