Chapter 74: Gym-class Charizard (Patreon)

Ever since awakening his psychic powers, Renan had grown used to using Meditate in place of sleep.

But perhaps because his Falna had just been upgraded, leaving his vessel emptied out once more, something had changed.

Renan was absorbing the energy in Moon Stones nearly twice as fast as he had back at Lv1.

Before the Clefairy Dance incident, draining a single mid-grade Moon Stone had taken him eight or nine nights, by his estimate.

Later, once his stats hit the cap of his Falna's potential, he could still draw the Moon Stones' energy out with his psychic powers, but he could no longer fuse it with the mana inside his body.

Yet now, after just a single night, about a third of the energy in a mid-grade Moon Stone had already been absorbed.

In other words, the nearly 140 mid-grade Moon Stones in his bag could fuel his Meditate for a little over a year.

That was undoubtedly good news.

It meant that for the time being, Renan wouldn't need to keep making trips back to Mt. Moon to dig up more.

As for whether this batch of evolution stones could help him fill out all five of his Lv2 stats, Renan honestly wasn't sure.

The next week or so passed in a blur.

Staying at the Pewter Gym for the time being, he traded knowledge with Brock on every aspect of being a Breeder he had picked up: coat and scale care for Pokémon, acupressure massage, Pokémon food preparation, move training, even restoring the energy wellspring inside a Pokémon's body…

Brock might have squinty eyes, but he was surprisingly generous. When he heard that Renan was looking for a way to fill out his potential, he shared part of the breeding secrets the Pewter Gym had passed down from his ancestors, picking the sections that weren't exactly core.

He even had a Gym-class Sandslash from his family teach Renan's Charizard and Nidorino Earthquake and Earth Power.

Yes, Charizard. The day after Renan had challenged the Pewter Gym, his Charmeleon had leveled up during routine training and naturally evolved into its final form.

And because he had swapped its held item for high-quality charcoal beforehand, the fire-type energy in the charcoal was drawn out during the evolution and poured entirely into the essence of Charmeleon's Pokémon core.

The result was that when the light of evolution faded and Charizard appeared, its level made a double jump, rising from 36 to 38.

Add the faint boost from the Breathing Techniques, and in terms of raw physical ability alone, it had already firmly crossed into Gym-class.

Renan was a bit of a homebody, and Brock happened to share similar interests and topics with him.

After a few days together, the two had gone from strangers to close friends who could talk about anything.

That left Misty, who was also staying at the Pewter Gym but couldn't get a word in on Breeder talk, feeling a bit jealous.

The first two or three days were fine. The girl put up with it, and even offered to play with Brock's younger siblings in his place. But gradually, the willful temper of the Cerulean Gym's youngest sister began to show.

Last night, she had barged straight into Renan's guest room, grabbed the boy's hand, and declared they were leaving the next day.

When the wealthy lady funding his journey said so, Renan naturally wasn't going to refuse. In truth, even without Misty speaking up, he had been planning to say his goodbyes anyway.

The Pewter Gym was wonderful, with a big, lively family bustling around every day, but it was still not his home.

Before leaving, though, he went to find Brock one more time and told him something he had learned from the anime in his previous life: that Brock's father, Flint, might be somewhere near Pewter City.

Renan had expected Brock to look angry or startled, then dash out to look for the man.

What actually happened was this: "Let that guy do whatever he wants."

Brock's reaction as he said it was perfectly calm.

Seeing the boy in front of him look surprised, he added, "The neighbors told me a while back that they'd seen someone who looked a lot like him around here. I went looking too, and I even saw him. But the moment he noticed me, he chose to look right through me. Or rather, he pretended he didn't know me. That's when I understood that some people are just born without any sense of responsibility."

Renan patted him on the shoulder.

The trouble between Brock and Flint was ultimately a family matter of the Pewter Gym.

As an outsider, the most he could do was offer what little information he knew. Words like persuasion or comfort were, nine times out of ten, completely useless to the person involved.

"Then do whatever you think is best. No matter what, as your friend, I'm on your side."

"Got it." Brock nodded. Then a teasing, knowing smile suddenly spread across his face. "As for you, coming to me out of nowhere today to say goodbye, Misty must have been nagging you. I told you before to spend more time with her, remember? Now look, she's jealous. And a girl who's angry is really hard to win back, you know~"

Renan shot him a sideways glance. "Is that speaking from experience?" A second later he said, "Oh," as if remembering something. "Right, I forgot. You've been single since birth."

"Get lost!"

…

After saying goodbye to Brock and his younger siblings, Renan and Misty set off on the road again.

From Pewter City to Rota City, taking the shortest highway, took about eight days.

On the fifth day, they would pass through a small town called Oma Town.

Both Renan and Misty were official League Trainers. When traveling, unless they had no other choice, they mostly stayed at Pokémon Centers.

For one thing, it saved money. For another, it cut down on unnecessary trouble.

But perhaps because the Battle Festival at Cameran Palace was about to begin, the number of travelers heading to Rota City had surged. By the time Renan and Misty reached the Pokémon Center in Oma Town, Nurse Joy told them the guest rooms had just filled up.

With no other choice, they found a nearby guesthouse to stay in.

The price was a little steep. A room with two bedrooms, one inner and one outer, cost 260 League currency a night, with dinner and breakfast charged separately!

Of course, for Misty, a rich young lady, this was hardly a problem.

But after taking their money, the middle-aged woman at the counter, most likely the owner, looked at Renan with a hint of scrutiny and puzzlement.

Ten minutes later, in the room.

Misty covered her mouth, giggling like a little fox. "I bet the landlady was just thinking, with a plain face like yours, how did you manage to live off a beautiful girl like me?"

Renan took the teasing in stride. After all, ever since Misty had joined the party, his savings had been draining a lot more slowly, and after the Mt. Moon trip they had jumped back up to 550,000 plus in one go.

Once he finished challenging all eight Gyms and sold his house in Celadon City, he could easily buy several acres of farmland and become a self-sufficient rancher.

He raised both hands in surrender and replied, "Yes, yes, yes. Getting to live off the beautiful Miss Misty is a blessing I must have cultivated for three lifetimes to earn. So, what do you want to eat later?"

"Hehe, you know your place. Good answer."