There seems to be something wrong with these Pokémon

The moment Abiro's body was blown away from him by the current, Maruta Kei's world suddenly became quiet.

His forehead was covered with cold sweat and his hands hanging by his sides were shaking uncontrollably.

what happened...?

Maruta Kei's Adam's apple rolled up and down, and his breathing gradually became rapid.

Is this... a loss?

He stared in disbelief at his opponent who was hugging Psyduck and sharing his joy.

Obviously, he also wanted to look back at Abilang's injuries and see if he could still stand up and fight again.

His neck seemed to be rusty, and he couldn't move it even a little bit even if he tried his best.

The world in front of Maruta Kei's eyes suddenly became very small.

It was so small that there was only myself, and on the other side of the field, I was standing opposite Shuoya Ye, half squatting and stroking Kada Ya's head.

The rest of the noisy sounds and people disappeared.

why?

He didn't understand why the situation, which seemed to be going well at the beginning, was overturned in an instant and he was defeated miserably without any ability to defend himself.

It's obvious that Psyduck is no match for Abbylang in terms of strength or speed.

But why... did we lose so suddenly?

Maruta Kei, who had never lost a battle since childhood, gradually felt his eyes dim, and confusion enveloped him like a layer of mist.

From the first Pokémon he obtained to the current six Pokémon, each one is a champion carefully selected by his father's research institute.

From initial genetic engineering and screening to later testing and cultivation.

Every step was completed with the assistance of the country's top experts, so why can't they beat the ubiquitous Psyduck on the opposite side?

In a few months, he will stand on the Quartz Competition and win the supreme glory.

But why did it fail at the hands of this little tourist?

He had fought with many trainers before, and the unanimous victories and praise from others made him lose himself.

Maybe...he is not as good as I thought...?

"Hey."

Just as Maruta Kei was sinking deeper and deeper into self-doubt and had completely reached a dead end, a voice rang out like the warm sun, waking him up in time.

When Maruta Jing slowly raised his head following the source of the voice, he saw a hand as white as porcelain jade placed in front of him.

The winner of this battle and his partner are showing the same smile.

"Handshake after the game, remember?"

There was a faint smile on Shuoya's lips, "Your Abilong is very strong. I won this time by luck. I hope that next time I can have a full Pokémon battle with you without regrets."

"Isn't this considered a case of acquaintance without fighting?" Fujino Sakura fell half a step behind Sakutani Ye and said with a smile, "I didn't expect that you are not a good person, but you are quite good at raising Pokémon."

"You are a bad person..." Maruta Jing retorted in a low voice, but still reached out and shook the hand that had been suspended in the air for a long time.

"I... lost. You are very strong."

"Thank you." Shuoya Ye nodded and accepted the praise from his opponent.

Then, looking at the boy's distraught appearance, he invited him again, "Abiro needs treatment too, right? Let's go to the Pokémon Center together?"

With Sakutani Ye's reminder, Maruta Kei finally remembered that Abiro was knocked out of the venue by the water cannon, and hurriedly turned around to look for its trace.

Fortunately, there is a tall billboard near the battle site of the Pokémon Center.

Abby, who was washed away by the water, was stopped by a billboard that read "For wonderful soda, drink Kool-Aid!"

He was sitting against the railing to recover his strength.

"Ah! I'm sorry, Abirou!" Maruta Jing raised the Poké Ball in a hurry, and said with guilt in his eyes, "Come back and rest for a while."

Fujino Sakura laughed good-naturedly at this scene.

Sakuya Yeya smiled and nodded, then led the way towards the Pokémon Center.

Maruta Kei, who was following behind him, had a vague look on his face and remained silent all the way.

It was not until I was about to step into the door of the Pokémon Center that I heard a sound as thin as a mosquito.

"Bet...I..."

"What?" Shuoya Ye turned his head and looked at the boy with a red face.

"I said..." Marutakage took a deep breath and shouted with a desperate look, "Bet! I will abide by it!!"

"Bet?"

However, Fujino Sakura and Sakutani Ye looked at each other and saw confusion in each other's eyes.

"What bet?"

Maruta Kei didn't expect the two to react like this.

When he realized that the two of them were not trying to tease him, but really didn't know what he was talking about, he couldn't help but say, "That's the one... running around the institute and... shouting..."

Sakutani Ye was stunned when he heard this, while Fujino Sakura laughed out loud and covered her stomach and said, "You actually took it seriously?!"

Seeing Maruta Jing's bewildered expression, Sakuya Ye suppressed his laughter and explained, "We thought you were joking, but we didn't expect it to be a serious bet?"

"That's right..." Fujino Sakura wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes, "You're so smart to yell in the Pokémon Center. I thought you were just saying that to look more impressive."

"Is this... like this?"

Maruta Jing, who only felt that he was extremely handsome at the time, asked heartbrokenly, "You...really didn't take it seriously at all?"

"Yes." Fujino Sakura nodded, shattering his last fantasy, "Doesn't this sound like a joke?"

As a result, Maruta Kei not only lost the battle, but also turned himself into a clown, kneeling on the ground, supporting himself with his hands weakly, and gently broke.

Maruta Kei: If God gives me another chance...

----

On the other side, Shuoya Ye, who was browsing on his phone, didn't pay any attention to the boy's strange phenomenon.

He looked at the message coming in his phone.

The conversation was very brief, just one sentence.

I have something urgent to do, so I'll be away for a while and will be back later.

Shuoya hesitated for a moment, then handed the Poké Ball to Miss Joy and replied with a sentence.

Well, be safe.

Nothing else.

Shuoya Ye put away his phone and sat on a chair in the Pokémon Hall, asking Fujino Sakura beside him, "Lingyou has something to do and needs to leave for a while, where are we going next?"

"Where to go... that's really a problem." Fujino Sakura swung her legs and counted on her fingers, saying, "I've already taken a hot spring bath, the Red Lotus Gym is closed, and I don't want to go to the research institute..."

"Hey!" Maruta Jing, who was also waiting for treatment, protested, "Why is the reason given to the institute so perfunctory?"

"First impressions are very important!" Fujino Sakura rolled her eyes at the indignant boy. "My first impression of the research institute was not very good, and after meeting you, it felt even worse."

"Oh..."

Maruta Jing, who had just suffered a crushing defeat because of this incident, naturally had no right to argue. He could only sit back in his seat and sulk.

"By the way, is Ganta going to participate in the Quartz Competition as well?" Sakuya Ye couldn't help but ask, thinking back to the abnormally fast Abby.

It would be a shame if you have such a powerful Pokémon but don't participate in the Quartz Tournament where many experts gather.

"Of course I will."

Speaking of the Quartz Competition, Maruta Jing immediately revived and stood in front of the two of them and started talking.

"I'm not showing off. Many coaches my dad hired said after playing against me that I could at least be a top four player! If I work harder, I can easily win the championship!"

"Huh? Top four? Champion? You?" Fujino Sakura questioned as she looked at Xiaoye's defeated opponent in front of her, "How come the future champion was defeated by Xiaoye?"

"Uh..." Maruta Kei paused for a moment, looked up at the smiling Sakuya Ye, and whispered, "6V6 is different from 1V1 competitions... My other Pokémon are also very strong."

"It looks like Maruta is determined to win the Quartz Tournament."

After receiving a look of "Of course" from Maruta Kei, Sakuya Ye asked again, "Maruta has already obtained 8 gym badges?"

"No, not even one!"

Maruta Kei said this with great force.

Fujino Sakura couldn't help feeling embarrassed and almost fell off her chair.

"You don't even have a badge, what are you so proud of?" Fujino Sakura complained, "You keep saying you want to be the champion, but when the time comes, you won't even be able to get a ticket to the Quartz Competition."

"No!" Maruta Jing raised his head triumphantly, the look of superiority reappearing on his face.

"My dad has already planned it for me! I can just pay someone to take the Pokemon Certification Exam for me and get the qualification badge, right?"

After saying that, he blew the hair that fell in front of his eyes proudly, waved his hand and said, "I don't want to waste time on boring gym competitions. I might as well practice a few more battles with my coach."

Taking the exam on behalf of others???

Sakutani Ye and Fujino Sakura only felt a bolt of lightning striking from the sky, shocking them and making them dizzy.

Isn't this illegal?

How could he calmly say such words that were wildly probing the edge of prison?

Shuoya Ye turned his head and looked, and sure enough, many trainers gave him hostile looks.

What's worse, after making eye contact with Shuoya Ye, some of them snorted coldly, and walked away quickly with their Pokémon in their arms with a look of disdain, as if they were disdainful of having anything to do with him.

Shuoya Ye: ...

What kind of disaster is this? ?

"No, no, that's not it." Fujino Sakura took a long time to smooth out her tongue. "Do you know that this is against the law? If you are caught, not only will you be disqualified from the competition, but you and the person who helped you take the exam will also be thrown into jail!"

"I know." Maruta Jing shrugged and said indifferently, "Wouldn't it be better if we don't get caught?"

"No, this is a matter of whether we can catch it or not?" Fujino Sakura was so angry that her eyes went dark. The good impression she had accumulated about Pokémon after the Pokémon battles was instantly gone.

"You...this is too despicable, isn't it?"

"Really? I feel fine, it doesn't cost much." Maruta Jing raised his eyebrows.

Maruta Kei keenly noticed the sudden change in the attitude of the two people in front of him, and realized that he had hit their sore spot again, so he yawned, walked towards Miss Joy, and took Abby's Poké Ball from her.

"Sakutani, I'll be waiting for you at the Quartz Competition."

The two people who were left at the Pokémon Center looked at each other, and their expressions were complicated when they looked at the boy's tall back.

"Really? I misjudged him!" Fujino Sakura bit her back teeth and said angrily, "I thought he was just a spoiled young master, but I didn't expect his character to be so bad!"

"Well, let's have less contact in the future." Shuoya Ye nodded in agreement, then changed the subject, "How about going to the volcano later? I heard that Honglian Island itself is a city built on a volcano. However, this volcano has been dormant for many years. Some experts estimate that even after a few hundred years, this volcano will not show any signs of eruption."

"Eh, a volcano?!"

Fujino Sakura immediately shifted her attention and quickly agreed, "Great, great! I wonder if we can see the lava? I haven't seen what lava looks like."

"Maybe?" Shuo Gu Ye did not directly deny the girl's unrealistic fantasy, but affirmed, "If we can really see the magma, we must take a few more photos for Lingyou to make him envious."

"Of course! Leave it to me! I'm a great photographer!"