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

Of course, "they" do not include a certain useless washing machine, which has been researching this ever since it learned that it could turn its body into a cell phone.

As is customary, Carl assigned each of the newly added Pokémon, namely Leafeon and the Woopoe family, to their respective teachers.

Needless to say, Newleaf Cat's teacher is the Swampert, while the two little Wobo's teacher is their "big brother".

In fact, this so-called "teacher" does not only refer to a teacher in combat. Compared to the new Leafy Cat who wants to improve its own strength, the two Upo are not interested in combat.

Upo's evolved form, Earth King, is generally very gentle and not enthusiastic about fighting.

The reason the two little Wobbles recognized Swampert as their big brother was simply because Swampert looked powerful and would play with them; that was all.

In Carl's team, Ursaring is not keen on battling. In most cases, it is just a "mascot" of the team, and at times it serves as a "functional" Pokémon in the team.

Every night is Carl's time to connect with his Pokémon, such as giving Serperior scale maintenance and grooming Winged Hair.

Just as Carl was enjoying two egg pancakes on his plate, a slightly hurried knock came from outside the door.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

"The door's unlocked!" Carl shouted towards the door, then went back to eating his breakfast.

As the door was pushed open from the outside, Pipa and Nemo, dressed in casual clothes, walked in.

"Karl, we're here!" Nemo's voice was still full of energy. "When are we leaving for Roundmoor Town?"

Yes, Carl had already planned to challenge the gym in Evodia Town several days ago, and also to visit the famous dessert shop in Evodia Town – Piesure Muzzle.

Yesterday, when Nemo and Pipa went to the farm to play with Carl, he mentioned it casually, so Nemo and Pipa made a promise to go with him today.

"We'll leave after I finish eating," Karl said, his voice muffled.

Today, Carl brought Corviknight, Charizard, Serperior, Dragonair, Espeon, and Ursaring to Coodot Town.

Bringing the first two is mainly for convenience, since Keytown is quite far from Cocoontown. If Carl didn't bring a flying Pokémon, he would probably have to stay in Cocoontown for a whole night.

Although spending an occasional night out wasn't a big deal for Carl, he still wanted to go home whenever possible.

Carl brought the Monarch Serpent along mainly because the Monarch Serpent was very interested in making desserts, but for some reason, the Monarch Serpent made desserts only a handful of times, and Carl could only taste its handiwork when it was in a very good mood.

Meanwhile, the Gym Leader of Circular Town, A-Feng, is a dessert master, and in a way, he is Serperior's "master" whom he has never met.

As the region with the most developed internet, many gym leaders in Padiya maintain their own social media accounts online.

For example, Qi Shu, the dojo master of Niangguang Dojo, is a well-known live streamer online, and Kou Sha, the dojo master of Shenbo Dojo, also frequently shares his works online.

As a dessert master, A-Feng is passionate about sharing dessert-making tutorials online. When Monarch Snake first started learning to make desserts, he followed the tutorials that A-Feng posted online.

As for the three Pokémon that follow, they are Carl's main force in this challenge of the Evolve Gym.

Dragonair's current strength is roughly equivalent to a Gym Leader, Espeon is close to Elite Four level, and Ubume? It barely reaches Gym Leader level.

Battles at the level of eight gyms offer little training benefit for Carl's current main Pokémon, which conveniently provides Carl with an opportunity to hone his skills.

Although Hakron's current rate of strength improvement is already considered very fast for its race, it is very dissatisfied with this speed.

After all, even Sun Ibrahimovic, who joined the team later than Hakkaron, is already far stronger than him.

This is a common problem for Pokémon that mature late. Compared to the Hydreigon family, which has a longer development period, the Dragonair family has a relatively short development period.

Even so, due to the inherent pride of Dragon-type Pokémon, Dragonair still feels anxious about its own strength on ordinary days.

Therefore, Hakron trains very hard and is very strict with itself.

Carl noticed Hakron's state of mind, and even though Hakron never told him his thoughts, Carl was quietly helping him.

After Carl finished his breakfast, Pipa and Nemo, who had been waiting for a long time, stared at him with expectant eyes.

"Do you two have some kind of misunderstanding about me?" Karl said helplessly as he slung his backpack over his shoulder. "I said I'd take you, would I lie to you?"

"So when do we set off?" Pipa asked.

"Now."

……

After Corviknight landed at the gates of Circular Town, Karl, wearing a helmet, jumped off Corviknight's back.

On the other side, after Nemo and Pipa returned to the ground from the back of the fire-breathing dragon, they both looked at Karl with strange eyes.

"What's wrong? What do you two mean by those looks?" Karl took off his helmet and asked irritably.

"Karl, why are you wearing that helmet?" Nemo asked, puzzled. "Your Steelraven shouldn't be so easily shot down by the Greatsmith, right?"

"Isn't this just in case?" Carl put the helmet back into his backpack. "Safety first, you know? Do you think everyone's a superhero?"

“Super Green Washer?” Piper sighed. “Probably some weird talk like the Far East Magical Nap Society.”

"Alright, alright, let's go into Roundmo Town first and then talk," Karl urged.

Chapter 32 Dedicated A-Feng and the Exemption from the Dojo Test (Please add to your favorites, read on, and comment)

Roundmo is a leisurely and peaceful town, located in the vast plains of the South Second District near Tabletop City.

As Carl led Piper and Nemo into the town, a relaxed and peaceful atmosphere enveloped them. Compared to Tabletop City, the residents of Roundmoor seemed very relaxed and at ease.

As beams of white light appeared, Espeon, Ursaring, Dragonair, and Serperior appeared one after another beside Carl.

The instant Espeon emerged from the Poké Ball, it used its psychic powers to take over the position on Carl's shoulder.

The Serpent Lord and the Hakkar exchanged a glance and immediately took their places next to Karl.

As for the straight-up bear?

It looks restless now, and if Espeon hadn't secretly used its psychic powers to hold it back, it probably would have used its "scavenging" talent again.

Since Nemo had already challenged the Round Gym, she readily accepted the important task of leading the way.

Although Carl didn't think he would be unable to find the MapleStory Gym, after all, such a large wooden battle arena was quite conspicuous in MapleStory.

But since Nemo was so interested in leading the way, Karl wouldn't dampen her sudden enthusiasm.

Walking on the stone-paved road, Carl and his Pokémon curiously looked around at everything in Evoque Town.

At first glance, the style of the real-life Roundmo Town is quite similar to that in the game. The buildings in Roundmo Town are only two or three stories high, and most of them are built of stone.

Before the Steelraven landed, Carl also saw a large olive grove on the outskirts of Circular Mold, consistent with the game's setting that Circular Mold was a major olive-producing area.

According to Nemo, the town of Roundmo holds a festival called the "Olive Harvest Festival" during the olive harvest season, which attracts many tourists.

However, since olives in reality only ripen in September and October, Carl would have to wait another five or six months to witness the grand "Olive Harvest Festival".

"So, Karl, are you planning to send Hakron and his team to challenge Miss Feng this time?" Nemo asked curiously.

“That’s right. After all, battles at the level of a dojo master are no longer of any use to Martial Arts Masters like Kuma,” Karl casually explained.

In fact, Ms. A-Feng, the gym leader of the Echo Gym, is quite strong. Although there are many Bug-type trainers, powerful Bug-type trainers are still very rare.

As far as Carl knows, Arya, one of the future Elite Four of the Sinnoh region, became an Elite Four member as a Bug-type trainer.

Although A-Liu's ace Dracovish is not a Bug-type, Dracovish's initial form, Scorpius, is a Bug-type, making it barely a half-bug-type Pokémon.

Trainers who specialize in popular fighting types such as Fighting, Ghost, Dark, and Dragon often become Elite Four members in multiple regions. From this perspective, Bug-type trainers are the weakest on average.

Of course, this does not mean that Bug-type Pokémon are weak. Giovanni's starter Pokémon, Beedrill, has the strength to rival legendary Pokémon, which proves that Bug-type Pokémon, if properly trained, are still no weaker than Pokémon of other types.

Getting back to the main point, although Miss A-Feng is quite strong, because the Evolve Gym is too close to Tabletop City, most Orange Academy students will choose the Evolve Gym as their first challenge target.

Therefore, in order not to discourage novice trainers, Ms. Feng had no choice but to send out weaker Pokémon to battle.

If Miss Afeng accidentally increases the strength of her Pokémon, she will have to spend time catching new Pokémon in the wild to deal with challengers.

From this perspective, Ms. Feng's level of dedication among the eight academy owners ranks second.

As for who is number one?

Of course, it's our middle-aged corporate slave, Uncle Aoki. In the entire Padia, apart from Chairman Yaji, which high-ranking member of the alliance can confidently guarantee that they are more dedicated than Aoki?

For the reasons mentioned above, Ms. Afeng's strength is generally considered average by most trainers, and only a small number of trainers know her true strength.

However, since Karl had come to challenge him, he certainly wouldn't let Miss Feng "go easy" on him.

After all, if that's the case, what's the difference between that and Karl using his main speedrun?

“By the way, Pipa,” Carl said, turning to Pipa and the Mastiff Godfather at his feet as if he’d just remembered something, “aren’t you going to try challenging the Round Model Gym? The Mastiff Godfather should be pretty strong, right?”

Piper shook his head: "I'm not interested in Pokémon battles."

“I think you should train the Mastiff Godfather a bit more,” Karl said, his tone becoming slightly more serious. “After all, the Mastiff Godfather’s duty is to protect you. If you encounter danger in the future, it will definitely step up to help you. At that time, if you have experience in commanding battles, the Mastiff Godfather will be even safer.”

Piper wanted to say how could he possibly be in danger, but then he thought that no one could guarantee that they would always be in an absolutely safe environment.

“Okay, but my talent is just average, so I’ll have to trouble you to teach me more, Karl.” Pipa reached out and patted Karl on the shoulder, looking like he was saying, “Then I’ll leave it to you.”

"You little rascal," Carl chuckled and scolded, "you'd better be prepared to suffer."

"What about me? What about me!" Nemo, who was standing nearby, immediately came over.

“You…” Carl said with a hint of helplessness, “Nemo, you have a strong talent for Pokémon battles, but you haven’t been raising Pokémon for very long and lack experience battling against top players. There’s not much I can teach you.”

“But I feel there’s a huge gap between me and you, Karl,” Nemo said, seemingly dissatisfied with Karl’s answer.

"Anyway, I'll most likely join Orange Academy in a while, we'll see then." Karl chose to use delaying tactics.

Amidst their laughter and conversation, the three quickly arrived at a building that seemed completely out of place in Roundmo Town.

This building is the one used by the Padiya League for gym challenge registration.

Carl temporarily recalled all the Pokémon into their Poké Balls and led Piper and Nemo into the building.

"Hello, I'm a trainer here to challenge the gym. I made an appointment online yesterday. What procedures do I need to follow?" Carl asked the staff member standing behind the counter as he approached the counter.

"Welcome, Trainer." The uniformed staff member smiled politely. "Please tell me your Trainer ID."

“1557****4396”.

"Okay, your reservation information is correct." The staff handed Carl a card with a number printed on it. "The battle arena for the Round Model Gym is located on the second floor of Pashure Muz. I have forwarded the reservation information to Gym Leader Afeng. Please go to the battle arena over there to take on the challenge."

"Excuse me, do I not need to take the gym test?" Carl asked, somewhat puzzled.

According to the gym challenge process in the game, players must pass the gym test before challenging a gym, but the staff did not mention this.

The staff member behind the counter was visibly taken aback for a moment, but he quickly recovered and said with a smile, "Sir, only students of Orange Academy are required to take the gym test before challenging a gym. If you would like, I can arrange it for you."

“I see.” Carl nodded knowingly. “But let’s forget about the gym test. Thank you for your help.”

After completing the pre-challenge procedures, Carl glanced at Pipah beside him, who was looking at him with schadenfreude, and said irritably, "What's wrong? I just arrived in Padia, it's normal that I don't know that visiting trainers don't need to take the gym test, right?"

Piper shrugged. "I didn't say anything."

Carl rolled his eyes at Piper and led him and Nemo toward Pashure Muzi, which was just across the street from the Alliance Building.

Chapter 33 A-Feng: It Was Him All Along (Please Read, Add to Favorites, and Leave a Comment)

Pie Shu Lei Mu Zi is a dessert shop with a distinctly Chinese style, perhaps because the shop owner, Ms. A Feng, is a disciple of the Chinese culinary master Hai Dai.

As Carl approached Paisley with Pipa and Nemo, a rich aroma of desserts immediately filled his nostrils. All sorts of desserts were displayed in the window, looking especially tempting under the soft lighting.

Although Carl really wanted to try the desserts made by Pishule Muzzle, his primary goal in coming to Cube Town was to challenge the gym, so Carl could only wait until he defeated Miss Maple before buying the desserts.

Ascending the wooden staircase next to Pashure Muzi, the three quickly arrived at the battle arena located on the second floor of Pashure Muzi.

In fact, the battleground on the second floor of Pashure Muzz is open to the public. Many students from Orange Academy come to Roundmoor in their free time to buy Pashure Muzz desserts and have a battle with other students there.

Today happens to be the weekend, and right now, students are playing matches in the arena.

"I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I always feel like everyone around us is watching us," Karl said, stroking his chin uncertainly.

“This isn’t your imagination, Karl.” Piper glanced at Karl speechlessly. “On the Orange Academy’s campus forum, the video of you defeating King Xinli has been consistently popular, and most Orange Academy students recognize you.”

"Huh?" Karl was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized, "So, I'm famous now?"

“That’s right.” Nemo nodded. “These past few days, many people have come to me asking about you, Karl.”

"Because those people are really annoying, I made it public that I will only reveal your information to someone who has beaten me in a Pokémon battle."

"So that's why you didn't come to the farm the other day?" Carl said, suddenly realizing.

Nemo really doesn't miss any opportunity to plan a Pokémon battle.

Nemo smiled smugly and said, "Of course I have to seize such a good opportunity."

Karl was well aware that with Nemo's current strength, she was the strongest student in Orange Academy, and in most cases only a small number of students would be willing to fight her.

Because of him, the students who wanted to learn about him had to fight against Nemo.

In a way, those students were really unfortunate; they not only failed to get his information, but also got a good beating from Nemo.

Just as the two were talking, the battle on the battlefield ended. Karl looked at the long-haired boy with the Tilley cat in the arena and felt that the boy looked somewhat familiar.