Who needs a girlfriend when you have Pokémon?

...The two are not even in the same league.

With a snap of his fingers, Genji raised his head and let out a roar...

Meanwhile, a small speedboat was moored several nautical miles from the port...

On the speedboat, a middle-aged man dressed as a pirate with a black beard was communicating with someone through an earpiece.

"Boss..." A calm female voice came from the other end of the earpiece, "Hai Chao has been captured, but I haven't been discovered yet. What do we do?"

"...Given this situation, I'm afraid our actions... hmm?"

Just as the middle-aged man, addressed as "boss," was halfway through his sentence, he suddenly sensed something and quickly looked up...

...Above their heads, several meteorites burning with raging golden-red flames fell from the sky!

Although these meteorites were not very large, the sheer force with which they fell, carrying terrifying kinetic energy, still moved the man.

More importantly, this is not a natural phenomenon, but rather a phenomenon caused by the power of Pokémon...

"Dragon Star Cluster? Have I been discovered? Truly worthy of being called the Heavenly King..."

The man seemed not to have expected that he was hiding in a place several nautical miles away from the port, not even in Kaina City, and that he was being remotely controlled via communication, yet he was still tracked down and slammed into the face with a Dragon Star Swarm.

“Haha, hahahaha!”

As the man laughed, the female voice in the earpiece sounded somewhat puzzled, "Boss? Boss! Now it's..."

"Operation terminated? No, you don't need to come to me first. I have a mission for you, and also, I have a little trouble to deal with here..."

Before he finished speaking, the meteorite was already upon them, and the pirate-looking man had already thrown the Poké Ball in his hand...

………………

…………

……

"Did you block it? No, it escaped..."

Genji looked up at the distant sea. After all, he was making a move from such a distance, so achieving a "precision strike" was indeed a bit difficult.

However, at least Genji has successfully forced his opponent to retreat. The opponent also knows what's good for him. After witnessing that Genji could lock onto his position from such a distance and even deliver a powerful attack to him, he will definitely back down.

After all, judging from the previous battle where the captain of Team Magma remotely controlled Pokémon and Drizzle, the two captains of Team Magma and Team Aqua are definitely stronger than the average Gym Leader.

However, when facing a powerhouse like the Four Heavenly Kings, a direct confrontation would offer almost no chance of victory.

After confirming this, the other party also decisively chose to retreat. After all, he was currently at sea, and it would not be easy for the speedboat to catch up at this distance.

The other side was clearly prepared to retreat at any time, which is why they dared to engage in a head-on confrontation.

“So that means…” Genji looked at Haichao kneeling on the ground, “you were abandoned by your boss…”

"Hmph, that's just something we can't do..."

Hai Chao seemed to have recovered somewhat from the oppressive aura of the Twin Axe Dragon. Knowing that he was doomed today, he sat up straight, adopting an attitude of "do whatever you want with me."

Naturally, it's impossible for them to actually resort to vigilante justice, since Genji's job is simply to arrest the other party.

Now that the suspects have been apprehended, the next step is to hand the case over to the League for investigation. As to what exactly the Ocean Team's conspiracy is, we'll have to see how the League uses its interrogation techniques.

In short, things have been resolved without major incident...

On the other side, Luo Wei also confirmed with the navigator that Hai Chao, who had fled, had been arrested. He then handed the chip in his hand to Factory Director Kusnogi.

"Okay, thank you for your help... We have indeed received the chips from Devon..."

Factory Director Kusnogi solemnly accepted the chip, and with that, Luo Wei's mission seemed to be over.

"With that, the final delivery is complete. Our latest product will be finished soon! Haha, little brother Luo Wei is welcome to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony!"

"Yes, I'll definitely come if I have time."

Rowe readily agreed, and that would be the end of the side quest for now. Before heading to the next city, they could go and check out the Grand Contest.

It seems there's a beginner-level competition for the Grand Contest coming up soon, which would be a good opportunity for Rowe to try it out.

Showing a different kind of brilliance to Pokémon beyond battles...

Chapter 82 Cute Things Are Good for Your Mind and Body

Luo Wei easily quelled the disturbance at the Ocean Science and Technology Museum.

Haichao, who originally planned to run away, was caught red-handed by Genji, who arrived later.

The leader of the Ocean Team seems to have been forced back by Genji's Dragon Star Gathering move on the spot, and the matter can be considered to have come to an end here.

The previous operation against the Ocean Team only resulted in the capture of some of their underlings, and these underlings probably knew less information than the Alliance itself had gathered.

Therefore, the alliance couldn't hold back either, and in the end, they simply imprisoned all those rabble.

Now that we've successfully apprehended an official, it's naturally exhilarating, and we might be able to uncover even more information from him.

Of course, these matters were no longer relevant to Luo Wei. He handed over the items entrusted to him by President Zvoich to Factory Manager Kusnogi. Although the final step of the handover still went awry as expected, there were people arranged by the Alliance in advance, so it was resolved without any major incidents.

Having finished dealing with matters here, the side quest is temporarily over. Since there are no gyms in Slateport City, Rowe decides to go check out the Slateport City Contest.

Kirlian wasn't interested in the Grand Festival; she didn't really like such lively events. Of course, Rowe wouldn't force her, and simply put her into the ball for the time being.

Right then and there, Lowe, along with Masked Meow and Eevee, stepped into the Grand Contest venue.

Upon entering the venue, Luo Wei was stunned.

Luo Wei has met quite a few trainers, from wild trainers to elite trainers.

However, Lowe hasn't really had much contact with trainers who specialize in Contests. In fact, strictly speaking, the only trainer Lowe has ever seriously interacted with is his own mother.

The other person had already retired before giving birth to Luo Wei...

In other words, Rowe had never actually seen his mother demonstrate this ability.

So when he stepped into the Grand Contest venue, he was immediately stunned by the atmosphere.

In theory, there is no inherent superiority or inferiority between trainers who specialize in Pokémon Contests and those who specialize in Gym Battles. They are all training Pokémon, just with different training focuses.

However, battles are still the mainstream, and the Pokémon Contests simply provide Pokémon with another stage to showcase themselves.

From this perspective, most people still feel that the Grand Contest is just a side effect and not on par with the Gym Battle.

To be honest, before experiencing the Grand Contest firsthand, Rowe had actually had that idea as well.

But once he arrived at the scene, his opinion immediately changed.

There is no difference between the stage and the arena. The performance on the stage and the battle of Pokémon in the arena are both extremely intense clashes.

Today, there's a grand introductory tournament in the venue, along with several exhibition matches. Before officially registering, Luo Wei watched one of the exhibition matches.

Both contestants were Super Ribbon holders, which, in terms of level, could be considered one level higher than the beginner level.

The trainer levels for Contests are also divided into four levels: "Beginner," "Super," "Advanced," and "Master," which is roughly the same as the segmentation of Poké Balls.

Just like trainers receive badges, trainers of the corresponding level in the Contest of Fame will also be awarded a League-certified ribbon. Mega Ribbon holders can be roughly compared to those who have obtained four badges.

Of course, there are definitely differences in difficulty between the two, but after seeing the performances of several trainers, Luo Wei was convinced that even if there were differences, these trainers were all truly skilled.

The venue for the exhibition matches was packed with a large audience. Luo Wei found it somewhat unbelievable that there were only two exhibition matches and one beginner match today, yet it had attracted so many viewers.

Does this mean that the Pokémon Contests have become so popular that even a beginner-level contest can attract thousands of viewers?

However, Luo Wei soon received an answer.

Because today's second exhibition match... will have a special guest participant.

The Hoenn region idol who has already obtained the "Master" ribbon and has been enjoying unparalleled popularity in recent years, Ms. Rukia, is the special guest for this event!

She will appear in the third and final exhibition match after this introductory tournament ends!

Almost 80% of the audience here came for her, which is why it's so lively.

"I see, then it's not surprising..."

After learning that Ms. Lucia would also be performing, Luo Wei was no longer surprised by the enthusiastic atmosphere at the event.

Then, the first exhibition match began.

In the exhibition match, one side fielded a combination of Elegant Cat and Skitty, while the other side fielded a combination of Positive and Negative Electric Patters...

Rowe recognized them. Very good. Both the cat and the rabbit were undeniably cute and beautiful. In particular, the elegant cat walked out from beside its trainer with light steps and its head held high. Its aloof and arrogant demeanor, unmoved by the spotlight and with its head held high, attracted a lot of attention.

In contrast, the scooters rolling around with their tails on the other side perfectly captured the hearts of girls who love cute things, instantly eliciting screams from the crowd.

There were plenty of audience members today, so the atmosphere was quite lively. The more people there are, the more lively the scene becomes, and the easier it is to achieve a good stage effect.

The positive and negative electric patters on the other side weren't so fancy. The two little guys used each other's ears as pedals, swaying their bodies and creating a crooked human pyramid.

Although it has absolutely nothing to do with the word "neat," watching the two little ones wobbling and stacking themselves up, swaying and bouncing, makes you feel like all your worries have been instantly forgotten.

They've practically shown everyone why there are so many people in this world who are obsessed with appearances. Because cute things truly have a healing power; the saying "cute things are good for the mind and body" might not be a joke.

This was just a simple appearance on stage, but the atmosphere among the audience had already been heated up. Then, impression points were awarded based on the performance.

Luo Wei is also a member of the audience and has the right to rate, so it's basically a choice between two options.

The final evaluation will definitely depend on the professional judges on site, but the audience's votes also carry significant weight.

Luo Wei glanced at it, and finally made his decision...

"...Kitty, so cute...I'm taking it!"

Chapter 83 The Grand Assembly (Beginner Level)

Kitty, so cute, I'm giving it a thumbs up!

There's no problem with that. After all, preferences are subjective, and because of Masked Cat, Lo Wei already had a strong initial affinity for cats.

Even so, when Luo Wei said "kittens are cute," the masked cat next to him still moved closer to him, clearly annoyed.

"...Hey, you care about the other cats too?"