Chapter 66 Noibat vs. Charmander

Noibat flew through the air, quickly widening the distance between itself and Charmander, continuously assaulting the latter with Gust. Although the damage was limited, it deeply infuriated Charmander, which kept failing to reach Noibat.

"Roar!"

Enraged, Charmander let out a fierce roar. By now, it had completely shaken off the confusion status, quickly regaining its composure. Immediately afterward, a surge of rocky energy erupted around its body.

[Ancient Power]: A Rock-type special move. It attacks with prehistoric power and occasionally raises all stats.

A mud-yellow, rock-type energy sphere gathered right in front of Charmander's claws and was hurled violently toward Noibat in mid-air.

"Noi!"

Noibat rapidly flapped its wings, dodging Charmander's Ancient Power in the air. However, the moment it cleared the attack, a Dragon Breath followed right on its heels!

Charmander had also grown smarter. Right after using Ancient Power, it immediately chained a second Dragon Breath, giving Noibat no time to react in mid-air. The intense Dragon Breath struck Noibat squarely, dealing instant damage.

Compared to the mere scratch damage of Noibat's Gust, Charmander's Dragon Breath packed a significantly heavier punch and held a type advantage against the Dragon and Flying dual-typed Noibat.

"Noi!"

Injured, Noibat grew angry as well. It beat its wings frantically, unleashing Gust once again. Noibat's offensive repertoire was still too sparse, limited to only Absorb and Gust. This made Xia Yu contemplate having Noibat start learning Dragon Pulse as soon as they returned, or perhaps mentioning it to Long Yanning so she could teach the move next week.

That way, he could legitimately have both Noibat and Charmander learn Dragon Pulse.

While Xia Yu was deep in thought, the Gust skill struck true once again, dealing damage to Charmander. Disregarding its own injuries entirely, Charmander opted for the most brutal approach: trading blows for blows.

There was no strategy here—just pure, reckless aggression.

"Roar!"

Charmander unleashed Ancient Power once more, sending another rock-type energy sphere flying toward Noibat.

"Double Team!"

This time, Noibat was wiser. Instead of a forced dodge that risked getting hit by a follow-up Dragon Breath, it chose to use Double Team, instantly creating four or five illusions to disrupt Charmander's aim.

With no other choice, Charmander had to direct the rock-type energy sphere at one of the Noibats. Unfortunately, a one-in-six chance led it to guess the wrong target, and the attack missed completely!

"Supersonic."

Acting with remarkable composure and experience, Noibat completely compensated for its lack of offensive moves, executing a textbook hit-and-run harassment strategy. Supersonic successfully landed on Charmander once more, plunging the fire-type Pokémon back into confusion shortly after it had just recovered.

"Gust!"

At this point, Noibat had completely seized the initiative in battle, continuously harassing Charmander with its trio of moves: Double Team, Supersonic, and Gust. This left Charmander utterly miserable and thoroughly outmatched.

"Alright, that's enough."

Xia Yu timely interrupted their bout. There was no point in continuing; Noibat's victory was only a matter of time. Leveraging the inherent advantages of a Flying-type Pokémon, Charmander stood no chance.

"Noibat wins this match." Xia Yu stroked Noibat's purple ears, offering words of encouragement. Noibat affectionately rubbed against his palm, looking thoroughly delighted.

"Don't get discouraged, Charmander. Keep working hard. Once you evolve into Charizard and gain the ability to fly, Noibat might not be able to beat you anymore." Compared to Noibat's joy, Charmander was in low spirits, struggling to accept the reality of its defeat. This loss meant it sat firmly at the absolute bottom among Xia Yu's three Pokémon. Sceptile was the undisputed boss, and now that Charmander had lost to Noibat, it was undeniably ranked third.

"It's fine, Charmander. You hatched the latest; with more training down the road, you'll definitely become very strong."

Noticing Charmander's dejection, Xia Yu quickly offered comfort, taking both Charmander and Noibat to the infirmary for treatment.

......

Taking advantage of the gap while his Pokémon received treatment, Xia Yu wandered over to the incubation room in the Dragon-type Secret Realm, hoping to score a fine Pokémon egg. Upon entering, however, he discovered that there wasn't a single Dragon-type egg up for sale.

"Hello," Xia Yu asked a guide, "do you not have any Dragon-type Pokémon eggs for sale here?"

"Sir, is this your first time here?" The guide flashed a bright smile at the handsome Xia Yu and explained, "The Dragon-type Secret Realm is unlike other realms. We only have a fixed public sale date for Pokémon eggs once a month. This is because the reproductive rate of Dragon-type Pokémon is extremely low, yielding only a few eggs a month. Moreover, Dragon-type eggs are highly treasured, so anyone who acquires one generally chooses not to sell it."

Xia Yu nodded. It made logical sense. Take Bug-type Pokémon, for instance—most have incredible reproductive rates but weaker overall strength, whereas Dragon-type Pokémon have exceptionally low reproduction rates coupled with formidable baseline power. Such was the law of nature.

"Still, sir, you don't need to worry. Next Sunday is this month's public sale day. You're welcome to come browse and see if there are any eggs you fancy," the guide said sweetly.

"Do you have any pseudo-legendary Pokémon eggs for sale here?" Xia Yu couldn't help asking.

The guide flashed an awkward smile. "Sir, you're quite humorous. Pseudo-legendary Pokémon are not put up for public sale."

"Fair enough." Xia Yu felt a pang of regret, but reasoning made it feel standard. Pseudo-legendary Pokémon were exceedingly rare to begin with, and given the League's usual demeanor, they certainly wouldn't sell them out to the public. "Next weekend, got it. Thank you."

Finding no Pokémon available for purchase, Xia Yu lost interest and promptly left the incubation room. He returned to the infirmary, collected his two Pokémon, and headed back to his room to rest.

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

Just as he stepped inside, his phone rang. Xia Yu checked the screen to see it was a call from his grandmother and quickly answered.

"Hello, Grandma."

"Xiao Yu," came the warm voice of Old Mrs. Qin from the other end, accompanied by a chuckle, "Xiao Li just mentioned that two packages arrived for you, so I had them placed in your room."

Xia Yu remembered the two stones he had acquired: one was suspected to be Gengar's Mega Stone, while the other was a dimmed Wishing Piece.

"Grandma, leaving them in the room is fine," Xia Yu said. "What did you all have for eat today? Watch your diet, and don't let Grandpa drink too much wine."

"We ate." Hearing her grandson's concern, Old Mrs. Qin's smile widened. "You know how your grandfather's temper is; nobody else can persuade him. Only when you call him out does he listen."

"What man doesn't drink?!" Old Lin's voice boomed from the background. After a brief pause, he continued, "Xiao Yu, Xueyun has almost finished writing the paper. It'll probably be published in a few days."

"Ah, I understand. Thank you, Grandpa, and thank you, Uncle." Just a week had passed since the experiment, and his eldest uncle, Lin Xueyun, had already drafted a paper. One had to admit his proficiency with writing was quite formidable. "As soon as I'm allowed to leave the secret realm, I'll come back to visit you both."

"A true man sets his sights on the world. Train hard while you're in the secret realm, and if there's anything you don't understand, go find Long Yanning."

"Understood, Grandpa."

Xia Yu chatted with his grandparents about various domestic trivialities for a long time before finally hanging up. After grabbing a quick, simple meal, he led his three Pokémon—which had just finished digesting their energy cubes—back to the training grounds.

If he was going to push himself, he would train until he dropped right here in the arena!