There seems to be something wrong with these Pokémon

When it was time to chat after a meal, the three of them sat around the table studying their new mobile phones.

The uncle next to her just glanced at her for a moment and then looked away without any care, continuing to wipe the sculptures in his shop.

It seemed that he didn't care at all how these young people managed to own an expensive mobile phone.

"Wow!" Fujino Sakura let out a short exclamation, "This little thing can actually make phone calls!"

After that, she tried to call his home phone.

When she put the phone against her cheek and the soothing and rhythmic beeping sounded in her ears, Fujino Sakura seemed to feel her own heartbeat beating to the beat.

Until that familiar and gentle voice sounded on the other end of the phone.

"Hello? Hello, who is this?"

"Mom!" Fujino Sakura's eyes lit up, "Can you hear my voice over there?"

"Hmm? Can you hear me? What's wrong?" Mrs. Fujino smiled, holding the receiver in one hand and pinching cakes in the other. "You've reached the next town so soon? Remember to call mom to let her know you're safe and give her a compliment."

"Oh, Mom!" Fujino Sakura giggled and said mysteriously, "Didn't you notice that there was something different about the way I called you this time?"

"Hmm?" Mrs. Fujino looked at the screen beside her. It showed a phone number with a prefix that was not unique to the Pokémon Center. "I see, you haven't arrived at the Pokémon Center yet? Which kind-hearted person's home are you staying at? Remember to clean up before you leave and thank them properly."

"No, no!" Fujino Sakura's face flushed, unable to hide her excitement, "Let me tell you, not long ago I not only met Professor Oak, who is famous in the Pokémon League, but also Itachi of the Earth, and helped them..."

......

Fujino Sakura was still sharing her recent thrilling travel stories with her family, while the two people sitting opposite her leaned against each other quietly and talked in low voices.

"Yes, that's it." Kitazawa Reiyu looked at Sakutani Ye with a smile on his face. Even in Pokémon battles, he rarely showed such a cautious look. His tone couldn't help but become a little lighter. "Input it according to the Romanization spelling, then slide at the top to select the word you need from the words with similar pronunciations, and click Confirm."

"Yeah." Shuo Gu Ye studied seriously, his deep blue eyes fixed intently on the small screen in front of him, fearing that a single wrong operation would ruin this expensive phone.

"If there is a situation where it is inconvenient to talk on the phone, text messaging is indeed the best solution."

Sakutani Ye pressed the send button according to Kitazawa Reisuke's instructions, and the next moment another mobile phone on the table vibrated slightly.

Kitazawa Lingyou took his phone and waved it in front of Shuoya Ye. "Successfully received."

"Ah?!" Sakura Fujino, who had just finished talking to her parents, turned around and saw the two people who had already learned how to send text messages. She couldn't help but put down her phone and complained, "How come you guys are progressing so fast? What should I do? I didn't learn with you guys just now!"

"It's okay." Upon hearing this, Sakuya Ye stood up and walked towards Fujino Sakura, "I'll teach you. It's not difficult to operate. I believe that with Sakura's intelligence, she will be able to learn it quickly."

"Uh-huh!"

"First it's like this...then...finally..., that's basically it, follow me and try it again."

"Oh oh oh! I think I got it!"

"Just as I said, this is a piece of cake for Sakura."

"No, no, it's mainly because you taught me well."

"If that's the case, we both have Lingyou to thank. It's thanks to him that we both learned it."

Just as Fujino Sakura jumped up from the cushion like a spring and bowed 90 degrees to Kitazawa Reiyu in a funny way to thank her, Kitazawa Reiyu waved his hands as if he couldn't stand it.

The uncle who had been watching from the side for a long time finally got a chance to interrupt.

"Dear guests, are there any trainers among you?"

When the three people turned their gazes at him at the same time, the uncle's sunglasses fell down, but he quickly pushed them back with a finger.

"I'm just a little curious. After all, your Pokémon seemed particularly harmonious and relaxed when they were taking a hot spring bath on the other side. They didn't show any anxiety at all. I think there is no other explanation except that the trainer can connect with the mood of Pokémon, right?"

"Hehe, uncle, you have a good eye." Fujino Sakura nodded and said, "All three of us are trainers!"

"Oh, really?" The uncle's mouth exaggeratedly opened into an "O" shape, "I didn't expect that there would be three such outstanding trainers in the store!"

Without waiting for the three to reply, the uncle suddenly changed his tone and continued to ask, "I wonder why the three trainers came to our Red Lotus Island...?"

"Honglian Gym." Shuoya Ye answered, "We heard that there is a Honglian Gym opened by a gym trainer named Xia Bo on Honglian Island. We came here to challenge and obtain the badge in order to qualify for the Quartz Competition."

"The Red Lotus Gym...?"

The eyes behind the sunglasses flashed a gleam, but the uncle said with a slightly regretful tone, "Then you have come to the wrong place!"

"What do you mean?" Fujino Sakura frowned, puzzled.

Kitazawa Lingyou fiddled with his phone for a while, then read out the words on the screen.

"The Red Lotus Gym is located on Red Lotus Island and is controlled by the powerful gym trainer Xia Bo. If you want to obtain the badge from there, you must have a strong will that can extinguish the flames."

"This is the official announcement from the Pokémon League."

Kitazawa Lingyou turned off the screen of his phone, raised his eyes and said, "Since Director Xia Bo did not refuse the duty of training trainers during the preparation period of this Quartz Competition, then the Red Lotus Gym cannot disappear out of thin air."

"That's true." The uncle was quite shocked by the boy's quick thinking and ability to collect information, and continued.

"That's why I said you came at a bad time. The current Cinnamon Island has long been turned into a tourist destination. Even the forests and lakes where Pokémon live have been transformed into commercial hotels, hot springs and other facilities by greedy businessmen."

"More and more tourists came here to seek the reputation, but fewer and fewer trainers came here to improve their strength. Until the later period, we could only see more than one pair of trainers in a year."

"So Xia Bo, feeling extremely disappointed, doubted the necessity of the gym's existence. At the same time, under the coercion of the merchants, he reluctantly moved the gym away from the center of the island. No one knew where it went."

The uncle shrugged helplessly, his tone was full of sarcasm. "Maybe he is too stubborn. Even though he is old, he still believes that Pokémon battles are a noble sport that cannot be tainted by anything, and he ruthlessly refuses the interference of capital."

"Now let's look back at another place. The research institute was as famous as the Red Lotus Gym at the time. After accepting sponsorship from businessmen, not only has the quality of its research improved dramatically, but it has also maintained its core position in Red Lotus Island, with an endless stream of tourists visiting every day."

A conflict between concept and reality?

Shuo Gu Ye lowered his head silently, his eyes full of complexity.

He couldn't help but wonder what choice he would make if he were in Director Xia Bo's shoes at the fork in the road that determines the fate of the gym.

After a while, in a long silence, Shuoya Ye slowly raised his eyes and looked firmly at the pair of eyes hidden by sunglasses.

"Director Xia Bo did the right thing."

“What…?” The uncle was stunned when he heard that, and even his thick and long beard seemed to tremble because of the difference.

"Director Xia Bo made the right decision, at least that's what I think."

Shuoya Ye's expression was still as gentle as spring, but everyone present felt the firmness in his words.

"The purpose of all gyms at the beginning is to test trainers, hone their will and ability, and complete their growth with their partners under the careful training of the gym owner, and finally move towards the dream place of trainers - the Quartz League."

"Why don't almost all gyms over-advertise themselves anywhere to attract more trainers to challenge them?"

Shuo Gu Ye paused, his eyebrows curved, "I think it should be unnecessary."

"Gyms are not like commodities. Only by attracting enough and loyal customers can they survive in the bloody business war. As the core building of a city, gyms do not rely on trainers to exist, and the significance of their existence is not just to issue badges."

"If danger really comes to the city, what can we rely on?"

"Commodities? Money? Or the endless stream of tourists?"

Sakuya Ye hugged the Eevee who sneaked in, buried his head in the soft fur, took a deep breath, and smiled.

"It's just me, my Pokémon, and my gym trainers."

"It's not the gym that needs trainers, it's the city that needs the gym, it's the people of this city that need the gym."

As soon as these words came out, Fujino Sakura blinked and immediately agreed, "Xiaoye is right! If I had crossed mountains and forests and gone through untold hardships to come to the Red Lotus Gym to visit the holy land of trainers, and looked up to see the fancy and scattered advertisements and the battle field full of tourists, I would definitely be extremely disappointed!"

"The purpose of a gym's existence is the gym itself." Kitazawa Lingyou said after taking a sip of tea, "Although I don't know what happened exactly, if the famous gym trainer Xia Bo was defeated so easily, then he is just a paper tiger in name only."

The words of the three people seemed to give the uncle a great shock.

His back, which had always been a little hunched, straightened slowly and inadvertently, and the wrinkles on his face left by wind and frost seemed to have faded a lot.

Even though his facial features did not change, his temperament changed drastically at this moment.

Fiery, flamboyant, high-spirited...

As scorching and proud as the scorching sun, perhaps this is the true appearance of this uncle.

Before Shuoya Ye could be surprised by the uncle's transformation, he returned to his previous appearance the next moment, like a sword in a sheath.

"Haha, if Xia Bo knew that you trainers have similar ideas to him, he would be very happy."

"but..."

The uncle raised a finger and shook it proudly in front of the few people. "Explore the unknown, and find wisdom hidden deep inside. What is this place?"

"Why is it another puzzle?" Fujino Sakura fell on the table and gave up thinking completely. "Uncle! Aren't you jumping to different topics too quickly?"

"The future?" After careful consideration, Shuoya Ye gave his answer.

The unknown and the wisdom hidden in it is only the future.

"This is the place I want to recommend you to go." The uncle shook his head in distress, "I can't take you there in the future."

"Research Institute." Kitazawa Anzuyou spoke again.

Of course, the uncle's praising gaze also announced that he had answered the puzzle correctly again.

"That's right! Since we're here on Crimson Island, if we can't visit the Crimson Gym, we should at least go to the Research Institute!"