"Fragments of Articuno's abandoned nest, scales from a Champion-level Kingdra, the Heart of the Earth formed from energy released by Ground-type Pokémon after natural death…"
"Wow…"
Red stroked his chin.
"Can I take all of them?"
Professor Oak laughed loudly.
"These items—each one is basically at the black-tier level."
"They're the kind of treasures that can directly improve a Pokémon's talent, and even come with additional effects. Compared to these, that Soul Sand you got earlier is nothing."
Red stared greedily at the rewards in front of him, then sighed helplessly.
"Professor Oak… can I ask for something else?"
Oak looked at him in surprise.
Even these aren't enough for you?
Still, he patted his chest confidently.
"Go ahead. As long as you want it, I'll find a way to get it for you!"
"Then thank you in advance, Professor Oak."
"What I want… is the lake water from Celebi—the one that can heal Pokémon and restore life force."
Oak's eyes widened in shock.
"How do you even know about that?!"
"Don't worry about that. Can you get it?"
Without hesitation, Oak shook his head.
"The water from Celebi's lake is on an entirely higher level than these items. Even I don't have the authority to obtain it."
Red hesitated, then gritted his teeth.
"What if I trade Cresselia's feather, Latias's dragon scale, plus this compensation?"
Oak was stunned.
"You've got quite the collection…"
"But even all that combined still doesn't match the value of Celebi's lake water."
Red sighed in disappointment.
At that moment, Oak patted his shoulder.
"If it were anything else, I might find a way—but not that."
"That 'lake water'… isn't really water."
"It's life energy stored by the Celebi clan within the river of time."
"It only shows special effects when a Celebi is critically injured or near death. Otherwise, it's just ordinary spring water."
"Oh… I see."
Red nodded, then added meaningfully:
"Professor Oak, you seem to know quite a lot about Celebi."
Oak coughed awkwardly.
"Well, I am a professor. Isn't that normal?"
His thoughts drifted back to his youth—to that unbelievable journey through time.
But then he scratched his head, feeling like there was… an extra figure in his memories.
"Alright, tell me—what do you actually want?"
Red thought for a moment.
"Is there anything that can rapidly replenish a large amount of life energy for a Pokémon?"
Oak frowned.
"Restore a large amount of life energy…"
"Let me think…"
After a while, he came to a conclusion.
"There is something that fits your requirement."
He quickly pointed to an item on the list.
"Here—fruit grown on a Champion-level Venusaur's back."
"It contains the highest concentration of life energy among all these items."
"Not Champion-level?" Red asked instinctively.
Oak rolled his eyes.
"Of course not. A Venusaur can only bear fruit three times in its entire life. This isn't something comparable to dragon scales."
"So? Do you want it?"
Red thought briefly.
"I'll take it."
"Alright. I'll submit your selection. The League will deliver it within three days."
"Thanks, Professor Oak."
After that, Oak chatted briefly with Red about Gary's recent training progress and nodded in satisfaction.
"Leaving Gary with you was definitely the right decision."
Red smirked.
"Heh—wasn't someone reluctant to let him become my disciple before?"
Oak coughed awkwardly again.
"Alright. Gary's strength is decent now, but reaching the Top 8 will still be difficult."
"And don't let him focus only on training."
"Even as a Gym disciple, he still needs to collect eight badges to enter the League Conference."
"Challenging Gyms across regions is valuable experience."
Red nodded in agreement.
"Don't worry. I'll give them time to collect badges. Staying in one place won't make them top-tier trainers."
Oak looked at him meaningfully.
"That applies to you as well."
With that, he prepared to leave.
After all, he still had to help an entire warehouse of Pokémon find their trainers—a massive task.
After chatting briefly with Gary and Ash, Oak took some of the Pokémon and returned to Pallet Town.
Later, Red also compensated nearby residents in his capacity as Gym Leader.
By the time he returned to the Gym—
It was already late at night on the second day after the incident.
Sitting alone in his office, Red found himself unable to sleep.
"The priority is still restoring Ninetales' life force…"
"But the Celebi forest storyline hasn't started yet. I'll have to wait."
"For now, let's see if the Venusaur fruit can restore some of its strength."
"Besides that… like Professor Oak and that old man said—"
"Improving strength is still the top priority."
"Looks like I need to readjust my training efficiency."
"Larvitar just needs more battle experience. It'll soon reach Marshtomp's level."
"As for Castform… no major improvements for now."
"But Marshtomp…"
As his strongest Pokémon at the moment, Red planned to accelerate Marshtomp's growth.
Once it evolved—
If he could obtain a Mega Swampert stone, combined with rain boost—
Its strength would likely reach the peak of Elite-tier.
And to make Marshtomp evolve quickly…
Red opened the system interface.
During battle, he had muted system notifications to avoid distraction.
Now—
As the Gym Leader who repelled the attack and received League compensation, Songzao Gym had been upgraded again.
Naturally, the system rewards were substantial.
Gary's exclusive quest had also been completed—adding even more points.
Altogether—
Red now had 110 points.
A massive amount.
Enough to directly purchase 11 Evolution Potions.
And after taking Ash as a disciple, the system shop had also updated with new items—
Mega Stones.
However—
They could only be obtained through a blind box.
And each draw cost 50 points.
Because of how unreliable that was, Red had ignored it until now.
Taking a deep breath, he said:
"It's time to fulfill my promise…"
"Time to give Marshtomp a major upgrade."
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