The battle with Xiao Tian ended, and the onlookers gradually dispersed.
The high-level battle was dazzling, full of thrills and excitement. For Xiao Tian, this battle showed her more fighting styles and made her realize her shortcomings. In fact, since reaching the top four of the Indigo League, her strength had stagnated, and she had been stuck in the same place.
Now, after fighting Xia Mu, she realized that perhaps she had been too stubborn. She had been adhering to her own principles, unwilling to try and accept new things. Ultimately, it was due to overconfidence and arrogance. Before fighting Xia Mu, she was absolutely confident. But after the battle, she realized that even with her best efforts in commanding the battle, she had lost so badly.
It seemed she should choose a new path to explore, instead of continuing to develop step by step on Cinnabar Island. Xia Mu wouldn't know Xiao Tian's thoughts. For Xia Mu, Xiao Tian had also taught him a lesson in a sense. Actually, achieving this result was already a very good ending.
Xia Mu definitely relied heavily on luck and the convenience provided by Aura; otherwise, Lucario might have lost the first battle. Then, in the battle between Red Gyarados and Vileplume, if he hadn't been amazed by the Shiny Gyarados and caught off guard by Gyarados's Flamethrower, Vileplume wouldn't have been so easy to defeat.
Next, in the battle against Raichu and Beedrill, Xia Mu again exploited an opening, knowing that Xiao Tian didn't know much about Beedrill, and used the Hidden Ability Sniper and a combination of moves to achieve a one-hit KO.
In conclusion, if they were to fight again, Xia Mu probably wouldn't defeat her so easily. Let alone winning a four-on-six battle by consuming only two Pokémon.
Back at Ali's shop, Xia Mu and Xiao Tian didn't linger. Instead, they headed together towards the Pokémon Center in Cinnabar City. The Pokémon were seriously injured and needed to recover. Rather than wasting medicine on themselves, it was better to let Nurse Joy heal them; the treatment would be more thorough.
To Xia Mu's surprise, they encountered Professor Ivy at the Pokémon Center. She was there to say goodbye to Nurse Joy and Chansey, and with her was a character Xia Mu recognized very well:
Kenji (Tracey)! The Pokémon Observer...
In the original anime, he possessed incredible artistic talent and was once jokingly considered the best candidate to replace Brock (Takeshi) as the second male lead. In the original anime, he replaced Brock in Ash's team while living in the Orange Islands, traveling together for a while.
However, he later left the team after joining Professor Oak's lab. Unexpectedly, he and Professor Ivy were already acquainted, and it was clear that Kenji (Tracey) had accompanied Professor Ivy to the Pokémon Center.
After some conversation, Xia Mu confirmed the situation. Because they were leaving Cinnabar Island for the Orange Islands in two days, Professor Ivy was spending these last two days saying goodbye to her students and friends in Cinnabar City. After all, it was a place she'd spent several years in, and she had developed a certain attachment to it.
Aside from saying goodbye to friends, she also had to say goodbye to many colleagues in person. For example, Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny—in a sense, they weren't colleagues, but they were very familiar with each other, helping each other with many research projects, so they had a good relationship.
Xia Mu took this opportunity to learn about Professor Ivy's upcoming plans and who would be taking over the Pokémon Research Institute in Cinnabar City. According to Professor Ivy, Professor Magnolia from the Galar region would arrive tomorrow with her assistant. She would personally hand over the formalities, and after completing these tasks, she would take Kenji and two students to the Orange Islands.
In short, it was pretty much the same information his mother had given him. They just hadn't expected things to develop so quickly.
After seeing off Kenji (Tracey) and Professor Ivy's two female students, Xia Mu and Xiao Tian were both deeply moved. Xia Mu was moved by the subsequent plot developments, but only internally.
Xiao Tian, on the other hand, recounted some past events, expressing her close relationship with Professor Ivy. Now that Professor Ivy was leaving, it felt like the departure of a family member. After listening to Xiao Tian's words, Xia Mu learned that when her Blastoise was still a Squirtle, it was Professor Ivy who gave it to her.
She was only 10 years old then, and after receiving Squirtle, she declared with great ambition that she would become the League Champion. Unfortunately, she was almost sixteen now and hadn't achieved anything. Everyone said she was a pro who had reached the top four of the Indigo League, but they didn't know that she had challenged the Indigo League three times before finally reaching the top four in the last one.
Only she herself knew that reaching the top four was nothing special. The Indigo League has been held continuously, and many trainers have made it to the top four in recent years alone; she's just one of many who have made it. In other words, even the league champions are different every year.
As a child, she didn't understand, but as she grew up, she gradually realized that what she pursued wasn't something that could be easily obtained.
Xia Mu encouraged Xiao Tian and understood her feelings perfectly. A person of strong character—that's Xia Mu's assessment of Xiao Tian. To be more specific, she's a very rational yet emotional girl. In a few years, she'll definitely be very popular with men. No, she's already very popular with men now, but she's too assertive; most people probably can't handle her and would find it difficult to develop a relationship with her.
...
After spending an hour at the Pokémon Center, Xia Mu and Xiao Tian talked about many things. The most important topic was the invitation to become the strongest trainer. Xiao Tian expressed her determination to attend. Since she was so direct and frank, Xia Mu naturally shared his thoughts as well.
Perhaps because Xia Mu defeated her, or perhaps because she admired Xia Mu's strength, Xiao Tian invited him to take a boat trip to Cinnabar Island together, and then another boat trip to the new island. Ali and the others would also be joining them.
Xia Mu wanted to agree immediately, but things weren't that simple, so he could only vaguely reply that they would decide based on the situation. Xiao Tian was a little disappointed, but she didn't insist.
Actually, Xia Mu could go to the new island anytime he wanted. After all, as the heir to the Xia family's shipping and logistics group, the entire group belonged to his family, and he certainly didn't lack ships. It was only because Xiao Tian didn't know his identity that she made the invitation.
Of course, Xia Mu didn't want to use his identity to make friends, otherwise there would be some distance, and it wouldn't be as natural as it was now.
After retrieving their Pokémon from Nurse Joy, Xia Mu said goodbye to Xiao Tian. Xiao Tian had taken time out to battle him and now needed to go back to help at her family's shop. Xia Mu, on the other hand, returned to Ali's family's restaurant. There was still plenty of time, and he wanted to learn more from Ali about the Pokémon Trainers in Cinnabar Island City.
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(End of Chapter)