After they finished laughing, Professor Elm said, "I actually came here at someone's request to help research a type of Poké Ball."
Then, seeing Xia You's travel-worn appearance, he couldn't help smiling. "Let me guess. You must have come here to challenge the Azalea Gym, right?"
"That's right." Xia You nodded. "I came here this time to challenge Bugsy, the Azalea Gym Leader!"
Professor Elm adjusted his glasses and mapped out Xia You's travel route in his mind.
"Given Azalea Town's location, you must have taken quite a long detour to only be challenging it now. By the way, how many Badges have you collected?"
"I did take quite a long detour, but fortunately, I gained a lot along the way too. As for Badges, I've already gotten my sixth."
"Six..." Professor Elm sighed with feeling. "That's hardly slow. From what I know, plenty of Pokémon Trainers who set out from New Bark Town have only collected four or five so far."
Was it really not slow?
Xia You smiled and shook his head, but offered no explanation.
If Team Rocket and other matters hadn't interfered, and he had simply focused on challenging Gyms, he would have collected all eight Badges long ago instead of dragging it out this long.
But that would have defeated the purpose of training his Pokémon, and he wouldn't have experienced the joys of traveling either.
Just then, Professor Elm also noticed Erika beside Xia You and couldn't help asking, "And this young lady is...?"
"Let me introduce you." Xia You stepped back to introduce the two. "This is Erika, the Leader of the Celadon Gym in Kanto. She's currently traveling with me. Erika, this is Professor Elm, a leading Pokémon Professor in the Johto Region and a former student of Professor Oak!"
Erika gave