Chapter Forty-Two: Emerging from the Orange Blossom Forest

“The plane tickets are too expensive; I can’t afford them for now, so I’ve decided to collect badges here and participate in the Hoenn League instead.” Zhao Fang gave a wry smile and shook his head. He was well aware that, for Dreepy to evolve, the best way would be to find companions for joint training—evolution would be much simpler that way. However, Zhao Fang simply didn’t have the means at the moment.

Cynthia nodded in understanding. She was no stranger to trainers of humble backgrounds and could tell Zhao Fang’s family wasn’t well-off. The Galar region was several regions away, after all, and airfare was indeed exorbitant.

“The Hoenn League, is it? That’s not a bad choice. I hear this year’s league will see some strong challengers. If you manage to win the championship, you could even try the Master’s Challenge.” Cynthia offered Zhao Fang a reassuring smile. She wouldn’t have spoken so much if Zhao Fang hadn’t shown such determination in battle.

Zhao Fang scratched his head sheepishly. With his current strength, even getting past the first gym was questionable, let alone the league. If Magikarp could evolve into Gyarados, there’d be some hope; otherwise, he’d have to rely on Dreepy to grind his way through, and he hadn’t yet encountered any Pokémon he truly wanted on his journey.

Though Zhao Fang could easily catch a Water- or Grass-type just to get through a gym and then swap it out, he wasn’t interested in that approach. When he played the games, he liked challenging the champion with a carefully assembled team; he only caught Pokémon to fill out the Pokédex.

After chatting with Cynthia a while longer, Officer Jenny came over and took the three criminals away.

“Thank you so much, Professor Cynthia,” Zhao Fang said politely, expressing his gratitude once more before parting ways.

“It was nothing—a simple favor. I hope to see you at this year’s Hoenn League.” Cynthia bid him farewell with a gentle smile. As for exchanging contact information, there was no need; as promising as Zhao Fang was, the world of Pokémon was full of potential trainers.

After saying goodbye to Cynthia, Zhao Fang resumed his journey. He first made sure Magikarp and Dreepy had fully recovered from their injuries before embarking on his training regimen. The recent battle with the gambling woman had revealed areas where both Magikarp and Dreepy could improve.

Magikarp’s case was the simplest—its move pool was severely limited. Zhao Fang could only help it refine its use of Tackle and Splash. If it managed to learn Flail, that would open up another option. But more than anything, Magikarp’s true breakthrough would be evolution: only by evolving could it leap the dragon’s gate and achieve its transformation.

“Magikarp, next I want you to chain your Splashes together, using the momentum to change direction in midair…” Zhao Fang explained while preparing lunch for his Pokémon.

Yet, as he watched Magikarp repeatedly slam its head against a rock, Zhao Fang could only sigh inwardly. Magikarp couldn’t talk, and while Dreepy had some telepathic abilities, it could only relay simple words or feelings. When Zhao Fang asked Dreepy what Magikarp was thinking, all he got back was the word “power.”

“Don’t tell me all its base stats are going into Attack?” Zhao Fang mused with a peculiar expression.

Once the food was ready, Zhao Fang brought Magikarp its meal. Dreepy, however, seemed to have particular preferences—it wanted its food served hotpot-style, a detail Zhao Fang had only figured out after much communication.

“Dreepy, I want you to keep working on your Dragon Tail. Against certain types, it can be a very powerful attack,” Zhao Fang said as he stirred the hotpot.

“Dreepy, Dreepy!” Dreepy cried out in delight, circling the hotpot so eagerly that Zhao Fang began to feel dizzy just watching.

“If only I could invent a machine to check a Pokémon’s base stats,” Zhao Fang thought, biting into a sandwich he’d picked up from a convenience store clearance bin.

Though his golden finger was powerful, it couldn’t display a Pokémon’s base stats, so Zhao Fang had no idea where all the stat gains were actually going.

It took Zhao Fang three whole days to make his way through Petalburg Woods—a region that took only minutes to cross in the games but was dauntingly vast in reality. Checking his map, he estimated that a thorough exploration of Petalburg Woods would take a month.

Along the way, Zhao Fang encountered a few trainers. By sending out Magikarp and Dreepy, he was able to defeat them easily, though Magikarp remained stubbornly fixated on using Tackle—headbutting other Pokémon without restraint.

Yes, a true iron-headed fool. At this rate, Zhao Fang figured Magikarp’s skull would soon become much tougher.

Based on their performance, Zhao Fang made slight adjustments to Magikarp and Dreepy’s training plans.

During this time, he caught sight of many wild Pokémon. The one that tempted him most was Treecko—the little one that seemed to get lost often. It stumbled upon Zhao Fang during dinner at his campsite, and the two locked eyes. But Zhao Fang made no move, only offering a friendly smile—because Sceptile was watching from behind Treecko.

Once Zhao Fang emerged from Petalburg Woods, he spotted an expanse of water beside a flower shop by the lake. He recognized the shop—players could normally get a watering can there, but that was in the game; reality might be different.

He planned to find a fisherman to battle, hoping to discuss Magikarp’s evolution conditions. But soon, Zhao Fang noticed something odd—there were far too many people on the road ahead, many with Poké Balls at their belts. All of them were trainers.

“What’s going on? Some kind of event?” Zhao Fang was baffled.

“Excuse me, why are so many trainers gathered here? Is there an event?” he asked one of them.

“You don’t know? Someone spotted a red Gyarados here!” The young trainer looked at Zhao Fang as if he were a caveman. Only then did Zhao Fang realize why Petalburg Woods had been so deserted.