Chapter 57: Little Gang Joins
(Second update!! New book requests for collection and flowers!)
“Little Zhi, that uncle just now seemed kind of strange.”
Walking on the way to the Pokémon Center, Xia also noticed something was off about Wu Neng.
“He felt ashamed!” Little Zhi responded casually.
Xia was confused. Why would the uncle feel ashamed? Now that she thought about it, what Little Zhi said was also a little strange.
“Why??”
“Can’t you see? That Wu Neng, he’s the irresponsible father.” Little Zhi didn’t try to hide anything. Hearing his words, Xia was stunned in surprise.
“Ah! You mean, he’s… he’s Little Gang’s father? But how did you know, Little Zhi?” She hadn’t expected the uncle to be Little Gang’s father.
“Even though Little Gang is a Gym Leader, it’s not like he’d go around telling everyone about his parents leaving, right?”
“If that uncle wasn’t related to Little Gang, how could he know so much?” Little Zhi replied. He already knew in his heart, and didn’t need to analyze this, he was just explaining to Xia.
“That doesn’t necessarily prove he’s related to Little Gang, does it?”
“Even though a Gym Leader is a city’s pride, why would ordinary citizens say those things just because they see someone challenging the Gym Leader? And he even knew about Little Gang’s dream.”
Little Zhi couldn’t help but smile. If it weren’t someone close, how would ordinary citizens casually say, “You can’t beat Little Gang, he’s really strong?”
Little Gang being strong was one thing, but no matter how proud the citizens were, they wouldn’t be nosy enough to care about others challenging him or not.
“That’s true!” Xia nodded slightly. That made sense, she herself was a Gym Leader, and she probably understood.
“Ah!! Then Little Zhi, didn’t he hear what you said just now?” Realizing this, Xia exclaimed in surprise. Little Zhi had said those things about Little Gang’s parents, hadn’t he heard it all?
“I said it on purpose in front of him. If he still sees himself as a father, he should have gone home to apologize to his children by now.”
If he didn’t know, then Wu Neng wouldn’t know that Little Zhi knew his identity. And Little Zhi knew his identity, so he said those things on purpose.
“Oh~~~ So that’s why you said if you were Little Gang’s parents, you would immediately go home to apologize to your kids. That’s what you meant!” Xia thought Little Zhi was just angry about this irresponsible pair of parents and said that.
Now she understood that Little Zhi had said it on purpose. He seemed so serious at the Gym, but he must have been sympathetic to Little Gang’s situation!
“Mm-hmm.” Little Zhi just nodded slightly. Although they hadn’t met in this world, perhaps due to the influence of the anime, he naturally felt a sense of kinship towards these companions from the anime.
......
Not long after, the two arrived at the Pokémon Center and entered.
“Nurse Joy, please take care of them!” At the reception desk, he took out Eevee’s Poké Ball and also put Pikachu on the counter.
Although they didn’t suffer any serious injuries, they had used up a lot of energy, so it would be better for them to be checked by the Pokémon Center.
“Alright! Please wait a moment. Is your Gym challenge over? How did it go?” Nurse Joy asked kindly, also inquiring about the challenge situation.
“I was lucky, I succeeded in the challenge.” Little Zhi responded modestly.
“You succeeded in the challenge? That’s amazing, you’re so good, Little Zhi.” You know, even though Little Gang wasn’t the strongest Gym Leader in the Kanto region, he was very close to New Bark Town, making him the first challenge target for many new trainers.
As a Gym Leader, she had taken care of many Pokémon belonging to trainers who had been defeated by Little Gang. Little Zhi had successfully challenged him on his first try, which was considered quite impressive to her.
“Thank you! Then I’ll leave Pikachu and Eevee in your care.”
“Alright, I’ll have them fully recovered soon.” Nurse Joy responded, then left with Pikachu and Eevee’s Poké Balls.
Little Zhi spent the whole afternoon at the Pokémon Center. After all, he had finished challenging the Gym today, and Nurse Joy had helped Pikachu and Eevee recover their energy. It was already afternoon, so he didn’t plan on leaving.
He stayed at the Pokémon Center for another night. The next morning, after breakfast and packing his things, Little Zhi was ready to set off again.
The closest city with a Gym to Nibi City was Cerulean City, where Xia was from. The closest road to Cerulean City passed through Mt. Moon, but it wasn’t easy to cross Mt. Moon.
So Little Zhi didn’t want to waste time and set off for the next city early in the morning with Xia. However, when Xia knew that Little Zhi was going to Cerulean City, her expression seemed a little strange.
Outside the city…
“Wait! Little Zhi!!!”
Just then, they heard a voice. They turned around and saw a figure running towards them. Both of them stopped.
“Little Gang? How come you’re here?” Xia looked at Little Gang in surprise. He was carrying a large backpack, already looking like he was going on a journey. He arrived in front of them, panting slightly.
“I’m going to travel, Little Zhi. If you don’t mind, why don’t you come with us? It’s good to have someone to look out for each other, right?” Little Gang looked at Little Zhi, his expression revealing deep gratitude.
Obviously, Wu Neng had gone home, and he also knew it was thanks to Little Zhi that his father had the courage to return home. So he was very grateful to Little Zhi, it was Little Zhi who gave him the chance to pursue his dream.
“I’m fine with it. More people means more help.” Little Zhi replied calmly. He hadn’t expected that the plot would change, and Little Gang would still come along.
“But, what about the Gym and your siblings if Little Gang leaves?” Xia asked curiously.
“Thanks to you guys, my dad came home last night. We talked a lot, and now the Gym and the family are left in my dad’s hands. I’m going to go with you guys to chase my dream, Little Zhi, thank you!”
Little Gang was in a good mood and also expressed his gratitude to Little Zhi.