Fifth Elite of the Pokemon World

Only Cynthia, Mai, and Luther went to the Moon Ring Shopping Center.

Lance stayed behind at the villa today to accompany Diantha and wait for visiting guests.

Oleander, on the other hand, had finally returned to report in at the International Police after a long time.

Strangely enough, people always felt awkward when Oleander was stationed at the International Police. But ever since Oleander took a leave of absence and didn't show up at headquarters for half a month, everyone suddenly felt a lack of safety and started asking on the internal message board what was going on.

Some even quietly wondered if the punishment last time had gone too far.

Oleander laughed and said those people were so contradictory, but Luther explained it to her from another perspective, this was a way of proving her own value.

A machine that always operates smoothly won't make people notice which component is essential. But when one part stops working and the whole machine starts malfunctioning, then people will realize how important that part is.

Luther had seen such irreplaceable parts during his working days. Unfortunately, their boss believed the world would keep turning no matter who left. He once said, "Don't overestimate your own importance," and then fired that guy.

The following year, the company's performance plummeted, while the guy who had switched jobs thrived. The boss slammed his desk and asked the remaining employees, "Sales are crashing lately, do any of you have a clue why?"

"I have a clue, alright, the Earth's still spinning, isn't it?"

This same logic was explained to Diantha as well. Eventually, with help from Luther and Cynthia, Diantha made up her mind and sent a long email to the Kalos Pokémon League.

The email was lengthy. The first half described in detail the wonderful cooperation she had enjoyed with the League over the years and highly praised the League officials for their dedication and professionalism. The second half, however, expressed that she was feeling overwhelmed and could no longer keep up with the tireless spirit of the officials, mentally and physically exhausted.

In short: I'm stepping down as Champion. Please find someone better suited.

Back when Cynthia hadn't reached the top yet, Sinnoh had also experienced a Champion resignation. Bertha's reason made sense, she was indeed getting old and busy training her successor.

But for Diantha to say she was feeling overwhelmed… Girl, you don't even have a boyfriend!

Luther could already guess how the Kalos Pokémon League would respond to this email. A personal visit was guaranteed. That's why Diantha simply stayed at the villa with Lance today.

According to Luther's plan, Lance's appearance could shatter most of the crazy rumors circulating online. After all, interaction between two Champions is perfectly normal. Who knows? Fans might even love this kind of pairing and enjoy the dynamic.

Rather than trying to suppress the news and letting gossipmongers and rumor-spreaders stir things up, it was better to mislead them, give them a specific direction.

This was one step in helping Diantha step down from the "hot seat" and allow people to get used to the real Diantha.

Lance felt like a tool being used, so he demanded… an extra card from Diantha. He planned to max it out some day.

From the first to fifth floors, the Moon Ring Shopping Center mainly sold human-related goods. It wasn't until the sixth floor that it became the domain of Pokémon-related professions and products.

A digital navigation screen on the sixth floor displayed the categories of goods available in each area.

"Hmmm, which section should we go to?"

Cynthia was scrolling endlessly through the options on the digital screen, suffering from decision paralysis.

Luther took Cynthia's hand and followed Mai. "Alright, alright, decision made, we're heading to the Berry section first. By the time you've made up your mind, it'll probably be lunchtime already."

Colorful and variously shaped Berries were displayed in refrigerated cabinets. Nearby, there were powdered Berry blends, pre-mixed Berry sprays, and dried Berries for easy storage and transport.

Some of them Luther could recognize from memory, but most he had never even heard of, they didn't exist in the anime or the games. He had to read the description tags below them to understand their effects.

Since it was working hours, this floor wasn't crowded. The store clerks greeted Luther and the others with enthusiasm.

"Lum Berry, huh? That's some good stuff."

Luther immediately spotted a green Berry in the center of the shelf, it looked a lot like a plum.

A Berry that can cure abnormal and confusion statuses, it's definitely a very practical one.

On the Lum Berry display shelf, there were all kinds of processed products. Luther set his eyes on a canned elixir made from Lum Berries. The quantity was enough to last him quite a long time.

Whoa... As expected of a Berry that takes a long time to cultivate and has strong effects, this price is not exactly friendly.

He asked the nearby sales clerk to help record two units, and just like that, over 600 Pokémon League coins vanished into thin air.

Ever since coming to this world, he had never seriously spent money on Pokémon breeding-related items. Only now did he truly understand what Boshi meant that night when she said: "Money reflects sincerity."

Looking back at Cynthia and Mai, Luther once again felt like he was born into a poor family. These two didn't seem to care much about prices when shopping, if they liked something, they just asked the clerk to take note of it right away.

Cynthia was more reserved, though. After thinking for a while, she only bought three jars of jam made from something called Sweet Cherry Berry. Luther had never heard of that Berry before, it probably only existed in this world. He made a mental note to ask Cynthia about its effects.

"What does it do? It's tasty."

Luther blinked in surprise.

"Both humans and Pokémon find it sweet and fragrant. For Pokémon, you can mix it with water and add a bit of sour lemon to make a drink. Pokémon that like sweet and sour flavors love this taste. I'll open a jar for you to try when we get back." Cynthia's explanation snapped Luther back to reality.

Cynthia's kindness couldn't be turned down. Luther thought about it, his team was full of sweet-toothed Pokémon. Even the Espurr that joined last night seemed the same. Looking at the very reasonable price tag on the Sweet Cherry Berry jam, he decided he had to grab a few jars.

Mai also finished her large round of shopping. Since she didn't go for expensive Berries like the Lum Berry, she spent over 1,000 Pokémon League coins on many Berries whose effects Luther didn't even recognize.

"I'll make Berry cake for them when we get back. Maybe something like cream puffs too."

Mai was clearly in a good mood.

Luther had long experienced Mai's superb cooking, at least when it came to food for Pokémon, so he couldn't help but look forward to seeing how her final creation would turn out.

After wandering around a bit more and finding nothing else to buy in the Berry section, Luther moved on to the seventh floor.

"This floor's for selling Pokémon accessories," Mai said, scrolling through the digital display.

"Not just that, there are also Evolution items for Pokémon here." Luther tapped a corner of the digital map screen.

As he said this, something occurred to him, Mai still hadn't decided what evolution path her Eevee would take.

As one of the beloved darlings of the Pokémon world, with so many possible evolution forms, Eevee tends to give everyone a case of choice paralysis. Luther wondered how Cynthia had made her choice back then…

"Wanna go take a look?" Luther suggested.

"I don't really recommend using Evolution items to make Pokémon evolve," Cynthia said. "In recent years, studies of wild Pokémon have shown that the vast majority of them can evolve through honing themselves and building up bulk. Resorting to Evolution items for that final push usually means the Pokémon lacks confidence or sufficient strength."

After finishing, Cynthia added, "What really matters most in Pokémon evolution is the Pokémon's mindset. If their mentality isn't ready, even evolving won't solve the problem."

(End of Chapter)

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