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But being emotional did not mean Lanlian was going to catch the Sobble lying in her arms.
As a top-tier Trainer who had already risen to the rank of the League's Elite Four, her team was essentially complete.
Whether it was team battles or one-on-one matches, she already had a mature and reliable combat system in place.
In terms of raw strength and overall versatility, her lineup was already highly refined. She had no urgent need to add fresh blood to her team.
And at her level, catching a new Pokémon was never a simple matter.
She had to consider countless factors, whether it matched her battle style, whether it had enough room to develop, what role it might play on the team in the future, and much more. Every possibility needed to be planned out in detail.
The carefree habit of catching anything that caught her eye, the kind of thing she had done when she first left home and began traveling, had long since been abandoned by Lanlian.
That was not only a matter of being responsible for herself and for the Pokémon already on her team.
It was also a matter of being responsible for any newly caught Pokémon.
From another perspective, this was the real world, not a fairy tale or some legendary adventure story.
The idea that someone could casually stumble across a top-tier rare Pokémon with extraordinary talent on the side of the road was basically impossible.
In the wild, too many unpredictable factors existed. Even if a newborn Pokémon had remarkable natural gifts, its later growth could still be dragged down by what happened afterward until it became ordinary.
Lanlian, who had been raised in one of the League's old and respected breeder families, understood that very well.
And besides, with her status and position, she likely only needed to say a word for all kinds of people from all sorts of backgrounds to bring her whatever she wanted, whether that meant a pseudo-legendary hatchling or precious resources.
Practically anything could be placed in her hands.
She simply chose not to ask.
And she did not need to.
Her family had been deeply rooted in the League for generations and possessed enormous wealth.
As one of the direct heirs, Lanlian had never lacked for resources from the day she was born.
Taking all of that together, from the standpoint of Kael himself as a potential Pokémon partner, Lanlian had no real interest at all.
The only reason she had chosen to save him was simple kindness.
Nothing more.
Of course, as the League's Water-type Elite Four member, she could tell that the Sobble in her arms was definitely not ordinary.
Though his severe injuries made many details hard to judge clearly, just from the strength of his will and the quality of his development, Lanlian could already tell he was something special.
But only special.
What Kael had shown her so far had not yet reached the line she considered good enough for a Pokémon she would personally catch.
Pulling her gaze away from the Sobble in her arms, Lanlian looked ahead.
There, beneath the heavy dark clouds, the outline of a small town was gradually coming into view.
Mercury Town.
The nearest human settlement to their current location.
It was remote, yes, but still fairly well equipped.
A Pokémon Center, A Trainer supply shop.
Everything that ought to be there was there.
It was suitable enough as a temporary stop for her, and just as suitable as a place for Sobble to be treated and recover.
Lanlian blinked softly, and her eyes gradually lost focus as if she were thinking about something else.
Weak.
Drained.
It felt like the aftermath of a dizzying roller coaster ride from his old life, except the nausea and pain flooding his mind were much worse.
As his consciousness slowly returned, Kael gradually opened his eyes.
What greeted him was a spotless white ceiling overhead.
"Where is this...?"
The sharp smell of disinfectant in the air made his stomach turn.
He had only just awakened from deep sleep, and his thoughts were sluggish and blank, unable to form anything clearly.
Only when Kael struggled upright on the soft mattress and finally saw the thick white bandages wrapped tightly around his body did his mind begin to clear.
"So... I was saved?"
Thinking back to the elegant figure descending from the sky just before he lost consciousness, he pieced together a rough guess as to what had happened after he blacked out.
Tap! Tap!
A set of quick, crisp footsteps sounded from outside the room.
Kael looked up and saw a Nurse Joy hurrying inside, dressed in the classic pale pink League nurse uniform.
When she saw that he was awake, still sitting there in a slightly dazed and blank state, she could not help smiling warmly.
In a soft voice, she said,
"Don't move around too much, little one. You might reopen your wounds."
"Just lie down and rest for a while. Give it some time, and you should be fine."
Under the gentle reassurance in Nurse Joy's voice, Kael instinctively followed her advice and quietly lay back down.
Fresh air drifted in through the open door, making his head clear a little more.
"So I really did make it."
"And this is... a Pokémon Center?"
Lying there under the blanket, Kael studied the room around him and slowly nodded to himself.
"I owe her a huge debt."
Thinking of the young woman in traditional dress who had saved him, Kael let out a quiet sigh inwardly and made a promise to himself.
One day, once he had enough strength, if the chance ever came, he would repay her.
With all the boosts from the system's items and attributes, as long as he did not actively throw his life away, Kael did not doubt at all that he would eventually grow strong.
And Lanlian, who had already left Mercury Town and flown on toward League headquarters to handle her own business, naturally had no way of knowing that her simple act of kindness had earned her a promise from a soul not of this world.
While Kael was lost in thought, Nurse Joy had already finished collecting and recording the relevant data. Before leaving, she gently rubbed his head, gave him one more soft smile, and stepped out of the room.
Since he had been brought to the Pokémon Center by a member of the Elite Four, Kael was naturally receiving highly preferential treatment.
That much could be seen just from the private room he was currently staying in.
After all, Pokémon Centers handled an enormous flow of patients every day, and beds were always in high demand. Normally, a single room would be packed with four or five beds just to barely meet the needs of passing Trainers.
A private room with top-tier facilities like this was never made available to the general public. Usually, only the Pokémon of Trainers with extremely high standing in the League had the right to use one.
And Kael, though still a completely wild Pokémon by all appearances, was now benefiting from the highest standard of treatment the Pokémon Center could offer, purely because of Lanlian's connection.
Combined with the natural healing ability of a Pokémon's body, it probably would not be long before he had fully recovered.
And after enduring such a brutal fight, he might even come back stronger than before.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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For early access to advanced chapters on P-atreon:
P-atreon/iamxeno
(Just remove the - hyphen to access normally)
Thank you so much for your support and for reading!