Elf: Start your slow-paced life after becoming a farmer.

"Changing the weather at this time?" Nemo didn't know Zhulan's purpose in doing this, but a sense of unease crept into her heart.

As the bright sunlight spilled onto the wet battlefield, Gadriya took the opportunity to cancel the barrier she had created using her superpowers to shield Nemo and Cynthia from the rain.

The next moment, Nemo's unease was confirmed. Cynthia raised her hand and shouted, "Togekiss, use Solar Beam to deliver the final blow to Milotic!"

Upon hearing that Cyndaquil was finally going to end the match, Tokiss flapped its wings and flew vertically upwards.

After reaching the highest point the arena could reach, Togekiss, blessed by the clear sky, had just accumulated enough energy to unleash the Sunbeam. The next moment, a green beam of light, as thick as two people could hug, fell from the sky and slammed into Milotic.

After the green beam of light representing the sunbeam disappeared, Milotic reappeared on the ground, looking peacefully asleep.

Chapter 282 Strange Tree: What are you talking about?

Immediately after the battle, Nemo rushed to Milotic's side and helped it up. After checking Milotic's injuries, she put it back into its Poké Ball.

"Nemo, you did a great job." Carl came to Nemo's side and encouraged her.

“But I still lost.” Nemo sighed. “As expected, with my current strength, I still can’t beat Sister Zhulan.”

Hearing Nemo's words, Karl smiled and said, "You've done very well to be able to fight Zhulan to this extent."

“Karl is right.” After putting away Togekiss, Zhulan came to Nemo’s side. “At your age, to push me to that extent, you’ve already surpassed many people.”

"Is your next line 'When you get to my age, you'll definitely be stronger than I am now?'" Karl turned to look at Zhu Lan and teased her.

Zhu Lan rolled her eyes at Karl, annoyed. "Karl, I think you should know that you shouldn't talk about your age in front of any girl who's over eighteen."

Karl raised an eyebrow noncommittally: "I don't think Grandma Kikuno would mind talking about age."

"That's because she becomes a completely different person the moment you appear in front of her," Cynthia said helplessly. "Don't you know how much Grandma Kikuno was looking forward to you becoming the Sinnoh Champion back then?"

"Ahem, I think we should change the subject." Carl noticed Nemo and the others' curious gazes. "After all, a hero doesn't dwell on past glories."

"Huh?!" Pipa looked at Karl in surprise after hearing Zhulan's words. "What's going on, Karl?"

“Didn’t I tell you about this?” Carl scratched his head helplessly. “To put it simply, I went through the Sinnoh Champion Road, but I didn’t want to be the champion, so I went traveling to other regions.”

“Is this even possible?” Piper’s lips twitched. “Thinking about it carefully, only you, Karl, could do something like this.”

“After all, being the champion is quite a troublesome thing for me,” Carl said meaningfully. “If I hadn’t been able to hold back, the Sinnoh leadership might have undergone a major reshuffle back then. I really don’t understand how you, Cynthia, could tolerate those old guys.”

Although Piper and the others didn't understand the meaning behind Carl's last sentence, they could tell from Carl's tone that he was very unhappy with certain people in Sinnoh's upper echelons.

"Well... I'm just trying to avoid dealing with those people as much as possible within reasonable limits." Zhu Lan knew Karl didn't want to talk about those people, so she quickly changed the subject, "So, is there anyone else who wants to fight me next?"

Upon hearing this, Shinji immediately stepped forward and said respectfully, "Cynthia Champion, would you please have a Pokémon battle with me?"

"Alright, let's not delay, let's begin now."

……

Shinji was ultimately defeated by Rin, but compared to Nemo, Shinji's tight-knit tactical style did not cause Rin much trouble.

Compared to her battle with Nemo, Rin's battle with Shinji was like playing Go, proceeding step by step. The two fought steadily for about ten minutes before Shinji was finally defeated by Rin.

After their battle ended, the group left the battlefield and went to the Pokémon Center to treat their respective Pokémon.

After the treatment ended, there was still some time before lunchtime, so the group strolled around the city of Boping.

Along the way, Carl and his group attracted the attention of many passersby, since all six of them were handsome men and beautiful women. However, they were not affected in any way and continued to stroll around on their own.

Just then, a familiar female voice called out from not far away: "Hey! Karl, what are you doing here!"

Upon hearing the voice of a famous streamer and gym leader, Carl immediately turned around and looked in the direction from which the voice came. Then he saw Qishu, dressed in a cool summer outfit, waving at him from a distance.

"Oh my, isn't this the famous streamer, Ms. Qishu? It's been a long time!" Karl greeted Qishu with a smile as he approached her.

"Hmph, of course I came to Glass Bottle City for the Desert Festival." Qi Shu didn't seem to care about Karl's teasing tone. She then looked Karl up and down, before glancing at the five people behind him. "I suppose you're here for the Desert Festival with your friends, Karl?"

“That’s right, but you said ‘also’?” Karl looked around but didn’t find anyone who seemed to be Nemo’s friend. Then he asked curiously, “Qishu, where are your friends?”

Upon hearing Karl's words, Qishu reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, yawning in disgust: "Who do you think you are? How could Qishu not have friends?"

"I didn't say you don't have any friends, did I?" Karl looked at Qishu with a puzzled expression. "I was just curious about who your friends are. Is it really necessary to react like this?"

"Haha, is that so?" Qi Shu realized that she had overreacted, but with her excellent business acumen, she quickly adjusted her expression and pretended to be indifferent. "Well, my friend and I just split up, so it's normal that you didn't see him."

"Hiss—" After hearing Qishu's words, Carl's expression was just like Professor Yamanashi's when he first saw Zapdos, and he looked Qishu up and down with a look of curiosity.

It has to be said that even Karl, who doesn't know much about fashion, has to admit that Ms. Qishu's look today is very eye-catching.

Specifically, today, Qi Shu wore a fitted white T-shirt with a cute Pikachu pattern on it, and a dark blue pleated skirt on her lower body.

Combined with her makeup style, which is what I would call "no-makeup makeup," she has a pure and innocent look, like a girl next door.

However, considering that the other person was actually older than him, Carl could only give an eight out of ten rating.

Feeling a little uneasy under Karl's gaze, Qi Shu forced a smile and asked, "Karl, what's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that? Do I look strange today?"

At the same time, Qishu cried out in his heart: 'Did he realize I actually came to the Desert Festival alone? I don't want to be seen as some friendless nobody who can only find validation online.'

"No, not at all." Karl shook his head, explaining his behavior just now: "I just felt that for a streamer as career-oriented as Qishu, going out shopping with male, uh, male friends and stuff, wouldn't that have any impact on your streams?"

"What kind of impact could it have..."

"No, what are you talking about?"

Chapter 283 Karl: Your next words are—

After hearing Karl's first sentence, Qi Shu secretly breathed a sigh of relief that Karl hadn't noticed her "little secret".

But after hearing his next sentence, she stared at Carl with wide eyes, "What do you mean I went shopping with a male friend?"

“Didn’t you just say that yourself?” Karl tilted his head, looking at Qishu with a puzzled expression. “You just used the pronoun ‘he,’ right? My memory is pretty good.”

Upon hearing this, Qi Shu quickly recalled what she had just said and realized that Karl was telling the truth.

"So stop pretending. It's okay if you don't have any friends." Karl stopped teasing Qishu and had a "I saw through you a long time ago" look on his face. "It's not shameful to travel alone."

"Hahaha, what are you talking about? I don't understand." Qi Shu forced an awkward smile. "How could I not have friends?"

Karl remained silent upon hearing this, staring at the strange tree with an expression that seemed to say, "Keep making things up, and see if I'll believe you."

Realizing his lie had been seen through, Qi Shu suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon, his expression drooping. He said in despair, "That's right, I came alone. Are you satisfied now?!"

"What does this have to do with me?" Karl was genuinely puzzled now. "I didn't do anything to you, did I?"

At this moment, the people who were originally standing behind Karl also gathered around. Among them, after recognizing Qishu, Gadriya first glanced at Karl, then turned to Qishu and asked, "Miss Qishu, did this guy bully you?"

"Ah, it's you, Miss Gadriya." After hearing the familiar voice, Kishu stared at Gadriya for a while before recognizing her. Then she waved her hand and said, "I wouldn't say it was bullying, but this guy is really awful."

"Oh?" Gadriya thought that this popular online curator was not as stupid as she had imagined, and actually shared the same opinion as her.

“But since you’re here alone for the Desert Festival, Qishu, why don’t you come with us?” Karl suggested.

"Huh, is that okay?" Qi Shu suddenly raised his head and looked at Karl with an expectant expression.

“Of course, we’re all acquaintances,” Karl said casually.

Then, as if remembering something, Karl turned to the side, raised his hand towards Zhulan, and said to Qishu, "Oh, by the way, you should know this person, right?"

Upon hearing this, Qi Shu looked in the direction Karl raised his hand. After seeing Zhu Lan, she felt that she looked somewhat familiar, but for a moment she couldn't remember where she had seen this blonde lady before.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Lan immediately stepped forward, took off the sunglasses on her face, and then put on a polite smile, extending her hand to Qi Shu and saying, "Hello, Miss Qi Shu, I am Zhu Lan, it's a pleasure to meet you."

“Cynthia…” Qishu reached out and shook hands with Cynthia, repeating her name over and over. Then, as if remembering Cynthia’s identity, she said in a sudden realization, “Eh—if I’m not mistaken, Miss Cynthia is the new champion of the Sinnoh region, right?!”

"Yes, she is our new champion of the Sinnoh region." After seeing the shocked expression on Qishu's face, Carl nodded in satisfaction, then asked the same question again: "So, how about it, do you want to come with us?"

"Yes, of course I want it!"

At this moment, Qishu's expression was just like Nemo's when she saw a trainer in the wild. Her eyes were filled with a burning emotion as she looked at Cynthia: "Please let me join!"

Seeing this, Carl raised an eyebrow. He could roughly guess what Qi Shu was thinking from her expression: "Qi Shu, you're not planning to drag Zhu Lan into a live stream with you, are you?"

As soon as Karl said this, Gadriya's expression immediately became wary, and her gaze towards Qishu changed once again.

'This strange tree is definitely up to no good,' Cattleya thought to herself.

At the same time, after hearing Karl's words, Qi Shu looked at Karl with a hint of surprise and uncertainty: "Karl, you don't happen to have some kind of mind-reading superpower, do you?"

The moment the topic of superpowers came up, Carl's smile froze.

Nemo and Piper, who were standing nearby, couldn't help but cover their mouths and chuckle when they saw the change in Carl's expression. They knew that Carl had always regretted not having superpowers.

Gadriya also knew that Karl was very envious of her superpowers. Unlike Nemo and Piper, who were at least able to hide their feelings, she didn't feel much pressure to mock Karl.

“No, Miss Qishu, Karl doesn’t have any superpowers at all. I think my level of superpowers shouldn’t be wrong,” Gadriya said.

"That's right, I don't have superpowers."

Upon hearing Karl's words, Gadriya, Pipa, and the other two looked at Karl with surprise.

The next moment, Karl continued, "But even without superpowers, I can still see through what you're thinking, Qishu, since your thoughts are practically written all over your face."

Upon hearing Carl's words, Qi Shu immediately became furious. She was a top streamer, and Carl actually said that her facial expression management was substandard?!

“Karl, you—”

Your next sentence was: 'Your words are pure slander against me!'

"Your words are a complete slander against me!"

"No, you!"

Qi Shu was surprised that Karl could actually guess her next sentence, and Karl was also surprised that he could actually guess Qi Shu's next sentence.

"Alright, Karl, stop it." Nemo, who couldn't stand watching Karl bully the idiot, stepped forward. "Stop teasing Miss Qishu, it's very rude."

“That’s right, that’s right,” Papa chimed in, then casually pulled a handful of sunflower seeds from her pocket and offered them to Kishu. “Miss Kishu, have some sunflower seeds.”

"Ah, thank you, but I'm trying to maintain my figure these days, so I can't eat these high-calorie snacks." Kishu politely declined Papa's "kindness," "but thank you anyway."

Karl couldn't hold back any longer. He reached out and patted Pipa on the shoulder: "Pippa, I, Uchiha Karl, am willing to call you the strongest."

"Huh? Karl, what weird stuff are you talking about now?" Papa, who didn't know about the meme about buying sunflower seeds and was just trying to help out, looked at Karl with suspicion after hearing his words. "Speaking of which, what is the Uchiha clan?"

“The Uchiha are scoundrels,” Karl replied immediately.

Seeing this, Zhu Lan stepped forward again: "It's almost time. How about we find a place to have lunch now?"