A full week passed in the blink of an eye.
During that time, Grandma Chen successfully created the Advanced Fairy-Type Energy Cube.
And only four days after Florges began eating them, she learned a move that nearly made Chen Shi fall out of his chair—
Moonblast.
The signature Fairy-type attack.
If Florges could already use Moonblast, then her internal Fairy energy had become abundant.
From this point on, she would only awaken more and more Fairy-type moves.
Meanwhile, Togetic was still stuck with no new moves yet—but she trained daily, diligently sharpening her Air Slash.
Her activation time was now about two seconds, excellent for her current stage.
Dragapult Jr. hadn't gained a level this entire week, but his skill mastery skyrocketed.
His Dragon Dance activation time was now barely over three seconds.
Three seconds.
For a baby pseudo-legendary, that was monstrous.
Even Salamence, with all her battle experience, needed just over two.
And then there was Charmander.
He wore an Everstone necklace, plus a High-Grade Fire Stone, and he ate nonstop.
And grew nonstop.
His height already surpassed 80 centimeters, far beyond species average.
The malnourished runt he once was? Gone.
He trained harder than anyone—
so hard that even Togetic cried after being outworked by him.
His Fire-type moves were usable again, but his Dragon–Fire balance was still skewed.
He couldn't evolve yet.
Chen Shi estimated one or two more weeks.
And finally—
The Heavy Hitter
Shiny Beldum evolved into Metang just yesterday—
and right during evolution, Grandpa fed him the Champion-grade Potential Serum.
His potential:
→ Champion-level.
And the moment he evolved, Metang charged out to train—determined not to fall behind Charmander of all Pokémon.
Beside Florges' Garden
"Chen Shi-ge!!"
Chen Shi opened one eye lazily as Furong sprinted toward him with sparkling excitement.
"What is it this time?"
Furong proudly puffed her chest like an overconfident Pidgey.
"Little Ling broke through to Gym rank!!"
Chen Shi stared blankly.
"…And?"
He wasn't surprised.
Blacklight Dusknoir reaching Gym rank was expected.
He just didn't know why she was looking at him like she wanted a medal.
Then she said the magic words:
"Fight me! I want Little Ling to battle your Dragapult Jr.!!"
Chen Shi almost laughed.
"Are you sure?"
Where did this girl get her confidence?
Dragapult Jr. wasn't fully evolved yet—
but speed kills.
And Furong's Dusknoir was anything but fast.
Furong puffed up again.
"Of course! I believe in Little Ling!"
Chen Shi shrugged.
"Fine. Back mountain."
Entrance to Salamence's Cave
Chen Shi whistled.
"Dragapult Jr., Furong's Dusknoir wants a battle."
Dragapult Jr. examined the Dusknoir, saw he was now Gym rank—
and his eyes lit up.
"Kiyaaah!"
A perfect warm-up.
Chen Shi and Furong moved to a nearby grassy clearing.
Despite her bravado, Furong took the battle extremely seriously.
She knew Dragapult Jr. was dangerous.
But she had a trump card.
They stood apart, facing each other.
"Dragapult Jr.!"
"Little Ling!"
The two Ghost-types floated into the center.
Chen Shi smirked.
"Let's begin."
Battle Start
"Dragapult Jr., Phantom Force!"
"Little Ling, Gravity!"
Dragapult Jr. slipped into the ghost dimension.
Dusknoir slammed his fists down, generating a dome-like Gravity field.
A clever start.
Gravity severely weakened Dragapult Jr.'s greatest strength—
speed.
It was Dusknoir's only way to hit him.
Furong had prepared well.
But…
Chen Shi was Chen Shi.
He had known Dusknoir had Gravity from the very first day.
Of course he prepared countermeasures.
"After you strike—use Protect, then Confuse Ray."
"Little Ling, Ice Punch the moment he appears!"
The commands overlapped—
But Chen Shi's timing was perfect.
Dragapult Jr. burst from the ghost dimension, slamming into Dusknoir with Ghost energy.
Before Ice Punch could land—
A bright green barrier flared to life.
Protect.
Ice Punch collided with the shield, harmless.
"Little Ling, back away!" Furong yelled.
Too late.
Three glowing orbs spun around Dragapult Jr. and shot forward—
Confuse Ray.
Barely any damage.
But the confusion was devastating.
Dusknoir staggered.
The trees warped.
There were suddenly ten Dragapult Jrs.
Then a hundred.
Chen Shi sighed.
"Still too young, Furong."
At that distance—
just struck by Phantom Force—
how could Dusknoir dodge Confuse Ray?
The correct counter was Payback, not Ice Punch.
He didn't say it aloud.
"Dragapult Jr., Phantom Force—pull back."
In real battles, Phantom Force wasn't just offense.
It was incredible for repositioning.
Dragapult Jr. vanished again into the ghost dimension.
Now all he needed was two well-timed Shadow Balls to win.
But this was just sparring.
Chen Shi was about to call him off—
But Furong panicked first.
"I—I surrender!!"
Dragapult Jr. reappeared instantly, heard the surrender—
and zipped straight into Chen Shi's arms, chirping proudly.
"Kiyaa! Kiyaa~!"
Chen Shi gave him a big thumbs-up.
"Excellent work."
"Our Dragapult Jr. really is the best."
Dragapult Jr. wagged his tail happily.
And Furong…
collapsed to her knees, spirit broken.
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