A week later, in a battle plaza in the center of Twilight City.
Lin Fan and Weedle squatted in a corner of the plaza, observing the Trainers engaged in battles with nothing to do.
“Pidgey vs. Spearow? A fated battle.”
“Holy moly, Vulpix vs. Growlithe? This is a battle between rich people.”
Lin Fan commented seriously, while Weedle beside him was devouring the energy cube and peach fruit in front of him.
For some reason, after a week, his appetite hadn't increased much, but he always got hungry very quickly, eating at least five meals a day.
After a long while, Lin Fan sighed, his face full of helplessness.
He had made a fatal mistake: he shouldn't have waited until Weedle's strength reached Lv.15 before coming to the battle plaza to find suitable Pokémon to train Weedle's control over Poison Sting.
That's right, Weedle's strength had now reached Lv.15, and Lin Fan had naturally gone to the Trainer Association for the intermediate Trainer assessment, becoming an official intermediate Trainer.
In half a month, Weedle's strength had progressed by leaps and bounds, like a rocket. One must know that Su Ling, backed by the Fighting Dojo, only had a Machop of approximately Lv.10, still some distance from intermediate level.
Although Pokémon like Weedle naturally level up quickly, the main reason was still the boost from the Insect Plate.
However, this rapid progress, which would make others envious and hateful, now caused Lin Fan immense worry.
He found that he couldn't find a suitable opponent for Weedle to have a Pokémon battle with, let alone a Poison-type Pokémon that knew Poison Sting.
The strength of rookie Trainers was completely left behind by Lin Fan; it was just bullying them.
As for Trainers who were training their second or third Pokémon, they would be very suitable opponents for Weedle, but such people rarely came to places like battle plazas. After all, being able to obtain a second or third Pokémon meant their funds were relatively ample, and they could completely go to clubs for better training.
Yesterday, Lin Fan searched all day and finally, reluctantly, chose two rookie Trainers whose starter Pokémon were Nidoran♀ and Nidoran♂.
Although he had let Weedle go easy, only using the Poison Sting move to battle the opponent, the overwhelming strength gap still resulted in a one-sided battle, leading to Lin Fan being given the 'honorary title' of 'shameless bully Trainer' by the onlookers.
Fortunately, these two battles still allowed Weedle to gain something. As Sun Qi said, battle is the best way to improve.
By taking Nidoran♂ and Nidoran♀'s Poison Sting attacks head-on, Weedle gradually figured out how to control Poison-type energy to seep out of its body for attacks, but it was stuck at the threshold, unable to truly master it, needing a high-quality battle to help it take that step.
“It seems there won't be any gains today. I'll have to find another way.”
Lin Fan stood up and stretched, just about to leave with Weedle, when suddenly two people appeared in the distance, walking aggressively towards the corner where Lin Fan was.
Looking left and right, and finding no one else nearby, Lin Fan looked at the two with some confusion, but then realized that the younger-looking boy among them seemed a bit familiar.
Oh, he remembered, it was the one he bullied yesterday... no, had a friendly spar with.
What's going on, the younger one got beaten, so the older one came?
The younger boy led the lean man beside him directly towards Lin Fan. Under Lin Fan's suspicious gaze, the lean man spoke directly: “Were you the shameless one who came to bully people yesterday?”
What kind of talk is that! How is a friendly spar between Trainers bullying? And can you please not emphasize the words 'shameless'?
Lin Fan crossed his arms unhappily, squinting at the lean man, and nodded faintly.
Wait, why did I nod? Doesn't that mean I admit I'm a shameless bully Trainer?
Lin Fan was shocked internally, but outwardly he remained calm, waiting for the man's next words.
“You bullied my brother yesterday, which caused his girlfriend to threaten to break up with him, so I came to spar with you and get some revenge for him.”
The man spoke calmly, and the younger boy beside him immediately blushed, but his gaze remained fixed on Lin Fan, clearly very angry.
So they're a couple, no wonder one chose Nidoran♀ and the other chose Nidoran♂.
But do they not know that although Nidoking, Nidoran♂'s final evolution, corresponds to Nidoqueen, Nidoran♀'s final evolution, Nidoking and Nidoqueen cannot breed? Nidoking can only breed with Nidoran♀, which is why it's affectionately called a 'lolicon' by many.
Lin Fan gave the younger boy a strange look, then turned his gaze to the lean man and said calmly: “What bullying? He's a rookie Trainer, and I'm also a rookie Trainer. Isn't it perfectly reasonable for us to have a friendly spar?”
“You're full of it!” The boy's emotions suddenly became agitated. “Your Weedle is so absurd; it took several of my Nidoran♂'s Poison Stings without a scratch, yet my Nidoran♂ couldn't even take one of Weedle's Poison Stings. Do you still have the nerve to say you're a rookie Trainer?”
Is it my fault for being strong?
Lin Fan rolled his eyes. The lean man beside him, however, calmly looked at Lin Fan's face, then at his own brother's face, and after a moment of silence, said: “If that's the case, then it is indeed very reasonable; it's a normal spar. But he is my brother after all, so I still need to help him get his revenge.”
“How about this, I happen to be training a new Pokémon, an Ekans that recently reached intermediate strength. I'll use it to battle your Weedle, so it won't seem like I'm bullying you.”
Ekans?
Lin Fan's mind quickly flashed through its move pool, and after finding the Poison Sting move within it, he decisively said, “Good.”
Before Lv.20, Ekans's main offensive moves are Poison Sting and Bite, as well as any inherited moves.
This kind of opponent was exactly what Lin Fan needed. He hadn't expected to have such a gain today. It seems he should bully more rookies in the future.
Seeing Lin Fan nod, the lean man didn't waste any time and silently walked towards an empty battle arena.
Once Lin Fan stood ready, the man spoke: “Liu Shi.”
Lin Fan paused, realizing the other person was introducing himself, and replied: “Lin Fan.”
Liu Shi nodded slightly, seemingly disliking idle talk, and directly threw out a Poké Ball.
A red light flashed, and a purple long snake appeared in the arena, its mouth open, aimed at Lin Fan, seemingly ready to attack at any moment. A unique oppressive aura pressed down on Lin Fan, causing a strange feeling to rise in his heart.
“Intimidate ability?”
