The winter vacation was nearing its end, and airports and train stations were gradually filling up again.
As one of the most prosperous cities in the southwest, Rong City had officially completed and opened its second international airport just before the New Year, greatly boosting both tourism and local travel capacity.
Despite being newly built, the airport was already bustling with people.
From the bright, spacious terminal walked out two figures—a man and a woman.
The man stood tall and straight, while the woman carried an air of mature confidence and elegance. Their oversized sunglasses covered nearly half their faces, making their features hard to see, yet their presence alone made it clear they were anything but ordinary.
"I mean, you're a world-famous research genius now," the woman said as she took out her phone to call a taxi.
"And you still expect me to pay for the ride?"
"You know how it is," the man complained bitterly.
"That new glutton I caught—my savings can't handle his appetite!"
These two were none other than Oliver and Mu Xue, just back from the capital.
Although Oliver earned tens of millions each month from selling Energy Blocks, ever since adding one more mouth to the household, his little treasury had been draining fast.
Gible might be a pseudo-legendary, but just the custom training equipment Oliver had ordered for him had already cost over ten million.
And that was no exaggeration.
For example, the custom weighted vest Oliver commissioned for Gible distributed weight evenly across the body to prevent skeletal deformation, offered decent defensive capability, and—most importantly—didn't restrict movement at all.
There were also eco-friendly chewing bars for grinding teeth, specialized Dragon-type training tools, and various attribute-enhancing items.
Thankfully, the public confirmation of the Fairy type had caused prices of Dragon-type-related products to dip slightly—otherwise even twenty million wouldn't have been enough.
In short, Oliver had once again reached the stage of worrying about money.
Before long, the taxi arrived, and the two got in, heading toward their villa.
As the car drove on, Oliver gazed out the window. Suddenly, he noticed a crowded battle arena in an open park area. A large group of people had gathered, clearly watching some kind of event.
In truth, public battle parks often hosted all sorts of activities—some organized officially, others privately.
Ding!
Detected battle event. Triggering special option: Gible's First Battle.
Option 1: Use Gible to participate and win the match.
Reward: Top-tier Dragon-type Energy Block production experience.
Option 2: Ignore the event and return home.
Reward: Top-tier Fire-type Energy Block production experience.
Oliver didn't hesitate for even a second.
The ten top-tier Dragon-type Energy Blocks the system had rewarded earlier were almost gone, all eaten by Gible. Oliver had been worrying about how to restock.
And now the solution had delivered itself straight to his doorstep.
"Driver, please pull over!" Oliver called out immediately.
The driver looked confused but still stopped by the roadside.
"What's going on?" Mu Xue asked.
After getting out of the car, Oliver said to the driver,
"We'll still pay the full fare. You can drop us here."
Then he dashed toward the crowd.
"Today's rules are simple!"
A young man stood confidently at the center of the battle arena.
"Anyone who defeats me wins 10,000 yuan!
Single battle format only—Veteran-level and below trainers may participate!"
Standing beside him was a Blaziken, flames flickering faintly around its body, eyes blazing with fighting spirit.
"Looks like a privately hosted match," Mu Xue said.
She glanced at Oliver, speechless.
"You jumped out of the car for this? You're telling me our great research prodigy is interested in street-level battles?"
Oliver silently activated the system to check Blaziken's stats.
Pokémon: Blaziken
Level: Advanced (Early)
Potential: Gym-level
The young organizer looked extremely confident. Hosting a challenge with an Advanced-tier Blaziken—even with a modest reward—meant he clearly wasn't afraid of other Advanced-tier challengers.
Sure enough, someone immediately shouted,
"I'll go first!"
A man stepped into the arena and released an Advanced (Early) Rapidash.
Normally speaking, Blaziken's base stats were higher than Rapidash's, but with both Pokémon at the same level, the challenger's face still carried a relaxed, confident smile—as if victory was already guaranteed.
"So confident… must be that Ability," Oliver thought.
The organizer tossed a coin into the air. As it hit the ground—
Both Pokémon lunged forward.
"Flare Blitz!" the challenger shouted.
Rapidash transformed into a blazing inferno and charged straight at Blaziken.
But Blaziken sidestepped cleanly.
"Mach Punch!" the organizer commanded instantly.
Blaziken's fist, wrapped in streaks of flame, shot forward at terrifying speed, smashing directly into Rapidash's head.
Rapidash staggered, vision spinning, barely able to stay on its feet.
"H–Hang in there, Rapidash!" the challenger yelled.
Unfortunately, he wasn't Ash Ketchum—there was no miracle buff.
Blaziken pressed the advantage, charging in without hesitation.
At the critical moment, Rapidash forced itself upright and fired a Flamethrower straight at Blaziken's face.
But a pair of powerful legs burst straight through the flames—
Double Kick!
Rapidash collapsed instantly.
Battle over.
The crowd erupted in shock.
Both Pokémon were Advanced (Early), yet Blaziken had won with ease—using only Mach Punch and Double Kick, without a single Fire-type move beyond residual flame effects.
Blaziken returned to its Trainer's side proudly. Its feathers were slightly scorched but it hadn't taken real damage.
The challenger stood there in disbelief.
"How is that possible? Why didn't you use Fire-type moves?!"
If Blaziken had used Fire-type attacks, he could have exploited the opening and overwhelmed it with a relentless counterattack.
The organizer replied calmly,
"Rapidash has a chance of possessing Flash Fire. I'm not the type to gamble on probabilities."
Pokémon level was only one part of combat strength.
Energy control, physical conditioning, combat technique, and—most importantly—the Trainer's command ability all played decisive roles.
Clearly, this Blaziken outclassed Rapidash in every one of those aspects.
"Anyone else want to try?" the young man called out loudly.
No one stepped forward.
Given the performance just displayed, even if they won, the medical bills afterward wouldn't be worth the prize.
Seeing no response, the organizer sighed with visible regret.
"So… no one else dares to challenge?"
A clear voice rang out from the crowd.
"I will."
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