"Congratulations, Vigoroth~"
Peter raised his hand and rubbed its head.
After evolving, Vigoroth stood a full 1.5 meters tall—and that was with its atrophied legs.
With the help of Powerleaf Spinach, its growth had clearly surpassed that of its kind by a ridiculous margin.
"Laa~"
Vigoroth suddenly pulled Peter into a crushing hug, locking him in place.
"Ugh—let go! You're going to crush me!!" Peter shouted, distinctly hearing something in his body creak…
"Laa-laa…"
Vigoroth hurriedly released him and scratched its head in embarrassment.
"Cough… it's fine, it's fine," Peter waved it off.
"You still need more practice—get used to your strength after evolving as soon as possible."
With that, he recalled the big guy, then pre-allocated the newly earned talent points straight into Attack.
From the looks of it, the Huge Power Slaking line project had achieved early success—
a terrifying 133 Attack talent, backed by the team's support core. Peter was already looking forward to pick-3 battles…
While he was lost in thought, Draak walked over.
"Peter, I really didn't expect you to raise even a Slakoth like that. I fully concede today," he said frankly.
"I'm heading out—next time, I'll snipe you again."
Peter waved with a grin.
"Anytime. I'll be waiting."
"Deal!"
…
Soon, the second match began.
This time, his opponent turned out to be a Level 28 shiny female Machamp—
and with the No Guard Ability, no less.
Peter hadn't expected his first ever shiny encounter to be this Pokémon…
Its Trainer was a skinny-looking boy who appeared weak and sickly—
which somehow made the whole situation even more unsettling.
"Go, Lopunny!"
"Machamp, you're up!"
The battle began immediately.
Seeing a Normal-type opponent, the Machamp's Trainer was overjoyed—
and charged in with Brick Break right away.
But to everyone's shock, Lopunny didn't move at all.
Machamp's hand-chop came crashing down—
and passed straight through Lopunny's body!
"Champ…?"
Machamp froze, its mind filled with question marks.
Am I that strong? I can just cut through opponents now??
"What's going on?! A super-effective Brick Break just passed right through!
Is Lopunny secretly a Ghost-type?!" the commentator exclaimed.
The entire arena erupted.
"???? I'm completely lost—what just happened?"
"Honest question, did my first-grade type chart lie to me? Is Normal immune to Fighting??"
"Stay calm! When in doubt—bold hypothesis, careful verification!"
"REPORT! Someone's hacking the match! Also, please give me that hack!"
"…"
Peter's eyes gleamed with amusement.
"Lopunny—Will-O-Wisp."
Will-O-Wisp:
Burns the target with clinging ghostly flames, dealing damage each turn and halving physical Attack.
A wisp of eerie blue fire drifted forward and landed cleanly on the stunned Machamp.
"Next—Nasty Plot."
Nasty Plot:
Uses mental focus to sharply raise Special Attack by two stages.
"Snap out of it, Machamp!" the opponent shouted.
"If Fighting-type moves don't work, then use a Normal-type one—Strength!"
"Champ!"
Machamp roared, muscles bulging as all four arms swung down with tremendous force.
"Machamp used Strength! Uh… this sounds strange, but—will this attack actually work?"
"Shhk—"
Once again, all four arms passed straight through 'Lopunny'.
"Hee~"
'Lopunny' flashed a mischievous smile as psychic energy surged—its Special Attack skyrocketing.
Peter shook his head lightly.
"End it. Psyshock."
"Zorua!"
'Lopunny'—no, Zorua—let out a cry as psychic force condensed in the air and slammed squarely into Machamp's chest.
"Champ—!"
With a pained roar, Machamp collapsed on the spot, eyes spiraling into dizzy swirls.
"Machamp is unable to battle. Lopunny wins…"
The referee hesitated before dropping the flag.
"This is rigged! Totally rigged! There's no way this is legit!"
"Demand a full investigation! Bug-bro must've abused some glitch again!"
"…"
Both online and in-person spectators erupted with confusion.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please remain calm," the host announced.
"We've encountered an unexpected situation. We need to inspect Peter's Pokémon."
It was a reasonable request.
Peter didn't refuse. He accepted the microphone and smiled.
"Alright, Zorua, say hello to everyone~"
"Zoru~"
'Lopunny' gave a soft cry. Light shimmered—and it transformed into a gray-and-white little fox, hopping onto Peter's shoulder and rubbing against his cheek affectionately.
"WHAT? Did he just say that's Zorua?!"
"If it's Zorua, that explains it… but why does it look nothing like the Pokédex entry?"
"Ahhh it's so cute—so pretty—I want one!!"
"…"
Peter smiled calmly.
"As you can see, this is a special Zorua. Due to being poisoned by Ghost-type energy, it mutated into a Ghost-type variant…"
-----
Celestic Town Historical Research Institute
Inside the institute, an elderly, hunched scholar in a white coat carefully deciphered fragmented stone tablets.
"In the distant past, there existed a settlement known as Shenhe…
Over time, its people scattered, and its name faded into obscurity.
Much later, a group who worshiped the Sinnoh Deities crossed the sea to this land.
They split into two factions, venerating different gods—conflict arose, and both claimed themselves the true people of Shenhe."
Professor Rowan's mentor—Professor Carolina, a leading authority on Sinnoh mythology, slowly straightened up.
"That actually sounds fascinating," Cynthia said, brushing her long blonde hair aside.
"Shenhe… that's the former name of Celestic Town, right?"
"Yes," Carolina nodded.
"And long ago, Sinnoh was also known by another name—Hisui."
"Sigh… ancient history really is irresistible," Cynthia smiled.
"I almost want to skip work and go explore some ruins~"
Carolina chuckled.
"Then why are you home today?"
"Uh… can't I come back without a reason?" Cynthia replied evasively.
"You…" Carolina sighed.
"The League elders are going to nag me again later."
Cynthia's brows curved upward—
Successful absentee strategy.
Just then, her gaze flicked to the TV broadcast.
She froze.
"Grandma… did Zorua ever have a white-and-orange variant? And Ghost-type, at that?"
Carolina looked up sharply.
"…Now that you mention it—there was such a form during the Hisui era.
But it went extinct in modern times. Why do you ask?"
Cynthia pointed silently at the screen—
where a boy was holding a white fox Pokémon.
Carolina's eyes widened.
"That's… Hisuian Zorua?!"
…
Back at the arena, after confirming that Zorua indeed possessed Ghost typing, Peter once again skyrocketed in popularity.
Zorua was already exceedingly rare—
and his was a special regional form.
The internet went wild.
"Ahhh that little fox—so cute, I want to inhale it!"
"Inhale? That's rookie talk—you gotta deep inhale, maybe lift the back legs—"
"??? What kind of furry talk is this??"
"Fun fact: inhale too much Ghost-type energy and you might just drop dead."
"…"
After scrolling through a few comments, Peter put his phone away and went to the counter to claim his rewards.
"Mr. Peter, your total winnings for today's matches come to 687,257 Poké Dollars, already transferred to your account~"
"Got it, thanks."
Honestly—
once you had fans, money really did come easy.
--------------
T/N:
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