Pokémon: Trainers Start as Bounty Hunters.

"So you came here this time to challenge the Crimson Gym?" Iga asked Tetsuya.

“Yes, of course, I’d also like to visit nature reserves and hunting grounds,” Tetsuya said, putting his badge away.

"If you're going to the hunting grounds, it's best to go there first. The Crimson Gym and the Nature Reserve are both on the outskirts of the city, which will be more convenient."

After completing the gym challenge, you can go to the nature reserve to recover; there's a Nurse Joy there who resides there.

The group enthusiastically planned a route for Tetsuya.

Nature reserves are not open to the public, but those who own the illustrated guide, like Tetsuya, can apply in advance to visit them.

"Come on, Ah Xing, your Weezing, Muk, and Nidona are all healed now."

The girl called Green Nurse walked over carrying a tray and a Poké Ball.

"Also, Trainer Tamaki Tetsuya, your Snivy and Mantle Rock have been restored."

Five luxurious spheres were arranged on the tray.

"Okay! Thank you, Sister Green!" Ah Xing jumped up from her seat and took her three elves.

Tetsuya expressed his gratitude and put the two Poké Balls back on his belt.

"How about we have a match?" Ah Xing's eyes lit up, and she challenged Tetsuya.

"Ah Xing, that's so rude!" Jiahe quickly stopped her.

While it's common for trainers to challenge each other without needing a reason, it's a bit impolite to issue a challenge the moment you've been having a good chat.

Tetsuya politely declined, saying, "It's too late, and my Pokémon has just recovered and needs to rest for a while."

His reply made Ah Xing wrinkle her small face, but soon, the clever and mischievous girl thought of something and ran to the front desk in a ninja-like manner, where she was coquettishly talking to Joey.

"Sorry, Ah-Xing has been spoiled since she was little." The group explained to Tetsuya with wry smiles.

Through the three people's chatter, Tetsuya gradually learned about the situation at the Scarlet Gym.

The current leader of the Scarlet Gym is Akari, Akane's older brother, and their father was the previous leader.

During a mission, the previous gym leader mysteriously disappeared, forcing the young and inexperienced A-Ju to take over the position.

It's truly unfortunate; it was just a normal ninja mission, but this happened, and everyone is very saddened.

Fortunately, before the previous gym leader disappeared, the Crimson Gym had just passed the League's once-a-decade gym qualification review, which prevented the Crimson Gym from facing the crisis of having its qualification revoked.

Over the past seven or eight years, Ah-Ju has trained diligently, and with his outstanding talent and family background, he has finally managed to reach the level of a top-tier player.

For this reason, Ah Ju neglected to discipline her younger sister, Ah Xing.

In addition, Ah Xing was only ten years old when her father had the accident. Ah Ju loved her younger sister very much and couldn't bear to discipline her, so Ah Xing's personality became slightly self-centered.

However, due to the Iga-style ninja teaching principles of the Scarlet Dojo (the opposing style is Koga-style), their personalities are not too bad, only occasionally appearing a bit spoiled.

To put it simply, he's a bit like a bratty kid.

She often trains in Fuchsia City, whether it's her own ninja training or Pokémon training, and the residents adore her.

After all, the previous owner of the museum had done them a favor by protecting them, and Ah Xing, who lost her father, was somewhat pitiful. In addition, although she was self-indulgent, she could distinguish right from wrong, and overall she was still a very cute child.

Tetsuya naturally wouldn't take such a trivial matter to heart.

"But I remember that the daughter of the owner of the mansion, A-Ju, is also named A-Xing, right?" Tetsuya asked the three of them, initially thinking that they had mistaken each other for one another.

"Yes, it's because of Ah Xing's willfulness that she insisted on having the same name as her niece."

It wasn't a big deal, so Master Aju agreed.

As for the future, we can just use the child's surname when they grow up.

Anyway, the child shares the same surname as A-Ju, Koga, while A-Xing takes her mother's surname.

The group shrugged. This was the Crimson Dojo's own business. Although few people did this, it wasn't something that couldn't be done in this world.

Tetsuya nodded slightly.

There are countless people with the same name in the Pokémon world. Take Joy and Officer Jenny for example, there are so many people with the same name that people who know each other always have to add a prefix when they call them.

Otherwise, who would know who you're talking to?

Ignoring the suspicious Ah-Xing over there, Tetsuya started chatting with the three people in front of him.

The best way to get to know a city is to chat with the locals; they'll know all sorts of little details and tidbits.

Tetsuya listened to their explanation of science with great interest.

"That means the locals of Ashen City aren't like us outsiders who can only enter once a year; they can enter the hunting grounds three times a year!" he exclaimed.

This could be considered a resident benefit, but it's not mentioned in the city's introduction, which makes sense.

No wonder there are always more trainers departing from Fuchsia City than from other cities every year.

This limit on the number of attempts is also to prevent too many trainers from entering to catch Pokémon. After all, the number of Pokémon inside is limited, and it cannot accommodate too many people.

"Yes, it's pretty good, but going in doesn't mean you can capture your favorite Pokémon."

"Let alone a favorite, even just trying to catch one is very difficult," Muji sighed.

"Indeed, the Pokémon in the Hunting Grounds are all incredibly clever. You can't capture them through battles; you can only rely on food and personal charm, which is extremely difficult."

The two people next to him echoed his sentiment.

Is it difficult? Tetsuya recalled how Ash caught a whole group of 30 Tauros in his previous life. This was incredibly difficult.

The key point is that these Tauros are all incredibly strong. They're either battling against the Orange League's top trainer, Yonex, or going one-on-one against Future Blue's Nidoran, and they can even fight Future Blue's Ryla, which is just outrageous.

You can tell their strength just from their titles.

"Have you ever caught any Pokémon in there?" Tetsuya asked curiously. Living here permanently, with three opportunities to enter each year, he was bound to gain something.

"Of course!" the group said proudly, and then released their Pokémon.

They are a Sandslash, a Jigglypuff, and a Poliwrath.

Jigglypuff and Furry are the spirits of Kagaku and Iga. Tetsuya couldn't tell that these two middle-aged men had the hearts of young girls, and that their spirits were such a cute type.

“Iga and I don’t aim to become powerful trainers, so we only have these two little guys as our Pokémon. They’ve been with us for a long time,” Kagaku said.

"As for Muji, he wanted to travel in the future, so he found a like-minded Sandshrew and nurtured him for a long time before he evolved into Sandslash. You two should have a lot in common!"

Kiji waved his hands repeatedly, "I know my own strength. I can't even beat A-Xing, let alone Tetsuya, who is a genius."

During their conversation, they learned that Tetsuya was only 16 years old, which surprised them greatly.

It's no wonder he's a trainer from the League's own lineage; his talent is ridiculously strong.

For most people, collecting all eight badges would be a difficult task, but for Tetsuya, it was a piece of cake.

"Brother Muji, why are you talking bad about me again!"

Ah-Xing appeared out of nowhere behind Muji, hands on her hips, and said angrily, "Why do you say she's weaker than this guy named Tamaki Tetsuya? Does being pretty necessarily mean you're stronger?"

Muji begged for mercy repeatedly.

The group burst into laughter.

"Hmph, we'll see who's stronger later."

As she watched Tetsuya mocking Kiyoshi, such a thought flashed through A-Xing's mind.

"Alright, I should go back now, or my brother will scold me again." With that, Ah Xing threw a gray ball onto the ground.

"boom."

As the smoke dissipated, Ah Xing disappeared.

Tetsuya coughed. This thing is ninjutsu. How did they manage to hold it in?

"Ah Xing, I've told you so many times, don't use smoke bombs at the Pokémon Center!"

All that could be heard was Joey and the others shouting, their voices filled with helplessness.

Chapter 148 The Legend of Mini Dragon

The four of them only recovered after the smoke cleared.

Fortunately, this is the Pokémon Center in Fuchsia City. Its Ninja-themed features make its ventilation system extremely well-designed; otherwise, the Fuchsia City Gym's special smoke bombs wouldn't have dissipated so easily.

The group shook their heads helplessly and continued chatting.

"Oh, by the way, do you guys know the legend of Caesar?"

During the conversation, Jiahe suddenly brought up something special.

Tetsuya's heart skipped a beat. The Legend of Caesar, the one with the Mini Dragon?

“We should all know, after all, it’s not exactly a secret, but Tetsuya probably doesn’t know,” Kiyoshi said with a smile.

"I really don't know. What kind of legend? Is it some kind of urban legend?" Tetsuya asked, feigning curiosity.

"No, it's not exactly an urban legend. It's just that Caesar, oh, the Safari Zone manager, has a photo of himself with a Dratini, so people started saying that there are Pokémon like Dragonite in the Safari Zone."

Iga shrugged, not taking it seriously. "How could there be Mini Dragons or Dragonairs inside? These people are just daydreaming."

If there were miniature dragons living in the hunting grounds, they would have been strictly controlled by the League long ago; it would be impossible to get in there now.

Kahyuk and Mukichi nodded in agreement.

"Even if it really exists, although Caesar has a bad temper and always likes to scare people with guns, he wouldn't be stupid enough to expose it, would he? It's a Mini Dragon, you know."

I suspect that guy fabricated it to satisfy his vanity.

Or perhaps it was simply a promotional tactic devised by Principal Baoba, and this legend has indeed attracted many more tourists to Asakusa City.

Anyway, no one has ever actually seen a Minidragon, so I think it's just a myth.

Iga's tone was quite disdainful, as if he had some grudge against Caesar.

Tetsuya smiled and agreed, and the topic quickly passed, but he was still thinking about it.

According to his memory, there should indeed be a Dragonair and a Dratini in the hunting grounds, which means that the legend is actually true, and that Caesar was really that stupid.

However, it's hard to say for sure. Judging from the reactions of the three people in front of them, this behavior seems to confirm the saying that the most dangerous place is the safest place.

When Caesar did this, not many people were willing to believe it was true.

After all, Dratini, Dragonair, and Dragonite are pseudo-legendary Pokémon in the Kanto region, extremely rare. Even those that live in the wild are mostly documented by the League. How could a Dratini suddenly appear in the Safari Zone, their own territory?

"Hey, I heard that Principal Baoba looks just like Slowpoke, is that true?"

Zhe didn't delve into it further. He didn't know exactly where the Mini Dragon was, and he couldn't possibly acquire it now. Money is tempting, so he simply put the question aside and started asking about gossip.

"Yes, yes, Principal Baoba is also called Principal Slowpoke, and he really looks exactly like Slowpoke."

Iga excitedly picked up the conversation; indeed, gossip is human nature.

The group began sharing the gossip they knew with great enthusiasm.

However, Tetsuya left halfway through the conversation, using the excuse that he was hungry to eat. They were talking about everyday matters in the city, which he knew nothing about and couldn't participate in.

..........

The next morning.

Tetsuya was running on the streets of Asakusa City.

"Good morning!"

Suddenly, Ah Xing appeared beside him.

He replied casually, "Good morning."

“ε=('ο｀*))) Hey, weren’t you scared by me?” A-Xing, dressed as a ninja, asked Tetsuya in surprise as she ran.

"No, I spotted you." Zhe replied casually. You're so familiar with me. Didn't you leave early yesterday?

"How is that possible? I used the Iga style's invisibility technique, how could you possibly have detected me?" Ah-Xing exclaimed in disbelief. "Is my ninjutsu training really that bad?"

"generally."

Upon hearing this, Ah Xing abruptly stopped in her tracks.

Generally, these two words echoed in her mind.

"Ah! You're looking down on me!" She jumped up and down angrily.

But Tetsuya was very fast, and he had already disappeared around a corner.