You are not allowed to date a trainer.

Chapter 76 Xia Wan
Seeing Qin Zhen rubbing the trekking pole slowly in his hand, Teng Teng Snake made a low sound, but didn't say much. The little snake silently looked away, acting as if it didn't see it and didn't mind it.

"Is this something that the sea lion found especially for you?" The fat old woman came forward and exclaimed in amazement. "It seems like it likes you very much."

"Hmm." Qin Zhen responded softly, staring at the cane thoughtfully.

"What? Do you feel guilty because they treat you so well?" The fat old woman gently poked Qin Zhen's forearm. She was standing behind Qin Zhen at the time and heard the conversation between Qin Zhen and Nie Ping. She also had a general understanding of the relationship between Qin Zhen and the Qiuqiu sea lion.

I return your pearl with tears in my eyes, and I regret that we did not meet before I got married - this is how the fat old woman summarized it.

"No, mother-in-law, I'm just thinking about two things." Qin Zhen's expression was extremely strange at this time. "First, how did Qiuqiu Sea Lion know I needed a hiking pole? How long had she been staring at me?"

The fat grandma was stunned.

"Secondly, Qiuqiu Sea Lion is just an elf. How could she possibly have the money to buy a hiking pole? It couldn't be..."

"Oh, I know the answer to that. If nothing unexpected happens, this walking stick must have been picked up from a trash can. Many tourists who visit Mount Tai don't take their hiking sticks with them, but instead put them in the trash cans on the roadside. The locals know this, so they'll check the trash cans before climbing and pick up whatever's ready to use."

The fat grandmother pointed her hand downwards.

"Look at the bottom of this cane. There are signs of wear and tear. It's obviously been used."

Qin Zhen was stunned and turned the wooden stick over. Sure enough, he saw white marks of friction at the bottom.

"Grandma, you have amazing observation skills." Xiao Qin couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

"It's not my observation skills, I just see a lot." Hearing this, the fat woman smiled shyly. "After all, the canes I sell are also picked up from the trash can."

"..."

………………

——The blue sky is a blessing for all living things, and the weather is good in spring, summer, autumn and winter.

——The rosy clouds spread over the country, and the people are at peace in all directions.

Looking at the couplet illuminated by the incandescent light in front of him, Qin Zhen showed a look of relief. He loosened the trekking pole in his hand, wiped the sweat off his face, turned around and sat down on the steps. Then a red light suddenly appeared behind his waist, and Snake and Growlithe ran out of the ball, one on the left and one on the right to help massage his legs.

It is now nine o'clock in the evening. After more than five hours of hard climbing, Xiao Qin finally reached the top of Mount Tai and saw the gate of the Bixia Temple.

At this moment, Qin Zhen was extremely grateful for Yuelu Mountain, his hometown, which is 300 meters above sea level. If his aunt had also set up a gym on the top of a mountain that required nearly six hours of hiking to reach, he was afraid that Qin Zhen might not choose to become a professional trainer.

At this time, footsteps were heard behind Qin Zhen. The fat old woman came out of the Bixia Temple holding a wooden tray with a large casserole on it. Pikachu followed behind her, holding a stack of wooden bowls in his arms. Qin Zhen twitched his nose and sniffed hard, and smelled a faint spicy smell in the air.

"Bixia Temple is a place for spiritual practice, and those who practice it refrain from eating meat, so I can't treat you and Motorcycle Lizard to the pork belly you've been craving." The fat woman bent down and placed the clay pot next to Qin Zhen. "Drink some sweet milk to warm yourself up."

Qin Zhen quickly sat up straight and bowed his head to thank the fat old woman. He reached out to open the casserole and scooped out the thick yellow porridge. Snake grunted and stopped Pikachu who wanted to get close to Qin Zhen, and snatched the wooden bowl of porridge from the latter's arms.

After the incident with the Sea Lion, Snake's wariness and hostility towards foreign Pokémon rose again, and it couldn't bear to see any Pokémon get close to its trainer. Qin Zhen smiled helplessly, lowered his head, drank a mouthful of porridge, and then was stunned.

"Mother-in-law, isn't this porridge called Tianmo? Why is it salty?"

"It has nothing to do with the taste. The reason this porridge is called Tianmo is because it was invented by a man named Tian."

"..."

Qin Zhen was speechless and could only drink the porridge in silence.

Though the name and the actual taste couldn't be more different, Qin Zhen had to admit: this was truly the best porridge he'd ever had. The vermicelli noodles were smooth, the peanuts were plump, and each small piece of dried tofu was fried to perfection, crispy and lightly fragrant. On a tired and hungry night, sipping this piping hot, salty porridge, feeling the warmth spread from the stomach to the extremities, brought a sense of bliss, a sense of rebirth.

After a while, the bowl of hot porridge was finished. Qin Zhen took another bowl and filled it with porridge. He didn't drink it, but just held it in his hand.

Snake sat next to Qin Zhen, slowly licking a small bowl of sweet porridge from its tiny hands. Meanwhile, Growlithe and Millerton, one of them buried its head directly in the bowl, licking it with a "grunt grunt" until its face was covered in scum. The other, relying on its iron throat, shook its head left and right to confirm that its trainer and teammates no longer needed food, then stood up straight, picked up the casserole and poured the hot porridge directly into its mouth. Qin Zhen watched from the side, shaking his head, secretly suspecting that these two guys actually had a Snorlax soul inside them.

The fat grandma stood aside, watching Qin Zhen's team slurping their porridge with a smile.

"Once you've finished your porridge, go get some rest. Your room has been cleaned up, and Pikachu will lead you there. Tomorrow morning, I'll take you to see the gym leader."

"Okay, thank you, Grandma Xia."

The fat grandma paused, slowly turned around, and blinked gently at Qin Zhen.

"Qin Zhen, when did you find out?"

"Because of your Pikachu." Qin Zhen glanced at the Pikachu in front of him. "I've memorized all the Pikachu information. The more powerful the Pikachu is at generating electricity, the softer the electrical sacs on their cheeks are. On our way here through Tianjie, I rubbed the cheeks of nearly a hundred Pikachus, but none were as soft as yours."

"I see. I was always on guard against my own weaknesses, but I didn't expect it was the Pikachus who betrayed me."

The fat grandma laughed. She opened her coat and shook it gently. Countless snow-white six-petal lilies fell out from the coat. Her bloated and fat figure shrank instantly, and she looked slender and tall. With her plump round face, she looked inexplicably funny.

"Kudo Yukiko!" Qin Zhen couldn't help but exclaimed. The scene in front of him reminded him of "Detective Conan" he watched when he was a child. He still remembered the classic scene when Conan's mother opened her coat, and the bouquets of flowers on her body fell to the ground, and the fat aunt turned into a beautiful girl.

"No, to be precise, it should be Edogawa Fumiyo." The fat old woman corrected with a smile.

"Mother-in-law, you watch Conan too?" Qin Zhen was surprised, and his tone instantly became affectionate.

"Of course, I got the inspiration for my disguise from that." The fat woman, or rather, the head of the Bixia Gym, Xia Wan, suddenly clapped her hands and sighed. "It's a shame you were seen through in the end. I was planning to give you a fright tomorrow and take a picture of your face."

Qin Zhen's eyebrows twitched, thinking to himself, what a similar bad taste, could you and Mr. Nie be father and daughter?

(End of this chapter)