The blazing sunlight poured down from the sky without reservation, baking the ground and sending up waves of heat.
Inside the quiet forest, Lin Fan had already taken off his shirt, revealing his strong and powerful physique. Sweat cascaded down his muscles like a waterfall, arcing with each of his heavy breaths.
The Weedle beside him wasn't doing much better, lying on the ground, looking up at the sky, and starting to question its existence.
Although Pokémon are much stronger than humans, as one of the representative Bug-type Pokémon, Weedle's stamina was incredibly poor.
A whole morning of physical training: long-distance running, sprints, shuttle runs, obstacle courses...
At first, Weedle could still secretly smile as it looked at Lin Fan, but the further they went, the more obvious Weedle's disadvantage became.
Before the appearance of Pokémon, humans were the most enduring creatures in the world.
Looking at Weedle's disheveled appearance beside him, Lin Fan bared his teeth and forced a smile: "You can't even beat me; you still have a long way to go."
Weedle panted heavily, completely unwilling to acknowledge Lin Fan.
Lin Fan's one step was almost equal to its ten steps; this was completely cheating!
Just wait, one day its stamina would become super strong! Super, super strong!
Weedle secretly made up its mind, and its nose suddenly twitched. A familiar scent lingered in its nostrils, constantly teasing its sense of smell.
It was a peach fruit!
Weedle struggled to squirm and flip over, looking eagerly at the pink fruit in Lin Fan's hand, its drool almost flowing out.
"Woo~"
Wants to eat~
Looking at Weedle's eager, inch-by-inch crawl towards him, Lin Fan smiled wearily, but what he said startled Weedle.
"It seems you really don't have any strength left; you're not faking it."
"Woo!"
To use a peach fruit to test if I still have strength, how despicable!
Weedle wanted to protest but found it didn't even have the strength to, only grunting twice to show its displeasure.
Lin Fan chuckled slightly as he stroked Weedle's body and brought the peach fruit in his hand to its mouth.
"Alright, alright, hurry up and eat."
Weedle's body trembled, and a new surge of strength suddenly appeared within it, prompting it to open its mouth wide and take a bite of the peach fruit.
Chew, chew, chew...
After swallowing it with satisfaction, Weedle opened its mouth wide, ready to continue eating, but its peripheral vision caught sight of Lin Fan beside it.
The latter was not tasting a peach fruit at this moment but was slowly drinking water he had brought from home, watching Weedle happily eat with gentle eyes.
Weedle looked at Lin Fan, then at the peach fruit in front of it, and without much hesitation, it pushed the peach fruit with its head to Lin Fan's leg, looking up at Lin Fan.
"Woo~"
For you to eat~
Lin Fan was a little stunned, his gaze meeting Weedle's. The latter's eyes were unusually firm, with a strong sense of "if you don't eat, then I won't either."
"You, this fellow..."
Lin Fan opened his mouth, a hint of emotion flashing in his eyes. He didn't refuse Weedle's kindness, picked up the peach fruit, and took a big bite.
"Mmm... it really is delicious."
The sweet taste made Lin Fan's eyes light up. The tender flesh was very delicious, and one bite seemed to dispel all the fatigue in his body.
After swallowing the peach fruit in his mouth, Lin Fan handed the peach fruit back to Weedle.
"This was originally bought for you. If you want to do something for me, then train even harder. Every bit of increased strength is the best reward for me."
Weedle nodded vigorously, a determined light flashing in its eyes, and buried its head in its food.
Lin Fan squinted and lay under the tree to rest. He didn't know if it was because of the peach fruit, but he felt his stamina recovering at a very fast rate, and the soreness in his muscles was gradually fading.
"Is it an illusion?"
Lin Fan was puzzled, but turning his head to look at Weedle, who seemed to have fully recovered after eating the peach fruit, he suddenly thought of something and focused his consciousness entirely on the Insect Plate in his mind.
Just as he had guessed, the Insect Plate was emitting a faint glow, flickering on and off like a beating pulse, and imperceptible wisps of aura were constantly escaping, transmitting through some special connection.
"The Insect Plate has this effect? And it can not only work on Weedle but also speed up my recovery?"
Lin Fan's spirit was invigorated, his eyes slightly bright.
That's right, the effect of the Insect Plate was originally to nourish Bug-type Pokémon with its own power. This process was continuous, but its effect became more obvious when Weedle's power was completely exhausted.
However, it was a bit strange that this item could affect Lin Fan himself. It couldn't be that Lin Fan was also judged to be a Bug-type Pokémon, could it?
Changing type after carrying the plate, a mini Arceus?
"Woo~"
Weedle suddenly let out a soft cry, its tail slightly raised, and its muscles full.
Its power seemed to have grown a little stronger.
"Good heavens, so this is the correct way to use the Insect Plate."
Lin Fan was pleasantly surprised. It was well-known that after high-intensity training, the body needed a recovery period, and only after full recovery would the physique become stronger.
The Insect Plate, however, infinitely compressed this recovery process, and even the degree of physical enhancement after recovery was stronger than under normal circumstances, because the energy within the Insect Plate was of extremely high quality. After recovering with this energy, the cellular activity of the body would undoubtedly be stronger than under normal circumstances.
Moreover, in this way, it was highly probable that no hidden injuries would be left in the Pokémon's body. Lin Fan was still very confident in the Insect Plate's ability.
"If even physical strength can be steadily enhanced by this method, then what about the energy intensity within Pokémon? Or even... the intensity of skills, such as Weedle's String Shot?"
A hint of excitement flashed in Lin Fan's eyes.
Completely draining the Bug-type energy within the Pokémon, then allowing the Insect Plate's energy to nourish it, thereby improving energy quality and skill intensity.
Since physical strength could be improved this way, there was no reason why it couldn't be done in the Insect Plate's exclusive domain.
Thinking of this, Lin Fan was about to speak when his expression suddenly froze. He looked down at his stomach, where rumbling sounds were coming from, indicating he needed lunch.
Not only that, Weedle's stomach beside him also rumbled, which gave Lin Fan a bad premonition.
"Generally speaking, the stronger the physical quality, the more food is needed. The energy nourished by the Insect Plate doesn't seem to negate the effect of food, which means..."
A moment later, Lin Fan silently watched Weedle, who had eaten half of the Bug-type energy cube and half of the Poison-type energy cube, a hint of heartache flashing in his eyes.
It eats too much...
He had never heard of anyone's newly obtained starter Pokémon being able to eat one energy cube in one meal; this appetite was directly catching up to a Munchlax.
But what comforted Lin Fan was that after eating and drinking its fill, Weedle's aura visibly strengthened a bit.
"But if this continues, the energy cubes I have won't last long."
"Money, I need money!"