“Quick, move aside! Jenny is here! You can ask her about what I just said.”
Li Nai also noticed Jenny and shouted to the crowd.
Everyone turned to look, and their pupils constricted when they saw Jenny walking towards them with a handcuffed man in a Team Rockets uniform.
“It can’t be true, can it?” Xiao Hao said hesitantly.
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Nai retorted angrily, “It was true to begin with.”
Soon after, Jenny, with Zuntou Nan Guizhi, walked through the crowd and approached Jiang Fan, directly stating her purpose.
“Jiang Fan, there’s something I’d like to confirm with you.”
“Please tell me,” Jiang Fan replied politely.
“Just now, when I was taking this fellow back to the police station, I asked him about the detailed battle process.”
“He told me that your Charmeleon first defeated Houndoom and evolved, then defeated Arbok, and finally used Sunny Day. Under the combined effects of Sunny Day and Sun Power, it defeated their Team Rockets’ intermediate cadre’s Golbat in two moves.”
“This battle process seems a bit incredible to me, so I wanted to ask you, is this true?”
When Jenny finished speaking, before Jiang Fan could answer, the crowd erupted in an uproar.
Because in the process Li Nai described earlier, she hadn’t mentioned that this Charmeleon could also use Sunny Day.
If that were true, it would be even more outrageous.
A Charmeleon with the Sun Power ability, that could also use weather-controlling skills like Sunny Day? It was simply unheard of!
“Yes, he didn’t say anything wrong,” Jiang Fan calmly nodded.
“Didn’t say anything wrong?”
Jenny’s pupils constricted; she hadn’t expected the other party to actually confirm it.
She had thought it was just this Team Rockets member spouting nonsense.
She spoke again, “Then, can you have Charmeleon use Sunny Day one more time?”
This time, before Jiang Fan could speak, Charmeleon itself came forward to Jenny.
It was very eager to use a skill to shut up the guys who had just doubted it.
“Go ahead, Charmeleon, Sunny Day.” Jiang Fan laughed at Charmeleon’s eagerness and gently told it to use Sunny Day to prove itself.
“Rua~”
Upon receiving the command, Charmeleon immediately let out an excited cry, looking up at the sky.
Everyone looked up.
In just a moment, the cloudy sky, previously obscured by clouds, revealed the dazzling sun.
The scorching sunlight shone down on everyone.
They were all stunned and surprised.
“This… it’s actually true.”
Jenny looked at the incredibly proud Charmeleon at her feet, which practically had ‘I’m awesome, praise me, praise me’ written on its face, her expression filled with shock.
A few minutes later, Jenny, having received her answer, left with Zuntou Nan Guizhi.
After she left, Li Nai immediately crossed her arms and scanned everyone present.
“Hmph! What do you all have to say now? Not only did Jenny personally come to confirm it, but Charmeleon also demonstrated Sunny Day on the spot. Was I lying or not?”
“Rua~”
Charmeleon stood beside her, mimicking her.
No one in the crowd replied; they exchanged glances and awkwardly lowered their heads.
At this moment, Jiang Fan proactively changed the subject to ease the awkwardness.
“Everyone, I’m thinking of opening a Gym.”
This topic, however, was even more astonishing.
As soon as he finished speaking, he once again attracted everyone’s attention.
“Jiang Fan, you’re not joking, are you?” Li Nai looked at Jiang Fan in disbelief.
“No joke, I’m serious.” Jiang Fan shrugged and replied with a smile, “I’m opening a Gym for no other reason than to improve the overall strength of our Trainers in Lavender Town. I wonder if you all trust my strength and coaching abilities.”
The Trainers present exchanged glances, unsure how to respond for a moment.
Jiang Fan’s strength had just been confirmed by Jenny.
As for his coaching abilities, they had witnessed them these past few days; it cost two thousand alliance coin per session, and people still had to scramble for a spot. Crucially, he had even trained a Charmeleon that could use Sunny Day—wasn’t that coaching ability amazing?
However, joining a Gym and accepting guidance was akin to becoming Jiang Fan’s disciple, which made some of them a bit reluctant to lose face.
After a while, Xiao Hao spoke:
“Joining the Gym and receiving guidance should also cost money, right? How much?”
Jiang Fan said, “Ten thousand alliance coin a month. For this month, as long as you ask me about Pokémon training, I will tell you everything I know.”
Everyone exchanged glances again.
Jiang Fan continued, “However, everyone here today helped me on Route 8, so the registration fee will only be five thousand. And if one day you defeat me, although I cannot issue a League-approved badge, I will return all your tuition fees to you.”
As soon as he said this, Xiao Hao immediately responded.
“In that case, I’ll join the Gym. Before, it cost two thousand for one session of guidance, and now it’s five thousand for a month of guidance. Thinking about it, joining the Gym is more cost-effective. Face means nothing.”
Jiang Fan’s mouth twitched.
He felt like this guy was acting like a shill, but he hadn’t asked him to be one at all.
But what Jiang Fan hadn’t expected was that a few seconds later, these people began to respond one after another.
“Then I’ll join the Gym too.”
“Gym Leader, where is the Gym located?”
“Gym Leader, should we pay now?”
Facing their enthusiasm, Jiang Fan smiled, somewhat surprised it went so smoothly.
It seemed he still had to thank Jenny, who had come to verify earlier, for further validating his strength in front of these people.
“Everyone, the Gym’s location hasn’t been decided yet, but you can pay the registration fee today, and you can start receiving my guidance right away.”
Jiang Fan took out his phone and struck while the iron was hot, immediately starting to collect payments while answering their Pokémon questions one by one.
This operation kept him busy for nearly two hours before he finally stopped.
Even after stopping, he didn’t rest but continued to direct Charmeleon to grind skill proficiency.
After all, his plan to challenge Gyms and obtain Gym badges was no joke.
Currently, Charmeleon was level 23, and its skill proficiency peak had reached 42%. Once it was maxed out, he would take Charmeleon to Pewter City to challenge the Gym.
.....
Ten days later.
In front of a truck outside the Pokémon House gate, Old Man Fuji was entrusting Jiang Fan with a task.
“Jiang Fan, when you arrive in Pewter City, find the local Nurse Joy; she will entrust the Pokémon in need of rescue to you.”
“Understood, Grandpa Fuji. I promise to safely bring the abandoned Pokémon back to the Pokémon House.”
Jiang Fan nodded in agreement.
Yesterday, when Old Man Fuji learned that he was preparing to go to Pewter City to challenge the Gym, he arranged a job for him.
On the way back, he was to bring three abandoned Pokémon from Pewter City’s Pokémon Center.
“Grandpa Fuji, then we’ll be going now.”
After a brief chat, Jiang Fan said goodbye to Old Man Fuji and sat in the passenger seat of the truck.
The driver was another volunteer from the Pokémon House.
“Have a safe journey.”
Old Man Fuji kindly waved as he watched the two drive away.
However, as the car drove off, he saw a corner of the canvas covering the back of the truck flutter up for a moment.
“Hmm?”
Old Man Fuji was momentarily stunned.
Because he felt as if he had seen something that looked like a pair of rabbit ears.
But then the rabbit ears disappeared again.
“I’m really getting old; my eyes are starting to fail me,” Old Man Fuji shook his head and turned to walk back into the Pokémon House.
But as soon as he returned to the Pokémon House, he heard his granddaughter ask him:
“Grandpa, have you seen Munchlax? I haven’t seen it since breakfast.”
“It’s fine, that child probably found another place to sleep. It’ll be back by mealtime.”