Returning home, Jiang Chen saw an unexpected figure.
"Hmph, are you surprised to see me?"
Seeing Jiang Chen's surprised expression, Xiao Luoxue lightly snorted.
"Indeed, a little surprised."
He hadn't expected Xiao Luoxue to be at his house.
"The Freshman Trainer Competition is starting the day after tomorrow, so of course, I have to come early to get familiar with the environment. My mom and Aunt Xie agreed that I could temporarily stay at your place—you shouldn't have any objections, right?"
"Even if I had objections, I wouldn't dare express them," Jiang Chen replied with a smile.
"Oh, so you do have objections."
Xiao Luoxue feigned displeasure, huffing coldly at Jiang Chen, an expression of extreme unhappiness on her face.
"If it were anyone else, I might have objections, but with a beautiful girl like you staying over, I'm too happy to even think of objecting."
"You know how to talk. Thank you for helping my Feebas evolve into Milotic. This is my thank-you gift for you."
Xiao Luoxue took out a beautifully packaged gift box and handed it to Jiang Chen.
"What good stuff is inside?"
"Open it and see. The contents took quite a bit of my effort."
Hearing Xiao Luoxue's words, Jiang Chen grew even more curious. After opening it, an unappetizing cake appeared before Jiang Chen.
"I made this myself. It took me a lot of effort. Are you satisfied with this gift? Hurry and try it."
Xiao Luoxue looked at Jiang Chen with anticipation.
Hearing that Xiao Luoxue had made it herself, coupled with its terrible appearance, Jiang Chen truly didn't dare to eat it.
At this moment, he wanted to complain: Are you trying to thank me or get revenge on me? One look at this appearance tells me it definitely won't be delicious.
"Gardevoir, don't you love cake? Come and try this cake." Jiang Chen looked at Gardevoir.
"Gardevoir~!"
Gardevoir immediately shook her head in disdain.
"You're looking down on my cake, aren't you?" Xiao Luoxue glared at Jiang Chen angrily, then said, "Don't judge it by its appearance; it actually tastes pretty good."
"Really?"
Jiang Chen took a bite. Surprisingly, although its appearance wasn't great, the taste wasn't as terrible as Jiang Chen had imagined.
There was certainly a gap compared to Ning Ya's cakes, but the taste was already quite good.
"How is it?" Xiao Luoxue asked Jiang Chen.
"The taste is decent. If the presentation could also be improved, that would be even better."
Jiang Chen gave his evaluation.
"Gardevoir!"
A curious Gardevoir took a bite, then gave a reluctant assessment. It couldn't compare to the cakes Ning Ya made for it.
However, compared to cakes sold outside, besides a slightly worse appearance, it wasn't bad at all.
"It's good enough that you have something to eat; don't be picky about the appearance."
Xiao Luoxue lightly snorted.
"How about we have a Pokémon battle?"
"Sure, no problem. I haven't had anyone to battle with recently."
Hearing Xiao Luoxue propose a Pokémon battle, Jiang Chen's eyes lit up slightly.
"Each of us will use three Pokémon. Sister Ning Ya, would you mind being the referee?"
"Alright, we'll use three Pokémon each." Xiao Luoxue nodded.
They went to the battleground in the courtyard, with Ning Ya standing by as referee.
"Go, Emboar."
The majestic Emboar stood on the field, flames burning fiercely around its neck, its body grand and powerful.
"Emboar, the second brother, huh?"
"Nidoqueen, go."
Jiang Chen sent out Nidoqueen.
"Emboar, use Flame Charge."
Xiao Luoxue didn't hold back, directly commanding Emboar to attack. Emboar was engulfed in flames, like a fire-ball, rapidly charging towards Nidoqueen.
"Nidoqueen, use Mega Punch."
Facing the incoming fireball, under Jiang Chen's command, Nidoqueen didn't even dodge, directly taking the hit.
My strength is greater than this Emboar's; why can't I go head-to-head?
Nidoqueen landed a punch, sending Emboar flying back like a defeated fire meteor.
"Now, pursue it and use Mega Kick again."
Not letting up, Jiang Chen had Nidoqueen pursue. A Mega Kick landed squarely on Emboar.
Finally, a Giga Impact directly incapacitated Emboar, securing an easy victory.
From the start of the battle to its end, it didn't take more than half a minute.
"Emboar is unable to battle. Nidoqueen wins. Please send out your next Pokémon." Ning Ya performed her referee duties, reminding Xiao Luoxue, who was still somewhat dazed.
"My Emboar lost just like that?"
Xiao Luoxue's Emboar was considered an ace among her Pokémon.
Aside from the long-trained Milotic, Xiao Luoxue's strongest two Pokémon were Emboar and Garchomp.
She could accept losing, but losing so utterly without a chance to retaliate was hard for Xiao Luoxue to accept.
"What's your Nidoqueen's strength?" Xiao Luoxue couldn't help but ask Jiang Chen.
"Not very strong, just Elite Four rank three."
"You call that 'not very strong'?"
Xiao Luoxue was speechless. She felt that even if Garchomp battled, it might not be able to defeat this Nidoqueen.
According to her understanding, this Nidoqueen wasn't even considered Jiang Chen's strongest main Pokémon.
Jiang Chen's strongest main Pokémon should be Gardevoir, Metagross, and Garchomp.
Although Dragonite was powerful, it couldn't participate in this Freshman Trainer Competition due to strict age restrictions on Pokémon, so it wasn't counted for now.
"Want to continue?"
"Continue. I'm not someone who gives up easily."
Xiao Luoxue was a bit like Ling Wanqiu in this regard; both were the type who hated to lose.
"Garchomp, I'm counting on you."
Using Milotic would easily defeat this Nidoqueen, but Milotic had been trained for too long; using Milotic would be too much like bullying.
"Garchomp, use Dragon Rush."
"Nidoqueen, use Superpower to grab Garchomp, then throw it out."
Nidoqueen's feet retreated two steps from Garchomp's Dragon Rush, then her arms instantly exerted force, directly grabbing Garchomp with Superpower.
Superpower was actually a move, and one of the major Fighting-type moves.
"Boom!!!"
The ground trembled. Garchomp was slammed to the ground by Nidoqueen, then hit again with a Mega Kick.
Garchomp lay in a huge crater on the ground, surrounded by shattered cracks.
The ground had cracked due to Nidoqueen's immense power.
Then an Ice Punch defeated Xiao Luoxue's Garchomp.
Xiao Luoxue didn't even have time to give any commands. The battle ended the moment Garchomp was caught by Dragon Rush.
"I can't beat this Nidoqueen. Can you switch to a more normal Pokémon?"
Aside from Garchomp and Emboar, she had no other Elite Four-level Pokémon. Using Milotic would be too much like bullying.
And even if she used Milotic to defeat Nidoqueen, Jiang Chen could still use Dragonite to instantly defeat her in the next round.
"Alright, I'll grant your request."
Jiang Chen called back the still-eager Nidoqueen, then sent out Vigoroth.
"Vigoroth? You want to train a Slaking? Don't even think about it."
Xiao Luoxue looked at Vigoroth and said to Jiang Chen.
Slaking's ability had too great an impact. Not only were there negative effects in battle, but it even affected its personality, making it extremely lazy during training.
In fact, the ability's impact in battle was a minor issue. Relying on its powerful base stats, even with a very negative ability, it still had a place.
However, being equally lazy during regular training was fatal.
"The Slaking I train will be different. You'll know once it evolves. By then, it will definitely be every opponent's nightmare."
If Slaking's Truant ability was removed, it would already be invincible. If it then gained the Huge Power ability, it would truly be god-tier.
"Pikachu, go."
Xiao Luoxue sent out her elegantly styled Pikachu. It wore a pretty little skirt and had a bow tied on its head.
Just looking at its appearance made one reluctant to attack it.
"Are you planning to evolve Pikachu into Raichu?" Jiang Chen asked Xiao Luoxue.
"No, my Pikachu will never evolve into Raichu. Raichu isn't cute at all."
Xiao Luoxue immediately shook her head. Although evolving into Raichu would directly bring a qualitative leap in combat power, its appearance wouldn't be cute anymore.
"If it doesn't evolve, Pikachu will mostly serve as a cute mascot by your side in the future."
Not all Pikachus were 'Pikachu God.' Although this Pikachu had decent talent, if it didn't evolve, reaching Elite Four level would be difficult.
"It's fine. Pikachu is only temporarily serving as my main Pokémon, and it doesn't particularly like battling either."
Xiao Luoxue caressed Pikachu's small head.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt."
"You're really not holding back."
Jiang Chen glanced at Vigoroth. Vigoroth had already been hit by Thunderbolt, but it stubbornly resisted the attack and charged towards Pikachu.
Vigoroth was truly mighty. It reached Pikachu and unleashed a "Slash" attack.
Pikachu's physique was simply too fragile. Vigoroth's merciless punch instantly took down Pikachu.
After defeating Pikachu, Vigoroth successfully evolved into Slaking amidst a white evolutionary light.
"This noisy fellow evolved."
Slaking's sluggish figure appeared on the field. To be honest, Slaking's appearance wasn't very appealing.
It resembled a baboon or a gorilla, with a pink nose and brownish-yellow fur. Its eye-rings were brown, and it had two tufts of white hair on its head like sprouts. A ring of white fur was around its neck and body, and the fur on its limbs was brown.
"Injured Pokémon, let me heal them."
Ning Ya said to Xiao Luoxue.
Xiao Luoxue nodded, temporarily handing Pikachu, Garchomp, and Emboar to Ning Ya for healing.
"You really don't hold back."
She lost terribly, with no dignity left. She had been thinking of getting revenge on Jiang Chen for her previous defeat when she saw him again, but it seemed she had thought too much.
The champion of this Freshman Trainer Competition could be taken for granted.
She couldn't imagine anyone defeating Jiang Chen.
That night, in his room, Jiang Chen released Slaking. He then took out the Ability Capsule he had received as a mission reward before and used it on Slaking.
A flash of light. Then the Ability Capsule in Jiang Chen's hand disappeared.
"Did it work?"
Jiang Chen stared at Slaking, noticing that Slaking indeed looked a bit different.
The previous Slaking was very lazy, always wanting to yawn even when standing. Now, it looked very energetic.
[Slaking]
Gender: Male
Strength: Elite Four Rank 1
Talent Potential: Champion
Type: Normal
Ability: Huge Power
Moves: Scratch, Slash, Hammer Arm, Counter, Focus Punch, Hyper Beam, Giga Impact...
Its ability had indeed changed from Truant to Huge Power.
Slaking's original physical attack stat was already as high as 160. With the Huge Power ability, its physical attack power would double. In the future, Slaking would definitely be able to one-punch children.
Although Slaking's appearance was a bit ugly, it would definitely become one of Jiang Chen's strongest aces.
He recalled Slaking, then Jiang Chen lay on his bed to rest.
The next morning, he first signed in. This time, he didn't get anything good again.
Recently, the best items Jiang Chen had gotten from signing in were a few TMs. He had also received quite a few Evolution Stones like Leaf Stone, Fire Stone, and Moon Stone.
"As the host of Tianhai City, how about you take me around Tianhai City today?"
After breakfast, Xiao Luoxue looked at Jiang Chen.
"Ahem, I have an appointment today."
"An appointment?" Xiao Luoxue raised an eyebrow, then a figure came to mind.
"Could it be Ling Wanqiu?"
"Yes, Ling Wanqiu and I agreed to go to the newly opened amusement park today."
Jiang Chen nodded to Xiao Luoxue.
"Then you wouldn't mind if I joined, would you?" Xiao Luoxue leaned closer, her eyes fixed on Jiang Chen.
"Young Master is becoming more and more popular."
Ning Ya, watching from not far away, secretly thought to herself.
"Aunt Xie said you were supposed to host me. You wouldn't ditch me to go play, would you?"
"Then I'll ask Ling Wanqiu's opinion first."
Jiang Chen said with a headache. A gut feeling told him that today might not go well.
"Hmph."
Xiao Luoxue lightly snorted, but she didn't say anything else.
On the other side, Ling Wanqiu, who had specially dressed up, slightly furrowed her brows after receiving Jiang Chen's message.
"Xiao Luoxue is actually staying at Jiang Chen's house."
Even though she knew Xiao Luoxue's family and Jiang Chen's family had a good relationship, which was why Xiao Luoxue was staying at Jiang Chen's house, Ling Wanqiu still felt a little uncomfortable, a sour feeling in her heart.
After thinking for a moment, Ling Wanqiu agreed to Jiang Chen bringing Xiao Luoxue. Otherwise, if she refused, what if Jiang Chen ended up not going out at all?
Seeing Ling Wanqiu's message agreeing to him bringing Xiao Luoxue, Jiang Chen breathed a sigh of relief.
If Ling Wanqiu hadn't agreed, he really wouldn't have been able to abandon Xiao Luoxue to go out with Ling Wanqiu. After all, Xiao Luoxue was a guest.
To ditch a guest and go out to play alone, no matter how you put it, it wouldn't look good. It would be too impolite.
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