Elf: No, it's because he was made the gym leader!

Lu Yuan coughed and then fled the scene.

The central park of Watervein City is filled with vendors.

Lu Yuan found Xiao Lan but discovered that she was sullen and unhappy.

"What's wrong? Did something upset you? Tell me so I can cheer you up," Lu Yuan said with a smile, trying to comfort him.

"Sigh." Xiao Lan sighed and pointed to the stall not far away, "It's all because of them that they stole all the business."

Lu Yuan looked in the direction Xiao Lan pointed and saw a very simple stall, but it was surrounded by a crowd of people.

There was only a man, a woman, and a cat in the shop.

Why does this cat look so familiar?

"Thank you for your patronage. Here are some cat coins, meow."

The cat, dressed as a shop assistant, handed the items to the customer.

Isn't that Meowth from the Rockets?

So these two are...

Sure enough, upon closer inspection, the female shop assistant had an exaggeratedly long, wine-red hairstyle, while the male shop assistant had short, dark blue hair.

Musashi, Kojiro!

"I never thought that after so many years in business, I, Xiao Lan, would lose to those few people. I'm so unwilling to accept it!" Xiao Lan said through gritted teeth.

No, perhaps all you have to do is walk up to their stall and ask, "Who are you people?" and they'll reveal their identities. Then you can call the police and wait for Officer Jenny to arrest them, and that stall might just go out of business.

Lu Yuan muttered to himself.

But he kept these words to himself and didn't say them aloud.

Gastly, following behind, unconsciously drifted over to the stall, drawn by the aroma.

Musashi: "Delicious Angry Buns."

Kojiro: "Eating this will greatly increase your Pokémon's strength!"

Meow: "Even the Heavenly King Shiba said it was good, meow."

Sure enough, the old man cried out, "Whoosh!"

Musashi: "Who told you to come out? Go back now!"

Passerby A: "It's Angry Buns! I just saw Shiba Tianwang carrying a whole bunch of them, and he bought them from this store."

Passerby B: "But I heard this shop was fined yesterday for not having a health permit, could it be...?"

Passerby C: "What's there to be afraid of? Even the Heavenly King of Shiba ate it, what could possibly happen?"

Passerby B: "But..."

Passerby A: "If you're not going to eat, then forget it, let's go."

As the line grew longer, Gastly grabbed Lu Yuan's arm and pointed to the stall.

"Swoosh!"

I want to eat that.

"What are you eating? You dare to eat anything the Rockets sell? It's probably expired food, and it'll give you diarrhea."

Lu Yuan refused without hesitation.

"Swoosh!"

"Even if you're a poison user, it won't work. These days, poison users aren't immune to poison, are they?"

Lu Yuan then refused.

Seeing Ghost's dejected look, Lu Yuan finally had no choice but to give it the money, saying, "I give up, you can only buy one."

"Squeak (＞^ω^＜)"

Gastly happily accepted the money and obediently lined up.

Lu Yuan then said to Xiao Lan beside him, "You should know why I'm looking for you."

Xiao Lan understood immediately and pulled out a stack of small cards from her bag, grinning slyly, "5000 each."

Lu Yuan looked at Xiao Lan with a smile.

"Okay, okay, five yuan is fine, right?" Xiao Lan changed her mind.

Lu Yuan snatched the card from Xiao Lan's hand and said, "5 cents is the most I can give you."

“The cost of this card is more than 50 cents,” Xiao Lan shouted. “Raise the price a bit more, how about one dollar? It’s a good deal to sell it to you for one dollar each.”

"What are you talking about? I meant a stack of 5 cents?" Lu Yuan said.

Chapter 108 Acquaintances are always envious when they meet.

"A stack of fifty cents! Why don't you just rob it!" Xiao Lan shouted.

"Yeah, I managed to snag one, didn't I?" Lu Yuan said with a smile, waving the stack of cards in his hand.

Xiaolan: "..."

Ignoring Xiao Lan, Lu Yuan began to seriously analyze his next opponent.

It has to be said that Xiao Lan does have some connections; she managed to get information on so many contestants.

Ari and Korrina's Lucario, Bea's Octopod, Ash's Chimchar, Brock's Croagunk, Koji's Machamp, and Fanto's Abandoned...

The fact that every player's registered Pokémon could be found there is no exaggeration to say that he hacked into the League's backend system.

Huh, what's this?

Lu Yuan pulled out a specially marked card from among them.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Lan said, "This is the Royal Mask who's been very popular in the Alola region lately. He always wears a mask and never shows his true face. Even the League's back office doesn't have any information about him."

"But one thing is certain: the Pokémon he used was an Incineroar."

Looking at the image on the card—a muscular tough guy with a bare upper body, wearing a red hood, and striking a shameful pose—Lu Yuan fell into deep thought.

"I didn't expect the professor to participate as well," Lu Yuan said in a low voice.

The true identity of the Royal Mask is Dr. Kukui from the Alola region.

Do PhD students these days like to wear masks and sneak out to compete?

Huh? Why did I say "all"?

Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, Lu Yuan carefully examined the pile of cards, and even checked them again for safety.

"Phew—" Lu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Professor Oak didn't participate.

He vividly remembered that Professor Oak had brought a few black bands to his face to participate in the 9th Quartz Conference.

It seems that the opponent at that time was Little Blue, and Little Blue was completely overwhelmed by a single Spearow.

Thank goodness he wasn't there, otherwise how would we play?

He can't beat Professor Oak in Pokémon battles, let alone in a one-on-one offline battle.

Lu Yuan smiled as he found his opponent for the next round.

An old acquaintance.

……

In the afternoon, the C-zone competition of the Fighting Experts Tournament took place.

The girl, Ari, dressed in a fighting outfit, commanded Lucario in the arena, "Protect!"

"Damn it! Crocodile Water Splitter, smash it to pieces!" shouted the beer-bellied uncle with a full beard across from them.

The blue crocodile, its face covered in purple venomous spots, swung its fist forcefully, causing a large amount of water to gush out.

But this strike, which carried its hopes, was blocked by the emerald green barrier.

Hold on!

Then, the purple venomous spots climbed back onto the crocodile's body, consuming its strength.

"You lowly man, where is your spirit as a fighter!" the beer-bellied man with a full beard said angrily.

However, Ah Li chose to ignore this, having already made her choice when she decided to use the substitute poison tactic in the match.

Reputation is utterly insignificant in the face of a dojo's life or death.

Lee made up his mind and commanded, "Lucario, Thunder Punch!"

"Luca!"

A fist imbued with lightning was unleashed, instantly taking down the already weakened crocodile.

"Graptopetalum is unable to fight, Lucario wins, so the winner is Ari."

The referee waved his flag from the side.