"In any case, leave it to me, no problem."
Sasaki patted his chest, assuring Giovanni.
A green light flashed in Giovanni's eyes, and then a smile appeared on his usually cold face. "Good, then I'll rely on you."
Sasaki rubbed his mouth and said to Giovanni:
"You saved my life, and… this is only right."
Giovanni watched his actions, frowned, and was about to open his mouth to explain. "Actually, this is…"
Before he could finish, Sasaki covered his face and ran off, "Don't say it, I understand everything! Some things shouldn't be said out loud!!!"
"I…" Giovanni suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness. He looked down at his feet, "Why don't you go explain it to him?"
Two blushes appeared on the shadow, which then retreated into a deeper place.
Giovanni shook his head helplessly, "Fine, you're shy too."
Traveling with Sasaki had its benefits; at the very least, food was guaranteed, and it also kept Giovanni from killing indiscriminately.
Of course, if someone truly courted death, Giovanni wouldn't be polite.
There were always various ways to kill someone.
Giovanni looked up slightly, gazing into the distance, "Let's rest a bit more, then we should head to Cerulean City."
Sasaki nodded vigorously, "Okay, just in time to resupply. We're still missing a lot of resources to make top-grade Pokémon food."
He added to Giovanni, "This will cost a lot of Pokémon dollars."
Giovanni replied without looking back, "Don't worry, I'm not short on Pokémon dollars either."
Unlike Sasaki, Giovanni had something else to do besides challenging Gyms.
A series of recent research findings had all been released by Matt.
But Giovanni hadn't shown his face yet.
Cerulean City was built by the sea and was usually considered a tourist resort city, much better than other cities.
One day later.
Except for Giovanni, others were also on their way, arriving one after another.
Some Researchers had already arrived in Cerulean City by transport.
As the Island Lord of Cinnabar Island, a Gym Leader, and a Researcher with multiple identities, Blaine had arrived in Cerulean City early.
However, this guy insisted on disguising himself, as if ordinary people could recognize him. "Do you think that little genius who loves petting cats will really show up?"
He was speaking to a slightly chubby Researcher.
And this slightly chubby Researcher was none other than Dr. Dr. Westwood, who was very active in the forums.
Actually, neither of them were that old now, only in their forties or fifties, both considered to be in their prime.
Dr. Westwood smiled slightly, "He should come, after all, a Champion's pigeon isn't something you can just let go whenever you want."
Blaine wasn't quite convinced, "What do you mean? The Champion is really coming? Will League Headquarters Chairman Charles Goodshow let him out?"
"Look there." Dr. Westwood pointed to a tall building not far away. Standing on it was a beautiful woman in a Western dress, but the aura around her was extremely cold, and eerie laughter occasionally emanated from her.
After seeing this beautiful woman, Blaine immediately agreed with Dr. Westwood's statement.
"Agatha is here, no wonder you said that. A simple exchange conference isn't enough to make her come out, so it seems the Champion really is here."
On top of that building, Agatha held a small umbrella and looked at the distant sky, "Let's see how you hide from me this time."
At this moment, in the League Headquarters, Professor Oak, who had just gotten on Dragonite's back, suddenly sneezed.
"Who's talking about me again?"
The scene returned to Cerulean City.
A young boy in a white robe ran towards Blaine and Dr. Westwood, excitedly shouting, "Doctors, long time no see!"
The boy's shout attracted a lot of attention.
Fortunately, Blaine was here; he was skilled and bold, not afraid of being watched by others, but he inadvertently revealed the Poké Ball at his waist.
"Elm, don't be so startled. There are many people here."
Despite saying that, others quickly turned their heads away after seeing the Poké Ball on Blaine's waist.
Elm scratched his head a little sheepishly, "I was just too excited to see you."
"You kid, still young." Dr. Westwood patted Elm's head, "Alright, let's go settle down at the hotel prepared by the Cerulean City Gym first."
Elm smiled awkwardly, "Okay."
Then he also curiously asked the two Doctors, "By the way, Doctors, do you think the Cat-Petting Researcher will come?"
Dr. Westwood casually replied, "He should come, after all, many Researchers have come this time, and they're all here because of his reputation."
At this moment, two youths brushed past them.
One of the youths pointed to a nearby shop and shouted, "Giovanni, do you think there will be suitable resources in there?"
Giovanni glanced at the three people behind him, then at the empty building above, and replied to Sasaki, "Let's just go take a look."
Sasaki nodded, then asked Giovanni with some confusion:
"By the way, Giovanni, everyone along the way has been talking about some Cat-Petting Researcher, and a genius Researcher. What's going on?"
When Sasaki came out, he just missed the peak time of Giovanni's fame.
So it was normal for him not to know.
Giovanni rubbed his nose, "Didn't I explain to you that my Nidoking is a newly discovered Pokémon, and its evolution method came from that genius Researcher?"
Sasaki's interest was piqued. "I see, then that person must be very powerful. I wish I could meet him."
Giovanni replied somewhat awkwardly, "You'll have a chance to meet him."
Sasaki was cunning; he quickly pulled Giovanni, "Then let's hurry and pick out some things first, then I'll accompany you to challenge the Gym, and then see if we can sneak into that Researcher exchange conference."
"No rush." Giovanni shook his head helplessly.
Then he looked around. Besides some Researchers, there were many other people of various identities mixed in.
This Cerulean City was truly bustling.
For example, Jenny and Joy walked together, with visible hostility in their eyes towards each other.
For example, in the airspace above Cerulean City, where flying was prohibited, a Charizard was slowly flying towards them, clutching two struggling kids in its Dragon Claw.
And for example, a red-haired girl accompanied an arrogant, cool young man, commanding a Dragonair to defeat the Cerulean City Gym Leader.
But just as the red-haired girl took the badge for the cool young man and turned to look at him,
she saw that the cool young man had already turned and walked outside.
A hint of helplessness appeared on the red-haired girl's face, and she hurriedly chased after him, leaving the Gym Leader standing awkwardly in place.