After leaving his room, Nathan heard his mother calling him for breakfast.
At the dining table, Nathan told his parents that he would be heading to a secret realm soon.
His father nodded and said, "Going to a secret realm is good, but make sure you stay safe. Nothing is more important than your safety."
Secret realms typically meant danger.
But as a Pokémon trainer, it was impossible to avoid them.
Nathan's father understood that and didn't say more.
After breakfast, Nathan returned to his room.
Pancham was still studying, so Nathan wasn't in a rush. He sat down at his computer to look up information about the D- grade secret realm.
However, as soon as the computer booted up, a news alert popped up.
[City Daily: Recently, the Dark Spirit Organization has been spotted in North City, resulting in the forced seizure of dozens of trainers' Pokémon and the death of three elite trainers. Trainers in North City are urged to be extremely cautious. The police have launched the largest manhunt yet and are determined to bring the Dark Spirit Organization to justice!]
The Dark Spirit Organization was similar to Team Rocket in the original series.
They conducted Pokémon experiments.
Dissections.
Research.
Forced seizure of Pokémon.
Even murder.
All sorts of heinous acts—they did them all.
In short, they were an extremely dangerous organization.
They were well-known globally and had no shortage of powerful members—even champions.
And they weren't the only group of their kind in the world.
That was one reason why Nathan had always been extremely cautious before he had grown stronger, especially when it came to protecting his Volcarona.
After reading the news for a while, Nathan started looking up information about the secret realm.
The D- grade secret realm was one of several around Poplar City—not the only one.
Before entering a secret realm, trainers had to sign an agreement acknowledging the rules, which included a ban on the destructive harvesting of renewable resources.
Like rare berry trees.
Inside the realms, some precious berries could regrow over time. You could harvest the fruit, but destroying or forcefully transplanting the tree was strictly prohibited.
Violating this would lead to serious consequences.
That's because many of these rare trees were guarded by powerful Pokémon. While those Pokémon usually couldn't leave the realm, the secret realms were gradually merging with the planet.
Once the merging was complete, those Pokémon would start seeking revenge.
This had happened in the past.
Furthermore, these resources were extremely scarce compared to the number of trainers. Berries like Liechi Berry, Salac Berry and Petaya Berry could significantly improve a Pokémon's strength, speed, and power with no side effects.
One berry could sell for over 100,000 Pokémon coins in the system shop.
That shows how rare and valuable they were.
In the D- grade secret realm, there was reportedly a Salac Berry guarded by a Pidgeot.
Don't underestimate it just because it's a low-grade realm.
That Pidgeot was a terrifying Elite-level Pokémon.
Fortunately, it was gentle by nature and wouldn't attack humans unless provoked or if someone tried to steal the berries. That's why the Pokémon League hadn't removed it.
Besides that, secret realms often contained all kinds of rare items due to their unique environments.
Like the Mystic Water item Pokémon could hold.
But finding them was purely luck-based.
After researching for an hour, Nathan heard a sound behind him.
"Panchaa!"
He turned around to see Pancham had removed the learning machine and was happily munching on some energy cubes.
"Finished learning?" Nathan asked curiously.
"Pancha." Pancham nodded cheerfully, punching the air with his right fist. A faint crackle of electricity danced across his knuckles.
Although weak, it was clear Pancham had learned Thunder Punch—though only just barely. The move's power was likely still far below the norm.
Even so, Nathan nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad at all."
He had only hoped Pancham could learn the move—he didn't expect it would actually succeed.
That meant this Pancham had excellent potential.
Next, they just needed to head into the secret realm and train Thunder Punch. By the time the next tournament rolled around, Pancham would have made a huge leap in strength.
…
The next morning, Nathan woke up early—someone had come to take him to the secret realm.
That person was, of course, Lily.
A childhood friend and next-door neighbor, Lily's family was close with Nathan's. She often came over to hang out.
Woken up by knocking, Nathan opened the door in his shorts and let her into the living room.
"You're here pretty early," he said.
"Of course, I am. It's our first time going into a secret realm—I wanted to check things out early," Lily replied, unfazed by Nathan's bare torso. She'd seen it plenty of times and was used to it.
Nathan glanced at her—she was dressed in a cute JK school uniform, with sneakers and bare legs.
He grinned. "Aren't you afraid of flashing someone dressed like that?"
"I'm wearing safety shorts," Lily rolled her eyes.
The night before, Nathan had asked if she wanted to come along. Since she had already planned to go, she agreed without hesitation.
After washing up and eating the breakfast his mom left behind, the two set off for the secret realm.
It was located outside Yang City, and a special subway line had been built to reach it.
Secret realms weren't open to just anyone. You needed to be a registered trainer and also pay an entry fee—10,000 Pokécoins for a low-grade realm like this. Higher-grade realms cost even more.
However, new trainers were given three free entries, with no time limit per entry.
You could theoretically stay until you died of old age—assuming the realm didn't merge with Earth and that you could survive that long.
They took a cab to the subway station, scanned their cards, and found seats on the train.
Lily turned to Nathan. "I watched your match yesterday. I didn't expect you to raise that Pancham so well."
"Well, I wouldn't have entered the trial tournament if I didn't have some skills," Nathan replied with a playful eye-roll.
"Hmph." Lily snorted and asked curiously, "That burst-speed move Pancham used—did you really create that yourself?"
"Yeah," Nathan nodded. "It's a Fighting-type move. I call it Shave (Soru)."
"Shave? What a weird name."
Lily pouted, then pulled out her phone. "Well, you're famous now."
"Oh? What do you mean?" Nathan asked, intrigued.
"See for yourself." She handed him her phone, which had a white case with orange patterns.
The screen showed the homepage of Weibo.
One trending topic immediately caught his eye:
[A New Fighting-Type Move?!]
He tapped into the hot search topic and saw that the move Pancham used— Shave —was generating a lot of discussion.
Anyone with some knowledge could tell it was a Fighting-type technique. And based on the video, it was clearly a practical and powerful one.
Comments included:
"This move looks amazing. Wonder what it's called."
"Kind of like Quick Attack, but maybe even more useful. Definitely great for Fighting-types."
"That guy is so handsome!"
"Okay yeah, he's hot, but the real story is that he created a move as a rookie. Mad potential."
"From Magic City University here—we've already got our eyes on this guy. Not from a rich family, but had a mysterious Pokémon from a young age. With talent to invent new moves, I bet he'll be the dark horse of this year's tournament."
"I just want to know—can this move be added to a TM? I'd buy it for my Fighting-types even if it's expensive."
"Same! I need this!"
...
"Tsk. Didn't expect so many people to talk about me," Nathan said in surprise.
"Well duh. You created a super useful skill for Fighting-types, and you're a rookie. The trial tournament has tons of eyes on it. Of course there's buzz," Lily said with a laugh. "But this comment's worth considering—what if you record the move into a learning machine? You could become rich."
"No thanks." Nathan rolled his eyes.
Recording a move into a TM involved complex procedures but could bring in huge profits.
Usually, this was done in collaboration with large companies and granted intellectual property rights.
Shave was undeniably practical for Fighting-types. If sold, it could easily earn millions, maybe even tens of millions of Pokémon coins.
Maybe more.
But Nathan had no interest in selling it. The Rokushiki (Six Powers) from the Navy in One Piece could serve as secret techniques—passed down like treasured martial arts.
One day, he could even build a clan or noble house on their foundation.
He wasn't about to give up that trump card just for some quick cash.
Though he didn't care much about forming a family legacy now, he certainly wasn't going to commercialize Rokushiki.
As they chatted, they reached their destination.
Outside the subway, the secret realm entrance was heavily guarded by soldiers—a huge fortress with a dark tunnel serving as the only entrance.
There were vendors set up outside selling potions, Poké Balls, and information.
Nathan and Lily walked toward the entrance, showed their trainer IDs to the guards, and were allowed through into the passage.
As they walked…
A wave of dizziness hit them.
Suddenly, Nathan felt like he had arrived in an entirely different place.
A breeze brushed past him, and as he opened his eyes, he saw towering ancient trees—and a simple market in the distance.
They had entered the secret realm.
..
Inside the realm, the entrance was just like the outside—with food stalls and makeshift restaurants operated by the national Pokémon league...
TN: The pokemon level tiers is confusing to me right now at chapter 20 so it might change a lot.
Current Info
Elite 4 or just Elite Tier: Lv. 51–60 (The translation call the Pidgeot a champion level pokemon but was mentioned to be at the same level of Volcarona.)
Gym-level - Lv. 41 - 50
Commander-level - Lv. 31- 40
Advanced Level: Lv. 20–30 (Used to be called Elite but was confusing because the translation also call elite 4 level pokemon elite so I change it to advanced.)
Growth Stage Level: Lv.11–20