Who needs a girlfriend when you have Pokémon?

"..."

...No, that's it?

Alright, Luo Wei didn't have much to say. After all, according to the rules of the Pokémon world, there are no weak Pokémon, only incompetent trainers. As long as you have the ability, you can train even a common Pokémon to be very powerful.

So, Luo Wei composed himself and gave the order directly...

A flash of lightning!

Chapter Twenty-Eight: I hadn't even used my strength, and you'd already collapsed?

"A flash of lightning!"

Before Luo Wei could finish speaking, Xin Ye Miao had already pounced forward in a blur. Seeing this, the opposing team hurriedly and frantically tried to command the wolfhounds.

"Bite!"

The wolfhound opened its mouth full of sharp teeth and lunged at the approaching afterimage, but it missed its target instantly, biting at nothing and only making its own teeth ache from the impact.

Meanwhile, on Lowe's side, New Leaf Cat used a combination of Lightning Flash and Claw Sharpening, rubbing its paws against the ground, and quickly circled behind the Earth Wolf Dog, ramming it solidly.

Then, New Leaf Cat's claws shot out, poised to deliver a follow-up attack.

However, just as Xin Ye Miao was about to raise her paw to strike, she discovered that the wolfhound she had knocked away was now upside down, half its head buried in the ground, and it was kicking its legs and playing dead on the spot...

"..."

In that instant, the atmosphere immediately turned cold again. Luo Wei looked at the Ocean Team henchmen in front of him, and that guy looked at his own wolfhound with a blank expression.

“…Do you want to continue?”

Luo Wei didn't let Xin Ye Miao go all out, after all, it wasn't worth it in this situation. He didn't expect that Xin Ye Miao's flash of light was just a feint, the purpose of which was only to dodge the opponent's attack and to sharpen its claws to increase its attack power.

Then came the real offensive, but unexpectedly, this wolfhound couldn't even catch one of my feint attacks and was knocked down after just one, showing how utterly pathetic it was.

Such a dismal performance naturally left Luo Wei both amused and exasperated, and he immediately realized something.

To put it bluntly, the members of this kind of villainous organization, at least the officers and leaders, have some fighting ability and can be considered elite trainers, or even gym leaders.

However, the lowest-ranking henchmen are likely the type who can't even pass the Pokémon Academy test. After all, if they could pass the Pokémon Academy test, they could go directly to the research lab to get their starter Pokémon and then register with the League. Wouldn't that be more promising than following these villains?

Even if you don't pass the Pokémon Academy test, it doesn't mean you can't become a trainer. For example, those bug catchers and the girl in the miniskirt we met before, these people didn't pass the Pokémon Academy test either. Their first Pokémon were all roadside Pokémon they obtained through various means.

Even so, if they obtain a stray Pokémon and train it diligently, they can challenge gyms. As long as they can obtain even one badge, they can gain the League's recognition and register as a legitimate trainer.

As for challenging a gym... at least challenging one gym isn't too difficult. The first gym is only of beginner difficulty, and anyone with a little Pokémon battle experience can get through it.

There are many ways to become a Pokémon Trainer in this world. The Pokémon Academy is the most direct academic path, much like compulsory education, which everyone can participate in. However, not everyone can get into university, but that doesn't mean you can't have a proper job if you don't get into university...

To reiterate, the largest organization in the world is the Pokémon League. Unless you're the leader or executive of a villainous organization, you might have some personal ambitions.

As for the ordinary henchmen, frankly speaking, they were just eliminated by the League and couldn't get any partner Pokémon. They were unwilling to work hard to make up for their shortcomings, so they chose to join these villainous organizations to coast along. Their personal qualities are questionable.

As for a professional trainer like Rowe, they naturally look down on them completely...

Who the hell would be interested in becoming a lackey for some villainous organization when they could join the Pokémon League as a full-fledged trainer? Do they even pay salaries? Do they provide social security and housing fund benefits? More importantly… do they even have permanent positions?!

Obviously not. After all, as mentioned before, even the Rockets' star player has to rely on the league to get a job. If the star player is like that, how can you expect the same treatment from his underlings?

In conclusion, these henchmen are no match for regular trainers in most cases, so it's understandable that they were defeated by Rowe in a single encounter.

Faced with Rowe's question, "Shall we continue?", the henchman's expression changed several times. After a moment of thought, he took out a Poké Ball and recalled his Poliwag.

"No, don't think this is the end of it. If you dare to cause trouble for our Ocean Team, the boss won't let you off the hook. Just you wait!"

After saying that, the other person turned and ran. From the other person's resolute back, Luo Wei came to a conclusion...

...It seems that they might actually be getting paid, and they're also paying into the social insurance and housing fund.

Over there, Xin Ye Miao stood there blankly, paws raised, looking like she was thinking, "I haven't even used my strength yet, and you've already collapsed?"

"Amazing, amazing!" The rescued uncle immediately stepped forward with a joyful expression to flatter him, "I didn't expect you to drive that guy away so easily, you're really amazing!"

"...No, I didn't expect to drive him away so easily. It's not that I'm good, it's that he's too weak."

"Haha, you're too modest..."

"...So I wasn't being modest. Oh well, say whatever you want."

Luo Wei didn't bother to explain anything, while the uncle fumbled and pulled out a blue and white Poké Ball.

"Consider this the agreed-upon payment. Any trainer will definitely find it useful."

Rowe immediately recognized it as a Great Ball, which has a higher capture success rate than regular Poké Balls. Normally, only senior trainers registered with the League are qualified to purchase and use it, but this uncle wasn't even a trainer. He must have obtained this Great Ball through other means.

For trainers, having a Poké Ball with a higher catch rate is naturally useful. After all, for Lowe, this time the difficulty of the attack was not even as great as when he dealt with Kecleon. At least without Ralts' help, it might have taken him a while to finish the job.

Luo Wei felt a little embarrassed to accept payment for an opponent who was defeated in the first encounter, so he didn't complain at all.

After accepting the Super Ball, the man turned and left decisively, presumably to report the situation to the "company." From the conversation with the Ocean team, it was confirmed that the man was from Devon Corporation.

The headquarters of Devon Corporation is located in Kanaz City. Obviously, the uncle is from Kanaz. He must know the roads in the vicinity better than Rowe. In addition, Rowe planned to continue exploring Orange Blossom Forest, so he did not travel with the other party. After exchanging numbers, he waved goodbye.

Watching the uncle leave, Luo Wei patted Xin Ye Miao's head; the little guy still seemed a bit conflicted.

"Haha, you felt it was over before you even got started? No problem, no problem, once we get to Kanaz City, you'll have your chance to shine. Alright, we're almost done packing up here... Let's continue!"

Chapter Twenty-Nine: How did you get here?!

Let's keep going...

At this moment, they were less than two hours away from Kanaz City. Seeing that it was almost noon, Rowe figured that at this speed, they would definitely be able to reach their destination in the afternoon. So he decided to find a place to have lunch before continuing on his way.

Looking around, Luo Wei saw a patch of shadow cast by intertwined tree branches, which seemed like a good place to rest for lunch.

At that moment, Lowe called for Newleaf and Ralts to come forward, but just as they were about to take a step, Ralts suddenly reached out and tugged at Lowe's trouser leg.

"What's wrong? Is something the matter?"

Rowe immediately bent down and extended his palm. Ralts placed his palm in Rowe's palm, and telepathy was activated immediately.

All I can say is that this ability is indeed very convenient. Trainers can already clearly read the meaning behind most of their Pokémon's behavior, and with telepathy, it becomes even smoother.

Although Ralts wasn't very skilled at telepathy at first, after a few tries, it became much smoother than it had been at the beginning.

Through Ralts's telepathic communication, Rowe deduced what she was trying to say.

Something was lurking in the shadows over there. The other person seemed to be injured, and it was not far away. She sensed an aura that made her quite uneasy.

"Oh?"

The uneasy atmosphere indicated danger, and Logically, Rowe should have immediately avoided it. However, he sensed that someone was injured. Thinking of this, Rowe decided to go and take a look first. If things were not good, he could always have Ralts use Teleport to escape.

"Notice……"

Luo Wei made a hand gesture to Xin Ye Miao, who immediately understood and extended its claws, ready to strike at any moment.

Meanwhile, Luo Wei cautiously took a step in the direction Ralts indicated. After taking only a couple of steps, he saw a figure lying in the grass.

Luo Wei parted the bushes and was immediately stunned.

Over there, a young girl wearing a long dress and with waist-length blonde hair lay unconscious in the bushes.

Okay, if it were just a girl like that, there wouldn't be a big problem. The problem is that Luo Wei recognized her identity at a glance.

"Lillie? What's she doing in Hoenn?"

There are pictures here, which can be viewed after the updated version

While Luo Wei was still confused, he noticed a handbag lying to the side next to the girl. The handbag seemed to be shaking slightly, as if it contained something alive.

"..."

Okay, now Luo Wei was certain that he had most likely not mistaken the person for someone else. As for what was in the bag, Luo Wei had a general idea.

But why is Lillie unconscious here?

Thinking of this, Rowe's gaze wandered and he quickly noticed a purplish bruise on Lillie's calf, which was even swollen. Rowe immediately figured out the cause based on this condition.

"These symptoms indicate poisoning. Could it be an attack by a poisonous Pokémon in the forest?"

This isn't too surprising, since there are indeed many Bug-type Pokémon in Petalburg Woods, and the most common Bug-type Pokémon here, Wurmple, has the Poison Sting move.

Although the Poison Sting move is not very powerful for Pokémon, it has a chance to poison the target. Even Pokémon will feel very uncomfortable if they are accidentally poisoned. If a human is poisoned by a Pokémon, it is not surprising that they will exhaust their strength and fall into a coma.

Therefore, in most wild areas, there are Pokémon rescue teams or rangers patrolling regularly. If they find trainers who are injured and unable to move, they will provide emergency treatment and then escort them to the nearest Pokémon for treatment.

Because the medical level in this world is quite amazing, even though there are a lot of wild Pokémon in the wild and it is very dangerous, in most cases, ordinary people who are attacked will be rescued in time by rescue teams, so in reality, not many people die as a result.

Lillie was unconscious here, and it doesn't seem to have been long, otherwise she would probably have been found by the rescue team and taken to the Pokémon Center in Rustboro City long ago.

Unexpectedly, Luo Wei happened to run into them. Now that he had seen them, he couldn't just ignore them.

"Tsk, I didn't bring any antidote..."

Luo Wei rummaged through his backpack and realized that he hadn't prepared any potions to remove abnormal statuses. He couldn't help but slap his forehead. Sure enough, newcomers are too inexperienced. He had forgotten something so important. It seemed that he would have to replenish his stock of such items once he arrived in Kanaz City.

However, the most urgent task is to rescue Lillie. Fortunately, Pokémon-related knowledge came online at this time, and Rowe immediately called out to Newleaf.

"...New Leaf Cat, go and see if there are any 'Sweet Peach' tree fruits nearby..."

Sweet peaches, or peaches, are tree fruits that can neutralize poisoning and highly toxic conditions. If you don't have an antidote with you in the wild, these wild tree fruits can serve as a substitute.

As a Grass-type Pokémon, Newleafy can find various fruits and herbs more easily than ordinary people. She agreed and immediately ran away. In just over ten minutes, she came running back with two plump, round, pinkish-white fruits in her mouth.

Even from a distance, you could smell the sweet fragrance emanating from the fruit; it was clearly the sweet peach that Rowe needed.

Xin Ye Miao ran up to Luo Wei, put down the sweet peach, and proudly raised her chin, looking like she wanted to praise him. Luo Wei naturally smiled and reached out to scratch her chin.

"Wow, that's really amazing!"

After saying that, Luo Wei picked up the peach and began to prepare to rescue her. He carefully examined her and found that Lillie only had bruises on her calves, which looked like the location of the attack.

Luo Wei took out a peach, carefully squeezed out the juice and applied it to the wound, then mashed the pulp and applied it to the wound with gauze.

After bandaging her up, he picked up another peach, peeled it, carefully cut the flesh into small pieces, and then brought it to Lillie's lips.