Sioux City.
The mountain villa where Grandma Bertha spent her holidays.
Chen Ran returned Rhydon to Grandma Bertha and took the chance to say goodbye.
Before leaving, he tried to offer some money as thanks for the help.
Grandma Bertha waved it off with a gentle smile. She glanced at her granddaughter and said warmly:
"Chen Ran, if you can, please take good care of my granddaughter in the future."
Take care of?
Chen Ran froze.
He had only borrowed a Rhydon… was this turning into a marriage arrangement?
His thoughts instantly went somewhere strange.
"What are you thinking?!"
Xiao Ju'er saw his shocked expression and immediately realized he was misunderstanding. Her face flushed red. She lightly stomped her foot in embarrassment.
Grandma Bertha chuckled.
"It's not what you think. Xiao Ju'er is transferring to Jiangnan Pokémon University. You'll be schoolmates from now on. Just look after her a little."
Only then did Chen Ran let out a breath of relief.
So that's what she meant.
If it was just helping a classmate at school, that was nothing.
"She'll be my senior sister," Chen Ran joked. "She'll probably be the one taking care of me."
They exchanged a few more words before Chen Ran officially said goodbye.
---
Larvitar had already evolved. There was no reason to remain in Sioux City any longer.
After spending three days in the Tiger Mountain secret realm, Chen Ran longed for one thing—
His dorm bed.
That night, he boarded the high-speed train back to Jiangnan Pokémon University.
He barely made it before the dormitory locked.
Throwing himself onto the stiff bed, he sighed deeply.
"Not Simmons, but still pretty comfortable."
Jirachi floated over, opened the drawer, and picked out its favorite lollipop flavor, happily munching away.
Only after a while did Chen Ran realize—
He was still alone in the dorm.
The other three roommates hadn't returned yet.
"So quiet…"
He rolled over.
"Whatever. Two more days of vacation. I'll go to the 4S store tomorrow and look at a coupe."
After a quick shower, he lay back down, thinking about Pupitar's development.
Larvitar had evolved at Level 30.
At Level 55, it would evolve again.
But from Level 30 to 55, Pupitar would remain in its cocoon-like state. Battling during this stage would be inconvenient.
Still—
As a pseudo-legendary Pokémon, Pupitar didn't need to rely heavily on battles to grow.
Like Bug-type Pokémon that evolve into cocoons—such as Weedle or Catterpie—the cocoon stage wasn't meant for constant fighting. Time itself was part of the evolution process.
The world had its own balancing mechanisms.
Cocoons matured with patience.
So did Pupitar.
"According to the Pokémon app, it normally takes at least half a year for Larvitar to evolve into Pupitar, and then into Tyranitar."
Chen Ran wasn't too worried.
Half a year?
A year?
That depended on the trainer's resources and nurturing ability.
With sufficient resources, strong talent, and proper care—
Evolution could be accelerated dramatically.
And Chen Ran had both the spike system and Aura power.
Resources weren't a problem.
Tyranitar wasn't far away.
---
He opened P Station and selected a recorded Elite-level battle to watch.
A few minutes later, his eyelids grew heavy.
The tablet slipped from his hands and landed softly on the bed.
Jirachi heard the sound, carefully floated over, placed the tablet back on the desk, and gently pulled the blanket over Chen Ran.
Then it nestled beside his pillow and fell asleep too.
---
The next morning.
5 a.m.
His biological clock was firmly set.
Without waking Jirachi, Chen Ran brought Charmeleon and Riolu outside for training.
This time, instead of the playground, they went to a lakeside path near the dormitories. A quiet running track circled the lake—almost empty at this hour.
They jogged for half an hour.
Afterward, Chen Ran found an open space and began simple strength exercises.
Push-ups.
Sit-ups.
Core training.
Charmeleon and Riolu imitated his movements seriously.
Adjusting hand positions changed the targeted muscles. It was simple but effective.
After a while, Chen Ran sat down to rest.
At that moment—
The daily spike shelf refreshed.
"Ding! Weekly Gym-level refresh opportunity has reset!"
Gym-level refresh: once a week.
Elite-level refresh: once a month.
"Refresh."
He didn't hesitate.
The Gym-level refresh guaranteed at least one purple-quality item. No more basic Poké Balls or standard energy cubes—mostly rare props or fragments.
Very friendly.
"Ding! Shelf refreshed!"
The new lineup appeared:
One purple.
One blue.
Two green.
One white.
The drop rate on special refreshes was indeed higher.
Chen Ran quickly checked the green and white items first.
As expected:
Two special Poké Balls—Rock Ball and Ghost Ball.
One Rock-type energy cube.
All usable for Pupitar.
Next—
The blue item.
---
Stardust (Blue)
Effect: Increases the power of Ground-type Pokémon's moves
Price: ¥7.23
---
A Ground-type treasure.
Pupitar would definitely benefit.
Chen Ran immediately purchased it.
Then—
He clicked on the purple item.
---
Master Ball Fragment (Purple)
Effect: 100% capture rate on wild Pokémon (requires full set)
Price: ¥17.30
---
Chen Ran's eyes widened.
Master Ball fragment.
Not the complete item—
But a fragment.
Even so, this was top-tier treasure.
If enough fragments were collected…
A true Master Ball.
His heartbeat quickened.
The future just became even more interesting.