After thinking it over, Nathan decided that heading to the Wandering Mountains was the most suitable option.
After all, he had a decent relationship with the three Legendary Beasts, including Entei. Helping his little Charmander break through shouldn't be too difficult for them.
In that case, his focus for this breakthrough would still be on Treecko.
But before Nathan could even begin training, a shrill alarm rang out.
Before arriving here, Nathan had done his research.
At this university, the alarm was never triggered without serious cause.
Once it sounded, it meant one of two things: either a rampaging Elite-level Pokémon or some other catastrophe.
"Seriously? I just got ready to start, and now this happens?"
Having originally planned to help Treecko break through, Nathan had no choice but to leave the training room.
When he stepped outside, the room was already empty—everyone had left.
Exiting the training building, he saw groups of students running in the same direction. He quickly followed.
All the students were gathering on the athletic field.
Nathan arrived just in time to hear the principal pick up a megaphone and begin to speak:
"Everyone, take your Pokémon and head to the coast! A Pokémon riot has broken out near the beach!"
A Pokémon riot?
How could something like this happen?
Hadn't Calyrex gone to deal with the mystic realm problem?
Then what was this new riot about?
Ever since Calyrex had left, Nathan hadn't heard from him in a long time.
But so much time had passed—the riot caused by the mystic realm should have been resolved by now.
Although Nathan had a lot of questions, there clearly wasn't time to think too deeply.
"This time, those who help stop the riot will receive rewards for each Pokémon they defeat. The one who defeats the most will receive a special reward!" the principal declared.
As soon as he finished speaking, many students grew visibly excited.
Getting rewarded for every defeated Pokémon? Opportunities like this didn't come every day.
It was well known that this university had many students from humble backgrounds.
This was clearly a chance for them to shine.
With the announcement over, everyone dashed toward the shoreline.
After all, the slower you were, the fewer Pokémon would be left—and the remaining ones would likely be the stronger, harder-to-beat ones.
"Well, guess I'll treat this like grinding for experience," Nathan muttered.
Since things had come to this, Nathan decided to go along with it.
But he was still unsure about the strength of the Pokémon involved in this riot.
At that moment, Eevee popped out of its Pokéball and jumped onto Nathan's shoulder.
Turning his head, Nathan noticed Eevee looking extremely tense, like it was facing a great enemy.
Eevee possessed the [Danger Sense] ability.
If it had sensed danger and still came out on its own, that showed just how different this particular Eevee really was.
"Nathan, do you mind if we team up? We can watch each other's backs."
A voice sounded beside Nathan.
Turning to look, he saw that it was the same girl who had confessed to him earlier.
"No need. I'm fine on my own," Nathan replied.
Although traveling with a beautiful girl might be nice, Nathan preferred to fight alone during battles.
Not because he disliked others, but because he didn't want anyone stealing his experience.
A Pokémon riot meant a flood of experience falling right into his lap—why would he share that with others?
"Come out, Flygon!"
Nathan casually released his Flygon and immediately mounted it, flying straight toward the coast—giving the girl no chance to follow.
She stared wistfully in the direction Flygon had disappeared.
Being rejected once was one thing—but twice by the same guy?
"Hey, beautiful, how about teaming up with me?" a pimply guy said as he approached her.
She turned to him, gave him a cold look, and said, "Scram!"
Flygon's speed was incredible—it took only a few minutes to reach the shoreline.
By the time he arrived, the coast was already a chaotic battlefield.
Pokémon riots weren't unheard of.
But as humans and Pokémon had grown more accustomed to each other over time, large-scale riots like this hadn't happened in nearly a decade.
And this wasn't a riot inside a mystic realm—this was happening in the outside world!
Riots within mystic realms didn't affect the outside world much.
They just made resource-gathering more difficult.
But a riot in the outside world was different.
If not handled properly, it could wipe out an entire city.
This wasn't about resources—it was about the lives of hundreds of thousands, even millions of people.
"A large-scale riot like this that hasn't happened in years… Why now?"
Flying above the battlefield, Nathan watched the humans and Pokémon fighting below, deep in thought.
After a moment, he landed on the shore.
There, he noticed the rioting Pokémon weren't all the same species—they were from many different species.
But most were Water-types, unsurprising given this city's coastal location.
"Come out, Treecko!"
Pokémon riots typically involved a mix of different levels.
But this time was clearly different—none of the rioting Pokémon were over level 30.
That in itself was extremely odd.
Sure, high-level Pokémon possessed intelligence comparable to humans.
But sending low-level Pokémon in as cannon fodder?
That was definitely not something a Pokémon would do.
It was obvious—humans must be behind this riot.
Sending in the weak to wear down opponents was a tactic humans often used.
But among Pokémon? Never.
Low-level Pokémon were often the offspring of the higher-level ones.
In a real fight, who would send their own children to die?
"Treecko, go!"
With Nathan's command, Treecko dashed into the crowd of rioting Pokémon.
His appearance caught the attention of those around him.
"Hey, look—it's Nathan!"
"Oh my god, I just love Nathan so much! He's strong, rich, handsome, and so responsible!"
A nearby girl couldn't help but gush.
A guy beside her asked, "I get the strong, rich, and handsome part—but where'd you get responsible from?"
"Didn't you see him come out here to stop the riot?"
Because all the rioting Pokémon were low-level, Nathan didn't summon any of his stronger Pokémon.
If he released something like Volcarona, one random move could wipe out dozens of Pokémon.
Volcarona was Champion-tier. Even one of its basic attacks could easily kill.
And even though the Pokémon were rioting, it wasn't clear if they were doing so willingly.
So, using Treecko to simply knock them out was enough.
As more and more Pokémon collapsed, a white glow began to emanate from Treecko's body!
Treecko was leveling up—and about to evolve!
Seeing this, Nathan quickly released his other Pokémon to protect Treecko during the evolution.
Many around him noticed the glow and couldn't help but stare with envy.
Of course it was Nathan—he comes out to deal with a riot, and his Pokémon evolves in the process.
Treecko's evolution completed swiftly.
Originally, Treecko had three fingers on each limb.
After evolving, each hand and foot had one fewer finger.
His head and arms now featured new leafy appendages—clearly evolved battle adaptations.
Even his large tail had transformed into two leaf-like blades.
But Nathan's Treecko wasn't like an ordinary one.
Normally, Grovyle had fairly slender limbs. That was standard.
But Nathan's Grovyle had no trace of weakness—its limbs had clearly defined, evenly developed muscles!
If you were to compare the two, a regular Grovyle looked like a programmer…
While Nathan's Grovyle looked more like a martial artist.
The muscles weren't exaggerated, but rather streamlined and balanced—giving off an agile, sharp impression instead of feeling bulky.
"Treecko—no, I should call you Grovyle now. Go! Show me your strength after evolving!"
"Grov!"
With a cry, Grovyle charged into the crowd of rioting Pokémon.
Quick Attack! Leaf Blade! Pursuit!
One move after another, Grovyle struck down the enemy Pokémon one by one.
As fate would have it, another student nearby also had a Grovyle.
But watching Nathan's Grovyle fight like a tiger among sheep, that student couldn't help but glance back at his own Grovyle.
Comparison really is the thief of joy.
His own Grovyle needed at least a full minute to deal with a single rioting Pokémon—and that was if the opponent was weak.
But looking at Nathan's Grovyle?
In the same minute, it had already taken down three or four.
What that student didn't know was just how many resources Nathan had poured into raising his Treecko.
Effort and reward often go hand in hand.
The more you want to gain, the more you have to give.
(End of Chapter)