"Ah!" Xiao Duo sighed, then caught sight of a figure approaching from the corner of her eye.
Turning her head, she saw a handsome black-haired young man with an extraordinary bearing walking over, dressed in the Inspector Academy uniform.
She froze, then asked excitedly, "Are you a senior student from the Inspector Academy?"
Eichi was taken aback. Since when was he her senior?
He said, "Oh, you're a student at the academy too?"
"How come I've never seen you at school?"
As he spoke, Eichi fixed Xiao Duo with a sharp gaze.
Xiao Duo panicked under his stare and said awkwardly, "Not yet, but I will be soon."
"Oh, really? Then good luck."
"By the way, what are you doing here?" Eichi asked, though he already knew the answer.
Xiao Duo said dejectedly, "I'm trying to catch my first Pokémon."
"But no matter how hard I try, I can't catch one."
"I can't beat them, they're faster than me, and even if I get them into a Poké Ball, they break free almost immediately."
This was where she differed from Eichi. Back then, he had been able to catch Pokémon even without battling them.
He had no idea why. Maybe he had simply been luckier.
Eichi smiled. "Have you thought about why?"
Xiao Duo shook her head tiredly. She was exhausted and discouraged, completely unable to calm down and think.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't come up with a solution.
Eichi sat down beside Xiao Duo and asked, "Do you know how other people catch Pokémon?"
"Then think about how you've been trying to catch them."
Guided by Eichi, Xiao Duo muttered to herself, "Other people battle Pokémon, wear down their stamina, or make them lose the ability to fight before catching them."
"I've just been throwing