October 12th.
The sun shone brightly, a rare clear day.
The road construction was nearing its final stage.
By now, Dragonite's role was simple but crucial: bringing rain. Using its signature Rain Dance, it ensured the newly laid cement stayed damp and smooth, preventing cracks from forming under the sun's heat.
After this step, the asphalt would be laid, and Pokémon with abilities to neutralize odors would sprinkle special powders along the road. Once done, the new road would be complete, ready for travel.
Meanwhile, Lin Feng was inside, finalizing the reward rules for the Sky Challenge.
This challenge was designed to train Pokémon in a unique way, significantly improving their evasion and accuracy during battles, making it one of the best training methods outside of skills that always hit.
Interestingly, though Lin Feng ran a Pokémon Nursery, he had never formally trained someone else's Pokémon. So, the Sky Challenge would also serve as his first step in extending his business beyond the nursery.
"The first level… might be a little hard for new trainers. But for those who have been traveling for some time, it should be manageable. Let's make this the reward."
[B+ Rank Sandfruit Energy Cube crafted from Sandfruit, long-term consumption significantly boosts a Pokémon's speed.]
Cooking Effect 1: Regular consumption slightly increases the Pokémon's individual speed stat.
This was the reward for the first level. Honestly, these energy cubes were already available in the nursery for purchase, though they were quite expensive. Lin Feng had simply made a batch using his psychic abilities, which was enough to be generous without hurting him. The effect was solid.
"For the second level, two cubes… third level, three… fourth level, A-rank…"
"The final level… a grand prize. Hm, haven't decided yet. No rush; no one's completed it anyway."
"And there's a consolation prize…"
Lin Feng paused, thinking carefully about this.
Here lay a subtle difficulty: the Pidgey in his plantation all had the potential to evolve into Pidgeot. That meant future Sky Challenge opponents would mostly be Pidgeot, and he needed to train the Pidgey to present varying difficulty levels depending on their opponent.
"For the consolation prize… maybe a sip of Bounsweet juice? Could lift spirits a little."
The idea flashed through his mind, and he couldn't help but chuckle. It was a small comfort for trainers who had struggled through multiple defeats. Perhaps he could even throw in a bottle of Miltank fresh milk as a bonus.
Speaking of Bounsweet juice, Lin Feng pondered for a moment. Pokémon in his plantation that provided ingredients generally improved their quality over time.
Take the Miltank, for example. The milk they now produced had reached A-rank quality, comparable to milk from the elite farms. Yet, most of these Miltank were only level thirty, just starting to approach peak production potential. Lin Feng shivered at the thought of the quality once they reached elite levels.
There was another complication: higher quality meant higher market prices. A-rank Miltank milk could fetch thousands on the market, which sometimes made it difficult to sell. After all, Wutong City was still a small town, and only families with wealth could provide their Pokémon such premium milk daily.
Fortunately, the plantation had grown, and there were more Pokémon now. Unsold milk could easily be distributed among the nursery's Pokémon now-evolved Blaziken, Dragalge, or even Alcremie.
Bounsweet's juice was improving slowly. Its sweetness had increased slightly, but the overall quality hadn't changed much. Lin Feng wondered if the Evolutionary Stone might be limiting it. But Bounsweet didn't want to evolve.
"A bit of a headache," he muttered, rubbing his temples. No matter if it didn't evolve, it didn't evolve. He had plenty of juice to spare.
With these matters in order, Lin Feng planned to find Rotom and schedule a time to broadcast the Sky Challenge rules through his video channel.
Arriving at the nursery, he noticed the same two high school students from before. They were consulting the nursery's Incineroar about participating in the Sky Challenge.
Incineroar, unfamiliar with the specifics, was about to send Vulpix over to fetch Lin Feng.
Coincidentally, Lin Feng emerged from his room just then.
"Lin, we're back to try the Sky Challenge again," said Luke and Zach.
Their eyes lit up the moment they saw him.
Their first challenge, completed in a single day, had boosted their Pokémon rankings in class significantly. Having tasted success, they had decided not to advertise the Sky Challenge to classmates just yet, claiming only that they had been training intensely at the nursery.
Now, after saving up enough money for energy cubes and understanding the challenge, they returned, ready to try again.
"Here to challenge again? Alright, I'll take you there." Lin Feng nodded, planning to remind the Pidgey about varying difficulty levels in future matches, helping them control their energy output and develop their performance skills.
He led the students to the pine tree, calling down the two Pidgey.
Although the students had only encountered these Pidgey once before, they already felt familiar with them. The birds descended smoothly and led the students to their designated challenge area.
Lin Feng watched them go, confident in the challenge setup. He turned back toward the nursery, satisfied that the Sky Challenge system worked as intended. Soon, he could begin promoting it through his video channel.
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