Xia Hunaoke and Froakie were working hard on mastering the Double Bubble technique. Simply put, this technique involved simultaneously using the Bubble ability and the bubbles near Froakie's neck.
However, in Xia Hunao's plan, this technique didn't need to be mastered; proficient use was enough. After all, as Froakie's level increased, it would eventually evolve. Once Froakie evolved, the bubbles around its neck would disappear, rendering the technique useless.
Despite this, Xia Hunao and Froakie encountered significant trouble while practicing. Froakie seemed unable to manage the two actions, either just throwing bubbles or forgetting about the ones on its neck. There were even times when it failed completely, doing nothing.
Although Xia Hunao knew some things couldn't be rushed, he felt an intense impatience. This led Xia Hunao and the system to suspect that a nearby Pokémon might be influencing them.
The training continued; this somewhat difficult training was quite time-consuming. It wasn't until the system reminded him that Xia Hunao remembered he had a train to catch that day.
Glancing at his phone, he saw it was late, with less than half an hour until the train's departure. Xia Hunao quickly recalled Froakie into its Poké Ball, grabbed his backpack, and ran towards the train station. Rotom, trailing behind, could only keep up with Xia Hunao's speed by exerting all its effort.
Arriving at the train station, checking in, and boarding the train happened in one smooth motion.
This train was traveling from Tianzhou City to Liuling City. Although the two cities weren't far apart, Xia Hunao had chosen the train, a rather time-consuming method. The main reason was to spend more time on the train.
Beginner trainers were not allowed to stay at the same League branch consecutively, and even staying at two different branches required an interval of more than twenty-four hours. This was primarily to prevent trainers from becoming complacent and relying on their beginner trainer status to freeload within the Pokémon League.
Only as a trainer's level increased would various restrictions gradually be removed. However, if one aimed to become a high-level trainer simply to freeload, the League had little recourse.
If one couldn't stay at a League Pokémon Center, they could opt for an inn or hotel, incurring only extra expenses. But Xia Hunao, in a sense, had run away from home, so he had very little money. Although Xia Tianjue had given him a card for the Rainbow Star Group, the Rainbow Star Group was quite adept at accumulating wealth.
Each card was applicable to only one business under the Rainbow Star Group. After activating the card at the Rainbow Star Mall, Xia Hunao could only use it there. To stay at a Rainbow Star Group hotel, he would need a stored-value card activated at a hotel. Or, he could obtain a universal stored-value card.
In response, Xia Hunao remarked: Monopolies of commercial giants are truly profitable. 138 Reading Network.
With little money in his pocket, Xia Hunao's best idea was to take the train, which offered the triple advantage of being safe, cheap, and time-consuming.
Settling into his train seat, Xia Hunao opened his phone to look for ways to quickly earn money.
The simplest way for trainers to earn money was to participate in competitions. Whether official or private, achieving a good ranking generally yielded a substantial prize.
However, this method held little appeal for Xia Hunao. While there were countless competitions sanctioned by the Pokémon League, very few allowed beginner trainers to participate, typically only during extended holidays.
This setup existed because beginner trainers were mostly high school and college students. Within the college stage, with a little effort, one could become an intermediate trainer.
Of course, the main reason was that Xia Hunao believed he couldn't win.
Apart from competitions, the only other option was exploring secret realms.
There were various theories about the origins of secret realms. The most mainstream one suggested:
Once upon a time, after Arceus created the Spirit Star, it had so much free time that it wandered around with its Plates. However, even Arceus could only carry one Plate at a time when venturing out.
Let's assume Arceus was carrying a Fire-type Plate.
One day, when Arceus grew tired of wandering with this Fire-type Plate, it would simply discard the Plate on the spot and switch to another one to continue its travels.
The Plate discarded by Arceus, over time, reacted with the geographical environment of the Spirit Star, forming a Fire-type secret realm.
So, what if one day Arceus remembered it had discarded a Fire-type Plate, or if it had discarded all its Plates and had none to carry out?
Then, if Arceus willed it, it could summon the Fire-type Plate back to its side at any time. The Fire-type secret realm, having formed over time and coexisting with the local environment, would not collapse even if the Fire-type Plate was recalled.
There were tens of thousands of various secret realms on the Spirit Star, yet Arceus only had a few Plates, and they were also sold at the Rainbow Star Mall. How could this be?
Firstly, those sold at the Rainbow Star Mall were fakes. Forget creating a Fire-attribute secret realm; you should be grateful to the Rainbow Star Mall if you could even use it to produce fire, indicating it was a very well-made item.
Arceus's Plates possessed a high level of creation power. Within less than a hundred years, they could create a secret realm. And a hundred years was nothing to Arceus...
Furthermore, after Arceus haphazardly discarded its Plates, Dialga and Palkia also learned from its example, perhaps throwing their own items outwards to create some secret realms. This was why there were tens of thousands of secret realms on the Spirit Star.
Xia Hunao browsed through the secret realms of the Minglong Kingdom: "What is all this? Why are some in rivers? Do I have to dive down? Are you sure beginner trainers can go underwater?"
To ensure the relative safety of trainers, the Pokémon League periodically organized personnel to evaluate secret realms and designate the appropriate trainer levels for entry. Xia Hunao was currently looking at secret realms approved for beginner trainers like him.
"System, what kind of secret realm do you think I should choose?"
Xia Hunao had no specific concept of the secret realms in China, and looking at them made his eyes blur.
The system thought for a moment and said, "Given your current level, it's best to choose some that you can handle."
Xia Hunao looked at the two Poké Balls on his waist: "Water and Electric. No attributes are mutually weak against both."
Indeed, there were no attributes mutually weak against both Water and Electric. However, there were attributes that could resist Water and Electric, such as Grass and Dragon.
Skillfully drawing a type chart, Xia Hunao doodled on it with a pencil.
"Hmm, Ground-type is absolutely out of the question. It completely seals Rotom's effectiveness, and it would be too difficult with only a Froakie."
After crossing out Ground-type, Xia Hunao also crossed out Electric-type. Resisting Electric with special attack, this was too difficult for Xia Hunao, who wanted to train Froakie.
After a flurry of actions, fewer than five options remained...
Looking at the chart with only Flying, Fire, and Rock-type options left, Xia Hunao scratched his head: "What kind of training is this supposed to be?"
The system also found Xia Hunao's actions quite speechless: "Aren't you being too greedy? You've only got Fire and Rock types, which are weak to Water, and Flying-type, which is weak to Electric. What else is there to choose from?"
Xia Hunao shrugged. There was nothing he could do; other types didn't match well with his two Pokémon.
The system pointed out an issue with its chart: "I don't actually support you ruling out Ground-type secret realms from the start."
Xia Hunao looked at the system in his mind: "You're even greedier than I am. Do you really plan to just brute-force your way through Ground-type secret realms with Froakie's bubbles?"
The system looked at Xia Hunao's expression, which was akin to caring for an idiot: "Have you forgotten how you dealt with Roserade before?"
Xia Hunao recalled his beginner trainer assessment. Indeed, he still had that outrageous trick of switching items with Flame Orbs.
"Not only that, what is your Rotom's ability? Why are you afraid of Ground-type? It's as if you can hit them effectively."
Xia Hunao was so berated by the system for not living up to expectations that he couldn't lift his head. Indeed, neither of his Pokémon was particularly afraid of Ground-type Pokémon. And you could encounter normal-type moves in any secret realm, couldn't you?
Seeing that Xia Hunao had reconsidered Ground-type secret realms, the system asked, "Is this it? Won't you add anything else?"
Xia Hunao carefully considered his Froakie's moves, attributes, and abilities, and then an idea struck him:
His Froakie had the Protean ability. Currently, it only had Normal and Water-type moves. As long as it used Pound to change into a Normal-type, it could basically walk through Ghost-type secret realms! As for Normal and Ghost types not hitting each other, Xia Hunao stated that if he couldn't win, he'd run! Although Rotom didn't have many means to deal with Ghost-type Pokémon yet, Thunder Wave was still effective.
Finally, the options expanded to five. Xia Hunao began searching for nearby secret realms of relevant types.
The closest secret realm to him was a Fire-type beginner secret realm, about five hundred kilometers away...
Seeing the distance, Xia Hunao was ecstatic. With just one more train ticket, he could exceed the twenty-four-hour interval and immediately check into a Pokémon Center upon arrival. This was truly a blessing from heaven!