Pokémon: The Genetic Researcher Just Wants to Slack Off

Chapter 16: Cattleya surprisingly showed some concern.

Seeing Natsuno's attitude, Takeran said nothing more. She knew that Natsuno was a stubborn person who would do what he set his mind to, just like when he insisted on studying Xiaocai's defect, he did it without hesitation.

That's exactly what makes Ono so attractive! Zhu Lan blushed slightly as she thought about this.

Meanwhile, a researcher surnamed Xia, who was focused on playing games, was unaware of this scene and was searching for his tablet.

Just then, Xia Ye's phone, which Xiao Cai was holding and watching videos on, rang. Someone called him to chat via video. It was a friend on a social media account, and the nickname was "Superpowered Rampage Young Lady".

Xiao Cai answered the call directly and greeted, "Tulu Tutu, Tulu (Good evening, Jia Deliya)~"

The other person smiled when they saw it was Xiao Cai: "Ah, Xiao Cai, good evening. Where's Xia Ye? Give him the phone."

As best friends who have known each other since they were 8 years old, Cattleya and Cynthia, like Natsuno, can already understand the meaning of Cynthia's cries. Natsuno can also understand the meaning of the other two's Pokémon cries.

Seeing that the other person looked a little anxious, Xiao Cai handed her phone to Xia Ye: "Tu Tu Lu, Tu Lu (Xia Ye, here you go)."

Natsuno took the phone, her tone as if she had just encountered a shiny Pokémon while strolling down the street: "What a rare guest! Lady Cattleya, who never video calls me, has made an exception today. This is truly unprecedented."

"It's not that Miss Ruined Winter ruined the family business and is now asking me for money, is it? Tell me how much you need, and I'll try my best to lend it to you."

Normally, if Gadriya heard these words, she would have responded with sarcasm, such as, "Even if I go bankrupt, the few hundred dollars I borrowed from you are of no use. You can keep it to buy scratch cards. Maybe you can win ten thousand dollars every day for decades and it will barely be comparable to my former wealth."

But today she was acting strangely, speaking haltingly, each word barely audible: "You, um, you, Xia Ye, are you alright?"

Unlike before, when he wouldn't even bother looking at Natsuno, he kept observing Natsuno's expressions and movements to make sure that Natsuno wasn't lying.

Seeing the other person's reaction, Xia Ye suddenly realized that the other person might be genuinely worried about him, just like Zhu Lan. His expression changed from flippant to serious.

"I'm fine, thank you for your concern, Xiaoya."

After staring into Natsuno's eyes to confirm that he wasn't lying, the young lady breathed a sigh of relief.

Then she instantly exploded: "Who cares about you? Stop flattering yourself! And you bastard, don't call me Xiaoya! Only Zhulan can call me Xiaoya!"

Natsuno's expression returned to its flippant tone: "Hey hey hey, instead of empty words of concern, give me a huge sum of money. Consider it an investment in me. Right now, the line of people wanting to cooperate with me stretches from Kanto all the way to Carlos. Don't miss this opportunity!"

"Tch, I don't care. Let me tell you, even if I really go bankrupt, I'd rather jump off the top of Tianguan Mountain than cooperate with you."

"Really?"

Natsuno lowered his voice and told the young lady that he was going to infiltrate Team Rocket and cause trouble.

Cattleya suppressed her voice, trying to make every word as sweet as possible: "Hey, Natsuno-nii, you have to bring Xiaoya along for something this fun!"

"I know I was wrong, Xi. Can we make up? We've been good friends for years!"

As a pampered young lady who never lacked for anything, it was in Cattleya's nature to crave all sorts of strange and wonderful adventures.

"Reconcile? Are you joking at this point? You said last time that we were just friends on the surface, far from being true friends. Why are you being so deferential now?"

The two men, one pleading and the other refusing, created quite a lively scene.

Zhu Lan, who was standing nearby, seemed to remember something and interrupted the two of them while they were casting a spell: "Isn't this time for playing together? Hurry up and log in."

Then she reached out and hung up the video call, snatched the phone from Xia Ye's hand, and said with a smile, "Xia Ye, you forgot your phone again. I'll just continue using yours."

Xia Ye shook his head and handed one of the two tablets he had just found to Xiao Cai. The two of them, one human and one dog, quickly logged into the game.

At this moment, two more balls jumped out of Cynthia's pocket. They were familiar faces: Sharpedo and Lucario. The latter was holding Cynthia's phone and had logged into Lucario's account.

Shark still chose to stand behind Natsuno, ready to offer Natsuno some advice (or rather, timid advice), since Shark always believed in cutting straight to the end and didn't need any strategy.

Seeing that Natsuno glanced at the phone in Lucario's hand and then turned to look at her, Rin continued to smile: "Hey, Lucario just needs to use my phone, so it's perfect for me to use yours."

Sitting down next to Natsuno, Takeran kicked off her shoes and put both of her legs on Natsuno's feet.

The three of them and two dogs played a five-player game and had a pleasant night.

Meanwhile, another group of people were also extremely happy.

Inside Carlos's hotel, the well-dressed breeding farm executives were drinking and making merry.

"Heh, I thought it would be something special, but I didn't expect even the Alliance doesn't really support this kind of research. It requires a lot of funding, and in the end, you'd only be a mid-level researcher, and there are tons of those."

"So, this thing is currently worth less than Anthony's. At least Anthony has already achieved practical results in his research, and it has great potential. Have you gotten in touch with him yet?"

"Anthony said it was all Xia Ye's doing, but who among us doesn't know that behind the scenes? The league just wants to elevate Xia Ye's status and force the credit onto him. Ha, I think the league does things no differently than we do."

"We could try to win over Anthony. Maybe the league used some tough measures to force him to give up some results. I reckon the old guy is quite resentful of the league right now. We could give it a shot."

"Thanks to our methods, the number of online opponents is actually increasing. Those ordinary people are indeed like headless sheep, easily manipulated and guided. I suspect it's these discussions that are hindering Xia Ye's promotion."

"Is Natsuno still trying to collaborate with him?"

"No, let's hold off. Since his value isn't as great as we thought, what if he agrees to cooperate with us but wants us to fund his further research?

"Yes, our money doesn't come from thin air. We can't just dump it into the stomach of the gluttonous king like garbage. We need to make money, not waste it. We can't get it backwards."

"Yes, yes, everyone, cheers! Let's celebrate this victory of online tactics! May money last forever!"

"May money live forever!"

...

The team achieved a five-game winning streak, and even Cattleya found Xia Ye much more agreeable: "I think you, Xia Ye, are not bad at all. You are a top gamer, comparable to the King and Ya'er!"

After escorting Zhu Lan back to her room and chatting with Jie Zi Lan for a while, Xia Ye returned to her room to pack her luggage.

The academic conference is over. Tomorrow I'll be heading back to Pallet Town with Professor Oak.

Actually, there's not much to pack. The only thing is that I need to keep the Key Stone and Mega Stone that Daigo dropped safe. I don't even feel safe keeping them close to my body.

"Palenew Town, your emperor has returned!"