“Thank you, Pidgeot.”
Pidgeot landed on the outskirts of Rustboro City, and Roy took the opportunity to jump off Pidgeot’s back.
“Pidge!”
After saying goodbye to Pidgeot, it had to return to Lilycove City.
Roy looked at the front page of the Lilycove City Daily in his hand, which read: “Brave Ghost-type Trainer Assists Officer Jenny in Arresting Heinous Poachers.”
There was also a photo of Roy and his two Pokémon on it.
“It doesn’t feel like it captured my handsomeness; what’s going on?”
Roy looked at the newspaper that had just been published this morning with some dissatisfaction.
However, his popularity points on the system had actually risen to 450.
With another 50 points, he could unlock the system store.
It seemed this trick was actually quite useful.
Since it was still early before he had to report to Rustboro Academy, Roy planned to stroll around Rustboro City first.
After all, it was a famous major city in the Hoenn region, and Devon Corporation stood right here.
Before Roy could set off toward the city center of Rustboro City, a sound of dog Growl and human cries for help reached his ears.
Roy followed the direction of the Growl and saw a man wearing a white lab coat and military-green shorts, with a beard on his face, being chased by a grey-black Poochyena.
“Isn’t that Professor Birch?”
“Such a familiar plot.”
“Young man!
Save me!”
Professor Birch shouted to him immediately upon seeing Roy.
Behind him, the Poochyena maintained a posture as if it were about to bite Professor Birch,
but it would slow down just before it was about to bite, bark twice, and urge Professor Birch in front to run faster.
A push and a pull, what a miraculous performance.
This kind of extreme, elusive tug-of-war left Roy bewildered.
It seemed the Poochyena only knew how to keep its distance; if it really bit Professor Birch, it would be in big trouble.
It looked just like the dogs in the countryside from his previous life.
So, had he triggered some hidden plot?
“Right!
Where is Professor Birch’s briefcase?”
Roy hurriedly looked around for the briefcase, but after searching for a long time, he couldn’t find a trace of it.
“Young man!
Young man!”
And Professor Birch kept calling to Roy for help.
Could the plot have changed?
Roy acted as if he hadn’t heard Professor Birch’s plea for help, lost in his own thoughts about which starter Pokémon he should choose.
After much deliberation, Roy decided that only children make choices; he wanted them all!
Finally, Professor Birch stopped, exhausted, and lay on the ground panting, not caring whether the Poochyena would bite him or not.
The Poochyena behind him saw Professor Birch scared into such a state and, feeling satisfied, jumped into the grass and left.
It was as if the chase just now was only to scare Professor Birch.
The exhausted Professor Birch was just about to condemn why the young people of the League nowadays were so lacking in sympathy and didn’t know how to help him.
Then he saw Roy walking toward him and extending a hand.
At least he’s a person who knows to help him up.
Professor Birch originally wanted to take Roy’s hand to get up, but Roy’s next sentence changed his mind.
“Professor, I’ve decided; I want to catch all three starters.”
Professor Birch: !!????
“Where is your face?
Don’t you want it anymore?”
Seeing that Professor Birch didn’t respond, was he really being too greedy?
Roy settled for the next best thing and said:
“If that doesn’t work, I’ll take a Mudkip.”
Professor Birch: Mudkip?
You look like a Mudkip!
In the end, Professor Birch got up himself, brushed the dust off his backside, and looked at Roy, speechless.
Where is there a rule that saving someone means giving them a starter Pokémon?
If that were the case, he was chased by Poochyena every day—would he have to give away a starter every day?
“Are you kidding?
Even a fool wouldn’t do that.”
If he had any Pokémon with him, he would have chased the Poochyena away himself.
Furthermore, distributing starters to League-affiliated Trainers was the League’s job; it wasn’t his responsibility at all.
He was only in charge of Pokémon research issues.
Seeing that the other party really didn’t have any starters, Roy sighed regretfully.
His starters had just flown away like that, gone forever.
The expression on his face was as if he had lost a hundred million.
It left the Professor Birch on the side confused.
He was the Professor of the Hoenn region!
A regional Professor!
Why did it seem like in Roy’s eyes, he was just someone delivering supplies?
Before the Professor could start cursing.
Litwick poked its head out from Roy’s shoulder, causing Professor Birch, who was about to speak, to freeze.
“What is this!?”
Professor Birch’s gaze was instantly drawn to the little candle head on Roy’s shoulder.
“Is…
is this your Pokémon?”
“His name is Litwick, a Ghost-type Pokémon.”
As a Pokémon Professor, he naturally knew about Litwick, but this was the first time he had seen one with his own eyes.
Upon learning that Roy was a Ghost-type Pokémon Trainer, Professor Birch seemed to have discovered a treasure.
He wasn’t afraid of Roy’s Pokémon at all.
As a regional-level Pokémon Professor, his research on Ghost-type Pokémon was almost a blank slate.
Ghost-type Pokémon were rarely seen in daily life, and coupled with the fact that they were often associated with urban legends, the League didn’t allow him to study them alone for his own safety.
This had made him extremely anxious.
He was now just missing the Ghost-type template to complete his research report.
Now that he saw one, he naturally had to study it properly.
“Hehehe, little baby, let me study you quickly!”
“Ahem, Professor, please watch your words and actions.”
“Right, right, right, ahem.”
Professor Birch immediately corrected his posture, as if the person who had just let out that “hehehe” laugh wasn’t him.
Wantonly observing someone else’s Pokémon was also an impolite behavior; Professor Birch quickly realized this.
“Let me formally introduce myself.
I am Professor Birch of the Hoenn region, mainly researching Pokémon habitats and distribution, as well as the correlation between the two…”
Professor Birch went on and on, like chanting a sutra.
Roy almost fell asleep.
If he were giving out a starter, he might have followed along with the plot.
The point was, since he wasn’t giving out a Pokémon, what was there to talk about?
“Young man, I see you have a unique talent; how about becoming my assistant?”
“Assistant?
I think you just want to study Litwick.”
Roy knew that, but he didn’t mind Professor Birch observing; after all, the other party had already provided him with 1 popularity point.
“Do you have any other Ghost-type Pokémon?
Young man.”
Roy reached out and pointed behind Professor Birch.
“Behind me?”
Professor Birch turned around and saw a skull mask appearing right in front of him.
Hehehe × 2
“This is Duskull!”
He took out a magnifying glass and began to observe Duskull.
The confused Duskull also pressed its pupil against the magnifying glass.
Compared to Duskull’s cooperation, Litwick expressed its rejection of the bearded Professor Birch due to his ugliness.
Just as he was trying to figure out a way to observe Litwick, the bracelet on his wrist issued a timed reminder.
Professor Birch slapped his forehead and remembered that he had scheduled a time with the Park Warden of the Safari Zone today to study the Pokémon in the park.
His destination this time was the Safari Zone, which was in the exact opposite direction of Rustboro City where Roy was headed.
He felt it was a pity, after all, it was hard to catch a Ghost-type Pokémon Trainer, and the key was that the other party was willing to let their Pokémon cooperate with him.
After learning that Roy was a student at Rustboro Academy, Professor Birch said he would go to the academy to find Roy in the future, hoping that he could Helping Hand him complete his research report.
Roy agreed.
Mainly because if the other party could produce a report related to Ghost-type Pokémon, and he would gain popularity points, it didn’t seem like a loss no matter how you looked at it.