"What are all these things for?"
As she spoke, Evelyn randomly picked up an unidentified bottle of liquid and asked.
"That one boosts Special Defense. After a Pokémon drinks it, their Special Defense will increase," Nathan said after glancing at the bottle in her hand.
"If it's a liquid, then it's all for the Pokémon to drink. Just give it to it and be done with it," Nathan urged, getting a little impatient as he watched Evelyn fumble around.
They only had today—tomorrow Evelyn was scheduled to compete. Whether she won or lost didn't matter much to her. But to Nathan, if the final task reward was affected, that would be unacceptable.
After dilly-dallying for over ten minutes, the once-bulging backpack had deflated considerably. All the berries inside had already been eaten by Gyarados, leaving only empty bottles and skill discs behind.
"Alright, your task for this morning is simple: stay here and have Gyarados learn new moves. I'll bring you lunch later," Nathan said.
If it weren't for the task requirements, he would never go to such lengths to help raise someone else's Pokémon. After speaking, Nathan flew off on his Flygon and returned.
By noon, when Nathan brought lunch, he found Evelyn and Gyarados still hard at work.
"Time to eat. After lunch, I'll spar with you," he said as he approached.
Evelyn nodded and took the lunch from Nathan without hesitation. She had been dragged out early in the morning to start training Gyarados, so she was already starving.
As she ate, she recalled all the items Nathan had prepared for her. They clearly weren't cheap—especially that Special Defense-boosting potion.
She didn't even know where to buy such rare items. Yet Nathan had pulled out so many in one go, which made it clear he was really bleeding resources this time.
But she couldn't figure out why Nathan was helping her train a Pokémon. Was it because he didn't want to participate anymore?
That didn't make sense either. Based on Nathan's personality, if he really didn't want to compete, he wouldn't have entered the world tournament at all.
After thinking about it in circles, Evelyn still couldn't make sense of it, so she decided not to bother anymore. As the saying goes, if you can't figure something out, just accept it. It might not be a good thing, but it might not be bad either.
"Nathan, how much did all that stuff cost? I'll transfer the money to you later," Evelyn said while eating.
Nathan expressionlessly held up two fingers.
"Great, I'll pay you back for the diving ball too," Evelyn said, pleasantly surprised when she saw him gesture "two."
She hadn't expected Nathan to be so generous—just two million Poké-coins for all those rare items? She had thought he'd ask for seventy or eighty million.
"Two million? What do you think I am, a beggar? I meant two hundred million! I'll give you one billion—now go buy me five more sets of this kind of stuff, how about that?" Nathan instantly exploded.
Seriously? Trying to buy all that for just two million? The Special Defense potion alone cost nearly that much—and that was just for one bottle. Not to mention all the other stuff. Among those skill discs was also the move Iron Body. That move alone? Forget two hundred million—someone would probably pay a billion for it!
"Two hundred million!? Can I return it?" Evelyn suddenly lost her appetite. How much had Gyarados even eaten? And now it totaled two hundred million?
"Sure," Nathan said with a nod. "Just return the skill discs. For the items Gyarados already consumed, five million is enough."
Hearing that, Evelyn started to feel like she was being swindled. Could it be that the skill discs were just a trick, and Nathan only really wanted her five million?
"Sigh… looks like my self-created moves really are only suitable for my own Pokémon. Some people just don't know their worth," Nathan said dramatically, looking off into the distance with fake sadness.
Self-created move!? Wait a minute!!!
Evelyn immediately stopped eating and scrambled to dig through the backpack. Sure enough, she found a special skill disc labeled with the words Iron Body.
This was a move she'd never heard of before, meaning it had to be one of Nathan's self-created techniques!
She hadn't noticed it earlier because it had been buried at the bottom of the bag. But now that she'd uncovered it, she felt like she'd been mining for rocks and stumbled onto a gold vein.
"No! I'll take it—two hundred million it is!"
Evelyn no longer felt like she was being taken advantage of. With time, she could earn back two hundred million Poké-coins. But a self-created move from Nathan? That wasn't something you could buy with money.
She had been jealous of his custom techniques for a long time, especially after seeing them used in battle. She had even tried to buy them before, but Nathan had never agreed.
Now that the opportunity was delivered right to her, how could she just let it go?
"Just one condition," Nathan said sternly, fixing her with a serious look. "This move is only to be used by your own Pokémon. Got it?"
If it weren't for the fact that future tasks might involve Evelyn, Nathan really wouldn't have wanted to let her get her hands on the move.
----------------------
That afternoon, Evelyn began having Gyarados practice Iron Body.
However, mastering the move wasn't easy at first—it required time and repetition.
"Alright, Mewtwo. It's up to you now," Nathan said, looking at the massive Gyarados in front of him.
"Don't worry. I definitely won't go easy on it," Mewtwo replied confidently.
At that moment, Gyarados looked like a huge, innocent baby, nervously glancing between Mewtwo and Nathan.
"Boss, be gentle… AHHH~"
Before Gyarados could finish speaking, Mewtwo had already thrown the first punch.
"Take… it… easy!"
"I'm sorry!"
"Stop hitting meee~"
Poor Gyarados. After using the Iron Body skill disc, it was subjected to a full afternoon of being mercilessly beaten by Mewtwo.
The move Iron Body was designed to strengthen a Pokémon's physical resilience, and the fastest way to develop that toughness was through brutal combat training.
Hence, the current situation.
By the time the sun began to set, Gyarados was covered in bruises and minor wounds.
Seeing the time, Nathan finally told Mewtwo to stop and began treating Gyarados's injuries.
In truth, the move could be mastered gradually through slower, consistent training—but if they wanted quick results, the beatdown method was faster.
"Am I going to have to go through this every day?" Gyarados asked tearfully as Nathan tended to its wounds. It never wanted to experience this kind of torture again.
"Don't you envy Mewtwo's strength? That's exactly how it got so strong," Nathan replied with a straight face, lying without a hint of shame.
But the naïve Gyarados actually believed him.
So this is how Boss got strong… Looks like I've got a long road of beatings ahead of me, Gyarados thought to itself.
"Alright, now try feeling your body. Doesn't it feel way tougher than before? When you use Iron Body, it'll be even stronger," Nathan said with satisfaction after finishing the treatment.
He had to admit—Iron Body, a technique of the Navy Six Styles, paired with Dynamax Pokémon, was absolutely perfect.
After all, you can't deal damage if you're fainted. As long as you can stay on your feet during battle, even weak attacks can eventually wear down an opponent. But if you're KO'd at the start, then what's the point?
"Hey! You're right!"
Gyarados moved its body around, causing waves to ripple across the ocean around it.
Evelyn was also delighted. After all, this Gyarados was hers—now that it was stronger, how could she not be happy?
And in the future, her other Pokémon could also learn Iron Body. All she had to do was replicate the skill disc.
For the first time, she truly felt that entering the World Tournament was the best decision she had ever made.
Even the Elite Four wanted access to Nathan's self-created moves—and now, her Pokémon had already learned one.
She couldn't help but fantasize: if she could eventually buy all of Nathan's custom techniques…
But that kind of thing wasn't likely to happen for now.
The next morning, Nathan and Evelyn arrived at the main island.
Contestants from various nations also began gathering there from their respective islands.
The once-quiet main island quickly became lively and bustling.
(End of Chapter)