The arena was being cleaned up in an orderly fashion. Xiao Qi, shameless, went back to Ace to beg for another berry. Ace simply rolled his eyes and said he didn't have any, so Xiao Qi had no choice but to dejectedly run to the Pokémon Center to treat his Murkrow.
The Crobat's toxic armor was gone, and it landed on Ace's shoulder. Normally, the Crobat wasn't particularly flashy, but in a battle, a Pokémon with low poison resistance would face devastating consequences when it encountered it. Ace had developed the move Poison Wing to its peak, and under his intentional training, the Crobat's poison was getting more and more potent.
Even after Xiao Qi took his Murkrow to the Pokémon Center, it would take at least a day or two to fully recover. The berry Ace had given Xiao Qi before was a special one from his own garden, with more powerful effects than a regular berry. Ace had taken it out not to be a good person, but to do some advertising.
It was a very authentic advertisement! When a simple antidote couldn't cure a potent poison, a single berry could—what trainer wouldn't be tempted by that?
Sure enough, after Ace left the arena, many people came to ask him where he got the berries or if there were any ways to buy them. Seizing the opportunity, Ace naturally promoted his own garden. The sales were handled by the Alliance, but the more people who bought them, the more money Ace would make.
"Big brother, can I touch that Crobat? It's so cool!"
Just as Ace finished dealing with the people asking for information, a little girl who looked to be just one or two years old came up to him with her parents. Her eyes sparkled as she stared at the Crobat on Ace's shoulder, completely ignoring the Ralts sitting beside him.
Ace was a little confused. In terms of looks, shouldn't a cute Pokémon like Ralts be more popular with girls? Why did this little girl have such great taste to find the Crobat cool?
The Crobat was also a bit stunned by the girl's words. After the two of them exchanged a glance, Ace smiled, and the Crobat hopped off his shoulder and onto the bench.
"Go ahead and touch it, but don't pull on its wings."
Ace instructed. The little girl immediately nodded, then broke free from her parents' hands, walked up to the Crobat, and reached out her small hand to pet it.
"I'm so sorry."
The girl's father spoke to Ace with an apologetic tone. "Our daughter, Mizuki, has loved Poison-type Pokémon ever since she was little. After seeing the Crobat's performance just now, she couldn't wait to come and meet it."
"It's alright. It's a good thing to like Pokémon," Ace said with a slight smile, but he felt a sense of familiarity with the name "Mizuki." He felt like he had heard it somewhere before.
He looked at Mizuki, who was excitedly petting the Crobat, and quickly searched his memory. After two minutes, Ace remembered that Mizuki was the protagonist of the Sun and Moon storyline. In the future, she would also be one of Professor Rowan's assistants and an herbalist who was skilled in using Poison-type Pokémon.
"Big brother, how did you train your Crobat? The way its poison spread everywhere was so cool!"
Mizuki asked Ace while petting the Crobat.
Seeing this, Mizuki's parents quickly pulled her back. Although they weren't famous trainers, they knew some of the unwritten rules. Asking someone how they trained their Pokémon was a big no-no, unless you were their apprentice.
"The little girl doesn't know any better. Please don't take it to heart," Mizuki's mother quickly said, trying to save her daughter from embarrassment.
"It's fine," Ace said casually. "Mizuki, you're still too young. You should wait until you're older to worry about training Pokémon."
"Okay," Mizuki said, a little sad that she couldn't pet the Crobat anymore.
But children's moods change quickly. Mizuki cheered up and said to Ace, "Big brother, you have to do your best! I really like your Crobat, and I'm your fan now! You have to win the championship!"
With that, Mizuki was led away by her parents.
"Master, you look happy."
Ralts sat beside Ace, tilting its head and asking, "Why is that?"
"There is no 'why'," Ace said, patting Ralts's head with a smile. "This is the first time someone's looked up to me. It feels pretty good."
"Oh," Ralts said, its eyes closed in contentment. "I admire Master too. I like the way you fight."
"Is that so? Then keep working hard and try to catch up to your seniors as soon as you can," Ace said, patting Ralts's head to encourage it.
After a short rest, the arena was cleared, and the top eight matches continued. However, Ace didn't stay to watch. He went to a secluded place instead.
This was because a message from Blissey had arrived, informing Ace that Mewtwo had returned to the cottage, but it was covered in injuries. It had been healed by Blissey and the others and was now contained in a Poké Ball. After confirming with Ace, Blissey placed Mewtwo's Poké Ball on the Pokémon transfer device and hit the switch.
In the Sinnoh region, a Poké Ball appeared on Ace's Pokédex and was then caught in his hand.
"Mewtwo, critically injured..."
He held up the Poké Ball and scanned it. Mewtwo's condition appeared before his eyes.
"How did it get so badly hurt?"
Ace couldn't understand. Mewtwo's current level was already 72. Plus, with all the training it had received from Ace, its own strength was outstanding. Logically, it shouldn't have been injured so severely in a normal situation.
The Aura of the Viridian Forest surged, and Ace injected it into the Poké Ball. Mewtwo's injuries recovered slightly, so it was no longer in a critical state.
"Warning! Warning! High-intensity energy corrosion! The injuries are getting worse! The injuries are getting worse!"
Immediately afterward, a torrent of crimson text frantically flashed before Ace's eyes, highlighting how poor Mewtwo's condition was at the moment.
Seeing this, Ace didn't hesitate to spend five of his mission points to activate the system's perfect-level body repair.
"Body repair complete."
"Warning: The high-intensity energy inside Mewtwo's body is difficult to remove. Its compatibility with Mewtwo is zero, and it cannot be absorbed. It is recommended that the host manually remove it."
The system's text popped up again. Ace saw that Mewtwo's status had changed from critically injured to unconscious, and he breathed a slight sigh of relief. He now had time to address the system.
"Can't it be removed? Is there a way?"
Ace asked the system. The system fell silent for a moment.
"Side Quest (Mewtwo's Injuries): Mewtwo is severely injured. Though its condition is stable for now, the high-intensity energy lingering inside its body is a ticking time bomb. Find a solution and heal Mewtwo's injuries. Quest Reward: 50,000 gold coins. Mission points will be awarded based on the quest completion evaluation."