Chapter 75 Wild Miltank, Cosmog's Evolution

Chapter 75 Wild Miltank, Cosmog's Evolution

The next day, Ron departed with Ash and his friends toward Goldenrod City. Originally, Ron wasn't very willing to travel with Ash's group, but since they were heading the same way and he'd already lost too much time in the time tunnel, he had no choice but to join them. He couldn't afford to waste another day.

They hadn't traveled together long before reaching the next town, where they encountered a firefighting competition that Ash and his friends eagerly joined. Ron wasn't interested, so after saying goodbye to Ash and the others, he set out alone.

Two days later, Ron arrived at a flat grassy area. As he was preparing to have lunch, he spotted several wild Miltank nearby, making him incredibly happy. His breeding house didn't have any Miltank yet, and the MooMoo Milk produced by Miltank was always popular, nutritious, and delicious. It was basically monopolized by ranches, so encountering wild ones was truly fortunate.

He counted six in total. One was a high-grade Miltank, while the others were mid-to-low grade. Ron immediately released several Pokémon to surround the group of Miltank.

"Gengar, block their escape route from behind. Chansey on the right, Dragonite on the left. Celebi, you go help out too—you love Miltank milk, don't you?" Ron instructed. "Lastly, Wobbuffet, confront them head-on."

"Wobbuffet!" Upon entering the battlefield, Wobbuffet immediately stepped onto the shadow of the high-grade Miltank. Its Shadow Tag ability activated, preventing the Miltank from escaping.

Realizing it couldn't move, the Miltank immediately charged forward with Tackle against Wobbuffet. Ron ordered, "Wobbuffet, Counter!"

The Miltank crashed into Wobbuffet, who flashed briefly and reflected the attack, sending the Miltank flying back. The effect was outstanding.

"Miltanks, if you defeat my Wobbuffet, I'll let you go. But if you lose, I'll catch you," Ron declared.

"Moo!" The high-grade Miltank mooed loudly, and all six charged together at Wobbuffet.

"Counter! Focus on just one," Ron commanded.

All six Miltank collided with Wobbuffet simultaneously, their combined force redirected back to the high-grade Miltank. Instantly, it was knocked several meters away. Dragonite quickly brought it back, and Ron threw a Poké Ball, successfully capturing it and sending it off to the ranch.

"Is this all you've got?" Ron mocked lightly. Wobbuffet had only lost a fifth of its health, and he could easily outlast them.

The five remaining Miltank immediately curled into balls, rolling toward Wobbuffet.

"Same strategy," Ron said calmly.

The five impacts combined into one, reflecting back and instantly defeating another Miltank. Ron captured it, checked Wobbuffet's health—still three-fifths left. No issues.

Seeing the situation, the four remaining Miltank opened their mouths and fired Ice Beams at Wobbuffet.

"Mirror Coat!" Ron quickly commanded.

The four Ice Beams reflected back and hit all four Miltank directly. One was unlucky, getting its leg frozen, prompting another to quickly use Heal Bell to remove the status. Then, one Miltank fired another Ice Beam while another charged with Body Slam at Wobbuffet.

"Two moves at once, huh?" Ron laughed. "Too bad your special attack is too low. Wobbuffet, use Counter to finish it."

Wobbuffet absorbed both attacks, instantly reflecting double the damage to the Body Slam Miltank, knocking it out. Wobbuffet turned toward another Miltank that was now attempting to escape. Without hesitation, Wobbuffet stepped forward, its shadow stretching and pinning down the Miltank's shadow, preventing any escape.

Ron rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Wobbuffet was quite useful; although unable to attack actively, it could reflect damage twice over. Plus, if its health dropped low enough, it could always use Destiny Bond. Its only downside was it couldn't directly attack, making battles drag out annoyingly long. Anyone without patience would lose their mind.

The remaining three Miltank seemed to notice this weakness as well. Each used Milk Drink to restore health, then sat down stubbornly, refusing to move. They stared at Ron defiantly, as if saying, "Come at us if you can."

"What? You're playing dirty now? If you don't stand up, I'll switch Pokémon," Ron warned.

"Moo!" One of the Miltank replied, as if saying, "Do as you please."

"...Dragonite, finish them," Ron said helplessly.

Dragonite nodded, gathering energy in its hands, and fired three Aura Spheres at the Miltank. Accepting their fate, the Miltank didn't resist and were instantly knocked out.

Ron threw three Poké Balls, capturing them easily.

"Ding! Cosmog is evolving. Please release it immediately to evolve."

Just as the three Poké Balls were transmitted away, the system's prompt came through. Ron thought excitedly, "Finally! Cosmog is evolving!"

He quickly took out the Master Ball and released Cosmog. The sleeping Cosmog gradually glowed brightly, but soon after, the glow faded, revealing it had evolved into Cosmoem. However, a vortex formed around Cosmoem, rapidly drawing in all surrounding light—creating a miniature black hole!

"Damn!" No matter how composed Ron usually was, he couldn't help swearing now. He quickly recalled Cosmoem and started running away. But he quickly realized it was useless; the powerful gravitational pull had already trapped him. Any movement would cause him to be sucked into the black hole.

Ron instantly recalled his gaming knowledge about Cosmoem's description.

"In ancient times, it was called the 'cocoon of the stars,' worshipped by the king who ruled Alola. People built altars for it. Something inside its incredibly hard shell constantly gathers toward the black core, continuously absorbing light and growing. Its golden shell is astonishingly hard." The system helpfully provided the explanation Ron wanted.

"I don't need explanations! I'm almost at my limit!" Ron shouted. He was now flat on the ground, fingers and toes dug deeply into the earth, but he was still slowly being dragged back. His fingers left a 20-30 cm trail in the dirt, and his nails were torn off from the strain. The pain was excruciating, but he absolutely couldn't let go.

"Ten thousand diamonds required. System will provide sufficient energy to Cosmoem," the system suddenly said.

"Quickly! Take the diamonds and provide energy!" Ron yelled desperately.

"Diamonds deducted. Energy supplied," the system stated.

Suddenly, Ron's body released an intense light, immediately absorbed by the black hole. Thankfully, the continuous supply eventually stabilized the situation, and Ron felt the gravitational pull gradually weaken and finally stop.

"System, heal my injuries, deduct whatever you need. Also, what just happened? I don't remember anything like this from the anime!" Ron demanded.

"Ding. Treatment complete. Analyzing reason," the system replied. "Reason: When it was Cosmog, it didn't absorb enough solar and lunar energy. Thus, upon evolution, it had to replenish energy all at once."

"Speak clearly."

"In short, Cosmog stayed in your backpack and Poké Ball too much, rarely coming out to enjoy sunlight and move around."

Ron stared at the sky in speechless frustration.