Chapter 49: On the Eve of the Challenge
(First update!! New book, please collect, please give flowers. Thanks to “Happy Chase Book” boss for the tip!)
The stall had various kinds of stones, but they weren't as big as those in Wu Neng's stall, and they appeared more refined.
There were also some crafts, necklaces, bracelets, rings, and the like, all made from processed minerals. Xiao Zhi's eyes fell upon a necklace.
It was strung together with black elastic cord, and the pendant below was carved from a material similar to transparent glass. It was a cylindrical pendant about the length of a finger, but it was empty inside.
"How much is this?" Xiao Zhi casually picked it up and asked.
"Customer, you have great taste! This is made from rare, hard crystal and is a pendant used to store rare gems. It only costs 500 yuan." The owner saw this and quickly started to promote his product.
People in this world were generally honest, of course, this doesn't mean there were no scammers. For example, Xiao Jiro had encountered some, but in Nibi City, where rocks and minerals were popular, selling fake goods was a serious crime.
After all, Nibi City was famous for its minerals and didn't allow this kind of behavior. Xiao Zhi held the pendant in his hand.
This was originally a pendant used to store various beautiful minerals, but it couldn't store many, it was mainly for decoration, and the price wasn't expensive. Xiao Zhi looked at the texture and it was indeed very hard.
"I'll take it!" He put the pendant away and then paid.
"Thank you for your patronage. Would you like to pick out some matching gems? We have a wide selection of high-quality and affordable gems here!" He naturally had some gems with exquisite craftsmanship and various colors to go with the pendants.
"No, thank you!"
"Okay, thank you for your patronage." After hearing Xiao Zhi's reply, the owner didn't say anything more.
After buying the things, Xiao Zhi left. As for Xia, she didn't seem interested in these things. The girls in this world didn't seem to care much for jewelry.
Maybe girls like Xia would find the perfume in Rainbow City more appealing than these jewels.
"Xiao Zhi, what did you buy this for?" Xia asked curiously, feeling that Xiao Zhi wasn't the type to care much about appearances.
Xiao Zhi took something out of his pocket and waved it in front of Xia, Xia glanced at it and recognized it as the feather of the Pokémon that appeared from the rainbow they had encountered earlier.
"I was afraid of losing it if I kept it in my bag or pocket!" He replied to Xia, opened the pendant, and then put the colored feather inside.
Although it wasn't glowing now, the feather itself was like a diamond carving, and it would look like it was glowing when placed in a place with light. After being placed in the pendant, it looked like a gem.
The originally empty and ordinary pendant instantly had a different kind of beauty. Xia's eyes lit up, and she had to say, the colored feather looked quite good inside.
After putting it away, Xiao Zhi closed the pendant, then hung it around his neck and put it inside his T-shirt.
This was just a small interlude. The two quickly arrived at the city center, which was the Pokémon Center. They entered the Pokémon Center together and went to the front desk.
"Please take care of my Pokémon, Ms. Joy." He took out the Poké Balls.
Unbeknownst to him, he had already captured six Pokémon, including Pikachu. Compared to Xiaomou's capture style, he might be a bit behind, but compared to the anime, his capture progress was much faster.
In the anime, by the time they arrived in Nibi City, Xiao Zhi only had Pikachu, Pidgey, and Butterfree. Now he had two more than in the anime.
He was originally worried about only having Pikachu, because Pidgey didn't have much of an advantage against Rock and Ground types, but now he had some confidence.
"Ms. Joy, please take care of them!"
When he saw Ms. Joy, Xiao Zhi wasn't surprised. They all looked exactly the same and were hard to tell apart, except for the color of the cross on their hats, which made it almost impossible to tell them apart.
"Okay, Xiao Zhi, leave it to me! Your Pokémon will be back to their best in no time!" Ms. Joy replied enthusiastically and warmly. Xia also took out her Poké Balls.
"Hmm? Does Ms. Joy know Xiao Zhi?" Xia asked, a bit confused, hearing Joy call Xiao Zhi's name.
"Yes! I heard about your situation in Constantia from my sister. Thanks to you, you stopped Team Rocket from getting away!" The Pokémon from the Pokémon Center in Constantia were all transferred here.
They were only transferred back after they confirmed that Constantia was safe. The Joy in Constantia also explained the situation of Xiao Zhi and Xia.
"So that's how it is!" Xia nodded knowingly.
"It's nothing, just a little help. Please take care of the Pokémon." Xiao Zhi replied casually. As a trainer, things like this would be common from now on.
"Okay! You two can go eat dinner first, it'll probably be done after you finish dinner." Ms. Joy replied, taking Xiao Zhi and Xia's Poké Balls, as well as Pikachu, and left with the Chansey.
"Alright, let's go!" Xiao Zhi said to Xia after watching Ms. Joy leave.
Then the two of them went to the restaurant for dinner. After about half an hour, they could see the Pokémon League tournament posters in some prominent places in the center.
Many trainers were also looking at the posters. It was clear that the Pokémon League tournament was a big draw for trainers.
"So many people are looking at the posters. It seems like the league tournament is very competitive!"
"Yeah! But that's what makes it fun." Xiao Zhi didn't care too much. There were many trainers in this world, but not many could really stand out. Those who could participate in the League tournament were already considered elite trainers.
Being able to enter the finals and win the championship was even rarer, but the more rivals, the more interesting it was.
Seeing Xiao Zhi's confident look, Xia was a bit stunned. She didn't know what gave this boy such confidence, but she didn't feel it was a case of naivete.
They went to the front desk, retrieved their Pokémon, Pikachu, who had recovered his energy, hopped onto Xiao Zhi's shoulder, and the two of them checked into the Pokémon Center. Xiao Zhi went to bed early to rest up and prepare for tomorrow's gym battle.