“Here it comes, the minor incident before the Gym battle.”
A thought instantly popped into Jiang Fan’s head when he heard Brock’s brother’s words.
If he wanted to challenge the Gym, he would have to help the Gym Leader resolve this incident first.
“Then could you tell me where Gym Leader Brock is? I want to contribute my humble effort to social stability,” he immediately asked.
However, he was met with a blunt refusal.
Brock’s brother scrutinized Jiang Fan for a few moments, then shook his head:
“I hope you don’t get involved. Team Rockets is a very dangerous organization. This kind of thing should be left to my brother and the Alliance.”
With that, Brock’s brother turned and left.
Jiang Fan watched his retreating back and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“Charmeleon, it seems we’ve been underestimated.”
“Rua~” — In the Gym battle, I’ll definitely show him the powerful strength of this genius.
Charmeleon let out an annoyed cry.
“Never mind, since they don’t need our help, let’s go to the Pokemon Center first and complete the task Fuji assigned.”
Jiang Fan shrugged, then left with Charmeleon and Munchlax.
At the same time, he called Karen on his phone and learned that she was already browsing the exhibits at the Pewter Museum of Science, so he went to the Pokemon Center alone first.
.....
Pokemon Center.
“You’re the volunteer dispatched from the Pokémon House, right? Come with me. Those three Pokémon are waiting in our Pokemon Center backyard.”
After Nurse Joy saw the Pokémon House volunteer badge Jiang Fan presented, she enthusiastically led him towards the backyard.
Soon after, Jiang Fan saw the three abandoned Pokémon.
They were Oddish, Sandshrew, and a Mankey.
He checked their information; their friendship levels were negative 6, negative 5, and negative 18, respectively.
Oddish and Sandshrew were abandoned because they were too weak, always losing battles, and slow to learn new moves.
Mankey, on the other hand, had Elite potential, but its temper was too volatile. One night, it suddenly remembered something annoying, broke out of its Poké Ball, and severely beat its Trainer while he was sleeping.
Currently, Oddish and Sandshrew were huddled together in a corner, like two children seeking warmth.
Mankey, meanwhile, was roaring inside a cage.
“That child gets angry too easily. These past few days, it’s beaten up all the Pokémon in the backyard. We had no choice but to cage it,” Nurse Joy explained, noticing Jiang Fan’s gaze.
“No need to explain, I understand.”
Jiang Fan smiled, explaining, “After all, this is a Pokémon that evolves into its final form by literally getting angry to death, and it has Elite potential, so it’s normal for it to go crazy.”
Nurse Joy nodded. It was good that he understood.
On the first night it was brought in, even she was almost harmed by Mankey. Fortunately, Chansey saved her.
Then, Jiang Fan’s voice came from beside her:
“But keeping it caged like this indefinitely isn’t a solution either.”
Nurse Joy looked over in confusion.
“Do you have any clothes here that are extremely durable?”
“Durable?”
Joy didn't understand his thought process. Did he intend to put them on and then get beaten up?
She finally shook her head, “We don’t have clothes like that here.”
Jiang Fan then asked, “Then do you have any stuffed animals or pillows?”
Joy replied, “We do have that. A Chansey plushie. Once, a Trainer gave us a plushie made in its image to thank Chansey.”
Jiang Fan decisively said, “Throw it in.”
As soon as he spoke, he felt Chansey’s angry glare.
Jiang Fan awkwardly said, “Uh…the healer is paramount, the patient is key. Chansey, just consider it as using you for treatment. If there weren’t any durable clothes, I would have gone in myself.”
One minute later, Chansey handed its plushie to Jiang Fan.
Jiang Fan opened the cage, threw the plushie in, and then closed it again.
After that, the scene was utterly brutal.
Under Mankey’s cruel hands, the Chansey plushie was torn to pieces in less than ten seconds.
The cotton inside flew all over the backyard.
Facing this scene, the real Chansey stared intently at Jiang Fan.
Jiang Fan seriously suspected that if Nurse Joy wasn’t there, it might very well push him into the cage.
Five minutes later, Mankey gradually calmed down.
Jiang Fan then walked over and opened the cage.
Mankey looked at him, too lazy to come out and attack him.
Its friendship even increased a little, from negative eighteen to negative seventeen.
“Amazing, Mr. Jiang Fan! Your method really made it quiet,” Nurse Joy’s eyes lit up.
Jiang Fan smiled and explained:
“Anger is an emotion; you have to let it vent. And Mankey is a Pokémon that gets angry very easily. If you don’t let it vent, then it will just accumulate anger, and once it regains freedom, it will either hit other Pokémon or its Trainer.”
“Chansey, do you understand my actions now?”
“Lucky~”
Chansey snorted, turning its head away in a haughty manner.
After calming Mankey, Jiang Fan walked towards Oddish and Sandshrew.
He didn’t do much, just took out some food for them.
These two, to put it simply, had lost their confidence.
They needed to be showered with praise and compliments, to believe that they were worthy of being loved.
But this would take some time, just like how he helped Charmander regain its spirit.
“Hmm? Are you saying Gym Leader Brock is here?”
After a while, Jiang Fan heard Nurse Joy’s words behind him.
After stroking Oddish and Sandshrew’s heads a bit more, he stood up and followed her.
As soon as he reached the doorway, he saw a young man with yellowish-brown skin, looking deeply emotional, kneeling on one knee before Nurse Joy.
“Ah~ beautiful Nurse Joy, they say that a day apart feels like three autumns. We’ve only been apart for one morning, and the longing has almost killed me.”
Seeing this scene, Jiang Fan’s mouth twitched slightly.
This confession maniac was indeed the Brock he knew.
“Officer Jenny, is there anything you need help with?”
Nurse Joy was clearly used to it; she completely ignored Brock and instead looked at Pewter City’s Officer Jenny behind him.
“We just found Team Rockets at the foot of Mt. Moon and had a battle with them. Many officers’ Pokémon were injured and need assistance.”
Officer Jenny took out a bag from behind her, filled with Poké Balls.
“So, did you figure out why they came to our Pewter City?” Nurse Joy asked as she took the bag.
“A treasure map, a treasure map about a legendary Pokémon,” Officer Jenny replied.
Jiang Fan’s pupils constricted, and he subtly moved closer, wanting to hear more clearly.
But what he didn’t notice was that the Munchlax following him was suddenly attracted by a truck full of berries.
“Ka~”
Munchlax first glanced at Jiang Fan, wanting to pull him to pay, but then realized that by the time he found Jiang Fan, the truck would be getting further and further away.
It grew anxious.
Finally, it dashed out.