"Huh?!"
When Qin Shu saw the white light radiating from Floragato's body, she froze for a moment. Then her mouth slowly fell open.
"Evolution?"
Shock quickly filled her eyes.
Was that really Leafage that Lin Feng's Floragato had just used?
Why did the leaves released by the two Floragato look slightly different?
The difference in power was overwhelming. It felt like a completely one-sided suppression.
But the thing that shocked her the most was the evolution happening right now.
If she remembered correctly, Lin Feng's Floragato had been born around November.
From then until now, only a little more than forty days had passed.
And that included its newborn stage.
In other words, it had taken barely a month to grow from a Sprigatito into a Meowscarada.
The shock made her forget to command her Floragato to dodge the incoming attack.
Her Floragato was no different.
It stared at the massive wave of leaves rushing toward it, then noticed the white light shining around the opposing Floragato. Just like its trainer, its eyes widened in stunned confusion.
Only when the leaves swept across its body did Qin Shu's Floragato react.
It tried to dodge, but it was already too late.
Through the haze of confusion, it could only see the white light surrounding Lin Feng's Floragato fade away, revealing a completely new Pokémon.
It stood upright, about 1.6 meters tall, with bright pink eyes. Dark green fur on its face formed a mask-like shape.
Its claws were slender at the front and thicker toward the back, ending in three strong feline digits with soft pink paw pads.
Red flower petals bloomed around its neck and shoulders.
Its lower body was made up of long, slender legs covered in black fur.
Lin Feng's eyes lit up with surprise.
He had already sensed that Floragato was on the verge of evolving, but witnessing the actual transformation still filled him with excitement.
At the same time, he activated his Insight Eye to examine Meowscarada's data.
Pokémon: Meowscarada
Gender: Female
Ability: Overgrow
Potential: Gold
Individual Values:
HP (27) | Attack (28) | Sp. Atk (24) | Defense (29) | Sp. Def (25) | Speed (31)
Strength: Level 42–45
Moves: Ally Switch, Leech Seed, Leafage, Tail Whip, Hone Claws, Quick Attack, Seed Bomb, Grassy Glide...
Affinity: 99
Joy: 80
"Her potential has also advanced to Gold."
Lin Feng's eyes grew even brighter as he looked at the data.
From what he knew, in the Zongheng Championship, most trainers entering the Top 16 had Pokémon around this level.
Some were even weaker.
"Meow?"
Meowscarada looked down at her newly evolved body with confusion, stretching out her claws and examining herself.
Now that the messy worries in her mind had disappeared, she felt nothing but satisfaction with her new form.
She looked at Lin Feng with sparkling eyes.
"Meow-ha!"
(I evolved!)
Lin Feng immediately offered his congratulations.
"Congratulations, Meowscarada."
"Meow-haaa!"
After taking a moment to adjust to her body, Meowscarada turned toward Lin Feng. She could hardly contain her excitement and was about to run over to share the moment with him.
"Hey, Meowscarada. You're still in a battle."
Lin Feng quickly reached out and stopped her.
Qin Shu's Floragato had only been struck by part of the attack and had not lost the ability to fight. It had already struggled back to its feet.
"Meow-ha?"
Only then did Meowscarada realize the situation and look back at her opponent.
Across the field, Qin Shu's Floragato stared at her with complicated emotions after recovering from its initial shock.
"Why... why did it evolve?"
Qin Shu muttered under her breath, looking mentally shaken.
She had originally thought she might defeat Lin Feng's Floragato in this battle, or at least fight him on equal footing.
But now she had been told that Floragato had simply evolved mid-battle.
Her own Floragato had only recently evolved from Sprigatito.
Yet Lin Feng's Floragato had already surpassed it and reached Meowscarada first.
It felt unbelievable.
But the battle was still ongoing.
Lin Feng showed no hesitation as he gave his next command.
"Meowscarada, use Magical Leaf."
Several strange, glowing leaves shot forward like guided missiles, locking onto Floragato. Although Floragato tried to dodge once, the leaves quickly caught up.
A moment later they exploded.
Boom!
As the smoke from the Magical Leaf attack cleared, Floragato collapsed to the ground, unable to stand.
"Ah!"
Qin Shu immediately ran over and crouched beside her Pokémon to check its injuries. After confirming it was not seriously hurt, she finally relaxed a little.
Then she looked up at Lin Feng and Meowscarada approaching.
Her eyes were filled with disbelief and a hint of resentment.
"What? Not surrendering yet?" Lin Feng asked with a raised eyebrow.
He had suggested earlier that they should not battle.
"Not at all…"
Qin Shu pulled out a Super Potion spray. Feeling slightly wronged, she gently sprayed it onto Floragato's injuries.
Lin Feng laughed and helped her stand up. Then he reached down and patted Floragato's head.
"Honestly, Floragato is already excellent. If it weren't for competing against mine, it would look even more impressive."
To be honest, many of the circumstances that allowed his Meowscarada to reach this level so quickly were impossible to replicate.
For example, Rare Candy.
That item alone completely defied normal training logic.
Qin Shu's Floragato had only been training for a little over two months. Reaching this level in that time was already remarkable.
"He's basically praising himself indirectly…" Qin Shu muttered quietly.
But after hearing Lin Feng's compliment, she could not help smiling again.
Then she glanced at Meowscarada standing beside him and whispered,
"This is just ridiculous."
Within the span of a few breaths, her emotions had changed three times.
Lin Feng checked the time.
"Alright, it's time to head back. Remember to tell Blastoise and the others to come over."
"Okay!"
Qin Shu smiled when she heard that.
She had originally planned to bring Floragato here for training. Since it was already late, it naturally meant dinner time was approaching.
Blastoise was probably still sleeping.
She would need to go wake it up.
So she turned to leave and planned to call it right away.
"Wait," Lin Feng called out.
"What is it, Lin Feng?" Qin Shu asked, turning back.
"I forgot to tell you something," he explained. "After January 13th, I'll be going out for two or three days. I'll prepare several days' worth of energy cubes for Blastoise and the others, so you won't need to come over during that time."
"You're going out? Where?" Qin Shu immediately became curious.
She understood Lin Feng's personality fairly well.
He was calm and steady, and rarely liked going out unless something important required it.
"To participate in the Zongheng Championship…"
"What?!"
Qin Shu's eyes widened once again.