Pokémon: Start with an Admiral Crab!

"what are you saying?"

Wang Yao heard Xiao Feng mumbling.

"Nothing - that's all! I just suddenly thought that if I met an opponent I couldn't defeat in the official competition..."

"…Is there any way to take the other person away by force?"

I didn’t want to say it, but I don’t know why... when I saw Wang Yao’s concerned eyes, Xiao Feng couldn’t control her mouth.

"That's easy... Most ghost-type Pokémon have the skill [Same Fate], so you can just capture a Gastly."

Wang Yao introduced.

"Same fate? What skill is that?"

Xiao Feng took out her own illustration book and looked at the skill description.

"Tsk! Same fate - after using this move, when you are attacked by the opponent and completely lose your strength, the opponent will fall down with you."

"Wow~"

Xiao Feng seemed to have opened the door to a new world.

"If I bring five Pokémon with the same fate... wouldn't it be enough to just breed the Diligarh?"

There was obviously something wrong with Xiao Feng's thinking.

"——What kind of evil idea is this!"

Wang Yao interrupted him in time.

"If you do this in a formal match... the referee will blow the whistle, right?"

"——And the audience will throw bottles at you! No one wants to watch a game like this!"

Although he didn't know if anyone had done this before, Wang Yao knew that all major competitions were now broadcast live. If Xiao Feng did this, he would definitely become famous in his hometown!

"...It seems to make sense."

The expression on Xiao Feng's face froze instantly.

In her hometown Shuijing City, she is known as a beautiful girl. If she becomes famous with such dirty tactics... her image will be completely ruined.

"But Gastly and the like... seem a bit scary. Let me see if there are any Pokémon with cute appearance and the same skills as mine..."

It turns out that girls’ nature of loving beauty will never change.

Xiao Feng's finger ran across the Pokémon list in the Pokédex.

Her illustrated model seems to be more advanced than Wang Yao's - Wang Yao's illustrated model does not have a touch screen function, and only has a touchpad besides a few buttons.

"Ah - got it! It's the Dream Demon and the Snow Demon Girl!"

Xiao Feng saw two cute images in the picture book.

"The Snow Fairy seems pretty good... and she also has ice attributes. She can work well with your Difang Sea Lion in the snow."

Wang Yao leaned over to take a look and commented.

"But these Pokémon seem to be very rare... I wonder where I can capture them."

Xiao Feng sighed in distress.

"The Snow Demon Girl should go to the Snow Mountain to look for it, right? As for the Dream Demon, I don't know..."

Wang Yao stroked his chin and recalled.

"Anyway, it doesn't look like anything you can find on Red Lotus Island..."

Wang Yao Bear spread his hands.

Ghost-type Pokémon are mostly found in eerie environments... As for the snowy mountains - the climate of Cinnamon Island is just the opposite.

"Forget it... let's talk about it later..."

Xiao Feng put away the illustration, at least now she had an idea.

"Then let's go to the Pokémon Center first... and then visit the Red Lotus Gym."

Wang Yao estimated that Xiao Feng had no mood to play a third game.

Moreover, the Giant Claw Crab and the Emperor Tooth Sea Lion had consumed a lot of physical strength, so Wang Yao decided to treat them before setting out to fight the gym, which would be safer.

"Well... let's go."

Xiao Feng nodded.

The two of them gathered up the garbage in the camp, gathered it into a pile, and had the little fire horse burn it to ashes.

……

An hour later, two people came out of the Pokémon Center and headed towards the crater.

"Ayao - Miss Joy just said that no one has challenged the Red Lotus Gym in a long time!"

Xiao Feng drank iced juice to relieve the hot air on Honglian Island.

"It's nothing strange. After all, Xia Bo has retired... ahem! He's old and is now in a semi-retired state."

Wang Yao coughed lightly and almost told the truth.

Xia Bo is a retired scientist of Team Rocket. He once participated in capturing Moltres... but later due to some unexpected reasons, Xia Bo was saved by Moltres.

After that, Xia Bo left the Rockets and became a retired old man.

[PS: There are many versions of Xia Bo's setting. I didn't use the one with the Mewtwo gene on his arm in the special episode, but preferred the game character. ]

"No wonder..."

Xiao Feng nodded.

"Let's go! Let's go early and come back early. It would be bad if we miss lunch..."

Wang Yao and his friends have already learned the exact location of the Red Lotus Gym from Joey.

The entrance to the gym is in a residential building right next to the volcano.

……

"Is this place really a gym?"

Xiao Feng looked up at the three-story building with a pointed clock tower in front of him and asked with some confusion.

"…The real gym is in the volcano, this is just Xia Bo's home…"

Wang Yao looked at the surroundings. This residential building was really hidden.

When these trees grow more lush next year, Xia Bo’s house may be completely hidden by the woods...only the bell tower at the top can be seen.

Boom boom boom!

Wang Yao knocked on the door.

"Mr. Xia Bo! Is Mr. Xia Bo here!?"

"We are trainers who come to challenge the gym!"

Wang Yao shouted loudly.

"There's a lot of excitement inside the crowd, but it's quiet outside the crowd - what could it be?"

A somewhat slow voice of an old man came from inside the door.

"Don't try to guess riddles at a time like this!"

Xiao Feng complained.

"…It's the bustling hot spring hotel and the Red Lotus Gym that has been forgotten by tourists."

Wang Yao loudly exposed the shortcomings.

Click——!

The door was opened.

"That's a really ruthless answer..."

An old man wearing sunglasses, a thick wig, and a bright red casual outfit appeared in front of the two.

"Please come in... Trainer."

Xia Bo hasn't seen a new challenger for several months.

"Since you can take the initiative to come to me...it seems that you have done your homework."

Xia Bo opened the door leading to the backyard and led the two of them forward.

"Yes... I already have five badges including the gray badge!"

Wang Yao used lying.

"Grey Badge?"

Xia Bo frowned and recalled. He remembered that the Dark Gray Gym was not a very famous gym... Why did he emphasize it?

Could it be that the new gym leader who succeeded Takeshi Takenoshi was famous in Kanto as a rising star?

It seems that I have been out of touch with society for too long... Xia Bo thought so.

"Well……"

Xiao Feng held back her laughter as she watched Xia Bo frowning and thinking.

"Is this really okay with you?"

After Xia Bo walked a few steps away, Xiao Feng secretly nudged Wang Yao with his elbow.

"What's the problem? Oh! By the way, my name is Yao, and this is Xiao Feng from Hoenn!"

Wang Yao introduced Xia Bo.

"Xiao Feng has already collected eight badges in her hometown! So she is also qualified to challenge, right?"

"Puff--Ayao!"

Xiao Feng couldn't help but shouted out!

"Of course you can... But don't worry, I will bring out the matching Pokémon to fight."

Xia Bo looked at the pretty little girl beside Wang Yao with some surprise.

I didn’t expect that the other party was an elite trainer!

"It's all your fault! What should I do now——!"

Xiao Feng pulled at the corner of Wang Yao's clothes somewhat at a loss.