"You mean Mela has been unlucky since she was little?"
"Yeah," Penny sighed helplessly and began describing Mela's experiences.
"According to what Mela told me, the first time she was hospitalized as a child was because she almost choked to death while drinking water. Luckily that doctor had a Water-type Pokémon and managed to save her."
"And after we got to know each other, whenever we walked on the road, Pokémon moving at high speed would always crash into her."
"Also, her Team Star vehicle always breaks down for all sorts of different reasons..."
Hearing Penny's description of Mela, Axel's eyelid twitched.
'What kind of innate calamity physique is this? No wonder she was able to get matched so perfectly against me back at Ninox University.'
If this were a world without Pokémon, Axel figured this girl surviving even a month would be nightmare-level difficulty.
"Let's go. We'll find a place to eat first and keep talking on the way."
Axel grew more and more curious about Mela and took the initiative to suggest going out for food.
"Okay!", When food was mentioned, the shy Mela finally found a chance to speak.
She ran over beside Axel, "Thank you so much for what happened last time. If it weren't for you, our Team Star probably wouldn't have achieved anything even now."
"Also, I know a really good restaurant outside the academy. Want to go there and try the food?"
"Most of the restaurants here are sandwich shops. Only the one I mentioned serves Aurient cuisine, and their Pokémon food is pretty good too."
"No problem," Axel nodded. For him, he wasn't actually that picky about food.
After all, nothing anyone else cooked tasted better than what he made himself. The reason he rarely cooked human food was purely because he was lazy.
The group quickly walked out of Naranja Academy, and just like Penny had said, Mela's luck was truly terrible.
They had just reached the staircase when a Munchlax suddenly fell from the sky, landing precisely above Mela.
The girl clearly seemed used to it already. She took a step back to dodge the Munchlax, then casually summoned a Pokémon to catch it and place it steadily on the ground.
"Thank you so much!", The Munchlax's trainer rushed over, panting as he collapsed onto the ground. When he saw that Munchlax hadn't hurt anyone, he let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Tsk!", Seeing this happen, Axel really couldn't hold it in anymore.
A Munchlax falling from the sky?
He had never seen such an unlucky situation in his life.
And Axel had just used the system panel to check Mela's information earlier. Everything was normal entries, nothing like those gray entries that symbolized bad fortune.
Fortunately, nothing else happened on the way, and Axel's group soon arrived at the restaurant.
This was a themed restaurant that mainly specialized in cooking fish dishes.
In the pond by the entrance, several Magikarp stared blankly at passing customers, acting as greeters.
Further inside, two Meowth were lying beside the counter, serving as lucky-cat mascots.
These were fairly standard Pokémon. Many business owners liked to raise a few of them.
They were cute, could serve as mascots, and sometimes the Pokémon would charm kind-hearted trainers into becoming regular customers.
Of course, Farfetch'd, common in many restaurants, was also indispensable. The green onions they played with were considered top-tier seasoning that ordinary people could access.
What was outrageous was that Axel even saw a Purrloin on the wall, that was definitely not a Pokémon most people would keep, because they loved stealing things and often caused trouble.
Most business owners wouldn't raise Pokémon like that.
As one of the main guests, Axel and Briar ordered their dishes first, then handed the menu to the waiter.
"Your boss seems pretty kindhearted, raising a Purrloin in the shop. Those guys are quite troublesome."
"Huh?", The waiter froze for a moment, "We don't have a Purrloin in our shop..."
"What kind of place would dare keep that kind of Pokémon? It would scare away customers, right?"
"Then maybe a wild Purrloin snuck in from outside," Axel didn't think much of it. Almost every city had a few wandering Purrloin.
As long as they didn't go too far, Officer Jenny usually wouldn't drive them out easily and would focus more on educating them.
Soon the dishes were served, and Axel's group started eating while chatting.
At that moment, the waiter who had taken their order earlier cast a sharp glance at the room number.
He quickly ran to an empty corner, pressed his earpiece, and said in a low voice, "Lady Coral, the intel was correct. The target really did come to this restaurant to eat."
"But... there seems to be someone in their group with extremely sharp perception."
"That Purrloin was clearly in a concealed state just now, but that person noticed it easily."
"I'm worried he might be a powerful trainer. Should we wait until they separate before making a move?"
"Useless trash!", Outside the hotel, a pink-haired little girl sat on top of a Glalie, her tone sharp.
"Didn't you say that Mela looks like a delinquent but is actually a very insecure person?"
"What kind of strong people could possibly exist in her circle?"
"Right now Amethio is already closing in on the Rising Volt Tacklers. He's about to get Liko's pendant."
"If you can't even get this jade, you might as well resign later!"
"I...", The waiter glanced toward Axel's private room in difficulty. But when he thought about Coral's terrifying nature, he still sighed helplessly.
"Don't worry, Lady Coral. I'll definitely complete the mission!"
"That's more like it~", The pink-haired girl sitting on Glalie curled her lips into a smile, revealing a small fang.
"If we successfully capture Chi-Yu this time, I'll apply for a big reward for you!"
———
Inside the private room, aside from Gardevoir quietly eating fish with her head down, Axel and the others were chatting. Before they realized it, the topic turned to antiques.
"Old items in my house?", Mela thought for a moment in confusion and gently shook her head.
"My family is pretty ordinary. We don't really have anything very ancient."
"If I had to say something, maybe it's the jade I carry with me. It's been passed down in my family for generations."
"But my dad said that jade is very important, so I was afraid of losing it. I sewed it into..."
At this point, Mela paused, her face turning red.
"Sewed it where?"
Hearing Axel's question, Mela's face turned even redder, "In... in my underwear..."
"But if you want to see it, I can go to the restroom and open the pocket."
"No need, no need. In a couple of days is fine," Axel wasn't in a hurry anyway. He still had to stay here waiting for the history exam.
"Then let's come out to eat again tomorrow. Penny said you'll be staying here for a few more days. You seem to like the pickled fish at this restaurant, right?"
"It tastes pretty good."
"Then tomorrow we'll come here again. Their sweet-and-sour mandarin fish is also delicious!"
Mela's tone became cheerful, and she casually picked up a Skitty that passed by the door.
"Wow, such a cute kitty. Want to have a bite with us?"
"Meow~", The Skitty licked its paw and skillfully curled up in Mela's arms.
A well-hidden trace of smugness flashed through its eyes.
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