Pokémon: Starting with a Volcarona

"Why?"

"Master?"

"Zoar?"

Seeing the three confused faces, Nathan couldn't help but chuckle lightly.

"The problem of how to accelerate a Pokémon's growth in strength… Even I can only take the most foolish approach," he said.

"But Zeraora can't keep using its previous battle style. It's too dangerous now, and no longer yields the same results."

In the lower-level brackets, Zeraora had once been able to instantly defeat opponents with its unique techniques—skills that Nathan and Zeraora had developed together.

As long as the enemy wasn't a Ground-type, it could practically one-shot them!

But now...

"You guys haven't noticed, have you? No matter how hard Zeraora and I try, we can't one-shot our opponents anymore."

"Not even with Indra's Arrow or Raikiri."

Hearing Nathan's words, both Zoe and Zeraora fell into silence.

Especially Zeraora—it was acutely aware of how energy-consuming Raikiri and Indra's Arrow were, and yet how they no longer brought decisive victories.

No one understood this better than Zeraora.

"That's why, Zeraora, we need to shift our focus from attack to speed now."

Nathan's tone turned serious as he spoke to Zeraora.

If brute force couldn't deliver instant wins anymore, then they'd have to follow the timeless truth of combat: No technique is unbeatable, only speed is uncatchable!

With Nathan's sharp judgment to complement it, they could bring out Zeraora's full potential.

"Zoar!"

Zeraora nodded seriously, fire seemingly burning in its eyes.

No matter what, as long as it could keep growing stronger, it would never stop trying!

To answer the man in front of it!

To stay true to its original beliefs!

Click!

"Ahhh! So cool! Whether it's my idol or Zeraora, they're both just too cool!"

Zoe had whipped out her phone and snapped a picture just in time, her face filled with excitement.

Even Bella had stars sparkling in her eyes.

"Master, you're amazing!"

If Nathan didn't have nerves of steel, the embarrassment might've overwhelmed him right then and there!

Clearly, living long does have its perks—

At the very least, Nathan could train passionately with Zeraora without breaking a sweat.

At the same time, the incident involving Chiyou's attack on the Skyread Arena hadn't fully blown over yet.

For instance, the finals of the National Championship had been postponed by two days.

And more importantly, most of Chiyou's strongholds had been annihilated by the League's ultimate enforcers—the 12 Zodiac Elites!

Alongside them, many aristocratic families and major corporations also crumbled.

Here's a clarification: the Zodiac Elites weren't the public Elites.

They were lethal weapons nurtured by the League and national institutions—

They didn't participate in competitions, nor were they known to the public.

Compared to the public Elites, the Zodiac were at least as strong, if not stronger!

(TN: I'm sure yet if they're stronger than the Guardians, so I'm putting elites.)

Nathan had only learned of them from Tina.

Which spoke volumes about how deeply hidden this group was.

In short, both the visible world and the shadows were now caught in a storm.

Chiyou had gone too far this time—

The League had tolerated their presence in the capital, but they would never allow them to cross the line.

Rats that dwell in the sewers stay in the sewers.

Those above won't bother wasting energy chasing them down—

As long as they don't disturb the public, they're ignored.

But if those rats dare walk the streets in broad daylight?

Heh.

That'd be a joke even more outrageous than a creation alpaca showing up tomorrow to end the world.

…

Two days later.

Inside the hotel's training room—

"Zeraora! Agility!"

On an ultra-long track littered with obstacles, Nathan shouted his command.

"Zoar!"

With a low growl, Zeraora's golden form blurred and transformed into a streak of blue lightning!

…

It took only two seconds for Zeraora to leap past every obstacle and come to a halt at the finish line.

"Excellent performance. For a elite-tier Pokémon, the fastest time ever recorded was five seconds."

"But..."

Looking at Zeraora's result, Nathan smiled.

"As I thought, that golden lightning suits you better, doesn't it?"

Indeed, compared to the blue lightning, the golden electricity was far more compatible with Zeraora.

Not the kind of golden lightning even a Pikachu could master—

But golden lightning evolved from their bond evolution form, where electricity had been pushed to a whole new level.

"Zoar!"

Zeraora raised its paw, now glowing with radiant golden lightning, and nodded firmly—then shook its head.

Though this form of golden lightning suited it best, it was still a product of Bond Evolution.

Using it in its regular form came with many limitations.

Worse yet, once Zeraora used the golden lightning in bonded evolution, it could no longer activate its Thunder Beast Battle Form afterward.

It was the definition of an extreme battle style—abandoning all defense in pursuit of overwhelming offense.

"Alright, let's go. The finals will begin soon. We can't waste too much stamina."

Nathan tucked away his messy thoughts and pulled out Zeraora's Poké Ball.

Though truth be told, Zeraora no longer needed him to do anything—it could freely enter and exit the ball on its own.

After dragging Bella out of bed and finishing breakfast, Nathan headed for the tournament venue with his female driver.

This time was unlike any previous match—

Just the number of spectators on-site broke ten thousand!

Tens of thousands of people were cheering for just two trainers.

Those who had never stepped onto this stage could never imagine the feeling:

Excitement, adrenaline, boiling blood...

Anyone with a weak heart might even suffer a heart attack from the hype!

Yet Nathan's opponent, Griffin, didn't look fazed at all.

He simply smiled as he stepped across from Nathan.

When he saw that Nathan was also showing no visible reaction, Griffin raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"I thought you'd be nervous. Even if not nervous, at least show some emotion?"

Griffin was unfazed because he'd competed in countless tournaments.

Born into high society, he'd seen countless grand occasions—his mental fortitude was unshakable.

Nathan, on the other hand, was the complete opposite.

Born into a modest, almost struggling household, the only competition he'd ever entered was the "High School Exchange Tournament."

Given all that, Griffin's surprise was justified.

"Hah~ What kind of reaction were you hoping for?"

Nathan yawned and gave him a pair of dead-fish eyes.

He'd sensed it clearly—

Griffin had definitely been waiting to enjoy his humiliation!

The kind of embarrassing memory that could haunt someone for life!

"Tch."

Seeing his plan exposed, Griffin clicked his tongue in disappointment.

"Are you begging for a reality check?"

A vein popped on Nathan's forehead as he asked, tone eerily calm.

Well... it would've seemed calm if not for the fact that his right eye had turned red.

Honestly, just being stared at by that eye made Griffin's scalp tingle.

It felt like he was being hunted by a monster—

Not just any monster, but the apex predator sitting atop the food chain!

"You really are something else... Looks like your win over Seth wasn't a fluke!"

But Griffin didn't back down.

Instead, he flashed a slightly twisted, excited smile and declared,

"Let me tell you a little secret—every one of my six Pokémon is Elite-tier!"

"Even if you send out your Volcarona, you still won't have a guaranteed win!"

Hearing Griffin's words, even Nathan was a little shocked.

Was this guy cheating?

In the history of the National Championship, having a full team of six Elite-tier Pokémon was rare enough to count on one hand!

"Maybe so. But I don't believe I'll lose."

Nathan glanced at the back of his left hand and gave a mysterious smile.

From Griffin's point of view, Nathan's black, metallic right glove didn't seem particularly unusual.

Aside from looking cool, the only eye-catching part was the Poké Ball embedded in the back of the hand.

And that Poké Ball—

Griffin narrowed his eyes.

This was the first time he'd seen a Poké Ball colored white and gold.

It didn't even look like it was made from standard materials—it resembled a piece of art more than a battle tool.

What Griffin didn't know was that this was a special item from Nathan's system shop:

A Portable Pokémon Recovery Device!

The embedded Poké Ball was detachable, and as long as it had solar energy, it could offer powerful healing.

While it didn't work very well on Mewtwo, it could swiftly restore even someone like Volcarona.

Its effect was nearly on par with carrying around a personal Pokémon Center!

Naturally, something this game-breaking and portable didn't come cheap.

Even at a discount, it had nearly drained Nathan's entire fortune—

Including his share of the studio's profits!

Except for the 1 million he set aside for living expenses, Nathan had once again become a broke guy... thanks to the system shop.

(End of Chapter)