I caught a Pokémon

Of course, right now she's just a restless little girl.

Hikari and Makomo had obviously already met Iris and Cilan on their way here. Now that they saw that Xia You had also met them, Hikari covered his mouth and laughed, "When I first learned that Ash had come to Unova by himself, I thought he was going to travel alone. I didn't expect him to find two more partners. That's really amazing."

It's more than just impressive.

Can an ordinary person's companion find the gym leader and the future champion?

Ash truly lives up to his reputation as the chosen one; even his companions are more powerful than ordinary people.

However, Xia You immediately thought of herself.

Leaving aside those people from before, just Dawn, the runner-up of the Sinnoh Grand Festival, and Makomo, the Unova professor, are both no less capable than Iris and Cilan.

From this perspective, I guess I'm one of the chosen ones.

After exchanging pleasantries, the group naturally began to discuss the purpose of their visit.

Upon learning that Xia You had obtained more than eight badges, and even more, Xiao Zhi, who had only just obtained his fifth badge, couldn't help but feel somewhat discouraged.

"What? I only arrived in Unova a few days later than you, how come there's such a big gap?"

Masaki covered his mouth and chuckled: "If you didn't get lost, make a mistake, or get distracted by other things, I believe you would have collected all eight badges long ago."

Alice laughed and said, "That's impossible. If it really turned out like that, then Ash wouldn't be Ash anymore."

Her words naturally received everyone's approval, except for Ash, because Ash was embarrassed and angry.

Are you saying I'm confused!?

“No.” Alice shook her head, holding up a finger. “I’m saying you’re stupid!”

People laughed heartily, and after they had finished laughing, they continued their conversation. Just as Xia You had thought, Xiao Zhi had indeed come to participate in this Harvest Festival.

Xiao Guang shook his head helplessly after hearing this.

"Sure enough, wherever there's excitement, there you are! With your travel speed, of course you can't possibly be as fast as Brother Xia You."

Chapter 1434 Joining in the Fun

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Xia You leaned back in her wicker chair and looked at Xiao Zhi: "What are you doing here?"

Ash scratched his head: "We heard on the way here that there was a Harvest Festival, and since we had nothing else to do, we decided to come and check it out."

Sure enough.

Xia You nodded to herself.

Just as he was about to speak, Xiao Zhi seemed to remember something, leaned forward, and his eyes lit up:

This child has always had a keen sense of excitement; wherever there's activity, he'll be there too.

"Oh, right! When I came up from the foot of the mountain, I accidentally entered a cave. Inside the mountain, there were glowing stones, like crystals, and they were huge. It felt like the whole mountain was hollow!"

"Is this mountain hollow?" Xia You thought for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. "It should only be part of it. It's quite normal for an ancient city like this to have secret passages dug into the mountains or hidden spaces created."

Xiao Guang listened from the side, tilting his head with a curious expression.

"and then?"

"Then I went up the cave and eventually reached the castle at the top of the mountain," Xiao Zhi gestured dramatically. "The castle was huge, with lots of rooms and a big terrace. You could see the whole town from there! You should check it out!"

Xia You listened, her gaze sweeping over the distant Earth Sword, its outline barely visible in the night, without saying a word.

Just then, the hotel's wooden door was pushed open.

Several people turned their heads at the same time.

Wu Si walked out from inside the door.

Unlike before, she had changed her clothes.

No longer was it the simple black dress, but an elegant off-white dress, loosely tied at the waist with a thin belt, and a light gray cardigan was draped over it. Her long golden hair was still damp, loosely gathered on one shoulder, with a few strands clinging to her neck and swaying slightly in the wind.

She had clearly just taken a shower; her face was still flushed for some unknown reason. She looked much softer than before, less distant, and more languid, but even more beautiful and captivating.

At first, Xiao Zhi and the others thought she was just passing by, but to their surprise, this woman, who looked elegant and beautiful, walked directly to Xia You's side and sat down next to him naturally.

This greatly surprised Ash and his friends.

I thought this beautiful lady was just passing by, but I never expected that she was Xia You's companion.

Seeing them stunned, seemingly surprised by Wu Si's appearance and demeanor, Xiao Guang smiled and introduced her to them: "Xiao Zhi, this is Sister Wu Si."

She paused, glanced at Wu Si, then at Xia You, a deeper meaning creeping onto her smile that only she understood: "It's for Brother Xia You—"

“Women,” Wu Si added, his tone flat, as if stating a perfectly ordinary fact.

Ash blinked, showing no surprise.

After all, he had already seen too many of Xia You's women, so even if several more appeared at the same time, he wouldn't be surprised at all.

For him, the label of Xia Youge's woman was nothing new, just like Pikachu being an Electric-type—it was common knowledge.

"Hello, my name is Xiaozhi."

Ash nodded to Wu Si in a natural tone, while Cilan reacted more strongly than Ash.

As the gym leader and Pokémon bartender of the Sanyo Gym, one of his daily tasks is to receive guests who come to the gym, including many beautiful young women.

This also honed his ability to appreciate beauty. Through long-term practice, he believes he can distinguish at a glance what kind of beauty is sophisticated and what kind of beauty is commonplace.

But at this moment, looking at Wu Si sitting next to Xia You, all the professional insights he usually used to analyze customer preferences and judge the compatibility between Pokémon and trainers suddenly became insufficient.

Whether it's her temperament or her appearance, she's the most outstanding woman he's ever seen!

Only Alice, with hearts in her eyes, looked at Wusi with admiration and exclaimed, "Wow! Sister Wusi, you're so beautiful!"

Wu Si took in the three people's reactions. She was a thoughtful and knowledgeable woman, and she could guess the general relationship between them and Xia You just from their expressions.

"You're Ash?" She looked at Ash.

"Yes!" Ash nodded, wondering how the other person knew his name. "That's Pikachu next to me, my partner!"

Wu Si smiled slightly: "I heard from Xia You that you are a very talented child, and he thinks highly of you. Now that I've met you, you are indeed very extraordinary."

Xiao Zhi was so excited that his face turned bright red, not expecting Xia You to praise him like that to someone else.

Before he could say anything, Wu Si added, "But is it really okay for you to sit here so leisurely? I just heard you say you're here for the Harvest Festival, right? But if you don't hurry over, the registration deadline is approaching, isn't it?"

"Huh?" Ash's eyes widened.

Ash's eyes widened. He glanced at Iris and then at Cilan before belatedly realizing what was happening and suddenly sprang up from the steps.

"What!? There's a deadline for registration!?"

He rushed out of the hotel in a panic, followed closely by Pikachu. Iris and Cilan also quickly stood up, bowed to Xia You and the others, and then followed them out.

Seeing them run off in such a hurry, Xia You and the others exchanged glances and laughed.

"Alright, let's go too." Xia You was the first to stand up. "Since we're already here, let's join in the fun, and besides..."

He turned to Xiao Guang and said, "This is a great opportunity. Why don't you join us?"

Xiao Guang didn't have any particular thoughts, but since Xia You had spoken, she nodded in agreement.

"Great! Let's take this opportunity to see just how powerful Ash has become!"

The four of them left the hotel and walked along the narrow street toward the Harvest Festival. By this time, Ash and his friends had long since disappeared, but they were not far behind Xia You and the others. When they arrived at the Harvest Festival, the festival had just begun.

On a stage erected on the outskirts of the city, a strangely dressed middle-aged man stood in the center, holding a microphone and loudly proclaiming something.

A large crowd gathered there, completely blocking half of the small space.

"Ladies and gentlemen, and all trainers!" the man announced. "Welcome to the Harvest Festival in Eindooc! I am Mayor Mormont, and I hereby declare the long-awaited Harvest Festival Battle Event open!!"

Chapter 1435 Makomo: How could this be?

The rules for this Harvest Festival battle event are actually quite simple.

It's not a traditional battle on a fixed stage. Instead, all registered contestants receive an identity card from the staff and use it to fight.

The entire city was a battlefield.

After the event began, the players scattered throughout the city and, in the presence of the staff, were randomly matched against each other.

The competition is a one-on-one battle. You cannot change your Pokémon during the battle. As long as you defeat your opponent, you will obtain their identity card. At the end, the one who obtains the most identity cards is the winner.

While Mayor Morenta was explaining the rules of the competition, Ash looked around in the crowd.

Who among you signed up?

Cilan and Iris both raised their hands, and seeing that both of his friends wanted to participate, Ash turned his attention to Xia You and the others.

And you?

"I'm not interested," Xia You said, shaking her head first.

"I want to participate." Dawn raised an eyebrow at Ash. "It's been a long time since we've faced off, hasn't it? It's time for a competition to see who has gotten stronger in the meantime!"

Ash's fighting spirit was instantly ignited by the challenge from his former companions.

"Come on!" Ash clenched his fist, clearly very excited. "I've become really strong lately, you know, I'm not afraid of you!"

After saying that, he felt it was a pity that Xiao Guang was the only one, so he turned his head to Xia You, his gaze sweeping over Xia You's face with a familiar, eager look.

"Brother Xia You, are you really not going to participate?"

Xia You shook her head again: "I won't participate."

Ash took a step forward, and Pikachu, perched on his shoulder, also leaned forward. The expressions on Ash's and Pikachu's faces were remarkably similar.

"I've caught a lot of new Pokémon lately, and I've become really strong!" Ash's voice carried a childlike boastfulness. "Don't you really want to try?"

Xia You looked at him but didn't reply.

Xiao Zhi took another half step forward, lowered his voice, and added a hint of amusement to his tone: "Are you scared?"

There was a moment of silence.

Hikari gasped, and Makomo covered her mouth in surprise. They had no idea that Satoshi would dare to say such a thing!

Xia You raised an eyebrow.

Was I... provoked by Ash?

If he didn't know Ash, he would have thought Ash was possessed by someone.

Seeing Xiao Zhi's smug smile, Xia You couldn't help but snort: "Kid, it's been so long, you've become quite arrogant. I thought you were more composed just now, but it seems you're still just a child."

Hearing Xia You's threat, Xiao Zhi instinctively took a half step back when he was looked at like that, but he quickly remembered his growth over this period, so he stood up straight, straightened his chest, and tried to act like a... adult.

Xia You stared at Xiao Zhi for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled, a smile that seemed to say, "It seems it's time to put a blow to your arrogant attitude."

Seeing that Xia You seemed interested, Xiao Zhi's eyes lit up: "So? Do you want to participate?"

Xiao Zhi's idea was simple: to fight Xia You. That's why he used a provocation tactic.

But Xia You still shook her head.

Ash's expression immediately fell halfway.

“If I were to participate,” Xia You said calmly, as if stating a fact that didn’t need discussion, “it would seem like I was bullying you.”

Xiao Zhi opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but found that he didn't seem to have any real confidence in refuting it.

Xia You didn't look at him. Instead, she turned her head to look at Makomo, who was standing quietly to the side, serving as a background figure. Suddenly, she had an idea.

"True fungus."

Makomo paused for a moment, then tilted her head to look at Natsumi: "What's wrong?"

Do you want to participate?

"Me?" Makomo's eyes widened, and she pointed to herself, thinking she had misheard.

"Yes, it's you."

Makomo quickly waved her hand, her tone slightly flustered: "I'm not a trainer, how could I possibly participate in this kind of event? Besides, my Pokémon aren't the battle type."

"Just because you're not a trainer." Xia You interrupted her, the corners of her mouth curving wider, but her gaze remained fixed on Ash. "So if you defeat Ash, wouldn't that be even more humiliating for him?"

Xiao Zhi's expression changed.

I never expected Xia You to come up with this idea!