Pokémon, Ash's art style is off!

The sight inside the room made them all pause in surprise.

The walls were covered with countless picture frames.

Large and small, arranged in a staggered pattern, they almost covered the entire room.

It's full of photos of him with various Pokémon.

Slowpoke, Slowpoke, Arcanine, Kangaskhan, Farfetch'd, Scyther...

There are even a few Pokémon that are quite rare in the Kanto region.

"Amazing!"

Xiao Zhi leaned close to the wall, his eyes almost touching it.

"So many Pokémon! Grandpa, this photo is almost as good as an encyclopedia!"

"Pickup!"

Pikachu nodded.

Some of them, even mice have never seen before!

"Hey~ Where, where?"

Seeing how eloquent Xiao Zhi was, the old man couldn't help but smile.

"There's still a bit of a gap between that and collecting all the illustrations for Kanto."

"That's amazing!" Ash turned around. "Are they all in the Pokémon Safari Zone up there?!"

"That's not entirely true."

The old man walked to the wall, looked at a few photos, and spoke with a hint of nostalgia.

"Some have already left with suitable trainers."

"For example, this Snorlax was taken away by a breeder last year, and this Farfetch'd... well, it should have gone with a chef. The two of them said they were going to research the most perfect green onion-braised dish."

Xiao Gang leaned closer to take a look at the photo.

"But there are some Pokémon that Fuchsia City doesn't have, right?"

"Huh? You know quite a lot."

The old man glanced at Xiao Gang.

No wonder you're a comrade!

Not only do they have great aesthetic sense, but their professional knowledge is also top-notch!

He pointed to the filing cabinet in the corner.

"Some of the Pokémon here are wild Pokémon that were rescued by Pokémon centers in various places but were no longer suitable for release back into their original habitats. They were sent here to gradually adapt to nature."

"Some of them were bred on their own in this wilderness area."

"This place is big enough. As long as the environment is improved by humans, with mountains, water and forests, a stable population can gradually be formed."

"I see."

Xiao Gang nodded, looking thoughtfully at the photos on the wall.

"Shouldn't someone be specifically responsible for maintaining the ecological balance here?"

"That's natural."

The old man walked behind a machine and spoke to the three of them.

"Let's take a look at the illustrations."

The three of them handed over their respective picture books as instructed.

The old man took it and skillfully connected the encyclopedia to the machine, and a series of data appeared on the screen.

He squinted at it and suddenly let out a soft "Eh."

"This year's rookie trainer?"

He looked up at Ash, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

You're only starting to travel at this age?

That's quite rare.

"Yes!"

"Five hundred per person... wait?"

The old man raised his head and belatedly examined the three men's appearances.

From head to toe, and from toe to head.

Baseball cap, black man, blond hair...

This combination.

He put down the encyclopedia in his hand, took out his own encyclopedia from his pocket, opened a chat group called "Joey's Married-in Family Group", scrolled to the top of a short post, and squinted to confirm it carefully.

Look at the photos inside, then look at the three people.

Except for the blond guy who wasn't as clean.

The other two are exactly the same.

"You...have been to Qunqing City?"

Xiaoxia had a vague, bad feeling.

"I've been there," Xiao Zhi nodded, somewhat puzzled. "How did you know?"

The old man didn't answer, but just grunted to himself and closed the encyclopedia.

"That's alright then, consider this my treat."

He never expected that the three young people that his junior, Joey, had specifically mentioned in the group chat would be the ones he encountered so soon.

The girl said they had been a great help in Qunqing City, and that her family members had taken good care of them.

He actually ran into one today.

"Isn't this a bad idea?"

Xiaoxia spoke up somewhat shyly.

The entrance fee to the wilderness area is not expensive.

But they didn't know the old man at all, and they felt a little bad about being treated to a meal for no reason.

"What's wrong with it?"

The old man didn't lift his head, continuing to operate the machine, and casually added a sentence.

"How can the king of the junkyard be so unrefined?"

Xiaoxia: "?!"

Where did you learn about this title from?

The old man took out three boxes from the drawer, one for each person.

"These are hunting balls; each person only gets thirty."

"Remember, once you enter the Wild Area, you can only use this to catch Pokémon; you can't use the Poké Balls you bring yourself."

Xiao Zhi eagerly opened the box, inside which were thirty white balls neatly stacked.

Unlike regular Poké Balls, Safari Balls are like they're wearing camouflage and feel incredibly light in your hand.

Xiao Zhi weighed it in his hand and then squeezed it.

With just a slight squeeze, cracks appeared on the sphere.

"This ball is of very poor quality," he said, holding it up to his eyes to examine it closely. "Can you really catch Pokémon so easily with this?"

Pikachu also came over and poked at it with its little paws.

Then, with a look of disgust, he said "Pikachu".

"Of course..."

"It won't work."

The old man said it as a matter of course.

"What if someone captures all the Pokémon?"

He walked to the window and gestured towards the distant hunting grounds.

"This area is a Pokémon protected area, so it's not a place where just anyone can catch Pokémon."

"These hunting balls are basically 'fate testers'."

"A compatibility tester?"

Xiao Zhi tilted his head and repeated.

"Just think about it, if we used high-level balls and other good stuff, ten trainers could all leave with a full load."

"In less than a month, this hunting area will be turned into wasteland."

"Having trainers catch Pokémon is, frankly, just to subsidize expenses."

He paused, then his smile deepened.

"Did you know? In our line of work, these trainers have a nickname: 'free breeders'."

"Free caretaker?"

"Correct."

The old man nodded.

"Once you're inside, in order to attract the Pokémon, don't you have to feed them? Play with them? Try to please them in every way possible?"

"These Pokémon are cunning. They eat your food, play with your toys, and then disappear into the bushes. You're not going to be able to catch them with that fragile Safari Ball."

"But for Pokémon, having someone to play with and feed them, without having to pay any price, isn't that better than having to find food in the wild all day?"