Why is my Pokémon girl a bit strange?

The age for embarking on an adventure had been raised, but by the time Mei set out, that standard had dropped considerably.

At times, Mei even wondered if she was the so-called protagonist of the world, but... after certain events, her perspective did change.

"Continue! Serperior, tighten your grip!"

After using Leaf Storm, a Pokémon's Special Attack drops significantly. To cope with this downtime, Mei commanded Serperior to use another move.

"Swoosh..."

The level advantage made it impossible for the poachers to resist. Moreover, the synergy between Mei and Serperior was something these people couldn't compare to.

In the blink of an eye, a Primeape lost consciousness under Serperior's bind. Looking at the remaining Pokémon, Serperior held its head high, a hint of mockery and provocation in its eyes.

"You... you bastard!"

Seeing those eyes, the poachers wished they could rush forward and kick it. However, facing the opponent's strength, they didn't even have the ability to resist.

This time, they had miscalculated.

On the other side, the poachers' leader was also in big (censored censored censored) trouble.

"Not only did a Gym Leader show up... that little girl over there is also so strong... and that guy using the strange Pokémon..."

Looking at the battlefield, which had already descended into chaos before him, he had bitten his lip until it bled.

If it were just one Gym Leader, his Pokémon could still hold them off for a while, allowing others to get into the truck and grab the target. But... if two people of this caliber appeared, he would be completely helpless.

The most crucial point was that his prediction had been predicted by the opponent's prediction. This was absolutely the most unexpected thing for him. These people... they were clearly aiming to capture them all!

"Retreat! Everyone, retreat!"

The battle was becoming more and more stalemated, which meant it was becoming more and more disadvantageous for them. The poachers' leader shouted the retreat signal. Although he no longer knew how many people would be able to escape, in this situation, it was better to save as many as possible.

"Don't even think about running!"

Iron Maiden swung her steel shovel, wanting to block the poachers' leader. She would definitely get revenge for the insults directed at her name.

"You think I'll really not run just because you told me not to?"

The poachers' leader was also getting angry, but he had to bow his head for now. The low-level poachers could be caught, but he had to escape.

However, in the chaos, all sorts of vehicles were either exploding or damaged. There was no other way, so he had to recall his Pokémon and then jump directly into the forest on the sides of the road.

His movements were very agile, clearly indicating he was an experienced fugitive. Seeing their boss take the lead in fleeing, the order among the other poachers immediately broke down, and everyone was busy trying to save their own lives.

Taking advantage of the enemy's disarray, Qiao Ran, who was on the sidelines, was happily gaining experience. He even sent out his lower-level Altaria to rack up points. With Iron Maiden and the others holding the front line, it was only natural for Qiao Ran to slack off a bit here.

"Altaria! Hyper Voice!"

"Chirrr—!"

Altaria spread its wings in the air, and agitated sound waves emanated from its vicinity. All Pokémon within the reach of this energy wave suffered immense damage.

As an area-of-effect attack skill of the Normal type, the reward brought by Hyper Voice was unimaginable. This was also Qiao Ran's reliance for having Altaria gain experience—it was simply too efficient.

In almost no time, Altaria's level had reached 19. Her level wasn't very high yet, and leveling up was really fast when the level wasn't high. However, as the level got higher and higher, the difficulty of leveling up would also increase, and that would be the real challenge.

On the other side, Iron Maiden, standing on Aggron, began her surrender speech.

"Your leader has already escaped! The rest of you should quickly surrender! If you continue to resist, your crimes will only be compounded! Do you want to taste my shovel?!"

As the Steel Gym Leader, Iron Maiden couldn't use her speed advantage to chase after the escaped poachers' leader. However, suppressing the small fries who remained here was still a piece of cake.

"You... have failed!"

Section 66 065 [First Meeting]

Following Iron Maiden's declaration, a group of Steel-type Pokémon roared. Under the intimidation of Iron Maiden herself and her Pokémon, some poachers who felt they couldn't escape directly chose to surrender, while others who felt they had some strength and wanted to escape were knocked to the ground by Iron Maiden's shovel, one by one.

Although she couldn't deal with some powerful Pokémon, Iron Maiden was already in an invincible position when dealing with humans.

"Help me get some handcuffs from the truck. We should be done soon."

Iron Maiden looked at Qiao Ran, who was slacking off nearby. She needed to keep an eye on these people to prevent them from escaping, so this task could only be handed over to Qiao Ran.

"Alright."

Qiao Ran shrugged and took the unadorned car key from Iron Maiden's hand.

—As expected of a straightforward Steel type. Everything is so plain and unremarkable.

Although he was now doing errands, Qiao Ran had no complaints. He had profited quite a bit from this operation, especially since Altaria's level had increased to a considerable extent.

Although he couldn't participate in higher-level battles yet, one day, he would also grow to a level that others would look up to—he looked forward to that day.

After Qiao Ran left, the scientific research team members on the truck also came out to gather. Iron Maiden saw Dr. Lilia and immediately went up to greet her.

"Did you find anything interesting?"

"Forget it. You're not interested in these things, and you'll definitely find it boring if I tell you."

The two of them felt no reservation, chatting casually as if everything that had just happened was as simple as eating or drinking.

"Hi... Sister Tie." Mei, standing beside them, also greeted her. However, judging by her timid appearance, she was probably one of those unfortunate children who had misspoken once and then experienced Iron Maiden's brute strength.

"Little Mei performed very well today. In a few years, she might even become an Elite Four member. Lilia would be overjoyed to have an Elite Four member as an assistant at night."

Iron Maiden couldn't help but tease Mei, but everything she said was the absolute truth. With a child like Mei, who possessed both talent and strength, by Lilia's side, she could feel much more at ease about her friend's safety.

Lilia was not one to sit still; her lifelong ambition was to explore various places. Exploration, by its nature, always came with danger. In the past, Iron Maiden had always cleared the path for Lilia, but now, that task had fallen to Mei.

"Oh, right, the person who was talking to me earlier... aren't they here?"

Suddenly, Lilia mentioned the person she had been communicating with mentally. It was that person's words that had guided her here. Although the poachers had also set up an ambush here, this counter-ambush against the poachers was undoubtedly extremely successful.

However, Lilia couldn't see a second person beside Iron Maiden no matter how she looked. Had they left?

"Him... he went to my car to get handcuffs. That guy, like Mei, is also a very talented kid. To be able to skillfully use psychic powers to command Pokémon in battle at this age... honestly, I've never seen anyone so terrifying."

"Commanding battles..."

Lilia blinked in surprise. She felt she couldn't do such a thing, as her own psychic powers had limits.

"Not only that, but he and your sister also..." Hmph hmph.

Iron Maiden trailed off, then pursed her lips, revealing a knowing smile. What she meant could only be left to Lilia's imagination.

"Eve? You saw her? I heard she ran away from home for a while..."

Mentioning Eve made Lilia anxious. She had heard this news just before officially entering the ruins, but since she had already entered the formal secret exploration procedure, she couldn't leave. Therefore, now that she was back, she definitely needed to know where Eve was.

"She's at my gym right now. Don't worry, she's fine. She was also well protected by someone on the way."

Iron Maiden revealed everything directly. However, listening to her account, Lilia felt that her good friend's tone carried a hint of... envy?

The conversation between the few of them continued, and it was at this moment that Qiao Ran, carrying the handcuffs, also walked over.

"Phew—this thing is so much easier than a shovel."

Qiao Ran placed a bag of handcuffs on the ground and wiped the sweat from his forehead. After the hellish training with the endless shoveling, he finally felt the progress in his body. Although he was still far from being able to tear apart legendary Pokémon with his bare hands, Qiao Ran was always working hard.

Someday, he would repay all the humiliation he suffered from Dianxi and the others.

"Good job."

Iron Maiden patted Qiao Ran's shoulder with a smile, then picked up the strap and went to work. Before leaving, she specifically said to the group.

"Oh, Lilia, this is the person you were just talking about. Qiao Ran, this is Eve's sister, Dr. Lilia, and her assistant Mei. You should get acquainted."

"This...!"

Upon hearing Iron Maiden's words, the three people on both sides exchanged glances, sizing each other up.

Qiao Ran looked at Mei. This girl... was almost exactly as he remembered or imagined, perhaps even more charming.

Mei and Lilia were also observing him, this boy they were meeting for the first time.

Dr. Lilia, in particular, wore an extremely strange expression, scanning him up and down with eyes as if she were looking at a rare creature.

"You... you're a man???"

"Me?"

Qiao Ran pointed at himself, his face full of confusion. Why wasn't he a man?

Wait, did he not look like a man?

Did he need to verify his identity when introducing himself?

"No... I mean, the voice that communicated with me using psychic powers... it was clearly a girl... no, perhaps a young girl?

In any case, it's completely different from you!"

Lilia was also utterly bewildered, her speech becoming a little incoherent. This was the first time she had encountered such a situation. It felt as awkward as a two-meter-tall burly man opening his mouth and speaking with the voice of a little girl.

"This..."

Qiao Ran's eyebrows twitched. He seemed to realize where the problem lay.

Dianxi... Dianxi, that guy must have said something strange just now!

Section 67 066 [Please... ]

"This kind of thing is just a minor issue. Besides, there are so many psychic users; there are definitely people whose voices differ from their actual voices."

Qiao Ran began to talk nonsense with great certainty. Although he didn't know what Dianxi had said, he had to cover this up.

If he didn't cover it up, even Mei next to him was looking at him strangely.

"Hmm... Is that so?"

Dr. Lilia tilted her head. She hadn't researched this matter, but since Qiao Ran had explained it this way, she decided to believe his reasoning.

After finishing this topic, the three of them continued their rambling chat. Qiao Ran intentionally or unintentionally tried to create an opportunity to be alone with Mei, but he never found a good moment to make his move.

"This is difficult..."

Seeing Mei, especially a living Mei, Qiao Ran's heart was undoubtedly filled with excitement. However, what he wanted to talk to Mei about might not be something others should know—if she was indeed that Mei.

First point, as a native inhabitant of the Pokémon world, Mei would definitely not be like the people in this world, not even knowing what a "legendary Pokémon" is. How would she react if she saw Qiao Ran's Pokémon?

Second point, as the price for coming to this world, what exactly had Mei gone through? Had her experiences been known to others?

With these thoughts, Qiao Ran finally took advantage of a moment when the other two weren't paying attention, wrote a few words on a piece of paper, and held it tightly in his hand.

He was waiting for his chance.

The League's reinforcements arrived quickly. After Iron Maiden secured the situation, the poachers were all stuffed into vehicles in no time. Iron Maiden then clapped her hands, declaring the mission concluded.

"Alright, we should be heading back now."

"Mm."

As everyone else left, Qiao Ran secretly stayed behind, quietly approaching Mei.

"Wh—" Mei had keenly noticed Qiao Ran's movement, but just as she was about to say something, she heard him softly whisper two words in her ear.

—"Unova."

"…!"

In that instant, Mei's body felt as if it had been struck by lightning, and she froze on the spot. The reason for her immense reaction wasn't just the warm, ticklish sensation on her ear; the primary reason was those two words—Unova.

These two words, at first glance, seemed ordinary. However, this was the name of Mei's hometown. Only people from the Pokémon world would know this name!

"You…!"

Mei panted, looking at Qiao Ran with an expression she'd never shown before. Her eyes held nostalgia, shock, excitement, and disbelief, but most of all, it was the joy of meeting someone from her homeland.

Due to her overwhelming emotion, a faint blush even appeared on her face.

However, Qiao Ran interrupted her once more, forcefully taking her hand and shoving a piece of paper into it.

"Shh—"

Having done all this, Qiao Ran decisively chose to leave, without any hesitation. There were too many people around, and this was not the best place to discuss matters. He needed a time when they could be alone to discuss things more deeply.

Returning to the group, Iron Maiden, who was ahead, suddenly looked at Qiao Ran, revealing an extremely, extremely meaningful expression.

"It seems… you two have a very good relationship. It's already at this level?"

"Wh—What do you mean?" Qiao Ran couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. How much had this woman seen?

"Don't play dumb. As a man, don't be too greedy. Otherwise, I'll help little Eve clean house, hmph."