So Shen Qi had naturally assumed that these children in the Alola Region had been born a decade or more later than those in Kanto.
He really had overthought it.
In the anime, Ash had traveled for twenty-five years and was still ten years old. Wherever he went, his companions were all around ten.
In particular, the XY games actually connected to the Mega Evolution World Line. Players had no idea what the Alola Region in the Normal World Line was like.
"Xiao Ming..."
"Huh?"
"How old is Mallow now?"
"Well..." Xiao Ming glanced toward the kitchen.
Trevenant was helping Mallow cook in the open kitchen.
"Mallow is sixteen, only three years younger than me."
"Huh?!"
Shen Qi suddenly felt a little wronged over those two blows from the ladle. "A sixteen-year-old can still be a little girl! Did she have to chase me down and hack at me?!"
"Teenagers here are pretty sensitive about age, after all. Even at nineteen, there's a big difference between me and someone who's twenty."
In the Alola Region, island captains could only be under twenty. Once they passed twenty, they had to step down.
The main reason Xiao Ming was in such a hurry to take on the Island Challenge was that he was almost twenty.
After twenty, even if he completed the Island Challenge and obtained its certificate, it would only prove his strength and qualify him to join the Island Guard. It was equivalent to an advanced Alolan Badge, but it would not let him become a captain.
Mallow faced a predicament too. In a little over a year, she would have to leave her position as captain of the Shady Jungle area on Akala Island. The height she truly wanted to reach was Island Kahuna, equivalent to a Gym Leader.