Alex had a girlfriend in his previous life. But this relationship was based on physical needs. Inevitably, such a relationship did not last long. His girlfriend didn’t feel loved and broke up. Alex wasn’t concerned about losing his girlfriend. He often found her annoying because she wanted to do lots of ‘pointless’ things with him. Alex always thought that he isn’t the type to fall in love. And he never believed in love at first sight. Alex saw lots of beautiful girls, but none could generate a strong feeling out of him. It was like looking at a beautiful picture, beautiful but nothing more. No girl attracted him. Meaning that no girl made him gave a strong feeling that he has to chase her. He gotta give it his best to be in a relationship with her. He believed that no girl can make him feel that.

But this time, his believes were challenged to the core. ​​

Alex looked in the direction of Maria with a (⊙_⊙) expression.

Maria thought, “Great, a pervert! Why are there so many people who can’t control their lust? Even though I look good, I don’t look any better than Instructor Lisa. Why do men look at me like this and not at Instructor Lisa? Hmm, probably because the Instructor Lisa has a dangerous aura around her.”

Maira sighed and spoke, “Hey, what are you looking at? Don’t you know how to speak?”

As soon as Alex heard this, he got out of his stupor.

Alex “Amm, sorry. What did you just say? By the way, my name is Alex Stark. Nice to meet you.”

Alex thought, “What just happened? Why am I behaving like a caveman? It can’t be that I just fell in love, right? I thought something like love at first sight would never happen to me. No. It is too quick to say that this is love. Though I’m indeed feeling a strong attraction towards her. This is the first time. And I don’t wanna mess this up. But, what am I doing now? Her first impression of me is not good.”

Maria said furiously, “As if I care about your name.”

Maria took a long breath and calmed down. Then she said calmly, “But I don’t want to be rude, so I’ll tell you my name. My name is Maria. I asked you whether you could answer a few questions of mine.”

Maria thought, “What the fuk is wrong with this person. Although I often get perverted looks, nobody was as open as this guy. It doesn’t matter anyway. Get the information you need and get away from him.”

Alex calmed down a bit and said, “Of course. But if you want the information, you have to pay TR points accordingly. I would also like to apologize for the stare. I have never seen such a beautiful person in my life, and I was fascinated. It is the first time this has happened to me. I swear.”

Alex thought, “I don’t know if I fell in love with her. I have no experience regarding love. Maybe it’s just hormones working. Or maybe it is my first love. Whatever! At least I know that I am attracted to her. But that doesn’t mean that I give her everything I own, especially if it doesn’t improve her impression of me. It might even make the impression that I want to impress her with objects. Although I would have no problem giving valuable items to the person I love, the feelings should be mutual.”

Maria says coldly, “Ohh!! A flatterer! You can save the flattery for someone who believes it. I wanted to know if you know which of our rookies was the first to conquer his Pokémon. I can give you 5 TR points if you know the answer.”

Alex said seriously with an honest expression, “That was no flattery. That was my honest opinion. By the way, why do you want such useless information?”

Maria, still with a cold expression on her face, “That’s none of your business, but it’s not a secret. I managed to conquer my Pokémon Ekans yesterday. But when I wanted to get my reward, I found out that I was only the second-fastest rookie. I want to take a closer look at this first place rookie to assess whether he will be a trouble in the tournament.”

Maria finished speaking and threw a Pokeball on the floor. A healthy-looking Ekans appeared. Ekans crawl Maria up like a tree until it found a comfortable position on her shoulder. Then Ekans looked menacingly at Alex and his Zubat.

Alex looked at the information from Ekans.

Pokémon: Ekans

LV: 13

Attribute: Poison

Abilities: Intimidate

Gender: Female

Potential: Gold

Move: Poison Sting, Wrap, Leer, Acid, Bite, (Innate Talent) Headbutt, (Innate Talent) Iron Tail, (Innate Talent) Rock Slide

Alex was impressed with how talented this Ekans was.

Alex had seen the Pokémon from many rookies or even Team Rocket members. Almost all of them were either Bronze or Normal. Only Lisa’s Pokémon had the same talent as his Zubat. This was the first Pokémon he saw that has Gold potential, and it didn’t disappoint. It has 3 strong Innate Talent moves. And you have to consider that, even though you can learn the moves later with TM, the talent in learning and using the move is not comparable. For example, if a Zubat learns the TM Shadow Ball, it will take a week to get the same Shadow Ball as Alex’s Zubat.

Also, Alex was impressed that Maria conquered such a cold-blooded Pokémon as Ekans in one day. Especially the Pokémon with Gold potential. Alex knows from experience how difficult it is to conquer a talented Pokémon. Alex had the feeling that Maria was even more talented than him. This is the first time in this world that Alex has felt a sense of inferiority. He didn’t like the feeling at all.

Alex thought, “No, even if she’s talented, I don’t think I’m worse.”

Alex looked at Maria with a challenging expression and said, “*cough* Well, that’s embarrassing now. Because you are talking to that guy.”

AUTHOR’S THOUGHT :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

“This is how Maria looks like” (check out jojo’s comment)

That was the chapter where it took me the longest. It’s really not easy to have a conversation like that and then brainstorm with both people to show you. If you have any opinions or suggestions, write in the comments.