Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game

Xia Chen curled up, trying to use his superpowers to pull the blanket back, but Duolongqi and Duolongmesia each bit a corner of the blanket and pulled it outwards, making it look a bit like a tug-of-war.

"Sa Nai... (Alright, stop fooling around, Xia Chen, let's get up...)"

Gardevoir, who had been meditating and training early in the morning, tried to smooth things over. However, this time, instead of blindly siding with Xia Chen as before, Gardevoir sided with Doronchi.

As an elf herself, she knew how important this was to Doronchi.

Xia Chen knew this, of course, but he was just being lazy on instinct. Now that he was awake from the cold, he slowly crawled out of bed.

Doing this kind of thing on a winter morning is somewhat reluctant...

After washing up with the elves, Xia Chen went downstairs and randomly found a place next to the hotel to have breakfast.

A Padian-style breakfast concludes, and a wonderful day officially begins.

Because he had made an appointment with Dr. Orin to go to the Zero Zone Gate today, Xia Chen did not go to the nearby City of Brewing Light to find Qi Shu, or to see if he could contact Pai Pa to catch up.

He decided to go straight to Jinhui Town, where the Zero Zone gate is located.

The weather was so bad that Xia Chen didn't consider taking either the Guleton or the Milos directly.

Spending hours in the snow like this is definitely going to be a nightmare.

So, after booking the earliest flight to West Third District, Xia Chen headed to the airport to wait for his flight.

The snow was so heavy that the flight was delayed two or three times. He finally arrived at Jinhui Town in the Third District of the West at around 11 a.m.

…………

Xia Chen had assumed it was a very bustling city.

But unlike what he imagined, Jinhui Town is a nostalgic town full of cultural atmosphere.

Perhaps because Zone Zero is not open to the public, Jinhui Town, which has the gate to Zone Zero, is not developed. The most common shops on the streets and alleys are not stores, but restaurants.

This phenomenon is quite rare in Donghuang, and it is no wonder that Jinhui Town is known as the "Food Capital of Padiya".

Jinhui Town is not large, but it has a dojo—the Jinhui Dojo, which is of the normal type.

Thinking of visiting other places run by his colleagues, Xia Chen decided to visit Jinhui Dojo in front of the Zero Zone gate.

Strangely, when Xia Chen searched for Jin Hui Dojo on Rotom Map, the navigation led to a restaurant called "Bao Canteen".

Xia Chen squinted at the Rotom phone and complained, "Rotom, did you load some kind of malicious map? Pointing a restaurant out as a gym, you're really something!"

Rotom's screen displayed a pitiful expression, "The navigation says Jin Hui Dojo is here, Rotom..."

Xia Chen still looked at Rotom with a suspicious gaze.

As we all know, the mischievous electronic ghosts are not like artificial intelligence, which cannot lie, so there is a possibility that Rotom is misrepresenting things.

It wasn't that Xia Chen didn't trust Rotom, it's just that the dojo they found was a restaurant or something... This was just too outrageous from any angle.

As the two were arguing over their phones, a passerby remarked, "Young trainer, are you going to challenge the Jin Hui Gym? This is the place..."

Xia Chen's lips twitched. According to this passerby, Jin Hui Martial Arts Academy was really hidden here?

Even if one is truly a master of seclusion, hiding in a restaurant is a bit too outrageous, isn't it?

No, the problem should be: why should a perfectly good dojo be hidden away instead of being openly located on the roadside?

Xia Chen was about to ask the passerby who had given him the tip when he saw him carrying a briefcase and walking in unhurriedly. His slightly bowed back and tired figure clearly showed that he was a corporate slave.

For a moment, Xia Chen became even more curious about this Jinhui Martial Arts Academy.

Since it was only noon, he figured he could still make it into Zone Zero in the afternoon, so he decided to go in and find out what was going on, and have lunch while he was at it.

…………

The layout of Bao's canteen is quite different from other places. The center of the hall is made up of a long row of tables joined together to form a rectangle.

With a trainer's keen senses, Xia Chen noticed that the rectangle was about the same size as the battle arena, and his heart skipped a beat.

Holy crap, Jinhui Taekwondo Academy is really here!

And what about the curator?

Since Xia Chen had no intention of challenging the dojo, he hadn't looked up any information online beforehand and naturally didn't know the dojo master's identity. Now, he was becoming increasingly curious.

Just like the glass bottle gym I visited before, is he the restaurant owner?

It's not impossible.

Driven by curiosity, Xia Chen found a table that had just been set up and was now occupied and sat down.

Looking around, I realized that the man in the suit who had reminded me when I entered was the same office worker sitting at the next table.

He was looking dejected as he took out a Poké Ball, released his Pokémon, and started ordering food.

Perhaps it's because their personalities are inherited from their trainers, but the male's Pokémon also seemed listless, which could be aptly described using a popular internet slang term from Donghuang—"giving up."

This was the first time Xia Chen had ever seen the Mk Eagle, known for its tenacity and sharpness, and the Warrior Eagle looking so listless, and he found it quite interesting.

The other Pokémon were similar: the Earth Dragon, lying motionless on the table like a specimen, and the Tree Pillow Koala, clinging to the man's arm like a pendant.

It's really not easy to gather such a bizarre family...

Xia Chen silently complained in his heart, but then suddenly realized something.

Are all these Pokémon... of the normal type?

Could it be... that he's the gym leader?

Xia Chen then used his Aura to sense their presence, and the result shocked him even more—

Beneath their ordinary, even somewhat lazy, appearances, these Pokémon are all, without exception, at the Elite Four level!

The case is solved! This overworked office worker is the owner of Jinhui Martial Arts Academy!

Xia Chen was stunned. The owner of the Glass Bottle Dojo was a chef, the owner of the Brewing Light Dojo was a streamer, and to make matters worse, the owner of the Jin Hui Dojo was a corporate slave!

Are all the gym leaders in Padiyaa this unpredictable?

…………

Perhaps it was because Xia Chen had been staring at him for too long that he caught the attention of the office worker. The man turned his head and looked back at Xia Chen with a pair of eyes surrounded by dark circles, his gaze unfocused.

Before Xia Chen could figure out how to greet him, the man walked over and sat down opposite Xia Chen.

The first thing he said upon leaving was, "Hurry up, I'm in a rush."

Xia Chen opened his mouth slightly, unsure of how to respond.

"Didn't you want to challenge the gym? If you don't say anything, I'll take it as a forfeit!"

When he got to the second half of the sentence, his voice became noticeably louder. It wasn't because he was angry at Xia Chen's dawdling; his tone was more one of happiness, as if he was happy that he didn't have to fight any Pokémon battles.

At this moment, Xia Chen finally came to his senses. After quickly organizing his thoughts, he replied, "Uh... Hello, Gym Leader. I'm not here to challenge the Gym. I'm a Gym Leader myself, and I just wanted to pay a visit when I was passing by. That's why I had the argument with Rotom at the entrance."

The man responded with an "oh," clearly a question, but his tone was as calm as a reply.

"It's too hard for someone so young to have to work..."

His expression was somewhat wistful, as if he had put himself in that situation.

Xia Chen twitched his lips, and for a moment he suddenly felt that he was indeed a little sad.

At my age, while other kids are dating and playing easy-mode campus leagues, I'm already shouldering so much work and responsibility.

Why do I suddenly feel so tired...?

Sensing her trainer's low spirits, Gardevoir, sitting nearby, quickly reached out to offer gentle emotional comfort, which startled Xia Chen.

Wow, so being pessimistic really is contagious!

Xia Chen quickly changed the subject, saying, "I almost forgot to introduce myself. My name is Xia Chen, I come from the Donghuang region, and I am the head of the soon-to-be-established Yuanling Dojo."

The man gave a long "oh," but his focus was rather peculiar: "The Donghuang region... I've heard that education there is very rigorous, is that true?"

"Hmm... I think so."

Xia Chen was slightly taken aback, then nodded, feeling rather puzzled.

Judging from his reaction, he's never even heard of me?

This is rather unusual.

While it might sound a bit narcissistic, Xia Chen was quite confident in his own fame. Anyone who had followed current events in the past two years should have heard of him...

He still suffered from the fact that he transmigrated too early. If he had played Zhu Zi, Xia Chen would have been able to glean some insight into the personality of this corporate slave owner named Qing Mu from the game.

While the game's protagonist and Nemo were engaged in their fateful duel, and all the other gym leaders and Elite Four were watching intently, he calmly picked up his briefcase, turned around, and left...

With such a personality, it's not too hard to understand why she doesn't actively engage with current events and seems to live on Mars.

…………

"Oh right, my name is Aoki. I am the Gym Leader of the Kinkaku City Gym, which doesn't actually exist in a physical form. I am also one of the Elite Four of the Padilla City Gym and the head of the Kinkaku City branch of the Padilla City League... Sigh, life is really tough."

Although he was feeling dejected, Aoki still introduced himself very politely.

Then he added, "Thank you for not challenging me. In that case, I'll treat you and your elves to grilled rice balls. These grilled rice balls are incredibly delicious; they're practically my motivation to live..."

Unable to refuse such a kind offer, Xia Chen had no choice but to nod in agreement.

For convenience, Aoki simply brought all his Pokémon over and shared a table with Xia Chen.

Listlessly beckoning the waiter over, Aoki began to order the food concisely.

"The usual three items, two portions... no, three portions, please."

Xia Chen was speechless again. Only this lazy guy could create suspense when ordering food.

While waiting for their food to be served, the two chatted casually.

They talked about lighthearted topics like life, food, and travel, without mentioning work or Pokémon battles at all.

Xia Chen found Aoki quite interesting. Despite his pessimistic outlook, he had his own unique philosophy of life, which was probably his way of spiritual liberation.

It's somewhat like cynicism—a choice to give up and face the world after seeing through its true nature—but it's also quite different.

Regardless, Xia Chen had a pleasant chat with him.

This restaurant wasn't a high-end one, but the food was served very quickly. In no time, a magical masked cat dressed as a waiter came up with a plate.

"Meow~ (You stupid humans, your food is here!)"

Looking at the masked cat with a smiling face but rude words, Xia Chen's lips twitched for the umpteenth time today.