There seems to be something wrong with these Pokémon

"So, what else do you need me to do next, Mr. Cole?"

"Take care of the thirsty 'dog' that came with you. Don't let her flirt with me like a socialite in my base."

From the dimly lit room, some creepy screams could be heard faintly, enough to make one's hair stand on end.

In front of the computer screen emitting blue light, a tall man bent slightly respectfully, his low voice having a hint of hoarseness.

"Yes, if you need..." The man slowly raised his hand and wiped his neck, the meaning was self-evident.

"Oh? Isn't that the experimental material you brought, Dr. Curacao?"

The extremely high sofa chair blocked the light from the computer screen, so that most of the face of the person lying on the chair was submerged in darkness and could not be seen clearly.

"As long as she gets in the way of Lord Cole..."

"It doesn't have to be this way."

The lights in the room suddenly lit up, and the dazzling incandescent light instantly filled every corner, cold and hard.

"Just keep her behavior in check. I don't want to see any corpse that has nothing to do with the experiment."

As the light filled the entire room, the person who had been lying on the sofa chair also revealed his face.

He looked like a young boy. He yawned listlessly and swung his hanging legs leisurely.

Judging from the appearance, whether it is the obviously baby-like face or the thin body, each of them always reveals one fact.

Cole, one of Team Rocket's leaders who is wanted by the Pokémon League, is actually a child!

"The experimental materials are only valuable if they die in the experiment. It would be a pity to kill them so casually." Cole crossed his legs, reached back and touched the table and pushed it hard. The wide chair back turned to face the man who had been standing straight opposite him.

“Being able to come here and work with me proves that we have the same ideals.”

In the surveillance footage displayed on the computer screen, a Pokémon that was tied up with restraints had red eyes and a swollen body. The next moment, it exploded like a firework in the independent experimental cabin, staining a small area of ​​the screen red.

"Even the Pokémon medical technology that is still praised today is a miracle created after sacrificing countless lives. But now the people who enjoy this technology are afraid of the path to create it. Then technology will always stagnate and never make progress."

"They are in chains, but I hold the key."

"What's more, I have already captured the legendary Pokémon. With this experimental material, in the near future, I will! We will!"

“Create, make, history!”

----

Not long after retrieving the Pokémon, Xiaoye said goodbye to Sakura, put down his things in the rest area provided by the Pokémon Center, and found Chansey to register to borrow the kitchen.

Xiaoye used the egg beater to beat the egg whites in the bowl, thinking about the scene when he just said goodbye to Xiaoying.

----

"Then see you tomorrow morning, when we'll set off for Lavender Town to see the ghost-type Pokémon that Xiaozhi mentioned. To be honest, I'm actually a little scared, but as a trainer, how can I be prejudiced against any kind of Pokémon? I must see more ghost-type Pokémon, so that I can overcome my fear!"

"Eh? Me, we?" Xiao Ye was stunned for a moment, then hesitantly repeated, "It's rare for you to come home, don't you want to spend some time with your family and have some rest?"

"What's so good about this?" Sakura was even more shocked than him. "I've lived with my parents for sixteen years. I've only been away for a few months. I can't miss my family even for a minute, right?"

Seeing the boy speechless, Sakura smiled and took a step forward to close the distance between them.

"You don't want to leave me alone, do you? Do you remember that you promised me a meal before? I have to stick with you until the meal is paid off, just in case you default on the debt?"

Sakura was referring to the scene in Tokiwa Forest when they said goodbye after their first meeting.

It's just that Xiao Ye had always treated it as a polite remark and never thought that the girl remembered it so clearly and brought it up at this moment.

"Well, that's it!"

Seeing the boy's expression, Sakura knew that the matter was almost settled, so she didn't insist any more and turned around and waved.

"I'll meet you at the Pokémon Center tomorrow morning, and then we'll set off for Lavender Town together. I'm very familiar with this area, so let me be your guide for once."

----

Add almond powder and matcha powder, add a little sugar and mix well...

When Xiaoye was sifting the food through the sieve, Ditto took advantage of the fact that no one was noticing him and quietly stretched out his evil hand to touch the egg beater on the other side that was hitting the iron bowl and making a "dong dong" sound.

Reach in...feel the egg white that has turned into soft foam...open your mouth...

Then...

"what about the taste?"

The sudden noise behind him scared the guilty Ditto so much that his breathing quickened. The next moment he started coughing, with milky white marks hanging at the corners of his mouth.

"I haven't had time to add sugar yet, so it must not taste very good, right?"

Xiao Ye raised his hand to wipe the stains from the corner of Ditto's mouth and carried it away from the table. At the same time, he took out a few fruits of various colors from his pocket and stuffed them into its mouth.

"You can eat these first. When this batch is ready, I promise to let you taste it first, okay?"

Ditto nodded, took the fruit, sat aside and started to chew it obediently.

Strangely enough, my trainer's pocket is like an endless space. It seems that whenever I feel greedy, I can always find a full bag of fruit when I touch my pocket.

Just like a magician.

Seeing that the only troublemaker had calmed down, Xiao Ye no longer had to keep an eye on Ditto's movements, and he became much faster in making snacks.

Only after he had finally put a plate full of light green pastries into the oven did he take off his gloves in one breath.

"It will be almost done in about half an hour."

As he spoke, he kept a note for himself and at the same time finally took a break to think about the next journey.

Due to the sudden closure of the Golden Gym, many original plans were disrupted.

The matter of Psyduck can be put aside for the time being with the help of potions, but in the future, you just need to always be careful to avoid fighting with psychic-type Pokémon.

The gym tournament that Sakura had been preparing for for a long time was forced to end, but she didn't seem disappointed at all. Instead, she looked relieved.

As expected, the psychological shadow left by Naz is still so huge that she often doubts whether she is fully prepared.

So which gym is closest to the Golden Gym?

"The Crimson Gym."

Xiao Ye flipped through the information about this dojo and thought carefully.

The Crimson Gym is a gym that specializes in Poison-type Pokémon, and its gym trainer is named Aju.

"But... it's so strange." Xiao Ye repeatedly looked at the page with the picture of the Crimson Gym and the page behind it that introduced "Crimson City". "Generally speaking, shouldn't gyms be set up in cities? Why does the Crimson Gym seem to have left the city and been set up alone in the suburbs?"

"A few years ago, the Crimson Gym was also established in the city." The uncle next to Xiaoye heard him mumbling and answered enthusiastically, "But it seems that the gym owner Aju decided to leave the hustle and bustle of the city in order to pursue the ultimate in ninjutsu, and moved the entire gym to the suburbs."

"Ninja way?"

"Yes, Gym Master Aju is a ninja obsessed with ninjutsu." The uncle said, "Even his Pokémon are mainly poison-type, which shows his love for ninjutsu. But in my opinion, this is a bit too much. Giving up his responsibilities as a gym trainer for his own selfish desires is incomprehensible no matter how you think about it."

"How does uncle know so much?"

"I came here from Crimson City for a trip, so of course I know the local gym leaders well."

The uncle laughed and continued, "But fortunately, Ah Ju has moved out of the Red City for such a long time without any major incidents. Otherwise, given the distance between the Red Gym and the Red City, unless Ah Ju really achieved great success and could teleport here, there is really no way to save this city."

Coincidentally, just after the uncle finished saying this, the timer that Xiao Ye set rang. He smiled apologetically at the uncle, and the uncle waved his hand to signal him to go about his own business, then got up and left the Pokémon Center.

Xiaoye also took out the hot semi-finished snacks, added fillings to them and packed them in boxes.

"Macaron, would you like to try one?"

Xiaoye bent down, picked up Ditto who was about to fall asleep, and stuffed a green pagoda-shaped pastry into it.

"It tastes sweet, which is what the green vine snake likes, but..."

Before he could finish his words, Ditto took a bite with his eyes shining and laughed with satisfaction.

Xiao Ye was stunned and added the unfinished words.

"...For you, you should like all flavors, right?"

Ditto finished a whole macaron in just a few moves and nodded very obediently.

Xiao Ye laughed, then picked up the remaining food scraps and went upstairs.

Before going to bed, he took out the Pokémon egg, wiped it carefully with a handkerchief, and then put it back into the incubator. Under Eevee's curious eyes, he placed it on the bedside, lay on the bed, and quickly closed his eyes.

After the boy's breathing on the bed slowed down, a little light seemed to flicker under the thin quilt.

It flashed through the silk pajamas and hid in front of the boy's chest.

----

Is this... a dream?

The laughter of the children, the blue sky as blue as the sea, and the slightly hot weather are so real.

He felt as if he were flying in the air.

The breeze across my cheeks didn't hurt, and the sunlight didn't seem as dazzling as I had imagined.

The almost scaly fur beneath the body is so warm and comfortable.

Light blue, very intimate and soft.

The next moment, the Pokémon carrying him in the air shattered and disappeared like a phantom.

He fell irresistibly from the sky, and his scream was stuck in his throat before he could even scream out.

That is, that is...

what is that? !

The cloudless sky suddenly lost its color, presenting a completely unfamiliar scene to him like a reflection in water.

The Pokémon that disappeared like a bubble was now having tubes made of various materials inserted into its body.

It's howling, it's calling for help, it's...

anger.

A young boy placed his right hand on its body, his eyes full of fanaticism.

"I'm almost there, almost there!"

"...got you!"

"Latios!"