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

It has to be said that although Xiaoxi seems a bit scatterbrained, sometimes gets lost, and even loses her Pokémon (Clefairy), she is absolutely a master in the field of raising Miltank.

After the class, Carl felt he had benefited greatly. Before leaving the farm, he repeatedly expressed his gratitude: "Thank you, Miss Xiaoxi. You truly deserve to be the owner of MooMoo Ranch. I think even Green can't surpass you in breeding giant milk tanks."

Xiaoxi seemed a little embarrassed after hearing Karl's praise. Judging from her expression, Karl's words were clearly very pleasing to her.

So before Carl said goodbye, she gave him a recipe for a secret recipe for a large milk jug.

……

Three days later, Carl led a group of Pokémon to explore every corner of Goldenrod City. During the trip, he also managed to catch a few low-ranking members of Team Rocket. However, he never received the crucial invitation.

As the initiator of the "fishing plan," Yulongdu began to doubt the plan's feasibility after learning that Karl had caught nothing.

Meanwhile, in the Padia region, thousands of miles away, Yeci also received intelligence from his subordinates regarding Karl's situation in Mankind.

Seeing the intelligence report that Carl was being touted as the most promising new generation of trainers in the Johto region, Yaji's heart skipped a beat.

"What does the Johto Alliance mean by this?" Yaji muttered to himself as he flipped through the intelligence reports. "Aren't they afraid that the Sinnoh Alliance will demand an explanation from them?"

Ye Ci thought that secretly undermining others by slowly poaching them was already quite excessive, but looking at the intelligence in front of her, she felt that compared to the City Alliance, her little schemes were simply insignificant.

Meanwhile, at the Sinnoh League headquarters, Granny Kikuno looked at the intelligence sent by her subordinates and muttered to herself, "The Johto League is a bunch of idiots."

However, considering the current state of the Johto Alliance, Granny Kikuno was absolutely certain that Karl would never join the Johto Alliance.

However, as the saying goes, the City Alliance's poaching behavior is like a blue toad crawling on your foot—it doesn't bite, but it's still annoying.

Meanwhile, Cynthia, the Sinnoh League champion who also received the information, only glanced at it before throwing it into the shredder.

Grandma Kikuno noticed Takeran's actions, turned to face her, and asked in a gentle tone, "What do you think about this?"

Zhu Lan did not answer Granny Kikuno's question immediately. Her eyes were blank as she recalled the scene when she had met Karl.

Zhu Lan remembered that she first met Karl on an ordinary afternoon when she was in her study looking through ancient books she had borrowed from the Watervein City Library.

Her grandmother, Dr. Jie Zilan, led a child about her age into the study and introduced the unfamiliar boy to her with a smile.

“Little Bamboo Orchid, this is Carl, Dr. Yamanashi’s child.”

At that moment, she looked at the boy who was staring at her with curiosity, and felt that his eyes did not seem to have the "clear stupidity" of his peers, but rather a maturity that she could not understand.

From then on, every time Dr. Yamanashi came to visit, she would see the boy named Carl.

Although the two knew each other, they didn't actually have much interaction.

As an adult, she heard about Carl again from her grandmother, and that's when she learned that the boy's talent in Pokémon battles seemed to be no less than her own.

However, she never expected that Carl would give up becoming the champion of the Sinnoh region and go to other regions to continue his travels.

At that moment, a sense of curiosity suddenly welled up in her heart; she was curious about what kind of person the boy was.

Therefore, she temporarily put aside her work as a mythologist and devoted herself entirely to Pokémon battles.

When she easily traversed the Sinnoh region's Champion Road with Garchomp and ascended to the Champion's throne, she realized a fact—the trainers in the Sinnoh region were simply too weak, so weak that she hadn't even used her full strength before there were no opponents in front of her.

It was then that she understood why the boy had chosen to give up becoming the Sinnoh regional champion.

After realizing this fact, she began to wonder how much of a gap there was between her current strength and Karl's.

As the champion, Zhu Lan had no idea what it meant for a girl to be curious about another boy.

Chapter 87 Is He Your Master? (3/5 Please Subscribe!!!)

Back in the present, when Zhulan saw the information about Karl, her first reaction was not how to deal with the matter, but rather she was curious as to why Karl would go to the Johto region.

“I think there must be some hidden story behind this that we don’t know about.” Zhu Lan snapped out of her thoughts and replied calmly, “However, I think that given Karl’s personality, he probably won’t join the City Alliance.”

"That's what I think too." After hearing Takeran's words, Granny Kikuno felt a strange unease, but she didn't know where it came from, so she quietly changed the subject: "Is there any progress on the selection of the new Four Heavenly Kings?"

“There are a few trainers with good skills, but the specific list of candidates will not be finalized until the selection process is over.” Cynthia didn’t notice Grandma Kikuno’s strangeness and assumed that she just didn’t want to worry about Carl’s problem anymore, so she answered her in the same way.

……

"What's this?" Shinji stared at the Dragonite that had suddenly appeared before him, then looked down and opened the invitation in his hand. "The strongest trainer? A banquet? Is this some kind of new scam?"

"Oh? The strongest trainer! That looks interesting." Ash, who also received an invitation, looked at the invitation in his hand excitedly, his eyes shining. "I've decided, I'm going to this party! Shinji, you'll be going too, right!"

Shinji glanced at the hot-blooded idiot in front of him, then turned his gaze back to the invitation in his hand: "You moron, don't you have even the slightest suspicion that the person who sent us this letter has some ulterior motive?"

"Doubt? What's there to doubt?" Ash looked at Shinji with a puzzled expression. "Isn't it clearly written in this letter? The owner of this letter wants to communicate with a promising trainer, and I'm a man who's going to become a Pokémon Master!"

Shinji rolled his eyes, speechless. "You're such an idiot, there's no hope for you. Can you please use your rusty brain for a second?"

"Hey! Shinji, please explain yourself clearly!" Ash retorted, not to be outdone. "What brilliant ideas do you, a supposedly smart person, have?"

“My insight is that the sender of this letter doesn’t even dare to use their real name. Do you think the world’s strongest trainer would be so secretive?” Shinji calmly analyzed. “If you were the world’s strongest trainer, would you not even dare to use your real name?”

Ash paused for a moment upon hearing this, as it seemed that Shinji's words didn't seem to have any problem.

"Stop arguing!" Misty, watching Ash and Shinji bickering, spoke up to stop them. "If you want to know if there's anything wrong with this letter, why don't we just go and take a look?"

"Xiaoxia is right!" Xiaozhi said to Shinji as if he had grasped a lifeline, "Since you think there's something wrong with this letter, Shinji, why don't we just go to the banquet!"

"If they really have something going on, we'll expose their scheme right there and then! What do you think, Pikachu?"

"Pikachu~" Ash's Pikachu nodded in agreement.

"Sigh, I'm really defeated by you two idiots. What do you think, Brock?" Seeing that he couldn't persuade Ash and Misty, Shinji turned to Brock for support.

Shinji turned his head and saw that Gon was blushing and drooling, muttering, "Banquet? Beautiful women! Banquet? Beautiful women..."

When Shinji saw this, he looked up at the sky and sighed deeply. Why did Gon, who seemed like a very reliable older brother, show such a dream-inducing expression when he thought of beautiful women?

Is the problem not with them, but with myself?

Just as Shinji was reflecting, his cell phone vibrated in his pocket.

"Hmm?" Shinji took his phone out of his pocket and looked at it. "Master?"

As soon as Shinji answered the phone, Karl's lazy voice came through: "Hey, Shinji, are you still in the Kanto region?"

"Yes, Master, is there something you need?" Shinji replied calmly.

“For some reason, I’m currently in Mankind City in the Johto region,” Karl said bluntly. “Have you finished your trip in the Kanto region? If so, I’ll come over in a few days to meet you and take you to Padia.”

What Karl said was exactly Shinji's original plan, but when he thought of the letter he had just received, Shinji hesitated.

In fact, Shinji didn't care about the banquet, but he was worried about Ash and his two new friends.

After a moment's hesitation, Shinji finally spoke, "Master, I just received a letter..."

Before Shinji could finish speaking, Carl interrupted him on the other end of the phone: "A letter? It's not from some guy who claims to be the strongest trainer, is it?"

"Hmm? Master, how did you know? Did you also receive this invitation?" Shinji's voice rose a few decibels.

Carl, as Shinji's mentor and the strongest trainer Shinji knows, holds a position in Shinji's heart second only to Shinji's brother, Raiji.

Therefore, when Shinji heard Karl's words, the weight on his heart finally lifted.

“I do know something about this invitation.” Karl paused. “Where are you now? I’ll come find you. As for the rest, we can talk about it when we meet.”

"Okay, Master."

After hanging up the phone, Shinji was about to send Carl his address when he was startled by the three people who stood in front of him.

"What are you three idiots doing?" Shinji looked at the three of them, who were full of curiosity, and said speechlessly, "Besides, don't you know that eavesdropping on other people's phone calls is a very impolite thing to do?"

"Hehe, I'm not just anyone." Ash scratched his head awkwardly, then looked at Shinji with curiosity and asked, "Shinji, was the person who called you just now your mentor? I've never heard you mention him before?"

“We’ve only known each other for a few days, it’s normal that you don’t know us.” Shinji said, then noticed that Misty and Takeshi were looking at him strangely. “What’s going on with you two?”

"Shinji, your master isn't Karl, is he?" Brock couldn't help but ask.

"Huh? Brock, you know my master?" Shinji had barely uttered those words when he immediately realized, "That's right, you're from the Pewter Gym, it's normal for you to know my master."

Then Shinji turned to look at Misty: "Misty, judging from your appearance, you should know my master, right?"

Xiaoxia nodded: "That's right, I know him too."

"What's going on? Why am I the only one here who doesn't recognize Shinji's trainer? Is he some famous trainer?" Ash looked left and right, asking anxiously.

Xiaogang and Xiaoxia exchanged a glance, both understanding the bitterness in each other's eyes.

“Shinji’s master was indeed a very powerful trainer.” Brock recalled the trainer who beat his gym in less than a minute and said in a dry voice, “In a sense, it was because of him that I decided to leave Pewter Gym and go out to train.”

“Me too,” Xiaoxia chimed in.

Under the curious gazes of Shinji and Ash, Brock and Misty began to recount their first encounter with Carl.

Chapter 88 Hello, Xiaozhi (4/5 First Subscription, Please Support!!!)

"So, it was Shinji's master who captured Uncle Wu and brought him back to the Pewter Dojo?"

Xiao Gang nodded.

"He also comforted you, Xiaoxia, and helped you resolve your inner conflicts?"

Xiaoxia nodded as well.

"So, Shinji's master was really a remarkable person," Ash said thoughtfully, looking down.

“Of course.” Shinji crossed his arms and said with an arrogant look, “He is my master.”

"Hey, Shinji." Ash looked up at him earnestly. "Do you think I have a chance to become your master's apprentice?"

"...?" Shinji remained silent for a long time before finally saying, with a complicated expression, "Ash, your primary goal right now is to memorize the type matchup chart."

"Huh?" Ash frowned. "But the type matchup chart is really hard to memorize!"

“But that’s the most basic knowledge for all trainers.” Shinji almost laughed in exasperation when he saw Ash’s troubled expression: “If you can’t even memorize the type matchup chart, then you should just give up on becoming a trainer.”

"Even if I can't memorize the type charts, I can still become a Pokémon Master!" Ash said indignantly. "Don't look down on me!"

Seeing that the two were about to start arguing again, Xiao Gang immediately spoke up to stop them, saying, "Stop arguing! What we need to consider now is whether or not to attend that banquet!"

"Hmph, I won't bother arguing with an idiot." Shinji turned his head away, no longer looking at Satoshi.

"Hmph, I don't want to talk to this guy who keeps bringing up the type matchup chart!" Ash said, turning his back to Shinji.

"Sigh, there's just no way to deal with you two." Xiaoxia and Xiaogang exchanged a glance and sighed helplessly.

……

After hanging up the phone, Carl, knowing that Shinji had received an invitation to New Island, immediately mounted Zapdos and headed towards Shinji's location.

Because the Kanto region is very close to the Johto region, it took Karl less than four hours to reach Shinji's location.

Just before they arrived, Carl had already sent Shinji a text message, and Shinji and his group saw Carl descending from the sky on Zapdos.

"That's... a Zapdos?!"

Ash, the hero of Ho-Oh, the only photographer in the Pokémon world, once told Professor Oak about his encounter with Ho-Oh.

At the time, Professor Oak did not believe that Ash saw Ho-Oh; he thought Ash saw Zapdos instead.

Ash thus learned about the three legendary Pokémon: Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres.

Ash had never seen these three legendary Pokémon in real life, but today was the first time he had seen Zapdos in real life.

"Yo, long time no see, Shinji." Carl jumped off Zapdos's back, reached out his wicked hand and rubbed Shinji's head, then turned to greet Brock and Misty beside him: "Brock, Misty, hello there."

"Master, it's been a long time." Shinji greeted Karl somewhat awkwardly.

"Hello, Shinji's mentor, my name is Ash, I'm from Pallet Town, and I'm a Pokémon trainer who's currently traveling." Ash cheerfully introduced himself to Carl.

“Pallet Town? That’s a nice place.” Carl looked at the black-haired boy in front of him wearing the same bright red hat, his tone tinged with an undisguised nostalgia: “Hello, Ash, my name is Carl, and I’m from Sandstone Town in the Sinnoh region.”

As Carl spoke, he added in his mind, "Long time no see, you silly thing."

"A good place?" Ash asked, somewhat puzzled.

“Yeah, it’s a great place.” Karl joked with a smile, “After all, Pallet Town has produced more than one Battle Legend, how can it not be a great place?”

"I'll be number four!" Ash looked at Carl with great confidence. "One day, I'll become a Pokémon Master!"

"Great spirit! I'm rooting for you!" Carl said, giving Ash a thumbs-up.

"Heh, before that, I think you'd better memorize the type matchup chart first." Shinji sneered. "I wonder which guy dared to use Pikachu to fight my Torterra."

Upon hearing this, Carl couldn't help but glance at the Pikachu on Ash's shoulder, thinking to himself, "Shinji, you're still too young. Did you see the Pikachu on Ash's shoulder? That's a super-powerful creature that can electrify Arceus."

"You bastard!" Ash's face turned red when he heard Shinji bring up the topic. "I've already said I have my own battle rhythm!"

"Alright, alright, you two stop arguing. Let's talk about those two invitations instead." Xiaoxia didn't want the "brainless" and "unhappy" to continue arguing, so she immediately changed the subject.

"Oh right, that invitation." Ash slapped his forehead. He had just taken the folded invitation out of his pocket when Shinji reached out and handed it to Carl: "Master, this is the invitation I received."

Carl took the invitation and glanced at it. Apart from a long string of nonsense, there was only a geographical coordinate marked as the new island.