At the party, plenty of self-service food was prepared. The three found a spot, took a table full of delicious food, and began to enjoy the fun of traveling.
While they were eating, two figures walked over. Noticing the newcomers, Brock immediately stopped his movements, then his face turned crimson, looking infatuated, with drool almost dripping.
Ash and Misty, seeing this, also turned to look. It was the gentleman and his female companion from earlier. They immediately understood why Brock was like this. And the gentleman's female companion, seeing Brock's expression, also showed a sly smile.
Kids are just kids. A little trick can easily manipulate them.
"Hello, young man, we meet again!" The gentleman, "147," looked at Ash, pushed up his glasses, and said politely.
"Hello. Have your Pokémon recovered? Do you want to battle again?"
Ash chuckled, deliberately bringing up the previous matter. The gentleman's expression immediately changed. Although Ash didn't show mockery, his words unintentionally satirized him, which made his face look unpleasant.
Ash also noticed his expression but didn't care at all. 'You lost, so you say I won unfairly? And I can't even mock you?'
The female companion beside him was also a bit embarrassed. Seeing him gripping his cane, his hand slightly trembling, she quickly tugged his clothes. The gentleman then reacted, temporarily suppressing his humiliation, maintaining his gentlemanly demeanor.
"No, I didn't come to battle you, young man. Your Charmander is quite outstanding!" The gentleman said, changing the subject.
"Thank you!" However, Ash was impervious to both flattery and criticism. After hearing him, he merely responded calmly.
"..." The gentleman suddenly fell silent for a moment, unsure what to say. In his plan, a young trainer of this age, full of spirit and ambition.
Upon hearing praise from others, he should easily become carried away. But this young man in front of him completely subverted his understanding.
"Um... what do you think of my Raticate?" After a while of awkward silence, the gentleman still asked stiffly.
"It's alright!" Ash responded. He wasn't being complimentary. That Raticate could even use Hyper Fang, indicating its level wasn't low. It only showed that the gentleman's own level wasn't high enough.
"Uh... since you think my Raticate isn't bad, that makes things easier. Are you willing to trade your Charmander for my Raticate?"
Hearing this, the gentleman quickly spoke. This kid was too difficult to deal with, so he'd better get to the point quickly. Otherwise, he would truly lose his gentlemanly demeanor.
"Trade?" Ash didn't respond. Misty beside him spoke first, looking at Ash as if she wanted to say something, but couldn't. As for Brock, he wasn't even worth hoping for; his soul was almost charmed away.
"That's right, trade. As long as both trainers are willing, Pokémon can be traded. This is both legitimate and a way to expand social circles and make more friends!"
The gentleman, seeing Ash hadn't responded yet, thought Ash didn't know about trading, so he explained.
Ash, upon hearing him, couldn't help but roll his eyes. 'Expand social circles and make more friends? We don't even know each other's names, and we're making friends?' Was he really treating him like a child?
"How about it? Young man? My Raticate is very powerful," the gentleman continued to entice.
"Emmm, but sir, I won the battle just now, didn't I?" Ash asked, feigning thought, then looked up with a puzzled expression.
"..."
Listening to Ash's words, the gentleman's face changed again. 'You're not letting this go today, are you?' He was talking about trading, and Ash was asking who won or lost. But now, he wanted to get Charmander, so he could only endure it for now.
"Well... although my Raticate indeed fought a few battles first, a win is a win, and a loss is a loss! You did indeed win."
It was evident that this person cared a lot about his pride. Although he admitted defeat, he didn't forget to mention that he had fought a few battles before.
But as the saying goes, belated flattery is cheaper than grass. What's more, Ash had no intention of trading with him in the first place.
"So my Charmander is stronger then? Then why would I trade my stronger Charmander for your Raticate?" Ash deliberately asked this, precisely to embarrass him and teach him a lesson.
The meaning was also clearly conveyed to the gentleman: 'My Charmander is stronger, so why would I trade it for a Pokémon I already defeated? Are you out of your mind?'
"This..."
The gentleman's face at this moment was as unpleasant as if he had eaten a fly. He had originally thought that a child like this could be easily fooled with a few words, after all, the Raticate he had now was also obtained this way.
But he never expected that this brat in front of him was even more difficult to deal with than the trainers he had encountered before. At this moment, the gentleman's face was grim, yet he was speechless.
"Little brother~~~~ Don't trainers just love training Pokémon? Isn't getting a weaker Pokémon precisely worth training?" At this moment, the gentleman's female companion also spoke.
Her voice was cloying. In Ash's previous world, such a voice would be described as "clippy." Although this world didn't have such a change, Ash was immune to it.
However, Brock beside him had his soul completely charmed. Hearing this seductive and bone-chilling voice, he seemed to melt into a ball of chewing gum.
And this was the second trick of these two. If persuasion didn't work, they would use a honey trap. After all, the other party was just a kid; he wouldn't suffer any losses.
"Since it's so valuable, why don't you train it yourselves?"
Ash remained unmoved and unaffected. The other party was indeed very beautiful, but he had seen many beautiful "tea ceremony masters" in his previous life. This kind of trick wouldn't work on him. There was no shortage of beautiful girls in this world.
"Uh..." The gentleman's female companion also didn't expect that her usually infallible honey trap wouldn't work.
"Little brother~~~ Don't be so heartless! Reconsider!"
Feeling her charm insulted, the gentleman's female companion leaned closer, placing her hand on Ash's shoulder, and breathed into his ear.
PS: The part about meeting on the island, where the Pokémon communicate among themselves, is very interesting, so I decided to write it. Let's see how to write it differently!
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