"It seems there is no hope if we try to face him head-on. It would be better to investigate the Gym's evaluation criteria."
The three looked at one another and let out a slight sigh. At first, they had thought of coming to intimidate the temporary Leader a little, but they had not expected to end up running headfirst into an iron wall.
"But the move Sunny Day is quite rare. Although manuals on weather moves have already been compiled, Pokémon that know how to use the move Sunny Day are still uncommon," Owen said while scratching his head. Now it seemed evident that the evaluation difficulty of the Solaria Town Gym really was not normal at all.
"Sunny Day... In this town, there seems to be a specialized Solar Farm, doesn't there?"
At that moment, Sophia, who had taken out her phone to look up information, suddenly spoke.
Sure enough, on the town map she had on her phone, in the former back mountain area, there appeared a place marked as Solar Farm.
"Let's go take a look."
Realizing that, the three headed toward the Solar Farm.
Very soon, they arrived at a place that looked like a farm.
Behind the fence stretched a meadow, and there the vegetation grew with extraordinary vigor.
From time to time, they could see some Grass-type Pokémon poking their heads out from among the grass, bathing their bodies under the sunlight with expressions of pure enjoyment.
"Over there... there's a second sun in the sky!" Sophia suddenly said. Immediately afterward, they saw that above the meadow floated a small sun.
"It's the sun created by the move Sunny Day. This farm is permanently covered by sunny weather!"
The chubby student also let out an exclamation. It was no wonder the plants there grew so well.
Sunny weather like that was an excellent living environment for both vegetation and Grass-type Pokémon.
"Look at that rocky mountain. It seems there's a Pokémon there."
Owen directed his gaze toward a rocky mountain at the end of the meadow and narrowed his eyes.
"It seems to be Charizard!"
"There's a Charizard lying on the top of that rocky mountain!"
After observing with binoculars, Sophia spoke in great surprise.
At the same time, she activated the energy observation function her binoculars had.
First, she saw the dense Grass-type energy that permeated the meadow in front of them and, immediately afterward, perceived the terrifying Fire-type energy emanating from the distant mountain.
It was evident that a large number of Grass-type Pokémon lived in that meadow, while that rocky mountain was the habitat of Fire-type Pokémon.
That terrain covered by sunny weather was practically a paradise for Grass-type and Fire-type Pokémon. If they could live there all year round, even without any nutritional supplements, Grass-type Pokémon could develop wonderfully.
"If a Fire-type or Grass-type Pokémon could be trained here, the effect would be double with half the effort!"
Seeing that, the eyes of Owen, who specialized in Fire-type Pokémon, also shone.
Within his family, there was a Solar Farm built with Heat Rock, but every time it was activated, the cost was very high.
In contrast, something like this Solar Farm, which covered the whole place with sunny weather, could truly be considered an enormous investment.
"I don't know if this Solar Farm has a specialized training area. If our Pokémon could train here for a while, their strength would surely improve."
"In addition, the Gym evaluation is also related to sunny weather. Perhaps we can find here the way to pass the test."
Sophia thought about it for a moment before speaking. Afterward, she looked around and soon located the entrance of the farm, guiding her two companions over there.
"Welcome to the Solar Farm."
Seeing that someone was approaching, the employee on duty at the gate immediately went to receive them.
"Hello. We wanted to ask if we can enter the Solar Farm to train our Pokémon."
After exchanging a few words with the employee, Owen went straight to the point.
"Of course. One of the main services of our Solar Farm is precisely to offer training fields under sunny weather."
The employee replied with a big smile and began to explain the use of the facilities, the costs, and other details.
"That's great! Open a membership card for me!"
"I want one too. Please open another membership card for me."
Very soon, the three reached an agreement with the employee, and all of them showed satisfied smiles.
It was evident that they were very pleased with the rates and the services of the Solar Farm.
After receiving their membership cards, the three quickly entered the Solar Farm and, guided by the employee, headed toward the training area.
Among them, Sophia was going to train a Grass-type Pokémon, so her training area was not far away, but rather in the center of the meadow.
A training field had been expressly installed there, with very complete facilities, fully capable of satisfying the normal training needs of Grass-type Pokémon.
As for the other two, the Pokémon they were going to train were Fire type, so the employee took them toward the distant rocky mountain.
Perhaps to prevent the flames of Fire-type Pokémon from damaging the grass of the farm, the area where those Fire-type Pokémon lived was formed completely by rocky mountains and valleys.
"How come there are no Fire-type Pokémon here?"
While walking among the mountains and valleys, Owen opened his mouth to ask.
"Our Solar Farm has not been built for very long. For now, aside from some Grass-type Pokémon, we still have not had time to raise Fire-type Pokémon."
The employee smiled as he explained it, looking at that rocky area with some emotion.
Before, he was nothing more than an ordinary villager of Stonefield Town, and it could be said that he had seen with his own eyes each of the changes the place had undergone.
Compared with the Stonefield Town of before, the current changes could perfectly be described as a total transformation.
In barely about two months, this Solar Farm, or even the entire Solaria Town, had already begun to take shape.
"I see. Then... what about that Charizard?"
Owen nodded and then once again looked at the Charizard resting on the highest summit of the rocky mountain.
"That is a Pokémon of our Gym Leader. The sunny weather of the entire Solar Farm is maintained precisely by that Charizard."
When speaking of their Gym Leader, the employee showed an expression of pride on his face.
"That Leader's Pokémon!"
"As I thought... wanting to defeat that Gym Leader head-on simply isn't realistic."
Owen remained silent for an instant and then sighed in relief. Fortunately, now they had already found a method to pass the evaluation.
Otherwise, the only thing that would have been left for them would be despair!
Very soon, guided by the employee, the two arrived at the Fire-type Pokémon training area.
...
At the same time...
In the Solar Farm, Ethan and Alex had also arrived at the place.
"This Solar Farm has turned out really well."
"Not only has it solved the problem of raising so many Grass-type Pokémon, but also the training related to the Gym evaluation. And most importantly: it can also generate profits. Truly, it is perfect."
Ethan gave a very high evaluation.
(End of chapter)