Mossweed City, Mossweed Gym.
For the past half month, Red had finally enjoyed a rare period of peace and stability.
Most of his attention during this time had been devoted to training his Pokémon.
After all, as Cynthia and Ma Zhiqi had both pointed out, no matter how many accomplishments a trainer achieved or how many innovations they created, the most important thing was still strength—the strength of the Pokémon they personally raised.
Moreover, after reaching Level 30, the rate at which Pokémon gained levels visibly slowed down.
It was obvious that Level 30 represented a significant threshold for most Pokémon.
Fortunately, that rule hardly mattered to Red.
In less than half a month, Swampert's evolution line representative—Marshtomp—had gone from Level 34 after battling Ma Zhiqi all the way to Level 38, gaining four levels in one go.
To other trainers, that kind of growth rate was downright absurd.
For Pokémon above Level 30, gaining even one level per week was already considered good progress.
But Red had poured immense amounts of resources and money into Marshtomp, allowing its growth speed to be nearly twice that of ordinary Pokémon.
Of course, that might have had a tiny little bit to do with the fact that Red had converted all of his remaining System Points into Evolution Potions and fed every single one of them to Marshtomp.
While he had spent quite a few points on various Dynamax-related items, he still had eighty points left over—and he invested all of them into Marshtomp without hesitation.
After all, Marshtomp was currently his strongest combat Pokémon.
And unlike Pokémon that focused solely on grinding levels, Marshtomp also dedicated enormous amounts of time to perfecting its signature technique, Frozen Hell, while constantly engaging in high-intensity battles against challengers from all over the world.
If one had to describe Marshtomp in a single sentence:
Invincible among Pokémon of the same level.
Of course, that assessment only applied to ordinary Pokémon.
If it wanted to challenge Legendary Pokémon at the same level, Red estimated it would need to fully master Frozen Hell, evolve into Swampert, and then Mega Evolve before it could perhaps stand a chance.
Even then, he wasn't entirely sure.
Pokémon: Marshtomp ♂
Level: 38
Talent: Perfect
Attack: 31Special Attack: 31Defense: 31Special Defense: 31Speed: 31HP: 31
Total: 186
Ability: Torrent
Moves: Growl, Tackle, Rock Throw, Bite, Mirror Coat, Counter, Yawn, Hydro Pump, and more.
Evaluation: A calm and steady Marshtomp that's secretly a little vain beneath the surface. Through relentless training, it has gained strength far beyond others of its species. Its perfect aptitude grants it limitless potential.
Currently mastering the signature technique:
Frozen Hell (Early Phase of Stage Three).
With Red's full support, Marshtomp's aptitude had finally risen from High Grade to Perfect.
It became the second Pokémon in Red's team to achieve perfect potential.
Unfortunately, Frozen Hell had reached a bottleneck at Stage Three.
Even with perfect aptitude, Marshtomp wasn't an Ice-type Pokémon.
To fully grasp the third stage of Frozen Hell, it needed even greater control over ice energy.
As a result, its progress on the technique had slowed considerably.
The best solution Red could think of was obtaining some high-level Ice-type resource.
For example...
An abandoned nest belonging to Articuno.
Unfortunately, acquiring something like that from the League would be anything but easy.
For now, Marshtomp could only continue training the hard way.
As for Ninetales, half a month felt like the blink of an eye.
Without finding Celebi's Lake of Life, she could only maintain her current condition.
Every night, she still had to cling to Red and absorb Viridian Power to compensate for the vitality she continually lost.
Interestingly enough, because Ninetales repeatedly drained Red's life energy dry before it recovered again and again, Red could clearly feel his Viridian Power becoming stronger.
Its cultivation speed had already surpassed that of his psychic powers.
As a bonus, his physical condition had improved considerably as well.
He still couldn't compare to the monsters inhabiting the Pokémon world.
But he was confident that the next time Garchomp carried him at supersonic speed, he wouldn't look nearly as pathetic.
Castform hadn't changed much during these two weeks.
It continued focusing on weather manipulation.
However, thanks to its experiences with Dynamax, Castform's training progress was advancing at remarkable speed.
According to Castform herself, she had previously specialized almost entirely in rain control.
Now she was trying to make up for her weaknesses and elevate her mastery of Sandstorm, Sunny Day, and Snow Weather to the same level.
How effective that training had been would only become clear in battle.
Its level had also risen by four levels, reaching Level 35.
The Pokémon whose level increased the slowest was Red's shiny Larvitar.
It had only gained three levels.
Its current level was barely 33.
But that certainly wasn't because Larvitar was slacking off.
Quite the opposite.
Larvitar had been working harder than any of Red's other Pokémon.
To prepare for its upcoming evolution, it constantly adjusted its physical condition.
Everything was for the sake of the transformation ahead.
After evolving into Pupitar, its entire body—including its mouth—would be encased in a hard shell.
Aside from consuming small amounts of liquid nutrients, it would no longer be able to eat.
That state would persist until it finally evolved into Tyranitar.
This unique evolutionary process was one of the defining traits of Larvitar's species.
It was also the reason Larvitar loved eating so much.
Only Larvitar that accumulated enough energy during this stage could evolve into the strongest possible Tyranitar.
Therefore, Larvitar's method of conditioning itself was very simple:
Eat.
And then eat even more.
Store as much energy as possible.
Combining Mossweed Gym's secret training manuals, Professor Oak's research notes, and consultations with multiple senior League breeders, Red eventually developed a Pokémon food perfectly suited for his shiny Larvitar.
It was a semi-liquid, nearly transparent nutritional mixture.
By human standards, a single mouthful contained several hundred calories.
As a result, in only half a month, Larvitar's weight had almost doubled.
Its size was already approaching that of Liangzi's legendary bottomless stomach.
Yet for Larvitar's evolutionary line, such a physique wasn't unhealthy at all.
Instead, it was considered a symbol of exceptional talent.
After all—
If a Larvitar couldn't consume at least one hundred thousand calories per day, how could it possibly break its cocoon and emerge as the ultimate Tyranitar?
The only bad news was the cost.
The food was outrageously expensive.
Converted into everyday terms, Larvitar was effectively eating the equivalent of a small car every three days.
Even someone as wealthy as Red was beginning to feel the strain.
Combined with the expenses of raising his other Pokémon, maintaining the Gym Pokémon, and regularly feeding the wild Pokémon living in Mossweed Forest...
His once-substantial savings were shrinking at an alarming rate.
And despite Larvitar already surpassing the limits described in the Gym's breeding manuals—
Red still wasn't satisfied.
Something felt missing.
Some final piece hadn't clicked into place.
Unfortunately, his nearly empty wallet could no longer support the increasingly outrageous ideas forming in his head.
At that moment, Red thought of Professor Oak.
He immediately dialed Oak's number.
"Professor Oak, I think it's time we talked about the Dynamax Device again."
"Really?!"
Professor Oak's excited voice practically exploded through the phone.
"Red, you've finally made up your mind?"
"Don't worry! As long as you're willing to release the construction method for the Dynamax Device, the League will provide whatever you need—money, rare resources, anything!"
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