Li Chen had no attachments in his previous life and was already prepared to be a ward of the state, so coming to this world was fine.
"Xiao Chen, why did you make such a mess with water everywhere? And why are you soaking wet? You've stained my bamboo lounge chair! See if I don't beat you to death, you unfilial descendant!"
Just as Li Chen was still immersed in his fantasies, a loud roar interrupted his thoughts.
Li Chen was very unhappy about being interrupted, so he frowned, turned his head to look back, and saw a white-haired old man walking towards him furiously.
Li Chen was startled and quickly got up from the bamboo lounge chair, then ran towards the back door of the Gym.
"Old man, I really didn't do this! It was your beloved Squirtle that sprayed the water! I'm the victim here!"
"Also, stop trying to scare me! If you beat me to death, who will inherit your Gym in the future?"
Li Chen said, panicking, as he ran, and in a moment, he darted out the back and disappeared.
It wasn't until Li Chen ran outside the Gym and ducked into an alley that he leaned against the wall, panting heavily.
Li Chen was genuinely afraid of that old man from the bottom of his heart.
Because that old man was his biological grandfather, who disciplined him strictly. When he made mistakes before, he would really get hit, mercilessly.
If he hadn't run fast just now, he might have been caught by that old man and given a beating.
As for why his grandfather was unhappy with him, he couldn't be blamed; he had just transmigrated, and those were things his predecessor had done.
In short, his grandfather was the Gym Leader of the Yang City Gym, and since his parents were gone, he naturally hoped his grandson would inherit the Gym in the future.
However, his predecessor resolutely refused to inherit the Gym. Both grandfather and grandson were stubborn, unwilling to yield, and neither would take a step back or soften their stance.
As a result, they ended up in this stalemate, with the grandfather and grandson clashing as soon as they met, and the grandson even being chased and beaten by his own grandfather.
If it were him, he would rather soften his stance first and agree to the old man's request. After all, who knows what will happen in the future? Just agree for now.
Moreover, don't underestimate this seemingly dilapidated Gym; it can bring in tens of millions in income annually, as well as various Alliance rewards and local preferential policies.
The old man forcing him to inherit this Gym was probably afraid of what would happen after he was gone.
With this Gym, Li Chen could live a very comfortable life. Even if he encountered any problems, the Alliance would definitely protect Li Chen out of old friendship.
Because his parents were both high-ranking Alliance investigators and Elite Four-level Trainer, they sacrificed themselves during a Pokémon riot while on a mission and were posthumously awarded the title of Hero by the Alliance.
Li Chen's family was not an ordinary one; currently, it should be a declining Elite family. The entire family only had the old man as an Elite Trainer.
But given the current situation, if Li Chen didn't work hard, it wouldn't be long before the Li family fell out of the Elite family ranks.
One should know that two or three generations above the old man, they were a Champion family, residing in the Imperial Capital, and one of the eight great families of the Hua Xia Elves Alliance. They only declined due to a turmoil.
Since then, after the Li family fell out of the Champion family ranks and withdrew from the eight great elder families, they moved from the Imperial Capital to Yang City, settling there permanently and inheriting the Yang City Gym for generations.
And that Squirtle that was swimming in the pond and sprayed him with water earlier was a descendant of the old man's Blastoise, having just hatched from a Pokémon Egg not long ago.
That's precisely why, otherwise, Squirtle's Water Gun wouldn't have had just that much power, and Li Chen wouldn't be standing here completely unharmed.
The old man was still angry, so Li Chen didn't dare to go back yet; it was best to wait until the old man's anger subsided in the evening.
But Li Chen had nowhere else to go, so he had no choice but to sneak back when the old man was having a Gym challenge battle with a challenger.
Fortunately, despite his anger, the old man wasn't senile. The back door of the Gym wasn't locked; the old man didn't intend to lock him out and still left the door open for him.
So Li Chen quietly snuck in and came to a greenhouse garden.
This greenhouse garden was built by the old man at great expense inside the Gym, solely to provide a comfortable living environment for his old partners and newly born Pokémon.
As soon as Li Chen entered, he encountered a Snorlax sleeping soundly. This Snorlax was also one of the old man's main Pokémon, at least Elite level.
Afterward, Li Chen wandered around this greenhouse garden. There were at least a dozen types and hundreds of small Pokémon living inside, most of which were the old man's Pokémon and their descendants.
The rest were Pokémon belonging to other Gym staff, as well as some Pokémon the old man raised to deal with Gym challengers; these Pokémon were not too strong.
And on a soft lawn, Li Chen also saw two sturdy Salamence.
These two Salamence were a mother and child, so they rested together, intimately nestled, showing deep maternal affection.
Li Chen, with a wild grass in his mouth, walked over without any hesitation.
He might have some reservations about other Pokémon, fearing he might accidentally provoke them and get beaten.
But towards this mother and child Salamence, Li Chen was open and fearless, because the slightly larger Salamence among them was his Pokémon.
That's right, when he celebrated his fifteenth birthday, the old man's Salamence had just laid an egg, so that Bagon Pokémon Egg was given to Li Chen as his birthday gift.
Due to Alliance regulations, Li Chen still didn't have his own Poké Ball, so he naturally couldn't capture Salamence.
But Salamence was raised by Li Chen from a young age, and he trained it. The two formed a deep bond and affection, just like family.
Of course, Li Chen had to go to school, so after Bagon hatched, most of the time it could only be left to the old man for care and training.
The old man was indeed skilled at raising Pokémon. With the hard work of both the old man and Li Chen, combined with a continuous supply of resources, in just over two years, Bagon evolved into Salamence, becoming a Gym-level Pokémon.
"Salamence~"
Upon seeing Li Chen arrive, Salamence's ferocious face showed a gentle smile, and joy flashed across Salamence's large pupils.
Then, it excitedly ran to Li Chen's side, lowered its body, and gently nudged Li Chen's chest with its head, expressing its affection for Li Chen.
"This is a Salamence, huh? It's so big!"
Looking at the Pseudo-Legendary Salamence pressing against him, Li Chen was stunned for a few seconds, his eyes filled with delight.
One must know that this was a Pseudo-Legendary! The power of Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon was already deeply ingrained in people's hearts. Every Trainer dreamed of being able to capture a Pseudo-Legendary, even if it was just a Pseudo-Legendary cub.
However, Pseudo-Legendary cubs were extremely rare; they were basically not seen in the Wilderness. Only in those high-level Pokémon secret realms lived a certain number of Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon.
However, those kinds of Pokémon secret realms were firmly controlled by the Alliance, and ordinary Trainers couldn't even enter, let alone capture them.
As for the market, there was once a Pseudo-Legendary cub that circulated, but it was auctioned for an exorbitant price of over a hundred million, acquired by a certain magnate.
Besides that, Pseudo-Legendary cubs were the kind that were priceless and unavailable on the market; their presence was simply not seen. For an ordinary person to own a Pseudo-Legendary cub was akin to their ancestral graves smoking with good fortune.
And Li Chen being able to have a Pseudo-Legendary was all thanks to his grandfather, who was an Elite Trainer and also a city-level Gym Leader.