The next day.
Bright sunlight awakened the slumbering Xia Yan.
He woke up feeling much better, with no discomfort in his body. Yesterday's rain hadn't caused him to catch a cold, which was a good start.
"Woo woo..."
Beside his feet, the Weedle, which had woken up earlier, had dragged over a string of branches from who knows where. The green leaves, washed by the rain, emitted a fresh fragrance.
Weedle nudged Xia Yan's pants, indicating that he shouldn't be polite.
Beside it were also some fragments of leaves that had been gnawed on.
Xia Yan smiled.
"Thank you."
He picked up a branch, tore off a few leaves, and stuffed them into his mouth amidst Weedle's expectant little eyes.
Chewing.
A bitter flavour spread in his mouth, stimulating his taste buds while also stimulating his empty stomach.
Weedle smiled, squinting its eyes, raising its head high, and waiting for Xia Yan's praise.
And Xia Yan didn't disappoint it. After swallowing with difficulty, he smiled and touched Weedle's back.
"Thank you, Weedle, it's delicious."
"Woo woo!" Weedle nodded its little head happily.
Yesterday, Xia Yan had shared his food with Weedle, and in return, Weedle had gone to find food early in the morning.
It had eaten these leaves before, and they were fresh and delicious.
So it had deliberately saved some.
Good things should be shared.
Even though the taste of these leaves in Xia Yan's mouth might not be so wonderful.
But no matter what, this was a good start, indicating that Weedle had accepted Xia Yan's existence and shared food that was very precious to it.
And Xia Yan also warmly didn't expose this, not telling Weedle that the food of humans and Pokémon was different.
In his opinion, getting along with a simple Pokémon felt much better than getting along with those people in his previous life's office who only knew how to scheme against each other.
"A new day, a new beginning, Weedle, we have to work hard." Xia Yan stood up, patted the dust and grass clippings off his body.
"Woo woo!" Weedle nodded its little head in agreement.
He placed it on his shoulder.
Walking out of the dilapidated house, he headed towards the center of saffron City.
The sun was just right.
But Xia Yan's mood wasn't as good as it had been in the morning.
"I'm sorry, sir, after review, you do not meet the minimum standards for a League Trainer. Please contribute more to the League and become a registered Trainer as soon as possible."
In the League Trainer Building, Xia Yan, dressed strangely, was not being rejected by the smiling, formulaic staff for the first time.
After confirming his identity and carefully observing his attire and appearance, the staff's response was only this sentence.
Doesn't meet the standards, contribute more to the League.
As standard as the little sister on the phone who hasn't connected yet.
"Then what counts as meeting the standards?" Xia Yan was still a little unwilling to give up.
But the people behind him in line couldn't bear it anymore.
"That's about it. Dressed like a beggar, wanting to apply to become a League-registered Trainer with a Weedle that's common as dirt? Are you out of your mind?"
Xia Yan turned his head. Behind him was a social "elite" dressed in a black suit with his hair neatly combed, looking at him with disdain, accompanied by a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old child who was playing with a Poké Ball in his hand.
Meeting Xia Yan's cold gaze, the disdain on that person's face became even more pronounced.
"What are you looking at?"
Xia Yan stood up expressionlessly and gave way.
The man curled his lips in disgust, patted the chair, took out a handkerchief, placed it on the chair, and then pulled his child to sit down.
"Hello, miss, my child is applying to become a Trainer. These are his two Pokémon, Mankey and Machop. This is my bank statement for the past five years, this is my donation certificate in his name, and most importantly, this is the ten-year Pokémon reserve fund, and some less important..."
The man took out a large pile of well-prepared documents from his briefcase.
The staff's face finally showed some genuine emotional fluctuations.
"Please wait a moment."
Xia Yan, who had been watching for a while, still had no change in expression, but Weedle on his shoulder felt the suppressed anger in his heart, as well as his sneer at the League's system.
Weedle gently rubbed his neck.
Xia Yan exhaled and said faintly, "I'm fine."
He turned and left.
Behind him, he could vaguely hear, "Brat, you're a Trainer now. I'll send you to Pokémon School tomorrow. Study hard, otherwise you'll grow up to be like that person just now..."
Walking out of the Trainer Building.
The warm sunlight shone on his body, but it couldn't shine into his somewhat cold heart.
Two Pokémon are the foundation, bank statements are proof of financial resources, donations are contributions to the League, and a ten-year Pokémon reserve fund is the right to receive an initial Pokémon.
A slightly sarcastic smile appeared on his face unconsciously.
"It's another 'relying on your dad' world."
"Woo?"
Weedle tilted its head, its little eyes puzzled, not knowing what Xia Yan was talking about.
"It's nothing. Although I didn't have much hope from the beginning, I was still slapped hard by reality."
He strode forward.
The League's system was more realistic than he had imagined.
His trip to the Trainer Building this time was originally just with a try-it-out mentality.
After all, if he could obtain a League-certified registered Trainer status, it would make his path as a Trainer much easier.
At least, the Pokémon Center could be used for free, and there would also be free accommodation.
It could only be said that the final result was not unexpected.
He came to a grocery store.
He spent twenty Pokedollars to buy some food.
Most of it was food that was easy to store and could fill his stomach, mostly bread.
Although it was unpalatable, it should be no problem to last for two or three days.
And what he had to do was to find a job that made money in these two or three days.
In order not to waste time, Xia Yan reluctantly spent 2 Pokedollars to take the bus and returned to his remote, dilapidated residence in the suburbs.
Seeing that there were only a few steel coins left in his pocket, a total of eleven Pokedollars, he was starting to consider whether he should find a few opportunities and reasons to "borrow" some more from Scarface and those people again.
"Forget it, don't waste time."
Now time was not only very important to him, but also more important to Weedle, whose development period was very short.
He walked straight into a small forest behind the residence.
For the safety of the residents of saffron City, the saffron City Gym, together with several major companies in saffron City, would clean the surrounding forests every once in a while.
So the forest was still relatively safe.
He came to the forest.
He placed Weedle on the ground.
Stepping on the soft pile of dead leaves, each step would make a "rustling" sound, which made Weedle feel very novel and kept twisting its body, appearing very happy.
Looking at Weedle, who was trying to see if its mouth could bite its tail, the smile on Xia Yan's face gradually faded, and he put on a serious look.
" Weedle, next I will conduct a three-day training for you, which concerns whether we can find a suitable job after three days."
Hearing his voice become a little serious, Weedle stopped and looked up at him.
Its eyes were a little confused.
Xia Yan squatted down and said solemnly, "It will be very tiring and hard during this period, and you may give up at any time, but I will accompany you to train together, so you must be serious, okay?"
Weedle nodded its head subconsciously.
"Very good, then now, do you see that tree? We will do shuttle run training, basic goal, twenty laps!"