Facing Zhu Lan’s challenge, Jiang Fan’s heart felt somewhat complicated at this moment.
Why complicated?
Although the Zhu Lan in front of him was far from the Sinnoh Champion he knew, the Gabite before him was already close to evolving into the pseudo-legendary Garchomp, not something an ordinary person could defeat.
The information was as follows:
Pokémon: Gabite
Level: 40
Aptitude: Elite
Ability: Sand Veil
Gender: Female
Skills: Sand Attack (70%), Dragon Rage (69%), Sandstorm (69%), Sand Tomb (70%), Earthquake (68%), Slash (70%), Dragon Claw (69%), Dig (68%)
Looking at the information, he felt his vision go black.
How the hell was he supposed to fight this?
His Charmeleon was only Level 24, while Gabite was Level 40, a difference of 16 levels, one level more than the last time he fought Golbat.
His aptitude was also a grade lower than the opponent’s.
Not to mention, this Gabite’s various skills had been cultivated by Zhu Lan to be very balanced.
It could be said to completely overwhelm his Charmeleon.
But he couldn't refuse.
After all, the Gym had just been established, and all the Gym members were watching him.
Finally, Jiang Fan replied:
“I accept your challenge, but my Charmeleon has been training since this morning and is very tired. Miss Zhu Lan, could we have the battle a bit later?”
When in doubt, procrastinate.
“Of course,” Zhu Lan smiled and agreed upon hearing that he accepted the challenge.
Later was fine, as long as he didn’t run away.
“Grandpa, it’s time for lunch!”
At this moment, Li Nai’s voice came from the distant wall.
“Let’s go, let’s go, we can discuss the battle after we eat,” Old Man Fuji immediately told Zhu Lan to follow him to the Pokémon House.
The crowd dispersed accordingly.
Jiang Fan looked at Charmeleon and Munchlax, who had already come to his feet.
“What should I do?” Jiang Fan muttered softly.
The outcome of the first battle at this Gym was crucial, and all the Gym members must be expecting him to win.
It would be too embarrassing if he lost.
As his thoughts concluded, Jiang Fan’s gaze fell upon Munchlax.
Last time, he relied on Charmeleon unlocking the first-tier reward to resolve the Team Rockets crisis.
This time, he wondered if he could rely on Munchlax’s first-tier reward to resolve the crisis of being humiliated by Zhu Lan.
“Charmeleon, Munchlax, do you want to have a big feast this afternoon?”
Jiang Fan squatted down, stroking Charmeleon’s head with one hand and Munchlax’s head with the other.
“Munch!”
Upon hearing that they could have a big feast, Munchlax immediately nodded rapidly.
Although it didn’t understand why Jiang Fan had changed the reward, a big feast was much better than just an extra meal.
“Roar!”
Charmeleon also nodded in response.
“Let’s go, then we’ll go to town now to find delicious food and eat until we’re full.”
Jiang Fan then led the two small Pokémon towards a restaurant in town.
An hour later.
Jiang Fan looked at Munchlax, who had swept through all the food in the entire restaurant, and said with a smile:
“Munchlax, did you enjoy your meal?”
“Munch!” – I enjoyed it, I enjoyed it.
Munchlax sat on the ground, patting its belly contentedly.
Munchlax’s intimacy increased.
Intimacy: 9 (-21 to 9)
Jiang Fan’s eyes lit up.
He immediately took out an unused Poké Ball from his waist.
Unlike Charmeleon, Munchlax didn't have a Poké Ball when it was sent to the Pokémon House.
“Munchlax, do you want to become my Pokémon?” He said seriously, “Although I can’t guarantee to take you to a big feast every day from now on, I can guarantee to take you once a week.”
Munchlax, who was looking satisfied, was first stunned when it heard Jiang Fan’s words, then looked at his serious expression.
After a moment of thought, it stood up with a beaming smile and pressed the button itself.
A flash of light, and Munchlax was taken inside.
In Jiang Fan’s mind, the system notification sound then rang out.
Successfully captured the Pokémon Munchlax.
Munchlax’s initial intimacy was -21 points, current intimacy is 39 points, an increase of 60 points, which meets the first-tier reward unlock criteria.
Reward unlocked: Munchlax’s aptitude is raised to Pseudo-Elite, and it obtains the item Lucky Stone.
Lucky Stone: A stone born under the blessing of the Creator Arceus. Pokémon holding this item will have their luck greatly increased.
Looking at the Lucky Stone’s description, Jiang Fan’s eyes lit up. This meal was worth it.
He immediately paid the boss and then left with Charmeleon.
He found an uninhabited place and released Munchlax.
After its aptitude was raised, Munchlax seemed no different except that its body was a bit larger than before.
But Jiang Fan didn’t care; he was just very curious about the Lucky Stone.
“Munchlax, do you feel like you have something extra?” Jiang Fan asked expectantly.
In response to Jiang Fan’s words, Munchlax scratched its backside, then pulled out a stone glowing with holy light from its fur.
Looking at this stone, Jiang Fan’s heart pounded.
If it could be linked to Arceus, then this thing must be extremely powerful.
“Munchlax, keep this thing safe from now on, and don’t take it out again,” Jiang Fan said seriously.
“Munch!” – Okay, Jiang Fan.
Munchlax put the stone deep inside its body, next to Entei’s hair.
Jiang Fan nodded, then rubbed his hands together and issued a skill command.
“Munchlax, use Metronome.”
When he saw the Lucky Stone’s description that it could greatly increase the luck of the Pokémon holding it, his first reaction was to combine it with Metronome.
Munchlax heard the command and stretched out its hands towards Jiang Fan, waving them.
Jiang Fan was startled and quickly dodged to the side, pulling Charmeleon, who was still unaware of the seriousness of the situation, with him.
Two seconds later, Munchlax finished its Metronome.
It then seemed to transform into a different Pokémon, its eyes filled with divinity.
As soon as its mouth opened, an extremely cold and strong ice wind suddenly burst forth.
Wherever the ice wind passed, it rapidly froze at a visible speed.
Ten meters, a hundred meters, a kilometer, two kilometers...
In short, everything Jiang Fan could see was frozen, whether it was tall buildings, trees, or Pokémon.
This made him exclaim in amazement:
“My goodness, did this Metronome just summon Kyurem’s Ice Burn?”
Then he saw more and more things being frozen and suddenly realized something was wrong, quickly saying in alarm:
“Quick, quick, Munchlax, stop, stop releasing the skill!”
Munchlax heard the command, and its divine state instantly receded, returning to clarity.
The cold wind from its mouth also stopped immediately.
However, its entire state was like it had been drained.
“Munch!” It collapsed weakly onto the ground.
Jiang Fan quickly took out several Snorlax Energy Blocks from his bag and fed them to Munchlax.
After a while, Munchlax’s weak state slowly began to recover.
“It seems that using a divine skill consumes a lot of Munchlax’s stamina,” Jiang Fan mused.
Then he looked at everything frozen before him and hesitantly asked Munchlax.
“Munchlax, can you unfreeze it?”
Then he saw Munchlax’s bewildered expression, and he knew that he seemed to have caused a lot of trouble this time.