"Pokémon Sky Relay Race?"
Ornith nodded.
"There's an annual Sky Relay held nearby. Three Pokémon compete as a team, flying in relay format. The winner is crowned the strongest aerial king."
"That sounds really fun!" Ash said immediately. It was obvious he was extremely interested.
Bai Chen recalled it now—this event did exist.
He personally was not very interested.
Letting Valstrax compete would honestly be bullying normal Pokémon.
Just as Bai Chen was about to decline—
The system issued a sudden notification.
[Entertainment Quest Issued — Recreation is also important. Prove who the true flying champion is!]
Victory Condition: Win the Sky Relay Race
Failure Condition: Lose the Sky Relay Race
Reward: Special High-Altitude Flight Suit ×1
Bai Chen froze.
He did not expect the system to suddenly assign a leisure-type quest.
But the reward immediately caught his attention.
Although not combat-related, a system-crafted high-altitude flight suit was extremely valuable.
Anything produced by the system was guaranteed premium quality.
Based on the reward alone, Bai Chen already knew—
He had to win.
Bai Chen said,
"Sounds interesting. Want to enter and try it?"
"Of course!" Ash replied enthusiastically.
Ornith was surprised—he hadn't expected two powerful rivals to show up so casually.
"If you want to enter, you'll need three flying Pokémon per team."
Ash pointed to his partners.
"I'll use Hawlucha, Noibat, and Fletchinder."
Now it was Bai Chen's turn.
Nergigante and Valstrax could fly, but the third slot was tricky.
Then Bai Chen thought of someone.
He picked up Cosmog.
"Floating Pokémon are allowed too, right?"
"Mo-gu?" Cosmog tilted its head in confusion.
Ornith hesitated.
He tried to recall if floating Pokémon had ever been used before.
They had.
And that team had placed dead last.
Floating Pokémon were far slower than birds or dragons.
Using one basically meant automatic defeat.
"There is precedent… but this is a relay race. If one leg is slow, catching up is basically impossible."
"That's fine."
Bai Chen casually rubbed Cosmog's head. He never expected it to be fast anyway.
"Can Pokémon use skills during the race?"
"Combat moves are forbidden. This is a flying competition, not an aerial battle."
Apparently someone had tried turning the race into a dogfight in the past.
Ornith added,
"However, flight interference is allowed."
Serena asked,
"Interference?"
"Bumping, airflow manipulation, turbulence—those are legal."
"But you said skills are forbidden?"
"You can't use offensive moves like Brave Bird, but things like Gust that affect airflow are allowed. In short, you may collide with opponents, but not attack them with combat moves."
"Interesting rules," Bai Chen said.
"When is the race?"
"Tomorrow. The location is—"
Ornith gave them coordinates.
Bai Chen checked the map.
The race would be held in a looping canyon about 30 li away.
Ornith explained the format:
The total course was 30 kilometers.
Each Pokémon flew 10 kilometers.
They carried a ribbon. Upon reaching a relay point, they transferred it to their teammate.
He gave no further details—no one shares tactics with rivals.
After some small talk, Ornith left to train.
Ash knelt beside Noibat.
"We'll do our best tomorrow!"
"Wo-gu…"
Noibat still couldn't fly and was worried.
Ash smiled warmly.
"I believe in you. We'll train together today."
Noibat teared up again.
Bai Chen covered his ears.
"One crybaby and one troublemaker… today's hatchlings are exhausting."
He could only pray Velkhana would be more sensible.
Bai Chen went to Indeedee.
She was currently using telepathy to lecture Valstrax on proper behavior.
Valstrax was lowering its head guiltily.
After she finished, Bai Chen stepped in to comfort him, earning instant loyalty.
"I'm taking Valstrax back to Alola for a bit. We'll return for the race tomorrow."
Indeedee nodded.
To keep everyone safe, Bai Chen left Nergigante behind.
Then he had Cosmog teleport them back to the island.
The moment they arrived, thunder roared endlessly.
The sky was completely filled with violent storm clouds.
Cosmog instantly hid inside Bai Chen's chest armor.
Valstrax shrank behind Bai Chen's legs.
Tinkatuff waved at them from afar, hammer in hand, working on the future mansion.
Bai Chen introduced Valstrax.
Tinkatuff stared at him, obviously wanting to pry off some materials for forging—but restrained herself.
She gave Valstrax a candy instead and patted his head.
Bai Chen had already told Valstrax about her status, so he didn't resist.
"I'm taking him to meet Zinogre and Kirin."
Tinkatuff waved goodbye.
Bai Chen flew toward the storm center.
Lightning struck his psychic barrier repeatedly.
On the western side of the island, Zinogre and Kirin were sparring.
The battlefield was scorched black, static crackling from the soil.
Zinogre completely dominated.
His True Supercharged State was overwhelming.
Bai Chen estimated that only Nergigante could fight him now.
Valstrax stared at Zinogre in awe.
Just then—
From the sea, metallic Pokémon flew in.
Bai Chen squinted.
"Klink?"
Ten of them.
They surrounded Zinogre.
Lightning struck them—and instead of being damaged, they synchronized.
Their gears spun faster. Electricity surged into Zinogre.
His lightning intensified.
Zinogre ignored them and walked toward the peak.
They followed like satellites.
Two evolved into Klang.
Bai Chen understood—
This was Zinogre's symbiotic trait activating.
Five with Plus, five with Minus.
Perfect balance.
And now Zinogre's skill had changed.
Gear Disc (Rarity 5):
Launches gear-symbiotes via Lightning control. Damage scales with symbiote strength.
Bai Chen tested it.
He recalled Zinogre.
All ten Klink went into the ball with him.
"They've become one system."
He released Zinogre.
Zinogre shrank—but the gears remained full-size.
"These are even better than Thunderbugs…"
A full set of future Klinklang—each with a base stat total of 530.
Ten Map Boss-tier units.
Zinogre had just gained ten partners.
After checking training progress, Natural Force had already reached Proficient—Bai Chen was satisfied.
Then he teleported to Melemele Island, bought a Fire Stone, and visited Kiawe.
He gave it to Growlithe.
Arcanine evolved and learned Extreme Speed.
Bai Chen copied the skill and gave it to himself and Valstrax.
Then he spent 43,400 skill points pushing Valstrax's:
Extreme Speed
Crimson Dragon Core
to Master rank.
"To guarantee victory."
By evening, Bai Chen returned.
Ash was ready.
The Sky Relay Race was coming.
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