Shiqiao informed Officer Junsha about what happened at the auction, and Junsha also came over to thank Xiaomo.
“You’re Xiaomo, right? I’ve heard about your deeds in Constantia. Thank you for this. Otherwise, we might have had casualties.”
“Officer Junsha, you're too kind. This is something any citizen should do.” Xiaomo politely replied.
Junsha didn't stay long. She had the Rocket members taken away and left some officers behind to guard the area, just in case something else happened.
“Mr. Shiqiao, everything is fine now. We’ll leave.” Xiaomo decided to leave since nothing else happened. He hadn’t found any Pokémon he wanted, so it was a wasted trip, not to mention the Rocket Team trouble.
“Please stay a while longer, gentlemen.” Shiqiao stopped them and said, “You have helped our auction house so much. I haven't even thanked you yet.”
Xiaomo and Nacia were both stunned. It seemed the other party was going to give them a gift. How could they refuse?
Although they really wanted the gift, they still had to be polite about it.
“No need to thank us. If we hadn’t stepped in, Rocket Team would have targeted us.” Xiaomo said.
“No, it’s necessary to thank you.” Shiqiao said firmly, “You must have come to the auction for Pokémon. What Pokémon do you need? Just tell me. Consider it a gift.”
Xiaomo and Nacia looked at each other. They didn't expect to be able to get a Pokémon for free from the auction.
“Since it's a Pokémon, then I won’t be polite. Mr. Shiqiao, I want a Pidgey or a Pidgeotto with gym potential.” Xiaomo said.
“I want a Slowpoke, one with gym potential or above.” Nacia said.
“Ah...Pidgey and Slowpoke...!”
Shiqiao thought he heard wrong. He was prepared to spend a fortune, but Xiaomo and Nacia wanted such ordinary Pokémon.
“Is there a problem?” Xiaomo asked.
Although the auction didn’t have the Pokémon Xiaomo wanted, the strength of this auction house was apparent. The Pokémon he wanted wasn’t anything rare. They should be able to provide it.
“No problem. It’s just that the Pokémon you want are too common. You can ask for something rarer, and I can find it for you.” Shiqiao said.
“Something rarer… then I want a Skarmory.” Nacia said.
“Ms. Nacia, don’t joke. Skarmory is a forbidden Pokémon. We are a legitimate auction house.” Shiqiao was sweating.
You want something rarer, not a Pseudo-Legendary, ok?
“Then Slowpoke.” Nacia said.
“Alright, that’s settled. I'll try to find one with high potential.” Shiqiao said.
“When can Mr. Shiqiao bring the Pokémon?” Xiaomo asked.
“I’ll ask around at other auctions. Give me your phone number. Once I find one, I’ll contact you, Mr. Xiaomo.” Shiqiao said.
“Okay.”
So the two exchanged phone numbers, and Xiaomo and Nacia left the auction.
He originally planned to stay in Fuchsia City for the weekend, but now that the Pidgeot problem was solved, Xiaomo decided to head to the next city, Cinnabar Island.
......!
The next morning.
Xiaomo and Nacia rode their mountain bikes towards Route 6. This road was also the way back to Viridian City, but with a fork in the road.
Xiaomo and Nacia planned to go to Cinnabar Island through the fork, which was closer and would pass through a town called Hearthome Town. There was also a gym in the town.
There were more than eight gyms recognized by the League in the Kanto region. In the original story, when Ash collected seven badges, Xiaomo had already collected ten badges.
And these ten badges only overlapped with three of Ash’s. The other seven badges were from gyms that didn’t appear in the anime.
Xiaomo also planned to collect more badges, mainly to complete system tasks. Since challenging the Cerulean Gym triggered a task, other gyms should trigger them too.
Those gym leaders couldn’t be weaker than the Cerulean Gym leader, could they?
According to the rules set by the Pokémon League, each region can only have a maximum of 18 recognized gyms.
As long as you obtain eight of these badges, you can participate in the League’s regional tournament.
However, the Kanto region currently doesn't have 18 gyms yet. For example, there are two private gyms in the Dark City vying for the status of official gyms.
Hearthome Town wasn’t that far from Fuchsia City. Xiaomo and Nacia arrived in the evening.
Xiaomo didn't rush to challenge the Hearthome Gym. The next day, he went to the public training ground to ask some trainers about Hearthome Town.
From the townspeople, he learned that the gym leader of Hearthome Gym is Ichiro. He uses Normal-type Pokémon and is very strong, at least none of the trainers in town could defeat him.
“Normal-type, quite rare.”
Normal-type gyms are very rare because Normal-type Pokémon have no advantage in type matchups. Therefore, there are few Normal-type gyms in each region.
However, if there is a Normal-type gym, the gym leader is usually quite strong because Normal-type Pokémon have few weaknesses, so their strength is quite average.
Speaking of Normal-type Pokémon, Xiaomo hadn’t even caught a single Normal-type Pokémon.
Xiaomo also didn’t have a Fighting-type Pokémon, so he wouldn’t have any advantage in this gym battle.
After finding out the basic information about Hearthome Gym, Xiaomo went to check it out in the afternoon, hoping to trigger a system task.
When Xiaomo arrived at Hearthome Gym, the system prompt sounded.
【Ding! Task released: Obtain the Hearthome Gym badge/Reward: Medium Rare Candy X10, Permanent Skill Learning Machine: Low Kick, Premium Silk Scarf (Normal-type skill power increased by 50%) X1.】
“Wow, 10 Medium Rare Candies, a 120 power skill learning machine!” Xiaomo was immediately stunned.
After challenging several gyms, Xiaomo realized the system rewards were determined by the strength of the gym leader. This Ichiro must be stronger than Brock.
After all, Xiaomo challenged Nacia and got Medium Rare Candies as a reward. Of course, that had something to do with Nacia being a psychic.
Ichiro wasn’t a psychic, and his strength was real. 10 Medium Rare Candies were fitting. The Pokémon Ichiro used should be above level 30.
“Should I use an item to raise his level?”
Xiaomo felt it was not safe and wanted to raise Squirtle’s level.
Squirtle was currently at level 31. He needed to evolve in just five levels, and he would need five Medium Rare Candies.
It wasn’t that Xiaomo was worried about losing. He just didn’t want to waste another day here.