Sakura walked over, holding a blue, teardrop-shaped badge in her hand. She reached out and placed the badge in Xiao Zhi's hand, saying, "Congratulations on defeating the youngest of us, the Cerulean Sisters. This is the badge from our Cerulean Gym."
Xiao Zhi nodded repeatedly, recalling Pidgeotto into its poké ball, and said with an uncontrollable excited tone, "Awesome! I got the Blue Badge!"
Li Qingfeng, seeing Xiao Zhi so happy, also praised him repeatedly: "Well done, congratulations on getting one step closer to the Indigo Plateau Conference. There are still six more badges; keep up the good work, young man."
It was already evening when they left the Cerulean Gym, and Xiao Gang arrived to meet up with the two of them. When he saw the Water Drop Badge in Xiao Zhi's hand, he also congratulated him.
Bidding farewell to Xiao Xia's three sisters, the trio prepared to stay in Cerulean City for one night.
Xiao Xia looked at the two with some apology: "Xiao Zhi, Xiao Gang, I'm sorry, I have to accompany my sisters tonight. See you tomorrow."
Xiao Zhi quickly waved his hand: "It's fine, Xiao Xia. Xiao Gang and I will go out and see if there are any good places. You should spend time catching up with your sisters."
At this time, Xiao Gang had not yet reached the point of being like 'Emboar,' where he would express love to every beautiful woman he saw: "Xiao Xia, see you tomorrow."
After the two left, Xiao Xia and her three sisters returned to the Gym, chatting and laughing.
As soon as they entered the Gym, Xiao Xia said impatiently, "What exactly is wrong with you three?! Have you been slacking off on your Pokémon training?!"
"Oh, Xiao Xia, listen to us… no, explain." Sakura chuckled awkwardly, then hid behind the other two.
——Meanwhile, on Xiao Zhi's side——
"Oh right, Xiao Gang, let me tell you..." As they walked, Xiao Zhi told Xiao Gang about how he and Xiao Mao had worked together to clear the Goldenrod Bridge.
Xiao Gang nodded slightly after hearing it: "So Cerulean City has a place like that?"
"Yeah... Oh, I found a great place, come take a look." Xiao Zhi pulled Xiao Gang and kept walking south of Cerulean City. Xiao Gang was a bit confused; he didn't understand why Xiao Zhi suddenly got so excited.
However, if Xiao Zhi was going, it wouldn't hurt for him to follow along.
As for why... just now, Li Qingfeng had said to Xiao Zhi:
'Speaking of which, I remember there seems to be a bicycle shop in Cerulean City, but I don't know how much they sell for. If you're in a hurry to return it to the other party, you can try your luck there.'
Knowing this, Xiao Zhi quickly pulled Xiao Gang to the bicycle shop. He had received a reward from Officer Jenny, so he figured the money he had would definitely be enough to buy a bicycle.
Soon, after asking for directions, the two finally arrived at a bicycle shop that was almost going out of business.
The bicycle shop looked dilapidated, its facade old and lacking maintenance, no longer showing its past prosperity. The doors and windows were faded, and the shop sign was blurry, revealing the marks of time.
The bicycles displayed inside were chaotically arranged, clearly lacking organization. The shelves were stacked with old models that were out of fashion, seemingly untouched by anyone.
What was even more striking was the lack of customers inside; the empty sales hall had only a silent atmosphere. Promotional posters hanging on the walls were outdated and worn.
The lack of customers indicated that the business had been unable to attract patrons for a long time. Furthermore, the shop lacked meticulous management, with some repair tools scattered about.
Some parts were even piled directly on the floor. The entire shop exuded a sense of desolation, its impending closure evident.
"Good heavens, does anyone really sell bicycles here?" Xiao Zhi blinked. Would customers really come to a shop like this?
Even a Growlithe wouldn't come.
This kind of shop almost made Xiao Gang's squinted eyes open. They had been asking for directions for so long, only to end up at a shop that was practically on the verge of bankruptcy.
'Since we're here, let's go in.' Li Qingfeng felt a little helpless. He indeed had to take the blame for this, as he was the one who told Xiao Zhi to come.
Hearing Li Qingfeng's words, Xiao Zhi could only nod and follow Xiao Gang inside.
Upon entering, they saw a man standing at the front desk.
Xiao Zhi walked up and asked, "Sir, how much is a bicycle?"
The man, seeing a customer, said without lifting his head, "One bicycle is 1,000,000 yuan. No bargaining."
Xiao Zhi, Xiao Gang: ?
Now the two understood why the shop was so deserted. Xiao Zhi stepped forward and asked, "A bicycle costs that much? Is the frame made of gold, or are the tires made of gold?"
The man chuckled and replied, "Look, where are there any bicycles now? These are all purely handmade bicycles. If you think it's expensive, I think it's even more expensive."
The two looked at each other and sighed simultaneously: "Ugh..."
This price was beyond what they could afford. If it were a billion cheaper, maybe they could buy it.
Xiao Zhi's peripheral vision caught sight of the Team Rocket Trio sneaking around. He wondered why he hadn't seen them lately; it turned out they had run off to this place!
"Hey, what are you trying to do?!" Xiao Zhi's voice wasn't loud, but it was heard by everyone present.
The Team Rocket Trio, seeing their plan fail, pretended to look for an item and shouted, "Huh? Where's my bottle cap? Jessie, Meowth, you two hurry and help me find where the bottle cap went."
"I've known about you three for a long time..." The man looked up and scanned the Team Rocket Trio, then continued, "You've been here for a while, but unfortunately, I don't have anything here, and there's nothing good to steal."
"You two young men over there, is there something you need? If you're here to buy a bike, please leave."
Seeing this, Xiao Zhi recalled the 'fish skeleton' like bicycle he saw in Tokiwa City and subconsciously said,
"Can you repair bicycles here? There's no rush; it's fine if you give it to me after the Indigo Plateau Conference ends."
The scene fell silent, and finally, the man muttered, "I don't have much time left..."
"Huh? Sorry..." Xiao Zhi heard the man's words, and before he could lament the brevity of life, he heard his next sentence:
"By Horsea, I can't keep this up anymore! I'm about to move to Goldenrod City in the neighboring Johto region to make big money, hahaha!"
"Kid, I see you've been here for so long, give me that bicycle to repair. If fate allows, I'll give you the bicycle then."
The other five: ???
Good heavens, that's a quick change!
Before leaving, Xiao Zhi was quite curious and asked, "By the way, sir, why are you moving to Goldenrod City?"
The man said indignantly:
"That goes without saying! In the Kanto region now, everyone rides Pokémon to travel; they don't ride bicycles anymore! It's truly infuriating, so I have no choice but to go to the Johto region to sell bicycles."
(This gag is from Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!)
——As for why Team Rocket didn't cause trouble——
"Jessie, James, Meowth. You three go to Cerulean City and retrieve someone for me."
"Yes, Boss Sakaki!"