Chapter 237

"..."

After listening to Mei's story, Sabrina and Cynthia exchanged a glance, and both seemed to breathe a slight sigh of relief.

"If those Ultra Beast really do have obvious weaknesses and limited strength, as you say, then they would indeed be much easier to deal with."

Sabrina nodded. A Pokémon with obvious weaknesses could be a huge threat to those who don't know it.

It presents a problem, but those who understand it can exploit this weakness to create a one-sided situation.

The Trainer in front of her undoubtedly possessed such abilities; if they were to find even the slightest opening, the battle would be over.

Cynthia, who was standing nearby, also offered her opinion.

"However... that Ultra Beast you mentioned before, which occupied the city and had an Elite Four-level Trainer and a Gym Leader on board who was close to Elite Four, that they couldn't defeat, is something we should keep an eye on."

"However, there aren't many records of Ultra Beast in the Alola Poneglyphs, so I can't offer much advice. But if you need special training, I can have Garchomp and the others accompany you."

Cynthia shook the book she was holding, which had four large characters written on it, "The History of Pokémon".

"I've been reading this book lately, so I won't be able to come with you."

"This is..."

Looking at the familiar name, Qiao Ran seemed to be deep in thought. In this world, most Pokémon Trainer have experience studying history. However, this voluminous book, "The History of Pokémon," is a compilation of historical insights by many professional historians, including Dr. Vivian.

"To understand a region, to understand a world, you have to start with its history... That's what my grandmother... Professor Carolina always said."

Cynthia stroked the book in her hands, her gaze softening.

"However, I find the history of Pokémon in this world quite interesting. They suddenly appeared in the world... and there's even a record of a nurse named Joe. Some of the parts that seem abrupt and unrelated actually have a mythological feel to them."

"..."

Upon hearing Cynthia's assessment of this world's history, Qiao Ran, a native of this world, fell silent for a moment.

These were things he had been taught since childhood, and he never seemed to have doubted them until he embarked on his Pokémon Journeys and began to see all sorts of things, at which point he began to Frisk something was amiss.

"Don't overthink it. I don't have any answers right now. I'll be heading to Zhenze Lake for a while in a few days, and I'll let you know as soon as I find anything."

To verify her ideas, Cynthia needs the information Phoebe has collected, and Phoebe also needs Cynthia to provide her with information about "that Pokémon." The two are completely in agreement, and it's only a matter of time before they get together.

The group chatted for a while longer, and Mei, who was standing to the side, seized the opportunity to ask a lot of strange questions, almost to the point of pouncing on them.

"By the way, how did today's Competition go?"

Qiao Ran suddenly remembered that there was supposed to be a Competition today—they were so focused on talking about Alola that they had almost forgotten about it.

"You still remember the Competition?"

Sabrina rolled her eyes and pointed to the side, where a golden trophy was displayed on a nearby cabinet, with the word "Champion" written on it.

"... While most viewers understand your decision to withdraw from the competition, the sudden withdrawal of all three of you is too unusual. Many viewers who can't stand it are complaining that they've been tricked and are demanding refunds."

"That guy, Nian Hongyu, ended up getting second place, but she seemed pretty unhappy about it."

"Ah... hahahaha."

Qiao Ran, Mei, and the others all wore awkward but polite smiles. What could they do about it? They didn't want it to happen either.

"However, what you should be most worried about is your account. Three people withdrew from the competition together, and they even posted videos together... Look at yourselves, the comments section under the videos is starting to get all sorts of weird stuff."

"This..."

Reminded by Sabrina, Qiao Ran quickly opened the website and checked. Sure enough, under the videos they had posted, there were many comments asking if the Uploader were safe. In addition to these, there were also speculations that they had been abducted by aliens, or that they had suddenly decided to elope. In short, the more bizarre the comments, the better.

Otherwise, there's no way to explain why they suddenly disappeared during the finals and then didn't participate, right?

"... I suggest you deal with this as soon as possible. This is a reminder from a senior colleague. Don't assume that if this trend continues, it will develop in the direction you want."

"Um."

Qiao Ran nodded. These things did need to be dealt with, but... they'd probably have to stay in Alola for the next few days searching for Lusamine's whereabouts. Asking them to make some videos to calm things down probably wouldn't be feasible; they couldn't exactly film their daily battles against Ultra Beast, could they?

That would be incredibly reckless.

"There's no other way but to post an update and explain."

Qiao Ran sighed. He did want to make a video to make amends to those who had supported them, but he really didn't have the time to do so right now.

At least... they should compensate those who were drawn to their Competition, bought tickets to the finals, only to be stood up in the end.

They really have a tough time.

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"However, more and more people are moving in now."

Although Sabrina had said that her house was quite big, she still felt pressured looking at the large group of people in front of her.

There are now six people here.

Her room is just right for three people, but it would be a bit too crowded for four, and as for five... forget about it.

As for the other rooms, only Qiao Ran's room had a bed; she couldn't possibly let everyone else squeeze in with Qiao Ran, could she?

So, you... you'll be sleeping on the sofa tonight.

After thinking for a while, Sabrina looked at Qiao Ran. She could only come up with this one solution after much deliberation; she couldn't possibly let the other girls sleep on the sofa, could she?

"Um... how about I go to the Pokémon World and find a place to spend the night?"

Qiao Ran's lips twitched. He said he was going to the Pokémon World, but his first thought was still the Wild Area. It wasn't a good time to go back to Spikemuth, and as for Unova and Alola... those were definitely not places to rest.

"Isn't it very dangerous over there? How can you really rest...?"

Sabrina looked suspicious. Based on the information Qiao Ran had previously revealed, the Pokémon World was fraught with danger. Now he was saying they could go Pokémon World to rest... Could he be hiding something from her?

"... Okay, it is indeed very dangerous."

Under Sabrina's suspicious gaze, Qiao Ran could only wave her hand and give up the idea. This girl was like a fox; she had Frisk something was wrong as soon as she said just a little more.

Qiao Ran didn't plan to reveal the details of the Wild Area casually; it was his most fundamental trump card.

"So you're going to be a guest tonight..."

"No, Qiao Ran can't sleep in the living room. He's exhausted from Hilbert and needs a good rest."

When Sabrina was halfway through her speech, Lillie suddenly interrupted and voiced her objection.

Today at the Aether House, Lillie fully displayed her status as a young lady, and she still exudes the same aura she had back then.

"Yeah, his bed can probably sleep two people, four on one side and two on the other."

Mei chimed in, saying that today's battle was already exhausting. If they were to continue fighting at this intensity for the next few days, then rest would definitely be a crucial issue. If Qiao Ran were to sleep on the sofa in the living room and didn't get enough sleep, it would certainly affect the entire team's fighting capacity.

Among the group, Qiao Ran, as the commander, was the one who couldn't afford to make any mistakes. After experiencing today's team battle, Mei realized this even more deeply.

"This..."

Hearing Lillie and Mei's words, Sabrina frowned, looking somewhat conflicted.

"If that's the arrangement, then it means someone has to be with him..."

Everyone was silent for a moment, and finally, Lillie stepped forward.

"Since... in that case, I'll do it. Since I raised this question, I'll..."

Her hand rested on her chest, exuding an aura of righteousness and fortitude.

"Then I'll..." Mei in, seeing the situation.

Sabrina: "..."

What's going on with you guys? Why are you suddenly arguing about this?

"No, it's too much to let you do this... It's my fault as the host for not arranging accommodations properly. At least, we should be fair on this issue."

Sabrina stretched out her hand and conjured a piece of paper in it. A blue light flashed in her eyes, and the piece of paper instantly transformed into five strips of paper, each divided into five equal parts.

"Let's draw lots. Whoever draws it gets to sleep over there with this guy."

"..."

The girls exchanged glances, and finally nodded.

Even Cynthia smiled helplessly and did not directly object.

"There's nothing we can do about it... Sometimes when we're doing archaeological work in the field, Caitlin and I have to squeeze into a tiny place to rest..."

Qiao Ran, listening from the side, twitched at the corner of her mouth. These two questions weren't the same at all, were they? They were completely different!

However, seeing that none of these people directly objected, Qiao Ran didn't say anything more.

He just hoped,

I just hope I can sleep in bed tonight.

Night.

"..."

"..."

Qiao Ran lay on her bed in her room, but she still felt uneasy.

This feeling didn't come from today's battle, nor from accumulated fatigue, but from the person lying "opposite" to me.

"You... you're still awake?"

The moment Qiao Ran opened her eyes, she saw the other person watching her, like a Watchog always on guard.

"You should go to sleep first."

The woman with Purple Long Hair never let her guard down; besides her Psychic, she was constantly observing the outside world with her eyes.

"Forehead."

Qiao Ran was both amused and exasperated. What was the reason... that she was the one who ended up drawing the lot?

If it were Lillie or Mei, it definitely wouldn't be this troublesome. Even with Mei... their relationship would be much more harmonious. As for Cynthia, Qiao Ran simply couldn't imagine what that would be like.

Perhaps, such a thing would only happen in another timeline.

As for now— Qiao Ran can only face this Psychic type queen who is extremely wary and suspicious of everyone else.

Even though she was sleeping right next to him, wearing only a thin nightgown, and he could even smell her fragrance, Sabrina, as a superstar in the Pokémon World, was undeniably more charming than those girls in every way. Although Lillie and Mei were already very pretty, Sabrina was definitely more attractive than those little girls in every way.

Even in this casual, makeup-free state, her beauty is undeniable, except... this incredibly frustratingly constant surveillance. Does this guy really not trust me enough?

He's been fighting in Alola all day; there's no way he could do anything to her. He's not some Monster with unlimited energy.

"Go to sleep."

Sabrina urged him again. It seemed that this guy really intended to wait until he fell Rest before going to sleep himself. However, Qiao Ran himself was also finding it a bit too much to keep an eye on him like this.