“Gululu...”

Su Sheng's stomach protested once again.

“Fruits really don't fill you up.”

Su Sheng patted his protesting little belly and looked down at his Moonlight Eevee, saying,

“There’s an old saying in Yanhuang: ‘People regard food as heaven.’ Let’s fill our stomachs first, and then we can slowly think about what to do next.”

“Boo~”

Moonlight Eevee nodded in response.

Although it still hadn’t overcome the sorrow of being abandoned by its previous owner, in the short span of under ten minutes spent with this human boy, Moonlight Eevee had already sensed that the boy held no malice or prejudice against it. That was enough reason for Moonlight Eevee to follow him.

...

After Su Sheng and Moonlight Eevee left, a figure clad in a black cloak, dressed like a gambling god, emerged from the corner of the street behind them.

The eyes beneath the round top hat were filled with disbelief as he muttered to himself,

“Dark type... making evolved Pokémon devolve... that kid... is he joking?”

Normally, he would think it was just the ramblings of a young brat. However, after a brief covert observation, he noticed that Su Sheng exuded a maturity completely unbefitting his age, and his eyes contained a powerful confidence. It made him wonder if he... really could do it?

Sakaki remained silent for a long time.

At other times, even if he didn’t personally check, he would at least send a subordinate to follow that kid and see if he could pull off any tricks.

But now... he just wasn't in the mood.

For some time now, Sakaki had been secretly searching for his missing son.

He couldn’t find him in Kanto, so he ran over to Johto.

He hadn’t even used any of his Rocket Team subordinates.

That was because Sakaki hadn’t told anyone, including his subordinates, that he had a child.

Children often become a parent’s Achilles’ heel.

As the leader of Team Rocket, Sakaki had made countless enemies.

Once his rivals learned he had a son, who knew what would happen? A cunning old fox like Sakaki could hardly be oblivious to that.

So, he had kept this matter tightly under wraps.

Yet, despite all that, his child was still missing!

“Who on earth... is it?!”

Sakaki clenched his teeth in silence, not in the mood to deal with Su Sheng, and turned to blend back into the darkness.

...

Pokémon Center.

“Big sister, the food at the Pokémon Center is free, right?”

Su Sheng looked up, blinking his adorable eyes sweetly at Joy.

Along the way, he had gathered quite a bit of information using this disguise.

First of all, this was the city of Azalea in the Johto region.

However, unlike the timeline of the Pokémon world he was familiar with from playing games and watching animations in his past life, the current Kanto League Champion was the Ghost-type user, Grandma Kikuko, and not the Flying-type Champion.

That meant there were still several years until the storyline Su Sheng knew would unfold.

Moreover, Professor Oak hadn't invented the Pokédex yet, so the public also didn't know about the "Dark" type, which wasn't too common.

And all those Poké Ball transport devices and Pokémon healing machines that players used every day in the games... none of them existed here.

However, one thing was present.

Just like Ash in the animation, the Pokémon Center offered free medical services and food accommodations.

“Of course, little brother.”

Seeing such a cute little boy, Joy immediately responded with a smile from behind the counter.

Su Sheng felt he understood the joy of that little loser, Taozhu.

Ah, speaking of which, he regretted not destroying the World Government in his past life as his first regret, and the second was not taking out that annoying Taozhu.

When he heard that the Pokémon Center indeed provided free food, Su Sheng's face lit up with joy.

I love this world!

However, Joy's next sentence left Su Sheng dumbfounded.

“Little brother, please show me your Trainer ID.”

“Huh?”

Trainer... ID?

What is that?

Oh wait!

There seemed to be something like that in the games. He remembered it had the Trainer's name, Trainer number, and how many badges they had earned or something.

But it seemed like it was just a decoration, so he had never paid attention to it during his previous life playing games...

Seeing Su Sheng's expression change, Joy's bright smile turned a bit puzzled.

“Little friend, are you not a registered Trainer of the League? Then you'll have to pay; the accommodation and meal fee for one day is 1000 League coins.”

Su Sheng touched his pocket, which was cleaner than his face... and began calculating how to leave without looking too embarrassed.

“...How about this meal, sister treats you?”

Joy suddenly added.

“This...”

Su Sheng was a bit surprised.

Joy smiled, “This little amount of money, big sister can still afford.”

...

Half an hour later, in the restaurant of the Azalea City Pokémon Center, many Trainers looked at Su Sheng with expressions of disbelief.

Yes, it was indeed disbelief.

A starving ghost.

Even Moonlight Eevee, squatting on the ground with a bowl of Pokémon food in front of it, felt the food in the bowl was no longer appealing.

So awkward...

“Is it delicious?”

At that moment, Joy came over with a Chansey.

“Thank you, Sister Saori, I will repay you in the future.”

Su Sheng swallowed a mouthful of curry rice and gave Joy Saori a thumbs up.

From her introduction, Su Sheng learned that “Joy” was the surname of the Joy family.

After the surname, each Joy naturally had a first name.

And from Joy Saori, Su Sheng also learned a lot about the real Pokémon world.

Among them was the knowledge of “registered Trainers of the League.”

Only these Trainers could enjoy free accommodation and healing services at the Pokémon Center.

Just like the players in the games and Ash in the animations.

The condition to become a registered Trainer of the League was to pay a tax to the League every year from birth, and then at the age of 10, they would be issued a Pokémon with good qualifications.

Most of them were starter Pokémon.

However, this service could only last until the age of 20, during the minor period.

Uh, thinking about it, that makes sense.

If one could really eat and drink for free at the Pokémon Center their whole life, then how could there still be “working people” in this world?

In his past life, Su Sheng had encountered many Trainers classified as “business professionals” while playing games on the road.

However, after understanding all this, Su Sheng thought of another question —

Where did Ash's mom, Hanako, get her money?

Out of curiosity, Su Sheng asked Joy Saori how much tax one had to pay over ten years to become a registered Trainer.

After receiving the answer, Su Sheng was genuinely curious about where that seemingly ordinary Hanako, who didn't seem to work, got all that money in the animation.

Could it be sponsored by Professor Oak...? Cough! Can't think any more, or this book will disappear.

“...Little Sheng, you aren't an orphan, are you?”

Just as Su Sheng was lost in thought, Joy Saori suddenly asked.

Su Sheng: ???

Hey, hey, hey, why are you insulting people?