Zzzt!
A barrage of attacks and surging electricity struck violently against the Vaporeon's body.
Type advantage, coupled with relentless offense, left Vaporeon barely hanging on—until the final Thunder Punch landed. Its eyes rolled back, and it lost its ability to battle.
"Vaporeon is unable to battle!"
Bella raised her flag and announced the result.
"Amazing," Gym Leader Jade praised. She picked up the Pokéball and recalled Vaporeon before tossing it to Bella to take it for treatment. Then she looked at Nathan and said, "For a rookie, your battle experience is truly impressive. Honestly, if you weren't a rookie, I'd have wanted to go all-out and fight you with my strongest Pokémon."
When rookie trainers challenge a Gym, the Gym Leader has to use Pokémon of similar strength. That's one of the perks rookies get.
Nathan smiled and waved his hand. "I'd rather not experience what it's like to be totally countered by type advantages."
"True enough," Gym Leader Jade chuckled, glancing at Metang. "I didn't expect your Pokémon to be capable of learning Electric-type moves. As far as I know, there's only one Pokémon like that in Celestial Star Nation—it's incredibly rare. Can't believe I got to see one in person."
(TN: Celestial Star Nation – China)
"Caught it by chance," Nathan replied with a smile and returned Metang to its Pokéball.
Gym Leader Jade nodded slightly. "The Wave Badge is well-deserved. Seems like you haven't had Metang for long, but it's already that powerful. I'm really looking forward to your performance in the National Tournament."
The Wave Badge was a gem-carved badge shaped like a Starmie. It was beautiful and had a certain collectible value, much like the Oldcastle Badge.
"I'm looking forward to it myself," Nathan said, shrugging as he took the badge. "But I'm not expecting to win the whole thing."
"Of course not," Gym Leader Jade said with a smile.
"..."
Come on, I was just being humble. Isn't this where you're supposed to say something like, 'You're underestimating yourself'?
Nathan pouted slightly, then pocketed the badge and left the Gym.
Now that he had the badge, there was no point in sticking around—unless he wanted to admire the beauty of the Gym Leader. But no matter how pretty she was, if he could only look and not touch, it was a waste of time. He'd rather spend it working on training plans.
Leaving the Water-type Gym that felt straight out of the original series' Cerulean Gym, Nathan hailed a cab and returned to the hotel.
He had no plans to rush out of Glorious City just yet—after all, it wasn't every day he visited. He planned to enjoy the sights and food a bit.
There were plenty of local delicacies here, after all.
After showering and changing out of his travel gear into something more casual, he checked himself out in the mirror. Looking at the handsome face staring back at him, Nathan smirked. "Tch, just as handsome as my readers imagine."
Satisfied with his looks, he picked up his phone, tapped on Wendy's avatar, and sent her a voice message.
"Hey gorgeous, want to hang out?"
A moment later, Wendy responded with a voice message.
"You buying, handsome?"
"Of course."
Having a local beauty as a tour guide was definitely better than wandering around aimlessly by himself. Treating her was worth it.
After confirming the meeting spot, Nathan grabbed his Pokéballs and left the hotel.
The sky was growing dark.
He had arranged to meet Wendy at Jinli. As night fell, the area lit up with lanterns, and the traditional-style architecture gave off a charming, old-timey vibe.
He saw quite a few girls in traditional Hanfu, adding to the aesthetic beauty.
As soon as he stepped out of the cab, he spotted Wendy right away. She wore long blue jeans with sandals, a white short-sleeve top embroidered with a cute pink Gengar. Nathan wasn't sure if pink Gengars existed, but the design looked adorably stylish.
With her fresh and pure looks, Wendy turned quite a few heads as she stood there.
No doubt, she was a real beauty.
"Hey gorgeous, waiting for someone?" Nathan asked with a smile as he walked over.
Wendy looked up at the familiar voice. Smiling, she blinked and replied, "Yeah, waiting for a handsome guy."
"Handsome, huh?" Nathan grinned. "Then I must be the one you're waiting for."
"Let's go then, handsome." Wendy giggled, covering her mouth as she turned and led the way.
This area was one of Glorious City's famous snack streets.
Food stalls lined both sides of the street, releasing waves of mouth-watering aromas. There were human snacks as well as special Pokémon treats—like Poképuffs and more.
People of all ages were walking along the street, each with at least one Pokémon accompanying them.
There were Pokémon of all types.
Whenever a rarer one appeared, it always caused a bit of a stir.
Walking beside Wendy, Nathan admired the surroundings and casually asked, "After registering your breeding center, doesn't it cost a lot to actually establish one?"
"Oh? Why are you asking that? Don't tell me you're interested in becoming a breeder too?" Wendy asked curiously.
"I am interested, but I don't plan on actually becoming one. Just wondering," Nathan replied.
"I see." Wendy began counting on her fingers. "Registering a breeding center isn't too hard, just time-consuming. But actually building one costs a lot—first, you need a large plot of land. Then you've got to grow all sorts of berries, which takes money, plus all the tools and machines you need, and Pokémon to help out. It's easily tens of millions just to start."
"If you want a decent one, even hundreds of millions might not be enough."
As she explained, she turned to look at Nathan with a dreamy expression. "My biggest dream is to own a small island, build a breeding center on it, raise all sorts of Pokémon, grow every type of berry... But I doubt I'll ever make that dream come true, not even when I'm old."
Nathan nodded thoughtfully, then smiled. "It is expensive. But keep it up, gorgeous—once you get your advanced license, I'll invest in your dream."
Wendy rolled her eyes. "If I get my advanced license, I won't need your investment."
That wasn't wrong.
An advanced breeder's license was incredibly valuable—getting investors wouldn't be hard at that point.
After a nice dinner and some sightseeing, Nathan returned to his hotel. He let Metang train some basic moves like Psychic and Bullet Punch before calling it a night.
The next morning, he woke up early, fed his Pokémon, and had them train their moves again.
Metang and Vibrava still had too few moves—they needed to expand their options to handle future battles.
Pancham, meanwhile, was training one of the Navy Six Styles: "Finger Pistol."
Around 10 AM, his phone rang.
"Hello, is this Mr. Vesper, number 417? This is Pidgeot Express—we've delivered your package to the lobby of the Five-Star Pokémon Hotel. Are you available to pick it up?"
"I'll be right there," Nathan replied, grabbing Volcarona's Pokéball and heading for the elevator.
He was getting excited—Teacher William's package had finally arrived.
At the hotel entrance, the courier was already waiting.
"Hi, where's my package?"
"You must be Mr. Vesper. Please verify your identity first…"
After verifying his identity, Nathan finally received his delivery—a cube-shaped box, roughly the size of a mini-fridge.
Back in his room, Nathan opened the box and found it was transparent. Inside were several stones wrapped in foam.
He carefully unwrapped them all.
Soon, dozens of stones lay before him—some were just strange-looking rocks, others were insect amber or small fossils.
Among them were Mega Stones and even a Z-Crystal or two.
He picked one up. "Is this… a Beedrillite?"
Nathan was surprised—but also a bit disappointed.
Mega Stones were great, sure, but Beedrill? He had no plans to catch one unless it had insane potential.
Still, it was worth keeping—once Mega Evolution became widespread, the stone would fetch a high price.
He continued rummaging through the pile, looking for something useful.
Finally, he found four stones that made him grin from ear to ear:
A Gyaradosite
A Pidgeotite
A Metagrossite
A Steelium Z
"Ha! Jackpot!"
For Nathan, the Metagrossite and Steelium Z were the only ones of real use—both for his future Metagross.
Of course, to Mega Evolve Metagross, he still needed a Mega Ring.
And to use Steel-type Z-Moves, he'd also need a compatible Trainer Z-Crystal.
Luckily, the system's shop sold Mega Rings.
Not cheap though—one million credits.
They also sold accessories like Mega Pendants, Mega Bracelets, Mega Glasses, Mega Brooches—even Mega Anklets. Whatever you liked.
Same for Z-Rings.
"But…" Nathan frowned. "Z-Move names are kind of… embarrassing."
He scratched his chin, remembering some of them—Ultimate Invincible Slam, All-Out Pummeling, and such.
If he recalled correctly, the Steel-type Z-Move was… Corkscrew Crash.
..........
TN: Hey bonus chapter for the 100 ss goal and sorry for the late update the internet went out and just came back. If we ever reach 500 ss I'll upload another bonus chapter. Thanks