Chapter 164: Intensive Training
Kenji was still examining Electivire's stat panel when a string of curses suddenly rained down from the sky. Kenji froze and looked up.
Above him, a large purple bat with a round body and two pairs of wings—one large, one small—was speeding toward him, carrying a man on its back.
This large purple bat was none other than Zubat's final evolution, Crobat.
Although the man's face was obscured by Crobat's round body from below, Kenji had already guessed the visitor's identity from the voice alone.
While Crobat was a bat, as a final evolution, it could grow to around 1.8 meters tall—taller than many humans—so it could technically carry a person. However, being carried by a bat still looked a bit bizarre.
As Crobat landed, the man on its back revealed his face.
It was Tyson Tang. He was looking at Kenji with gritted teeth, wearing casual clothes and sporting a messy hairstyle as if he had just crawled out of bed.
"Gym Leader Tang?? What are you doing here??" Kenji was stunned at first, but then a wave of guilt washed over him. He had a vague idea why Tyson was here.
The commotion caused by Electabuzz evolving into Electivire was far greater than when Elekid evolved into Electabuzz.
Sure enough, as soon as Kenji asked, Tyson forced a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "You have the nerve to ask? What did you do this time? You triggered the alarm system for the entire area surrounding Metropolis."
The alarm system, as the name implied, was designed to trigger the moment any abnormality occurred near Metropolis, such as a Pokémon riot or natural anomalies.
When this happened, the Metropolis Gym Leader, no matter what they were doing, had to drop everything and rush over immediately.
Even if they were on the toilet, they had to pinch it off and go.
This was exactly why Tyson often complained that being a Gym Leader was a thankless job.
Basically, once you became a Provincial Gym Leader, you lost the right to travel freely. You had to stay in the city you guarded to prevent emergencies.
Plus, you had to deal with challenges from trainers all over the world daily.
Kenji decided right then and there that he would never become a Gym Leader. Compared to staying in one place for a long time, Kenji preferred to travel the world with his Pokémon, just like Ash Ketchum from the anime in his past life.
...
Tyson Tang had finally managed to enjoy a bit of his scarce vacation time, only for Kenji's Electivire to trigger the city's alarm system.
Kenji scratched his head, knowing he was in the wrong, and laughed sheepishly. "I didn't do much. Just... my Electabuzz evolved, and the commotion was a bit loud."
Tyson shifted his gaze to Electivire, looking skeptical. "That noise just now... it caused it?"
Kenji nodded.
Tyson looked at Electivire, surprise flashing in his eyes.
When Tyson was rushing over, seeing the rolling thunderclouds, he had thought an Electric-type Legendary Pokémon like Raikou or Zapdos had graced the vicinity of Metropolis.
Having seen Legendary Pokémon with his own eyes, Tyson knew better than anyone how dangerous and powerful they were. He hadn't dared to be careless and had flown over on Crobat with his main team at full speed.
But as soon as he arrived, the thunderclouds vanished. Looking at the spot where the clouds had gathered, there was no Legendary Pokémon—only Kenji and the Electivire standing not far from him.
An Electivire... could actually summon thunderclouds?
Tyson fell into deep thought.
Altering natural weather was usually the privilege of Legendary Pokémon.
Although ordinary Pokémon had moves or abilities like Rain Dance, Sunny Day, or Drought that could change the weather, the range they affected was generally very small.
For an ordinary Pokémon to manipulate natural weather on a large scale like a Legendary, they needed to be at least Elite Four-level, and the energy consumption would be massive.
To control natural weather skillfully and easily was difficult even for Champion-level Pokémon.
Yet, this Electivire had triggered the alarm system and was flagged as a potential Legendary sighting.
Although it was a false alarm, the good news was that he didn't have to face a Legendary Pokémon.
"I have to go back to Metropolis to report this. Don't let this happen again. Stop causing these weird incidents, and if you must, don't do it near Metropolis," Tyson lectured with a stern face before leaving.
Kenji nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice, agreeing repeatedly.
Triggering the alarm system by mistake was technically illegal if they decided to pursue it.
Fortunately, he had a good relationship with Tyson.
Watching Tyson leave on his Crobat, Kenji recalled Electivire into its Pokéball and returned to Metropolis.
With the New Year over, students began trickling back to Metropolis Academy.
The first batch to arrive was naturally the ten students who had passed the internal selection to qualify for the National Collegiate League.
Bai Bai (Tang Baibai) and Xie Mu (Xie Mu Xie Er) were naturally among them.
Although both had been defeated by Kenji and the gap between them was widening, as freshmen recruited with the promise of Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon, their talent and strength were absolutely in a league of their own at Metropolis Academy.
Unfortunately, Guo Fei hadn't managed to squeeze into the top ten and wouldn't be participating in this year's National Collegiate League.
With all ten contestants back on campus, the intensive training before the National Collegiate League began.
As participants representing the school, their treatment was naturally much better than ordinary students.
In terms of training grounds, Kenji and the others used the exclusive training facility for the National Collegiate League team. This was the least of their perks.
The real highlight was that during the intensive training, the academy provided the contestants with a small amount of Special-grade Pokéblocks.
The value of Special-grade Pokéblocks needed no explanation; they were truly items that money often couldn't buy.
The fact that Metropolis Academy was providing them showed they were going all out this time, determined to vent their frustrations and make a statement at this year's League.
Of course, the quantity wasn't huge. The Special-grade blocks served a supplementary role, with High-grade Pokéblocks still being the staple.
Aside from this, the contestants enjoyed many other benefits.
In the training hall, Kenji looked around. Xie Mu was nowhere to be seen. Among the people present, Kenji only really knew Bai Bai.
While Kenji was looking around, Bai Bai's gaze also turned toward him.
Bai Bai was still the same—dressed in a dark, goth-style outfit, looking cool and distant.
"Long time no see," Kenji greeted her.
Unexpectedly, Bai Bai forced a slightly awkward and stiff smile, nodding at Kenji. "Long time no see."
However, while greeting him, her eyes darted around, refusing to make eye contact.
Kenji was surprised. Bai Bai clearly had social anxiety, and it seemed quite severe...
A moment later, Xie Mu arrived.
As soon as Xie Mu entered the training hall, he spotted Kenji. Waving his hand, he walked over enthusiastically.
"Hey!! Friend!! We meet again! Haven't seen you in a while!"
...
Although it was called "intensive training," most of the time was spent training individually in their own areas. The only difference was that they sparred with each other frequently.
Battling not only improved their practical combat skills but also brought them closer together.
By watching the other contestants battle, Kenji gained a general understanding of their strength.
During this period, Kenji wasn't the only one improving. Bai Bai and Xie Mu were also getting stronger, though not as monstrously fast as Kenji.
A mandatory requirement for participating in the National Collegiate League was to have at least six registered Pokémon.
Bai Bai now possessed seven Pokémon: Houndoom, Krookodile, Absol, Honchkrow, the Scraggy Kenji gave her, a Pancham obtained from the academy, and a Spiritomb she had acquired from somewhere unknown.
The Pancham seemed to have hatched recently. Its level was still very low, only Level 13, but its potential was good, reaching a solid A+.
With that potential, it would eventually become a main force for Bai Bai, but it likely wouldn't see action in this National Collegiate League.
Pancham was a Fighting-type. Its evolution condition was quite unique; it didn't evolve simply by leveling up.
It required the presence of a Dark-type Pokémon in the party while leveling up to Level 32 to evolve into the Fighting/Dark-type Pangoro.
For Bai Bai, who specialized in Dark-types, this condition was laughably easy to meet.
Aside from Pancham, there was another new face in Bai Bai's team.
The Spiritomb.
Spiritomb was a Ghost/Dark-type Pokémon—two types that intimidated most trainers—combined in one body.
Spiritomb, the Forbidden Pokémon, was said to be formed by 108 spirits. It was a sinister entity born from the evil thoughts within those souls, its main body bound to the Odd Keystone.
It was an extremely rare Pokémon and generally not one trainers would catch.
After all, being born of evil thoughts, the higher the potential of a Spiritomb, the stronger the malice it contained.
If the trainer couldn't suppress it 100%, and the Spiritomb found an opening, there was a high probability it would turn on its master.
Even if suppressed, the danger didn't disappear.
To use an analogy, Spiritomb was essentially a "natural born criminal" of the Pokémon world—a synonym for evil.
If a trainer caught a Spiritomb, they'd likely have to sleep with one eye open.
Kenji had to admire Bai Bai's courage for keeping such a Pokémon.
Danger aside, this Spiritomb had high potential, also reaching A+, and its level was as high as Level 47.
On the other side, Xie Mu from the Western Region also had six Pokémon: Medicham, Malamar, Gardevoir, Wobbuffet, Meowstic (Male), and Braixen.
Compared to Bai Bai, Xie Mu brought Kenji more surprises.
First was a Level 45 Wobbuffet.
Wobbuffet was a unique Pokémon with a base stat total of only 405 and unable to learn offensive moves.
As the saying went, there were two types of Wobbuffet in the world: The "Fruit God" (referring to Jessie's Wobbuffet in the anime) and regular Wobbuffet.
The "Fruit God" could autonomously decide whether to use Mirror Coat or Counter. Jessie only had to worry about matching the command to the move.
Of course, Jessie's Wobbuffet was as unique as the talking Meowth.
Ordinary Wobbuffet didn't possess that level of intelligence, so they relied heavily on the trainer's command.
If commanded correctly, Wobbuffet, which reflected double damage, was a formidable Pokémon despite its low stats.
If not, it was useless.
Besides Wobbuffet, Xie Mu had a Meowstic and a Braixen.
The Meowstic was straightforward. It was blue, meaning it was male, with A-Rank potential and Level 47.
What really caught Kenji's attention was Xie Mu's Braixen.
Braixen was the second evolutionary stage of Fennekin, the Fire-type starter from Kalos.
Braixen
Gender: Female
Level: LV.21
Type: Fire
Ability: Magician (Steals the held item of a Pokémon it hits with a move)
Potential: S-
A Braixen with S- Potential!
Xie Mu didn't have Kenji's [Data Eye], so he couldn't pick out S-Rank potential Pokémon while they were still eggs.
For Xie Mu to obtain this S- potential Braixen, it must have been incredibly difficult or extremely lucky.
However, the Braixen's level was still low at only Level 21, making it a bit of a stretch for the National Collegiate League.
Aside from Xie Mu and Bai Bai, the other contestants also possessed Elite-level Pokémon. The numbers varied, but everyone had at least two.
With this strength, they could already attempt to collect badges and participate in the National League Championship if they wanted.
After training together for a few days, Kenji had basically figured out the Pokémon teams of the other nine people.
Conversely, the others knew very little about Kenji's current team.
In every practice battle, Kenji usually only sent out Pupitar, which was enough to sweep the opposing team.
Among all the contestants, only Bai Bai and Xie Mu, whose strength was a tier above the rest, could barely force Kenji to send out a second Pokémon.
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