One-Ball Man

It was noon, right in the middle of the school lunch break.

At a cold drinks shop by the sea in Vermilion City, Xia You, Chloe, and his two Pokémon sat on opposite sides of a table. In front of each of them was a Super Sundae, each a different flavor and color.

As the shop's signature treat, the Super Sundae was not only delicious but chilled to the core. One bite barely passed the taste buds before a blast of cold shot straight to the back of the head!

Despite clutching her forehead from the cold, Chloe couldn't help praising it. "No matter how many times I have one, the Super Sundaes here always leave me wanting more!"

Perhaps it was the sugar, but she seemed a little more cheerful than before.

As for how the two of them had ended up here, that went back a little over ten minutes.

After lunch at the laboratory, Xia You had taken his two Pokémon for a stroll around town in his free time, hoping to enjoy the sights of this coastal city.

When he passed the school, he happened to run into Chloe on her lunch break and invited her to stop here for a while.

That was how they had ended up at this table.

Although they had only known each other for two short days, they had already grown fairly comfortable together, so sitting down like this wasn't too awkward.

In particular, Xia You's amusing stories from his travels had brought them closer.

After a few bites, the conversation turned back to Pokémon, and Chloe asked, "Mr. Xia You, what are you planning to do next?"

"My plans?" Listening to the soft music, Xia You stretched and turned to look out the window. "Although I've become a Special Research Investigator, it's really just a title. Professor Cerise hasn't given me any specific assignments, so besides collecting all the starter Pokémon, I want to start challenging Gyms and earning badges to prepare for challenging the Indigo League someday."

"Challenging Gyms?" Chloe didn't know much about Pokémon battles, so she asked curiously, "Are you going to challenge the Vermilion Gym?"

"The Vermilion Gym is still a little too much for me right now." Xia You shook his head and explained patiently, "Its Gym Leader, Lt. Surge, specializes in Electric-type Pokémon. Although Electric types don't have an advantage against Grass types, I'd still rather go to Cerulean City and Pewter City first, challenge the Cerulean Gym and the Pewter Gym, and hone my skills. But before I set off for those two Gyms, I need to catch one more Pokémon."

Chloe nodded, only half understanding. "So that's what they call expanding your team?"

"Exactly. It's actually just like progressing through a game," Xia You said with a smile. "You build up your strength first, then take on challenges from easy to hard. Clearing them one by one is what makes it fun!"

Outside the window, students wearing matching school uniforms passed along the street from time to time.

While they were talking, a slightly dark-skinned boy around Chloe's age happened to spot her through the open window. His eyebrows rose, and he approached curiously.

As he drew closer, he spotted Xia You as well, and his brows furrowed.

"Chloe, who's this?"

The boy spoke suddenly, his gaze shifting between Chloe's and Xia You's faces as though he was trying to read something in their expressions and the atmosphere between them.

"Goh? What are you doing here?"

Chloe was clearly a little startled to see him, but she didn't dwell on it and began introducing them.

"This is Mr. Xia You. He's now a Special Research Investigator at my dad's laboratory. Mr. Xia You, this is Goh. He's my classmate and my childhood friend."

In fact, Xia You had recognized Goh the moment he saw him.

He couldn't help it. Goh was just too famous!

His appearance and manner, in particular, were exactly the same as in the anime!

"Hello." Xia You gave him a friendly nod.

Seeing Xia You greet him, Goh quickly nodded in return.

"Hi, I'm Goh."

But looking at Xia You's handsome face, then at Chloe sitting across from him, Goh suddenly felt uncomfortable for some reason.

He couldn't explain why, but the feeling irritated him!

Just then, he noticed Ralts beside them, and his attention was completely drawn away.

"What Pokémon is that?" he asked in surprise.

"This is my Ralts," Xia You said casually. Seeing that Goh seemed about to lean in for a closer look, he added, "Don't let its appearance fool you. It's a Psychic- and Fairy-type Pokémon, and it doesn't really like strangers getting close, so you... should probably keep a little distance."

Goh clearly hadn't taken Xia You's words to heart. Looking at the well-behaved Ralts before him, he liked it more and more.

"It's so cute! I'll have to catch a Ralts someday, too!"

His words stirred a thought in Xia You's mind, and he asked, "Someday? Do you want to become a Pokémon Trainer, too?"

"I don't want to be a Pokémon Trainer." Goh shook his head. "My dream is to collect every Pokémon in the world, including Mew!"

Just as I thought!

Xia You wasn't at all surprised by his answer.

"But wouldn't that mean that, as you caught more and more Pokémon, they'd simply become part of your collection? Besides increasing their numbers, what else would you do with them?"

"Well..." Goh hesitated briefly, seemingly never having considered that question before. After a moment's thought, however, he said dismissively, "It doesn't matter. My goal is to collect them all. Everything else can wait until later!"

"Then we really are quite different." Xia You shook his head helplessly. "We Trainers keep catching Pokémon, too, but our goal is to grow stronger, reach greater heights together, and travel all over with our Pokémon. From that perspective, your way of catching them seems a little too self-centered."

Beside them, Chloe stared blankly at her sundae as she listened to Xia You.

Travel together with Pokémon?

It was something she had never imagined before, but that dream seemed rather nice, too.

After leaving Vermilion City, Xia You headed north along the broad road.

Ralts and Bulbasaur walked alongside him, one on either side.

The reason he hadn't returned them to their Poké Balls was that he had taken inspiration from Ash.

Traveling on foot with Pokémon not only trained their abilities but also strengthened their bonds. Besides, with them for company, the journey wouldn't feel so lonely.

As for their destination...

Naturally, they were heading toward the first Gym he wanted to challenge-the Cerulean Gym!

Judging by the map, however, reaching Cerulean City wouldn't be that easy.

Between it and Vermilion City lay Kanto's largest and most prosperous metropolis-Saffron City.

With its towering buildings, Saffron City was famous even in other regions. It also covered an enormous area, so passing through it would undoubtedly take much more time.

Come to think of it, Saffron City actually had two Gyms as well.

They were Sabrina's Saffron Gym and Kiyo's Fighting Gym.

However, Xia You knew his current strength wasn't enough to challenge either of them. Rather than rashly entering Saffron City, he went around it and headed straight for Cerulean City.

He walked and rested along the way, taking in the scenery.

Traveling like this was tiring, but it was good exercise, too.

After spending most of the day walking, he finally made his way around Saffron City.

While crossing a plain, he spotted a Pokémon in the grass that looked somewhat like a fox, and it caught his attention.

Most of its fur was brown, and it had a large, fluffy tail, short, slender legs, brown eyes, a little black nose, and long, rabbit-like ears that made it look very cute.

An Eevee in the wild!

Xia You recognized it at a glance, then took out his Pokédex and pointed it at the Eevee.

The Pokédex quickly responded.

"Beep. Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon. Normal type. It has the potential to evolve into multiple forms!"

That was all-one brief sentence, without even any detailed information.

Xia You didn't mind, though.

Since setting out, he had seen plenty of wild Pokémon along the way without feeling any desire to catch them-until he saw this Eevee.

Now that I've found one, I can't let it slip away!

"Bulbasaur, you're up!"

At Xia You's command, Bulbasaur cried out, then charged up to Eevee on all fours and took a battle stance.

"Bulba! Bulba!"

Bulbasaur called out twice at Eevee, and its tone made it clear that it seemed to be provoking its opponent.

At the sight of Bulbasaur, Eevee didn't flee. Instead, it gave an excited cry of its own, moved its legs, and actually attacked first!

"Oh? Interesting." Xia You's eyes lit up at the sight. "You're not afraid of humans? You're willing to attack first, and you're so excited that even your tail's sticking up. Looks like you've got quite a combative personality!"