The next day, urged on by Bellossom, Wen Qi rode his Gogoat and sped toward the city.
In truth, this trip to the city wasn't just about buying a household Pokémon; Wen Qi also planned to stay for a few days and have a good fight at the battle hall.
Over the past month, his Pokémon had improved quickly in strength, but they rarely battled strangers, so they were still lacking in combat experience.
This visit to the battle hall was the perfect chance to fight several matches and accumulate some solid experience.
At the farm, there wasn't much going on lately, so Wen Qi asked the Wen Hua siblings to help manage things. To ensure the farm's safety, he left the Sandslash couple and Scizor behind.
The Sandslash couple were veteran farm employees, often patrolling the grounds.
As for Scizor, it was strong and battle-hardened, with no need to fight at the battle hall.
Plus, Scizor's power was exceptional, making it hard to find a worthy opponent at the hall.
So he left it at the farm to guard the place.
For Wen Qi himself, having Gogoat as an escort was enough—the city was quite safe.
He originally wanted to bring Bellossom along to take care of him in the city, but Bellossom had no interest in going and stayed at the farm as the overseer.
Some matters weren't suitable for Wen Hua and the others to handle, so Bellossom took care of them.
With Gogoat's enhanced strength, the trip to the city was faster this time, giving Wen Qi a real taste of speed.
Since Wen Qi had a license, he could ride Gogoat into the city, but he couldn't go too fast.
Arriving at his old home, Wen Qi gazed at the familiar two-story building and couldn't help recalling the two years he'd lived there, memories flashing through his mind.
Opening the courtyard gate, he saw the yard full of fallen leaves and weeds. It had only been a month or two since he'd been back, yet it was already so messy.
He unlocked the door. Though he'd covered things with cloth before leaving, a look inside revealed plenty of dust.
Wen Qi released Venomoth. With a single glance, Venomoth instantly understood.
Cleaning again—it was a task it often did and was quite familiar with.
Soon, under Venomoth's psychic power, the dust in the room gathered together.
The weeds in the yard were trimmed with Air Cutter, then collected with the fallen leaves using psychic energy.
Wen Qi looked at the pile of weeds and leaves, then released Growlithe.
As soon as Growlithe came out and saw Wen Qi, it happily ran over, rubbing its fluffy body against him.
If Wen Qi hadn't stopped Growlithe from jumping into his arms, it wouldn't have stopped at just that.
In the middle of summer, he was already hot enough, and Growlithe kept trying to burrow into his chest—he couldn't handle that.
Wen Qi told Growlithe to use Ember on the pile of weeds and leaves, burning them away.
After being released, Growlithe refused to go back to the small world.
Though the small world was more suited for it, it was too boring there, and it wanted to stay with Wen Qi.
Seeing Growlithe unwilling to return, Wen Qi had no choice but to let it stay in the yard, just telling it not to get too close—it was too hot!
After finishing that, Wen Qi went to the nearby farmer's market and bought about a week's worth of food and supplies, figuring he'd stay here for around a week.
Zhou Zhiwen had returned from Wen Qi's place yesterday, outwardly calm but inwardly thrilled.
At work today, he couldn't help smiling, looking cheerful no matter who he saw.
His team members were all guessing what good news their captain had encountered.
Either he'd found a girlfriend, or he was getting a promotion and raise.
But they hadn't heard anything about a promotion recently.
Zhou Zhiwen later realized he was being too obvious and quickly reined himself in, not wanting to get carried away.
Just before lunch, his phone rang. Seeing it was Wen Qi, he answered quickly, and after a brief exchange,
Zhou Zhiwen grew even more excited, losing all interest in lunch. He immediately hopped on his Arcanine and rushed to Wen Qi's place.
Passing team members saw their captain in such a hurry again and had no idea what was going on.
One of them said:
"I saw the boss take a call and then turn into this. Do you think it was the new girlfriend calling? Otherwise, he wouldn't skip lunch to run off."
"When the boss gets back, we need to ask him properly—ask who the new girlfriend is, the one who's got him so excited today that he left without eating after one call."
Wen Qi had called to tell Zhou Zhiwen to come by after lunch to pick up the energy cubes.
But after getting the call, Zhou Zhiwen had no appetite for lunch and rushed over immediately.
Luckily, Wen Qi had made a lot for lunch, planning to save some for dinner. Now that Zhou Zhiwen was here, it was just enough for two.
When Zhou Zhiwen arrived, Wen Qi had just finished cooking lunch.
He heard someone knocking at the door, and Growlithe barked, alerting him.
Wen Qi was puzzled—he'd only just returned, so who would come by at noon? He didn't have many acquaintances around here.
Opening the door, he saw it was Zhou Zhiwen.
Wen Qi said helplessly:
"Captain, do you have to be so eager? Did you even eat? Judging by your look, you definitely didn't. Come on, let's eat together."
Zhou Zhiwen knew he'd been too impatient, but as soon as he learned Wen Qi wanted him to come get the energy cubes, he couldn't stay calm. Sitting down to eat quietly was out of the question.
So he'd come right away.
Luckily, Wen Qi had made plenty for lunch, planning to save some for dinner. Now that Zhou Zhiwen was here, it was just right for two.
He led Zhou Zhiwen into the yard, and before entering, Zhou Zhiwen recalled his Arcanine.
Once inside, Zhou Zhiwen noticed a Growlithe lying lazily under a tree in the yard.
He couldn't help thinking:
"Another Pokémon I've never seen before, and such a rare Growlithe at that. Judging by its state, its aptitude should be good."
Zhou Zhiwen had raised a Growlithe before and could tell this one had better aptitude than his old one.
He wasn't sure how much better, but even so, this Growlithe was at least green-tier.
Then he remembered that auction a month ago, where a Growlithe had been sold. He wasn't sure if this was the same one.
So he asked:
"Is that Growlithe the one you bought at that auction?"
Wen Qi, tidying the table, replied:
"Yeah! That's the one from the auction. Let me tell you in secret—I got a steal with this Growlithe."
Hearing "steal," Zhou Zhiwen became even more curious about the Growlithe.
Given the big incident at the black market that day, Zhou Zhiwen had reviewed the records of everything sold at that night's auction.
As a fire-type trainer, he'd noticed the problematic Growlithe on the auction list.
Now that Wen Qi mentioned it was a steal, he was intensely curious.