Chapter Thirty-Eight: A Different Kind of Trainer Battle

“Yawn~ So sleepy...” The next morning, Zhao Fang crawled out of his tent looking as if he had worked overtime for several days straight, dark circles under his eyes. Last night, for reasons unknown, King Carp seemed to be in a frenzy, passionately headbutting the Iron Armour Pupae and Metapods over and over. Zhao Fang was worried King Carp might actually bash its own brains out. After King Carp knocked several Iron Armour Pupae and Metapods unconscious, Zhao Fang forcibly returned it to its Poké Ball, fearing that any more headbutting would leave it with a concussion.

Upon waking, he found that all the Metapods and Iron Armour Pupae had left the area, which was a relief—otherwise, once King Carp finished its breakfast, it might have gone back to practicing its iron-head technique. After preparing a meal for King Carp and Dragomessiah that could raise their base stats by 0.3, Zhao Fang washed up and solved his own breakfast with a sandwich.

“King Carp, look at you—you rested all night and still have a wound on your head. Let me apply some medicine.” Zhao Fang shook his head helplessly at King Carp but still took out a bottle of healing spray and dabbed some on its injury.

There was no need to use up the whole bottle unless King Carp was covered in wounds. After applying the medicine, the injury on King Carp’s forehead slowly faded. Zhao Fang packed up his tent, shouldered his backpack, and set off again with King Carp and Dragomessiah.

Yesterday, when he flew over the forest on Swellow King, Zhao Fang had taken a careful look at the surroundings. That glance had completely killed any desire to explore further; Beautiflies and Beedrills fluttered everywhere, and he occasionally glimpsed Swellow King’s shadow. Most surprising of all was a Pelipper—a Pokémon he could not fathom why it would be in the forest.

“Hey~ Handsome over there, are you a trainer too?” As Zhao Fang walked and scanned his surroundings, he heard a girl’s voice. Looking up, he saw a young woman in a dress and sunhat, beaming at him.

“Yes, I’m a trainer.” Seeing the Poké Balls at her waist, Zhao Fang realized she was a trainer as well. He could already predict the plot: she was likely to challenge him to a battle.

“Want to have a battle? The kind with a wager.” The beautiful woman smiled brightly, and Zhao Fang narrowed his eyes. Trainer battles were common—he’d fought many before—but they were usually just for sport, never about money. Unlike the games, where defeating someone could earn you cash, even challenging the Elite Four yielded no prize money. Otherwise, the world would be even more chaotic.

But battles with wagers were a different matter; this was real gambling.

“Don’t worry~ I only have these three Pokémon. If you defeat one, you get one hundred League coins; two, a thousand; all three, ten thousand League coins~” The girl, clearly used to such hesitance, cheerfully tossed out her Poké Balls. Three Pokémon appeared: a Weedle, a Poochyena, and a Lotad.

Zhao Fang smiled. Judging by the Pokémon types, this young woman was indeed seeking a fair match. But Zhao Fang’s sharp eyes noticed the Everstone hidden on Lotad’s body. That meant Lotad could evolve into Lombre at any moment—probably why she was so confident. In normal trainer battles, if one side evolves during the fight, the other can’t interfere, or they’ll be investigated by the League.

Of course, if battling the Magma Team or Aqua Squad, those rules didn’t apply.

“Sorry, I have some matters to attend to.” Zhao Fang waved his hand. If it were a regular battle, he wouldn’t refuse—even against Lombre—but wagering money changed things.

After saying this, Zhao Fang stepped forward, but soon found the path blocked by the three Pokémon; Poochyena even bared its fangs.

“So I can’t leave unless I fight you?” Zhao Fang squinted at the girl.

“Oh, not at all~ But since you haven’t defeated any, you’ll have to leave ten thousand League coins as a ‘service fee’.” The sly smile at her lips made Zhao Fang smile as well. People who do this kind of thing never work alone; he’d need to watch for others lurking in the shadows.

“Fine, let’s battle. But I’ll give my Pokémon some berries first, okay?” Zhao Fang cheerfully set down his bag.

“Of course not~” A stream of bubbles shot over from afar, interrupting him as he reached into his bag. Zhao Fang glared angrily but took a Poké Ball from his waist, his face grim.

“Let’s begin, then! You’re up, Poochyena!” The girl called her other two Pokémon to her side and sent out Poochyena.

Zhao Fang eyed Poochyena with some hesitation, then slapped his thigh decisively.

“King Carp! I’m counting on you!” As King Carp appeared, the girl burst into laughter, but quickly began sizing up Zhao Fang’s belongings, plotting how to strip this poor boy of his possessions.

“What a boring battle. Weak Pokémon like that aren’t even worth my attention! Poochyena, finish it with Bite.” The girl yawned, waving her hand in boredom.

Zhao Fang wasn’t angry; he felt the vibration in his leg—there would be no future troubles now.

“King Carp! Show off your training!” Zhao Fang swung his arm, and King Carp instantly leapt with Splash, darting aside to dodge Poochyena’s Bite.

King Carp twisted and launched a Tackle attack.

“Is that all you’ve got?” The girl was surprised by King Carp’s agility but dismissed it.

A moment later, King Carp’s head collided with Poochyena’s, producing a dull thud.

Poochyena staggered and collapsed, its world spinning. King Carp wasn’t feeling great either, though the blow seemed less severe than for its opponent.

“King Carp, press the advantage! Don’t let it recover! Use Tackle again!” Zhao Fang wasted no time and commanded the follow-up attack.